Ephesus: The Loveless Church

God never meant for our duty to replace our devotion. Our duty should come from our devotion. Dr. Tony Evans says Christ did not save you just to serve.

He saved you to love and know Him so that you might be fit to serve. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas and president of the Urban Alternative. Over time, our love for God either tends to grow more rich or more routine. Today, Dr. Evans explains that when that second one happens, it not only leaves our hearts empty, it leaves our churches empty. Let's join him in one of his classic sermons drawn from the archives of 40 years of ministry as he helps us navigate our way back to our first love. The book of Revelation was written to give us the long range view. And if you miss the long range view, if you miss the marathon that when it comes again, this world as we know it will be no more, then you understand that in the now, in the present, that you and I need to be ready in terms of our life and our effectiveness.

He's coming again and there is a mystery, he says. It's the mystery of the seven stars and the seven land stands. The seven stars are the seven messengers to the churches, the seven land stands, the seven churches, indicative of what God has for his complete church. In chapter two, verses one through seven, we have the particular message to the Ephesian Christians, the church at Ephesus. We have a destination, a revelation, a commendation, a condemnation, and an exhortation.

And that unfolds and unlocks the meaning of this first message to this first church. The destination is to the angel of the church in Ephesus. That is, this first message is to the Ephesian church.

Now, in order to appreciate the message, let's find out about the church. Sometime when you have a chance, you need to read Acts chapter 19. It tells us that Paul went to Ephesus to proclaim the word of the Lord. When Paul went there, he went to the number one city in Asia, Ephesus. Ephesus was a budding metropolis. Everything passed by Ephesus in commerce.

It was the place that was noted for one of the seven wonders of the world, the temple of Diana. It was big business to go to Ephesus. No wonder Paul wanted to go there, because, you see, Paul knew if he could infiltrate Ephesus, he would affect all of Asia for everybody came through Ephesus. So stunning was the word of God preached in Ephesus, the Bible said, that two things occurred, according to Acts 19. Number one, those who trusted Christ went publicly out to the square, brought all of their magic, all of their trinkets, all of the things that related to their old God and burned them publicly. So powerful was the movement of God by Paul, that people publicly displayed their commitment and love for Jesus Christ. Not only that, but towards the end of that chapter, it says a riot broke out. They said, wait a minute, this man Paul has come in and has interrupted our commerce.

People are going to stop coming here for the temple of Diana, for he preaches she is not God. The Bible says a riot broke out, and I like reading Acts 19, it gives us the historical data behind this, because the Bible says they all gathered in the amphitheater, ready to destroy those who were working with Paul. And the Bible says Paul said, let me go in and preach to them. That's the kind of man Paul was. Here the people were ready to kill anybody who brought up the name Jesus. All Paul saw was a crowd.

Let me go preach. The Bible says his disciples restrained him. I can see Paul saying, there's people out there that need to be born again, but they're going to kill you.

They need to be saved. Bible says they had to physically restrain Paul from preaching the gospel to the crowd. Later, when Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians in Ephesus, he spoke to them of a great love wherein they had been loved, the book of Ephesians, the same group. And he told them, I know your love. They had two kinds of love. They had loved Christ and sacrifice. They had loved each other in service. Paul says in chapter one, verse 15, in the book of Ephesians, writing to that church, I know your love. In fact, he says, watch out because Satan is out to destroy your love.

The bond between Jew and Gentile was taken care of by the cross. The middle wall of petition, he says, was broken down. You're now one.

You're now one. John is now writing to a second generation of Ephesian Christians. This is not the same group that Paul went to. It's a second generation group.

For the first generation, perhaps some were still alive, but many had gone on. So that's the destination, Ephesus. The revelation in the second half of verse one is that the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and he walks among the seven golden lampstands. The stars are the messengers.

He holds the messengers. The lampstand is the church. So guess where Jesus is. With his people gathered here, walking amidst the lamp, the lamp equals light.

Thus he is checking us out. Are they just gathering because it's Sunday morning? Are they finding out how they can be brighter lights, lampstands? He's not asking the question, first of all, how nice do they sing? The choir is asking the question, how much light is in the lives of those who sing? He's not asking the question whether the preacher is preaching homiletically accurate. He's asking the question whether there is light in the life of the one who preaches. He's not asking the question how nice you look. He's raising the question how much light exudes from your life.

He's not impressed with pomp and circumstance. He's impressed with light. For the Bible says he came to bring life and light to a dark world. He saved us to bring life and light to a dark world. So the analogy is he's walking amidst the lampstand.

Doesn't call it the church, but he's referring to the church. He calls it the lamp because he's examining how much light. Our job is to produce light. Next we have the commendation. He commends them for three things.

I know your toil. Perseverance, you cannot endure evil men. You put to the test those who call themselves apostles.

They are not. You found them to be false. And on top of that, you have perseverance. And if endured for my name's sake, you've not grown weary.

Because I have a number of things I want to compliment you on. I've walked up and down the lampstand of Ephesus, and here's what I see. The first thing I see about you is that you're a beehive of spiritual industry. I see a toil.

That Greek word toil literally means strenuous activity. You're a busy church. You've got something going on Sunday morning, Sunday night. Monday, this committee works and meets. Tuesday, the elders and deacons meet. And Wednesday, you have Institute. And on Thursday, this group meets.

And Friday. And you're really exuding a lot of energy for me. And I noticed that.

I just want to let you know that your hard work is not going unnoticed. You're a busy church. And I recognize that. I've looked at your light, and I've walked around. I've visited your committee meetings.

I was there. And I analyzed that you're busy. And I want to let you know that I recognize the fact that you're not just sitting on your laurels doing nothing. You're a busy church. Secondly of all, I noticed that you are a suffering church. Some of you have endured the loss of certain things.

You've given up certain privileges and rights, and you sacrifice for spiritual reasons. I recognize that. I recognize the fact that some of you gave up your careers in Ephesus because you no longer could sell the things that belong to the temple of Diana now so that you had to find a new career.

And that was inconvenient. I recognize that. I recognize that you have become slighted now because you're known as a Christian.

And that's not a popular thing to be these days in Ephesus. I realize that. I've seen your suffering. Then I've seen your perseverance. Verse three, you haven't grown weary.

You hung in there when the going was rough. That's good. The last thing I recognized is your orthodoxy. Perhaps the name of this church was the Ephesus Bible Fellowship.

I don't know. But they had truth. It says you hate evil men. You call sin, sin. You don't call sin a mistake, a bad habit. You call it sin. People come in wanting to shuck and jive spiritually.

You don't tolerate it. You're a busy church, working hard. You're a patient church, enduring inconvenience. And you're an orthodox church. You're telling the truth and enforcing people to live by it. But I have this against you.

You have left your first love. Uh-oh. You've got everything going for you. You're the kind of church I can really do something with. You've got people who are willing to serve. You've got people who are willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of the gospel and the Lord. And you've got truth after truth after truth. I've just got one complaint.

It's your love life. The problem is not with your duty. You're doing your duty. You're a choir rehearsal on time. You're doing your duty. You come to work on time sometimes. You're doing your duty. You're at your committee meeting there. You're doing your duty.

Your problem is not with your duty. It's with your love life. Dr. Evans will have an important tip to help us improve our love life with God when he returns in a moment. But first, he shares this reflection about some of the difficult challenges of life and how God carried him through the tough times. There were times when I was overwhelmed with the burdens of life, when I didn't know that I could keep going. And yet God would bring someone or something to speak words of encouragement to me during difficult times. Of course, 2019 was one of those times when I lost my wife for over 49 years.

And how do you keep going during that season? One month after I'd lost my father. And yet God provided the strength that I needed to keep proclaiming His word during those difficult days. And I'm very grateful that for 40 years we've seen His kind hand of favor on this ministry.

When you consider the challenges and difficulties along the way, the sustaining of this ministry is nothing short of a miracle, and none of it would be possible without the faithful contributions of people like you. Right now, when you make a donation to help keep this ministry going, we'll say thanks by sending you a copy of Volumes 3 and 4 of Tony Evans' Top 40. The classic messages contained in this set, available on CD or by digital download, cover some of the most important topics in the Christian faith. You'll get 20 full-length messages on Volumes 3 and 4 of this four-volume set, including material we don't have time to present on the air. Just make your contribution online today at tonyevans.org, or call our Resource Center at 1-800-800-3222 and make the arrangements to get this classic collection of sermons, spanning 40 years of ministry.

I'll repeat that information for you after part two of today's message and this. This November, Dr. Evans wants to take you on an unforgettable journey to the land of the Bible in his brand-new film, Journey with Jesus. This incredible feature-length film shot on location in the heart of the Holy Land takes you from the manger to the empty tomb, sharing powerful insight from God's Word and history into the life of Jesus.

Coming to select theaters this November, visit tonyevans.org to learn more and find where Journey with Jesus will be showing near you. Now, when he says love, the word of God pays. He's talking about love on two levels.

He's talking about, first of all, vertical love. Love for me. You're spending a lot of time doing stuff for me, but I have no time with me. Duty that leaves out love is insufficient to carry on God's program or even a happy home. You've left your first love.

First of all, you've left that intimate, close relationship that you have with me. God never meant for our duty to replace our devotion. Our duty should come from our devotion. You see, some people are hoping that their duty will get them to heaven.

They are living good lives or being nice people or performing spiritual function, and they're hoping that when they stand before God, God will say, come on in. I saw your duty. That won't get you into heaven because God's going to say in that day, I'm sorry.

I never knew you. There was no relationship. Since there's no relationship, I can't accept your duty. So it is with the church.

There must be a relationship as well as duty. To get your first love back, you've got to do three things. Remember, repent, and redo. First of all, it says in verse five, remember. Remember from where you've fallen. Turn back the hands of time. Remember where God has brought you from. Remember where you were when God found you.

Remember the status that you had prior to the cross. It doesn't say go back. It says look back. In other words, turn the eyes of your mind backwards and see what you can recount that God has done in your life that lets you know he loves you. Go back.

Oh, if we could only get couples who are having marital problems to go back. Not go back to the days, but go back mentally to the time when the person and not the duty was the most important thing. Go back. Look at how the times you spent together, the things you talked about. Look at where things were.

And I say that if you apply these things to the church, we can have a powerful church, and if you apply them to the home, you can have a powerful home. Remember. Remember from where you've fallen.

Secondly, repent. You've got to say I'm sorry. You've got to say I'm wrong. How many relationships stay unmended because nobody wants to be wrong? You know what I'm saying?

Everybody's arguing for their point. I'm right, I'm right, and that rightness can destroy you. You see, if the Methodist church was right, they had truth. They didn't like evil men. They were right, but their rightness was separating them from their savior.

Somebody's got to say I'm wrong. I'm sorry. You've got to repent, and then you've got to redo. It says do the deeds you did at first. You've got to go back, look back rather. You've got to repent from seeing where you could be and where you were, from where you are now, and then you've got to start again. You've got to rekindle that devotional life. You've got to rekindle that prayer life. You've got to rekindle that walk with the savior. You used to have devotions because you were excited about the word. Now you have devotions because you're supposed to. You're still having the same devotions just now. It's dry and dead. Why?

Because there's no relationship. So you've got to redo. You've got to reapproach it. You've got to say, Lord, let's start this all over again.

The beautiful thing is you can start all over again in your home because that's the principle. It's a family. What is the church? A spiritual family. What's the marriage?

It's a family. All the churches is a group of families, either single households or group households, but that's all we are. Why did God save us? To the praise of the glory of his grace. How much time do you have to praise God? Take away Sunday. We're busy with duty, but you are, you preacher.

I have never missed my committee meetings. Well, neither has Jesus. That's not what he's looking for.

Looking for a group of dedicated lives. If you don't do this, I have bad news for you. I'm coming to you, verse 5 says, and I will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. What's the motivation for loving Jesus as we serve him? It says in verse 7, he who has an ear let him hear. Now, you notice what he says?

He's talking to the church, but then he says, he, because it's an individual decision. Let's go, now this is the last book of the Bible, right? Let's go all the way back to the first book of the Bible. Remember, there was the paradise of God and it was called the Garden of Eden. Now, what was in that garden? Tree of life. Well, John, what do you mean? When you and I get to heaven, we won't need to eat of the tree of life to have eternal life.

Why? Because we already have eternal life. We don't need to eat of the tree of life because we already have eternal life. The Bible says that the moment we receive Christ, we're given eternal life. So, we don't need to bite the tree of life to have life. We already have eternal life. Now, what is eternal life? Well, John 17, the same author says, this is eternal life that they might know me. Then what is the tree of life?

The tree of life is the knowledge of God. Then what happens when those who love Jesus Christ are going to be with Jesus Christ? Well, the paradise of God, I take it to be like a parlor in a house. It's a special room, so to speak. And in this special room is located this special tree. The only problem is everybody who is saved gets to God's heaven, but not everybody who's saved gets to visit God's parlor. You see, only the people who have loved the Savior receive the special invitation to visit the parlor. Now, when you go in the parlor, what do you find there?

The tree of life. So, when Jesus asks you to take a bite, what are you doing? You're getting some tidbits that the rest of the folks who are in heaven but not in the parlor won't receive. That is, you get some little nuances about God and Jesus Christ in a one-on-one that others will only get in group sessions, that some of us will be invited into the parlor. Some of all of us will want to go, but only some can't.

Why? Because they love me. One of the rewards for loving Christ on earth is a personal intimacy with him in heaven restricted to only those who've loved him in his appearing. Oh, all of us who are saved will be with him. Not all of us will visit the paradise of God to take from the tree of life.

And that tree will be that special, intimate one-on-one that God has with us. In fact, we're going to see in just a little bit, some of us will have names that will be specially ours of which others of us will not have because on earth he loved us and we loved him. Do you love him today or only are you going through the religious motions? Well, in order to love him, you must first know him.

And having known him, you ought to love him. Christ did not save you just to serve. He saved you to love and know him so that you might be fit to serve. And many people are serving who are not fit to serve.

Some unfortunately are not serving at all. You've left your first love and you've lost your lampstand. Remember, repent and repeat. Dr. Tony Evans, with an important reminder for Christians to never forget our first love. Now, if you'd like to hear the full-length version of today's classic message, along with many other significantly powerful messages from Dr. Evans spanning 40 years of international ministry, it comes as a part of our current featured resource, Tony Evans Top 40. As I mentioned earlier, all 20 messages in Volumes 3 and 4 of this collection are our gift to you when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching here on this station. Make the arrangements today before time runs out by visiting tonyevans.org or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222.

That number again, 1-800-800-3222. When you're following someone, you don't get to choose the route or the destination. If you do, it no longer qualifies as following. Well tomorrow, Dr. Evans says Christ followers maximize their potential when they stay the course, even in tough times.

Right now, though, he's back with these final thoughts for today. Perhaps you're here and you know the Savior, but you don't love him. Oh, you love the church and you love the choir and you love the preacher and you love your service, but you can't say, oh, I love the Lord. Or you can say it, but it's only words. You need to prioritize your relationship with the Savior so that you might experience all of the light in your life that we might have the light in this church that can illumine a dark world. For the church that God will use will be the one that's a lighthouse. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.