Message

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We thank God for helping us to study Revelation chapter 1, the vision of Jesus’ coming with the clouds and the glorious image of the Risen Christ, who is alive for ever and ever. In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we are going to study about the seven churches to which the book of Revelation was sent. Through how Jesus helped each church we may have a correct view of the church and know what kind of church he wants us to be. Today we will study Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus with the title, “Restore your first love.” First, Jesus with the seven stars among the golden lampstands (1). Look at verse 1. “To the angel of the church in Ephesians write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.” This is the first image of Jesus who appeared to the seven churches. Who is he that he holds the seven stars in his right hand? He is the Creator of the stars in the universe. He is bigger than the whole universe. He can measure the heavens with the breadth of his hand. As we studied, the seven stars in his hand are the angels or messenger of the seven churches. In a broad sense they are all his people in the churches. To him his people are so precious that they are like the stars shining in the universe. They are his treasured possession (Ex 19:6). They are so precious and treasured that he has to hold them in his right hand. He cares for his own day and night (Ps 121:3,4). He not only cares for them completely but also strengthen them with his right hand. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” And verse 1b says that he walks among the seven golden lampstands. Why does he walk among the lampstands, which are the churches? He wants to fellowship with them. We are reminded of God who walked in the Garden of Eden to have a fellowship with Adam (Ge 2:8). The church is his body and he bought the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28). He not only protects each of his people but also protects the church as a whole and wants to keep her holy. However the world changes he wants his church to remain pure and holy. He cleanses his church through his words. He wants his church to walk with him in this world, as Noah walked with God in that corrupted generation. He wants his church to listen to him and do the will of God that his kingdom come on the earth as it is in heaven. The church in Ephesus seemed to be surrounded by the evil power of the world. But they had to know that the Lord Jesus risen and glorified was there walking among the churches, holding the seven stars in his right hand. What can be more encouraging to the church than this in the world? Second, “You have persevered hardships for my name” (2-3,6). Now let’s think about the city Ephesus. It was called the first and the greatest metropolis of Asia, and the ‘The Market of Asia.’ Ephesus was the Gateway of Asia, and the highway to Rome. Its position made Ephesus the wealthiest and the greatest city in all Asia. Ephesus was the centre of the worship of the Artemis or Diana. In Acts the temple of Artemis was called the temple of the great goddess Artemis. When there was a riot because of Paul’s gospel preaching, people shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:28). The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (425 ft x 220 ft; 120 columns, each 60 feet high.) In Ephesus pagan religion was at its strongest. Ephesus was a notorious centre of pagan superstition, and also a centre of crime and immorality, a notoriously evil place. Such was Ephesus. But God did a mighty gospel work there through Paul. The gospel of Jesus Christ was triumphant over the strongest pagan religion. Paul stayed longer in Ephesus than in any other city, 3 years (Acts 20:31). We are reminded of the lecture hall of Tyrannus, where Paul had an intensive Bible study with the disciples daily for two years. The result was that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord (Acts 19:9-10). God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. Even handkerchiefs and aprons that touched Paul were taken to the sick, and there illness were cured and the evil spirits left them. Those who had practiced sorcery confessed their evil deeds and brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly; the value of the scrolls came to fifty thousand drachmas (A drachma was worthy about a day’s wages.) Such a powerful gospel was done in Ephesus. Now let’s hear Jesus’ words to them. Look at verse 2. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance…” How important it is to have hard working spirit and perseverance in life! Jesus recognized their hard work and perseverance. In order to pioneer such a city as Ephesus, they had to work hard along with St. Paul, the harder-working servant. Surviving itself in that city must have been hard. Many probably had to work double jobs, doing night shifts. On top of that they had to support and serve God’s ministry. Most probably they had no time to enjoy their weekends with their family members. And Jesus said in verse 3, “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.” They were not only hard-working but also persevering and enduring. They endured each one’s personal cross and people’s scorning. They persevered and endured any hardship to live a life of faith and mission. They ran the race marked out for them with perseverance (Heb 12:1) and it was for the sake of Jesus’ name. In perseverance and endurance they were like champions and did not allow anyone to catch them up. Jesus said in verse 2b, “…I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” And Jesus said in verse 6, “ But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” When Paul had a farewell meeting with the elders at Miletus near Ephesus, he said, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29,30). As Paul predicted, wicked men like the Nicolaitans arose among them. In short they were a heretical sect who taught that the Christian liberty was a license to practice idolatry and immorality. The claim of these heretics was that they were not destroying Christianity but presenting an improved version. This was none other than the influence of the pagan society and humanism. This humanistic faith spread to other churches. But the church in Ephesus was different. The Christians in Ephesus did not tolerate those wicked men. They had a discernment and uncompromising spirit and did not allow those wicked men. They tested those who claimed to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. They hated and rejected the enemies of the pure gospel faith. They knew what they had to hate. They hated what they believed Jesus would hate. They were good spiritual fighters. Their gospel faith and spiritual fighting was praise-worthy and indeed recognized by Jesus. For the church in Ephesus, we can learn their hard-working, perseverance and fighting spirit with no compromise. These virtues are indeed beautiful. Third, you have forsaken your first love (4-7). We heard of the beautiful story of the church in Ephesus. Their hard work and perseverance and uncompromising spirit were really great, worthy of receiving Jesus’ recognition. But what’s going on next? Look at verse 4. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” What a radical admonishment! What happened to the beautiful and gracious church? By the way what is the first love? It is the love at the first sight. Of course, we are talking about spiritual love between Jesus and the church his bride. As we studied, the Ephesians were as a whole superstitious and ignorant of the one and only true God. They were sunk in superstition and false love with false gods like Artemis. They were plunged into false worship in their sins and ignorance. Their spiritual location was the deep dungeon of Satan surrounded by many demons. No one or nothing in the world dared to rescue them from the dark and deep fortress of evil ones. But the love of God came into the territory of Satan through his servant Paul. God’s love for them was adventurous and courageous. When they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for their sins and rose again from the dead to give them eternal life, their souls were sparkled and they repented and accepted the love of God. Then something wonderful happened in their lives. They could taste true freedom, true joy and peace in their hearts. They felt that they were truly living with a clear meaning and purpose of life. They felt that they were great because of the living hope of the kingdom of God. They learned that they had something great to do while living in this world. They could clearly see that their life was worthy living because of Jesus and his given-mission. They threw away all the old ways of living and started a new life in Christ. In this way their love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ began. This was the true wonder to them, not the temple Artemis. To them Jesus was all the world. They loved Jesus more than anything else. Then how did they come to the point that they forsake their first love? We don’t know exactly what happened to them? Yet, we can imagine the possible happenings in them. Probably, in the course of living a hard city life along with God’s mission, they neglected the spiritual side of their life, gradually stealing away their prayer time and their personal time in the word of God. Their endless serving and spiritual fighting may have made them exhausted and burned out. Probably, when they settled down in that great city because God’s blessing, their Christian life became habitual with no sincere struggle before God and reached their spiritual crisis. Though no one knew their spiritual state exactly, Jesus who knew all about them spoke to them, “You have forsaken your first love.” This word of Jesus showed how much Jesus loved them and desired to keep the pure and passionate love relationship with them. When Jesus saw them, they were not as passionate as before. They were not sacrificial as before. They were not as willing as before. They even were bored in their Christian life with no joy at all. Jesus felt very pained to see their state of forsaking their first love. They forsook their first love for Jesus and also for one another. To Jesus it had to be restored. How did Jesus help them? He said, “Remember the height from which you have fallen!” “Remember” is such an important word in the spiritual world, especially remember the height, the height of love. When the prodigal son remembered his father’s love, his home and abundant food there, he could see the misery of his fallen state and desire to go back to his father. To the church in Ephesus the grace of Jesus was higher than the mountain and deeper than the mighty rolling sea. The height of life they had with Jesus was matchless in this world. There was no comparison. They had Jesus in their hearts and loved him purely and wholeheartedly, they felt that they were happiest people in the world. Their personal fellowship time with Jesus in prayer and Bible study was so sweet. Attending each of God’s meeting and having fellowship with God’s people was so gracious. Serving Go’s flock of sheep with the word of God was real joy of life. In Jesus they loved one another dearly and did the work of God by faith. They depended on God earnestly and prayed fervently and experienced God’s answering their prayers one after another. They sensed that they could do anything and everything by faith. Jesus helped them to remember where they had fallen so that they might be restored. “Remember the height from which you have fallen” is also to remember the grace of Jesus, how Jesus lifted them up from their pit. Jesus gave up heavenly glory and power and came to this world to meet each of us. Then he gave up his life on the cross as a ransom sacrifice for our sins. Through him we came to know the love of God. This love of God is excellently written in 1 John 4:9,10: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” This love of God and the grace of Jesus lifted us up from our lowly state of life. God wants us to bear this wonderful grace of Jesus. Jesus said, “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.“ Repentance is turning to God, recognizing our fallen state. And repentance is to be followed by doing. Jesus said, “…do the things you did at first.” To remember and repent is the way to restore our first love. Jesus said, “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampsand from its place.” This was Jesus’ warning and the expression of his jealous love for the church. Without pure love for Jesus church cannot exist and there is no meaning of Christian life. Jesus finally said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Here the word “overcome” is “nikao” in Greek, which has the meaning “conquer.” This is a battle word. To restore the first love, pure love for Jesus is a spiritual battle. Our Lord Jesus wants us to be overcomers and conquerors in this battle and obtain the utmost blessing of eating from the tree of life in the paradise of God. We thank and praise God that the love of God came to us through the gospel of his Son Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. We did not love; he loved us first, and our love relationship with him started. He wants our first love, pure and wholehearted love so that we may continue to live a life on the height of his love.

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