OPEN: Art Toalston in The Baptist Press - Nov. 15, 2001 reported from New York and he wrote: “The cross has been saved. That’s the cross of steel beams uncovered as workers in New York cleared away debris at the World Trade Center.
Recovery worker Frank Silecchia, who has championed the cross’ preservation, told Baptist Press Nov. 6, the cross has been designated as a memorial by the City of New York.
The cross has been moved to the front of the World Financial Center’s Building Six on West Street, Silecchia said, noting that is final location has not yet been determined.
The beams, at least 6 feet high and four feet wide, were bolted together as part of the original structure. The edges of the beams bear no marking of being cut or welded to make the shape of a cross.
The most heart-wrenching discovery was that a silver object melted onto the cross’ left side was the remains of a firefighter’s jacket who died in the blast. Firefighters say the fire-resistant jacket turned silver and took on the look and consistency of metal when it encountered extreme heat and fire. Now it is wrapped around the left arm of the cross.
APPLY: That cross has been dedicated by New York because it was seen as an appropriate memorial to the bravery and tragedy of Sept. 11th. It’s a proper monument. A fitting memorial to those that had died trying to save others.
As we gather on this Memorial Day Weekend, we need to realize that Memorial Day was also meant as fitting time to remember those who have died for us. This Day has been set aside by our nation to remember those who perished attempting to save us and our nation. Memorial Day is a time to - remember.
I. Memorials have always been important to God because God regards remembering as a critical exercise for His people.
> As the Israelites were preparing to leave the slavery of Egypt for the freedom of the Promised Land, God commanded that they celebrate the first Passover. God told His people “Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste— so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.” Deuteronomy 16:2-3
> When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on their way to Jericho:
Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.
In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:4-7
> On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He held the “Last Supper” in an upper room. And sometime during that meal, Jesus “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’” Luke 22:17
> When Paul wrote the Christians who were tempted with sin in Rome he told them: “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” Romans 6:2-7
In other words, Baptism was meant to be a memorial to our death as sinners, and a reminder of our resurrection to a new life. When we’re tempted to sin, baptism is God’s way of reminding us of those truths.
Memorials are important to God, because remembering is important for His people.
Repeatedly thruout Scripture, God’s people are told to “remember… remember… remember”
II. Here in our text this morning we find God’s people being told once more: remember
REREAD vs. 4 & 5 “Remember the height from which you have fallen…”
Now, this wasn’t just a casual comment by Jesus (like my wife telling me to remember to pick the pizza or carry out the trash). Oh no - this is far more serious than that. Jesus is telling the church at Ephesus: if you don’t remember what you’ve forgotten –
I’ll forget you
I’ll walk away
I’ll remove your lampstand from my presence
IN other words, whatever it was they had forgotten
– they desperately needed to remember it.
III. What had they forgotten?
Had they forgotten to take care of the poor and help those in need? I don’t think so… Jesus told them he knew of their deeds – their “good works” (vs. 2a)
This is a church that did good things. And that got Jesus’ attention.
Had they fallen into false doctrine? No… Jesus told them: “I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” (vs. 2b)
This was a church known for its “good deeds” and its “good doctrine”
BUT SOMETHING WAS missing.
Somewhere along the line, this church had forgotten something. But what?
IV. Well, let’s look again at the text: vs. 4
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
What had they forgotten? They’d forgotten their first love. That’s what "forsaken" means. It means they’d
* walked away
* abandoned…
* forgotten – their 1st love
D. BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
What does it mean that they had “forsaken their 1st love?” I’ll be honest… the text doesn’t tell us…
But I do pick up a couple of hints from Jesus’ other comments.
Vs. 5 "Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first."
V. What had they done at first?
Acts 19 tells us how the church got started.
On his 2nd missionary journey, Paul paid a visit to Ephesus – and stayed there for over 2 yrs. It appears to have been a moderately successful church plant until just before Paul left. Then, a Great Revival took place, AND as a result:
“…the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus… were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil 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. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” (Acts 19:17-20)
Notice: the Ephesian church “held the name of Jesus in high honor.” AND because of that….
1. they openly confessed their evil deeds
2. and they publicly burned their books of sorcery (worth approx $5 million)
3. And THIS RESULTED in = word of the Lord spreading widely & powerfully
These were the deeds “they had done at first.” Because Jesus had become so powerfully important to them, they invested in Him
- they invested their morality in Him – they confessed their sins
- they invested their private lives in Him – they removed sinful books from their homes
- AND they invested their finances in Jesus – they burned materials worth over $5 million dollars
That’s what you do when you love someone – you invest in them.
You remember them in the things you do with your life.
ILLUS: I once read the story of an engineer on a submarine. He was often out at sea during family occasions and as a result, he sometimes forgot about them. One year he missed his wife’s b’day. Unfortunately, it was impossible for her to tell him how furious she was since the Navy screened all messages, editing out anything that could be considered disturbing to the men on board.
However, this woman was not so easily defeated. She sent her husband a message, thanking him profusely for the lovely birthday present he so kindly remembered to send her. She went on and on about how special he had made her feel by his thoughtfulness, and how grateful she was for his generosity.
Navy personnel dutifully forwarded the note. The man got the message - and never forgot his wife’s birthday again.
When you love someone, you remember them. AND you remember the things that are important to them. You INVEST yourself in them
Apparently, the Ephesian church had stopped remembering Jesus.
They were known for their good deeds and their good doctrine. BUT Jesus had slipped thru the cracks.
VI. I’ve seen churches fall into that trap
* They’ve got programs for alcoholics and substance abusers
* They’ve got food pantries and clothing for the poor
* They support many good projects and admirable ventures
And doctrinely?
· Why, they have all kinds of doctrines they’ll teach
· They can tell you what’s wrong with the cults and communists
· They can diagram the 2nd coming of Christ… till you’re convinced they know the exact minute that Jesus will show up.
· They’ll have seminars on church growth and organization
BUT THEY DON’T TALK TOO MUCH ABOUT JESUS
ILLUS: I read recently about a new convert that went out calling with his preacher. They were visiting a family who’d never been to church and didn’t know much about the Bible. The preacher started out talking about Abraham and some teaching related to him. And while that wasn’t a bad thing to talk about, this new convert realized his preacher was missing the point. This family needed to hear about Jesus, not some nice Bible story about Abraham.
He interrupted his preacher and suggested maybe this family needed to hear about Christ. The preacher shifted gears and that night they led this family to Christ.
The preacher had almost fallen into the trap that Ephesian church stumbled into.
As if to reinforce that idea, Jesus’ last words to the Ephesian church are these:
(TURN TO Revelation 2:7)"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
CLOSE: What is the tree of life for us?
(Peter said) Acts 10:39 "We are witnesses of everything (Jesus) did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree."
Galatians 3:13 "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ’Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’"
1 Peter 2:24 (Jesus) "himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
What is the tree of life? It’s the cross of Jesus.
And from that day to this, the cross has been a symbol of hope and promise
· That’s why, when you walk in a cemetery you find crosses over the resting places of many in a graveyard
· That’s why New York has chosen the cross as a fitting memorial for 9/11
That cross is a memorial to what Jesus has done for us
It’s when we look upon the cross that we realize all that Jesus has done for us
AND as good as some of our best deeds may be…
As valuable as some teachings we may teach…
What we need to remember is who Jesus is and what He’s done for us.
CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: She was crazy. Everyone knew it because she had the habit of talking to herself in public and it was known that she believed she even talked to Jesus - and Jesus talked back to her. A new preacher came to town and, hearing of the crazy woman, thought that he might be able to make her face reality.
One day, as he saw her walking down the street he spoke to her and eventually got around to asking, "I hear you talk to Jesus."
"Yes," she replied. "Jesus and I talk for just hours and hours."
"Would you do me a favor?" the minister began. "Could you ask Him something for me?"
"Why of course," the old woman responded.
"Would you ask Jesus what the last sin was that I confessed to Him?"
"Certainly," she replied.
The next day, the preacher saw the crazy woman just down the street and so he approached her asked, "Well, did you talk to Jesus last night?"
"Why, I surely did," she squealed.
"What did He say was the last sin was that I confessed to Him?" the preacher coyly asked.
She smiled as she replied: "Why, He said He didn’t remember."
When we remember Jesus – He forgets our sins and cleanses from all unrighteousness
SERMONS IN THE “JESUS DIARY” SERIES
Remember... - Revelation 2:1-2:7
Where Was God? - Revelation 2:8-2:11
The Comatose Congregation - Revelation 3:1-3:6
Making An Open Door- Revelation 3:7-3:13
The Poor Little Rich Church - Revelation 3:14-3:22
