Untitled Sermon

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Sermon

The Letter to Ephesus: Repent & Revive (Return)

Rev. 2:1-7

Last week we laid the foundation that Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

He is the preeminent centerpiece of the past, the present, and the future.

“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. “ ‘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. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 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. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 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.’

What did life in Ephesus look like? (Refer back to graphic)

Imagine you are sailing from Rome to Ephesus when you arrive you would proceed up a magnificent avenue thirty-five feet wide and lined with columns that led from the harbor to the center of the city.

There you would encounter a multiplicity of temples that were built to the emperors Claudius, Hadrian, and Severus. However, what would catch your attention first was the Temple of Artemis (Diana in Latin), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This temple loomed large at 425 ft long, 220 ft wide and 60 ft tall

Ephesus was also a city of great commercial, political and religious importance.

Ephesus was one of the greatest seaports of the ancient world and a strategic trade route for this part of the world.

Roman roads: Three roads converged on Ephesus.

Ephesus was also of Great religious & political importance

The temple of Dianna was also the center of the sale of Ephesian letters. These letters were charms. If a person wanted a safe journey, success in any Enterprise, or if a couple was childless they would come to Ephesus and buy one of these Ephesian letters

It was known as a free city. That is to say that Romans had granted to it the right of self-government within its own limits, and it never had the indignity of having Roman troops compulsorily quarter upon it. (3)

How did the church become established here?

The Christian faith came to Ephesus perhaps with Aquila and Priscilla about a.d. 52 when Paul left them there en route from Corinth to Antioch (Acts 18:18–22).

On his next missionary journey, the apostle remained in Ephesus for more than two years (Acts 19:8, 10), and sometime later Timothy ministered there (1 Tim 1:3).

Three principles to understanding and applying the letter to Ephesus

The Church is the bride that belongs to Christ - v.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.

Heb 1:14 - Angel’s are ministering spirits to us.

He holds - control & protection

Christ holds the angels (they are in his control) and walks among the lampstands (he is present in their midst and aware of their activities).

He walks among us. Why?

2 Cor 10:7 - We are Christ’s (comfort & Humility)

7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we

Eph 5:22-27;32 - We are the bride that belongs to Christ

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

William Barclay: “So long as we think our church, our constitution, our method of church government there can be nothing but disunity and disintegration.” (9)

Right beliefs and hard work are insufficient for a healthy relationship (with God or others)

1 Cor 13:1-3

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Brothers, we might know the Bible and work 60 hours a week and blow it with our families.

Love takes time.

The one who created the universe takes the time to walk among his people.

Falling in love is more than an emotion; it is a posture of one’s heart that leads to godly actions toward another person. (That include our emotions and affections)

Agape love at the foundational level is a sovereign choice to set one’s sacrificial affections on the undeserving.

This love we are called to reflect in our everyday lives; this is pure and undefiled Religion (James 1:27)

Main Idea: The Lord attends His church in Ephesus and commends their diligence while calling them to return to the way they once loved Him and each other.

Jesus’ Commendations To His Church (Real not a means to set them up for correction)

Hard-working - v.2

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.

The two nouns that follow (hard work and perseverance)7 give the active and passive sides of this lifestyle.

Works is a broad term indicating not only good deeds but the entire course of life and conduct

The Greek word for labor means the toil which exhausts.

Their good works are further described in the strong statement that they cannot bear evil men

They were busy with good things

Patiently enduring - v.3

3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.

Remember the context: They were being commanded to worship the emperor, The jews were turning them in and the culture was shunning them.

Hear the Greek word for patience is better translated triumphant fortitude

Victorious Perseverance under intense pressure

Their endurance is truly remarkable, for, humanly speaking, they had every reason to grow tired and weary

They were endurance persecution while protecting the church from heresy and false doctrine.

Doctrinally passionate - v.2b;6

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.

Passionate for purity

Acts 20:28-30 - Paul warning in acts was heeded - false teaching are coming so beware

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.

Tested what taught - 1 john 4:1

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Gifted in discernment -v.6

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.’

Nicolaitans = The doctrine of compromise - more in another message

They perverted the teachings of Paul, and turn Christian Liberty into Christian license. (13)

V.6 -The believers in Ephesus hated this teaching and so does Jesus.

There are some things that true love hates, for evil must not be tolerated or excused.

They are commended for hating the works of the Nicolaitans.

Strict Orthodoxy can cost too much, if it has to be bought at the expense of love. (11)

Jeremiah 2:2 was only a distant memory

2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,

“I remember the devotion of your youth,

your love as a bride,

how you followed me in the wilderness,

in a land not sown.

Jesus’ Complaint To His Church - v. 4-5

You abandoned me, your first love

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.

Abandon = to willfully and actively give up on something

Love = agape = Agape love at the foundational level is a sovereign choice to set one’s sacrificial affections on the undeserving.

At first - There was a time where love and hospitality flowed like a river from His church but the river had been replaced by a road of busyness where no one had time to love people.

No one had time for lunch or coffee or prayer or discipleship.

They were busy but in their busyness, their love for God and His people had been dropped.

We think of Matthew 24:12, where Jesus warns that the pressures of the evil age will cause the love of many to grow cold.

12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

Good works and pure doctrine are not adequate substitutes for that rich relationship of mutual love shared by those who have experienced for the first time the redemptive love of God.

A cooling of personal love for God inevitably results in the loss of harmonious relationships within the body of believers.

“Every virtue carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction.”

Every good quality has a danger attached to it. Often what is most dangerous in our lives is when good things become dominant things.

The result is life-dominating sins in the good things of life.

Hard-working - obligation & burnout (Baptist programming) -we can lose the why and the who of our ministry to our Lord

The allusion of growth/health thru busyness!!

The question is not if everybody in your family is busy but is your family loving those no one else will love.

Patient enduring - constant struggle and conflict can have a cooling effect on our affection for our Lord and for others

Doctrinal passion - We can get tunnel vision on pet doctrines and come across as cold and condescending.

What does this abandonment look like?

Abandoning one’s first love means, then, that one has strayed from both love of God and love of fellow believers. The two are inseparable.

True orthodoxy is always warm, loving, and generous in spirit.

The abandonment of Great commandment & when we abandon the Great Commandment the great commission will not be on our radar.

The only way we share the gospel is when we willing to first share our lives.

Jesus Calls To His Church

Calls them to take Three steps and then gives them a Soveriegn promise

Call them to Remember -v.5

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

Memory can be a powerful force in effecting a return to a more satisfying relationship (when the prodigal son in Luke 15:17–18 “came to his senses” he remembered that his father’s hired men had more than enough to eat while he was starving)

He is not first calling them to action (more busy work)

He’s calling them to remember the why and the who in their What’s of life. (Why are you doing it & who’s it for?)

What do we remember? What was it like to enjoy God? To enjoy him in the serving not because of the results but simply in the obedience.

When’s the last time you went outside and looked up into the cosmos and said wow. My Father made this!

When is the last time you remembered the depravity God saved you out of and the blessing and protection he’s showered on you?

The present imperative, “remember,” stands in contrast to the aorist imperative, “repent,” and suggests a continuing attitude over against a decisive break.

Repent - v.5

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

Much of our busyness has ceased to be for the Lord or others and is only about ourselves.

Ex: Why are you a deacon, pastor, teacher, production, play instrument, security.... Have those things become obligation and not joys?

The duty of the church is to be the light of the world, to shine like a light in a dark place.

When an electric light bulb loses its power to shine, we throw it away because it has a lost the power of doing what it was created to do.

The church which has ceased to shine for Christ has lost the reason for its existence. (13)

The call is to change their attidues and direction - Repent from something to something.

Revive -v.5

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

Revive = to make (someone or something) strong, healthy, or active again

To revive there must be something to bring back

It assumes there was life, love and devotion to start with.

Some today may need to “Vived” not “Revived”

What works? I’m already working -do the best work. The work you did when you first fell in love with me.

This is not a what question or a what action, this is a call to recover why and who? Why did you once gather for worship, who was your service and labor focused on?

The call is to stop. To repent that we’ve lost the who in our Life, and to recover the experience of enjoying and knowing our God, his people, and the thrill of helping others follow Jesus.

Reward

The warning - v.5b-6

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.

Removing the lampstand means the church will lose its status as a Christian church; the light of Christ will no longer shine, and the Spirit will no longer move.

Many churches today have ceased truly to exist. Their buildings May remain intact, their Ministers Minister and their congregations congregate, but their lampstands has been removed. The church is plunged into darkness. No glimmer of light radiates from it. It has no light, because it has no love. Let us heed the warning before it's too late. (27) - Stott

The Reward - V.7

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.’

The conquers in Revelation are not those who have conquered an earthly foe by force, but those who have remained faithful to Christ to the very end.

The victory they achieve is analogous to the victory of Christ on the cross.

This is why the cross is thought of as the tree that brought us life.

The promise is that as Christ obtained a reward and inheritance so will we.

In apocalyptic thought, the tree of life exists as a reward for the righteous following judgment.33

Prov 3:18 says that wisdom is “a tree of life to those who embrace her.”

1 Cor 1:21-24 - Christ is the Wisdom of God who will reward us with his presence forever.

So What?

How can we love like God

Let’s think about our needs and others need for love

We’ve heard it said that marriage or any healthy relationship is 50/50 or 100/100. That is both the man and the woman should give and receive equally in order to have a healthy balanced relationship.

But here’s the reality. Does a Dad give equally to an infant as much as the mother gives? Does the infant give back equally to the mother what the mother gives? Does an elderly, bedridden spouse give to the healthy spouse that which the healthy spouse needs? No. The reality of real life is that relationships are seldom balanced and one is often giving or receiving more than the other. This is true in marriage, friendships, ministry, your job and the church.

So How can we love like God? How can we love who God loves? How can we revive a love that has grown cold?

Remember - Remember that you have never loved God equally to how much He loves you.

Our lives are one of radical imbalance. While we hated God he pursued you and loved you with a love that redeems, restores, and adopts.

We take this truth and recalibrate our expectations.

Repent - That despite this imbalance we have grown cold to others, cold towards our spouse, cold toward our children, cold toward Jesus’ church and in doing so cold toward the God who loves the unloveable.

Then we make a choice to set our attitude toward that person or people and love them as Christ has loves you.

Phil. 2:3

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or lconceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others

Brothers sisters Jesus was rejected, scorned and murdered yet his love for his own never wavered.

Standing over the people who would kill Him Jesus cried oh would how I have gathered you under my wings like a mother gathers her chicks but you would not.

1 john 3:16-18

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

1 Cor 13:13

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Now What?

Is it a sin for Christians to hate? Can you think of Scripture where we are told to hate or that God hates?

Can suffering and spiritual warfare sometimes have a dulling effect on our love for God and others? How so? What can we do about it?

What does it mean to pray for revival? What do we desire to be revived?

Read 1 Corinthians 13. Where’s the balance between working hard and loving well?

Am I forsaking the ordinary means of grace? Corporate worship, baptism, lord supper, intake of God’s Words, Prayer,

Never be more afraid of covid that abadoning the Love of God

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