7 Churches of Revelation
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The Forgotten Love of the Ephesian Church
The Forgotten Love of the Ephesian Church
Good afternoon, church! Today begins the study of a new teaching series entitled, “The Churches of Revelation.” Open your Bibles to the book of Revelation, chapter 1:9. For those you who don’t know, Revelation is the last book in the Bible.
As you turn to Revelation, I would like to read a couple of brief journal entries from the 40th president of the US, that being President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan kept a handwritten, daily journal, which I believe has been published. In reading these brief entries, I want you to forget about your political position for a moment, and consider how the church impacted one of the most powerful leaders in the world at that time.
Because of the nuclear crisis with the Soviets and growing tensions in the middle east, on May 15th, 1981, President Reagan wrote:
“Sometimes I wonder if we are destined to witness Armageddon.”
~President Reagan, May 15, 1981
Again, on June 7th, he wrote:
“Got word of Israel bombing of Iraq - nuclear reactor. I swear I believe Armageddon is near.”
~President Reagan, June 7, 1981
2 undeniable facts from the president’s journal entries:
The influence of the church’s theology and doctrine on the surrounding culture is inescapable.
Every generation since the ascension of Christ have wondered about the end of the world.
The word Armageddon is found only once in the Bible, in Revelation chapter 16:16. It is a picture of the final battle between the forces of darkness and light.
It’s absolutely astounding how much the idea of Armageddon has infiltrated culture. Nearly every great action & adventure movie or story plays on this theme.
Additionally, President Reagan like so many throughout history have wondered about their own struggle with the forces of darkness in their time. We are no different.
Personally, I think it is a great distraction to focus all of our attention on trying to predict the end of the world. After all, even Jesus Christ did not know when the end would come, but said only the Father knew the time. Matthew 24:36 is the reference.
So, while we don’t know when the end will come, we must keep our focus set on the things that God has called us to do.
The church is not called to predict the end of the world, but to faithfully love God all the way to the end.
On that note, lets read the passage in Revelation. Pay attention to how Jesus views the church and the world, and the role of his church in the world.
Revelation 1:9-2:7
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
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.’
RECAP:
John, while a Roman prisoner on the Island Patmos, got a vision from God.
He got the vision on the “Lord’s Day,” or Sunday. It is called the Lord’s Day because it is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. It’s also the reason we gather on Sundays.
In the vision, John was terrified by the glorified Christ. He became as one who was dead. The intense holiness and glory of God exposes all of our sin. This is why many will find all excuses for rejecting Christ on Judgment Day will be useless.
The scene reminds us of the book of Daniel and a vision that the prophet Ezekiel had.
Jesus strengthens John by laying His hand on him, comforting him in the truth and by building up his faith by revealing His Lordship... as the one who conquered death, and who holds the keys over life, death and hell.
This touch from Christ reminds us that there is no one else like our God and there is no other way to be saved from our sins apart from receiving grace in Christ.
But what is the point of this entire episode? Is it to scare a now elderly, John into a heart attack? No! Jesus has a message for his church!
Let me repeat that: Jesus Christ has a message for His church.
Jesus gave John insight into how He viewed His church.
John is shown a vision of Christ standing in the midst of 7 golden lampstands which represent the 7 major churches in Asia Minor. The number and description of the golden lampstands is significant.
The number 7 in scripture tends to denote “completeness.” These churches were capable of doing the work of bringing light to what was Asia Minor.
Secondly, the lampstands are made of gold. This speaks to the value of the church to Christ. Gold is costly and Jesus shed His own blood for His church. She is more important to Him than any other association among man.
Lastly, lampstands serve the purpose of lighting up darkness. The church in every generation and in every location is called to be a lampstands that provides light to a world full of darkness.
This is important! Christ sees the world as being full of darkness. And He sees His church as being called to reflect His light in the midst of the darkness.
This means that the church does not look to the world for truth and morality, we look to Jesus Christ.
Additionally, the church is not called to be intimidated by the darkness but to overcome it with light, to scatter the darkness because of the Christ in us.
From the lampstands, we move on to the 7 stars or angels. Some argue that the stars represent human leaders of the churches. In the book of Revelation, the term “angel” or “angels” is used 77 times. On 69 of those occasions, it is clearly understood that heavenly creatures are the focus. Why John confuse his audience by choosing to mean something else in the 8 verses addressing the church?
Both Peter & Paul seem to think that angels serve the church.
2 Peter 2:10-11
and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.
Paul speaks of angels observing the worship in the church...
1 Corinthians 11:10
That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
And then Paul warns against worshiping angels...
Colossians 2:18
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
All these things point to the reality that The kingdom of God is a powerful uniting of the things in heaven with the things on earth.
The heavenly hosts are our allies in the fight. The demonic hosts are our enemies.
Moving on...
Jesus has a message for his church. Even a church like the one in Ephesus which has had a long line of amazing spiritual leaders: starting with the Apostle Paul, to Timothy his disciple and even to John, the writer of this epistle. It was a church built on a very strong and doctrinally pure foundation.
Nonetheless, Jesus still has a message for Ephesus, a church with a strong, rich legacy. And similarly, Jesus has a message to the American church today. We can discern that message more clearly by looking at what the Spirit said to these 7 churches.
The message for each church covers 3 categories:
An assessment of the church’s progress.
A warning to turn from the things that displease the Lord.
A promise of reward for faithfulness.
In assessing the church in Ephesus, Jesus commends her for doing several things really well.
Jesus commends the Ephesian church for:
Labor/toiling to remain pure in Christ
Confronting false apostles
Persevering under demonic attacks
Hating the Nicolaitans
The Ephesians here have clearly heeded the words of Paul & Timothy.
Acts 20:29-31
I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.
1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
The Ephesians were faithful to avoid these things and to contend for the faith. There are too many in the church today that refuse to take their stand against these same issues the same way the Ephesians did. We must not capitulate to the enemy nor compromise with the world. We must toil to remain pure in our devotion the Lord and faithful to stand on his word, especially in the face of the world.
In all these things, the Lord commends the saints at Ephesus, but He also gave a warning.
A long list of great things done by the Ephesian church was not enough to cause the Lord to overlook the one glaring fault.
Jesus said, “They had forgotten their first love.”
In this passage, in the context that it is given, clearly, the forgotten love is not a lack of passion.
Jesus commends the Ephesians for their passion… to stand for purity in his church, to fight against works of evil and to challenge false teachings and apostles.
This is not a question of zeal. They are zealous for the truth of Christ and the Lord commends them for it.
So, what is this forgotten love?
Well, Jesus says they had stopped doing the works that they did in the beginning.
Paul spoke of these things in Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The works that communicate the love of God are the preaching of the gospel and showing generous love to our neighbors.
Isn’t easy to identify what we love? Don’t we talk incessantly about what we love, what we enjoy. Don’t we use social media to illustrate how much we love something.
Now, how many of us would say we love Jesus, but rarely speak of Him to others?
This isn’t a guilt trip, the expectation is not for everyone to become Billy Graham and evangelize hundreds of thousands of people.
No. That’s not the point. However, we are called to love Christ and to not allow shame, or anger or fear to get in the way of us showing our love.
Friend, when was the last time you spoke to a non-Christian about your faith in Christ?
The Ephesians did a great job of keeping the house clean, but somehow lost sight of the mission of heralding the gospel to those on the outside.
It’s quite easy to see how this could happen. Being battle hardened can blind us towards acts of mercy. The Christian is to fight the good fight, contend for the faith and have a heart ready to show grace and mercy. This is difficult, but not impossible.
Many Christians tend to do one or the other. They are ready to take on strongholds and fight, but fall short on showing love and mercy to their enemies.
Others are all about love and mercy, while abandoning the fight to contend for the truth of God.
We must fight courageously, boldly and with great compassion, keeping the ultimate mission in front of us.
This was a serious offense to Christ, to forget the mission of proclaiming His kingdom in word and deed to a lost world. This is why he has placed his lampstands in this dark place.
In closing,
What is the Spirit of Christ commending you for?
Is it purity?
Is it contending for the faith?
Is it standing up to false teachers and teachings?
What do you need to do to keep the love of Christ front and center in your life?
When was the last time you shared Christ with an non-christian?
When was the last time you showed mercy or justice to someone outside of the church?