First Things First: Jesus Above All

Well, good morning Summit family. If you have your Bibles, don't you meet me in Revelation chapter 2.

With all that's going on in our society and world, it's easy to get real distracted. I just have a real simple word to give to you this morning. Real simple reminder, nothing deep today. For the deep stuff, come back next week and our pastor will be able to jump into the deep end of the pool.

We're going to be in the kiddie pool this week. But Revelation chapter 2, pick me up in verse 1. This is Jesus talking, Revelation 2, beginning in verse 1.

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write, the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil, your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil and have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary.

But, but I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not I'll come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Now God would you speak to us, pray that the seed of your word would fall on good ground, that it would take root, that it would bear much fruit. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Several years ago my dad tells a story, there was a colleague of his who had to catch a flight to China. And the day of his trip finally came, Georgia Bulldogs, God bless you. God bless you. Amen and amen. I grew up in Atlanta.

Man, you are blessed and highly favored. Anyways, so the day of his trip finally came, he's headed off to China and here he is and he checks his watch as he's been running errands all day kind of preparing for this trip to China and realizes, he looks at his watch that he's running perilously close to missing his flight. So he rushes home, throws his clothes and stuff in his suitcases, kisses his wife and kids goodbye, throws his suitcases in the trunk, slams the trunk, hops in his car, speeds down the 105 freeway there in Southern California, make his way to LAX, goes to the necessary security checkpoints, makes his flight just in time, takes his carry-on baggage, puts in the overhead compartment, sits down, breathes a sigh of relief and then as the plane is starting to taxi down the runway he begins to have this nauseating sense that he's forgotten something really important. But he can't quite put his finger on what it is.

Anybody here ever been there before where you just kind of go man I've forgotten something and you know can't necessarily quite figure out what it is? Finally at about 37,000 feet in the air somewhere over the Pacific it hits him what it is he's forgotten and the very thought of him causes him to double over in agony and he's banging his head just going man how could I be so silly and dumb to forget that. See in his haste to make his flight he had just pulled up curbside at LAX, hopped out of his car, left the car running, thinks the door was open to his car and here he is over the middle of the Pacific 37,000 feet in the air and Lord knows what's happened to his car. See in his haste to do a good thing take a trip to China he neglected to take care of an essential thing his car.

See while there are many flights to China that day he only had one car. He exchanged an essential thing for a good thing. We've all been there haven't we? We've all been there. You know as parents we've been there with our kids we know what it's like to exchange an essential thing for good things. I've got a 20 year old an 18 year old and a 16 year old man if all goes according to plan you know two years from now we're gonna be you know empty nesters. You know Psalm 127 says that children are like arrows not boomerangs.

I mean we're just we're just claiming that right now and boy no one I mean no one's told me I thought having young adults was easy. It's not easy anyways that's another sermon for another time but me my 20 year old are talking on the phone the other day he calls me he's checking in and and then the conversation kind of turns man and he just kind of you know is just like dad you know I just wish you were around more and I'm like I I gotta I gotta own that. See in my haste to do a good thing I want to provide for him there were seasons and stretches of my parenting that I neglected the essential thing which is time with him. Even in our own marriages we understand this. I mean the essential thing God just kind of names here's what your marriage should be about Brian Genesis chapter 2 Jesus repeats it in Matthew chapter 19 I have just kind of proclaimed over your marriage oneness what Tim Downs calls soul level harmony. I'm calling you and your wife to walk in oneness and yet as one person said the problem with life is that life is oh so daily. And we can just kind of go into these seasons where man I just remember just you know one kid's got a t-ball game over here another kid's on a soccer field and man we got you know busy stretches in marriage and I got flights to catch and we can be like ships passing in the night and you string enough of these things together and the last one leaves the house and you're just kind of eating that P.F.

Chang's together looking across the table at a stranger. You've exchanged an essential thing for a good thing. College students you understand this.

I mean here you are the essential thing is you're you're at that university to get a degree but but you've done some good things you've made some connections and building some relationships. It's wonderful but don't let that distract you from the essential thing in which you're there for the very temptation of life is to exchange essential things for good things. This is the message of the church at Ephesus.

Their struggle we're gonna learn is our struggle. Again I ain't got nothing deep for you today. The problem with the church at Ephesus Jesus says in essence you have gotten so grown and so mature and so sophisticated in your faith that you exchanged doing good things for me with being with me and I want to talk about that. Here's Jesus he decides to give a piece of mail to seven churches. Right out the bat the first church he says I want to give a postcard to is the church at Ephesus. Most New Testament scholars will tell us we cannot possibly understand our Bibles without understanding the church and city of Ephesus. Here is Paul he decides to plant a church acts 19 in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was regarded as the New York City of its day a very strategic place. Paul walks into the city and he goes to the synagogue and preaches Christ to the Jews some Jews come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior he's not done he then goes to the hall of Tyrannus and preaches Christ some Gentiles come to know Christ as Lord and Savior what does he do these two different ethnic groups can't stand each other he doesn't start two separate churches no he starts one church and calls them to work out horizontally what God in Christ has already accomplished for them vertically which is reconciliation. The multi-ethnic church is one of the strongest pieces of evidence for the veracity of Jesus Christ. So he calls them I want you to flesh this thing out soon enough an emerging church occurs and it starts to grow and grow and scholars tell us that Ephesus becomes the hub of a strong vibrant missionary community. Ephesus is highly influential we know it's influential because in antiquity the sequence of numbers oftentimes tells you its importance the fact that Jesus Christ is giving a letter to seven different churches and the first church out of the gate is Ephesus tells us that Ephesus is strategic and important. He begins by addressing the letter will you look at verse one with me to the angel of the church in Ephesus now what does this mean John MacArthur and other Bible scholars tell us that that fundamentally angels are messengers they exist to kind of bring a word from God to his people they're messengers and that's why MacArthur another Bible scholar says that the angel is the pastor or the leaders of the church. He goes on to say in verse one the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand who walks among the seven golden lamp stands now what does this mean you don't need a a commentary or to spend a day in seminary to figure this out he already answered this for us in Revelation chapter 1 verse 20 look at it with me as for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lamp stands the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches here leaders and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches so Jesus Christ begins by saying listen I want you to know that I've got the leaders in the churches in my hand it is a symbol of his control the fact that he says they're in my right hand is a symbol of his powerful control he says I want you to understand I am sovereign over your life I am sovereign over the summit church not only that he says I actually walk among my people I walk among my churches not as a security guard waiting to point out negative things but but this is a symbol of his pastoral care put it all together Jesus is saying I'm holding your life I'm holding the life of the summit church in my right hand and I'm walking among you which means I am exercising right now sovereign care and control over your life in this church this Jesus is not on the history channel he is very active in the reality show that is your life and this church oh you gonna make me shout you keep saying amen over here I love it now what does this mean for us practically as my grandma used to say son I need you to put some shoe leather on this what does that mean when we really understand that God is exercising sovereign care and control over the summit and over my life it should eliminate worry Matthew chapter 6 Jesus says three times therefore I tell you do not worry do not worry do not worry I love what Max Lucado that prolific writer in San Antonio says Max Lucado says that worry is our emotional reaction to a perceived event it's different from fear fear is our emotional reaction to an actual event worry is our emotional reaction to a perceived event to what might happen I love Tony Evans Tony Evans says worry is paying interest on trouble not yet do I love that when I understand God you are exercising sovereign care and control over my life that nothing surprises you that at no point do you ever appear over the balcony of heaven then look at the Holy Spirit say Holy Spirit did you know that that should eliminate worry now what does this mean for us some at church collectively man we are in a man an unprecedented stretch you talk to the average pastor they are expressing deep concern maybe some even worry and anxiety about COVID and what's going to happen once it finally abates to my church will I even have a church or man you just kind of look at the political turmoil that's out there I sit on the board of a Christian university and we spent a lot of time talking recently about what happens if and when the Equality Act passes and there's deep concern for us there or you just talk about the racial climate and all that's happening there I mean we're living in a milieu that can threaten our sense of confidence but God is saying I want you to look at scripture and I want you to look at the witness of church history the churches survived a global pandemic called the black plague the churches survived bad political leaders the church has actually thrived in racially hostile climates I think I can get you through this one and what's true of the church is true of your life man this has been a crazy stretch one of my pastor friend says you know 2021 doesn't feel a whole lot different so far feels like December 82nd 2020 he said to me and I've had to constantly remind myself he takes care of the birds he closed the lilies of the field how much more important than I who've been made in his image he's got me God's got you he's got you he's got you Jesus now moves from this and he opens up by giving the church at Ephesus a commendation he begins by telling them I know your deeds the Greek word which is the original language of the text for no it speaks of watch it now not of a knowledge that comes by reading but a knowledge that comes by experience in other words Jesus is saying I've been checking you out isn't that a thought Jesus is saying in so many words I've been checking you out and there are some things that I love about you he now rattles off nine things that he loves about the church at Ephesus I don't have time to do a line by line audit but but let me just say this these nine things fit in three big buckets this is the first thing I want you to understand is I've been checking you out and I want you to understand I've got to applaud you you are a hard working church he says in verse two I know your works your toil the word there for toil it means to labor until the point of exhaustion he says I've been checking you out and here's where I concluded you ain't a lazy church y'all are working out in the marketplace you're doing your nine-to-five job and then you're showing up leading your small group I mean you guys are busting it throughout the week and then you're coming and you're serving in children's ministry or or you're out on the parking lot ministry maintenance you are a hard working church I just got to tell you I've been checking you out laziness is not in your vocabulary not only that he tells them you're a hard working church but secondly he tells them you're a faithful church he says again verse two I know your works your toil here it is and your patient endurance idea of endurance it is the power to withstand hardship or stress you've been through some things you you you've been through 2020 the devil threw some haymakers at you your your marriage has been tested as never before but you know the schoolwork has been tested as never before look at you you are still here you are in church you've endured you've gone through some things but not only that he says you're faithful you're hard working but thirdly he says you're a discerning church he says but have tested those verse two who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false here's what I love about you Jesus says to the church at Ephesus just because a person gets on stage on Sunday morning and maybe has the title pastor before their name you're not gullible you're not just taking what they're saying you're discerning what they're saying and sifting what they're saying through the word of God you are a discerning church you are not easily led astray I mean can't you hear Jesus clapping hard-working church faithful church discerning church I mean you guys are killing it and then verse four but ain't it just like Jesus to find something wrong but I mean it's sort of like you know the times I've taken my car for a simple oil change at Jiffy Lube man and after doing the oil change they come out man oil looks great rotate you're tired just wonderful but you need a new radiator or you go to the dentist and for simple cleaning and your teeth look great but you got a cavity here's Jesus yeah wonderful things great things but I have this one thing against you and boys it a doozy you've abandoned your first love the Greek word for abandoned hear me now it's oftentimes in the New Testament translated as forgive when we forgive what are we doing we're sending away the offense now this word is great for grudges it's horrible for Jesus Jesus says at some point you got so sophisticated in your faith you got so immersed in the latest Bible study you got so caught up in the latest program that I'm no longer first now let's look at context you don't need to spend a day in seminary to figure this out he ain't talking about people who ain't come to church he's not talking about individuals who are just you know living in the flesh he's talking about people who show up who serve who go to the conferences who take the notes he's talking about church people and he says at some point your priorities Brian got out of whack I mean I've been preaching over 30 years I love preaching and maybe Jesus is saying to me that's the problem Brian at some point you love preaching more than me you love doing things for me more than being with me now I went to Bible college so I wouldn't have to do math math is not my forte in fact when my kids came home you know and they were on the unit called fractions I tapped out and I said there's an app for that but one thing I do remember about math is there is a section that we went through called order of operations you remember order of operations order of operations is equations that they put inside a parenthesis and there's you know multiplication addition there's division there's subtraction and fundamentally what order of operations says is that you just don't jump in there and start doing the math that there's a sequence you have to work in fact what order of operations actually says is if you get the math right but the sequence wrong the whole thing is wrong Jesus is saying I'm proud of myself for using a math illustration Jesus is saying you got the math right but you got the sequence wrong the whole thing's misstep I'm not your first love now what is first love I mean what what what differentiates first love from second love third love fifth love 20th love what what what what's unique about first love one word passion passion I'll never forget it was January of 1998 I was in church one of those old school churches there in LA we were old school we would sit us ministers would sit on the pulpit and I looked out man it was like a light just shone down on this woman man half Mexican half Irish all fine girl named Corey I've married her now found out she had just gotten saved and I felt led by the Holy Spirit to be a part of her discipleship her spiritual formation so we started hanging out man and soon enough we fell in love and I'll never forget Corey her apartment was in North Hollywood my apartment was in Paramount and both of us liked a group called Casey and Jojo yeah I didn't think that would work in this crowd we liked a group called Casey and Jojo and so what we would do is we take our CDs these little discs and we'd she'd be in North Hollywood I'd be in Paramount and we'd put both put the Casey and Jojo CD in at the same time and we'd go to track 11 at the same time and we'd hit play at the same time and put repeat song at the same time and we would talk all night with Casey and Jojo in the background someone says yuck I mean we would do that because there's first love you tend to do cheesy stuff like that I mean she turned this introvert into an extrovert first love then it happened we got married and about six months later Corey comes to me and says we're off I mean what do you mean she goes I just I'm not feeling that connection anymore we're we're off she didn't say it this way but but the passion was gone and I'll never forget my response forgive me I hope this is a safe place for me to confess my sin but but I said to her I said honey if you ever doubt my love for you just just look at the roof I mean I pay the rent here and just look at the refrigerator it's filled with food and that didn't go over well why didn't he go over well because in Corey's mind doing things for her could never take the place of being with her you can tithe and not have Jesus as your first love you can go overseas on a missions trip and not have Jesus as your first love you can lead a small group and not have Jesus as your first love Jesus is saying never confuse doing things for me with being with me is that you is that you look I'm not ripping on you because you're a southerner I'm a southerner I grew up in Atlanta I grew up in Bible Beltville elder brotherville the danger of cultural Christianity one person said the the scary thing about ministries you can learn to do it it just becomes this lifeless autopilot thing we've all been there not you all have been there we all have been there so when I get my priorities out of whack what do I do Jesus says you ask good questions here's what you do verse five remember therefore from where you have fallen repent and do the works you did at first here's what he's saying Brian when your priorities are out of whack do these three things remember repent redo remember repent redo remember repent redo would you say that with me remember repent redo William Barclay Bible scholar says the way back to Jesus begins with memory if you ever read the Old Testament most of times when God moves in the Old Testament he calls his people to build an altar of remembrance when the nation of Israel crosses the Jordan River at springtime at harvest time at springtime when they cross the Jordan River miraculously God opens up his whoa get twelve stones build this altar of remembrance why because in the future when when you and your son are out traveling somewhere you and your daughter out somewhere you and the family are up somewhere you just kind of randomly come by these twelve stones stop and when they ask you what's this about stop and remember remember that move of God let it refuel you for the present I hope this is a safe place so my son's Cory and my youngest are down in Rock Hill Fort Mill somewhere in South Carolina he's uh he's got a basketball tournament this weekend and so in fact two o'clock today they play Steph Curry's team and so they're down there and all I guess I don't do well when my wife is gone when I'm out of town I can adjust but but when my boo is gone that's just that's tough I hope this is a safe place I'm about to turn in my man card but sometimes I get so jacked up that actually sleep on her side of the bed I sleep on her side of the bed so I can just smell her scent I know I know then there's other times in which I'll actually walk on her side of the closet and just smell her clothes I know I know that's weird that's weird and there's been times when I've shared this illustration and guys have come to me like Nicodemus came to Jesus and they've confessed their sins as well there's a connection between your sense of smell and memory the sense of her makes me think of her and thinking of her makes me long for her Jesus says when you've gotten off track I need you to remember I need you to think back before you were so sophisticated and so mature in the faith I need you to remember when you first got saved and you didn't know any scripture but you were telling everyone moving about this Jesus remember that remember when you didn't know all this sophisticated theology and you didn't necessarily even know how to pray the right way you couldn't dot all your theological I's or cross all your theological T's but there was a freshness there was an intimacy there when you were talking to Jesus you weren't talking to other people through your prayer it was heartfelt remember that remember when the word of God wasn't some reading plan to check off a list and to make sure you're tracking but remember with there was this intimacy there was this connection take a whiff of that secondly he says repent now last I checked in the Bible the only thing you repent of is sin in context Jesus is saying if I'm not first it's sin if I'm not first love something has taken my place and for anything to take the place of Jesus we call it an idol and as Tim Keller says an idol is anything even a good thing that has become an ultimate thing repent and then thirdly and finally says redo CS Lewis says it this way CS Lewis using the analogy of marriage to point to our relationship with Christ he says in essence if you've lost your passion in marriage if your spouse is not precious don't wait until that spouse feels precious do the deed and then the preciousness will follow so Brian you're driving down the street man and you and you and Cory are off don't wait until you feel like it just pull over right now get some flowers from from from from whole paycheck I mean Whole Foods just just just pull right over there do the works and the feelings will come that's what he's saying do what you did when I was first love it may mean you you you may need to do what you did at first love when it could mean fasting whatever it may do do that and the feelings will come what happens as we close when we do these things and Jesus becomes first love he ends with an incredible promise he says verse 7 he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches I love this to the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God what does this mean whenever you see paradise in the Bible it always has this common denominator the presence of God Genesis opens up with paradise in fact it says in Genesis chapter 3 that when they heard the sound of the Lord God walking they hid themselves I love this there's a lot of stuff walking in the garden there's elephants and giraffes but how do I know on sound that's not an elephant that's not a giraffe that's God unless I have experienced his presence or take the cross Jesus says to the thief today you will be with me in paradise in the Bible paradise is the presence of God here's what he's saying believers can never lose the presence of God but when Jesus is first here's what he's saying you will experience the manifest presence of God in your life and then he says how it comes from the tree of life Greek word for tree can be translated exuberance it can be translated abundance it can be translated happiness here it is it can be translated joy Psalm 16 brings the these two things together joy and presence he says in his presence I love it there is fullness of joy when Jesus is first fullness of joy joy is a divine protest against the tyranny of circumstances joy says circumstance you will not dictate my attitude because the presence of God is abundant in my life imagine a young man he has just finished his PhD dissertation he hits send and sends it into his advisor a couple days later his advisor gets back to his man I got some great news and I got some not so great news the great news man is that I've reviewed your dissertation looks great I think it's ready for us to go to the next step and schedule your defense he says now for the not so great news I hate to bum you out but I talked to the registrar's office man I know you should have done this on the front end but man somehow it just slipped through the cracks you didn't take German in order to get this degree conferred upon you you're gonna have to take German so this young man man he goes out and finds a German German tutor and for the next six weeks three hours a day five days a week sits down with the German tutor and he's just checking it off the list there's no excitement there's no joy there just something's got to do but now another imagine another individual meets a young woman one evening and his heart is smitten something him goes that's the girl I'm gonna marry he goes over to her and feels a connection he starts trying to talk to her and realizes she doesn't speak English she can only speak German so what does he do he goes out and hires a tutor for the next six weeks three hours a day five days a week he's meeting with this German tutor you think there's excitement there you think there's anticipation there you think there's joy there why because on the other side of the task is a person Jesus says I'm not just a Bible reading plan Jesus says I'm not just a giving report Jesus says I'm not just an event where you hop on a plane and go overseas Jesus says I'm not just a program those things have its place but on the other side of the plan on the other side of the trip on the other side of the program is a living person whose name is Jesus never gets so grown in your faith Brian you neglect first things first I want to pray for us father we've all been there we've all been there Jesus you're not just a reading plan Jesus you're not just a giving report you're not just a program you are a person who loved us so much that you got on a cross and you died for every sin we've ever committed are committing and will ever commit you love us so much that Ephesians says you are rich in mercy you have more mercy than we have messes you pour out your kindness and your grace on us lamentation says morning by morning new mercies we see so father I pray first of all for that person is here today doesn't know you as Lord and Savior I pray in the name of Jesus that you would lovingly draw them in what I have given today is not a list of things to do it's not lifeless religion it is trying to extol the beauties of a living person that's what Christianity is we walk with a living person who walks with us and talks with us a long life's narrow way so I pray Lord God that they would see their need for Jesus and for those of us who are in relationship with Jesus and yet your spirit has been messing with us over the last several moments together and we say yes that's me I've got my priorities out of order got the math right but the sequence wrong oh for the grace to remember repent and redo it's in Jesus' name we ask all these things amen.