Don't forsake your first love
Text Revelation 2:1-7 Time 11/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist ChurchI thought that over the next few weeks we could look at the seven churches of the Book of Revelation. As some of you know the Book of Revelation was addressed originally to seven churches in what was then called Asia Minor. That is the part of the world that we know now as Turkey or Anatolia. Revelation has quite a long introduction but it reveals that it was written down by the Apostle John. He tells us (1:9-11)
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.We don't know the details but John was exiled by the authorities to the little island of Patmos off the coast there in the Aegean Sea and it was there that he had this tremendous vision of the Lord Jesus. The initial encounter is found in Revelation 1:12-19. John hears a voice first then he says
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.There is much more, of course – enough to fill 22 chapters in our Bibles. Chapters 2 and 3 contain specific letters to the seven churches. The order is not immediately clear but a messenger carrying the message from Patmos would have to travel 60 miles across the sea to get to the nearest of these churches – Ephesus (the one mentioned first). If you stick to the main road it would then be logical to travel north to Smyrna and further north again to Pergamum before looping east to Thyatira, further south to Sardis and then on to Philadelphia and Laodicea. The archaeologist William Ramsay once wrote of “the great circular road that bound together the most populous, wealthy, and influential part of the Province, the west-central region”.
What we find with these churches is that only the church in Smyrna receives unmixed praise and only the church in Laodicea receives only condemnation. Philadelphia is more praised than blamed and the church in Sardis is more blamed than praised. The others have a mixture of praise and blame.
This week we want to look at the first church, Ephesus, and we want to compare it with this church here and see how we measure up.
Ephesus was at that time a port at the mouth of the River Cayster. It was not only the nearest church to where John was in exile but it was also the prosperous capital city of that region and a city that its citizens were very proud of. It was home to the great temple of Artemis or Diana as the Romans called her – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was also a church that John had close connections with. Although Paul had founded the church there (his letter to them is part of the New Testament) and Timothy had pastored there for many years (as is clear from Paul's letters to Timothy) it seems that John eventually worked there as Pastor. So let's consider what John is told to write (2:1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus. There are a number of things to note.
1. Consider the character of Christ and his presence among his peopleIn each case the letters begin with a description of Christ drawn from the initial description in Chapter 1. Here it is These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. This is mentioned back in Chapter 1 - I saw says John seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," ... In his right hand he held seven stars. The imagery is explained in 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.Jesus promised that where two or three come together in his name that he would be among them and to be with his disciples forever. Here the churches are pictured as being like lampstands from the temple – they give out light. Jesus is like a high priest walking among them. Angel means messenger and the angels of the churches are probably their ministers. They are in God's hands. This was true of the church in Ephesus then and it is true of every church including this one. When we meet together Christ is among us and the minister is in his hand. That is something worth remembering.
2. Consider a New Testament church with many good points. Are they seen in us too?
This Christ goes on to speak firstly of the good characteristics of the church in Ephesus. He mentions at least three things. We should be seeking to emulate such good traits.
1. Productive
First, Christ says (2) I know your deeds, your hard work. The church at Ephesus was a working church. It was active. Everybody did something. We do not have any details here of what they did but they did things and they worked hard at doing them. It was a hive of industry. This is what churches that please Christ are like. He doesn't want us to be lazy or inactive but to work hard and to do what we can to take the work forward.
Are you playing your part? There is praying to be done, children's work to be organised and led, evangelistic outreach to be involved in. There is cleaning and repairing to be done to the building, rubbish to be cleared and weeds to be dug up, papers to be dealt with, etc. We need a small army of workers to get it all done. In Ephesus that is how it was. What is it like here?
2.Persevering
Christ also draws attention to their perseverance. In verse 3 he says You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Perhaps you can imagine what being a Christian in Ephesus was like. There was plenty of opposition to the church. People worshipped pagan gods and engaged in all sorts of occult practices we know. This led to strong opposition at times we can be sure. Despite the opposition, however, these people still persevered and endured in the faith. We know a certain amount of opposition too and sometimes it must get us down but we need to press on despite it. When we hear Jesus say I know ... your perseverance, it should encourage us to keep going. Don't give up!
3.Pure
The other great thing about the church in Ephesus was its doctrinal purity. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, says Jesus and that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. In verse 6 he adds this - But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. They were unwilling to tolerate those who practised wickedness. When people who were not apostles claimed to be apostles they tested their claims to see if they were true. We know nothing about the Nicolaitans but they were obviously a heretical group of the day whose teachings Jesus hated. The Ephesians were quite clear in their denunciation of this false teaching. They were determined to be orthodox and only to teach in the church what was true. Again the challenge is there for us. Isn't this what we should be aiming at? We cannot be indifferent to what is taught in the churches. We must seek to be orthodox and to conform to what is in Scripture.
So here is a church marked by productivity, perseverance and purity. What an example it is – an example we ought to follow.
3. Consider the one fatal flaw in this church. Is it something that we are guilty of too?
If the letter had ended there it would have been great but it could not end there for there was a problem in the church in Ephesus. In 2:4 we read Christ saying Yet I hold this against you. What is wrong? You have forsaken your first love. Whether this first love is human or divine is not spelled out but it would seem that it is their love for Christ that has been forsaken. The relationship between Christ and a church is to be like that between a groom and a Bride. We were at a wedding again yesterday in South Wales and I lost count of the number of times the groom told us he loved his bride. One of his best men made a joke about how John was willing to talk about Bethan ad nauseam. One hopes that he will continue to be as enthusiastic 40 years on. However, we know what married life is like. Sometimes you wonder if the husband really loves his wife at all, as he should. Something similar can happen in the relationship between Christ and a church or Christ and an individual for that matter. Certainly that is what had gone wrong in Ephesus.
Were they productive and hard working? They were.
Were they persevering – not giving up despite the trouble? They were.
Were they doctrinally pure, unwilling to tolerate any unsoundness? They were.
The problem was not a lack of productivity, perseverance or purity – the problem was the forsaking of their first love You notice it is forsake not lose as the misquotation often goes. This is not something that accidentally happens over night. No what happens is that the purity and the productivity become ends in themselves and the heart of the matter – love for Christ – is lost.
Is this us? Have we forsaken our first love? Are we like uncaring husbands or wives who have to say of their spouses – we're not in love with them any more? We must never forsake our first love. He must remain first and foremost. Nothing else must intrude.
4. Consider what those guilty of such a sin must doIn 2:5 Christ goes on to explain what must be done given that this problem exists in Ephesus. This time we can think in terms of two Rs.
1. Remember
The first thing is Remember the height from which you have fallen! We must not live in the past certainly but sometimes it is right that we look back and we see the changes that have come in our lives. Some of these changes are not for the good. As we have said, marriage is an example of a situation where a man may look back over his life and see that there has been a change and he no longer loves his wife as he once did. Such a realisation can save a marriage. Simply going on oblivious to the fact can be a disaster. So let's all look back and ask ourselves whether we have forsaken our first love. It is not a question of whether I do the same things I once did but whether I still love as I once loved.
2. Repent
The thing that should follow this remembering for the Ephesians is that they should do the things you did at first. This is real repentance – not just being sorry but trying to put things right. If we have forsaken our first love – as a church or as individuals – this is what we must do. We must turn around and start again. We mustn't be like a child that has fallen in a muddy puddle and is waiting to be picked up. We must get ourselves up and start getting back to where we should be – not in our own strength but in his – the one who was our first love. We need to stir each other up to it.
5. Hear the warning for those who refuse to take such steps
He goes on If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. If the lampstand is the church then it is pretty clear what that means. Verse 6 mentions the Nicolaitans - But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Christ is not saying that all is bad in the church in Ephesus. No, there are good things but to use football terms they have taken their eye of the ball. One can watch the ball and miss the man but one can also watch the man miss the ball. They have been caught watching the man instead of the ball. They are all taken up with these Nicolaitans instead of with Christ himself. We must not make that mistake. orthodoxy is important but not at the expense of forgetting Christ himself.
6. Consider the call to hear the Spirit and the promise here for those who overcomeAt the end of each of the letters we have similar words as in 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Here it is To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. To overcome is to overcome ones difficulties. Here it is this forsaking of the first love. It can only be done by remembering and repenting. The overcomer is promised the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. This is a promise of heaven. Without a return to love for one's first love, heaven cannot be attained.
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.We don't know the details but John was exiled by the authorities to the little island of Patmos off the coast there in the Aegean Sea and it was there that he had this tremendous vision of the Lord Jesus. The initial encounter is found in Revelation 1:12-19. John hears a voice first then he says
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.There is much more, of course – enough to fill 22 chapters in our Bibles. Chapters 2 and 3 contain specific letters to the seven churches. The order is not immediately clear but a messenger carrying the message from Patmos would have to travel 60 miles across the sea to get to the nearest of these churches – Ephesus (the one mentioned first). If you stick to the main road it would then be logical to travel north to Smyrna and further north again to Pergamum before looping east to Thyatira, further south to Sardis and then on to Philadelphia and Laodicea. The archaeologist William Ramsay once wrote of “the great circular road that bound together the most populous, wealthy, and influential part of the Province, the west-central region”.
What we find with these churches is that only the church in Smyrna receives unmixed praise and only the church in Laodicea receives only condemnation. Philadelphia is more praised than blamed and the church in Sardis is more blamed than praised. The others have a mixture of praise and blame.
This week we want to look at the first church, Ephesus, and we want to compare it with this church here and see how we measure up.
Ephesus was at that time a port at the mouth of the River Cayster. It was not only the nearest church to where John was in exile but it was also the prosperous capital city of that region and a city that its citizens were very proud of. It was home to the great temple of Artemis or Diana as the Romans called her – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was also a church that John had close connections with. Although Paul had founded the church there (his letter to them is part of the New Testament) and Timothy had pastored there for many years (as is clear from Paul's letters to Timothy) it seems that John eventually worked there as Pastor. So let's consider what John is told to write (2:1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus. There are a number of things to note.
1. Consider the character of Christ and his presence among his peopleIn each case the letters begin with a description of Christ drawn from the initial description in Chapter 1. Here it is These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. This is mentioned back in Chapter 1 - I saw says John seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," ... In his right hand he held seven stars. The imagery is explained in 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.Jesus promised that where two or three come together in his name that he would be among them and to be with his disciples forever. Here the churches are pictured as being like lampstands from the temple – they give out light. Jesus is like a high priest walking among them. Angel means messenger and the angels of the churches are probably their ministers. They are in God's hands. This was true of the church in Ephesus then and it is true of every church including this one. When we meet together Christ is among us and the minister is in his hand. That is something worth remembering.
2. Consider a New Testament church with many good points. Are they seen in us too?
This Christ goes on to speak firstly of the good characteristics of the church in Ephesus. He mentions at least three things. We should be seeking to emulate such good traits.
1. Productive
First, Christ says (2) I know your deeds, your hard work. The church at Ephesus was a working church. It was active. Everybody did something. We do not have any details here of what they did but they did things and they worked hard at doing them. It was a hive of industry. This is what churches that please Christ are like. He doesn't want us to be lazy or inactive but to work hard and to do what we can to take the work forward.
Are you playing your part? There is praying to be done, children's work to be organised and led, evangelistic outreach to be involved in. There is cleaning and repairing to be done to the building, rubbish to be cleared and weeds to be dug up, papers to be dealt with, etc. We need a small army of workers to get it all done. In Ephesus that is how it was. What is it like here?
2.Persevering
Christ also draws attention to their perseverance. In verse 3 he says You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Perhaps you can imagine what being a Christian in Ephesus was like. There was plenty of opposition to the church. People worshipped pagan gods and engaged in all sorts of occult practices we know. This led to strong opposition at times we can be sure. Despite the opposition, however, these people still persevered and endured in the faith. We know a certain amount of opposition too and sometimes it must get us down but we need to press on despite it. When we hear Jesus say I know ... your perseverance, it should encourage us to keep going. Don't give up!
3.Pure
The other great thing about the church in Ephesus was its doctrinal purity. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, says Jesus and that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. In verse 6 he adds this - But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. They were unwilling to tolerate those who practised wickedness. When people who were not apostles claimed to be apostles they tested their claims to see if they were true. We know nothing about the Nicolaitans but they were obviously a heretical group of the day whose teachings Jesus hated. The Ephesians were quite clear in their denunciation of this false teaching. They were determined to be orthodox and only to teach in the church what was true. Again the challenge is there for us. Isn't this what we should be aiming at? We cannot be indifferent to what is taught in the churches. We must seek to be orthodox and to conform to what is in Scripture.
So here is a church marked by productivity, perseverance and purity. What an example it is – an example we ought to follow.
3. Consider the one fatal flaw in this church. Is it something that we are guilty of too?
If the letter had ended there it would have been great but it could not end there for there was a problem in the church in Ephesus. In 2:4 we read Christ saying Yet I hold this against you. What is wrong? You have forsaken your first love. Whether this first love is human or divine is not spelled out but it would seem that it is their love for Christ that has been forsaken. The relationship between Christ and a church is to be like that between a groom and a Bride. We were at a wedding again yesterday in South Wales and I lost count of the number of times the groom told us he loved his bride. One of his best men made a joke about how John was willing to talk about Bethan ad nauseam. One hopes that he will continue to be as enthusiastic 40 years on. However, we know what married life is like. Sometimes you wonder if the husband really loves his wife at all, as he should. Something similar can happen in the relationship between Christ and a church or Christ and an individual for that matter. Certainly that is what had gone wrong in Ephesus.
Were they productive and hard working? They were.
Were they persevering – not giving up despite the trouble? They were.
Were they doctrinally pure, unwilling to tolerate any unsoundness? They were.
The problem was not a lack of productivity, perseverance or purity – the problem was the forsaking of their first love You notice it is forsake not lose as the misquotation often goes. This is not something that accidentally happens over night. No what happens is that the purity and the productivity become ends in themselves and the heart of the matter – love for Christ – is lost.
Is this us? Have we forsaken our first love? Are we like uncaring husbands or wives who have to say of their spouses – we're not in love with them any more? We must never forsake our first love. He must remain first and foremost. Nothing else must intrude.
4. Consider what those guilty of such a sin must doIn 2:5 Christ goes on to explain what must be done given that this problem exists in Ephesus. This time we can think in terms of two Rs.
1. Remember
The first thing is Remember the height from which you have fallen! We must not live in the past certainly but sometimes it is right that we look back and we see the changes that have come in our lives. Some of these changes are not for the good. As we have said, marriage is an example of a situation where a man may look back over his life and see that there has been a change and he no longer loves his wife as he once did. Such a realisation can save a marriage. Simply going on oblivious to the fact can be a disaster. So let's all look back and ask ourselves whether we have forsaken our first love. It is not a question of whether I do the same things I once did but whether I still love as I once loved.
2. Repent
The thing that should follow this remembering for the Ephesians is that they should do the things you did at first. This is real repentance – not just being sorry but trying to put things right. If we have forsaken our first love – as a church or as individuals – this is what we must do. We must turn around and start again. We mustn't be like a child that has fallen in a muddy puddle and is waiting to be picked up. We must get ourselves up and start getting back to where we should be – not in our own strength but in his – the one who was our first love. We need to stir each other up to it.
5. Hear the warning for those who refuse to take such steps
He goes on If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. If the lampstand is the church then it is pretty clear what that means. Verse 6 mentions the Nicolaitans - But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Christ is not saying that all is bad in the church in Ephesus. No, there are good things but to use football terms they have taken their eye of the ball. One can watch the ball and miss the man but one can also watch the man miss the ball. They have been caught watching the man instead of the ball. They are all taken up with these Nicolaitans instead of with Christ himself. We must not make that mistake. orthodoxy is important but not at the expense of forgetting Christ himself.
6. Consider the call to hear the Spirit and the promise here for those who overcomeAt the end of each of the letters we have similar words as in 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Here it is To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. To overcome is to overcome ones difficulties. Here it is this forsaking of the first love. It can only be done by remembering and repenting. The overcomer is promised the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. This is a promise of heaven. Without a return to love for one's first love, heaven cannot be attained.
