The Loveless Church

Good morning! (Daylight savings)

Revelation 1:10-11

Prayer

Just wanna say again how excited I am to be with you all going forward

What better way to start off than by jumping into a 7 week series in the book of Revelation?

Can seem daunting but I think this is going to start us off on a good foot (here’s why)

This is a letter

written to 7 real churches in modern day Turkey

Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea

John, writing from Patmos (island out in the sea), would have given this letter to a courier and he would’ve hit each one of these cities in this order as he travelled down the road

Real letter delivered by a real person who traveled down a real road to read these words to real people; 

These words were given to a real apostle who witnessed the real Jesus die on a real cross to save the real you

All of these people really existed: they were real churches with real problems

And yet, God, in His infinite power, knowledge, and presence, had more in mind than just these folks almost 2000 years ago

Number 7 (alarm bell): complete, perfection (7 days of creation, 7 “I AM” statements in John)

While these were real churches

Represent the church everywhere and the church forever

Same issues they dealt with are the same issues that we deal with today

Persecution, compromise, complacency

Over the next seven weeks I’m going to get to know you and you’re going to get to know me

As we get familiar with each other I want to ask you questions

Tough questions, thought-provoking questions; what aspects of our faith are strong and what aspects need work?

Check-up at the doctor’s office

Who are we going to be?

Will we be a church that falls apart in the face of adversity or will we be a church who overcomes?

Will we be who God has called us to be in this time, in this place?

v.1:9 (explain - John, Patmos)

Most biblical scholars believe that this letter was written after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70 (probably in AD 90-95)

All of John’s peers have been martyred

His brother James (Acts) killed by the sword, 

Jesus told Peter before His ascension that Peter would be crucified (John 21), 

Paul was likely beheaded in Rome at the order of emperor Nero

Historical (traditional) accounts for the other apostles as well (not in the Bible, I won’t get into them this morning)

They were all willing to die for their faith in Jesus, that Jesus is who He said He is

they all held to that truth and paid for it with their lives

No one is willing to die for something they know to be false

All of John’s friends have been killed, John himself has been persecuted (probably, again, according to tradition, even surviving an attempt to be boiled alive)

They can’t kill him so instead of wasting energy and firewood they send him to work in the mines on Patmos, in exile

(during personal prayer time he hears a voice and begins to have a vision

v.10-13

“Like the Son of Man” - John’s old friend, he knows Him; lived together, ate together, fished together, John saw Him transfigured on the mount and he saw Him crucified and he saw Him resurrected but something is different here

v.13-16

We’re all going to stand before this Jesus one day

What happens?

v.17

Encounter with I AM, fall down

No pride, not gonna ask Him any questions, 

atheists: “If God is real when I get to heaven I’m gonna give Him a piece of my mind.”

v.17-18

[Gospel]

v.19-20

Stars: angels, “messengers” (pastors)

Why are the churches lamp stands?

What do lamp stands do? Shine light

Church: our duty is to shine the light of Jesus in the worldV.2:1

Jesus has a close relationship with His church

We are His bride, our marriages to our spouses are meant to be a model to help  us to understand this relationship

He walks in the midst of these lamp stands

Jesus is not far off

Here and now, not in the future

VIII.v.2-3 (v.6, too)

This church has good doctrine

They believe the right things

Not confused on the triune nature of God, not ….pastors

Theology matters, doctrine matters

We ought to know the right things

how do we know what’s right?

Read your Bible

Be in church

Lord-willing we’ll be starting a Wed. night program sooner than later 

(I’m hoping by the first of the year we’ll have a plan in place and ready to jump on that - <PRAYER!>)

Even when that’s going, if the only time you’re in the word of God is Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, how are you going to be in tune with God’s will for your life? (Daily reading, prayer)

V.6

Likely a group that approved, promoted, or permitted promiscuity within the church

Jesus says that doesn’t fly

God’s design for male-female relationships was radically different than what it had become in the world

History tells us that Ephesus began as a bustling harbor town, 

once the harbor filled up with dirt the city turned to religious tourism

Home to the Temple of Artemis (Romans called her Diana), temple was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world

Tourism: fertility rituals, cult prostitution, locals would sell little silver trinkets and shrines to make money

Everything depended on what went on in and around this temple

Closest thing I can think of to compare this to is a sports franchise

Imagine Green Bay, WI (population 100K, smallest by far NFL town)

The Packers are the local economy, every home game (80K people) pumps $15mil into the town and the surrounding area (8,9,10..)

When they’re losing, the locals can feel it, hurts their pocketbook

Hotels are less full, restaurants aren’t quite as busy, people quit buying t-shirts and foam cheeseheads

NFL games kickoff at 12:00 noon

Imagine if there was a revival in Green Bay so great that Lambeau Field didn’t fill up until midway through the first quarter

People quit tailgating, people leave church and get there when they get there, they’re saying “this is less important than that”

All the vendors are saying “hey, this is killing our bottom line”

This is what has taken place in Ephesus, 

the church has exploded, 

people are hearing the message of Jesus, 

they are seeing miracles, they are repenting of their sins, 

and the church is booming

And the people who are making the money can feel it, so much so that a riot takes place (Acts 19)

You’ll hear in the seeker-sensitive movement in today’s church “I wanna be known for what I’m for, not what I’m against.”

As Christians there are things you ought to be for and there are things you ought to be against

Jesus commends the Ephesian church for being for the good stuff and for being against the bad stuff

And for standing strong in the face of this immense pressure and persecution

Repeat v.2-3

Not giving in, Jesus says “I see what you’re doing”

(“I love you, but…”)

v.4-5

Church started hot

Look at the leadership in this church

Paul helped to start the church, wrote 1 Corinthians while he was living there

The incredibly gifted teacher Apollos, Bible says was an “eloquent man & mighty in the scriptures” taught at Ephesus

Didn’t have the whole story (Acts 18), only knew of the baptism of John

Aquila and Priscilla, who traveled and taught with Paul, got him straightened out

Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase (team effort)

Timothy was the pastor here early on

Extra-biblical history points to John likely being an elder in this church

Dream team! Couldn’t ask for any better

But on Paul’s journeys (Acts 20), as he prepares to return to Jerusalem, he meets with the leaders at Ephesus and God lays it on his heart that wolves will come in and ravage their flock

Jesus gives this revelation to John warning that their lamp stand will be removed

And today? There’s no Ephesus, there’s no churchMark 12:28-31 – Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”  Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 

Our first love must be Jesus

To hold Him, His majesty, His glory, first (preeminent)

Heart, soul, mind, strength

His Gospel that He loved us enough to step out of Heaven and enter our reality to bring us back to Him

We get too caught up in “doing” and we forget about the loving

We worry more about tradition

We worry more about our comfort

We worry more about how we feel than we do about pouring in other people, evangelizing our friends or even the family in our household

In Mark, Jesus continues: And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Second follows first

Love Jesus, love your neighbor

What does it mean to love your neighbor?

Honest with them, not tolerant of their sin

If you believe that the only way to have eternal life in Heaven is to believe in Jesus then your people need to know that

Family, friends, neighbors are not here for your enjoyment or b/c they keep the yard across the street mowed and looking nice

They are image-bearers of the almighty sovereign creator of the universe

Don’t confuse tolerance with love b/c they are radically different from one another

If you don’t like the music in church, you can tolerate that

If you think the thermostat should be a little up or down we can tolerate that

We can’t tolerate sin

Love our neighbor enough to be honest with them (lovingly)V.7

What does it mean to overcome in the world today?

Remembering who Jesus is and what He did for us

Putting our faith, hope, and trust in Him and Him alone

I think this election Tuesday is incredibly important

God laid in on my heart to have this prayer meeting tomorrow night

Less about petitioning God that He will do what we want but instead to orient our hearts to Him

We’re gonna pray for safety for our country, for our leaders, we’re gonna pray that we will look to God and be satisfied in where He has us and where He leads us, pray that He will make us overcomers

If you overcome, then what?

“give to eat…..”

God’s gonna make all things new and I want to see you there

Will we be a loveless church? Will we be a church who folds under the pressure surrounding us today?

Or will we overcome? Will we be a church who loves God and gives thanks to Him

A church who stands in awe of Him, a church who never tires of basking in the good news of the gospel

A church who can’t stop talking about Jesus

<invitation>

PRAYER!