The Church at Ephesus

Introduction:

I want to welcome you again this morning.

First, to those joining us online, we are so thankful for our online technology that allows you to be a part of our church family today.

I also want to welcome those who may be joining us for the first time today. I hope your time with us today is encouraging and helpful, and I look forward to meeting you.

I would also say if you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.

What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.

That being said, if you’re just joining us, you’ve come at a great time because we are just a couple of weeks into a new series called “The Seven Letters”. A series that is based on the first three chapters of the book of Revelation.

That being said, you might be thinking, “Oh wow pastor! Does that mean we are going to be talking about end time stuff. You know like the rapture, the mark of the beast, the tribulation, and stuff like that?”

Well, yes and no.

Yes in that we are going to be talking about end time stuff. Because while we don’t always think of this way, we are in the end times. In fact, we’ve been in the end times since Jesus ascended into heaven. Because that’s when the end times started.

So, if somebody ever asks you, “Do you think we are living in the end times?” The answer to that question is “yes”.

So, yes, we are talking about end times stuff.

But no in that we are not focusing in on the most popular and hot topics of revelation. In other words, this isn’t the “Left Behind” series. That’s not what this study is about.

Instead, we are focusing on the 7 churches this letter was written to.

So, why are we focusing on these seven churches? A few reasons:

First, as we’ve learned, these are seven historical churches, they are meant to represent the universal church. In other words, they represent the church of the past, present, and future.

Second, because they represent the universal church, this letter is meant for all churches, which means it’s not just meant for these seven churches, it’s meant for all churches. Which makes what is said to these 7 churches super relevant for us.

Third, while this letter was penned by the Apostle John, the resurrected Jesus is actually the one dictating this letter to John, which means what is written to the universal church is from Jesus Himself.

Finally, in order to be prepared for the future, we need to understand what Jesus expects of us in the present, which is what the first three chapters of Revelation focus on.

That being the case, one of our main goals of this series is to discover what Jesus expects of us.

Which means as we study each of these churches we will be measuring ourselves against each of these churches. Because as we learned in week 1 of this series, Jesus isn’t completely happy with the state of these churches.

In fact, out of the seven churches, only two of them are actually conducting themselves in a way that Jesus is pleased with, three of them are somewhat pleasing, and two are on the verge of collapse.

You also may recall the churches that Jesus addresses are ordered in what is called a chaism.

A chiasm being a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The result then is a “mirror” effect as the ideas are “reflected” back in a passage.

And as we discussed a chaism looks something like this:

ABXBA

In this structure the two ideas, (A & B) are repeated twice and in reverse order, but a third idea (X) is inserted before the repetition begins.

Which means by its position, the insertion of X is meant to be emphasized.

And this is exactly what John is doing in the ordering of the seven churches, because as he puts the churches in this order so that we can see the patterned emphasis.

So, “What’s the emphasis?”

The emphasis is on whether the church is healthy or not, why they aren’t healthy, and what they need to do to in order to become a healthy church.

So, just so we are all on the same page this morning, here’s how the chaism is laid out:

The first church in the structure is the church at Ephesus. And this is a church Jesus is not pleased with. So, what that tells us is that (A) in our chiastic structure = a church that is not healthy.

The second church is Smyrna. And it’s a church that Jesus is extremely pleased with.

So, what that tells us is that (B) in the structure = is a healthy church.

The third church is Pergamum. And this is a church that Jesus is somewhat pleased with.

Which means (X) in our chiasm = a somewhat healthy church.

The fourth church is Thyatira, and like Pergamum, it’s a somewhat healthy church as well. Which means it’s an (X) as well.

The fifth church is Sardis, and like Pergamum and Thyatira, it’s a somewhat healthy church as well. Which means Sardis is an (X) as well.

The sixth church is Philadelphia, and like the second church Smyrna, it’s a church Jesus is well pleased with. Which means this church = B in our chiastic structure as we now move down them mirror side of the chiasm.

This brings us to the seventh and final church, Laodicea, and like first church of Ephesus, this is not a healthy church and one Jesus is very displeased happy with. In fact, like the church in Ephesus, Jesus is about to close their doors.

Which means Laodicea = (A) brining us to the end of our chiastic structure.

So, if we put it all together, the chiastic structure for these churches looks something like this:

A - Ephesus: Unhealthy

B - Smyrna: Healthy

X - Pergamum, Thyatira, & Sardis: Somewhat Healthy

B - Philadelphia: Healthy

A - Laodicea: Unhealthy

So, this our structure and what we are going to follow for the next seven weeks. Which means, today we are starting with the first church in the structure, the church at Ephesus.

That being the case, I have a four goals this morning.

#1, in order for us to understand what is going on with this church and what Jesus has to say to them, we first need to understand what was going on in the city of Ephesus. So, for the first part of the message I’m going to paint a picture for you of what 1st century Ephesus looked like.

#2, after learning about Ephesus, I’m going to give you a little bit of history on the church at Ephesus itself.

3rd, we are going to look at what Jesus has to say to this church and discover why He’s not happy with it.

And then finally, we are going to as ourselves an important question. The question being, “How does what Jesus says to this church apply to us?”

So, with that as our basis, I want to begin by giving you a little bit of history about 1st century Ephesus.

The first thing you need to know about Ephesus, is that it was what you might call a first class city.

And what I mean by that is that it was an affluent, intellectual city, full of rich history and culture. In a way it would be similar to a city like New York City, Paris, or San Francisco.

In addition to that, it was a trade city. In fact, like New York City, it was a port city where goods from all over the world were brought and sold there.

As a result it was a very cosmopolitan city as well. And what I mean by cosmopolitan is that it was ethnically diverse.

Along with being an ethnically diverse port city, it was a religious city. A city full of temples and false gods, 14 temples to be exact.

And at the center of these temples was the Temple of Artemus, a greek goddess that had been worshiped in the Greek world since 1000 B.C. And Ephesus was the headquarters for her worship.

In fact, Artemus was so adored in Ephesus that her temple at that time was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The temple itself was a football field and half long, it was surrounded by 127 massive pillars of marble, and it sat on the highest hill in Ephesus, which meant, not matter where you were in Ephesus you could see the temple.

Just to give you an idea of what it looked like, here’s one artists rendition of it.

Show Picture

Some might ask, “So why was Artemis so popular?”

She was popular because she was known as the goddess of fertility and life. Which means the belief was that anything life based or life full-filling came from her.

So, for example, if a woman wanted to get pregnant, she would pray to Artemus.

As a result, everybody in Ephesus worshiped her at this temple. A worship that consisted largely of rampant acts of sexual immorality.

In fact, in order to facilitate the sexual worship, the temple was full of thousands of male and female prostitutes who were there to aid worshipers in worship.

In addition to daily worship, there were seasonal and annual festivals for Artemus. One in particular was a festival that celebrated her birthday.

On that day the city of Ephesus would gather as they paraded down the street to the port where a statue of Artemus would be dipped into the water in order to restore her virginity.

They would then return to the temple where they would celebrate into the night and engage in drunken orgies.

Sometimes it would get so crazy, that during this festival, in a drunken sexual frenzy, men would even castrate themselves and present their members to Artemus as an act of worship and commitment to become one of her eunuch priests.

Now, you might be thinking, “Pastor why in the world are you telling us all this! That’s terrible. I wish I would have known the sermon was going to be rated “Mature” today.”

I’m telling you because I want you to understand just how immoral and corrupt life in Ephesus was.

But guess what, as bad as that is, it didn’t end there.

Because along with Ephesus being the headquarters for the worship of Artemus, Ephesus was also what was known as a “Neokoros” city.

What that meant is that Ephesus was a host city for a temple dedicated to the worship of an Emperor. And Ephesus didn’t just have one of these temples, they had two.

The first had been built to Caesar Augustus, the Divine.

And then the second temple was built to worship Domitian, who was the current Emperor at that time.

Domitian began his reign in 81 and selected Ephesus as the place for people to worship him as God.

His temple was built on a high point in the city of Ephesus, so that like the temple of Artemis, you could see it from anywhere in Ephesus.

In the center of the temple was a statue to Domitian that stood 50 feet tall. It was so prevalent that when people came into the harbor, this statue is the first thing they would see.

So, does that mean that Emperor worship was a big deal in Ephesus?”

It was a huge deal. In fact, if you didn’t worship the Emperor, you were automatically disqualified from any high degree of social status or influence.

Not only that, but in order to enter the market place in Ephesus, which represented the social life of Ephesus, you had to offer incense to Caesar on your way in. Otherwise you couldn’t buy or sell in the market.

And Domitian was especially strict on this more so than any other Emperor. Because while Christians were mostly able to fly under the radar on emperor worship, Domitian was different than most emperors. He was intent that all would worship and praise him. All would call him savior. All would call Him Lord. All would call him master. All would see him as God. In fact, it was required that everybody would declare that Domitian was Lord.

Which then resulted in intense persecution for Christians who would not comply.

But it didn’t end there. Because along with the worship of Artemus and the Emperor, another challenge for Christians in Ephesus was the presence of demons and demonic activity.

Much of this activity came through what were called “oracles”.

Oracles were the priests to the gods and goddesses that the gods and goddesses would speak through. And in Ephesus the oracles mostly dwelt in the temple of Didymus.

These Oracles practiced Black magic and would do miraculous signs and wonders all driven by demonic power.

It would be similar to what we see the magicians of pharoah doing in the book of Exodus as they mimicked the signs and wonders that God was doing through Moses.

Along with the black magic, they would also cast spells and curses on enemies.

It was evident that through them the power of hell and demonic forces was very much at work.

Which is why Paul probably wrote what he wrote to the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 6. Listen to his words:

Ephesians 6:10–13 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

There’s no doubt the Christians of Ephesus knew exactly what Paul was talking about. This wasn’t just a good Bible verse they quoted. They lived under the presence of these demonic forces.

All that to say, Ephesus was a city full of false gods, rampant acts of sexual immorality, and demonic activity. It was literally hell on earth.

And this is what the early Christians of Ephesus woke up to every morning.

I think that kind of puts life for us in perspective, don’t you? I mean we think we have it bad, we think the world is falling apart, but honestly, we have no idea what it means to live in the middle of pure evil.

So, a great question would be, “How did the Christians in Ephesus deal with this?”

Remarkably, they didn’t let it sway them as they refused to give into the culture. A refusal that did lead to intense persecution for these believers.

You might say, “Wow Pastor, that’s amazing. How was it they were so strong?”

They were strong because the church in Ephesus had a solid Biblical foundation. A foundation that had been built by the Apostle Paul who had spent three years teaching and preaching everyday in Ephesus.

In fact, Paul and the church’s influence in Ephesus was so great that at one point the silver smiths who made all the idols for the false gods started a riot against the Christians because of all the business they were losing. You may recall we read about this in Acts 19. Luke puts it like this:

Acts 19:23–27 ESV

23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

So as you can see, the church in Ephesus is a strong church that stood against the forces of evil.

Now, at this point you might be thinking, “Ok pastor, that’s great. But didn’t you say this is a church that Jesus wasn’t happy with? Because from everything you’ve just told us, it sounds like a pretty solid church.”

From all appearances it was. But below the surface there was an issue. Something that Jesus couldn’t overlook. Something that actually made all their righteous efforts null and void.

Which leads us to what Jesus has to say to this church.

And so as we go into what Jesus has to say to the church at Ephesus, it’s important we first understand how Jesus will speak to each of these churches. Because in speaking to them He will follow a specific outline.

First, He will begin by identifying Himself, and in order identify Himself He will use one of the descriptions that John gave us in chapter 1 of the glorified Christ.

You may recall we looked at each of those last week.

For example, as John witnessed the glorified Christ, he said he saw one who looked like a son of man and was walking among seven golden lampstands. He also said in his right hand he held seven stars.

And as we discussed last week, the seven lampstands represent the seven churches that Jesus is speaking to. And what Jesus was communicating is that He is walking among them and that He is present.

We also learned the seven starts represented the ultimate power that Jesus holds in His hands.

Which means the one with ultimate power is the one who is speaking and present in these churches.

This is important to note, because as Jesus begins to speak to the church at Ephesus, listen to how He introduces Himself:

Revelation 2:1 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.

Notice that Jesus begins by introducing Himself as the one with ultimate power who walks among them.

Why would Jesus introduce himself like this? There could be a number of reasons, but more than likely it’s a reminder to the church at Ephesus, that in a city that is headquarters to Artemus and Emperor worship, Jesus is the one who holds ultimate power. Not Artemus, not Domitian, but Jesus.

The next thing Jesus will do as He speaks to the churches is tell them what he is pleased or unpleased with, which will then follow with a positive affirmation, a call to repentance, or both.

Finally, it will end as Jesus promises a reward for those who heed His words and remain faithful.

So, as we go through each of the churches, this will be the pattern we see.

That being the case, let’s continue as we look at what Jesus has to say to the church at Ephesus. Because after introducing himself as the all powerful one that walks among them, Jesus goes on to say:

Revelation 2:2–3 ESV

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.

What I want you to notice first is that Jesus begins by affirming the faithfulness of this church, which goes along with what we just learned about the church at Ephesus.

Because based on what Jesus just said, He’s well aware that this is a non compromising church. That this is a church that has stood against the culture. A church that has refused to give in. A church that hasn’t given into the LGTBQ agenda. A church that hasn’t indulged in sexual immorality. A church that opposes evil.

Not only that, but it’s a church that has rooted out those from with in the church that have given themselves to the culture. We know this because Jesus says, “…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...”

The false apostles Jesus is referring to were a group within the church at Ephesus called the Nicolaitans. Jesus will actually mention them down in verse 6 where he says:

Revelation 2:6 ESV

6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

So, who are the Nicolaitans?

The Nicolaitans were a sect in the early church that absorbed Greek Philosophy and Gnosticism, which basically taught that the body was insignificant and that the only thing valuable was the soul.

As a result, they believed anything done to the body or with the body didn’t really matter.

Which meant a person could abuse their body with substance abuse or even participate in sexual immorality with no avail. Because at the end of the day, the body didn’t matter, only the soul.

It’s the same kind of thinking we see in some churches today who dismiss the physical acts of sin and appeal to the goodness or needs of the soul.

The term we use to describe it is “happiness”, which has become the excuse for some in the church for their sin.

So, for example, somebody engaging in sexual immorality would say, “God wants me to be happy, and this makes me happy.”

Or somebody who leaves their spouse for another might say, “God wants me to be happy, and I’m not happy with my current spouse. But this other person makes me happy”

At the end of the day, it’s a bunch of hogwash. Because God’s more concerned with your holiness rather than He is your happiness.

This is what was happening within the church at Ephesus, and the church at Ephesus took a firm stand against this teaching, for which Jesus commends them for.

Which again raises the question, “What’s the problem with the church at Ephesus? Because if they oppose sin and those who sin, then what’s the problem?”

This leads us to what Jesus says next. Because after admonishing them for their stance against sin, Jesus has more to say:

Revelation 2:4 (ESV)

4 But I have this against you...

Jesus now moves from positive affirmation to what would be a very concerning statement. Because anytime you hear Jesus say, “I have this against you...” That’s not good.

So, what is it Jesus has against them? Let’s find out:

Revelation 2:4 ESV

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

Jesus says despite their righteous efforts, His concern is that they have abandoned the love they had at first.

So, what does that mean?

To understand what Jesus means here, we first need to understand what he means by first. Because Jesus says they’ve lost the love they had at first.

The word “first” here comes from the Greek word “protos” and it’s the idea of what comes first in terms of priority and motivation.

And so what Jesus is saying is, while you’ve done all of these things right, they aren’t based on the right priorities and it’s not coming out of the proper motivation.

So, what was missing? Well, Jesus told us. He said they had abandoned the love they had at first.

So, the idea here is, that while they were doing all of these great things, they weren’t doing it out of their love for Jesus.

In other words, their faith had become more about religious acts than it had a relationship with Jesus.

It had become a habit. It had become a duty. It was about being faithful and loyal to a cause. But it wasn’t actually based on their love for Jesus.

It used to be. But somewhere along the lines they had lost their relationship with Jesus and deviated into religious thinking.

And now what they loved was their religion. What they loved and took pride in was their righteous way of living.

And as a result, there was no love for Jesus, no love for God, and as a result, no love for people.

This was the issue that Jesus had with the Jewish Religious leaders in the Gospels. Because while their commitment to their religious way of living was commendable, their love for God and people was non existent. Jesus puts it like this in Matthew 15:8

Matthew 15:8 ESV

8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

Jesus says, “Yes, you’re saying all the right things, but your heart is cold and void of love for God and people.”

And just to make sure the religous leaders understood what Jesus meant by that, Jesus puts it another way in Matthew 23:27

Matthew 23:27 ESV

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.

Jesus says, “You look good on the outside, but you’re spiritually dead on the inside.”

and this is what Jesus is saying to the church at Ephesus. That yes, you are very faithful. You are very dutiful. You are very committed. But it’s void of love for me and others. It’s no longer about a relationship with me, it’s about a religous way of living you’ve adopted.

And for Jesus, this is a serious issue. And we know this because He goes on to say:

Revelation 2:5 ESV

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.

Jesus says, “Listen, this needs to change. You need to remind yourselves what your faith is about. And it’s not about following a set of rules. It’s not about being ritualistic. It’s not about being dutiful. It’s not about church attendance. It’s not based on giving the appearance that you have it all together. It’s about your love for me. It’s about a relationship with me. And you’ve lost that. You’ve forgotten that.”

And so serious is Jesus about this, that he says to this church, “If you don’t repent and return to that love, I’m going to cut ties with you.

In other words, your loveless labor, your ritualistic works, your heartless devotion, will lead to an ineffective church. A church that loses its light in the midst of darkness. A church that becomes powerless. A church that I will not be present in.

Bottom line, what Jesus wants this church to know is that He wants a relationship, not a religion. He wants more than good behavior and devotion.

Think of it like this:

Let’s say your wife goes to the store, and while she’s gone you clean the house, you vacuum, you do all the dishes.

And then she gets home and says, “Oh wow, why did you do this?”

Let me ask you something men, what would you say?

Would you say, "I did it because I need you to do something for me?”

Would you say, I did it because I’m devoted to the institution of marriage?”

Or would you say, “I did it because I love you.”

Which do you think she wants it to be?

It’s the same with Jesus. He wants our behavior, devotion, and actions for Him to be based on love and not your devotion to your religion.

And so He says to the church at Ephesus, “Return to the works you did before.”

What works? The works that come from loving Jesus. A love that results in a greater love for people. A greater desire to reach the lost. A greater desire to shine the light of Christ in darkness.

The church at Ephesus had lost this. And as a result, they were on the verge of becoming a dead church. A church that on the outside looked really good, but on the inside was spiritually dead.

The question then is, “How does this apply to us?”

It applies in the same way. Because Jesus is still looking for people and churches that want to have a relationship with Him. Churches whose motivation and purpose is baed on their love for Him. A love that is contagious. A love that opens hearts to the needs of others. A love that causes a church to love what Jesus loves. A love that allows a church to shine light into darkness.

But unfortunately, many churches today have lost that love. Churches that have become focused on religion versus relationship. Churches that have lost their desire to reach the lost. Churches that have become self righteous social clubs with no love for God or others.

And as a result, this should challenge you and I to ask ourselves some questions. Because the last thing we should want to be is a church that’s lost its love for Jesus, because for that church there is no future.

So, a great question would be, “How do we know if we’ve lost it?”

I think it starts by a willingness to do some self evaluation. For you and I to be willing to ask ourselves some questions:

For example, a great question to ask yourself would be:

Question #1 - What is my faith based on?

Is it based on following set of rules or rituals? Is it based on my church attendance? Is it based on my denominational or church affiliation? Or is it based on my love for Jesus and what he’s done for me.

Because if it is, that should be evident in your life. It should be evident in your love for others. Your desire to reach others for Jesus. Your desire to shine the light and love of Christ in a dead and dying world.

But if that’s not your desire, then you have to ask yourself, “What’s my faith based on?”

And if you want to explore that quesiton even further, then you need to be honest with yourself as you consider:

Why do I come to church?

Why do I read my Bible?

Why do I listen to worship music?

Why do I serve on the ministry team?

Why do I drop money in the bucket or give online?

Why do I pray?

Why do I serve at the outreach event?

Why do I do what I do when it comes to my faith?

Is it out of duty? Is it because I’m trying to earn favor with God? Is it because I want to look good? Is it because I want to earn spiritual points? Is it because I need to feel personally fulfilled?

Or is it because I love Jesus and I love what He loves. I love people. I love reaching the lost. I love spreading the light and love that Christ has shown me to others.

I think another question you need to be willing to ask yourself is:

Question #2 - If my faith isn’t based on my love for Jesus, what do I need to do in order to return to that?

In other words, “How do I return to the love I first had?”

Well, I think you first need to ask yourself, “Have I ever had that love to begin with?”

And what I mean by that is, “Have you ever had a relationship with Jesus, or has it always been based on a religious way of thinking?”

To be honest, I think this is where a lot of people who grew up in church tend to be. For them, their faith has always been about church attendance, association, or affiliation, but never a relationship with Jesus.

It’s been about being a good baptist, a good catholic, a good methodist, or a good presbyterian. But it’s never been about a relationship with Jesus.

Because can tell you right now, when you stand before Jesus some day, it’s not going to be about your religious affiliation or your religious deeds. The question is going to be, “Did you have a relationship with Jesus and was that relationship evident in your life?”

It goes back to a passage of scripture we looked at last week where Jesus says:

Matthew 7:22–23 ESV

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

You see Jesus isn’t looking for do gooders. He’s looking for Christ followers. He’s looking for people who are committed to loving Him. Because when you love Jesus and have a relationship with Him, you love what He loves and you become more like Him.

So, have you ever had a relationship with Jesus, or has it always been about a religion.

But for some, the quesiton you need to ask is, “What took me away from that love?”

In other words, what did you abandon the love you had Jesus for?

Depending on who you are, there would be a number of answers to that question.

For some, maybe you abandoned your love for a religious way of thinking. I think that happens to a lot of Christians who over time grow cold in their faith.

Maybe for others, you abandoned it for something the world was offering. Something the world tricked you into thinking had more value. Something that has gotten you distracted. Something that has your priorities out of whack.

In my opinion, this is what sports has done to a lot of Christians who have made their child’s sports career more important than their walk with Jesus.

And so instead of families attending church on Sunday morning, they’re headed to the ball diamond. They’re headed to the basketball court. They’re headed to the wrestling mat.

And now they’re more excited about their kids sports game than they are about what they learned about Jesus in Sunday school. More enthused by the points their kid scored at the game than their child’s spiritual progress.

Listen, I’m not saying sports are bad, I’m just asking you to consider, “What do you love more. Watching your kid play a temporal sport or watching them grow in a relationship with Jesus. Because I can tell you right now, the latter is way more significant, because it’s not temporal, it’s eternal.

So, a great question to ask yourself is, “What has gotten me distracted? What has caused me to deviate from my love for Jesus?

And then once you determine what that is, my advice to you would be to abandon it and return to the love you once had.

Now, at this point you might be thinking, “Wow pastor, why do I need to take such drastic measures? That sounds so extreme.”

Because if you don’t, you’re going to end up just like the religous leaders Jesus had issue with. You’ll be saying all the right things, but your heart will be far from God. You’ll look like you have it spiritually all together, but you’ll be dead inside.

You’ll be just like the church at Ephesus. A church that is spiritually dead.

Church, this is the serious nature of knowing Jesus. Because you either know Him or you don’t. You either love Him and as a result love what He loves, or you don’t.

At at the end of the day you have to choose. Choose whether to embrace or abandon Him. Choose to either love Him or love the world. Choose to live in a relationship or a dead religion. The choice is yours.

And the good news is, if you choose Jesus, Jesus offers something in return, because look at what Jesus has to say as he concludes His words to the church at Ephesus:

Revelation 2:7 ESV

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.’

Jesus says for the one who hears, listens, and obeys, he will grant access to the tree of life.

What’s intersting about Jesus’s offer, is that in the temple of Artemus, located right in the middle was a tree. It was a tree that represented the fertility of life. A tree that offered new life for women wishing to become pregnant. A tree that offered health and life in more abundance for those who desired it. And all you had to do to receive it was touch the tree.

But as we all know, it was a false tree. A tree that offered nothing of eternal value. So Jesus says to the church in Ephesus, “I’m offering you the tree of life. A tree that is in my garden. A tree that you will have access to if you return to me.”

And what Jesus offers to the church at Ephesus, he offers to us as well. But in order to receive the tree of life, in order experience the eternal reward that Jesus offers us, we have to return to Him. We have to have a relationship with Him.

Let’s Pray