Letter 1: Abandoned Love
Sermon Notes
“The 1st Letter: Abandoned Love”
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Revelation. It’s a series that’s all about finding peace in a world of chaos. The reality is we live in a chaotic world, and many people aren’t at peace. Both skeptics and believers have days where we’re worried about present and future things that are happening in our lives, and Revelation is a book that addresses past, present, and future events in history. But it’s also a book that can help us find peace, for every chaotic event in history, for every chaotic event in our lives. It can help us find peace, in a world of chaos. Today’s text will specifically teach us, how to keep our lives from falling apart. So let’s turn to Revelation 2 and get into it. You’ll find Revelation in the back of the bible, it’s the very last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation 2:1-7. Title of the message is The 1st Letter: Abandoned Love, and the big idea is our lives will eventually fall apart, if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love in life...Our lives will eventually fall apart, if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love in life...
Here’s your context. The book of revelation is about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and what will happen at the end of history when he returns. The entire book can be broken down into four major visions, and right now we’re studying the 1st vision, which is a vision of Jesus and the Churches. John the author is writing this in the 1st century during a time when the Romans are brutally persecuting Christians for their faith in Jesus, and in ch 1 he says he’s a partner in these afflictions, meaning he’s experiencing these afflictions too. In fact he’s writing this while living in exile on the island of Patmos, because the Roman Emperor Domitian sent him there to labor and die for his faith in Jesus. It’s in these harsh conditions that Jesus gives John a vision to encourage him and these 1st century Christians as they’re facing these afflictions. We’re studying the part of the vision where Jesus tells him to write 7 letters to 7 churches in Asia Minor. The 1st letter is to the church in Ephesus, and as we study it we’ll learn about: The Celebration, The Criticism, The Correction. It's the celebration of things they did well, the criticism of things they didn’t do well, and the correction Jesus gives them so their lives and church don’t fall apart. Let’s check it out.
Revelation 2:1-7 states, “Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” The angel mentioned here is either a literal angel spiritually overseeing the church, or it’s a pastoral leader physically overseeing the church. But regardless of who the angel is, John’s recording what Jesus is saying to the church in Ephesus. Historically we know the Ephesian church was located in the city of Ephesus, which was a city that had great significance in the 1st century. It had political significance, because it’s the place where the Roman governor lived. It had economic significance, because its major highways and seaport made it easy to travel, trade, and distribute information. It also had spiritual significance, because it was the place where people came to worship the goddess Artemis. In fact the temple of Artemis actually became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and thousands of priests and priestesses often served their as religious prostitutes. So this was a city with great significance, but also great immorality and wickedness, causing the Ephesian philosopher Heraclitus to weep over it saying, “The Ephesian citizens, are only fit to be drowned.”
But huddled in the middle of this highly significant and wicked city, was a group of faithful Christians trying to shine the light of Jesus into the darkness of the city. It started with the Apostle Paul and a few other Christians risking their lives to share the gospel in the city. People started putting their faith in Jesus, the Ephesian Church was born, and it was a very solid church for many years. John’s writing this letter four decades after the church was started, and the reason Jesus tells him to start with this church is because it’s the first of the 7 major postal districts that divided Asia Minor. Jesus wanted all the churches to hear what he has to say, and this location allowed these letters, it allowed the book of Revelation to spread quickly. He wanted all the churches, including all churches today, to hear what he has to say. So as we read this 1st letter, as we read all 7 letters, we’re supposed to be asking are we like this church? Are we like these Christians? Let’s find out.
Vs. 2, “I know your works and labor, your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.” There’s The Celebration...Jesus is celebrating some of the things the Ephesian church is doing well. He’s celebrating their works and labor, meaning they’re working very hard to spread the gospel. They’re the ones volunteering their time and sacrificing their wealth to support the church in leading people to Jesus. They aren’t lazy spectator Christians, instead they’re actively involved Christians, and Jesus celebrates these kinds of Christians.
He’s also celebrating their endurance, as they continue serving while facing heavy afflictions in this dark city. One historian said, “They were slandered, boycotted, and abused. Like Jewish merchants in Berlin in the 1930’s, these Christians were the objects of physical violence, social ostracism, and economic repression. Yet they endured.” So they weren’t nominal Christians who dipped out on Jesus when they faced hardships in life. Instead they were faithful Christians who still stuck around despite their hardships in life, and Jesus celebrates these kinds of Christians.
The last thing Jesus celebrates is their refusal to tolerate evil. They strived to keep sound doctrine and have biblical teachings as their moral compass not their culture. But a lot of people in our culture think we should tolerate everybody’s beliefs, which is one of the most unloving things we could do, because some beliefs are deadly. I mean what Hitler believed was deadly, so if you think we should tolerate everybody’s beliefs then you should tolerate Hitler’s deadly beliefs too. You should tolerate the most evil, darkest, deadliest beliefs known to humanity. But that would destroy human society, which Jesus is against. What Jesus is celebrating is these Christians not tolerating everyone’s beliefs, because some beliefs are physically, emotionally, spiritually deadly. So far all these things are things the Ephesian Christians are doing well, but here comes a criticism.
Vs. 4, “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you first had.” There’s The Criticism...We learned about the celebration of things they were doing well, but now we’re learning about the criticism of things they aren’t doing well. Jesus says they abandoned the love they first had. Some say they lost their love for Jesus, others say they lost their love for others, but both those things are connected because if you love Jesus then you should be growing in your love for others too. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and love others, so the criticism is they aren’t being very loving. They aren’t loving Jesus and loving others like they used to. We don’t know what happened, but something shifted in their hearts and they aren’t as loving as they used to be. Maybe they prayed for the afflictions they were facing to stop, and when they didn’t stop they got bitter towards Jesus for not answering their prayers. Maybe they prayed for specific people to come to faith, and when it didn’t happen they gave up on those people and gave up on praying. We don’t know what it is, but something shifted to where they stopped loving Jesus and others like they used to. They started out as a healthy church doing a lot of great things that Jesus celebrated, but on the inside their hearts started becoming empty and unloving. I mean all the things they stood for were great things! They desired to work hard for Jesus, they desired to have sound biblical teachings, they desired to protect the church against false teachings, but they lost their desire to do those things with a loving heart. Jesus is warning them and us to be careful of serving him and others, without a loving heart. We have to be careful of saying and doing all the right things, but saying and doing them without a loving heart. We have to be careful of being so busy in life, busy in ministry, busy working hard for Jesus, that we forget to be loving like Jesus.
Again vs. 4, “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you first had. 5 Remember how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” There’s The Correction...Jesus didn’t just complement them, he didn’t just criticize them, instead he also gives them a corrective plan on how to rekindle their faith. He tells them to do 3 things, and it’s 3 things we can do to rekindle our faith too. The 1st thing he says is to remember how far you’ve fallen, meaning you need to think back to the time when your faith was burning strong, and reflect on why it isn’t burning as strong as it used to. What happened to cause that shift in your faith?...Was it an unanswered prayer, a shattered dream, a difficult season of life you went through?...You need to remember what led to your fall, what caused your faith to not burn as strong as it used to. The 2nd thing he says is to repent, meaning you need to repent for abandoning the love you first had with Jesus. Repentance is more than just asking for forgiveness, it also entails a change of heart and mind to where you don’t want to keep walking the way you’ve been walking. You need to admit you aren’t pursuing Jesus like you used to, you aren’t pursuing Jesus like you should, and then do a 180 in the direction of pursuing Jesus as your greatest love again. This leads to the 3rd thing Jesus says which is to do the works you did at first, meaning get back to doing the things that filled your cup and strengthen your faith in Jesus. Some of you love to pray, then get back to praying. Some of you love reading your bible or reading books that help grow your understanding of the bible, the get back to reading those books. Some of you love listening to worship music, then get back to listening to worship music. Some of you love enjoying a Sabbath, just sitting outside in nature enjoying creation with Jesus, then get back to doing those things. All these things are great for helping to rekindle our faith, and when we neglect doing these things it causes our faith to go from a burning flame to a flicker. Jesus says we need to remember, repent, and do the works we did at first to get that flame burning again. We need to get back to loving him first.
Again vs. 5, “Remember how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” He’ll remove our lampstand, meaning any local church that abandons Jesus as their greatest love, will eventually cease to exist. He’ll snuff out the flame in that church, and they’ll cease to exist. The Ephesian church doesn’t exist today, because it didn’t listen to what Jesus said. The Ephesian Christians didn’t lose their salvation, but they did lose their effectiveness as a church in leading others to salvation. They lost their effectiveness to make an impact in their city, and they lost their entire existence as a church. Every local church is in danger of losing their effectiveness and their existence, if the believers in the local church abandon Jesus as their greatest love.
Jesus says in Matthew 5, “You are the light of the world...15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Jesus wants us to shine light into the darkness of our city. He wants us to shine light into the deepest, darkest, parts of people’s lives so they can be liberated from whatever darkness is plaguing their lives. We’re to shine the light and love of Jesus into people’s lives so they can be transformed by Jesus and eternally saved by Jesus. But none of this can happen if we aren’t burning brightly for Jesus. Jesus is saying “If you aren’t burning brightly for me, then it means you’re burning brightly for something else. I can’t have a church burning brightly for something else because it’ll lead others to seek wrong things. So if you won’t burn brightly for me, then I’ll have to snuff out the light in your church so it isn’t burning at all.” When we abandon Jesus as our greatest love, we disconnect ourselves from the very power source that can transform our lives. We become like a phone disconnecting from its charger. We’ll be able to last for a little while, but eventually our self-reliant battery will die and we’ll need to recharge again. We need to stay connected to Jesus, so our faith and church doesn’t go from a flame to a flicker.
Vs. 6, “Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Jesus goes back to complementing them again for not tolerating evil beliefs. But if you notice he doesn’t say he hates the Nicolaitans, he says he hates their practices. It’s because their beliefs and practices were conforming to the darkness of the culture instead of transforming the culture. But Jesus doesn’t say he hates the Nicolaitans, he says he hates their belief and practices. Jesus loves every person, he just doesn’t love every person’s beliefs and practices. Jesus is always perfectly balanced in both truth and love. Some of us are more truth people, some of us are more love people, but Jesus wants us to be balanced in both truth and love. He wants us to share biblical truths with people, but share it with an airbag of gracious love. He doesn’t want us using biblical truths like bullets, where we fire biblical truths at people in ways that leaves them wounded and limping. Instead Jesus wants us to use biblical truths in ways that are loving and life giving. He wants us to speak biblical truths against false beliefs and practices, but do it with an airbag of gracious love.
Vs. 7, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Notice Jesus says anyone who has ears needs to listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches, meaning this is a message he wants everybody to listen to. He wants us to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us, evaluating our lives as we read what’s said to these 7 churches. So we need to evaluate our lives based on what was said to the Ephesian Church. We need to realize Orlando is our Ephesus, and if Jesus sent you a letter what would he say?...Would he complement or criticize your work, in volunteering your time and wealth to support the church in leading more people to him?...Would he complement or criticize your endurance, you remaining faithful to him instead of dipping out on him when facing hardships?...Would he complement or criticize your faithfulness to not tolerate evil, not tolerate every belief, not conform to the moral compass of the culture?...Would he complement or criticize your love, the way you love him, the way you love others, the way you speak the truth and love?...If Jesus sent you a letter, what would he say about you?
At some point we all drift away from loving Jesus and loving others like we should. We might be doing a lot of things for Jesus and others, but we might not be loving the things we’re doing, and our hearts aren’t in it like they used to be. These Ephesian Christians kept themselves very busy working hard for Jesus, but they were so busy it kept them from really sitting and enjoying their loving friendship with Jesus. I know one of my biggest issues is packing my weekly schedule so tight, that I leave very little room for margin. It causes me to feel stressed out, burnt out, and by the end of the day I’m completely wiped out. The Lord really convicted me of this last week when I was praying. I felt the Lord saying “Louie, I want you to work with me, not just for me...I want you to work with me, not just for me...” In that moment I realized I’ve been doing a lot of things for Jesus, and they’re all good things, but they aren’t the primary thing. The primary thing is for me to do those things with Jesus...Jesus doesn’t just want our faithful obedience, he also wants our heartfelt affection. He wants us to work with him, not just for him. Have you been doing that?...Have you been working with Jesus, or for Jesus?...Have you been working with Jesus in your marriage, your parenting, your ministry, seeking him in the chaos of everyday life, or have you been abandoning him as your greatest love?...Don’t get so caught up in life, work, school, ministry, daily tasks that you forget Jesus is alive. Don’t get so caught up in your hurry and worries that you forget to hit the pause button to sit with Jesus, find peace in Jesus, seek guidance from Jesus. Don’t forget to work with Jesus, instead of just for Jesus. Don’t forget to walk with Jesus, because when you walk without him, that’s when your life starts falling apart.
The big idea of the message is that our lives will eventually fall apart, if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love in life...Our lives and our church will eventually fall apart like it did for the Ephesians, if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love in life...But the good news is Jesus cared enough to give the Ephesian Christians a corrective plan to follow back then, and he cared enough to have John write that corrective plan down for us to follow today. He cared enough to spark the flame of faith in our hearts when he died for our sins on the cross, igniting a transformative light in our hearts that’s meant to shine in us and through us pushing back darkness in our marriages, families, neighborhoods, and cities. If you’re a skeptic you can have his transformative light, his transformative love pushing back the darkness in your life too. If you repent of your sins, believe he died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, start seeking him as your greatest love in life, he’ll ignite a flame in your heart that’ll start to transform your entire life. He wants you to find truth in him, find joy in him, find your purpose and peace in him, through faith in him.
If you’re a believer, your eternal salvation is already secure through faith in Jesus, but your effectiveness in life, ministry, and our church’s existence isn’t secure if we abandon Jesus as our greatest love. If we truly love Jesus, then we should want to see the flame of faith he ignited in our hearts grow in us and spread through us. If that isn’t happening, we need to ask ourselves why? Jesus says we need to spend time reflecting on why our flame turned into a flicker? We need to remember, repent, return back to making him the greatest love in our lives again. The fastest way to start putting your life back together again, is to start walking with Jesus again. It’s to put your phone down, turn the tv off, pause as you go through the day, and talk to Jesus who’s still very much alive today. It’s to get back to making Jesus, the greatest love of your life again...Let’s pray...