Last week we left with John seeing the Son of God, Jesus Christ in all His holiness and glory. He fell down as dead, out of reverent fear and awe.
Jesus was holding seven stars in His right hand...and there were also seven golden lampstands.
He told John that those stars were angels, messengers to the churches and that the lampstands represent specific churches…
He gave John a message for them. And, it serves as a message for us as well…
Revelation 2:1-5
1 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven gold lampstands:
2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.
3 You have patiently suffered for Me without quitting.
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love Me or each other as you did at first!
5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
Ephesus was a great and grand city.
It is written that...“In the time of the Romans it bore the title of "the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." -Easton’s
It was the New York of its day.
Ephesus had a spectacular amphitheater...was one of the largest in the world...it could seat up to 50,000 people.
As great a city as it was, Ephesus’s pride rested in its temple to the false goddess Diana.
Diana was the goddess of hunting and the moon. She was associated with wild animals and woodland. She was believed to have power to talk to and control animals as well as the moon in Roman mythology.
Diana was known to be the virgin goddess and looked after virgins and women.
The temple for Diana took 220 years to build and is one of the seven great wonders of the world.
Again, Ephesus was a great city, a grand city...but, it was a lost city!
Revelation 2:2
2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.
God was well aware of how they had lived out their faith!
The church had prospered.
Many came to know about the Lord, and many came to accept the Lord.
It has been said that this church, in this time period...probably did more for evangelizing the world than any other church has in any other time in history...including the present.
They were busy, they were busy for the Lord. They didn’t waiver in their beliefs.
Evidently there were many who falsely claimed to have a word from God.
Yet, these believers who came together...knew better...they didn’t buy into everything they were told.
They proved everything by the Word!
Tim LaHaye writes...(writer of the Left Behind Series)...
“The current church of Jesus Christ needs to heed this message, for there are many false apostles “going about disguised as servants of Jesus Christ” who are really enemies of the cross, seeking their own personal gain.
The ecclesiastical sickness of “ecumania” (a one-world church regardless of one’s faith), which has caught the fancy of many church leaders, has a deadening effect upon the true Church wherever it is found.
We can expect this trend to continue with increasing ferocity until the Lord comes. We have every right today to test men to see if they are of God. If their teachings are not consistent with and faithful to the Word of God, they should be rejected.” -Revelation, p. 25 *(written in 1973)
“It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe something. We all worship a higher power in one form or another. Let’s come together. Can’t we all just get along.” That’s not the Bible!
The early church didn’t practice that philosophy...and the Lord commended them, praised them for it!
Revelation 2:3
3 You have patiently suffered for Me without quitting.
You’ve been faithful. Any of us would like to hear the Lord praise us for that!
Yet, in spite of all of the praise…
The Lord had a very strong message/rebuke/complaint for them…
Revelation 2:4
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love Me or each other as you did at first!
You don’t love Me like you used to. And, you don’t love others like you used to.”
They’d lost that “loving feeling”...
You lost that lovin' feelin'
Whoa, that lovin' feelin'
You lost that lovin' feelin'
Now it's gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh
The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Loving Feeling Lyrics | MetroLyrics, 1964
How is it possible to hold such strong belief, conviction and knowledge of right and wrong...
To be busy for the Lord…and not love Him?
In marriage, do you want someone who is with you, solely because they are married to you (duty)...or because they love you?!
Do you want to be hitched to someone who is just going through the motions? Guess what...neither does God!
Revelation 2:4-5
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love Me or each other as you did at first!
5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
God wants, demands to be your First Love!
Is there anything wrong with that?!
The One who made you, watches over you, protects you, blesses you, keeps you, saves you, loves you…
The One who is right now preparing a place for you…
The One who is faithful to you…
The One who has never lost that Lovin’ feeling for you! Shouldn’t He expect to be loved back?!
Mark 12:30
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
Paul wrote…
1 Corinthians 13:2
If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
Love is a choice. And, what you choose to love you will love!
What happened to the people of the church in Ephesus can happen to any church, to any one of us!
“You can be a knowledgeable Christian, but if the power of God isn’t in your walk it is all for naught.” -Life Application Study Bible
How Do You Get Back Your “Lovin Feeling”?
The Lord gave clear instruction on how to get back to a love relationship with Him.
Revelation 2:5
5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
The Lord gave them three things that would keep them in love with Him, or bring someone back choosing to love Him…
"Look how far you have fallen!” - Spiritual Reality Check (Wake Up)...
Part of that loss of love came from just going through the motions. Being caught up in a rut, or routine.
If I came home and did my own thing, while my wife came home and did her own thing...if we never talked, engaged one another, spent time together...we would exist together...but, not truly love together.
You need a spiritual reality check. You need to assess where you are in your walk with the Lord.
“Turn back to Me” - repent!
When a person repents...it is more than just saying I’m sorry! True repentance comes from a change of heart that changes one’s choices and direction.
If the Lord is not where He should be in your life...You need to make a change.
This is an important step. The Lord warned them.
Revelation 2:5
5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
God loves you so much that He will do whatever it takes to love you...and have you love Him!
“...do the works...” (take action)
It has been said, “Whoever loves much, does much.”
-Thomas a' Kempis
John 14:15
“If you love Me, obey My commandments.
The Lord was not asking them to stop doing the very things that He had praised them for. He wanted them to do it out of love for Him!
Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I do not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me."
Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you're getting a divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!"
And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting "as if." For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing.
When she didn't return, Crane called. "Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?"
"Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him."
Her actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds.”
-J. Allan Petersen
Actions always speak louder than words.
If your love relationship with God is not what it should be or used to be…
Take a spiritual reality check...Be honest, and repent!
“...Do the works”...take action!
Have you ever heard about the 5 flies on a log. Four wanted to fly off, one wanted to stay. How many flies are on the log. Five. Wanting to and doing are two different things. (Dale Carnegie training)
Don’t just know you need to change, actually take the steps to make the change.
Bring back that lovin' feelin'
Whoa, that lovin' feelin'
Bring back that lovin' feelin'
'Cause it's gone, gone, gone
And I can't go on, whoa-oh
How do you “bring it back”?
Look how far you’ve fallen! Wake up - take a Spiritual reality check
Turn back to Him! Repent
Do the works! Out of love for Him not just going through the motions.
