STAYING ON COURSE

Revelation 2:1–7 (ESV) — 1 “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. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Revelation 2:1–7 ESV

1 “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. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

I. AN ORTHODOXY NOT ROOTED IN LOVE

Revelation 2:1–4 (ESV)

Revelation 2:1–4 ESV

1 “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.

Leaders or Angels? We are seeing spiritual realities that cause us to look at the world differently. (Daniel 6:21; 9:21, 23;10:12-13, 20-21)

Works that please God aren’t merely the right actions; they have a specific quality, colored and animated by love.[1]

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 (ESV) — 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

“What is it that happens to people between the wedding day, so joyous, so earnest, so sincere, and the day the divorce papers are signed? What happens to parents between the day the child is born and the day they complain about that bothersome, frustrating brat? What happens to us between the day a loved one is diagnosed with some awful condition and the day that loved one, whom we cherish, becomes a burden? In each case—divorced spouses, frustrated parents, burdened family members—what happens is a loss of first love. Gradually, almost imperceptibly what was once done from passionate fervor becomes little more than a duty, a chore.”[2]

II. REMEMBER AND REPENT

Revelation 2:5-6 (ESV)

Revelation 2:5–6 ESV

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. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

In our apathy and boredom, we may hate nothing and confuse our apathy and tolerance with love, falling into the errors of relativism and pluralism. At the same time, the Ephesian church may have overreacted, so that their zeal for truth squelched love for God and for one another (Rev. 2:4).[3]

III. PRAY FOR EARS TO HEAR

Revelation 2:7 (ESV)

Revelation 2:7 ESV

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Revelation 2:2-3 (ESV)

Revelation 2:2–3 ESV

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.

[1] Schreiner, T. R. (2018). Revelation. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Hebrews–Revelation: Vol. XII (p. 571). Crossway. [2] Hamilton, J. M., Jr. (2012). Preaching the Word: Revelation—The Spirit Speaks to the Churches(R. K. Hughes, Ed.; p. 63). Crossway. [3] Schreiner, T. R. (2018). Revelation. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), Hebrews–Revelation: Vol. XII (p. 572). Crossway.