Revelation 2:1-7 "Your First Love"

Read: Revelation 2:1-7

I. Introduction

            I want to begin tonight by asking you about the first time that you felt like you were in love. Do you remember that time that you first set your eyes upon your current spouse or even your significant other? Do you remember where you were or what you were doing? Do you remember the emotions that were running through your mind?

            You see, many people don’t forget these “first looks” because the events after seeing this person changed their life. They met this person that they were so in love with, possibly started dating this person and then even married this person.

            When we first see this person whom we absolutely love; some call it falling “head over heels” for them. Others say that we were “hook line and sinker” when we saw them. This is because that memory of your significant other is etched into your brain and you can’t forget this “special moment” that you had with him or her. For some, it was love at first sight. You see, the sparks were flying and the flame of their relationship was lit and was burning bright!

            However, as time goes on and the relationship develops; we can easily forget about our emotions or things that we felt when we first saw our loved one. And we don’t treat our significant other like our first love anymore. It is as if the flames that once burnt bright are now coals. We treat them poorly, hurtful words are spoken and other things done to make your significant other feel like just an ordinary person in our lives. He or she doesn’t feel like your first love anymore.

            And maybe you’ve even had a conversation about this; like when your wife sat you down and said, “Honey, I know you love me, but right now I just don’t feel like you’ve been loving me like you used to.” And in response, there are usually excuses made and/or a promise to do better from this point on. But then nothing changes. And you wonder; what went wrong? How could our relationship get to this? What got in the way of our brightly lit fiery passion for each other?

            But you see, this fiery relationship turning to embers or coals isn’t something that just happens with our relationships to others; it is something that happens with a churches relationship to Christ. And one fantastic example of this is the Church in Ephesus in which our passage speaks about. The Ephesian church went from a period of passionate on fire love for the Jesus Christ to a time of love that was smoldering like embers. And the reason was this: they had forsaken their first love.

            So tonight; we are going to examine what the Ephesian church used to be like; then the evaluation to which Christ gives to them and then finally the steps that they must take to fall back in love with Christ.

II. The “On-Fire-For-God” Ephesus

            The Ephesian church is one that we meet multiple times throughout the New Testament. In Acts 18 we can read of Paul planting this church on his second missionary journey. After he spends some time there; he leaves Priscilla and Aquilla (the tentmakers from Corinth) there along with the great teacher Apollos to continue to labor for the church.

            And then in Acts 19-20 while Paul was on his third missionary journey; he spends 3 years there strengthening the church—the most time that he has spent at any church. And during his time there; some magnificent things happen in the church and throughout the community.

            You see, Ephesus was a thriving city; the city of all cities. It was located in Asia Minor on the Aegean Sea. It had the major highways running through it and boasted a great harbor in which even the largest ships could port for some time. The market place was thriving and the economy was doing well. Ephesus also boasted because of the Greek goddess Artemis. There were shrines, statues and other paraphernalia of this goddess placed all over the city.

            However, during Paul’s time there for three years; the church began to grow significantly. And as the church grew; many people were being saved from false religion that the idol industry went into recession. The local craftsmen became afraid that they might be out of jobs before too long. Clearly, the church was making a huge impact on this city for the sake of God’s name.

            Before Paul’s three years were done, just before he leaves, he warns the elders of the church that there will be “wolves among them” that will teach false doctrine, twist the Gospel and distort the truth.

            After Paul leaves; he becomes imprisoned and writes this church a letter—which we know as Ephesians. In this letter; Paul commends them for many things—especially their love for the Lord. He doesn’t have to correct too many things because this appeared to be an “on-fire-for-the-Lord” church and seemed to be healthy.

            However, when Timothy arrives in Ephesus to lead the church; the church is being infiltrated with false apostles and men and women who were teaching false doctrine as well as distorting the truth. Therefore, Paul writes to Timothy—1 and 2 Timothy—and encourages him to stand for the truth which he knows and to which he was taught. And even though this church was being pressed down upon by false teachers; they still had a passionate love for the Lord and stood strong despite the teachings of these false teachers.

            So clearly; the church in Ephesus had a strong love for the Lord through their history.

III. Christ’s Evaluation

            However, now as Jesus is evaluating the church in Ephesus which is roughly 40-60 years after Paul had birthed the church; there clearly is something wrong amidst many good things. There is a new generation that has come to leadership and the older generation who first had a fiery passion for the Lord are now gone.

            Therefore Jesus evaluates them by acknowledging two things they do well. He praises them for their enduring work and for their intolerance of false doctrine. Amidst all the pressures of the goddess Artemis; the church in Ephesus had stood strong. They have labored daily to preserve the teachings of the true Gospel. They didn’t want to participate in worship to Artemis or learn false teachings. In fact, Jesus says that they have “tested those who claim to be apostles” and when tested; they were found to be false! And they also hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which Christ agrees that He hates also.

            So all in all; this church clearly had it going. If you told me that there was church who was solid in their doctrine and could endure under hardship—of course I would be there! What a marvelous church this was!

            Yet Christ also says this, “I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” You have forsaken your first love. What terrible words to hear! The Ephesian church had abandoned their first love. They have left their first love while they have been enduring hardships and knowing doctrine. The church in Ephesus seemed to have everything; except the greatest thing—Jesus Christ.

            It is true, as individuals and as a church, we can get so wrapped up in getting doctrine right and enduring our hardships, that we too, can become like Ephesus—we too can forget our first love Jesus Christ.

            I have experienced this in my own life also. I can read and read and read about doctrine, about the Bible, about theology, about Bible characters, you name it; I can have all this knowledge in my head, yet I often don’t apply it to my heart—I seem to have everything, but have lost the only thing I need—Jesus Christ.

IV. Christ’s Prescription

            Therefore, Christ tells the Ephesian church three things that they must do—remember, repent and recover.

            First, the church at Ephesus was told to “remember the height from which you have fallen” meaning that Christ wanted them to understand the place that they used to be. They were to remember the past—the “good ole days”. However, there is a danger here which is to live in the past and to long for how it used to be. That is not what Jesus is saying; what He is saying is that we can’t be disconnected from the past. We need to learn from the past in order to live in the present so that we may change in the future.

            If you examine the Psalms or other places in the Old Testament; there are reflections upon the past and how God has worked in the past. The Psalmist remembers God’s hand of protection over Him, thus he knows that God will continually protect him. So too, as a church; we must learn the history of this church so that we can learn from it and do things differently in the future.

            Secondly, the church at Ephesus was called to repentance. Jesus called them to repent of the things that they weren’t doing—namely, loving Jesus Christ. Repentance is the act of making a complete 180 degree turn towards something else. It is completely leaving one thing and pursuing another. Repentance is an inward change which results in different outward actions and behaviors. This is what the Ephesian church must do—they must turn from their ways of forsaking Jesus to pursing Him in an on-fire-passionate way once again.

            Thirdly, Jesus tells them to “do the things you did at first”. The church in Ephesus is to recover the first things that they used to do. If we return to Acts 19—the beginning of this church—we can read what marked them as a congregation. Vs 18-20 read this way, “Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas (1 drachma=1 days wage; that means there were 50,000 days of work just thrown away). In this way, the Word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”

We can see a two things from these verses; those who believed openly confessed their deeds and they burned the sorcery scrolls (false teachings). You see, this is what Christ is calling them to recover: the passion for knowing Him and making Him known.

V. Conclusion

            So as we face the end of another year—2013—we should evaluate ourselves as a church and as individuals in accordance with this passage from Revelation—have we as a church lost our first love? Or have we as individuals lost our first love for Christ?

            Do you remember the feelings and emotions you had when you first encountered Christ? Do you ever get those emotions or feelings? Jesus encourages you to remember them, to repent of where you are at, and to recover by knowing Him and making Him known.

He who has an ear, let him hear, what the Spirit says to the churches.

Pray