My First Love

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

On our trip to Tanzania, we noticed this vehicle on the road in front of us one day. My first thought was, “How in the world does a newlywed couple afford a safari to Tanzania?” I know when we got married, we were so broke that our honeymoon consisted of a few days in Las Vegas, because that was back in the days when you could get cheap rooms and free or cheap food there. Some of you here today are old enough to remember those days. We even had to borrow my brother’s car because neither of ours would make it that far.

But, since we we were just a few days away from our 48th anniversary, my second thought was “I wonder if they will still be in love like they are right now in 48 years”. Fortunately, I can honestly say that even though there were probably a few days in those last 48 years I might not have felt that, today I am more in love with Mary that that day we got married.

But I also understand that’s not true for everyone. I’m pretty sure that on their wedding day, no couple thinks that they will ever get divorced. And yet, in this country, almost half of all marriages end in divorce. So that means somewhere along the way one or both people in that marriage relationship abandoned that love that they had at first.

Tension

This morning we’re going to look at a letter Jesus sent to a church that had become a lot like many married couples who have advanced well beyond the honeymoon stage and who no longer exhibit that spark that was present when they first fell in love. But before we do that, let’s take a moment to set the stage.

Truth

Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation consist of a series of seven messages from Jesus to seven different churches that existed at the time John wrote the book of Revelation late in the first century AD. While the letters addressed specific situations that existed in these individual churches, they were also intended to be instructive to the universal body of Christ as a whole. Since the number seven represents completeness, there is a sense in which these seven churches together represent the universal church in its entirety. That seems to be confirmed at the end of each message when Jesus gave this admonition:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

So there is a sense in which all seven messages apply to every local body of believers. But at the same time, Jesus addresses specific issues in each local body to reinforce the concept that each local body is responsible for serving Him in a specific and unique manner. That is really important for us today because it means that the content of these seven letters is still very relevant to us today, nearly 2,000 years after they were written.

Some commentators, based primarily on the notes in a popular study Bible, have take the position that these seven churches represent seven ages, or dispensations, within the church age that began on the day of Pentecost and which will end when Jesus returns to the earth. Under that teaching, the church at Ephesus represents the apostolic church of the first century and Laodicea represents the apostate church that will exist just prior to the return of Jesus.

Not only is there nothing in the text that would support that approach, but the danger of this methodology is that it leads one to focus on trying to determine where the present church fits on that timeline, and therefore makes it easy to miss out on what Jesus wants all of us to learn from each of the seven messages.

With a couple of notable exceptions, these seven churches are addressed by Jesus using a common format for each of the seven messages. Because that structure is so critical to our proper understanding of the messages, I’m going to take a moment this morning to explain it.

Structure of the messages to the seven churches:

1. Church

Jesus begins by identifying the local church body to whom He is addressing the message. As we’ve pointed out already, these were seven actual bodies of Christ followers that existed in what is now Western Turkey in the first century AD. They were not the only churches in that area, but as we we will see in this series, Jesus chooses these seven for both practical and theological reasons.

2. Christ

In each of the seven messages, Jesus portrays some aspect of His character that is relevant to the church to whom the message is addressed. And each of those descriptions comes directly or indirectly from the portrait of Jesus that was revealed to John in chapter 1.

3. Commendation

With one exception, Jesus begins by commending the church for the things they are doing well.

Exception – Laodicea

4. Condemnation

With two exceptions, Jesus has a word of rebuke for the church.

Exceptions – Smyrna and Philadelphia

5. Counsel

Jesus doesn’t just rebuke the churches. He gives them some very practical instruction on what they need to do in order to capitalize on their strengths and to overcome their weaknesses. This is great, because it means that we already have a built in “application” section in each one of these seven messages.

6. Challenge

Jesus ends each message with an exhortation to hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches and then gives them a warning of what will happen if they don’t heed His counsel and a promise of what those who overcome by adhering to His counsel can expect to receive as a future reward.

Keeping that structure in mind, let’s go ahead and read our passage for this morning.

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.’

Here is the main idea we’re going to develop from this passage this morning:

Deeds and doctrine devoid of love are dangerous.

This was a church that was busy doing ministry. Jesus says that He knows their works, their toil and their patient endurance. In spite of a culture around them that has become increasingly hostile to disciples of Jesus, they continued to carry out good works.

There are a lot of churches in America today that would certainly receive this same commendation. They have all kinds of ministries and programs that are impacting lots of people. And Jesus says here that is a good thing.

It also seems that the church leaders in Ephesus had really taken to heart the warning given to them by Paul over 30 years earlier:

Acts 20:28–30 ESV

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

They had done a good job of keeping their doctrine pure and of protecting the church from false teachers and from the teaching of the Nicolaitins. We’re going to talk a little bit more about that particular group in a couple weeks when we get to the letter to the church in Pergamum.

We see here that holding to sound doctrine is important to Jesus. Unfortunately in our culture, it’s becoming harder and harder to find churches that are committed to teaching and observing biblical principles. Far too many churches have watered down their teaching, either by choosing to ignore portions of the Bible they don’t agree with or by twisting the Scriptures to fit into the culture better or to avoid offending anyone.

So we see here that good works and sound doctrine are good things and Jesus praises the church for them. I have to believe that after the church heard this first part of the letter, they had to be feeling pretty good about themselves.

But even though things looked pretty good on the outside, there was a problem on the inside.

One day, when he was 52 years old, my dad went to work. On the outside nothing appeared any different than any other day. But that day at work, he had a massive heart attack and passed away. Even though things looked fine on the outside, on the inside there was a problem with his heart.

Like my dad, the church in Ephesus had a heart problem, one that wasn’t visible on the outside, but which would prove to be fatal if it wasn’t addressed quickly and thoroughly.

That’s the problem Jesus points out in verse 4:

Revelation 2:4 ESV

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Obviously the important question we need to answer is:

What is “the love you had at first”?

There are two possibilities here. Although many commentators seem to want to pick one or the other, I’m convinced that Jesus leaves this intentionally ambiguous because He has both in mind:

Their love for Jesus

The people were so busy keeping their doctrine pure and doing things for Jesus that they had neglected their relationship with Him.

As a pastor this is a trap that I have often fallen into over the years. There have been times when I get so busy preparing a sermon or engaging in ministry of some kind that I have neglected my own relationship with Jesus.

And my guess is that all of us have a tendency to do that from time to time.

Their love for each other

It appears that the people had become a lot like the Pharisees to some extent. They had become so legalistic in their desire to keep their doctrine and their conduct pure that they had abandoned their love for each other. They had forgotten the words that Jesus spoke in the upper room shortly before going to the cross:

John 13:35 ESV

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Hopefully you’ve seen why I said earlier that...

Deeds and doctrine devoid of love are dangerous.

Application

Fortunately Jesus doesn’t leave the Ephesians without a solution to their problem. In a moment we’ll look at the three commands Jesus gives to this church - and by extension to us.

But first, I think it’s important to note what Jesus doesn’t say here. He doesn’t suggest that they quit doing ministry or that they become theologically lax or indifferent to the truth or that they give up. In other words they are not to try to cure one problem in a way that just creates even more problems.

With that in mind let’s use our remaining time to talk about...

HOW TO KEEP MY ‘FIRST LOVE” STRONG

Remember

Remember therefore from where you have fallen…

This first step is surprisingly simple. It’s not a feat reserved for spiritual giants but merely the childlike act of looking back on what love was like at the very first.

When I first fell in love with Mary, I couldn’t wait to spend time with her. And when I was with her, I didn’t want to leave. That often led to some late Friday nights when I had to be a work early on Saturday morning. But I wouldn’t allow something as insignificant as sleep to keep me from being with her.

For most of us, our relationship with Jesus began much like that. We were so excited about the fact that God loved us enough to pluck us out of the darkness and bring us into the light. We couldn’t wait to spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer and in corporate worship.

And we loved being around other disciples of Jesus and the fellowship we shared.

But if we’re honest, over time some of the luster of that new life began to wear off. We allowed the cares of this world to keep us away from our time with God. And rather than focusing on the needs of others, we became more judgmental and selfish.

Jesus says that the first step we need to take is to remember those early times. That’s why I often like to say we need to “re-gospel” ourselves every day and remember what God has done for us.

On a corporate level one of the most important ways we remember is to observe the Lord’s Supper together. That is a corporate act of worship where we participate jointly in a physical act that reminds us that we are all part of one body that Jesus created through His death, burial and resurrection.

But it’s not enough to just engage in the mental act of remembering. In fact the verb that is translated “remember” here conveys the idea of remembering in order to respond. That leads us directly to the next command:

Repent

...repent...

The Greek verb translated “repent” here is a compound word that literally means “to change one’s mind”. But if we look at how that word is used throughout the New Testament, we can develop a more complete definition:

repentance = “a change of mind, which leads to a change of heart, which leads to a change in behavior”.

The first step is to acknowledge to God that we’ve abandoned that love we had at first - our love for Him and our love for others. But that’s only the first step. We have to actually do something that is consistent with our changed mind and heart. That leads directly to the third command:

Repeat

...do the works you did at first.

If I have abandoned my first love, it’s certainly not because Jesus has moved. He’s right there waiting for me to return to the basics that allowed me to get to know Him when I first became His disciple.

I am convinced that one of Satan’s greatest tools is to get us to want something new and innovative. Sometimes as disciples of Jesus we get bored and we’re drawn to the latest and greatest programs, ministries, methods and teachers. And today, we have so much more of that available to us than at any time in history.

I’ve been a Christian for long enough to see so many Christian fads come and go. I’ve seen well-known preachers and Bible teachers who have drawn thousands or even millions of followers only to fall publicly.

I’m not saying that we can’t sometimes benefit from all the things we have available to us. Personally I’m grateful for some of the tools I have now that didn’t exist when I first became a pastor.

But in a sense, Jesus is telling us here to just keep it simple and do the things that we did to develop our relationship with Him and with others when we first fell in love with Him - read the Bible, pray, and have genuine biblical worship and fellowship with other disciples.

That’s one of the reasons we’ve tried to keep things pretty simple here at TFC. We don’t have a lot of ministries and programs because we want people to just focus on the basics.

Before we wrap up I do want to briefly look at the warning and the promise that Jesus gives to the church in Ephesus.

Warning

A loss of influence

Jesus warns that unless the church repents, He will come and remove their lampstand. We don’t have time to go into this in great detail, but it’s important to understand what Jesus is not saying here. He isn’t saying the people will lose their salvation.

I believe that the idea of Jesus removing the lampstand is directly related to something Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount”

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

It was always Jesus’ intention that any good works we do in His name are to reflect the light of Jesus in order that He would get the glory. When we do good works with the right heart - one that is motivated by our love for Jesus and for others - then all the attention is directed to Jesus and we have the ability to bring His kingdom near to others around us.

But when we do those same works out of selfish motivations, we lose our ability to influence others around us for Jesus. Although we can’t be sure how the church in Ephesus responded to this letter, we do know that sometime in the second century the church ceased to exist.

Promise

Before we look at the promise itself, we need to deal with the word translated “conquers” in verse 7. A leading Greek lexicon defines the Greek verb as meaning "to win in the face of obstacles, be a victor, conquer, overcome, prevail". In context here the idea is not so much one who conquers, but rather one who overcomes by patient endurance in the face of difficult circumstances. We can gain some further insight into the idea of overcoming from these words that John wrote in his first epistle:

1 John 5:4–5 ESV

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

From this passage, we learn that it is our faith in Jesus that provides the ability to overcome. In the messages to the seven churches, this idea is further expanded to show that overcoming is a result of the action of patient endurance which proves the genuineness of one’s faith.

So what do those who endure patiently receive?

More of Jesus

You’ll remember that we saw the tree of life back in Genesis 2. And it appears again in Revelation 22. I only had time to scratch the surface here, but the tree of life represents an eternal, intimate, life giving relationship with God - one that Adam forfeited in the Garden, but which is available to us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

We also know that in the Bible eating a meal together was a time of intimate fellowship - no TV’s, no cell phones, no distractions. So when we put all this together we find that the promise to those who patiently endure is more intimacy with Jesus.

Action

We’ve seen this morning that...

Deeds and doctrine devoid of love are dangerous.

So let me close with some questions for you to consider:

Do you love Jesus enough to put your faith in Him alone?

Do you love Jesus as much now as the day you first fell in love with Him?

Do you love others, especially those in the body of Christ the same way you did when you first put your faith in Jesus?

Are your doctrine and your works motivated by selfish desires or by your love for Christ?

What concrete steps will you take to remember, repent and repeat?

Inspiration

For their sake, I genuinely hope that this couple will love each other just as much 48 years from now as they do today. I can tell you from experience that’s a wonderful thing. But as good as that is, it can’t to begin to compare to the promise that we have from Jesus. If we’ll continue to grow our love for Him and for others each day of our lives we get the best gift ever - more of Jesus!