The Seven Churches of Revelation: Ephesus

Church our question, “What in the world is going on”, has led us further into the book of Revelation than I anticipated. We are now looking at the second point of the outline of Revelation, “The things which are” or the present age. The church age. While these two chapters speak to churches in John’s day, they also speak directly to us today. How? Because these seven churches represent seven types of churches today. Let me be more direct. These seven churches represent seven types of Christian today.

Today we consider the church at Ephesus. Let me ask have you ever been in a situation or have you ever noticed that you can do a hundred things right and nobody notices or says anything, but, when you mess up, when you do one thing wrong, people will come out of nowhere to point it out. That ever happen to you?

You go to work. You show up 15, 20 minutes early, before anyone else. You turn on the lights, you start the computers, you unlock the doors. You do this, not once, but every day. It’s not your responsibility. Your boss didn’t hire you to do this. Its just one of those things, it needs to be done, somebody has to do it, you’re available, so you do it. No one notices. No one really cares that you’re doing it.

Then, one day, you oversleep. Maybe the power went out, maybe you didn’t sleep well, maybe you don’t feel well, whatever the reason, you oversleep and you get to work, just like everyone else, right on time. You walk in, the first thing your co-workers say to you is, “Where have you been? The lights weren’t on. The doors were locked. The place was a mess.” Let’s just forget about the hundreds of times you’ve been early and done all this, let’s focus on the ONE TIME you were late.

It’s easy to feel unappreciated in a situation like this. It’s natural to feel as if you’re being taken for granted. Like no one notices what you’re doing. Church, Jesus notices what you’re doing. Look at Revelation 2:1-3

Revelation 2:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2 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.

This church was great! They were doing a great work for God. Jesus lists out seven things they are doing right, we looked at them as we go. Isn’t it great to know that Jesus notices what you are doing when no one else does. Isn’t it great to know that Jesus knows what you are doing, but guess what, more than that, Jesus knows “why” you do what you do.

Notice Jesus listed all of the good things they were doing, but then we come to Revelation 2:4

Revelation 2:4 KJV 1900

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Here is the terrible truth: None of the “what” they were doing mattered because of the “why”. This church had lost sight of the fervency they once possessed in Christ. They had abandoned their “first love”. J. Vernon McGee put it this way,

“They had lost that intense and enthusiastic devotion to the person of Christ”

How is your love and devotion for Jesus today?

If I were to ask you to take out a sheet of paper and rate your devotion to Jesus using a scale of 1 - 10, with 1 being the indifferent and 10 being enthusiastic, how would you rate yourself?

If you find that your love and devotion to Jesus have slacked off, I want you to know there is hope for you. Jesus Himself shows us this in Revelation 2:5

Revelation 2:5 KJV 1900

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Today, if your devotion is slipping then Jesus is calling you to...

Remember

Memory is a powerful thing! The word here means more than to just think about, it means to rehearse something in your mind.

In this case Jesus is telling the Christians in Ephesus who were busy, but burned out to remember the joy they had when they were first saved!

For too long they had been going through the motions. They had been doing the same thing day in and day out because they felt they “had to”.

Listen, you are not doing God any favors by being obedient to Him! If you think that you are doing God a favor when you witness to someone, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. The reason you ought to want to witness to someone is because you don’t want them to go to hell.

God saved you when you were a sinner bound for hell. Do you remember what that felt like? When you feel like you are losing your joy in living for God, then remember what it felt like that moment when you realized your sins were forgiven, when you would never have to face eternity in hell? Christian, if your love and devotion to Jesus has faltered, it is not His fault, it is because you have forgotten what it felt like to be close to Him. Jesus is calling you to remember “from whence you have fallen”, where you once were. The closeness you once had. It’s your’s you can reclaim it, how ? If you will...

Repent

To repent is more than just confession. We often are quick to confess our sins, but not to repent. When you confess your sins, you simply admit you have done wrong. Confession is the first step, but repentance is the second. When you repent you are turning away from your sin, turning back toward God.

The cure for leaving your first love is two fold:

Confess

Many people today have grown cold in their walk with the Lord, they don’t even miss the closeness they once had.

Christian, if you have grown cold in your walk with Jesus, you need to realize it is a sin!

God saved you, not just so you would not have to go to hell, but because He desires close, intimate fellowship with you. If you have lost the desire for this then you need to confess it as sin to Him and then, the second step...

Repent

Turn you back on your cold indifference, forsake your lack of enthusiasm, and turn back to God!

That is what repentance is!

What does repentance look like? How can I restore my love and devotion?

When you want to draw close to God, to rekindle that closeness you’ll spend time in His Word.

When Melanie and I first started “dating”, I spent a good part of my day, when I should have been listening to my teachers, thinking about her.

I spent a good part of my “free time” writing her love notes

We spent a good chunk of our time on the phone, talking to each other about nothing really.

We met between classes, at break time, at lunch time, before school, after school, during school....just to spend some time together!

Why? Becasue I cared about her! She would hand me a note, and I couldn’t wait to read it! Why? Becasue I wanted to know how she felt about me!

When you want to be close to someone, when you want a vibrant relationship, you will want to spend time with them!

When you could be spending time reading God’s Word and getting to know Him better, what do you find yourself doing?

Are you still wondering why you are not as close as you used to be?

When you want to be closer to God you will spend time in prayer

When you love God you will tell others about Him

Church, I hope you understand my heart today. This is serious. Notice the warning in this verse, “…or else I will come and remove thy candlestick.” The implication is that if a church loses its vision of reaching its community with the gospel, God has the right to put out that church’s light.

Let that never be said of Parks Crossroads Christian Church.

There is hope. Jesus tells us to remember, Jesus tells us to repent, and Jesus calls us to...

Return

“…do the first works...”

To repent means to turn.

There are Christians today that once walked with God but today are imprisoned by sin. That did not happen by accident.

There are churches today that years ago preached the gospel, warned of hell, told sinners that God loved them that are no longer serving God with the same fervency, no longer preaching the gospel. That did not happen by accident. Somewhere along the way there was a decision made that led them down that path.

God says, “Return. Do the first works.” But God warns, “Or else, I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

There is hope today. Church there is hope today!

Conclusion:

You say, What hope is there?

You’re alive! God is calling you to:

Remember - Remember the joy you had when you first got saved. Remember the love you had for God when you first trusted Him. Remember the excitement you had when you read your Bible. Remember the urgency you sensed in telling others about how God saved you! Remember!

Repent - Today if you don’t have the joy you once did, can I tell you something, God didn’t change…you did!

Return - God is calling you to repent, but more than that, He is calling you to return! Return to the joy you had when you were first saved, return to the excitement you once knew! Return to Him!

Notice that Jesus condemned the church as a whole, but He called to the individual: “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear...”

Today Jesus may be calling you…pray.

Invitation: Is Jesus calling you? If you are saved today an you know that you are saved will you raise your hand in testimony?

For those of you who raised your hand that you know you are saved, I wonder if there are some of you today that would raise your hand again honestly, that you are “leaving your first love.” God has spoken to you and the Spirit of God has shown you that you are not as excited as you once were, that you lack the joy you once had. Would you raise your hand today? Now, that you have admitted that, what are you going to do about it?

Not everyone could raise their hand earlier that they know they are saved, but guess what? Jesus is still calling out to you! Today all you need to do is trust that the Bible is true. It starts right here:

Admit to God you are a sinner…He knows it already, but do you? If you will acknowledge the fact that you were born with a sinful nature and because of that you cannot see God and you are doomed for eternity in hell.

Believe what the Bible says: God loves you and Jesus died for you. He took your place when He died on the cross and to be saved all you have to do is believe.

Call upon Him to save you: Right where you are if you understand you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, if you believe that Jesus died for sinners, and that includes you, if you will call on Him to forgive you He will do that right now.