Do We Still Love the Lord? (Revelation 2:1-7)
It is easy for a couple to love each other on their wedding day. The bride and groom excitedly look forward to their life together. They eagerly and joyfully exchange vows, pledging themselves to each other. The first love of a newlywed couple is full of happiness and anticipation. But marriage is more than the wedding. As a couple settles into the routine of married life, the ordinary demands of life can take their toll. Household chores need to be done. Work is busy and stressful. Life gets even fuller when children come along. Parenting is exhausting. The couple has less time and energy for each other. What happens to the marriage when the euphoria of the wedding day wears off? Will a husband and wife still love each other?
A similar question can be asked about our relationship with the Lord. If you are a Christian, then you probably would have known the joy of coming to the Lord. Remember when the scales fell from our eyes, when we saw our sin and need for a Saviour? That was when we first realised Jesus is strong to save through His death and resurrection. Gratefully, we repented and believed in Jesus. In Him, we came to know the joy of sins forgiven, of being adopted into God’s family. We were wholeheartedly devoted to Jesus, eager to serve Him and live for Him.
But life gets busy and tough. Trials discourage us. Temptations distract us. The world’s demands, difficulties and delights draw us away from the Lord. Our hearts grow harder and colder. Our zeal for the Lord — once so fervent —falters and fades. We get tired. Our spiritual routines become a rut. We may continue to do “Christian things”, but our heart is not in it. Do we still love the Lord?
We are in a sermon series on Revelation 1-3 to listen to what the Lord Jesus has to say to seven churches in Asia Minor: in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These churches face many challenges. But the Lord is present with His churches. He commissions John to send His word to these churches, calling them to patiently endure. The seven churches represent all churches in all places at all times. Like them, we are to keep trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus. This is His word to us today. If we are to share in Christ’s victory and glory when He returns, we must persevere in Him until the end.
Keep the truth, do not lose our love for the Lord.
In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus speaks to the first of these churches — the church in Ephesus. The church is doing many things right, but one vital thing is missing. And, this undermines everything else. Jesus confronts the Ephesian church for its lack of love. What would the Lord say about us? This is the big idea of our passage: Keep the truth, do not lose our love for the Lord. We will unpack this in three points: (1) Keep the truth; (2) Do not lose our love; (3) Listen to live.
Keep the truth (Rev 2:1-3, 6)
The letters to the seven churches have a similar structure comprising three main parts: a description of Jesus, a diagnosis of the church’s condition, and a direction for how the church should go. Each description highlights an attribute from the portrayal of Jesus in 1:9-20. Next, Jesus diagnoses the church’s condition — what is good as well as what is bad. Jesus then directs the church’s response. Each letter closes with an exhortation to hear, along with a promise to those who conquer. In each letter, Jesus’ description is especially suited to the church’s condition. The perfections of Jesus’ person and work are what each church really needs. The Lord reveals His greatness to spur us on to live in the light of His glory.
Each letter is addressed to the angel of the church. John is told in Revelation 2:1: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write…” Who does the angel refer to? Some think he is a human leader, such as an elder who represents the church. But this is unlikely because in the rest of Revelation, “angels” refer to heavenly beings. Angels are ministering spirits, sent out by God to serve His people. He has assigned an angel to protect and care for each of the seven churches. This shows God’s love for us. Jesus speaks to each church through its representative angel.
The letter begins by describing the glorious Lord: Jesus holds the seven stars in His right hand. He walks among the seven golden lampstands. From Revelation 1:20, we know that the stars refer to the angels of the seven churches. Each lampstand represents one of the seven churches. Jesus is the sovereign Lord who rules over the churches. He is also present with them. Jesus knows how each church is doing. He cares about the church’s witness in the world. He has saved us to reflect his glory to the nations. Our church’s health matters to the Lord, for the sake of His glory.
The church belongs to Jesus, who has bought us with His own blood. He holds us accountable for how we live as a church. Look at Revelation 2:2-3. Jesus says to the Ephesian church: “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance.” Their faithfulness has not gone unnoticed. Jesus commends the church for its perseverance: “I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.” Patient endurance is one of Revelation’s main exhortations. It was written to encourage believers to keep their faith in Christ.
It was tough following Jesus in Ephesus. This prominent port city was famous for its pagan temple and imperial cult, which venerated the Roman rulers. Historians say a temple for the emperor Domitian may have been built in the city not long before John wrote Revelation. Much of the city’s economic, cultural and social life revolved around pagan religion. Being a Christian meant being excluded from much of the city’s life. Christians faced pressure to conform in order to be accepted. Do we fear not having the world’s approval? How are we tempted to conform or to compromise with worldliness? Maybe we are dating a non-Christian, or we are tempted in the area of sex and sexuality. Some of us may be attracted by the world’s materialism and success. We are constantly chasing after more. Some of us may be influenced by worldly attitudes towards marriage, parenting or work. Maybe our lives, ambitions, desires and worries look no different from the world’s.
Jesus commends the church in Ephesus for not compromising. It stood firm in the faith, for the sake of Jesus’ name. A key part of their perseverance was keeping the truth of the gospel. The Ephesians were discerning about doctrine, guarding the truth against false teachers: “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.”
The Ephesians are also commended for standing against another group of false teachers known as the Nicolaitans. Look at Revelation 2:6: “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans which I also hate.” We do not know a lot about the Nicolaitans, but it is likely that they taught it was alright for Christians to take part in practices associated with idol-worship. They tolerated such things as sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols. Jesus has strong words for the Nicolaitans: He hates their works. The Lord commends the church in Ephesus for resisting worldliness. Love does not mean uncritical acceptance. Jesus shows us that hate is not incompatible with love. If we love what is good and right and true, we will hate what is evil. Follow Jesus by loving what He loves; hating what He hates.
Our fellowship must be in the truth.
Our fellowship must be in the truth. We are together because we believe the same gospel. This means acknowledging our need for salvation. We confess we have sinned against God, who made us in His image to glorify Him. Instead of worshiping Him, we have lived for ourselves. We have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We need to be saved from God’s judgement and wrath. Believing the gospel means trusting in Jesus Christ, the only Saviour for sinners. By God’s grace, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus, who is fully God, took on flesh and became fully man. To make us right with God, Jesus lived a perfect life and died in our place to bear God’s judgement for us. He rose from the dead to give us eternal life. If we believe in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. We are raised with Christ to live a new life. We are reconciled to God, who joins us to His people. We have a heavenly hope.
This is the gospel we must guard. Therefore, we are to separate ourselves from false teachers whose life and teaching contradicts the truth. For example, some preach a prosperity gospel. They claim Jesus will make us healthy and wealthy in this life, if we only have enough faith in Him. Do not listen to them. Have nothing to do with any teaching or teacher that undermines the gospel. Even a seemingly small half-truth or untruth is enough to deny the whole truth. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Like the church in Ephesus, we are to test and evaluate those who teach. Do their lives and teaching line up with God’s word? In a fallen world, false teaching is an ever-present danger to the church. Hear this warning from 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
We are a congregational church. This means the responsibility for guarding the church’s doctrine ultimately belongs to us — not only to the elders, but to every member. Earlier, we read aloud a portion of our Statement of Faith. Why do we do so every month? We affirm the truth together to equip ourselves to know and guard the truth. An important part of this is to elect elders who faithfully live and teach according to the truth. It’s not about having a right to vote. Recognising faithful leaders is our God-given responsibility to guard the gospel. We have a stewardship from the Lord. Will he commend us for keeping his truth?
Do not lose our love (Rev 2:4-5)
A church that hates evil but fails to love is unbalanced. Keep the truth, but be careful not to lose our love. Jesus’ commendation is followed by a complaint in Revelation 2:4: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Jesus rebukes the Ephesians for forsaking their first love, which refers to their love for God and for one another. Loving God and loving others go together. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus says this is the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He adds in the very next verse, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Our love for others flows from our love for God. To abandon our love is to fail to love God and one another. In the earlier years of the Ephesian church, they had an ardent affection for God and for one another. Some 30-plus years ago, Paul did not cease to give thanks for the Ephesians because he had heard about their love for all the saints. He also exhorted them to keep going in Ephesians 5:2, “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” But their love has since languished.
Life in a fallen world can dampen our devotion to God. Jesus says in Matthew 24:12, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Has our love for the Lord grown cold? The difficulties of the Christian life can harden our hearts towards God and others. We might grow cynical, bitter and resentful because of our trials and tribulations. We get more grumpy with age. Tough times can turn us inwards on ourselves. We become self-centred because we are so preoccupied with our own problems. Or maybe, we have simply gotten tired of loving and serving the Lord. We have done our time, let others do it. The world’s temptations can also dull our love for the Lord. The love of the world lures us away from him. Paul says this of Demas, who was once a fervent gospel worker: “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me.”
It is sobering to realise that the loss of love can be subtle and unnoticed. We carry on as usual, unaware that our hearts are growing colder towards the Lord. The Ephesians had not forsaken the faith; they were still keeping the truth. They had not compromised with blatant sin. On the surface, they looked like a healthy church. Like them, we might still be busy doing many Christian things, like going to church, attending care group and Bible study, doing ministry and serving. But activities alone are an insufficient measure of spiritual health. In fact, our busyness can be a convenient cover for our lovelessness. It is possible to go through the motions without any real love for the Lord or His people. It is all duty without delight.
Love was the one essential mark of health that was missing from the church in Ephesus. The lack of this one thing threatened to undermine everything. Love is necessary. It is that most excellent of virtues which must undergird all we do. As 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 reminds us, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Grace Baptist Church, do we still love the Lord? Do we love one another? The Ephesians were patiently enduring and taking a stand against false teaching. But without love, all these efforts were in danger of degenerating into a dead orthodoxy.
Yes, we must hold fast to the truth. But merely wanting to be right without love can make us cold, harsh, critical, proud and self-righteous. We might end up sounding like the self-justifying Pharisee in Luke 18, who thought himself better than others:
“The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” Truth without love is hypocrisy. Gospel doctrine should foster a gospel culture. A gospel culture is characterised by Christ-likeness in how we treat one another. For example, Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Because God is both light and love, truth and love must go hand-in-hand. We are to speak the truth in love. True orthodoxy is always affectionate and approachable, longsuffering and loving, gentle and generous.
How do we know if we love the Lord? It is not merely a matter of having certain emotions or experiences. After all, our feelings can deceive us. Scripture gives us concrete ways of discerning our love for the Lord. If we love Him, we will obey His word. We will also love His people. Listen to 1 John 4:20-21: “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. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” We cannot claim to love the Lord if we do not love his church, for whom he died. So, love the Lord by gathering regularly with the church. Strengthen the unity of the church, which is the body of Christ. Turn away from any divisive conduct such as gossip, complaining, anger and unforgiveness. Build spiritual friendships to encourage one another in Christ. Welcome strangers, befriend the lonely. Care for those in need. Plan on coming early and staying later every Sunday. Talk to at least one person you have not spoken with before. Give up our comfort and convenience to serve one another. Love the Lord by loving His church.
Our church’s witness depends on our love.
Our church’s witness depends on our love. If we love one another, it will show the world that we are Jesus’ disciples. For this reason, the Ephesian church risks losing its standing and usefulness as a gospel church. Look at Revelation 2:5. If they do not turn back to the Lord, He will come and remove their lampstand from its place. He who walks among the lampstands rules over the churches. He has the authority to judge the unloving. If a lampstand is not shining the light of Christ, what good is it to Him? To lose our love is to lose our witness for the Lord. If we no longer bring glory to the Lord, we lose the very reason for our existence as a church. The Lord is not obligated to keep a loveless church alive. A loveless church lies about the Lord.
But Jesus graciously calls us return to Him now. What is the remedy for lovelessness? We are to remember and to repent. Remember therefore from where you have fallen. When a married couple drifts apart, they should recall the vows they made on their wedding day and remember their affection for each other. They should strive to rekindle their love for each other. Similarly, we are to be intentional about remembering the Lord’s love for us. This is also good for our marriages, by the way. We love because He first loved us. Do not be spiritually forgetful. Remember how the Lord has cleansed us of our sins and given us new life. We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper shortly. Jesus calls us to remember His death until He comes. The Lord’s Supper prompts us to regularly look to the Lord and to look back on what he has done for us. We come together as a church to renew our covenant relationship with Christ. Do not absent yourself from the Lord’s Supper. It is a crucial sign of our ongoing union and fellowship with Jesus and one another. So, remember how the Lord has loved us, and how we once loved the Lord. Remembrance results in repentance. May recalling the Lord’s love move us to return to Him. The Lord is calling us to action, to do the works we did at first. Doing our first works shows that we have returned to our first love. Repent of how we may be merely going through the motions in serving the Lord. Repent of how we may think it burdensome and bothersome to follow Jesus. Repent of our lovelessness and loveless works. May our works for the Lord flow out of a love for Him.
Listen to live (Rev 2:7)
Listen to the Lord and return to the love we had at first.
The Lord has revealed His glory to the church in Ephesus. He has commended them for keeping the truth. He has also rebuked them for losing their love. Now the Lord urges the church to listen to Him. In Revelation 2:7, the letter concludes with an exhortation to hear and a promise of life. First, the exhortation: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev 2:7a). Jesus speaks by the Spirit, who reveals the message to John. These words are not only meant for the church in Ephesus. They are spoken to the seven churches, as well as to all churches in all places at all times. Jesus is speaking to our church today. He calls us to listen to live. The exhortation to hear recalls Jesus’ words throughout the Gospels, urging people to listen carefully to Him. For example, in Jesus’ parable of the sower, the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears and understands the word. We must listen to the Lord, in order for His word to bear fruit in our lives. Listen to the Lord and return to the love we had at first.
This promise follows the exhortation: To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. How do we conquer? It is by listening to the Lord, so that we love Him and one another. Only Jesus has the words of eternal life. In Genesis, God barred the way to the tree of life because of humanity’s sin. Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden. But the Lord Jesus has reversed the curse. He is the Lord of life. Whoever listens to and believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. In Christ, we are more than conquerors. We look forward to a more glorious garden when he returns. “Paradise” literally means “garden”. When the Lord Jesus comes back, he will usher in the perfect paradise of the new heavens and new earth. John sees a vision of paradise in Revelation 22: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” In Christ, we will eat from the tree of life and be assured of a place in paradise with Him. So, listen to the Lord and live. Keep His truth; do not lose our love for Him.