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FBC Baxley
1/29/2023 pm service
First Love – Revelation 2:1-5
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.
If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
PRAY
I. INTRODUCTION
A. What Is A Church?
Let me start with a question this morning – What is a church?
We know that THE Church is made up of all true believers, those who’ve been born again by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
But what about the local church – what makes a local congregation, a church?
According to the Internal Revenue Service, a church is a religious non-profit organization that’s been certified by a State government.
According to the State of California, a church is a non-profit group whose primary activity is religious instruction and service.
Those are the legal definitions of what a church is; but what about a more practical definition – what does the average person think a church is?
Well, if we asked the average man or woman on the street we’d probably get a whole range of answers about what people expect a church to be –
-some would say it’s boring pipe organ music followed by an even more boring lecture.
-others would say it’s a place people go to learn about God.
-several would describe it as the local community meeting of the town hypocrites.
-others would say it’s people who want to be more religious.
Opinions of what a church is would be about as numerous as the people asked.
B. What Jesus Says A Church Is
But all of that is just the opinions of men and women – what does God say?
What constitutes a local church in His eyes?
The answer to that is very different from what we might expect, as we see in our message.
C. Setting The Scene
When most people think of the Book of Revelation, they think of the fantastic visions the Apostle John had of the Last Days.
What many are surprised to find when they read the book for themselves is that it begins with short letters to seven local churches in Asia Minor – modern day Turkey.
Tonight, we’re going to be looking at the first letter – written to the Church at Ephesus.
D. Verse.1
“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:”
Each of the 7 letters begins this way.
a. Jesus dictates to John and tells him to write
the message is to be sent to the angel of each church.
But don’t let that word “angel” throw you…
The word means “messenger” and really, that’s the way it ought to be translated here.
Jesus certainly wouldn’t have needed John to pen a physical letter to a heavenly angel.
It’s better to understand the word as messenger, meaning the pastor of the church at Ephesus.
The pastor was the church’s messenger – he was the one responsible for declaring God’s Word to the congregation.
He was the one who gave the public reading of Scripture and would read the letters of the Apostles to the church.
Following the address of each letter, Jesus gives a brief description of Himself drawn from the vision John had of Him in chapter 1.
But what’s of interest about it is that in the descriptions Jesus gives of Himself at the beginning of each letter, they all have something to do with what He goes on to say about that church.
So here He says that He is the one who holds the 7 stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the 7 golden lampstands.
In chapter 1 we learn that the 7 stars are the pastors of the 7 churches…
and the 7 lampstands represent the 7 churches themselves…
**What Jesus is saying is that He is present in the midst of His church, where ever it may be.
He’s the one who guides the leaders of the various churches.
In Matthew 18:20, Jesus said –
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
Jesus is active in His church; He knows what's going on.
He attends the meetings and watches while the pastor studies and counsels.
He walks in our homes & sits with us at the dinner table.
He’s walking these aisles & sitting with us today.
In Leviticus 26:12 God said –
I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
E. Verses.
2-3
2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.
And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.”
Jesus says, “I know your works” - to all seven churches.
He knows what's going on & WHY
In Heb.
4: 13 we read…
“There is no creature hidden from [God’s] sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
We can react to what Jesus says here one of two ways:
1) Either this is deeply troubling
2) Or eminently comforting
If we’re living a double life, then this is troubling because we realize that what may be secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven.
And one day, the secrets of man will be revealed before all creation.
But what Jesus says here can also be eminently comforting… if, like so many of the original readers there in Ephesus – we’re being persecuted in some way for our faith.
There are all kinds of persecution, and the cost of discipleship is paid in many ways
We don’t face torture and martyrdom as many were in that day,
Or as is even being experienced by our brothers and sisters in Christ in places like the China or Russia, today.
But the age and culture we live in is still hostile to a genuine faith in Christ.
The persecution we face is more subtle, but no less real…
Like the shunning from relatives
mocking and belittling we get from work or classmates
even the criticism we endure from Christians who live compromised lives and feel convicted by our pursuit of holiness.
All of this may seem petty compared to torture, but it’s no fun when you’re going through it.
So it’s a great comfort to know that Jesus sees what’s in our hearts and knows that we do it all for Him!
Jesus says, “I know your works.”
- Does that trouble or comfort you?
In the case of the Ephesians, it sounds like a cause for comfort because He goes on to commend them for their diligence in service and in defending the truth.
This was one, hard-working church!
The word “labor” in verse 2 means exertion to the point of exhaustion.
And this was no “lighthearted” activity
Jesus commended them for being patient in their labor, for persevering in the face of difficulty, and for not giving up when things got tough and they were tired.
Ephesus was a busy church; they had a lot going on.
-this was the church of the 6 page bulletin
-the people understood that church isn’t meant to be a spectator activity.
-it’s a living organism –a body, in which each member plays a vital part in the health of the whole.
Besides being a busy church, Ephesus was also a faithful church.
-they had a Kingdom vision.
in other words, they didn’t see ministry as event- or program-driven.
They knew the Kingdom of God does not advance by staging events and devising new programs.
It grows through daily faithfulness that simply seeks to live each moment by faith in Him.
So they patiently persevered in the face of any and all obstacles, knowing Jesus is Lord and works all things together for good.
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