Loving Community (Part 3 of 3)

Is it possible for a church in decline stored? Well, the place to start into the truth, you're to be commanded for fulfilling the task, but I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first love. J.B. Phillips paraphrases this, you do not love as you did at the first. It's a tragic thing to see, isn't it, in a marriage where people have grown cold to one another.

They're still together, but they're living singles. There's a formality to it. You can see it in their eyes.

You understand it in the way they express themselves to one another. There's no fresh discoveries. There's no vibrancy about it. It's just ho-hum. It's the same old jazz.

It's pretty hopeless. Many times, it is sustained simply by fear rather than by any genuine sense of undying affection. Down in Florida, you're living amongst the newlywed and the nearly dead. There is nothing gives me a greater thrill than seeing these ancient couples walking in the morning sun, still holding hands with each other.

Now, admittedly, in some cases, it's to prevent each other falling down, but they could do that with a stick, you know. And my only assumption is that it is an expression still of a love that exists between them. You see, Christianity is about the explosive power of a new affection, the falling in love with Christ, the sense of the immensity of his pursuing, energizing grace. But when that begins to go, then we'll look a lot like this church. When love for Christ is not what it should be, then our love for each other will be sadly affected. If you're a miserable customer in your congregation, I can tell you that you do not love Jesus as you once did, or as you ought.

If you're a miserable soul in the community, you're just a miserable soul. When we love God, we keep his commandments. For this is love for God, John tells us, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. Therefore, failure to love God will mean disobedience. The diminution of my love for Jesus will be directly related to disobedience in my life, and disobedient Christians are not good people to plan on spending much time with.

And also, what about love for the unbeliever? Presumably, in Ephesus, their evangelistic zeal, which had made it the most significant church in the first century, had begun to dissipate. And somehow or another, their words and their actions were no longer conveying the love of the Lord Jesus, their borders were growing tighter, their actions were smacking more of religious formalism. They were going through the routines, they still held on to it, but they didn't have that compassionate interest in the non-Christian world. I don't know why my sense of application is going in this direction this morning, but I'll just stay with it.

And speaking to the student community and to the young people, listen. I have grown weary listening to a young man or a young woman tell me again and again how, as a result of disobedience to Christ, they got involved with a non-Christian person to whom they took a shine. The non-Christian person was a very nice person and upright and so on. It's the same story.

You hear it a million times. They never ever told their unbelieving friend that they had an undying devotion to Jesus, because in fact, they had been disobedient, and therefore they had no undying devotion to Jesus. And when all of the thing had fallen apart and disintegrated, they wept.

And what had happened? Well, they had not loved Jesus as they loved at the first. And the draining away of love expressed itself in disobedience.

A backslidden condition made it easy for them to hang with the wrong crowd. A loss of conviction about the absolute necessity of the curbs that are provided in the Word of God to keep us on track and on the straight and narrow, so that we don't end up in Douters Castle or in Bypath Meadow, we don't end up listening to Timorous and Mistrust, we don't listen to formalist and hypocrisy. We stay on track.

Unfortunately, we got way off in all of that. And some of you are off this morning. You may have come out to this week and you said, maybe there'll be a word for me somewhere along the line. It's the absence of brotherly love.

Because if you have a non-Christian friend and you have an undying devotion to Jesus, and you believe that your non-Christian friend stands between time and eternity, then presumably your undying devotion to Jesus is going to convey itself to this new non-Christian friend that you've made. Jesus says, you know, you were much better at this Ephesus than you are. Now there's a discordant sound among you.

There's a lot of resounding gongs, clanging cymbals. It's replaced the harmony of hearts entwined with devotion to the Lord Jesus. If the problem in Laodicea was that of spiritual complacency, then the problem here in Ephesus is that they're staring in the face, spiritual bankruptcy. And Jesus now comes as the counselor, if you like, as the consultant, and he says to them, if you're not to go down into bankruptcy, you're going to have to implement the plan that I have for you.

That's the third word. The praise that he offers, the problem that he confronts, and the plan that he provides, it's a very simple plan. Remember, repent, and restore. Remember. We mentioned yesterday the power of memory. It's been regarded in educational circles, at least in America, for about a quarter of a century, absolutely taboo, the idea of memorizing anything.

Somehow or another, it is beyond the bounds of real intelligent discovery. So you don't learn, phonetically, how to spell cat and mat and dog and rug in that little red and white book that we had right up to primary whatever seven it was. And so, consequently, nobody can spell.

Some of the worst spelling you've ever seen in your life has emerged from this. You say, why didn't you just learn how to do this? Why didn't you just memorize it?

You know, the cat sat on the mat. Oh, no, no, no, no. That's for idiots, that kind of thing.

We don't do that. I see. Okay, well, fine. Thank you for your letter of application. There's not a sentence in which you didn't make a glaring spelling error.

And without reconstructing the English language, I'm forced to tell you that we will not be hiring you anytime in the near future. Remember, our lives are built on memories, aren't they? At the end of our days, all we've got left are photographs and memories. That's why it's important to make good memories. That's why it's important when you spend time with people with whom you may never spend time again. Spend good time. Spend pure time. Spend unregrettable time so that when you look back on that time, you will have a memory that you can foster and cherish and hold up.

And this is what Jesus says. I want you to take the power of your ability to recollect and use it as a stimulus for forward momentum. Now, not everybody likes history. I love the story of the Americans that were visiting Runnymede down the Thames. They were there to see the Magna Carta, and they were standing looking at the... Is it the Magna Carta that's there? Yeah.

I have to check. And they were watching the events unfold, and the guide was explaining this and that, and he said, and ladies and gentlemen, he said, it was here, the 1215, that this great document was signed. An American guy turns to his wife and he says, honey, do you realize we missed that by just 15 minutes?

With apologies to my American friends. In Pilgrim's Progress, you always got back on the road, remember, at the point where you got off. You couldn't go in Bipathmeadow 150 yards down and then just climb over the wall at another point. You had to come back to the point of departure. Some of us, as in the church in Ephesus, need to go back to the point of departure. Where is the blessedness that once I knew when first I saw the Lord?

Where is the soul refreshing view of Jesus and his word? Remember, he says, it's a present imperative. It's an ongoing, cultivated mentality. It's a characteristic of old people.

I remember when. I understand that, and I'm moving there. And so perhaps the emphasis, but nevertheless, Alzheimer's is a sad and sorry disease, closing down really the only wonderful benefit that is left to us at the end of our days. The ability to remember. Repent. Earest imperative. Make a clean, decisive break with your contemporary manner of life, he says.

There's no need for a big prayer meeting for guidance. Just do it. This is an emergency. It's a casualty ward situation.

It's not a research project. Here's my plan for you, he says. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent. And then restore your commitment to the things you did at the first.

In other words, doing the basics most of the time. As silly as it may seem to some who are more advanced, taking a right back down to some of the lessons in Sunday school that were so primary and compelling to us. Remembering, since our Bible has grown dust on the shelf now for a matter of weeks, if not months, remembering that we used to sit with some of our friends and sing, read your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow. Remembering that we used to sing, I met Jesus at the crossroads where the two ways meet. And Satan too was standing there and he said, come this way. Lots and lots of pleasures I will give to you today.

But I said, no, there's Jesus here. Just see what he offers me down here in my sins forgiven and up there a home in heaven. Praise God, that's the way for me. But you see that has been the point of departure when we allowed jealousy to grip our hearts because we met Satan at the crossroads and he said, wouldn't you like the immediate benefit instead of the long-term prospect, wouldn't you like the immediate gratification of just developing a critical jealous and bitter spirit towards Mr. X or Mrs. Y.

It'll feel a lot better to get it out of your system, you know. Well, what have we done? We've forgotten the basics. We'd forgotten that at the crossroads Jesus is there. We've forgotten how we used to sing, cleanse me from my sin, Lord, and put your power within, Lord, and take me as I am, Lord, and make me all your own and keep me day by day, Lord, underneath your sway, Lord, and make your heart, my heart, your palace and your royal throne.

Now, I was seven, eight, nine years old when they taught me that. I find myself driving in the car constantly, having to take myself back, repenting of where I now find myself for repentance is a daily experience. If you doubt that, read Luther.

He makes it very clear. Most of us have got the impression, some I should say, have got the impression that repentance is something that we were supposed to do. It was a mechanism, if you like, that opened the door to faith in Jesus. But once having dealt with that, then we've moved on. When did you last repent? For some of us repentance has become a routine in the formalized nature of our liturgical worship, but our hearts have never engaged in it.

Our hearts have never engaged our minds, and our lips are just there. Back to the basics. Taking the initiative and greeting and caring for others, because love always takes the initiative. Resolving to live in such a way that others will ask questions and being ready with the answer when they ask. The prospects that he describes, the praise that he offers, the problem he confronts, the plan that he conveys, and then these prospects. Notice that failure to implement the plan will result in the removal of their lampstand.

If you do not repent there in the middle of verse 5, if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Many of us have lived long enough now to see one's vibrant congregations descend into darkness and complete ineffectiveness, and in some cases, actually, to close their doors forever. We may be privy to some of the ongoings that led to that.

Many of us have just looked from the outside and wondered, when the record books are opened, it may become apparent that the very Ephesian problem was the problem in many of those places. Oh yes, Orthodox. Yes, committed to doctrinal clarity.

Absolutely centered in their endeavors in the task. But the love of the Lord Jesus had ebbed out. I tell my congregation regularly, it would only take a matter of a few months to turn our building into a carpet sale room. They always come from America and then return and say, what happened to all those great churches? There's nobody in them. And my answer is always the same.

Hang on, because you're about to find out. No church ever determined that it would eventually dwindle to nothing. Let those churches that think they stand take heed, lest they fall. So there is a prospect involved if we do not obey this plan and implement it by the power of the Spirit. And there is a wonderful prospect for us when we are ready to do as Jesus says. Notice the progression. Once again, it begins with hearing verse seven. He who is an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, a crown of life will be.

He with the King of glory will reign eternally, hearing, overcoming, and eating from the tree of life. We're going to the park. That's the prospect. We're going to the park. Didn't you love going to the park? It sounds so funny now after all this time, but I used to take trips, and I'm done now. You can relax.

But this is a sort of closing something. And we had an anglier car, which my father did. And we took family holidays. My father, my mother, myself, my two younger sisters, and also both of my grandfather and my grandmother on my mother's side in an anglia, which we drove to Cornwall from Glasgow. I had the arguably worst seat in the operation. I used to sit on a very sturdy table mat taken from my grandmother's house with a cushion taken from one of her couches in between the driver and the passenger with a gear stick somewhere up here in my sternum. And we drove through the night and we drove through the night.

And I have a vivid recollection of stopping in Bristol in the early hours of the morning, completely embittered and wearied by the whole sorry escapade and the prospect of Cornwall, wherever in the world that was, holding very dim expectation for me. And my grandfather seizing the moment and saying, you know, I think we could find a park. Oh, I said, that's good. With swings. Yes.

And a shoot. Aye. Oh, things are beginning to look up now. So my sorry little frame was transported from this dreadful predicament jammed up against the gear stick in the middle of this pile of humanity. And now I'm on the swings and I'm soaring and I'm down the shoot and I'm on the roundabout.

And who cares if there's a Cornwall or a Tomorrow? This is fantastic. We say, you've gone off again, a bit like the sausage roll thing yesterday.

This is not good. No, you see, you're going to eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God. Paradise comes from the Persian word, which means a park. Adam and Eve were in the park. Adam and Eve sinned and the park got closed. And the cherubim guarded his entrance with a flaming sword, thus making intimate personal communion with the living God verboten. Unless one should come and open up a new and living way, whereby we would have access into this amazing park, into this wonderful paradise, where all of the benefits and the blessings of communion with the risen Christ and all of the saints through all the ages would become part and parcel of the Ephesian believers as they listen to the word of encouragement and exhortation, which comes to the church this morning. Yes, there's plenty I can praise you for.

Consider the possibility of this problem. Pay careful attention to the plan that I have given you. Remember and repent and restore and keep listening and overcoming and get ready for eating from this wonderful tree. And if I may say so, Jesus says, I'll meet you in the park. When a church loses its first love, it quickly becomes ineffective. But it's possible for that church to be restored. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.

Alistair will be back in just a minute. Here at Truth for Life, we receive hundreds of letters from pastors who write to us to tell us how encouraged they are in their own ministries by the teaching they hear on this program. If you're a pastor and you are eager to learn more about leading your congregation, we want to encourage you to check out a free four-module online study called The Basics of Pastoral Ministry. This is a collection of sermons and lectures from Alistair offering instruction on a full sweep of topics, including how to establish a vision for your church, the benefits of expository preaching, and the marks of a God-given ministry. This is an online course.

You can work through it at your own pace. Each module comes with a downloadable study guide so you can apply the concepts personally to your ministry. All four modules are available for free at truthforlife.org. Just search for The Basics of Pastoral Ministry.

In today's message, we learned that we are to live in a way that causes others to ask questions, and then we're to be ready with a response. It's with that thought in mind that we have a book we want to recommend to you. It's titled Mere Evangelism, 10 Insights from C.S. Lewis to Help You Share Your Faith.

You're probably familiar with C.S. Lewis's writing. He's widely known for introducing others to Christianity through his books and his unique gift for sharing the gospel.

So what made him so effective? Well, the book Mere Evangelism, 10 Insights from C.S. Lewis examines Lewis's approach.

It explores how he incorporated storytelling and imagery into his discussions, how he prepared ahead of time to overcome opposition. As you read this book, you'll work through 10 specific strategies Lewis used to tell other people about Jesus, and you'll learn how to adopt those strategies to your own style. You can request the book Mere Evangelism when you give a donation to support this ministry.

Simply click on the image in the mobile app, or visit us online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Now here is Alistair to close with prayer. Lord Jesus, grant that your word may take root in our hearts. Transform, renew, quicken, restore our lives. Make us catalysts within the congregations from which we've come, for a love that takes the initiative, that is not sentimentalism devoid of truth, for a commitment to the truth, that is not some brittle legalism devoid of love. Only you, O God, can accomplish this. We pray that you will take the balance of this day now, banish from our recollection everything that's untrue, unclear, or unhelpful, and give to us only that which is from yourself. And we look forward to seeing you, and we thank you for getting us ready, and we pray in your lovely name. Amen.

I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening. Pergamum was described as the city where Satan has his throne. So how can a church possibly remain loyal to Jesus in such a dark culture? You'll find out when you join us tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.