Today let’s ask the question, “Can I be described by the term LOVE?” Does how you live your life exhibit your love for God?
Everyone has had a first love in life. Do you remember yours? It might have been a childhood or teenage crush. Some call it puppy love. For some it may have happened early in life. For others it may have happened later on.
Do you remember working hard, maybe even doing crazy things, to get that person to love you back? As I remember my first childhood love, it occurs to me now that throwing rocks at her in order to get her to love me may not have been the smartest thing to do.
Now think about when you first came to Christ. Do you remember how you loved Jesus? You probably realize now that unlike a childhood crush, you knew you didn’t have to work to receive His love in return.
Over time though, we get busy doing things and we might start thinking that our WORK for Him is the most important part of our relationship. Well, as we are going to see in Jesus’ message in the Book of Revelation to the church at Ephesus, works cannot replace the need to keep our first love in the right place. We need to return to our first love for Christ. That’s where we are going today. I’ll be using Revelation 2 for our message today. But first, let’s pray. PRAYER
Some of you know that I have written a series of books—one book on each chapter of the Book of Revelation. I have taught a year to 1 ¼ long plus class four times now on the Book of Revelation. In no way am I claiming to be an expert on the Book. But I find it amazing, that every time I read it again, I find something else that stands out.
Tradition says that John was the only apostle not martyred for his faith. Other than Judas, of course, who killed himself. So John wasn’t executed for sharing the gospel. But late in his life, around 95AD, the old man John was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, just off the coast of Asia Minor. (Rev. 1:9) “I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
He was exiled there because of his bold ministry for Christ primarily in the city of Ephesus. In the Book of Revelation, John tells of how, on the Lord’s Day, he was in the Spirit when he witnessed a vision of the risen and exalted Christ. Jesus commanded John to write down what he was about to hear and see, and send it as letters to seven churches in seven cities in Asia Minor. John first wrote to the church in Ephesus.
Revelation 2:1-3 – ““Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.”
Ephesus was literally at the crossroads of civilization. Home to the temple of the Roman goddess Diana, it was the center for fertility worship. Ephesus was a city that was full of pagan religious options. The church at Ephesus was full of dedicated people who were serving the Lord and doing their best to stay on course in their relationship with Him, in spite of all the evil options and temptations available to them in the city. Jesus acknowledged the church for their good works and for staying the course. Their perseverance and endurance were commendable. The Ephesian believers were known for their good works.
Like the church in Ephesus, many Christians want to do all they can for the Lord. We have many here that go the extra mile and do all kinds of work behind the scenes. But it is easy for anyone to start depending on the works to keep in good with the Lord. Not saying that anyone is doing that, but let me tell you about a gentleman in a certain church. We’ll call him Joe.
Several years ago, Joe visited the church and accepted Jesus as His Lord and Savior. Before long, Joe was serving in a variety of places around the church. He was compassionate, kind and developed a heart of gold when it came to serving. He preferred to serve without people noticing that he was doing it. However, after several months, his demeanor began to change because serving no longer brought him the same joy it initially did.
On one occasion, the pastor and Joe were talking and the pastor told Joe how much he appreciated Joe’s hard work in helping to make the church a better place. Joe confessed that when he first came to know the Lord, he served out of love for Jesus. Along the way, though, he began to think he had to do it because if he didn’t no one else would. His service for Christ had turned into tasks from a to-do list.
That can happen and it just slips up on you. A similar situation happened with the church at Ephesus. In His message to the believers there, Jesus specifically commended their works, their labor, and their endurance. He praised their ability to withstand persecution. He said in v. 3, “I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.” Jesus knew how they were responding to the events around them. He was aware of their well-deserved reputation for doing good.
Can you think of anyone in this church who does a lot of behind-the-scenes things for the Lord? I know I can and you can too. Why not write them a little note of encouragement? Jesus writes this little note through John to the church at Ephesus.
Revelation 2:4-6 – “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
Jesus scolded the church at Ephesus for one thing: they had lost their first love. While they still were doing good things, remaining strong, and staying committed to not tolerating evil, they had replaced their top priority of loving Jesus with a focus on the lists of things they knew they had to do. Jesus’ indictment to the church that they had abandoned their first love is a warning to us all. We would benefit from a self-examination every now and then.
Believe me, God spoke to my heart as I was putting this together. I get so caught up in doing THINGS for the church—roofing bids, plumbing bids, work day lists, and on and on it goes. God reminded me to slow down and even stop and get my focus back where it needs to be, and that is on Him.
Ask yourself, “Have I lost my first love?” Have I replaced my love for Jesus with a list of tasks to be done for Him?
When we get our priorities out of order, we no longer are able to share and shine the light and love of Christ effectively to those around us. And I am like Paul when he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” I am guilty of getting too focused on the THINGS list and taking my focus off of my first love, Jesus Christ.
That’s why Jesus told the church that He would remove their lampstand unless they repented. In other words, their witness in that community would no longer be one that pointed people to the love of Christ. No longer would their individual lives proclaim their love for Christ through their words or actions. I don’t want that for SEBC, do you?
Let’s go back to the pastor’s conversation with Joe. As they continued to talk, the pastor found out that Joe had grown bitter and resentful of serving because of the lack of recognition. His attitude toward his service had changed because Jesus wasn’t his first love anymore. He had forgotten what it was like to serve simply because of his love for Jesus.
And if we were truthful, it can be easy to forget what it was like when we first came to Jesus. The overwhelming sense of love for what Christ did for us through His salvation settles in and we start to take it for granted. Please don’t do that. Come back and get back in touch with Jesus.
The Ephesian church had lost their focus and Jesus called them to remember how far they had fallen. In other words, they needed to take a look back at the moment they had first come to Christ and the love they had for Him at that time. They were told to repent, turn around, and return to the love they had at first and the works they were doing.
Now keep in mind that the Ephesian church was a good church, doing many good and commendable things. But any work we do should be done out of love for God and a desire to please Him because of the great gift of salvation He has given to us that cost Him His life. Our good works are to grow out of our love for Him.
Now let’s turn to Matthew 22: 34-38 – “When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command.”
And there’s our reminder. I can’t help but wonder how many churches today are standing in the same place as the early believers in Ephesus. Do we understand how important it is that we honor Christ and love Him with everything we have? Do we understand how that love—or absence of love—impacts our witness and relationships with others?
God is reminding us this morning how easy it is for us to get things out of order in our lives, getting lost in serving others out of routine and habit rather than out of love. I want to commend Linda and all of you who work so hard in out community clothes closet. I know it’s a lot of work. But I have seen over and over how you do it out of love. I have seen how you get so excited and are so over-joyed when you are able to help someone with clothes who can’t afford to pay anything. Yet, your hearts reach out to them in love and God blesses that.
If our focus is lost on this love factor, in those moments, repentance is needed in our lives to keep the main thing the main thing. In order for our lives to be characterized by love, our love for Jesus must be kept in FIRST PLACE. A good question we can ask ourselves is, “Am I closer to Christ as a result of serving Him?”
Revelation 2:7a – “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” Jesus reminded the church to be sure and listen to what the Spirit was saying to them. But the truths that He taught were not just for them. They are for all who are willing to listen. That’s why He says, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” And listening implies more than just hearing the words. Listening means we hear the words and act on them.
Joe said he had been feeling for some time that something wasn’t right in his life. He concluded that it was the Holy Spirit who had been trying to get his attention, but he wasn’t listening to what the Spirit was trying to tell him. He then asked himself, (and we might need to ask) “What have I missed out on because I wasn’t listening?”
When you were a child, were you ever accused by an adult of not listening? Maybe a parent told us something to do and we didn’t do it. Maybe a teacher shared an important piece of information that would help us pass a test. Maybe a pastor gave a message that would help keep us on track in our relationship with God. If we are honest, all of us at one point or another can be found guilty of not listening.
So, this first part of verse 7 is a clear call to obedience. “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” We are to listen so that we can faithfully obey.
Revelation 2:7b – “To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” The Lord’s message to the church at Ephesus was simple: repent and obey what the Spirit was instructing them to do. They were to return to their first love and center their lives on Christ. This wouldn’t be easy, but it would have great benefits.
What would they benefit if they repented and began to apply what the Spirit was telling them to do? Let me say, too, that we will benefit the same. They would ultimately dwell as victors with Christ forever. Those who truly follow Christ, not just in words or deeds but with Christ as their first love, would experience the real victory of Jesus and share in the gift of eternal life that only comes through Him.
I close with this: One cell phone company used this slogan for many years, “Can you hear me now?” That company doesn’t use that any more, but I think the words are very appropriate for those who follow Christ and want to keep Him as their first love. When it comes to the Spirit speaking into our lives and asking us, “Can you hear me now?”, what is our response going to be? In a moment the HS might ask you, Can you hear me now? How will you respond? Let’s take to heart what we hear in this message today and be the conquerors God called us to be.
