“The church Who had Forsaken Her First Love.”
Revelation 2:1-7

Intro:
Quite some time ago we studied from the book of Revelation in bible study and I thought at that time the section on the seven churches would make a good sermon series. Today I am going to begin that series on the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia. It’s a series of sermons which hopefully will encourage us to examine ourselves as a church and see what we can learn from these seven churches. Just to let you know I will refer to a lot of text but I will not necessarily read everything and may paraphrase some. Our reference scripture for today then is Revelation 2:1-7.

I’ll start with an old story that I have used before but it makes a point. There was a preacher who was preaching one Sunday evening, telling everyone how bad hell
would be and there was this one elderly gentleman who would habitually fall asleep every Sunday. The preacher got to the point in his sermon where he banged on the podium to emphasize how bad hell was, and he says, ‘In fact if anyone here really wants to go to hell, let them stand up now.’ Well, that sleeping man awoke at the thump on the podium, and all he heard was the ‘stand up part’ so he did. As you can imagine the whole congregation turned around to look at this guy in amazement. Until finally the man turned around and said, ‘Well preacher, I don’t know what we’ve just voted on, but it looks like you and I are the only ones for it!’

I. The point of that story is to remind us that we always need to be alert to what is being said from our pulpit on any given matter. And the only way to do that is to be awake. One of my pet peeves is when someone comes up to me and asks ‘how’s your church doing?’
a. Now I understand what they mean by that, but everyone needs to be aware I don’t have a church, nobody has a church, only Jesus. He died for it not me. He died for it not you. So instead of people asking, ‘how’s your church doing’? the real question should be how’s the Lords’ church doing?
b. The answer we give is always superficial, because it’s almost always based upon what can be seen, what can be heard or in some cases what can be felt. Superficial. But I wonder, is that the real church, or the church you want to see, or the church you want visitors to see? What is the real church like here in Chardon? What is it really like? Why do we need to know what Jesus’ church is really like?
c. The Scripture I’d like to refer to first is; Ezekiel 8:1-18 – I know this is a bit long so I will paraphrase this. In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of God came on me. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man which appeared to be from his waist down like fire, and from there up as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in a vision he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel. Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw the idol which provoked God to jealousy. And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.” Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug and saw a doorway there. And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls crawling things and unclean things and all the idols of Israel. In front of these stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand of burning incense. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
d. I wanted us to read that passage of Scripture to show us that God’s people could look great on the outside. The priests were still doing their duties and the temple was running smoothly with all the ceremonies still taking place.
e. But then as we read, we clearly saw that God’s people were filled with idolatry and even practicing it within the temple, worshiping all sorts of things. You see folks, we really need to know what the church is really like because Jesus knows the heart of everyone of us. He really does. And even if you claim to be a part of Christ’s church, but you really aren’t, then Jesus knows. There are people who act like they are part of the Lords church and they might be able to fool others but they can’t fool Christ.
II. In Revelation 1 we see Jesus standing in the midst of the seven churches and when we get to Revelation 2 we find Jesus walking among the seven churches. What we are going to see as we study these churches is that instead of the church giving its own evaluation on how things are going, Jesus is going to give His evaluation as to how they are really doing. Very often His evaluation may be opposite of what people think. Please turn your Bibles to 2 Ephesians and before you say there is no such letter, you’ll find it in Revelation 2 because it is the second letter to the church at Ephesus. You will also find that Jesus Himself is the author of this letter to the Ephesians.
a. Now let me give you some back ground information on Ephesus which I think may be helpful. Ephesus was a large important city on the west coast of Asia Minor where the apostle Paul founded a church. There were a number of factors which contributed to the importance of Ephesus.
i. The first factor was economics, Ephesus was the most favorable seaport in the province of Asia and the most important trade centre west of Tarsus. Another factor was size, Ephesus was the largest city in the province, having a population of perhaps 300,000 people.
ii. A third factor was culture, Ephesus contained a theatre that seated an estimated 25,000 people. A pretty impressive place for this time. The fourth, and perhaps most significant, reason for the importance of Ephesus was religion. The Temple of Artemis or Diana, at Ephesus ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. If you were around in Biblical times and thought of Ephesus, your mind would automatically think about the city where you would find the ‘temple of Diana.’
b. If you remember in Acts 19 we find in Ephesus, a silversmith by the name of Demetrius who made a living out of idol making, and he was causing all sorts of trouble for Paul and the other disciples. We have recorded in Acts 19:27 that Diana was loved and worshipped by people from all over the world. The original temple of Diana was destroyed many centuries ago but when it was rebuilt, it became one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
c. In fact it was so famous that Alexander the Great went there and he wanted his name carved on one of the 127 pillars of the temple. Alexander offered all the riches of his eastern campaign for the privilege but the city fathers turned down the offer. Even the mightiest mortal on earth at the time, couldn’t buy the privilege to have his name on a pillar in this temple.
d. No wonder years later the apostle Paul would write to the Ephesian church and tell them in Ephesians 2:19-22 that they were the temple, not of any old god but of the Living God. The history of Christianity at Ephesus began around A.D. 50, perhaps as a result of the efforts of Priscilla and Aquila as we read in Acts 18:18.
i. Paul came to Ephesus in about A.D. 52, establishing the church and staying there for at least three years as Acts 20:31 tells us. It was during that time that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and was faced with many opportunities to share the Gospel but also faced many problems as Acts 18:23-41 tells us. We also know that it was in Ephesus that Paul baptized believers who apparently came to know the Gospel through disciples taught by John the Baptist, Acts 19:1–5, and he strongly opposed the influence of magic, Acts 19:11–20.
III. By the time that John penned the words of Jesus in Revelation 2:1-7, the church at Ephesus was busy working for the Lord but… had a problem. They had no sincere love for Him. They had all the church programs but had no passion. They were a busy church with great statistics, but they were a church that was drifting away from their heartfelt devotion to Christ.
a. Ephesus was a busy church with high spiritual standards, the work had been difficult but they had not collapsed. Looking from the outside, in every way this church is what we would call a successful church. And from the outside people would look in and think that this is a church that deeply loves their God.
b. What we are going to see today is that Christ is also concerned about what we do with Him, as well as what we do for Him. To everyone else this was a greatly successful church but to Christ who is now walking amongst them, this church is in the process of falling.
c. Now notice how Revelation 2:1 begins. “To the angel of the church in Ephesus.” It is addressed to the messenger of the church and yet Revelation 2:7 says, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” In verse 1 it is addressed to the ‘messenger of the church’ but in verse 7 it is addressed to the ‘churches’. That’s us folks.
d. Let’s read the rest of Revelation 2:1- “These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;” John reminds them straight away that ‘Jesus holds the seven stars in His right hand’ which is figurative language which means, the life or death of the church resides within Jesus.
e. Paul himself says the same thing in Ephesians 1:22-23- “ and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
IV. Ephesus was a great city for debating, everyone loved to debate with anyone about life and religion. Both Paul and John are saying that Christ is the absolute Authority, there is no room for debating here. There is no room for debating the facts about what Jesus is about to say to this church. That is the point.
a. What does he say to the church in Revelation 2:2-3- “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.”
b. Now notice how Jesus begins to deal with their reputation, he begins by talking about all the things which are right with this church. All the positive things. They had a lot going for them and the Lord lets them know that He has seen all the good they are doing in His Name.
c. First of all He commends their service and says ‘I know your deeds’. Jesus recognizes that this church over the years since it was planted has accomplished many great things for the glory of God. They have been working hard and Jesus has seen their efforts. This was no “Sunday morning only congregation”.
i. They were actively serving the Lord wherever and whenever they could. They worked for the glory of God. In other words despite all the opposition they were receiving, they continued to work.
ii. The people in Ephesus did not appreciate these Christians or their zeal for the Lord and they opposed them publicly and sometimes physically as you will find in your reading of Acts 18-20. But these Christians endured the opposition and the persecution and they continued to serve the Lord faithfully in spite of everything thrown against them.
d. Secondly, not only does He commend their service, He also commends their separation. There are times folks when the church needs to stand for truth. These Ephesian Christians were quick to defend the truth, in so many ways. John tells us in verse 6, that they rejected the works of the Nicolaitans.
i. Now who are the Nicolatians? They are only named, not defined. But we meet them again in Pergamum (Rev.2:15). There they are closely connected with those "who hold the teaching of Balaam,". The Nicolaitans are identified by some of the early church leaders, as a sect who followed Nicolaus, the proselyte of Antioch, who was one of the seven called in Acts 6:5. The idea is that Nicolaus went wrong and became a heretic. But however they originated, they were known as perverts, with low morals, a sect that were loose thinking and practiced loose living. Thankfully the Ephesians couldn’t bear them.
ii. The Ephesians also exposed deceivers who claimed to be apostles. All in all we would say that they were morally and doctrinally approved… And don’t we need more churches like this today? I know the brotherhood has had our fair share of trouble over the years and some assemblies are guilty of not dealing with the opposition quickly enough. The Ephesians dealt with their opposition quickly and stood for what they knew was right. Despite all the opposition and all the trials that come from being followers of the Christ they hung in there and didn’t grow tired from it all.
iii. This should be encouragement to us today not to give up. Jesus sees all the good deeds this congregation is involved in. He sees how we are persevering, He sees how we struggle when people try to oppose the truth, He sees it all folks, because Jesus is amongst us.
iv. Outwardly the church at Ephesus looks great, the Ephesian Christians think that everything is going well and they are doing everything they are supposed to be doing. People on the outside and possibly even other churches of the Lord are looking at the Ephesian church and thinking, ‘wow, I wish we were more like that church’... That is until the reality check comes from Jesus.
e. After offering this church some words of commendation, Jesus now gives them some words of condemnation. Revelation 2:4- “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”
f. There is nothing like bursting your spiritual bubble, is there? You can’t help but almost hear the disappointment in the words of Jesus. Jesus says, while they look good on the surface, there are problems in the heart that must be dealt with. Notice how Jesus wants them to know that this is a personal matter.
i. Jesus is grieved by the problems He sees in this church. Jesus looks at these people whom He loves and for whom He died and tells them that they simply do not love Him like they used to.
ii. You know in physical terms it would just break our hearts if our husband or wife said this to us, wouldn’t it? How much more do you think it must have broken Jesus’ heart to write these words to his children in Ephesus?
iii. How would we feel if Jesus said, ‘church, I know you’re very active for me and I see everything that you’ve done and continue to do to glorify My Father, but church, you’re just breaking my heart right now.’ ‘And the reason you’re breaking my heart is because you are serving Me out of a sense of duty, rather than out of a sense of love’. The church of Ephesus was active in the Lord’s work, but they were serving because of duty and not out of a fervent love for Him. In a sense they had become like Martha.
iv. In Luke 10:38-42- “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
v. The church in Ephesus was like Martha, who labored, but not out of love. I am reminded of what the apostle Paul says over in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3- “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
g. The Ephesian’s first love was Jesus Himself and His church. But because they had become obsessed with being doctrinally pure, they were actually departing from loving Jesus and His brotherhood in the process.
i. We know we can’t tell people how much we love Jesus, if we won’t obey His commands. We can’t tell people how much we adore Jesus, when we refuse to submit to Him. I wonder if it is also possible that the Ephesian church had forsaken their first love in terms of their eagerness and joy.
ii. Let’s ask ourselves, are we just as enthusiastic and filled with joy today as we were when we first became a Christian? How many times have we attended worship without any enthusiasm? How many times have we thought about worship as if it is a chore, as if it is something that we just have to do, to tick the worship the Lord on a Sunday box?
V. The reason we get so tired or just go through the motions of worship and religion is because we neglect our love relationship with God! Now we may not notice that we don’t love God as much as we used to… but believe me God does.
a. In Jeremiah 2:2 God said to his people, “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me.” A bride that is deeply and passionately in love with her husband one night when she gets into bed, does not then wake up in the morning and not love him anymore.
b. That’s not how it works. What happens is, over a period of time that relationship gets taken for granted. Over time they go through the routine of relationship and after time they realize that they just don’t love each other like they did at first. Our relationship with God and His people goes the same way. We gradually forsake God, we gradually forsake each other and over time we realize that there is a problem in the relationship.
VI. Please remember this. Jesus did not write to hurt the Ephesian church. I hope you understand this from the message; it is not done to hurt. He writes to help them. He offers words of commendation, and words of condemnation. Now He is going to speak a word of correction. He’s going to tell them how they can fix that which is wrong in their congregation.
a. Revelation 2:5 “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
b. Jesus says remember or ‘consider how far you have fallen’. Here is a church which was flying high in their own eyes but Jesus says remember how far you have fallen. He wants them to remember that moment when they first came to know Him. He wants them to reflect on what He did for them. He wants them to recall all the excitement and emotion of those early days with Him. He want them to look back to a time when their love for Him motivated everything they did… He wants them to recognize that although they thought they were flying, they had actually fallen.
c. Folks, some of us need to remember as well. Some of us have been saved so long, that we have lost the thrill of those early days. Can you remember what it was like when you first came to Jesus and the weight of your sins was lifted from your heart? Can you remember when your heart was tender and you felt at home in His church talking to Him in prayer any time and anyplace? Can you remember when you got excited because the saints were getting together just for the sake of getting together?
i. I wonder folks, how is it now? Can we honestly say that we are still in love with Jesus and His people today, like we did at first? If you don’t love Jesus and His people like you did before, the cure is repentance. Change your mind about it and let that change of mind result in a change of conduct.
ii. But what exactly is it we have to repent of? Well what happened? We have allowed things in the world to come before the Lord. We allow our families, fun, work, and yes,even church work, to take His place in our hearts. We need to get back to the start, reclaim that emotional, extravagant, first love and fall head over heels in love with Jesus and His people once more.
iii. When was the last time we asked God to give us that burning love for Him like we did at the start? How long has it been since we were open and unashamed in our expressions of love for the Master?
d. Jesus says we need to repent of our coldness and fall in back in love with Him all over again. Notice that repentance leads to action. The Ephesian church was to do the things they first did. In other words, their good deeds were to be motivated by love again. Remember that Jesus saw all their good deeds but they were serving without love. He says I want you to continue in those good deeds but with the motivation of love behind them.
e. Do we attend fellowship meals out of a sense of duty or because we really do love one another and want to spend some extra time together? Do we get together for Bible studies out of a sense of duty or because we love God and really want to know Him more and fall in love with Him even more? Do we fellowship out of a sense of duty or because we really do want to encourage each other? Folks we need to take this seriously because Jesus takes it seriously.
VII. He says to the church in Ephesus, if they don’t repent, then ‘He will come and remove their lampstand’. He’s not talking about the second coming here, because His coming totally depends on whether or not they will repent. In other words, if they do repent He won’t come and remove their lampstand but if they don’t repent, He will.
a. You know we’re living in times of the threat of terrorism in the world. Terrorism isn’t our greatest threat, there is a bigger threat and that is Jesus coming to remove our lampstand. If the congregation at Ephesus doesn’t remember, repent and do something about it, then destruction will come upon them.
b. Ignatius, who was one of the apostolic church fathers, said that ‘the church in Ephesus must have listened to and obeyed Jesus words for a while anyway’. But folks, where is the church in Ephesus now? There’s no church there now and there hasn’t been for a long time.
c. Jesus visited Ephesus and removed the church, the candlestick, it’s gone. The most industrious men of Jesus’ day were the Pharisees and Jesus says to them in Matthew 23:27- “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” Do you see the connection? The Pharisees prided themselves in doing what was right according to the law. Yet what they really were like was corrupt.
d. Jesus continues and says in Revelation 2:6, look at this closely. “But you have this in your favor: Yea! Some good news. You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” What is it the Ephesians hate? The Nicolaitans?, No the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Jesus says He hates the practices of the Nicolaitans just like the Ephesians do. In other words, love the sinner but hate the sin, hate the deeds but love the people. He does not say He hates them, He says He hates the practices.
VIII. Then in Revelation 2:7- He says; “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
a. Do we hear folks? We are victors in Christ whether we live or die. We are victors in Christ, when we remain faithful in good times and hard times. Our reward for our faithfulness is the right to eat of the tree of life in heaven.
b. Look what John says in Revelation 22:1-3 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.”
c. John tells us that the tree of life is by the water of life. It is the food and the river and the drink of the saints. The tree of life stands for spiritual sustenance; it is the ‘food’ of the righteous. It reminds us of the events in the garden when man had unbroken fellowship with God. So whether by life or death, here or hereafter, the victorious Christian is secure. Folks, let’s continue in our good deeds but let’s ensure that everything we do is done with the same motivation of love for God and His people like we had in the beginning.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. Romans 10:17 tells us to hear the word; Mark 16:16 teaches us that we must believe in Jesus; Acts 2:38 instructs us to repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God as we find in Matthew 10:32. Peter tells us we are to be baptized for the remission of our sins in Acts 2:38… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps you are in the assembly today and your need is to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.