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Now, John is on the Isle of Patmos. He's been exiled because he would not cease from preaching the gospel. They tried to kill him by boiling him in oil, but he didn't die. So, after that, they exiled him to the island of Patmos. And while he was there, he was visited by the Lord and given a vision of what is and what is to come. And there are seven churches addressed in the chapters two and three, and each of these churches begins with an explanation of who is addressing the church. There's an extensive description of the one who's addressing the church that we read in chapter one. It is the vision of the resurrected Christ in all his heavenly glory and all his majestic radiance. The hairs of his head, white like wool like snow, his eyes like a flame of fire, his feet like burnished bronze, his voice like the roar of many waters, and a sword, a sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face like the sun shining in full strength. And one commentator has explained that this is not as much a description of what Jesus looked like, but more of who he is. So, the very first church he addresses is the Church of Ephesus. He says, to the angel of the church in Ephesus write, the words of him who holds the seven stars in his hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. The lampstands represent the churches, specifically the seven churches that he's going to address. But each letter or instruction that he gives the angel of the church, each one not only applies to that church specifically, all there is some specific things in the letter to each church, each letter applies to every church. We know this because it says in verse seven, he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Each and every church is represented in some way in each warning, in each admonition, in each encouragement to each church. Each church is addressed in a similar manner. There's five things that happen. First, they're commended in some way. We'll see that in a minute for Ephesus. Only one church, Laodicea, which is the seventh church that we'll look at in due course, only Laodicea is not commended in any way. And this commendation demonstrates that Jesus knows in detail what is happening in every church. And that's true for us too. That's true for our church, Bedford Presbyterian Church, Bedford Nova Scotia. It's a long ways from the Isle of Patmos, but it's not a long way from Jesus. He knows every detail of everything that's happening in this church. So that's the first thing. He commends them for something. Second, Jesus tells them what they're doing wrong. Each church, except for two, Philadelphia and Smyrna, receives some sort of correction. Then, Jesus tells them, after he tells them what they've been doing wrong, he tells them to repent. The fourth thing is, he warns them that if they don't repent, something will happen. And in each case, he says, your lampstand will be removed. And then he promises them a reward when they do repent. As we look at each church, try to recognize specifically those things that apply to our church, not to other churches. That'll be the temptation. The temptation will be to say, boy, that church really falls short like the church in Ephesus. Or the church in Laodicea, or the church somewhere else. But think about our church and what Jesus is saying to each church, how much of that applies to us. Because I'm sure some of it, if not all of it, will apply to us in some way. The other thing you should do is not only think of how it applies to our church, but think of how it applies to you individually. Because it does. There's an application for you individually. And again, the same temptation overcomes Christians. They think, yeah, you know, I really wish Aunt Harriet was here to hear this. Because she could really use this. Or, I really wish my brother Fred was here so he could hear this. Because this applies to him. That's our temptation, is to think of other people who need to hear this to whom it should apply. And that sort of washes our hands of applying it to us. But don't do that. As you hear each letter, think of how it applies to you, how it applies to your church, and what you can do better or the same. Think about yourself. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. So the church nearest to Patmos, where John is exiled, is the church in Ephesus. And Jesus is speaking the truth to Ephesus. The truth to Ephesus. I know it's very popular these days for someone to say, I'm speaking my truth as if you individually have your own truth. You don't. There is truth. There's objective truth. And Jesus knows it. And he says, I know. He knows everything about you. He knows everything about us. And Ephesus was an enormously influential church. Ephesus was a very important city. It was on the trade routes. There was a lot of wealth. And the people who had ministered in Ephesus is like a hall of fame of biblical ministers. First of all, the very eloquent Apollos had ministered in Ephesus. We know from the book of Acts that Paul spent more time there in Ephesus than in any other of the churches. And his protege, his disciple Timothy, also ministered in Ephesus. And even the Apostle John, who's writing this book, ministered in Ephesus. So all of these famous biblical ministers had ministered in and to the church in Ephesus. And Jesus commends Ephesus for their labor, for their hard work in the ministry of the gospel. Remember, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 10 that he had worked harder than all the other apostles. And Jesus commends the church at Ephesus for their hard work on behalf of the gospel. He also commends them for standing strong for the truth, for having sound doctrine, good theology, and recognizing false teachers. He says, I know you cannot bear those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. All of those things are commendable, and the Lord recognizes all of them. But he goes on to say to the church in Ephesus, you are falling short in this way. He says, but I have this against you. It has to pull you up short. If you're a believer, if you're in a church, and the Lord Jesus Himself, this isn't somebody else's opinion. This isn't somebody else's words. This is Jesus Himself saying, I have this against you. That you have abandoned the love you had at first. 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. So what does it mean? That they've abandoned the love they had at first. Or another translation puts it, you've abandoned your first love. Now, some say that means you've abandoned your love of Jesus. Some of the commentators say that. Others say it means you've abandoned your love for the people of the church. When Tracy and I were on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, it's called Power to Change here in Canada. But we were in the United States, and we were serving at Kent State University in Ohio. And every other year, we had to go to Fort Collins, Colorado, for our national staff training. Fort Collins is a beautiful city. It's right by the Rocky Mountains, so it wasn't a difficult assignment. And we would be there for two or three weeks, and we would receive training. There was individual classroom training, depending on where you were. If you were a brand new staff person, you would go to training for that. If you were newly married, you would go to training for that. If you were further along in the ministry, depending on which category you were in, you could go to other training. And there were electives that you could go. You had to go to one of them, so it wasn't elective in that regard. But you could choose. Those were all in the afternoon. But in the morning, and in the evening, I mean, the itinerary ran from like nine in the morning until... eight or nine at night, so they kept us busy. But there was a large event twice a day. There would be one in the morning, and then there would be one in the evening. And we had some fairly famous Christian people would come and speak to us. Two I remember in particular were J.I. Packer and Chuck Colson. I mean, these are back in the 80s anyway. They were very famous Christian people. Maybe you've heard of some of them. And in the morning and the evening, in the university arena, which by the way was called Moby Jim, some of the people called it the whale. Are you going to the whale tonight? But every year, Dr. Bill Bright, who was the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ and a wonderful man, would speak on leaving your first love. And he loved acrostics. So he would have an acrostic first love, which if you're counting, that's nine points. And he would have something to say with each one. Now, because of that, partly because of that, I don't like acrostics. Because I don't remember anything that he said to go with the letters. But he would always talk about, even though he's a very gracious man, he would always talk about leaving your first love, how you leave your first love. And people would leave basically feeling bad about themselves. He always had sort of a legalistic flavor. And I know Dr. Bright, I met him, I talked to him very briefly. I know that he was not a legalistic man. He was very gracious. But I think our fifth staff training and our last one before we left Campus Crusade, I thought, you know, I'm going to write Dr. Bright a letter. And what I'm going to say is, Dr. Bright, I know you're going to talk about your first love. And every time you talk about how you leave your first love and what that looks like and why you shouldn't, I said, you know, you probably know Jesus better than any of us. So would you please talk about him? Talk about him. And maybe that will cause people to remember, and they'll return to their first love. It's sort of like, I'm going to use marriage as an example. It's sort of like a husband working really hard, and his wife is a stay-at-home mom with two or three kids or more. And he comes home every night from work and he's tired. And his wife finally says, you know, I just feel like I'm being neglected. I feel like you spend all your time at work. You don't pay hardly any attention to me. What strength you have left, you give to the kids. And I'm feeling neglected. I feel, I don't feel, I know you love me, but I don't feel it anymore. So what happens? The husband feels guilty. And so he changes for a while, but his change is guilt motivated. And that never works for long without it turning into some sort of psychosis. Now, what if the approach was this? What if instead of complaining about not getting any attention, the husband comes home and says, it's Friday night. He smells his favorite meal. His wife is wearing his favorite dress. The kids are at the babysitters. And it's like he says, I remember you. I remember you. That's going to be more of a motivation to him than the guilt. That's kind of what I was trying to say to Dr. Bright. Dr. Bright, please tell us about Jesus. Now, I don't know if you ever read that letter. I don't. But that year, he didn't do his usual talk. He told us about Jesus. Again, I don't know if that was what he was planning to do anyway. I know for Tracy and I, we had our son Sam left January 8th this year. Flew to Tucson, Arizona. He's doing very well, by the way. But he left this year, and that was the first time in 39 years that we didn't have kids in the house. And it was sad initially for about a week or so. I would hear something and I would think, oh, that's Sam coming up the steps. And oh, no, it's not. But then, Tracy and I noticed this, like, oh, yeah, I remember you. And it's been very sweet for us since then. We remember how we first fell in love, how we first saw what we first saw in each other. So if you have left your first love, Jesus, how do you return? Read the gospels. See him again with fresh eyes. Remember all he has done for you, how much he loves you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Remember that he took the punishment for your sins, that God demonstrates his love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Remember what he has done for you. Remember who he is to you. But there are some commentators, and it's pretty equally divided, who believe that Jesus here is not referring to himself, but rather that the Ephesians for all their good works have lost their love for other people. Because he does commend them very well for their steadfastness, for their defending the faith, for their not tolerating idolaters and false teachers. So there are a lot of commentators who think, you know, this isn't about leaving Jesus as your first love, it's more about leaving fellow believers and even the lost. See churches can be so focused on their doctrine and their theology that they become cold toward people. I don't know that it's intentional, but that's sort of what happens. Presbyterians especially sometimes are called the frozen chosen. When I was in seminary, I would regularly go and preach to churches who did not have a minister. And in Mississippi and sometimes Alabama, there were a lot of little churches without a minister. There were some interesting names, Hot Coffee Alabama, that's a city. Why not Mississippi, that's a town. And some of these churches were very small. One had seven people. And I think that was represented by two families. And they were very proud of their doctrine. They were very proud of their theology. And they believed that they said something like this, that a bigger church, you know a church maybe a fifty to a hundred to them. A bigger church must have compromised in some way to attract that many people. I'm not saying bigger is always better, but it isn't always worse either. The point is that adherence to orthodoxy is a good thing, but if it's combined with coldness toward people, it's not loving. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but I have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and knowledge, if I have faith so as to remove mountains, but if not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, I deliver up my body to be burned, but I have not love, I gain nothing. He sounds like he's talking about the church in Ephesus. Paul is saying if I have the right doctrine, the correct theology, the right behavior, and even sacrificial actions, without love, I'm nothing. That's hard for some of us because we're keeping score. Not only of ourselves, but others as well. You might think I have given myself. I've been friendly to people. Other people haven't. I expect people to treat me like I treat them. Always comparing, and always you are coming out on top. That's what Jesus is talking about here to the Ephesians. You might object and say, but I do love God. People, not so much. But remember in the Gospel, Jesus is asking Matthew, chapter 22, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law, and he said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and prophets. Remember he asked Peter in John 21, do you love me? Peter said yes. Jesus said, feed my sheep. The two are connected. They can't be separated. If you love God, you will love your neighbor. If you love God, you will love other people. If you love God, you will love the lost. If you don't love the lost, if you don't love other people, if you don't love your neighbor, your love for Jesus may have grown cold. Jesus is saying, if you love me, love one another. If you love me, love who I love. For God so loved the world. Jesus says, repent and return to your first love. Then there's a warning. Remember therefore from where you have fallen 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. What he's saying is, you may continue to meet together. You might have a building and people attending. But I will not be there and therefore you are not a church. You might resemble a church, but you're really a club or a philanthropic organization. But you're not a church because my presence is what makes you a church. My spirit in and among you is what makes you a church. This is similar to the judgment of God on Israel after the golden calf. God said he would not go with them into the promised land. But Moses and treated God, interceded on behalf of the people. If I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people. And he said, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. And he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight and I and your people? It is not in your going with us. So that we are distinct. Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct? I and your people from every other people on the face of the earth. What makes us a church is Jesus with us. We are not a church if Jesus is not with us. So after Jesus warns them to repent, to repent means to turn from your error, from your sin, and to return to your first love, the Lord and your neighbor. Then he commends them again one more time. Sort of like he commends them, he tells them they have a problem and warns them to repent, and then he commends them again. This you have. You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Commentators are not sure, I've checked several, what the works of the Nicolaitans are, but most likely they were involved in some sort of idol worship. And approval of immorality. And there are churches today that accept and promote things like abortion and immorality. And he could have been talking about those. Then he says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. See the churches. So even though this is addressed specifically to the church in Ephesus, it applies to all seven churches, and by extension, all churches everywhere, including us. And in each letter there's a promise. It says to the one who conquers, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. What a promise. Remember, the tree of life is in the Garden of Eden. And if you eat it, you will live forever. So how do we conquer? We conquer by believing in the one who has conquered for us. Remember in verse 17, chapter one, I am the first and the last. Fear not. I'm the living one. I died and behold, I'm alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. In Hebrews, chapter two, Jesus has overcome death. In Satan. And we have been set free if we believe. If you haven't come to the point where you believe, I'm asking you now, imploring you on behalf of Christ to turn from your sin, whatever it is, and to embrace him, to believe in him, to say, Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Thank you for living in my place, the perfect sinless life. Thank you for dying in my place, the death I deserve to die. Thank you that when I do physically die, I will open my eyes in paradise in your presence. Pray that. And you will be saved.