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.’ "
How do you judge a local church? By its physical building and property appearance? By its media presence? By the charisma of its pastor? Maybe by the size of the congregation? Perhaps by the number of programs it has for people? Its music? Maybe if there is a sermon from a Bible text? Maybe if it makes you feel good about yourself?
Our text this morning is a letter from Jesus Christ to a local church that appeared to have it all together. This church was fulfilling the true ideal of Church order and ministry. Outwardly, everything is as it should be. It was strong in biblical doctrine. It could spot a false teacher and their teaching a mile away. It had ministries within and to the unsaved. It endured patiently in the face of persecution and suffering. There was no flaw, no failure, in organization, in work, in attitude, so far as any visitor or church leader could have recognized, even so far as the world was concerned in watching it, it was exemplary.
But that is the limit of the naked eye. Christ sees beyond, into the heart of each believer and into the heart of the local church. His eyes were like a flame of fire (Rev.1:14) that sees straight into the heart. (cross reference: Hebrews 4:11)
A church can look good, sound good, have a large congregation, feed the poor, and send out missionaries, etc. The most important question is not about outward, but inward. What would Jesus say about that church? What would Jesus say about the local church compared to how you are judging it? Isn’t His view more true and more important than ours? Therefore, we should not judge a local church by anything outwardly. We have in our text a different standard for evaluating a local church.
We begin with Jesus identifying Himself in a specific way to this specific Church in His opening statement of his letter to the Ephesian church, verse 1. There is a reason Jesus begins by reminding them that He holds the seven stars and walks among the seven golden lampstands. The reason He does this should come out as we look at Jesus’ words in this letter. Their “Lampstand” is at risk.
Verses, 2-3 - Jesus commends the church: for their labor of ministry; for faithfulness to the true faith; for not being gullible and putting up with false teachers and teaching (like the church in Corinth was doing—2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus commends this church for patiently enduring through persecution, suffering, and hardships and not growing weary in their stand. He commends them for holding to the Faith (see Jude 3-4). He commends them for hating evil and loving righteousness and truth.
Local Churches should follow this example. Let’s face it, this local church was producing fruit from their labor in the name of Jesus. As G. Campbell Morgan wrote in his commentary: “If the Master, visiting the church to which we belong, uttered such words as these, should we not feel that they constituted the highest commendation that could possibly be passed?” Yes! Yes! This would be a wonderful church, but there is a serious heart problem in this church. On the outside, it was the ideal local church, but Jesus looks deeper than we do.
Jesus began with commending the church for what it was doing right, then in verse four, he condemns the Church. Like an illness that can only be discovered by an X-ray or MRI, so the penetrating eyes of the Lord Jesus—whose “eyes were like a flame of fire”- are able to see the heart and what lies within, and he says, “I have this against you.” How serious is this indictment?! This is not just any warning, like you better sit up straight, or you better start cleaning your room, or you’ll go without dinner, or the steeple on the roof is crooked. This is the most serious warning a church can receive. Why? Because it comes from the master, the lord of the church.
With the church of Ephesus, their downfall is recorded in Vs. 4: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” In a nutshell, the love they once had, they lost it. It’s gone!
It is important to remember the context of these words of Jesus. This is not a threat of an individual’s salvation. This is a threat to the church as a whole. This is not about a believer losing his/her salvation. You may need to examine your affection for Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t toss his family out because we, individually, are weak. His promise remains to us individually: John 6:37 — “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Remember that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8), and not by what we are or do. This letter was to a church body of believers. This is a warning against the corporate body of the believers, not the individuals.
He says in verse 5, “Remember.” It is like him saying, “Remember the love you used to have, live in, and enjoy? Listen, church, you have abandoned it! You have lost it! It is nowhere within you anymore!”
What is this love that they abandoned? It is the devoted and loyal love they once had for Jesus. It is a sincere love, an affectionate love. Jesus was once precious and adored, but that affectionate love has been lost. (1 Peter 2:4-6). What does that look like? Words from the Lord Himself in the Old Testament help us with this: Jeremiah 2:2 — “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.”
It is a devoted and loyal love for Jesus. Such a love that resembles a bride towards her groom. A love that follows Jesus anywhere he leads. It may be through a valley or a wilderness of life. It may be through a new area that you have never experienced before, “a land not sown”, and He wants you to stay devoted, loyal to Him, but also to keep that excited love like a bride. Think of a bride’s love for her groom. THAT is the love that was once in the Ephesian church, and is not gone.
Here is what we want to remember about that kind of “first love”: simplicity, purity, and loyalty. Those are the elements of first love.” Do you have that towards Jesus Christ?
Most of us are familiar with a local church that once thrived with the life of God. There was a genuine, authentic first love that could define the church. Then something changed. It could have been sudden or over a long period of time, but the life, the brightness, the love, and reign of Jesus Christ in that church faded and was gone. The size doesn’t matter. The location doesn’t matter. The finances of the church do not matter. The trials and sufferings do not matter. Yet, something that was in that church left. That is what we have here.
There are local churches throughout history, throughout our lifetime, throughout Virginia that once thrived but now are dead. They abandoned their devotion and loyalty to Jesus Christ. Some of these churches may still have their doors open. Some may be barely getting by with low attendance and faithfulness. Some churches may have a sanctuary full of people and programs and a large budget doing a lot of good things in their community and around the world. Yet, just like the church in Ephesus, that does not constitute a heart-healthy church, in Jesus’ eyes.
The Church of Corinth was on the brink of this same downfall. Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote to them. It is recorded in 2 Corinthians 11:3 — “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” This can happen to a church that has the Apostle Paul as their spiritual father (1 Corinthians 4:15). It happened to the church in Ephesus, which both Paul and Peter were ministering to, and had Timothy as its pastor. This seduction away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ can happen to any church. A church should never consider itself too strong to be seduced by the devil and the world. That is the type of arrogance that brings a downfall.
Every church needs to continue cultivating such devotion and loyal love for Jesus. Be on guard and continue to do the deeds that accompany such a first love. Love in action from a sincere heart.
Let’s take a breath and ponder this “first love”. In the context of the great threat and what is needed to fix the heart of this church, I think the love that was abandoned was extended beyond a sincere, affectionate love of Jesus. Abandoning the first love begins towards Jesus, but it doesn’t stop there. It cannot stop there because love for Jesus is how you love others. To love Jesus sincerely is to love how he loves and love what and who he loves. What I am saying is, you cannot have the love of Christ towards others if your love for Christ has waned or is lost altogether.
Looking through the Bible, we are commanded to love the Lord God with all of our hearts. We are commanded to love one another as Christ has loved us. We are commanded to love our enemies. We are commanded to love the lost who are on the road to eternal damnation. Our love for others flows out of the quality of love we have for the Lord. If the stream is dammed up to the Lord, so our love for others will become dry with quality and sincerity. We love others out of the love relationship we have with Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:1–2 — “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.”
A church can do all of the right programs, believe the Bible to be true, be busy doing the work of ministry, have a cross behind the pulpit, etc., but if it does not love the Lord first and foremost, it is nothing. What is the spirit in the church?
If a church realizes that its love for Jesus has been lost or is waning in affection and sincerity, is there something it can do? Yes, and Jesus tells us in verse five. It requires a two-fold response. “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.” The first thing a church must do is recognize that it has lost its bridegroom love for Jesus. Take ownership of the sin, and repent. The second response is to go back to that type of sincere, loyal, and precious love for Jesus. Go back and begin doing the deeds of love that you were doing. This is pretty simple and straightforward.
On a personal level, if you look in your heart and recognize that you have lost the fresh, sincere love for Jesus that you once had, follow these same instructions. Repent. Think of the time when Jesus was more precious to you than anything and anyone else. Remember when. And remember how you released such love and nourished that love. Return. Return.
The picture gets grimmer. Jesus’ warning comes with grave consequences. Rev.2:5 gives us the consequences of ignoring Jesus’ warning and the need to change. “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place”. If this church does not heed this warning and do a 180-degree turn and repent, Christ will write “Ichabod” above the church door.
What does “Ichabod” mean? The Glory has departed. This deserves some attention. 1 Samuel 4:19–22 – “Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
The ark of God represented the presence of God among the people. Get that. Now, remember that in Revelation 1:13 and 2:1, the presence of Christ was among the lampstand. The presence of Christ is in the midst of his churches. In this story from 1 Samuel, the people were corrupt and allowed the ark of God to be taken away from their midst. “Ichabod”! The glory and presence of the Lord had departed from their presence. He was no longer among them. So is the warning to the local church in Ephesus, and it applies to all churches throughout history and going forward. A church can go through all the motions of a church and religious activities, but that does not determine if the presence of the Lord is in and among that church. If their deep “bride type love” for Jesus is gone, so will he threaten to leave their presence.
There have been churches throughout history that did not heed this warning to themselves. Jesus was patient with them, but they did not repent. Large congregations, small congregations, even denominations that departed from true love for Jesus. They love the culture or their own desires more than Jesus. We have seen this in recent years with churches committing adultery with the ungodly culture, becoming “woke” and redefining who Jesus is. Perhaps they loved the sparkle of the world more than Christ. Perhaps the love of money, or the praises of man more than the praises of God. Perhaps they loved their own name, wanting it to receive the credit for their good works. Perhaps it was for tossing the bible out, or choosing to interpret the Bible to please their own desires. Whatever the reason, Jesus has and will remove His Spirit from a local church. He is making this clear in his letter to Ephesus. This is sad, and we should grieve over such.
There are lessons to be learned from this letter to the Church in Ephesus. We learn what Jesus Christ commends and condemns. We learn that outward stewardship is required, but so is authentic, sincere love for Jesus and for others. We learn that a church can preach from the Bible, sing songs that have Jesus’ name it, have programs and ministries, but a heart for Jesus can be absent from it all. We learn that an individual can do all the right things—go to church, give in the offering, serve in the church, read their bible faithfully, but if there is not a sincere, loyal, devoted love that drives the outward, then it is in vain. We learn that a person can claim to love Jesus and God, say they are a Christian, have a Bible on their coffee table and a cross necklace, and even attend church occasionally. But that doesn’t mean that Jesus is precious to them. It does not mean the heart beats with a sincere affection for Jesus.
I want to turn the focus from local churches to the heart of each person. Jesus says to us, Remember. There is an application for us personally. Remember that first love you had for me. Remember your first love. Do you? Can you? What love we had for our Savior when we found His forgiveness, when we tasted His precious, heavenly love. That love we had at first.
In that first love, do you remember how passionate you were for Him? How passionate were you to know Him and commune with Him? You could not wait to share this love with others. You were excited to attend church to be with others who shared the same love. The hunger you were to learn more about Him. Do you remember?
Remember that first love for Jesus when He consumed your thoughts, because your heart was captured by His love for you; by his sacrifice for you; by his life poured into you; by his tidal wave of mercy for you. Do you remember how that first love put all the cares of this life into perspective? fears melted, struggles were diminished, and a new life was flowing in you. Jesus was more real and precious to you than anything else. Do you remember how the love for the things of this world lost their flare? What you liked, who you were, lost their appeal and taste? You had a love like a bride has for her groom. Do you remember?
If you lost that, where did you lose it? Did you lose it in the world? Too much of the world is a bad thing, and it will draw your affections away from Christ. Have you replaced communion with Christ and fellow Christ-followers with communion with worldly people? They do not have that first love for Christ.
Have you forgotten how much you owe Christ? Have you forgotten from where and what He saved you from? Have you forgotten the brokenness, shame, and sin that He pulled you from and cleansed from you?
Have you neglected simple communion with Him? Have you left those times of sitting down and talking with him and reading his words to you?
There are a thousand possible reasons, and each person must search their own heart. Would you say to yourself and to the Lord Jesus, “I need that affection again! I want that first love to burn in me for Jesus again. I don’t want that fire to grow dim and fade away. Holy Spirit, do whatever it takes to ignite that fire in my soul.”
If you have lost this sweet affection and devotion, remember Jesus’ simple remedy: repent and seek him again. Own up that you have lost that affection and go back. What was it that fed your affections for Him? Go back. For many of us, music is a powerful tool for our hearts. What hymn or praise song stirred you back then? What Bible verse? Go back to them and feed your heart on what once fed your affections for Christ.
Someone may think, “I’m more mature in my faith. That kind of zeal has calmed down.” Oh no, that is backwards. A mature fire for Christ is not less hot or has smaller flames. It is hotter, brighter, and bigger flames. A mature faith is more zealous for Christ, not quieter. J.C. Ryle was right on the mark when he wrote, “The boldest Christian will always be the happiest person.” How true, because his heart is neither on pleasing man nor himself, but on the one who saved and loves him from heaven.
Someone else may think, “I am not into the sappy, emotional love for Jesus. I believe in him and the Bible, and that is what I think is enough.” Jesus has a reply to that. He said, “Love the Lord God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” That includes loving Him with your emotions.
My last words and directed to the skeptic. If you have not experienced this kind of love that we are reading about in the Bible and describing in our experiences, it is real. If you do not have this type of love for Christ, pour your whole heart out to Him. Let go of all that is precious to you. Cry out to have Him and ask Him to light your soul on fire for Him. Surrender to the One who died on the cross, rose from the dead, and offers eternal life to whoever calls on him. There is no one and nothing that compares to the Lord of Heaven. He came from heaven and offers new life—heavenly life.
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