Untitled Sermon (10)

When you look back on your life, the hardest days that you have ever lived are by far the days that you remember the most— and sometimes, the harder the climb, the more enjoyable the view.

It was Victor Frankl who noted: “Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler taught, but a quest for meaning.”

Romans 8:28 puts is this way: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

The greatest days of the church at Ephesus were the hard ones— the first ones. The first love that the church at Ephesus had with the Lord Jesus was powerful— and special.

Few NT glimpses provide such a great contrast as does the church at Ephesus:

It is a story that takes us from the TORCH to the TRASH HEAP

Revelation 2:4-5: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 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.”

Decades before, the Apostle Paul had entered into the darkened culture of Ephesus and brought the life of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ..and my, my, my, think what happened when God through Paul turned the lights on in that city!

Ephesians 5:8: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”

Ephesians 5:13-14: “But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

What happened to the church at Ephesus?

The Praise Declared

Problem Described

-left first love

Their affections had cooled. Their pursuits, softened. Yes, they were still the bride of Christ…and yes, they were going about the works of religion— but they were merely going through the motions. At once, their love for Jesus was palpable— and the works they did were done FOR him— someone noted,

“What was once a love relationship cooled into mere religion. Their passion for Him became little more than cold orthodoxy.”

What work impresses God? OUR WORK FOR JESUS! OUR LOVE TO HIM! OUR AFFECTION FOR THE SAVIOR!

I’ve sought with the Lord’s help to make this a Jesus Church.

Our creed? JESUS

Our doctrine? JESUS

Our program? JESUS

Our dependency…our expectation…JESUS, JESUS, JESUS!

The book of Ephesians is all about WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE HAVE in Christ.

to these, Jesus is the answer

The Prescription Delivered

Keep it all about Jesus!

“The first works must always drive every other work.”