It is a tragedy when any marriage comes to the
point where one spouse says to the other, “I don’t love you anymore.” Those words are normally preceded by a season
of complacency and coldness, so that when uttered they simply express something
the person has known for sometime and possibly even something that their spouse
has suspected for a long time. As tragic
as such a situation is, there is a situation that is infinitely more tragic:
when the bride of Christ abandons her love for Jesus.
[2:1] “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. [2] “‘I
know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear
with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and
are not, and found them to be false. [3] I know you are enduring patiently
and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. [4] But I
have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
[5] Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the
works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand
from its place, unless you repent. [6] Yet this you have: you hate the
works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. [7] 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.’ (Revelation
2:1-7 ESV)
I.
Tour of the Text:
a. Introduction
of the Letter (1):
Each of these seven addresses to the churches has
the same basic structure (or “prophetic formula”): an introduction, containing a description of Christ, a body, containing a diagnosis & a prescription,
and a conclusion, containing a closing
exhortation with a promise. The theme of
each letter is a call the church to persevere
in order to experience eternal life.
The first of these seven letters is addressed to
the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was the
most influential city in Asia Minor, with a population over a quarter million. It was home to one of the seven ancient
wonders of the world, the temple of Artemis/Diana, and it also was home to
multiple imperial cult temples as well.
For this reason, Ephesus was the center of Paul’s missionary efforts to
the country (Acts 18-20). This is the only church of the seven in which
we have other New Testament letters directly addressed to (Ephesians, 1 Timothy).
The opening words to the church at Ephesus, “the words of him…” is a phrase used in
the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) to introduce
prophetic sayings. It is normally
translated as the familiar “Thus says the
LORD.” The phrase emphasizes that
Jesus is assuming the role of YAHWEH in addressing these churches.
Each introduction contains a description of Christ (1b) that both looks back to the opening portion of this vision in 1:9-20 and emphasizes
something particularly suitable to the situation at the church He is
addressing. Christ’s description here is
two-fold. First, He is described as “Him who holds the seven stars (angels) in his right hand.” This emphasizes
Jesus role as sovereign protector of His church (Revelation 1:16). Jesus is
also described as “Him…who walks among
the seven golden lampstands.” This
emphasizes that Jesus is the omnipresent, omniscient High Priest who knows His church, is with His church, and intends to tend to His church (Revelation 1:20).
b. Body of
the Letter (2-6):
The body of the letter contains a diagnosis of the
church’s spiritual state and a prescription for faithfulness. Jesus’ diagnosis, however, does not require
this church to supply any symptoms!
Jesus KNOWS their “works” (2a). These “works”
fall into two categories: their “toils”
and their “patient endurance.” “Toils”
communicates “hard work.” Their hard
work is described as how they “cannot
bear with those who are evil, but have tested” them. “Those who are evil” are “those
who call themselves apostles” but are not.
This church has tested these
phony apostles and found them to be false.
Their toil is also described as how they “hate the works of the Nicolaitans” (6),
which Jesus also hates. According to most
commentators, the “Nicolaitans”
taught that Christians could engage in immoral behavior such as idolatry and
sexual immorality. We’re not given a
great deal of information about them, which means that they were probably a
group that the original audience was familiar with. Since Jesus hates their works, perhaps a good
definition of the “works of the
Nicolaitans” from this passage would simply be “works that Jesus hates.”
This seems to indicate sinful behavior. Notice here that there is an intolerance that Jesus commends. Jesus commends them for not tolerating false
teaching or immorality in the church.
Love does not equal unqualified
tolerance.
Jesus also commends this church for their “patient endurance” (2c). John has already touched upon this theme in Revelation 1:9 and it reminds us again
that all believers are “sibling” and “partners” in patiently enduring
persecution and suffering for the sake of Christ’s kingdom. Their patient endurance is described as “enduring patiently and bearing up for my
name’s sake” (3a) and that in doing so they “have not grown weary” (3b). This church has suffered persecution as a
result of their stand for truth and has faithfully endured that
persecution.
Let me just say before we move on, that this is a
good church by many standards. This is what
I would call a church with BACKBONE. They have withstood false teaching,
immorality, and persecution and Jesus commends them for this.
Their diagnosis, however, also contains a sharp,
serious rebuke for this church. Jesus
has something against them. It is that they “have abandoned the love they had at first” (4). “First” can speak to priority or to proximity of
time. It probably speaks of their former
love and fervor for the Lord in this passage, but ironically, their former love
and passion for the Lord is also a believer’s “first” priority. Some also see this as a rebuke for failing to
love others, but there is no need to choose between love for God and love for
others, because in the Bible, love for God and love for others go hand in hand.
Consider 1
John 4:16,20-21: “[16] So we
have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and
whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” “[20] If
anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does
not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
[21] And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also
love his brother.”
The Great Physician follows His diagnosis of the
church at Ephesus with a two-fold prescription.
He tells them to “Remember
therefore from where you have fallen,” or how far they have fallen. They
are to remember what it was like to live impassioned by this love they had at
first. After they do this, they are to “Repent.”
Repentance means to turn away from the wrong works, but also to “do the works you did at first.” They are doing some good things, but there are
some better things that they are not
doing. Something is either wrong with what they are doing now or with the way that they are doing what they are
doing now.
As with most diagnoses and prescriptions, there is
a warning for not heeding the doctor’s orders.
The consequence for not repenting,
which they are doubly warned about, will
be that Jesus (because He can) will “come”
and “remove” their “lampstand from its place” (5b). This
means a removal of the church’s influence as a light to the world and could
also mean a literal removal of the church itself. The Old Testament allusions we’ve seen about
the church being God’s people also serve to communicate this message: they call
the church to not be like Israel,
whose lampstand WAS removed. We learn
here that the church that fails to love
fails to be a light to the world.
c. Conclusion
of the Letter (7):
The conclusion of each address contains an
exhortation to heed Jesus’ instruction and a promise for doing so. The exhortation is for “he who has an ear” (7a).
This is an allusion to Isaiah
6:9-10, and also to Jesus’ teaching in the gospels (Matt. 13 for example). The phrase communicates that this revelation
will be received by true believers and rejected by unbelievers, who will be
hardened and blinded the message they reject.
For those who do hear and heed what the
Spirit says to the churches, there is a promise. Notice first that this promise is for the churches, plural (7a). These letters are addressed to these literal
churches but each church’s message is to be heeded by the other churches as
well. It is very possible that the other
churches also had beleivers who also
needed to hear the message to the church at Ephesus. This is another reason to understand that
these letters are also to the universal
church for all time. These letters
address different types of churches
and different types of believers or
groups of believers, but primarily communicate corporate instruction.
This promise is also a promise to the conqueror, or the “overcomer,” which
is a military metaphor that ultimately looks forward to Revelation 21:7. In
Revelation, someone who conquers is always someone who perseveres (remains faithful to God) to the very end, because true
Christians persevere. The
conqueror is someone who “has an ear”
and will heed the instruction that Jesus gives to the church. So, to conquer
will mean to repent of complacency
and coldness in this case. The conqueror
will be granted “to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the paradise of God.”
This is an obvious allusion to Genesis
2-3, but also looks forward to Revelation
22:2, where we see the tree of life appear again in the New Creation. This means that the conqueror will get to
live forever with God, and the one
who fails to conquer, or repent, will not.
II.
Applying the Text:
a. Understand
that Jesus Knows His Church
This truth is first seen in Christ’s Description of Himself.
Where is Jesus? He is walking in
the midst of His churches. This means
that He is always present and therefore always aware of what is going on in His church. This truth is also seen in Christ’s Diagnosis of the Church. It would be very hard for anyone to come to
this diagnosis based upon what we see outwardly in this church. Jesus can say this because He knows them. He sees beyond what is outward.
Remember when Jesus cut right to heart of the rich
young man in Mark 10:17-31? Outwardly this young man had it together, but
Jesus told him that he lacked one thing.
He did not love God more than His money and possessions, and Jesus put
His finger right on this young man’s heart.
How could He do so? Jesus can do
so because He could see this man’s heart, just like He could see this church’s
heart, and just like He can see ours today.
How does it make you feel to know that Jesus knows
our church? What would he write in a
letter to us? Would he commend us for
our intolerance of sin? Would he rebuke
us for our lack of love for Him and one another (especially in our
witness)?
b. Understand
that Jesus Loves His Church
We see Jesus’ love for this church in the warning and in the promise He gives to them.
Why do you warn your children and grandchildren when they are in
danger? You do so because you love
them. Jesus loves this church and wants
them to continue to be a light to the world for their own good and for the
glory of His name. He wants them to
inherit eternal life and live forever with Him.
Consider the rich young man again.
Why did Jesus put His finger on this young man’s heart and expose
it? Mark
10:21 says that He did so because He “loved
him.”
c. Understand
that Because Jesus Loves His Church, He wants His Church to Know What Matters
Most to Him
Be careful here.
We are often guilty of thinking that since good works that lack love are
worthless (1 Corinthians 13:1-3),
then good works must not matter as long as we have love. That is a terrible conclusion to come
to. This passage reminds us that good works DO matter to Jesus. This church is commended for these works mentioned above. The point is that they
are supposed to flow out of an
all-consuming passion for Jesus Christ.
When you love God, you love truth and you love people correctly. So love
matters MOST. God wants all of our HEARTS.
[4] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD
our God, the LORD is one. [5] You shall love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV)
[34] But
when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered
together. [35] And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test
him. [36] “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
[37] And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the
great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love
your neighbor as yourself. [40] On these two commandments depend all the
Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40 ESV)
Hear, O Dry Creek: the Lord our God, the LORD is
one. You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Do you remember the passion you once had for
the Lord as a new believer? Do you
remember a season in your Christian life where you were much closer to the Lord
than you are today? Where are you with
the Lord today? We are often as quick to
respond to questions like these as Peter was (John 21:15-23). Perhaps we
need to remember that Jesus wasn’t asking Peter if he loved Him because He
didn’t know. He wanted Peter to ask
himself that question.
What ever your answer is to these questions today,
bank on this: Jesus knows answer. The difference between a loveless spouse and
a loveless church or believer is that Christ’s bride would never say that she doesn’t love Him anymore,
at least not with her words. However,
Jesus’ message to the church at Ephesus is a sobering reminder that Jesus knows where are hearts are before Him,
even better than we do. Repent of your
complacency and self-sufficiency and surrender everything to Him today. Confess that you desire ears to hear this
message and a heart totally devoted to Him.
That’s what He died on the cross to give you.
No comments:
Post a Comment