Allen Raynor Weblog:
“Ephesus: The Loveless Church” (Pt. 2)
(May 21, 2019)
Jesus
rebukes the congregation at the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:4 by telling
them that in the midst of all their business, activity, programs, evangelism,
etc. they had forgotten what it was really all about. The Ephesian church had taken on a life of
it’s own and “Christ” was no longer its life!
Christ was to be their first love, their first concern, their top
priority; but it had become about other things for this church. He tells them “Nevertheless, I have this
against you, that you have left your first love.” (Rev. 2:4) Incidentally, just because there is “love” in
a church does not mean Christ is their “first” love. C. S. Lewis points out in Mere Christianity that many say “God is
love” but what they really mean is “Love is God.” In other words, the virtue of love itself is
believed to make one somehow “Godly,” when in reality Godliness only comes by
first truly loving the one true and living God and ordering all that is done
around Him and His expectations.
The greatest
commandment of all is found in Matthew 22:37-38 where Jesus says “You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your mind. This is the first and
greatest commandment.” How easy it is
for us to not keep the main thing the main thing! In marriage, we vow/promise to cherish one
another but then how often we end up cherishing other thing (even other people)
more. How many have worked enormous
amounts of overtime with the aim of helping their family, but in the end, it
just took time away from the family and the extra money earned was
insignificant. How many professional
athletes would continue playing the game if they no longer got paid to
play? But, at one time these people
played, and gave their all, simply for the love of the game. As the church, we can go through the motions
of everything we do and be guilty of having “left our first love.” Your first love has got to be Jesus!
In verses
5-6 Jesus corrects the congregation. God
is a God of grace, yet uncompromising when it comes to truth. He is also the great physician and He writes
a prescription here for them. The
prescription is this: “Remember from where you have fallen.” Remember where you once were. Remember when you first were saved? Remember how you felt? The feeling of relief you experienced? Most people report a strong desire to attend
church, pray, read the Bible, tell others about Jesus, and be around other
Christians right after getting saved.
All these things are completely normal behavior. The question is, why do they slow down, or
stop altogether for lots of people?
Jesus was calling the Ephesians back to the basics; back to the
fundamentals. The late, great football coach
Vince Lombardi was a fanatic about fundamentals. Those who played under his leadership often
spoke of his intensity, drive, and endless enthusiasm for the game. Time and time again he would come back to the
basic techniques of blocking and tackling.
On one occasion his team, the Green Bay Packers, lost to an inferior
squad. It was bad enough to lose, but to
lose to that team was absolutely
inexcusable. Coach Lombardi called a
practice the very next morning. The men sat silently, looking more like whipped
puppies than a team of champions. They
had no idea what to expect from the man they feared the most. Gritting his teeth and staring holes through
one athlete after another, Lombardi began: “Okay, we go back to the basics this
morning . . .” Holding a football high
enough for all to see, he continued to yell: “Gentlemen, this is a
football!” Sometimes there is simply no
substitute for getting back to the basics!
There is no substitute for your “first” love.
Ephesus had
to have seen a significant drop-off in a single generation. The Ephesian church had been commended for
love (Eph. 1:15-16; 6:24). Now they are
being commanded to “repent” of their “lovelessness” and get back to
basics! The word “repent” here means “change
one’s thinking,” and it is clearly connected with changed behavior, which is
clarified by the phrase “and do the first works.” Even though this church did not love as it
should, it still hated the evil, wicked works of the Nicolatians, whom Christ
says He also hates. So, the Lord’s
rebuke for their lovelessness is surrounded by positive compliments. The Nicolaitans were a heretical group that
troubled the churches of Ephesus and Pergamos (vs. 15). Apparently their teachings and practices were
immoral and idolatrous. This serves as a
warning to all churches and believers as it is always easy to get off track and
follow heretical teaching.
In verse 7,
there is a promise to the congregation.
Jesus’ words are similar to those used when He gave the Parable of the
Sower (Mat. 13:9). It is “The Spirit” of
Christ who guides believers into all truth.
We read in Gal. 4:6 “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into your hearts.” He
calls upon them to be “overcomers.” An
overcomer is one who perseveres in obedience and is victorious in the face of
trials. Some trials we face are big,
coming about only occasionally in our lives, while some trials are daily. Being an “overcomer” here does not mean earning your salvation by
overcoming. Salvation is secure in
Christ for those who have truly trusted
Him. But, a failure to “overcome” means
a loss of rewards one would otherwise have.
1 Corinthians 3:14-15 clarifies this a bit for us; “If anyone’s work
which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
The reward
for those who obey God and His promises will eat of “the tree of life.” This symbolizes a renewing of the fellowship
mankind had with God before the fall.
The special access Adam and Eve had with God will be enjoyed by
overcomers. Paradise is the place He
told the thief on the cross that he would join Him after death. Paul uses this term interchangeably with
Heaven. The most important question
anyone is ever going to ask you in this life is, “Are you going to spend
eternity in Heaven?” Have you trusted
Jesus Christ? The only way to get to
Heaven is through Him.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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