DEAR CHURCH - FADED LOVE
Revelation 2:1-7
11 “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” —Revelation 1:11
Seven Elements Common to Each Letter:
1. Command to Write to the Angel of a Church
2. Christ’s Description of Himself (pointing back to Chapter 1)
3. Commendation of the Church’s Good Works
4. Accusation of the Church’s Sin
5. Exhortation to Repent
6. A Call to Obey the Revealed Word
7. A Promise to Those Who Conquer
The Ephesian Church Affirmed (vv. 2-3, 6)
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. —Revelation 2:1
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. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. —Revelation 2:2-3, 6
Perseverance = Steadfast Under
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. —Acts 20:28-31
31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. —Isaiah 40:31
Hate = Greek miseo = utterly despise or abhor
The Ephesian Church Accused (vs. 4)
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. —Revelation 2:4
Three Distinct Manifestations of Lost Love:
1. They lost their love for
2. They lost their love for
3. They lost their passion to
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.” —Matthew 22:37-40
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. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. —1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 13
The Ephesian Church Admonished (vv. 5, 7)
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. —Revelation 2:5
Three Calls to
1. Remember
2. Repent
3. Restore
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus… —Acts 3:19-20
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.’ —Revelation 2:7
Promises Fulfilled for Those Who Conquer:
• Protection from
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• Participation in Christ’s
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