“Keep God our first love”
Revelation 2:1-5
One day, a man was trying to:
• cast out an evil spirit of gluttony from.
• Out of this how do you say
• “Healthy looking person”
That stubborn spirit said:
• No, I'm not coming out,
• the man repeated himself.
• “You evil spirit of gluttony, come out right now.”
The gluttonous spirit said:
• in a real low and calm voice:
• No, I’m not coming out
The man frustrated man said:
• Come out of here, you sick evil demons.
• One final time, the evil spirit replied this time.
• I will if you give me a cookie. (FLAT)
Have you ever been in love? True love?
- the kind of love where you would
- do anything for the other person
- you’d take a bullet for them if necessary
Think about that person for a minute
- how they made you feel
- how you loved them and
- they loved you.
Many here have been in love like that:
- and some have been blessed to share a lifetime
- with their one true love
- for better or worse, for richer or poorer, til death do us part…
This next question is absurd, ridiculous and offensive, but
How would you feel if you discovered the one you loved:
- was going through the motions
- but you knew they didn’t really love you?
- that their heart was somewhere else?
How would that make you feel?
- what would you do?
- would you put up with that?
- would you demand they change or else?
I asked you if you had ever been in Love:
- let me tell you something
- God is in love with you!
God loves you so much:
- that He sent His Son to die on the cross
- to suffer and bleed and die
- so you would not have to suffer death
But right now God’s people:
- are not reciprocating in the love department
- they were accepting the love and blessings
- and then living selfish Godless lives…
That is what Jesus is experiencing in Revelation 2:1-5:
- the Church that He died for on the cross
- the people He loved
- were no longer in love with Him
Their hearts had left the relationship
- they still wanted all the benefits
- of being the “Bride of Christ”
- but they had given their hearts to another…
Jesus would not put up with the Church:
- cheating on Him in Revelation 2
- and He is not going to put up with us
- having one foot in the Church and one foot in the world
And Jesus says enough of this nonsense:
- I’m not putting up with this.
- Repent and return to me
- or else you can go to Hell with your new love the Devil
Ephesus is the ancient version of our New York city:
- there were countless religions and cults
- in need of Jesus as their savior
- to save the damned souls of the city
The metropolis of Ephesus:
- had a false god and false religion
- on every corner but largely
- failed to honor the one true GOD
Are you familiar with a place like that?
- where evil is rampant
- false God’s are passionately worshipped and
- God is ignored
- and evil is called good and good is called evil?
We must hold fast to Jesus as our first love:
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”
- Acts 4:12 (NASB)
The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation:
- in around 96 AD
- while in exile on the Island of Patmos
- around 60 miles from Ephesus
The church in Ephesus was:
• one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation
• The Apostle Paul spent around three years in Ephesus
• during his missionary journeys
Paul’s ministry in Ephesus is described in:
- the book of Acts and the book of Ephesians
In the Book of Revelation the church in Ephesus is:
o praised for its hard work, perseverance, and
o refusal to tolerate wicked people.
The praise stops quickly when:
• Jesus condemns them
• for having forsaken its first love,
• they lost their zeal for God.
The Church started in the right direction:
- but had fizzled out in the love department
- their first love became one of many loves.
- their hearts were thrilled by other things and false gods
God’s love for us and our Love for God
- is the foundation of our salvation….
- God’s desire is to have all of us and
- our desire should be for God to have all our hearts…
“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 (NASB)
Zeal is a word we overlook these days…
Zeal means great energy or enthusiasm:
- excitement, interest
- in pursuit of a cause or an objective.
The Ephesian Christian Church as reviewed by Jesus:
- FAILS in the zeal category
- they were doing a lot of good things
- but their hearts were not right with God
Revelation 2:1-5 is a note to the Ephesian Church from Jesus
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
2 ‘I know your deeds and your labor and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have put those who call themselves apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured on account of My name, and have not become weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
Revelation 2:1-5
1. The Church's Commendation (Revelation 2:2-3)
The speaker is identified as the one:
- "holding the seven stars in his right hand."
• This is Jesus Christ walking around inside the Church and
• Observing firsthand the people and conditions.
Revelation 2:2 starts with TWO revealing words - “I KNOW…”
Jesus has a personal knowledge of their spiritual condition:
- that they are exhausting themselves doing good things
- they held the line doctrinally and knew right and wrong
- they recognized false teachers and prioritized truth
It is startling, if you think it over, that:
- God is aware of what is happening inside our hearts?
- God is aware of the condition of our hearts and Church.
- and God knows if He is still my first love?
There is no hiding our HEARTS from GOD…He sees all.
2 ‘I know your deeds and your labor and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have put those who call themselves apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured on account of My name, and have not become weary.”
Revelation 2:2-3
The casual observer would say:
• The Ephesian Church was doing well.
• They are busy working on good things
• But a Church is not evaluated by us or our standards
“…. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 b (NLT)
Yet, all is not well in the Ephesian Church:
- Jesus has a critical situation
- something must change
- Do you know the scariest thing about the whole situation?
The Church was not even aware of the problem….
My friend was telling me the other day:
- he went to the Doctor
- he’s about my age (not me)
- decided to get a check up
You would think he was healthy:
- he is fit, not overweight
- energetic and friendly
- you’d think he was as fit as a fiddle…that is what he thought too
The Dr. ran some tests, and gave him the news:
- His blood pressure was way to high
- His cholesterol was in the danger zone
- all the critical numbers were wrong
- and he was shocked to hear he has DIABETES
It was a real wakeup call:
- he thought he was fine, but he was wrong
- but the reality is that he was on fast track
- for major problems or early death
He felt fine, but he was not fine:
- it is the same with the Ephesian Church
- they had no clue they were in critical condition
I feel like we need to:
- take a moment and ask God
- to give us a heart check and
- to have God reveal if He truly is STILL our First love.
Staying in denial about our hearts condition doesn’t benefit us:
• If we have unhealthy hearts,
• we need to know if our hearts are far from God
• we can ask God to reveal that to US
Psalm 139:23-24 in the Bible:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
EACH OF US is in danger:
• Of evaluating ourselves to be healthy, when we are not
• it is a serious matter of life and death
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
- Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)
My friend had to make life altering changes:
- to save and restore his health
- it may be that we need to make life altering
- changes in our life to save and restore our own souls…
Listen:
- it is easy to think this doesn’t apply to you
- or to think the message is for someone else
- who needs to get it together…
But the thing is this message is not for the lost soul:
- who is fighting against God
- this message is for the person in the PEW….
- Who thinks everything is fine, WHEN THAT IS A LIE.
2. The Church's Condemnation (Revelation 2:4)
Listen again to REVELATION 2:4
“But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
This is not a warning of coming danger:
- their salvation is in genuine peril
- the Ephesians weren’t in the process of leaving Jesus
- they had completed the act of leaving
If I am being honest, there have been times:
- I have gone through the motions
- not even realizing that my heart wasn’t right with God
- because externally I was doing the right things…
- but doing the right things is not enough…
God wants our hearts:
- for us to be in LOVE with HIM
- God is not satisfied with divided hearts or
- heartless actions
It is just that kind of legalism that God rejects:
"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'"
- Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)
What now?
- these Christians have left Jesus
- they have a heart problem?
- what is next?
They have turned their hearts from God:
- will he bring fire from heaven and burn them up?
- will he drop a giant anvil on them?
- will he say, “You had your chance…I’m done with you!?”
None of that. Not at all…
3. The Call to Remember and Repent (Rev. 2:5a)
Here are God’s instruction to those who’s hearts have wandered…
“Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you did at first;”
- Revelation 2:5a
In short, they wayward are commanded REMEMBER:
- remember where they fell from
- repent and do what you did at first
Here is $500 of free relationship advice:
- if you are not in love like you once were
- go back and do what you did when you were in love?
- what made you fall in love? Do that again?
Did you:
- spend time together? Do that.
- did you go to the movies? Do that.
- Were you interested in everything about the other person? Do that.
- Did you try everything possible to win their heart? Do that again.
It is the same for your relationship with God:
- Did you used to pray a lot? Do that again
- Did you read the Bible often? Do that again
- Did you journal? Do that again
- Did you seek time alone with God? Do that again
Come home to the loving father:
- REPENT and turn your heart back to God
- Come home to a loving Father
Remember God’s love and Repent:
- we are to return to the Lord
- and turn from whatever else
- was taking that number 1 position
4. The Consequences of Neglecting first Love (Rev. 2:5b)
Each of us can submit to the Lord or not:
- we are given free will
- God will not force himself into a relationship with you
- He loves you, but you must love Him back…it is your decision…
With decisions come consequences…for good or evil…
“…or else I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
Revelation 2:5b
Everyone in that Church was commanded to REPENT:
- if they choose to remain defiant
- God will remove them from His presence
- Hell is a place where God’s presence is absent.
It is truly a turn or burn situation:
- you can REPENT and COME Home to God
- but if you CHOOSE to live apart from God
- Hell is your destiny…
Do you know the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15):
It tells the story of a Jewish young man who:
• asks his father for his inheritance early,
• then goes off to live a life of extravagance and
• ends up wasting all his wealth.
Eventually, he finds himself in desperate circumstances and:
- starving to death with the pigs among the gentiles….
- He decides to return home, starving and empty handed
- hoping to be treated as a servant by his father.
Instead, his father:
• welcomes him back with open arms:
• celebrating his return and
• forgiving him completely.
The parable illustrates the themes of:
• repentance,
• forgiveness, and
• the boundless love of God.
The love and blessings the wild son received:
• were all contingent upon
• the repentance of the son
The story of the Prodigal Son:
- could have had a different ending
- had the son been stiff necked and unwilling to repent
- He would have died in a faraway land.
Do you know that God loves you?
- He loved us when we were His enemies….
- He loves us even when we have not returned that love
- Jesus died on the cross while we were still sinners
Too often we fall into the trap thinking that:
- if we would be more obedient that God would love us
- that if we wouldn’t mess up and sin then God would love us
- that if we were more or better that then God would love us….
But here is the secret: “God already loves you”
God does not love us:
- because we deserve that love
- or that we have earned it or are owed that love
- God loves us because He has chosen to love us!
And God is not in the habit of giving up on people…
2 Peter 3:9 (NIV):
"…Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Now is the time of Invitation:
- where we choose who comes first in our lives
- will continue to pursue our own will?
- will we chase after things?
Will we kneel down at the feet of Jesus:
- and worship Him
- turn away from the idols of this life
- and submit to Him and Him alone?
Will we surrender to God?
- to choose Him over everything and everyone?
- to put Him first in your HEART
Will you accept Jesus as your Lord and savior?
No one can force you to surrender….
The decision is yours and the consequences as well:
- will you follow Jesus?
- will you give Him your heart and obey the Gospel?
Many here have been a Christian for a long time:
- and today might be the day you say
- Lord, God I’ve been going through the motions
- and I need you to fix my heart
- I can’t do it on my own…Help me Lord!
Some here are running away from God:
- and it’s time to stop running
- it is time to come home
- it’s time to wave the white flag and surrender
On the cross:
? Jesus opened the door of salvation
? Forgiveness of sin, a fresh start, and a great future
? to everyone who would come to Him…
Will you come to Him today?
- the invitation is open
- respond while there is still time.
- will you come NOW?
