Moving away from a clear
focus on the living Christ, and becoming philosophical, institutional, cultural
or entrepreneurial, fits well the definition of the church at Ephesus –
mechanical! And Jesus says, “I know all
your moving parts; I know what makes you tick…”
Jesus knows all about us.
Reputation
This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. Revelation 2:1-3
Ephesus was an ancient Mecca
for the cultural, religious, and business activities of the converging West and
East. It was also a playground for the
rich. It was
When you think of Ephesus,
you must imagine white marble columns, extensive and massive buildings. You must remember a 20,000-seat theatre. It was an incredible city, rebuilt mostly by
Alexander the Great.
But it was also a sordid
place. Alexander built a temple in
Ephesus to the pagan goddess, Diana. The
temple was four times the size of the Parthenon, with 100 white marble columns
over 50 feet high.
Diana was the goddess of
fertility, a lewd-looking, crude distortion of true womanhood. Idols of Diana had multiple sets of breasts;
she held a trident in one hand and a club in the other.
“Worship” in the temple of
Diana always included sex with temple prostitutes. It was little more than a sexual orgy, hardly
worshipping God Almighty, and, more accurately, an absolute affront to the holy
character of God.
Modern churches would agree that
is base idolatry and paganism as it gets.
However, I do not think it is so different than much of the thinly
disguised entertainment we call worship.
I believe many people offer their songs, sermons, and service with a
whole heart. But too many people today
choose a church for what it can do for them, not the opportunity to worship or
serve God. The presence of prostitutes
aside, self-gratification is still self-gratification.
Whatever genuine spiritual
impact Ephesus had on the ancient world came on the heels of the establishment
of the church. Paul visited the city on
his third missionary journey. He labored
well and God gave an increase.
Later John became pastor
there. It was his faithful leadership of
that church that got John exiled to
John was also patient. It does take patience to build a healthy
church. And Christian patience is, literally,
staying under control, cheerfully. The only way to have that kind of patience is
to remember that we labor for the name of Jesus!
Alexander built a splendid
city with a sordid temple. Jesus’ church
at Ephesus was founded on a spiritual base that was solidly grounded in the
name of Jesus Christ. Their reputation
was three-fold:
·
The people worked hard in the ministry.
·
They bore up under much persecution.
·
They had much success.
Their reputation was strong,
as is our church’s. But it was not
without flaw.
Rebuke
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Revelation 2:4
A rebuke is something you
say to someone who is messing-up. It is
hard business. It also can trip you
up. Not many people really want to do Biblical rebuking.
They were BELIEVERS
In the words of the immortal
Billy Sunday, You can’t be backslud,
unless’n you fust slud! A person
who is a backslider is a believer who acts
like an unbeliever.
The first few weeks in the
life of a newborn babe in Christ are incredibly satisfying to watch, especially
if you’re a pastor. First
love
is intoxicating; it consumes you!
·
First love is when you recognize the beauty and winsomeness of
Christ.
·
First love is when you recognize the unselfishness of Him in dying for
you.
·
First love is when you surrender your heart and life – only to find out
He is more than you ever dreamed. He is
deeper, more faithful, and more wonderful than your mind could ever
conceive.
·
First love is before the church’s cold-water committee shows up!
These folks at
But they were BACKSLIDDEN
John says they left their first love. Literally, it means they went out from Christ.
This sounds volitional – a choice.
However, the inference is a sliding-away. No one who is a Christian becomes a
backslidden reprobate overnight. You don’t
wake up one morning and decide to turn 180° from Christ…O,
I think I’ll become a heathen. Rather, it is a gradual weakening of the Christian
lifestyle. It is a process of erosion. That process is found in the first Psalm:
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. Psalm 1:1
The process begins with
accepting counsel from those who act wickedly, then standing with them (or
hanging-out), and then, finally, joining the band. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about
their backsliding[2]. It begins as a slight case of boredom with
walking the narrow way. You get a little
bored with God. You’d never admit it to
others in the family; you just feel a little bored with church, Bible Study,
and the polite conversation.
It moves from there to a
piqued interest in some of the things the world is doing. It’s not hard to imagine the scene in
Ephesus. Some of the Christian men begin
to wonder exactly what it is that is so attractive about Diana’s temple. Are there really those exotic women from
I tell you this – if you
don’t cut that kind of fantasizing off at its root, it will carry you away from
God. You can’t have a private world of
intellectual sin, and a deep devotional life with Christ at the same time. You will serve only ONE master. It will be either Christ or sin.
Jesus rebuked the fine, historically-strong,
missions-minded church at Ephesus for leaving their first love. They had gotten bored with God. The level of attendance had fallen-off attending
to prayer, studying the Scriptures, and worship. The lure of
It was easy then, and it’s
just as easy today. There’s still only
one medicine.
Repentance
Repentance begins with the
mind. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means to turn in the mind. It means to have a change of your spiritual heart,
which is connected to the thoughts in your mind. If you translate the word without regard to
context, it could be defined as being in the midst of using your mind. That’s a good definition. Any believer who really uses his mind will
discover what a mistake he has made moving away from Christ.
Notice the steps of using
your mind correctly to repent…
REMEMBERING
Look how far you have fallen! Revelation 2:5a
Repenting begins with
remembering. To remember the point of
beginning is to remember how and why
you came into the family of God. This
doesn’t mean taking out the Constitution and By-Laws of the church or dusting
off your Baptismal certificate. Christ is
not about rules, committees, or chapter and verse in the Book of Discipline.
To remember the point at
which you fell means to go back to the place of your greatest growth in Christ
– to remember sweet fellowship with Him.
This is discovering afresh and anew the sense of His touch when you
walked with Him – and He talked with you – and you were HIS – ANYWHERE!
·
It’s the days before – when you were first filled with first love.
·
It is the days when, if you started the day without a tear in prayer,
without a wholesome feeding of God’s Word and a fresh word from the Father, you
felt empty and unprepared.
·
It’s the days before you strayed.
·
It’s the days before you learned to talk all this religious talk, while
thinking about other, more sophisticated and stimulating things.
·
It’s the days before you got bored with God.
·
It’s the days before you got weary and disillusioned in the struggle of
church meetings, endless rituals, and dull prayers at the dinner table.
·
It’s the first love days.
·
It’s when there was Jesus, and you, and an empty road of time ahead…and
you were willing to put your hand in His and head out!
·
First love is when you took the Bible seriously.
·
First love is when you decided to give Him your all, and you began to
apply it to every area of your life.
You do remember; you
remember! And if you remember, you’re
starting on the road to genuine repentance.
RETURNING
Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. Revelation 2:5b
Remembering is first – but doing always accompanies
remembering.
Methodists are long overdue
for both. In the remembering department,
we need to go back to Wesley and the frontier of America. The frontier was filled with hard-drinking,
loose-living adventurers. It took hard
work, and a huge commitment of love to win that lot. Circuit riding preachers were often mocked,
beaten, and some shot or hung. But it
was a first-love kind of preacher that rode with a Bible, love for the Lord,
and little else. It was committed
Methodist lay people in every town that worshipped and lived a life surrendered
to Christ that changed the face of America.
During the Wesleyan movement days 4 of 5 people with any kind of faith
were Methodist. Why?
·
Because those early Methodists stayed in first love; they didn’t fiddle
while Rome burned.
·
Because they didn’t rearrange the deck chairs while the Titanic was going
under. They valued their souls above a
little game of golf or TV.
·
And because they didn’t straighten the pictures on the living room wall
while the house was burning down around them. They knew their lampstand, the witness of
their church, their families, and their very life in God was at risk if they
let first love with Jesus slip away.
That’s different ways of
saying they got their priorities in order…GOD was first!
Remembering…and then returning...that’s
what repentance is, remembering that first love when God was first in your life,
and deciding to return, no matter who or what stands in your pathway, and THAT is when you’ll find Christ
waiting…
TO RESTORE ALL HIS BLESSING OF FIRST LOVE AND REPLACE
THE EMPTINESS YOU FEEL IN YOUR HEART
But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:6-7
Despite having left their first
love
the Ephesian church had never lost sight of what was right and wrong. They knew the heresies of the Nicolaitan
group. And they detested it. Despite all that was wrong with the
mechanical church of Ephesus, their allegiance was still to Christ. Jesus’ rebuke was designed to urge them back
to first love – to encourage them to put Jesus back on the throne of their
lives.
Today the United Methodist
Church is in danger of having its lampstand, its witness and weight for the Kingdom taken
away. God is waiting to see if we are
going to return to that Wesleyan glow of first love.
Return to Nero and his
fiddle. Nero set Rome on fire, and then
blamed it on the Christians. Today the
church’s fire is almost non-existent because we have allowed the culture
of lazy respectability fester like a cancer. Oh, we’re not lazy if it comes to caring for
the buildings, or cooking a meal, or donating to the food bank. But that isn’t the first love Jesus is looking
for. We’re falling down on the job when
it comes to sharing our faith, witnessing to our neighbors, and the strangers
among us.
We lament the dwindling
membership of both the United Methodist Church, and this Methodist family, but
somehow fail to grasp that it is OUR responsibility to bring our friends,
family, and loved ones to Christ, and then bring them with us to church. Rome is burning, and we’re content to let it
roar!
Here is a question for each
of us who name Christ as Lord….is He…REALLY?
When is the last time you
led someone to Christ? When is the last
time you even tried to do so? When, if
ever, have you felt a burden for someone’s lost soul?
If the answer to those
questions startle you or annoy you, it’s because your first
love
isn’t what you currently love. I can
tell you when it happened…it was when you let your first love for Jesus begin to slip
away. And, like Nero who blamed the
Christians, you will have whatever excuse is handy.
Jesus’ word to all of us is
“I know” – because He does. He knows our
works and ways. He confronts us with the
truth about getting back to first love. That’s
His rebuke for leaving first love.
Remember how good it
was? Return and be restored!
Our Prayer
Father,
in this moment there are hearts turning back to remember first love. Help us return…and be restored.
Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!
Title Image:
Pixabay.com W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation
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