Ephesus was a wealthy, cultured city. But it was also a mor-ally corruptcity. In many ways, you could compare it to Wash-ington D.C., Dallas, Texas, Chicago, Boston, Amsterdam, or Ber-lin. If we could transport Ephesus into modern times, it would have its skyscrapers and snarled expressways. It was a place of commerce and culture, but it was infested
with corruption pros-titution, immorality, greed, and all kinds of evil. Many of its people were ensnared by black magic and most gave
cult-like devotion to the goddess Diana and the pagan worship associated with her.
When Paul preached there, the Scriptures tell us that might-ily grew the Word of God and prevailed. It also states that many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. These were genuine believers.
They had come to Christ, but had allowed ungodliness and compromise to remain in their lives. Brought under conviction by the preaching of the Word, they had publicly declared their devotion to Christ and renounced the ungodly deeds
they had clung to. The Bible further records that many of them also which used curious
arts brought their books together, and burned them before all: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of
silver. As these believers fell in love with Jesus, sin became intolerable. They burned their occult books purging from their lives that which was against God and had given Satan a foothold in their lives. In the estimate of the world, those books were of great value, but in the eyes of God, and in the eyes of those who loved Him, they were worthless. As the believers continued to separate themselves from the wickedness of their city, their impact was felt throughout Ephesus. Attendance at the Temple of Diana declined. The sale of idols fell off. No organized boycott was necessary because the believers were so in love with Jesus that they wouldn't tolerate or par-ticipate in the evil of their generation. Authentic, genuine love for Jesus produces a fundamental, separated, serving church membership. When Jesus directed these remarks to the congregation in Ephesus some thirty years later, they still had a fundamental, separated, serving church membership. But it was a different kind of fundamentalism thanwhat they began with.
It was sound in its doctrine, but defective in its love. It was right in its separation, but wrong its devotion. It still served with zeal, but its love had grown cold. Thirty years later, the church at Ephesus was in need of re-vival. Thirty years later, it needed to repent. We had better have ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches, because from Ephesus we learn the danger of fundamentalism.
I. Its Works Verses 2-3
A. A serving church
1. The word works tells that this was a busy church.
a. They went soulwinning
b. They had ministries for children, teenagers, and adults
c. This church had every kind of program and ac-tivity that a church can have.
2. The word labors tells that this was a hardworking church
a. Labors speaks of working to the point of fatigue.
b. These believers were not lazy.
B. A separated church
1. On the basis of decency would not bear them which are evil.
a. This church had standards and convictions
b. They stood for morally pure membership
2. On the basis of doctrine tried them which say they are apostles, and are not.
a. This church went by the Book, defended the Book, and exposed t't be supported by the Book.
b. They held the line on sound doctrine.
C. A steadfast church (Verse 3)
1. This church did not grow weary in well doing.
2. They persevered in spite of opposition, pressure, and persecution.
The church at Ephesus had the right stuff. If you had asked them, they would have, with a humble pride, pointed to their serving, their separation, and their steadfastness. And Jesus agreed with them.
As a fundamental church, they were right down the line. Yet, Jesus said they needed repentance, or they faced removal! These steadfast, stalwart, fundamental Christians had lost sight of the most important thing: love
for Christ. It wasn't that these believers had no affection for Jesus. Every one of them would have stood and fervently declared their love for Christ. It wasn't that they didn't love Him at all. It was that He was no longer first in their affections. And they never noticed. Jesus had to point it out to them.
II. Its Weakness Verse 4
A. A right performance had become more important than a relationship with Christ.
1. There had been a subtle change in emphasis from falling in love with Jesus to following the rules.
2. The emphasis was on conforming to a standard rather than commitment to the Savior.
3. This church was doing everything right, but for the wrong motive.
B. It's hatred of evil surpassed its love for Christ
1. It could not bear those that were evil, but it had left its first love for Christ.
2. It hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, but had left its first love for Christ. This is the danger of fundamentalism. If we are not careful, defending the fundamentals of the faith will replace a sincere, consuming love for Jesus. We forget that a passionate love for Jesus produces a serving, separated, steadfast Christian.
1. You can't walk with Jesus and wallow in the mud
2. You can't stay close to Jesus and continue in sin
III. Its Warning Verses 5-7
A. Remember
Ephesus looked like anything but a fallen church. Yet, Jesus said they had fallen. They had not fallen into immorality. They had not falleninto doctrinal error. They had fallen from their first love for Christ. Once Christ had been at the center of all they did. Now, religious
activity had taken His place. That is why Jesus introduced Himself as the one in the midst of the candlesticks. They needed to remember that Jesus must be at the heart of all that a church does.
B. Repent
1. Repentance is always, primarily, a change of mind.
2. These believers needed to fall on their faces before God andacknowledge that though they talked about loving the Lord, their real love and their real zeal had been for their creed and their convictions.
C. Return - do the first works
1. What did Jesus mean by the first works.
a. He could mean first in time the things you first did as a church.
b. He could mean first in importance the things that should come first in our relationship to Christ. I lean toward the latter because, in the sense of time, they were doing the first works. They were still doing all the things they had done when the church was young. They were still win-ning souls. They were preaching the truth. They upheld godly standards. But they had left off the most important works the things essential to having a passionate love for Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 23, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for meticulously paying tithes, but omitting what Jesus calls the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. Then He says, These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
2. The Ephesians had been exemplary in their service, their separation, and their steadfastness, but they had neglected doing the things that would keep their love for Jesus burning white-hot in their hearts.
3. The serving, separation and steadfastness were right, but it was wrong to do those things as a habit or duty, and not from a heart that has been changed by a deep and passionate love for Jesus
D. Reward
1. Throughout Scripture, life is always linked to Jesus
a. In
b. In John 11, Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.
c. In John 14, Jesus said, I am the life.
d. In 1 John 5, we read that He that hath the Son hath life.
2. I believe that the Tree of Life represents Jesus.
God's promise to the overcomer which has to mean in this context, the one who restores Jesus to the place of first love is that He will eat of the tree of life,He will feast on Jesus.
Conclusion
The lesson of the Ephesians is:
1. You can be sound in your doctrine, and shallow in your relationship to Jesus.
2. You can be busy FOR the Lord, but hardly spend any time WITH the Lord.
3. You can be passionate about your convictions, but pas-sive in your relationship to the Lord.
Would you say that your love for Jesus is first love devo-tion? Is there a fire burning in your heart to know Him more, to spend more time with Him? Is He first in your thoughts? First in your activities? First in your priorities? Practical steps to returning to Jesus as your first love:
1. Make an appointment a specific time to get alone with Jesus everyday. Put Him first before the Televi-sion, the computer, whatever.
2. Begin a habit of reading your Bible, each time asking God to speak to your heart to show you something meant just for you.
3. Close your time with prayer.
a. Praise God for who He is and what He does, espe-cially as He is revealed in your daily reading.
b. Petition God for the things you need and for the needs of others
c. Put Jesus first, yielding to His will and giving Him permission to workin your life.
It will probably be awkward at first just like a boy and girl justgetting to know each other. But if you will persist in doing this each
day, you will find yourself falling in love with Jesus. You will look forward to your time with Him. You will see Him working in your life. And you will become a serving, steadfast, separated believer who is passionately in love with Jesus.
