Rev 2:1-7 First Love
Notes
Transcript
First Love
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.’
Maybe this is how some of us feel right now about Christianity. Perhaps you’re just trudging through, hanging on, doing your duty.
As Jesus addresses the church in Ephesus He reminds us that the greatest commandment truly matters to God. Jesus identifies our greatest obligation to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:36–38; Deut 6:5), which declares to us that God is not pleased by obedience that does not flow from genuine love.
In Rev 2:1–7 Jesus mercifully reveals his glory to the church in Ephesus in order to call them to remember and repent from them the first love that he requires.
As we look at these individual letters to the seven churches, we’ll see a regular pattern:
• First, each letter is addressed “to the angel” of the particular church.
• Second, Jesus announces what he has to say and describes himself in same terms of the vision John had of Jesus, which he described in chapter 1.
• Third, Jesus tells the church that he knows them, and he describes what he knows about them in particular. Sometimes this includes words of commendation.
• Fourth, in most of the letters Jesus says, “but I have this against you,” and then he tells the church where they have gone wrong.
• Fifth, having announced to the church what he has against them, he calls them to repentance.
• Sixth, having called the church to repentance, Jesus threatens the church with the consequences that will follow if they do not repent.
• Seventh, the letters are concluded with a command for those with ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
• Eighth, the churches are motivated to heed the contents of the letter by the promises made to those who overcome.
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.
Revelation 2:1 opens with the words, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write …” The first church that Jesus addresses in these letters in chapters 2, and 3 is the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a significant city in early Christianity. Paul’s ministry in Ephesus is summarized in Acts 19, 20. The letter to the Ephesians was sent there, as were 1 and 2 Timothy, and 1 Corinthians was written from Ephesus.
Early church tradition indicates that the Apostle John ministered there; so the letters of John may have been addressed to issues in the churches in and around Ephesus. The isle of Patmos is about sixty miles southwest of Ephesus. We might also observe that there were probably a number of house churches in Ephesus. The book of Acts shows us that the early church met in homes. Only in the fourth century did the early church start to have buildings dedicated to church gatherings. When John is writing this letter from Jesus to the church in Ephesus, there wasn’t one singular church in Ephesus, but several individual house churches that met in different places in Ephesus.
Having told John who to write to in the first part of 2:1, the rest of the verse says, “ ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.’ ” That Jesus holds the seven stars in his right hand means that he has authority over the angels of the seven churches, because 1:20 identified those stars as the angels of the churches. That Jesus walks among the lampstands means that Jesus is present with his people, because 1:20 Jesus says that the lampstands are the churches. That means that Jesus is in the midst of the churches, and He is in control right now.
As Jesus addresses the church in Ephesus, he presents them with nine positive statements connected by “and” in 2:2, 3; then a sudden “but” introduces the one negative mark he has against them in 2:4. They are summoned to repent, and a final positive remark about how they are doing in 2:6 encourages them before they are commanded to hear and the promise to those who overcome closes the letter.
Revelation 2:2, 3 present one sentence in which Jesus states nine positive things he knows about the church in Ephesus:
9 Positive things: 1. I know your works; 2. I know your toil; 3. I know your endurance; 4 You cannot bear those who are evil; 5 tested false teachers; 6 found false teachers as false; 7 I know you are enduring patiently; 8 bearing up for His name; 9 Have not grown weary
1. Jesus tells them: “I know your works” (2:2). Jesus knows the good things they have done. Are you ever discouraged that no one notice that you help someone because you love Jesus? Jesus knows your works.
2. Jesus also says he knows their “toil” and …
3. their “patient endurance” (2:2). These first three characteristics Jesus knows about them have a similar ring—“works,” “toil,” “endurance.” The church in Ephesus was persevering.
4. Jesus also states that he knows that they “cannot bear with those who are evil” (2:2). The church in Ephesus was not able to tolerate evildoers. That’s a good thing. Even if the world thinks we are intolerant, we dare not win the world’s approval by hiding those whom Jesus identifies as evil.
5. Jesus knows that the church in Ephesus “tested those who call themselves apostles and are not” (2:2) …
6. and “found them to be false” (2:2). This testing and finding false these who claimed to be apostles seems to indicate that some people were going around to churches claiming to be messengers of other churches, but those claims were false. It may be that the Ephesian church was directly obeying the instructions in 2 John 7, 10 in this testing and refusal of these false messengers. There are false messengers today just as there were false messengers in the Ephesian church. We must know the gospel, know our Bibles, and know Christian theology so that we can tell the difference between someone who increases our faith in Jesus by telling us the truth about his greatness and someone who makes us feel good about ourselves by giving us pep talks and “encouragement” to rely on our own resources.
7. Jesus has commended the church for its endurance at the beginning of 2:2, and he returns to their endurance at the beginning of 2:3.
8. They are “bearing up” for his “name’s sake” (2:3).
9. And they “have not grown weary” (2:3).
We can summarize these nine good things that the Ephesian church is doing by grouping them into two categories: 1) deeds and 2) theology. Everything said about their deeds is good: they’re working, toiling, patiently enduring—stated in both 2:2 and 2:3, and they are bearing up for Jesus’ name. And everything said about their theology is good, too: they are recognizing the difference between good and evil, testing those who claim to be messengers of other churches, and refusing to recognize liars.
But the one thing that the church lacks, which Jesus will identify in 2:4, seems to indicate that the Ephesian church is persevering through without much joy, holding out with steadfastness but without the first love. It may be that they are slipping into a pattern of just going through the motions.
Jesus says, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Jesus doesn’t merely state what he has against the church in Ephesus—the abandonment of their first love, he gives them a plan of action to address this situation. In 2:5 we find the three-step program Jesus has for the church: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did 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.
The first thing Jesus tells the church in Ephesus to do is, “Remember” (v. 5).
I remember what it was like when my wife and I met and fell in love 8 years ago. I was zealous for her. That first love was passionate, fervent, diligent, disciplined, furious, all-consuming.
How long has it been since you felt that way about Jesus? Do you “remember” what it was that made you feel that first desperate, “sell everything and follow Jesus” kind of love? Do you remember what made you ready to throw your life away, to sell it cheap to follow the Glorious King Jesus?
How long has it been since you felt the holiness of God exposing all your selfishness and all the moral filth in your soul? Do you know that what God has against you is anything but trivial? Do you see the way that you have been proud more times than you can count? Can you number the times you have acted out of greed or lust or failed to act because of sloth or a lack of faith?
Have you sensed the weight of divine displeasure? Omnipotent divine displeasure? Divine displeasure that is altogether righteous, pure, unquestionably just, infinite in scope, and eternal in duration, matching the indescribable worth of the God whom you have offended?
And how long has it been since you felt the weight of all your guilt, realized anew that you had no deals to make, no appeasement to offer, nowhere to flee, and no hope that God might forget what you have done, only to experience anew the wonder of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus?
Because you trust Christ, all your guilt is freely pardoned. It is separated from you as far as the east is from the west. The steadfast love of the Lord toward you reaches to the heavens above, places a rock under your feet, and upholds that rock with a foundation that will never be shaken. You stand by faith in Christ fully forgiven, cleansed, sanctified, adopted, justified, welcomed, in a word, mercied.
This line of thought—from God’s holiness to our sin to God’s justice against sin to the provision God made for our salvation in Christ and the mercy he shows to those who trust him—this thinking on the gospel is what will fire anew our first love. And John has already proclaimed these truths in 1:5 when he described Jesus as the one who “has freed us from our sins by his blood.”
Just as thinking on your need for Jesus will fan the flames of your love for him, so also thinking on God’s mercy in giving you a spouse you don’t deserve will refresh your zeal for your spouse, and the same goes for our children and friends. Do you remember how you felt on your wedding day? Do you recall what you felt the day your child was born? What a privilege—that God would give us people to whom we can show the self-sacrificial love of Christ!
Maybe you feel that the things your church needs from you are a burden. Your turn to help with whatever ministry seems to come so often. You keep waiting for someone else to come up and help you, but no one else steps forward.
The solution for these “problems” is not for the church to hire someone to do these things. The solution is also not to quit either. The solution is for us to think about the gospel. When we meditate on the gospel, we become people who want to lay down our lives for others the way Jesus laid down his life for us. We become people who want to serve others the way the King served us. The gospel makes us want to love other people the way we have been loved.
When Jesus comes back or our appointed time on this earth is over. We will not wish that we had spent more time resting or spending it on ourselves. Someday we will wish we had served others more. Someday we will wish we had rejoiced at every opportunity to make sacrifices for others, for the church’s needs. The church is the discipleship program that God has given to his people. When the church meets, discipleship is happening as those who are farther along in Christlikeness act like Jesus on behalf of those who have farther to go. We all have a long way to go; so we should look around and observe the way other people are acting like Jesus, then imitate them. He didn’t come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). He was the greatest, and he was the servant (Matthew 23:11). The idea is for all of us to be living out Christlikeness for the benefit of others, so other people will see what it means to look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). The church lives out discipleship, and Christ is glorified.
Let’s rejoice in opportunities to display Christlikeness. Let’s “outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10). Let’s be glad that we have a church that we can serve. Meditate on the gospel. Do what Jesus says in 2:5: “Remember.” The gospel will make you want to serve others.
The second action step that Jesus gives the church in Ephesus is for them to “repent” (2:5). Turn away from the way of thinking that makes you presume on Jesus. Turn away from the things that make you lose sight of his worth. Turn away from the things that dull your appetite for the Bible. Turn away from the things that steal the time you have for prayer. Turn away from the pride and self-reliance that keeps you from the Bible and prayer and your need for Jesus. Repent!
What is it that keeps you from Bible study, prayer, reliance on Christ? Your soul depends on your ability to repent of those things so that you might cultivate the first love that Jesus wants.
My children don’t want me to reluctantly agree to read books to them or play with them. My wife doesn’t want me to reluctantly agree to spend time with her. Your spouse and your children can tell whether you are going through the motions, plodding along, persevering in doing your duty for them. They would rather have you joyfully delighting in loving them by seeking their happiness in what is best for their souls. They want you to love them, and Jesus wants no less.
The great commandment matters to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not honored by joyless obedience that plods along, proclaiming that other things are more exciting than he is, more rewarding, more intriguing, more stimulating. That kind of perseverance does not please him, and you won’t be able to keep it up for long. You will satisfy yourself on what you are convinced is most pleasurable.
The truth is that nothing is more satisfying than knowing God, and nothing will make you happier than following Jesus—which is to say, nothing will make you happier than treating other people the way Jesus treats you.
The third thing that Jesus calls the church in Ephesus to do is to “do the works you did at first” (2:5). These works done “at first” are probably the kinds of things people do when their minds and hearts are dominated by overwhelming devotion. Evidently this devotion had faded in the church in Ephesus, and here Jesus calls them to “remember” how things used to be, to “repent” of the things that have drawn them away from that devotion, and to “do the works” they did “at first” (2:5).
The seriousness with which Jesus takes “first love” can be seen in the way he threatens the church in Ephesus at the end of 2:5. Having called them to “remember,” “repent,” and “do” what they did at first, he then says, “If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” The lampstands symbolize the churches (1:20), so this is nothing less than a promise to un-church the church. If they do not repent, Jesus says that he will take away their standing as a church. The last words of 2:5 point to the only hope they have of maintaining their lampstand: “unless you repent.”
Why does Jesus take this so seriously? Why is he ready to remove the lampstand of the church in Ephesus? Because they have forsaken the first and greatest commandment.
The final positive characteristic that Jesus names about the church in Ephesus is found in 2:6, where Jesus says, “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” We don’t know who these Nicolaitans are. The only other place they are mentioned in the Bible is in 2:15. Because 2:14 mentions idolatry and sexual immorality, it might be that the teaching of the Nicolaitans inclined in those directions. The important thing for us to see, though, is that some ideas that get floated in churches—note that some in the church in Pergamum “hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (2:15)—Jesus hates.
Do you hate what Jesus hates and love what he loves? Do you know what kinds of things Jesus loves? There is one book in the world that will tell you all about those things. How interested are you in knowing the contents of that book?
So the church in Ephesus is doing nine things right and one thing wrong. But that one thing they have abandoned, the love they had at first (2:4), threatens to nullify everything that they are doing right. Loving God is the first and greatest commandment. Do you love him?
Believer or unbeliever, one sure way to grow in your love for God is to think on the gospel—God’s holiness and justice against sin, the peril of your condition, the provision made in Christ, and your need to trust in Jesus.
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.’
This first letter now concludes with a command for those with ears to hear: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7). Jesus speaks this way in the Gospels (Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8; 14:35). Notice that Jesus has been speaking, dictating this letter to John (2:1), but it is the Spirit who has been speaking (2:7). Notice also that while the church in Ephesus has been addressed (2:1), these words are addressed “to the churches” (2:7).
This letter to Ephesus closes with a promise at the end of 2:7: “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” This promise declares that those who conquer will enjoy privileges lost when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
In chapter 5:5, 6 Jesus is proclaimed as the conquering one. He conquers as the Lamb, standing as though slain. This points to Jesus conquering by faithfully doing what God called him to do. His conquest enables us to conquer, and in Revelation the saints conquer in the same way that Jesus conquered, through faithfulness to God even unto death. This is exactly what we see in chapter 12:11, where the saints triumph over Satan: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”
Those who conquer will eat from “the tree of life.” The tree of life will be infinitely satisfying, and those who fail to conquer because they prized other things over Jesus will feel infinite remorse. And that remorse will never end.
Look at Jesus, the one who died in your place, showing you steadfast mercy, and everlasting lovingkindness. Remember the way you felt when you first loved the one who first loved us. Repent, and do the works you did at first.