Dear Church #2: “Faded Love”
Revelation 2:1-7
Introduction
Chances are you’ve had a performance review before at your place of employment. Whether it’s quarterly, bi-annually, or yearly, your direct supervisor calls you in to go over your overall performance. Sometimes these can be nerve-racking because you’re not certain you know what you’re walking into. What will your boss highlight––the good, bad, or ugly? Or maybe you’re walking in, knowing exactly what to expect. Either way, it’s a review. They’re going to praise your strengths, critique your weaknesses, and provide you opportunities to improve.
Over the next seven weeks that is exactly what we are going to read in Revelation 2–3. Each of these seven “letters” are performance reviews from Jesus himself to seven of the churches in Asia Minor.
Recap last week-
● Ch. 1- It’s all about Jesus…
● Genre… prophetic, apocalyptic, epistle…
● Take away from ch. 1- The King is with his people!
As we dig into chapter 2 today, let me acquaint you with what chapters 2 and 3 hold for us over the next 7 weeks.
Look back at Ch. 1, vs 11.
Slide: Revelation 1:9-11
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.”
Seven letters to seven churches. These are real historical/ geographical local churches. (show map)
Slide: 7 Churches of Asia Minor
The letters are Jesus’ words to that church. BUT, these letters are also just as applicable and authoritative to ALL churches of ALL time.
So, there are 7 letters…to 7 churches, recorded in this apocalyptic literature. And each of these 7 letters have 7 elements to them.
Slide: 7 Elements of 7 Letters
1. Command to write to the angel of a church.
2. Christ’s description of Himself (drawn from Ch. 1)
3. Commendation of the church’s good works. (compliment/ correction sandwich)
4. Accusation of the church’s sin.
5. Exhortation to repent (with an encouragement or a warning included)
6. A call to listen to the revealed Word.
7. A promise to those who conquer.
Same format, each letter, each week you can look for those 7 elements.
Let’s dig into the first of these letters this morning, to the church in Ephesus.
Slide: Revelation 2:1-7
“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.’
What do we know about this church in Ephesus?
We can read the back story in Acts 18 and 19.
● Ephesus was a big city and an important city to the Roman Empire (4th biggest with 250k population at the time).
● The Gospel was first proclaimed in Ephesus by a Jew from Alexandria named Apollos.
● Apollos was joined and further discipled by a mature believing couple named Priscilla and Aquila.
● The Apostle Paul soon arrived at Ephesus and established the church body there (somewhere around 50 ad) in the city and remained there for comparatively quite a long time (2 years). So, Paul invested deeply and significantly in the spiritual growth of this church.
● Paul battled a lot of pagan ideology and syncretism in Ephesus because it was home to the great Temple of Artemis (it was huge, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world) – If you have been to the Parthenon in Greece, and you know how massive that is, the Temple to Artemis was 4x the size.
● He later wrote to them one of our doctrinal heavy weight epistles that communicates the doctrine of salvation by grace alone so clearly. (written in 62ad)
● Timothy was the pastor in Ephesus. (letters of 1,2 Timothy in context of Ephesus)
● So, this church was well led and well instructed and standing strong in a lot of ways as we will see.
The intro- (vs. 1)
Slide: Revelation 2:1
“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.
● Who is the “angel”? Gk = messenger. It could be the elder/pastor of the church or it could be a divine messenger in the angelic realm that God used. I believe it was the pastor of the church.
● Note the self-description of Jesus here- seven stars and seven lampstands
Slide: Revelation 1:20
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.
● The takeaway message from the intro to this letter is this- Jesus is saying, “I’m with you!” I see you, I hear you, I am speaking with you, I am in your midst.
● Remember that Revelation was written around 95,96 ad, so a full three decades after Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. So, Jesus has been actively present with this church, as with all churches of all times, and he knows exactly what is going on with this body of believers.
Let’s look at the message that Jesus is sending to this church.
First, in this message is an Affirmation.
I. The Affirmation
Jesus gives a lot of positive affirmation to this church!
Look at verses 2,3,6
Slide: Revelation 2:2-3, 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. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.
• I love how this starts with the words “I know…” He affirms their toil. (ie: labor, works)
• He affirms their endurance and perseverance. gk= steadfast under pressure
• He affirms their dealing with false teachers.
Now, notice something with me. When the Apostle Paul, having spent two to three years in Ephesus, at his final goodbye to the leaders of this church, notice what he warns them about. Look at Acts 20:28-32.
Slide: Acts 20:28-32
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. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Paul warns them that this is coming.
Now, here in Revelation, some 30 years later, Jesus affirms them.
● He affirms their seriousness in dealing with evil doers and purging sin from the church.
● They understood that their call to faithfulness was ultimately about the glory of God in the name of Christ. They took being a Christian seriously!
● He affirms their resistance to the doctrine of the Nicolaitins. (this had to do with the practice of eating food offered to idols…)
● Jesus is giving a big high five to this Church. He is saying, you guys are doctrinally sound, you are holding fast, you are working hard, you are protecting the purity of the Body, you guys are rocking it!
● In all of these ways that Jesus affirms, we should strive to be like the Ephesian church!
Application: We need to be concerned for sound doctrine from our pulpits, from our youth pastors, from you children’s ministry. We need to be concerned with sound doctrine in our teaching environments.
We can’t be taken away by false teaching – about money, about the divinity of Jesus, about sexuality. We have to stand for what is true. Jesus affirms this church for doing so, after Paul had warned them some 30 years prior that it was coming.
Transition: But guess what? Sound doctrine is not enough. I remember being in seminary and studying…and sitting in class and getting to debate theology with my classmates and teachers. And I remember how tempting it was to be right and win all of the arguments.
But did you know something?
Winning all of the arguments isn’t the point. Yes, the arguments help us interface with the culture and the situations that comes to us. We need to be educted in sound doctrine. We need to grasp our apologetics or defenses for our faith.
As a matter of fact, we will have August Apologetics the first three Monday nights in August. These sessions are given to equip you in your faith for the arguments that the culture is throwing your way.
Slide: August Apologetics
But listen to the Apostle Paul as he writes to the church in Corinth.
Slide: 1 Corinthians 13: 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.
As Jesus tells John to write this letter to the Epehesian church, he moves from an Affirmation to the Accusation.
II. The Accusation
Look at verse 4.
Slide: Revelation 2:4
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
● You have left your first love. You have abandoned…. You have forsaken… You have lost…
● In the greek it would literally read like this- “the love of you at first, you have abandoned.”
● Gk “first” = most important.
What is Jesus saying to this church? With sadness and with disappointment, he is saying…”the love that you had at first that was most important to you, you are forsaking it.”
● Now what did Jesus mean by this? What love specifically is he referring to?
● Three possibilities as to exactly what Jesus meant:
○ A. They lost their love for Christ.
○ B. A. They lost their love for one another.
○ C. They lost their evangelistic fervor to witness for Christ.
But really if you think about it, we don’t necessarily need to pick one of these interpretations , because they are really all the same and immutably interconnected….
You see, if you lose your love for the Lord Himself, then you are naturally not going to love your neighbor well and you are not going to share with others about Him.
● Our love for affections for, devotion to God is the most important spiritual condition… all other displays of love and obedience must flow from there!
● This is why Jesus made clear what the most important law is:
Slide: Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
One of our struggles can be the same as the Ephesians—we can be really busy serving the Lord and not even realize that our actual affection for Him is growing dim.
● Let me give you some symptoms of faded love for the Lord:
○ A. Cynicism/ bitterness.
○ B. Desensitized to sin.
○ C. Decreased desire for time with Jesus.
○ D. Burnout
■ Have you ever been there?
Illustration: Can I just be real honest with you for a moment?
I went to Kenya a few weeks back. And it was amazing.
Slides: Photos from Kenya
And God moved. God used me to pour into leaders. And there is nothing I would rather do…its one of the highest and best things in my life.
And I felt God’s pleasure.
But here is what is true. When I got back, we went right into VBS and VBX. I had jet lag. And I wasn’t too spiritual. I wasn’t feeling it. It was hard.
One week, I’m right there working for and with Jesus in Kenya. And the next week, I’m spent, and I don’t want to spend time with him.
Application: Can I warn you about something?
It is so easy to walk away from your first love. It is so easy to neglect time with Jesus. It is so easy to say, “I’ll do that later.” And if you aren’t careful, you have quickly left your first love.
Look with me for just a moment at Peter’s story. I’m so glad this story is in the Scripture.
Slide: Matthew 26:31-35
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
Peter is like, “I’m never denying you…even if you say I will. I WON’T!
Then look at the moment Peter denies he even knows Jesus.
Slide: Matthew 26:69-75
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
As I said, I’m so thankful this is in the Scripture because it shows me just how easy it is to deny Jesus. It shows me just how easy it is to leave my first love. It shows me that I need his grace, just like Peter needed his grace.
And I need him to seek me out to restore me when I have failed him.
Do you know what it says in 1 John?
It says, “even when I am faithless, you are faithful.”
Look at the faithfulness of Jesus to restore Peter.
Slide: John 21:15-17
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
Application: My friend, do you feel far from Jesus?
• Do you feel like you have let him down?
• Do you feel like you have disappointed him? Or that you haven’t spoken up for him?
• Welcome to the club.
But, listen to me. You don’t have to live in this sense of failure. Just like Jesus went to Peter, Jesus comes to you today and says, “Turn around…I’m right here.”
Transition: Look at this admonition. We have the Affirmation, then the Accusation; now look with me at the Admonition.
III. The Admonition
Slide: Revelation 2:5
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.
Do you see the word, “repent”?
This word means to turn around.
Jesus is with us and he wants to dwell with us and he wants us to dwell with him. He wants us to draw near to himself. He wants us to love and adore him.
You see, we don’t have to settle for living as a believer with this faded and anemic devotion. There’s a way to get back!
● What do we do when this faded love pattern happens to you? I think it’s going to happen to all of us, right?
● Three calls to action here:
● A. ) Remember
○ Just stop and recognize what your currently reality is, and then remember that it hasn’t always been this way!
○ Remember when you were so in love with Jesus! Remember what it was like when your salvation was fresh, and your heart was bursting with gratitude for the Lord and you just had to share it with everyone.
○ Can you stop right now with me and take a few seconds to remember.
● B.) Repent
○ Next step is simple- just repent!
○ The enemies of affection are: affluence, busyness, worldliness, distraction…
Slide: The Enemies of Affection
• Affluence
• Busyness
• Worldliness
• Distration
Application: Do you need to repent of any of those things today. Just repent.
○ To repent means to turn around. Turn from and turn to!
○ Here’s the beautiful thing about repentance…. Jesus always meets us right there with a smile!
● C.) Restore
○ “Do the works you did at first” I don’t think hes saying “do” more for me, I think he’s saying “be” more with me!
○ The way this GK word is used here is less like a “to do list” and more of an inner desire. It’s the thing you most want!
○ After we repent, we must renew and restore the freshness of our love for Jesus. We must want Him more than anything.
Love is the key to restoration!
● As this letter begins to close, Jesus gives both a warning and a promise.
● Note the warning here as well in vs 5…. The removal of their lampstand… what does this mean?
● Remember what the lampstands symbolize- the churches. So I think Jesus’ warning here is very straightforward and he means what he says.
● Here’s what he’s saying- “If your church fails to make ME the main thing, then it will die.”
● Huge application here for us and every other church! We are not much different from Ephesus. Big, diverse, affluent, busy city with lots of temptations and distractions and idols.
● The message to the church at Ephesus applies to us today too!
● Keep it all about Jesus! Let’s turn back to Him again and again and renew our first love!
My friends, in spite of all of the noise, we have to keep our hearts set on Jesus.
• We must keep singing about Him in worship.
• We must keep bringing our needs to Him in prayer.
• We must keep teaching about Him in Community Group.
• We must keep preaching about Him and exalting Him in every text of the Bible from this pulpit.
• We must keep seeking to serve our city and meet needs in His name.
• We must keep going to the nations and proclaiming His Good News to all corners of the globe because Jesus is worthy of it all and we love him!
Prayer/ invitation