When Love has Ended
Notes
Transcript
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
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.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Introduction:
Introduction:
Love for Jesus Christ is within all true believers, but it is subject to fluctuation as to intensity.
All Christians love the Lord Jesu Christ, but not all love Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength as they should.
Of all the characteristics of a Christian, the supreme characteristic of a Christian is love for his Lord and God.
When Jesus said what was the single greatest commandment of all the law, He said:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
He challenged His disciples to make love for the Lord the highest priority of their life.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
He asked Peter three times:
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
To fail to love the Lord as we should is sin and it is a sin that needs to be addressed in the individual lives of believers and in the churches.
And there is no better illustration of this fluctuation of that love then the illustration of the Church at Ephesus.
Jesus addresses a letter to the Pastor of the Church Ephesus to address the problem of chief love.
Christ addresses the Commendation, the Concern, the Correction, and the Consequence.
I. The Commendation (vs. 2-3, 6)
I. The Commendation (vs. 2-3, 6)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Even though the indictment against this Church was very serious, there were some things that the Lord could commend them for doing.
Jesus said “I know,” that is the word “οἶδα” and speaks about full and complete knowledge of something as opposed to progressive acquisition of knowledge.
The Lord Jesus Christ knows everything that there is no know about the Church; both good and bad.
And before rebuking the Church for what they have done that is wrong, He first commends them for what they have done right.
Jesus just does not say that he is merely familiar with their works; but that He has full detailed knowledge of everything that they are doing.
Nothing every escapes the attention of our Sovereign God.
Since He is seen as the one that is walked in midst of the seven golden candlesticks, He knows all things that are related to the Church.
And we know from verse 20 of Revelation 1 that the candlesticks that John saw in his vision are representative of the Church.
So, we see Christ walking in the middle of the Churches observing everything that they do.
That is why He says in verse 2 that He has full knowledge of what is going on in the Church.
What does the Lord haver full knowledge of regarding this Church?
A. Their Exertion (vs. 2a)
A. Their Exertion (vs. 2a)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
The Lord Jesus says that I have full knowledge of your deeds, how that you exert yourself for me.
He says to the Church, “I know what you are involved in, I have full knowledge of your victories and I have full knowledge of your defeats.”
Do not think that they go beyond the scope of my recognition.
You know, may times when the Church goes through battles, we sometimes feel that the battles are more numerous than the victories.
And it can and does surely seem that way at times.
But listen, Church, The Lord Jesus Christ is telling us that He sees everything that we are doing and everything that we are going through.
Nothing that we do goes unnoticed by the Christ of the Church.
Jesus said the Ephesian Church, I have full knowledge of what you are doing.
Now, we also need to understand that there are times when that is a bad thing, because sometimes we do not want the Lord to know what we are doing because there are times when some people in some Churches are not doing anything.
The Lord says to the Ephesian believers that I have full knowledge of your works; I now what you are doing.
I see and have full knowledge of your exertion.
B. Exhaustion (vs. 2b)
B. Exhaustion (vs. 2b)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
The Lord says, “I know your labor.”
The word “labor” is the word “κόπος” and it means to engage in activity that is burdensome, to toil, to be weary.
The Lord Jesus tells this church that I have full knowledge of the fact that you spend your time being in this that are burdensome, things that cause you to be weary.
Christ praises this church for the fact that they work for Him to the point of sweat and exhaustion.
“Church,” He says, “you work hard, you labor to the point of weariness.”
Listen, this is the kind of toil that takes everything of the mind and muscle that a man or woman can put into it.
These believers labor for Christ was with major effort.
They were toilers, they worked to the point of exhaustion for Christ.
These guys were not the type of Christians that wanted to box seats.
They were not the type of Christians that wanted to be entertained.
They wanted to be involved.
They just did not want to get the fruit of the harvest, but they were willingly to plow, plant and so the harvest.
These people were aggressive and active.
And these believers were up against it.
You can read about the founding of the Church in Acts 19 and from the moment that Paul came to the coast of Ephesus and found a band of believers that had been baptized in the name of John and then baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ, trouble started.
These believers went into the synagogue:
And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
These believers were also determined.
And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
But this labor did not come without reward.
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
But this labor also did not come without trouble.
There was a silversmith in the City of Ephesus by the name of Demetrius.
And his job was to make idols for temple worship of Dianna.
Well, when Paul came and people began to trust Christ, then the demand for the status went down.
So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
This caused a riot in the streets of Ephesus.
And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
Christ says that I know the work that you have given to the point of exhaustion.
So, the Christ of the Church commends the Church for her exertion and for her exhaustion.
C. Endurance (vs. 2c)
C. Endurance (vs. 2c)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
I know everything about your work and that you have worked to the point of exhaustion for the cause of Christ, but I also see your endurance.
Patience is the word “ὑπομονή”:
the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty, patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance
Christ praises them because they were determined to continue in the midst of trying circumstances.
Now, it is important that this word does not denote a grim, fatalistic resignation, but a courageous acceptance of hardship, suffering and loss.
And this commendation that Christ gives the Church is that, despite their difficult circumstances, the Ephesian believers remained faithful to their Lord.
Even though they were being beaten and tried by the ungodly society, they were patiently enduring the hardship.
And their endurance was commended in three ways.
1. Patience (vs. 2d)
1. Patience (vs. 2d)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
This Church was intolerant of sin, you still have a holy standard; that is the idea there.
In the assessment of Christ, this church was characterized by service, steadfastness and sanctification.
We could say that they had a sensitivity to sin.
You cannot tolerate evil men, they were in the habit of practicing Church discipline.
The Apostle Paul had written to the Church some years earlier:
and give no opportunity to the devil.
And this Church had given place to the Devil.
They resented evil and they resented the evil doers.
Would you please note that the text does not say that they could not endure evil, but it says that could not endure evil men.
Let me remind you that neither can God.
You have probably heard throughout your Christian life the well-meaning statement, “Well, God hates the sin but loves the sinner.”
And we have to be careful about that phraseology because the Scriptures say:
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
And it is not the sin that God will punish for eternity in heaven, it is the sinner.
And in some marvelous, balanced way God hates the sinner, but also loves the sinner.
And this Church not only hated the sin, but had an aversion to the sinner, who is inextricably bound together.
The psalmist also had a healthy hatred of the sin and the sinner.
I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
This Church endured and was praised by Christ because they had no patience for those evil men.
They hated people that were mortally bad with a holy hatred.
They knew that a little sin would spread rapidly and infect everyone, so they took measures to keep the sin out of the Church.
Listen, believers who perform good works through external toil and internal endurance is unable to put up with the deeds of evil people among them.
A follower of Christ tolerate evildoers who refuse to repent but persist in doing evil.
So, this Church is praised by the Lord because they endure and one of the ways that they endure is that they have no patience towards those who do evil.
2. Precision (vs. 2e)
2. Precision (vs. 2e)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
False teachers pose a constant threat to the Church.
Jesus Christ warned of this:
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
John, in his second Epistles, warns as well:
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
The Church at Ephesus, because it was a coastal city, had to deal with many itinerant missionaries who entered the Church brazenly calling themselves apostles.
But Christ praised this Church because they had put these self-proclaimed apostles to the test and found them out to be counterfeit.
“Tried” is the word “πειράζω” and means to put on trial and to make proof of their claims.
Not only did this Church have the discernment enough to see the false, but also had enough knowledge of the truth to be able put these men to the test of veracity.
This Church had a biblical standard, they had a statement of faith by which they measured men; they knew what they believed.
This Church was doctrinally solid.
They were precise about what they believed and it was that precision of Scripture that they used to combat the false apostles that would enter the Church.
They were solid, theologically!
This Church displayed their endurance by their lack of patience with those men.
This Church displayed their endurance by their precision in the doctrines of Scripture so that they could test the false apostles and; thus, protect the truth.
3. Persistence (vs. 3,6)
3. Persistence (vs. 3,6)
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Through all the difficulties that this Church for forty years, through all the hard labor, and the patient enduring or trials, their refusal to tolerate evil, and their spiritual discernment, they maintained their power to withstand hardship or stress.
Jesus Christ said this is what the true believer would do.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
These people stood for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ and they did not grow tired.
Now, verse six, we are not sure who the Nicolaitians are; however, we do know that they are mentioned in the letter to the Church at Pergamum.
One of the seven men appointed in Acts 6 to oversee the distribution of the food was a man by the name of Nicolas.
Some have suggested that Nicolas was a false believer who became an apostate but who retained his influence in the Church because of hid credentials.
Whoever he was or what the system of belief was, we know from the petter to Pergamum that the Nicolaitians are linked with Balaam’s false teaching that led people astray by leading them into immorality and wickedness.
The deeds of the Nicolaitians, it seems, involved sensual temptations leading to sexual immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols (2:14) without any regard of the offence that such action all in the name of Christian liberty.
Revelation 1–11: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Commendation
Irenaeus wrote of the Nicolaitans that they “lived lives of unrestrained indulgence” (cited in Tenney, Interpreting Revelation, 61).
Revelation 1–11: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Commendation
Clement of Alexandria added that the Nicolaitans “abandon themselves to pleasure like goats … leading a life of self-indulgence” (cited in Barclay, The Revelation of John, 1:67).
This Church was so string that it did not tolerate this kind of stuff.
Jesus says, “I know all about your exertion, I know all about your exhaustion, I know all about your endurance; how you cannot patience with evil men.
I know all about your endurance that you are biblically discerning enough that you put to the test those that claim are Apostles and found them to be liars; you are a doctrinally strong church.
I know that you hate false Doctrine, as I hate it, Christ says.
So, these are things for which the Lord Commends them.
This was a good, godly, strong, and biblical Church.
But listen, what you do is not as nearly as important as to why you do it.
This Church was doing all the right thing, but we see the next thought.
II. The Concern (vs. 4)
II. The Concern (vs. 4)
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Despite all the praiseworthy things that the Lord had to say about the Ephesian Church, the penetrating, omniscient gaze of the Lord Jesus Christ had spotted a fatal flaw.
Though they had maintained their doctrinal orthodoxy and continue to service Christ, that service had degenerated into mechanical orthodoxy.
There was a time in which the love that the Church had for the Lord was exceedingly strong.
Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
But forty years later the affection of the first generation of believers had cooled.
The current generation was maintaining the doctrine handed down to them, but the had left their first love.
Remember the days in your personal walk with the Lord and how serving the Lord for you was new every time?
And then, if you are not careful, little by little, the sin causes the excitement to wear off and then you begin to so things out of mechanics and not love.
That is what had happened in the Church of Ephesus.
Something happens in Churches because it happens in the lives of the individual believer.
Notice the commandment that is given by our Lord:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Notice the progression.
You know that your love for the Lord is waning when your love for your neighbor is waning, when the love for other Christians is waning.
Because genuine love for the Lord Jesus Christ instinctively leads to expressing love for the neighbor and other believers, because loving them is an expression of love for the Lord.
Now, that does not mean that there is not some love for the Lord Jesus Christ, just like Christ was not saying here that they had NO love for Him.
That is why Christ uses the adjective “first” when He speaks about their love for Him.
“First” is the word “πρῶτος” and it speaks about “first in importance,” “chief,” “foremost.”
Christ used this Greek word like this:
He is not saying that there is no love there, He is saying that the love that your love for Christ is not the best it can be, it is not the most important thing anymore.
Because so many times, believers get in a situation that they are so busy doing and doing; going and going that they forget the real reason why.
They are doing all that they do for obedience sakes, yes!
But, obedience without true genuine love of Christ does not cut it.
Listen, it is when the Church gets to the point in its existence that is no longer acts as the propagators of truth but as caretakers and custodians.
The Church is not doing anything new, just trying maintain what we have always done.
Listen, you are either growing or you are dying.
A Church is either growing or it is dying.
We may love the Lord, but do we love the Lord with out heart, mind, soul, and strength?
Listen, faithful, consistent service without genuine, prioritized love for the Lord does not cut it.
Doctrinally stability without genuine, prioritized love for the Lord does not cut it.
Listen, why do believer fail in their love for the Church?
Why do believers fail in their love for their fellow believer?
Because they have first failed in their love for Christ.
The Scripture give us two examples of the grave danger of the spiritual apathy, illustrated when Israel’s love for God cooled.
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.
I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
It is like this ladies, if you husband came home and said, “I do not love you anymore but nothing will change.”
Is that enough?
“I will still earn the living, I will still eat with you, sleep with you, drive with you, I will still father the children and be your husband. Nothing will change, I just do not love you anymore.”
Or husbands your wife comes home and says, “I do not love you anymore, but nothing will change.”
Now, we cannot imagine saying to the Lord, “Lord, I do not love you like I once did, that is gone. But I just want you to know that I will still come, I will still sing, i will still give, I will still even believe the truth, I just do not love you.”
People become indifferent, if this is not brought in check, to the ministries and the people of the Church when they first loose love for Christ.
And ultimately, when indifference sets in and there is no repentance, usually all things that we promise the Lord we will do, we stop doing.
Listen, not that there is no love, but it is not the love of chief importance; it is not the first love of priority.
Just think of it: It is possible to serve, sacrifice, and suffer “for My name’s sake” and yet not really love Jesus Christ.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Christ and the Churches, Part 1 (Revelation 2)
The Ephesian believers were so busy maintaining their separation that they were neglecting adoration. Labor is no substitute for love; neither is purity a substitute for passion. The church must have both if it is to please Him.
When a husband and wife’s love grows common place and they begin to take each other for granted, the marriage is in trouble.
When believers in the Church, take the love of Christ for granted, then the love for Christ is in danger, as well.
The loss of a vital love relationship with Christ can open the doors to spiritual apathy, indifference to others, love for the world, compromise with evil, judgment, and, ultimately, the death of the Church all together.
It is only as we love Christ fervently that we can serve Him faithfully.
So, there was much that Christ could and did commend this Church for; however, there was a deep trouble for which He had great concern.
III. The Correction (vs. 5)
III. The Correction (vs. 5)
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.
Jesus Christ never gives a concern where He does not give the correction to the concern.
Jesus gives the Church three steps in the correction.
A. Remember (5a)
A. Remember (5a)
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.
“Remember” is “μνημονεύω” and it is in the present, imperative; keep on remembering.
So, often spiritual declension comes from forgetting.
Remember the moment that you fell and go back there, because that it where your walk with the Lord will begin again.
Listen, you will never truly be right with the Lord if you come out of sin by trying to just pick up and go on.
You must pick up where you left off, that is the idea of Christ.
The Church must recall their former position by review their own Church history and as the history is reviewed thy must acknowledge the fact that they have changed for the worse.
We must look back on each of our own lives and we must look back on the life of the church; remember where we were 2 years ago, 10 years, 25 years; are we worse, are you worse.
If so, Jesus has this answer in step #2.
B. Repent (vs. 5)
B. Repent (vs. 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.
This is where all true reconciliation starts, a deliberate rejection of the sin.
There must be a deliberate rejection of the sin of not loving Christ first and foremost.
C. Repeat (vs. 5c)
C. Repeat (vs. 5c)
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.
The Church must get back to serving for the proper reasons that we serve.
And if the case is that we have lost the ministries that used to be, then we need to remember, repent, and repeat those.
And if the case is that we have lost to chief love for why we do the ministries, then we need to remember, repent, and repeat those.
Perhaps it is you personally that has lost the chief love for your Lord and then for your Church.
Remember, go back to the place the you lost that love.
Repent, deliberately make a decision to confess and forsake that sin.
Repeat, the work that way that you did it when you loved Christ chiefly.
Because if not, the results of that are pretty serious.
IV. The Consequence (vs. 5d)
IV. The Consequence (vs. 5d)
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.
This is not the second coming.
He is say, “You are a good church, you have a great reputation, you have a great ministry, but if you do not change, you are going to have nothing. I am going to come and it is over.
WOW!
Unless you repent, I am going to come to remove the lampstand.
The lampstand represents the Church.
Your church will be gone, it will be terminated.
Did it happen?
That is the sad part because yes, it did.
Today, there is no city and there is no Church.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Ephesus is a bleak reminder of a Church that did not heed the letter and light went somewhere else.
This was a great Church, did all the right things on the outside, but love for Christ as supreme was gone and everything became mechanical.
Listen, service is nothing without love.
Be certain to maintain your first love.