The Abandonment of Love - 7

We're returning to the book of the Revelation, and we've turned from chapter 1 into chapter 2, and I want to read chapter 2, verses 1 through 7. To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. And you have persevered, and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolations, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Thus stands the eternal, living, life-giving, life-sustaining Word of our God. Well, we've come to chapter 2 and into that section where we find the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor. And the churches, the seven churches that are listed here, together constitute a picture of the entire church.

The number seven is a number of completeness. And it speaks of the church in the world with its imperfections, with its defects, with its strengths, and its weaknesses. It speaks of its trials and its temptations. And thus we have in this seven-fold message to these churches in Asia Minor, the Word of Christ to His church in the world at any time and in all lands, even until the coming again of the Lord. So let's not think that this is just a record of the words of Christ to these churches that existed geographically, but God has preserved this portion of His Word because it contains a complete record of what He has to say to His church at any time and in any place and in any generation. So it's practical.

It's relevant for us tonight. Christ walks among the seven golden lampstands, which chapter 1 verse 20 identifies as the seven churches. The seven golden lampstands are the seven churches. And we find here, to the angel of the church of Ephesus write, And these things, says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, I know your works. I know your works. Christ possesses an intimate knowledge, an infallible full knowledge of the condition of His churches. Each of the seven letters begins with the sobering and searching words, I know your works.

That's interesting. Of all the things that could be identified and focused on, we have here Christ saying, I know your works. Now, just to be clear, we know that works do not save anyone. There's no salvific merit in works, but works are the evidence of the saving work of Christ in the life. And where Christ is alive and ruling and reigning and sovereign in the lives of His people, there will be the fruit of His rule and reign in their lives. There will be good works that follow.

So, just that reminder. In each of these letters we see a pattern, and in that pattern there is first a statement concerning the one who walks among His churches that is peculiar to that particular church. Then there is an enumeration of the commendable traits, wherever that is possible, to this rule. There are two exceptions. No words of commendation are given to two churches, to the Church of Sardis and to the Church of Laodicea.

Nothing good is recorded of them. Nothing commendable is said to them. On the other hand, there are two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, that receive only praise and encouragement and commendation and no rebuke, no complaint is spoken of them or toward them. And then in each of the seven letters we have a closing exhortation that contains a promise or a threat of judgment or both, depending on the condition of that particular church.

Every one of those letters has these words in it. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So, tonight as we consider the Church of Ephesus, and this is a good place I suppose to start since we heard a series of messages from the book of Ephesians by Mark Webb, our Spring Bible Conference speaker, and he said a good bit on that opening night about the Church of Ephesus, its beginnings, the city of Ephesus, and so much there, and I won't revisit any of that. I trust that if you were here, you can remember some of those things. But as we look at these seven verses, there's a lot here to consider.

And I have five headings tonight in my message. I want us to consider, number one, an identification, number two, a commendation, number three, a complaint, number four, a rebuke and admonition, and then finally, a word of compensation. So let's begin as we look here at verse one at an identification, and let me draw your attention to what I mean. To the angel of the Church of Ephesus, right. These things, says he, who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.

Here is an identification. There are two things that identify who it is that is speaking to the Church at Ephesus. Two identifying statements, so that there is no mistake who is addressing the Church. And what are those two identifying statements? It says, these things, says he, identifying statement number one, he holds the seven stars in his right hand, and identifying statement number two, he walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.

Let's think about those two identifying statements. Number one, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand. Now again, we've got to go back to the end of chapter one to see what is the antecedent to the stars. Notice again verse 20, the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand in the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands, which you saw, are the seven churches. So here, the seven stars are the angels, or the Greek word can be translated messenger.

And as you perhaps can remember as I spoke to you about this, I've wrestled back and forth. There's disagreement among commentators as to who the angel is that's being referred to here, the angels. Some say it's a guardian angel that's been assigned to every church.

And although that sounds warm and encouraging, and I'm in no place to doubt that per se, I have no evidence to say, well, that couldn't be. It just doesn't seem to make sense that there would be a letter addressed to an angel. It's more satisfactory to me to think that the angel is a messenger of the church. And what is happening here is there is a letter being addressed to the elder, the pastor, the one who oversees that particular church. And so that we don't just pass that off and say, okay, this is directed to the leadership of the church, the pastor, the overseer, the elder, whichever designation you want to use. And it has nothing to do with the people in the church that make up the church. And I remind you that each one of these letters ends with, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

And that surely sounds to me to include every person who makes up the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, I believe is a designation, the right hand of God is a designation of the power, the authority, the rulership, the protection, the safety, the ownership of Almighty God. Paul wrote to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, and he exhorted them to shepherd the church of God which he, that is God, purchased with his own blood. So, God has made an investment in the church. He holds the church in his right hand because the church belongs to him.

He purchased it. He is securing it. He is safeguarding it. And there's not a more secure place, not a more safe place, not a stronger place to be than in the right hand of the Almighty. So, that's the first identifying statement, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand. And then it says, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. The lampstands are reminiscent of the lampstands that were part of the temple furniture in the Jewish worship. And they reminded the faithful Jewish remnant that God's purpose for Israel was that they would be a light to the world. The Old Testament priest had a function in the temple in attending to the lampstands by trimming the wicks, by refilling the lamps with fresh oil, by relighting those lamps that had gone out. And here in Revelation, where we're at here tonight, the lampstands represent the church.

The church is to serve as a light to the world. And in the midst of the seven golden lampstands is the risen Christ functioning as a priest, by attending to the churches, by commending, by correcting, by exhorting, by warning. And he walks in the midst of his churches, that is to say, he's not passive, he's active. And in his unfailing ministry within the church, he is carrying on a ministry to ensure that it, the church, carries out its function as light bearers in an ever increasing dark world.

Sam Storms, in his book, To the One Who Overcomes, says this, as he's talking about Christ walking among the lampstands. He is present in and among his people. He guards and protects and preserves the church. He's never absent.

And then listen to this nine-fold list of things that he speaks to. No service is conducted at which he fails to show up. No meal is served for which he does not sit down. No sermon is preached that he does not evaluate. No sin is committed by which he is unaware.

No individual enters an auditorium of whom he fails to take notice. No tear is shed that escapes his eye. No pain is felt that his heart does not share. No decision is made that he does not judge.

No song is sung that he does not hear. Christ is walking in the midst of his churches. He's not absent. He's present. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst, Jesus said.

So that's identification. We're identifying who this is that is being spoken of, writing to the church of Ephesus. And secondly, we look at commendation.

Commendation. And that's there in verse 2. He says, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil, and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, and you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary. That word translated in our Bibles, no, I know your works, is the Greek word oida, and it refers to a complete and full knowledge. The Lord of the church knows everything there is to know about the church, both good and bad. He knows everything that there is to know. And it's not something that he learns by experience. It's just something that he knows. And what he knows translates initially here into words of commendation.

They were number one in terms of commendation. They were loyal in labor. He says, I know your works, your labor, your patience. Some of your translations may say toil.

It's speaking of laboring to the point of exhaustion. They were hard working. The church was a beehive of activity. There was a lot going on, a lot of work and service for Christ going on. John MacArthur in his commentary says, in the middle of the pagan darkness that surrounded them, they were aggressively evangelizing the lost, edifying the saints, and caring for those who were in need. They were commended by Christ for their labor, for their hard work. Secondly, they are commended that they had zero tolerance for evil men.

Notice what he says. You cannot bear those who are evil. You cannot bear those who are evil. They don't say, well, let's just love them. Let's just ignore their faults, their sin, their evil. We just need to love everybody.

No. What's it say? You cannot bear those who are evil. They had zero tolerance for evil men. They had a high standard of holy conduct.

A third statement or word of commendation is in regard to discernment. He says, again in verse 2, you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars. They'd been warned by the Apostle Paul. Listen to what Paul said to the church there in Ephesus. As he wrote in Acts chapter 20, he says, Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So Paul warned them of wolves that would come, those who would threaten the church, and they were commended by Christ for their identifying false prophets.

They had a standard of truth that they measured teaching by and doctrine by, and these were discovered to be false apostles and liars, and they identified them as such. They're commended in verse 3 for persevering. You have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary. They had not become weary in well doing. They had persevered. They had endured. And that speaks obviously of opposition and difficulty. They had to persevere. They had to endure.

They had to trust God not to become weary in well doing. And then there's a fifth area of commendation, and it's all the way down into verse 7, and I want to speak to that here because it's kind of sandwiched between a couple of other things, but verse 6, he says, But this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolations, which I also hate. You know, hate's not a very warm, fuzzy word, and we're not accustomed to speaking in church about things we hate. People are far more inclined to speak of the things they love, but if we're going to be faithful to Christ and faithful to the Word of God and balanced in our understanding of Scripture, there's going to be some things that we are going to have to hate because God hates them. We can't be soft.

We can't be compromising about these things. And it was the Nicolations. You hate the deeds of the Nicolations, which I also hate. The Nicolations, well, they're kind of a mystery. We don't know too much about them. They're mentioned in the church of Pergamos.

We won't take time to look at that tonight. We'll look at it when we get there, but the deeds of the Nicolations was a heresy, and through the church historian Irenaeus, it's told us that the Nicolations grew out from that man in Acts chapter 6 who was chosen to be part of the food distribution to the widows, Nicholas. He was one of the seven, and Irenaeus tells us that this man was apostate.

He turned on the church and sowed heresy, and the deeds of the Nicolations were deeds of licentiousness, deeds of immorality, sexual in nature, and moral compromise, cultural accommodation. They were more concerned about cultural accommodation rather than obeying the exhortation of Scripture to come out from among them and be ye separate. Again, let me challenge us this evening, challenge you, challenge myself to what Sam Storm says in his devotional commentary. He says this, If cultural relevancy threatens in any way or degree to undermine your single-mindedness, wholehearted devotion to Christ, end it. If cultural relevancy threatens in any way or degree to undermine your single-minded, wholehearted devotion to Christ, end it. To the extent that being in the world drains you of the necessary strength to resist its temptations or diminishes the purity of your relationship with Christ, turn and walk away. We're living in a day that churches tout their ability to relate to the culture. In fact, we have to study the culture, we have to understand the trends in the culture, and we have to accommodate the culture in order to grow a church. That is wrong thinking.

Think with me about this. If Christ has exhaustive knowledge about the church, everything about the church, good, bad, He knows it all, why would we want to go to any other source other than Christ to know what to do in the church to honor Him? That just seems logical to me, and yet, in practice, it seems so foreign. I remember being just so agitated about a class that I had to take in Bible college. I don't remember if it was Bible college or seminary, and it was studying demographics and how to, it was church growth study, and surveys, and asking questions, and looking at property, and where to plant a church, and all these things. There was a couple of other fellows in the class that were just agitated and troubled and bothered by the whole thing, and we just had to endure it.

It was part of the curriculum. At the time, I was thinking, why are we so concerned about all these things when we have all the answers we need in the Word of God? Why are we not studying the seven churches that are of Asia Minor? This represents the church in its totality.

It's not all that we need to know, but that was a foreign idea, a foreign concept. Well, there's a third heading I want us to think about, and that is the complaint that we find here, a complaint registered to the Church of Ephesus, against the Church of Ephesus, and it's stated very succinctly and very straightforwardly in verse 4. After all the words of commendation, and there were a lot, there's a lot about the church that is commendable, and then we come to this. One thing, just one thing, nevertheless I have this against you that you have left your first love. They had left their first love.

Question, does that mean first in terms of time? That seems to be the way the ESV takes it, by rendering this verse this way. You have abandoned the love you had at first. See the reference to time? You have abandoned the love you had at first. In other words, there was conspicuous in the early days of their Christian experience an evidence of love that is now lacking.

Years have gone by. Perhaps an entire generation has gone by since Paul wrote to the Church of Ephesus. Another question that surfaces here is this. Is this a love for Christ or is this a brotherly love that they had abandoned? Prior to studying for this sermon, I had always thought that it was a reference to their love for Christ.

But, think with me about this. In Ephesians chapter 1 verses 15 and 16, Paul commends them, that is the Ephesian church, for the fervency of their love for one another. And then he concludes the Ephesian letter in chapter 6 and verse 24 with a benediction blessing on those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Now the reason that I have been a bit open to the possibility that this is not necessarily speaking only that they have abandoned their love for Christ, but perhaps abandoned their love for their fellow believer, their fellow brother in Christ, is because of what we see in the previous verse. What does the previous verse say? It's a word of commendation.

You have persevered, you have patience, you have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary. It seems unlikely to me that the reference is to an abandonment of love for Christ since he's just commended them for enduring patiently for his name's sake. Question, what else would inspire them to patiently endure for his name's sake if it was not love for Christ?

Here's the logic of the argument. If they did not love Jesus, they would not have endured patiently for his name's sake. And if their endurance wasn't motivated by love, Jesus would hardly have commended them for it. So it's caused me to stop and think, now what's going on here? They were patient, they endured, they did not become weary in well doing for his name's sake.

The highest motivation. And then, one verse later, Christ has this against them. Now, we may not have to choose between love for Christ or love for one another. I want you to listen to Beasley Murray and his commentary and what he has to say at this point. I think he's wrestling with these things and listen to what he says.

I think it's brilliant what he has to say. He says, quote, where love for God wanes, love for man diminishes. And where love for man is soured, love for God degenerates into religious formalism.

And both constitute a denial of the revelation of God in Christ. If the price paid by the Ephesians for the preservation of true Christianity was the loss of love, the price was too high. For Christianity without love is a perverted faith.

So, let me just reinforce this with very familiar words to you. 1 Corinthians 13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, I have all faith so that I could remove mountains but have not love.

I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love, and then there's this long definition of what love is. And then it concludes with, and now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.

I remember what, I'm trying to think of our brother again, it will come to me. I can hear him saying this, the two great commandments are still the two great commandments. Love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and the love of our neighbor as ourself. Those are the two great commandments. So, they had abandoned their first love.

Here's a fourth heading that I want us to think about and that is rebuke and admonition. It's verse 5 there in Revelation chapter 2. He says, I have this against you that you've left your first love, verse 4. Verse 5, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. The seriousness of their abandonment cannot be overstated. The seriousness of their abandonment cannot be overstated. They're called to repent and unless they repent, if they fail to repent, we have these words, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place.

And here's some clear instructions. We are to be repenting repenters. Initially, we repented of our sins and trusted Christ. That is a pattern that ought to characterize our Christian lives. We are to continually be repenting of our sins. And here's a formula here.

What is it? Number 1, he says in verse 5, remember. Remember therefore from where you have fallen. Remember your transgression. Remember your departure. Remember your act of disobedience. Wherever you left the straight and narrow, remember that. Secondly, verse 5, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent.

Have a change of mind that affects the direction of your life. Repent. Remember, repent, and then I'm using the word rekindle that we might remember. Remember, repent, rekindle. Do the first works.

Do the first works. Go back to, and again, if this is an abandonment of their love for Christ, they are to go back to that initial love and enthusiasm they had that marked their conversion experience. And forever long it lasted, something happened. It waned.

It turned into cold orthodoxy. They had their doctrine right, but their love for Christ diminished. And it's no small thing. Hear me, it's no small thing.

So many things they were commended for. And this only, this one thing he had against them that threatened their existence as a church. He's calling them to repent. Remember, repent, rekindle, or else. We've used that language, I think, in our parenting and trying to train our children.

Do this. We give clear instructions and then we say, or else. There's an ultimatum. And that's what Christ says to the church that had so many things commendable said about them. Or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

And all commentators are in agreement here that this reference to him coming quickly is not a reference to the second coming. This is a reference to Christ coming in judgment of the church. Here is a threat of divine judgment so severe that it would bring an end to the church's existence. Of all the things that has impacted me about this message and this portion of God's Word, it is the import, the primacy, the weight of love for Christ and love for one another. And how absolutely critical it is and necessary for a healthy church.

And the absence of it threatens the very existence of the church. Jesus said, By this all men will know that you are My disciples by your love, one for another. And we have this final heading, compensation. Compensation, verse 7.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And I think I've already said this, but this is a formula that we see at the end of each of the seven letters. Each of these seven letters we find at the end, to him who overcomes, to him who overcomes, to him who overcomes. There is a promise attached to those who overcome. And greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world.

We are already overcomers. We need to be encouraged by this promise. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And folks, it's thank worthy to indeed have an ear that is sensitive to the Spirit of God that when we hear the Word of God, we hear God Himself speaking to us. And we take the Word of God seriously.

We don't dismiss it. We don't say, Well that's the preacher talking. He's on his little rant. He's on his hobby horse. He's whatever. That's the preacher.

No. Whenever a preacher is preaching, and he is preaching what the Word of God says, we need to hear it as it is the Word of God. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes.

Here's a promise. I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. The tree of life. It's first referenced in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 9. You remember that tree that stood in the garden of Eden? We have these words in chapter 3 and verse 21. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them.

Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us to know good and evil. And now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. The tree of life symbolizes eternal life. Back to Revelation 2 and the promise. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life. That which was forbidden because of man's sin and disobedience is invited, is promised to those who overcome.

And again, what was that? Lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. The tree of life is symbolic of eternal life. The paradise of God. What is the paradise of God? It's heaven.

So this promise. To those who overcome I will give to eat from the tree of life. To have the enjoyment of eternal life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

It sure creates a longing in your heart, doesn't it, for that place. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. What I want us to take away from this message is the vital importance of love. Love for God, love for Christ, love for our fellow brethren.

There is nothing to substitute for it. Right doctrine won't negate the absence of love. In fact, right doctrine minus love brings rebuke, brings threat of judgment. We are a church that is precise in our doctrine. We are a church that is precise in our theology and we make no apologies for that. But right doctrine must be married to love.

Love for God, love for Christ, love for one another. So what would Christ say? If Christ were to speak about our church, Beacon Baptist Church, what would he say?

I don't know. I don't have the mind of Christ. But I think there would be some of the things that the Church of Ephesus has commended for.

I think we are exemplary in, at least from my vantage point. I guess my judgment doesn't matter. What Christ says about us is what really matters. But in fairness, let's not miss this point. Sometimes we've elevated doctrinal preciseness and theological accuracy above love.

No. What do we see here? We see love elevated above doctrine and theology. Now it doesn't have to be one or the other, either or. We can have both.

In fact, both ought to be present. Right doctrine, when we rightly understand the Word of God and the God who's revealed Himself in Scripture, how can you not love this God? How can you not love this Christ for who He is and what He's done? And how can you not love the Brethren? How can you not love the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ? We dare not. We dare not make the Church any smaller than Christ has made it. And we dare not make it any larger than He's made it. But whoever the Church has identified as a believer, as a brother or sister in Christ, we are under mandate to love them.

Love them. To love Christ with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. To love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

And to love our neighbor as ourself. May God give us grace to grow in that, persevere in that, be unwavering in that, to not become weary in doing that. Shall we pray? Father, how we thank You for Your Word. We confess our God that we are prone to wonder, prone to leave the God we love. Lord, we would ask for grace to hedge us in, to protect us from the kind of rebuke that came to the Church at Ephesus. For whatever this is, whether an abandonment of their love for Christ and God, or an abandonment of their love for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and those who make up the Church, whichever it is, safeguard us from that. Protect us from that.

Grow us in that, that our love may grow greater and greater. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for its correction. Thank You for its instruction.

Thank You for its rebuke. We thank You that the Holy Spirit of God will take the Word of God and use the Word of God to conform us into the likeness of the dear, precious Son of God. Cause that to be so, our God, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. I brought this hymn with me. Come, Thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the modem fixed upon it, mount of Thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebeneezer, hither by Thy help I'm come.

And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood. Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wondering heart to Thee. Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above. Let me offer a prayer of benediction. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.