The opening chapters of this great book of prophecy (Rev 1:3) describes 7 carefully arranged portraits of churches in the western part of modern day Turkey. It is possible to see in them a snap shot of the condition of the church historically. As we reflect upon them we are compelled to consider them practically; what kind of church am I in? Beyond this the challenge is surely to consider these churches personally; what am I in my church? It comes as little surprise to realise that the book of Revelation begins as it continues; that is prophetically. These 7 churches sketch out the history of the western Christian church for the past 2000 years:
Ephesus - the early Apostolic Church
Smyrna - the church persecuted under successive Roman Emperors
Pergamos - the mixed marriage of professing Christianity and paganism triggered by the professed conversion of Constantine.
Thyatira - the development of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
Sardis - the rediscovery of truth and reformation
Philadelphia - the explosion of evangelism through the open door of mission in the 18th to 20th century
Laodicea - the self contented, self amused and financially prosperous western church of today
The problems with the church began early with Ephesus. Right at the beginning Christ presents Himself as He ought to be considered and honoured; at the centre of His church; tragically from this His people have drifted in heart. Here lie the source of 2 millenia of problems.
From a bible teaching series expounding the book of Revelation.
Within this 1st of the letters to the 7 churches of Asia we have what is arguably the most significant statement made throughout the entire 7 letters.
‘In life the most important thing is that the most important thing remains the most important thing.’
At Ephesus it would appear that the most important thing, or better the most important person, becomes number 2, 3 or 4 in a list of revised priorities!
If I managed to convince you last week that these 7 churches could be viewed in 5 ways; 4 you will find elsewhere, and the 5th known only to you and me:
Historically
Practically – ‘what kind of church am I in?’
Personally – ‘what am I in this church?’ – in each there is the ‘overcomer’ and the exception (2:24; 3:4)
Prophetically:
The significance of ‘7’ These stars and lampstands are ‘mysteries’ (1:20) This whole book is a book of prophecy
Perfectly / Positionally / Eternally in Christ
What is a lampstand on earth is also a star in heaven. The temporal has a link with the eternal. The earthy is a reflection of the heavenly; as was the tabernacle and temple of old. What is done of Christ on earth, before men and in time has an abiding worth and dignity in heaven, before God and eternally. That reward never passes away! All of the ministry to these 7 churches has as its goal the conformity of each church to the eternal and heavenly standard for it – its star in heaven! Every step of obedience to this ministry and conformity to it brings us closer to God’s glorious vision of His church in Christ. The star is what the church is in Christ – its perfect heavenly representative and the lampstand what that church is on earth.
Cf Elizabeth Elliott who speaks of love as being God’s gift to allow us to see another person the way God originally intended them to be.
If we appreciate that prophetic aspect to the 7 churches then we will see that in Ephesus that we have the PRIMITIVE church – the very first of the 7 churches, the church of the apostolic era and first century church.
It will be appreciated that problems and errors affecting the foundation of a structure could potentially have lasting and catastrophic effects on the whole of the structure subsequently; like a bad foundation to a house or like the sin sown into humanity in Eden! So it is here. The fundamental problem identified in Ephesus resonates through the subsequent churches; an empty hunger seeking fulfilment throughout the 7 in different avenues.
The church at Ephesus is unique in this list of 7 – it is the only one that we have any other NT letter addressed to: Ephesians, 1 & 2 Timothy. It is only Laodicea out of the others which is mentioned elsewhere in Colossians 4:16.
That turns out to be particularly helpful in our understanding of what is actually going on here at Ephesus!
Verse 2 – the deficit at Ephesus has often been noticed:
“I know thy works, and thy labour and thy patience…”
Cf
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
What has happened to:
Faith Love Hope
That is of course a very pertinent observation, however for me the more pressing question for me is not only:
What happened to … How could anything happen without…
It is absolutely astounding, that you could remove:
Faith Love Hope
Strip away the essence of Christian experience and yet everything seems to run on regardless!!
That is a phenomenal observation!
This is a church in a coma!
Why? How?
Habit Ritual Routine Sense of duty / expectation
Many people find great reassurance in going through the same rituals and routines week after week month after month, never really critically examining what and why they are doing what they are doing, if anything is coming out of it.
This church seems to have become focused upon / satisfied with:
principles, precepts, dogma and teaching; “and hast found them liars” (v2) practices patterns of behaviour
But not the PERSON of Christ!
What would such a church look like?
Boring Orthodoxy? – routine and ritual with no reality of the presence of Christ and the power of the Word of God?? Respectably backslidden?
As opposed perhaps to Pergamos and Thyatira:
Exciting Heresy
Or Laodiceas
Entertaining Vacuum
Ephesus seems to be dogged with the problem of:
‘Fatal Distraction’
Ephesus has become focused on:
Activity for Christ (v2) – Toil Standards of Christ (v2) – Testing Truth about Christ (v3) – Truth Persevering because of Christ (v3) – Testimony
Ephesus strikes me as being like a bad marriage; in which one or both partners are so busy doing and working and earning that they are never present for one another!
Ephesus is the NT church so dogged by distraction:
Lack of fervour in prayer – 2:1ff and evangelism 2:1ff; 2:8
It is Ephesus which ultimately becomes canvas upon which is painted the fatal distraction and false desires of the other loves of the last days:
Lovers of Self (2 Tim 3:2)
Lovers of Money (2 Tim 3:2)
Lovers of Pleasure (2 Tim 3:4)
Intriguingly the Ephesians appear to have tackled many of these problems highlighted by Paul to Timothy:
Deficit in activity – Rev 2:2
False Teachers – Rev 2:2
False Teaching and the Truth – Rev 2:2
Immorality and evil – Rev 2:2
They appear to have addressed:
Moral Problems Doctrinal Problems False Teachers Inactivity
But they haven’t really managed to tackle the underlying problem!
“thou hast left thy first love” (v4)
In many ways our understanding of this statement is critical not only for our understanding of Ephesus but also for our understanding of the other 6 churches, since this error lies at the foundation of all subsequent churches and their problems!
So what was this problem?
It is a problem which reflects the central concern of Paul for the Ephesians in 1 Timothy 3:16:
1 Timothy chp 1 – Law and Sin
1 Timothy chp 2 – Sacrifice and Saviour
1 Timothy 3:16 – The Sanctuary ark and the mercy seat
1 Timothy chp 4 – The lamp, the loaf and the altar of incense
1 Timothy chp 5 – The sacred
1 Timothy chp 6 – The secular
The deficit lies in what ought to be at the centre of our Christian life – Christ!
What does it mean to have ‘left your first love’?
Often times this is interpreted to mean that the church at Ephesus has left the ‘intensity of the love it had at first’.
That this was a problem of INTENSITY of PASSION
The problem with that is that if it primarily means the INTENSITY of PASSION it really has little meaning at all.
The problem with setting a fail or a standard based on ‘not enough’ you need a ‘bit more’ is that this will always be true! There is always more that we could love.
How much is enough?
How can I have enough?
How can I know I have enough?
An unrealistic expectation founded on an unjustified assumption leading to an unachievable standard!
I would suggest that the primary issue here is more concrete, down to earth and practical.
This is not so much leaving the intensity of love but rather leaving the object of love.
Not primarily a matter of PASSION but rather a matter of the PERSON.
Not WHAT but WHO
That seems hinted at by the use of the word “left” : ἀφίημι - used approximately 167 times in NT and almost always used of leaving a person or of leaving an object eg nets, a cloak, debts.
The solution to the problem then is not:
How do I work up a greater passion – which will never succeed – there will always be a greater passion
But rather
How do I get closer to the person?
In 1 & 2 Timothy they had got caught up with all of the distractions, here in Revelation they had got caught up with dealing with the distractions and all the activity of being a Christian!
What now seems to hinder is not the problem but rather the solution to the problem!
Starting with the problems won’t necessarily bring you into communion with Christ.
Starting with communion with Christ will tackle the problems however.
Ephesus is unique amongst the 7 churches of Asia in that we have other NT letters written to this church: Ephesians, 1 + 2 Timothy
We know relatively so much about it
Only Laodicea is mentioned in Colossians 4:16
That is useful for there are some fundamental issues here:
Ephesus is the first of 7 churches Error at the foundation may well make its way through the whole of subsequent church history, if you do as I do take a church perspective on the pattern of the 7 churches.
As you travel through Europe and see the impact of Christianity on city skyline can’t help but be impressed by the impact that Christianity has had. Yet as you take a closer look you are equally struck by the amount of other things and the tangents that people have gone off on.
Probably out of the 7 churches of Revelation I have heard more ministry from Ephesus than any of the others, with Laodicea a close 2nd. It would be and has been very easy to take this verse and to do violence to the verse and use it to berate the believer.
That is not only an unproductive approach but is also an erroneous one.
Over the years I have heard this text used to chasten the Christian that they have left their original intensity of affection to Christ, that their current levels of devotion and love for Christ are insufficient and that that intensity, devotion and passion must be augmented to previous levels.
This is very misleading.
This is almost a salvation by works.
This is not the quantity nor even the quality of a believers devotion to Christ this is the presence or absence of it as a fact!
Its not the kind of love but the reality of that relationship that is absent!
Instead of a relationship with Christ being number 1, that relationship became number 2.
Like Adam in the garden (2:7) the tree of knowledge of good and evil, deceived by Satan, crept in and became the priority; displacing the tree of life (2:9) from it’s Divinely appointed centre place.
The beginning of the Church seems to re-echoe the fundamental problem at the beginning of creation!
History may not repeat itself but it certainly rhymes!
1 + 2 Timothy are so important; these letters give us the background as to what had been making inroads at Ephesus:
Hedonism (1:19ff; 3:1ff; 4:12)
Antinominism (1:19ff)
Jewish mysticism and the mystery religions (1:4ff; 4:7)
Legalism (1:7ff) and asceticism (4:3ff)
Materialism (6:10)
Demonic deception (4:1ff)
This is why at the centre of 1 Timothy in 3:16 we have THE GREAT MYSTERY, far surpassing anything you could be offered in any of the mystery religions!
They have let their first love (2:4).
How did that happen?
Failed to grasp the obvious
The all sufficiency of Christ
As the foundation and cornerstone of the building, the head of the body and the bridegroom of the church.
Christianity is all about Christ
Neglected the essentials
The centrality of Christ
Distracted by their own attainments and spirituality
False teachers
False teaching
The world
Distracted by the utterly irrelevant
and then inevitably:
'thou hast left thy first love' (2:4)
What is the content to this our first love?
His Person His Presence His Peace His Personal ministry His Prayerful communion
This is a relationship with a person
First the person, not the religion, not the activity but the person
That relationship with Christ is pre-eminent
His Person
in the scriptures in prophecy in picture in patterns in the gospel
His Presence
'Jesus Himself drew near' 'Lo I am with you' 'There am I in the midst of them' 'I shall not leave you comfortless, I will come to you' 'The joy of the Lord is thy strength'
His Peace
That surpasses understanding The peace of the upper room 'my peace give I unto you'
Prayer
Communion with Him is two way
Personal Communion
'God is in you of a truth' 'let him speak as the oracles of God'
'Thou hast left thy first love'
Here is the first church
Here is the first condemnation
The first condemnation of the first church
This becomes the primary, the root condemnation for each of the failing churches, leading to all of the condemnations thereafter.
Leaving our first love is a prelude to disaster
It is easy to see how that could happen when the heart of Christian experience has been removed.
It is like the distinction between Mary and Martha:
Luke 10:40-43 “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
From an expository series of bible teaching messages preached at Faskally House, Pitlochry as part of the Families Week 2021.
The 7 churches of Revelation - Ephesus - How to Completely miss the point
Within this 1st of the letters to the 7 churches of Asia we have what is arguably the most significant statement made throughout the entire 7 letters.
‘In life the most important thing is that the most important thing remains the most important thing.’
At Ephesus it would appear that the most important thing, or better the most important person, becomes number 2, 3 or 4 in a list of revised priorities!
If I managed to convince you last week that these 7 churches could be viewed in 5 ways; 4 you will find elsewhere, and the 5th known only to you and me:
Historically Practically – ‘what kind of church am I in?’ Personally – ‘what am I in this church?’ – in each there is the ‘overcomer’ and the exception (2:24; 3:4) Prophetically:
The significance of ‘7’ These stars and lampstands are ‘mysteries’ (1:20) This whole book is a book of prophecy
Perfectly / Positionally / Eternally in Christ
What is a lampstand on earth is also a star in heaven. The temporal has a link with the eternal. The earthy is a reflection of the heavenly; as was the tabernacle and temple of old. What is done of Christ on earth, before men and in time has an abiding worth and dignity in heaven, before God and eternally. That reward never passes away! All of the ministry to these 7 churches has as its goal the conformity of each church to the eternal and heavenly standard for it – its star in heaven! Every step of obedience to this ministry and conformity to it brings us closer to God’s glorious vision of His church in Christ. The star is what the church is in Christ – its perfect heavenly representative and the lampstand what that church is on earth. Cf Elizabeth Elliott who speaks of love as being God’s gift to allow us to see another person the way God originally intended them to be.
If we appreciate that prophetic aspect to the 7 churches then we will see that in Ephesus that we have the PRIMITIVE church – the very first of the 7 churches, the church of the apostolic era and first century church.
It will be appreciated that problems and errors affecting the foundation of a structure could potentially have lasting and catastrophic effects on the whole of the structure subsequently; like a bad foundation to a house or like the sin sown into humanity in Eden! So it is here. The fundamental problem identified in Ephesus resonates through the subsequent churches; an empty hunger seeking fulfilment throughout the 7 in different avenues.
The church at Ephesus is unique in this list of 7 – it is the only one that we have any other NT letter addressed to: Ephesians, 1 & 2 Timothy. It is only Laodicea out of the others which is mentioned elsewhere in Colossians 4:16.
That turns out to be particularly helpful in our understanding of what is actually going on here at Ephesus!
Verse 2 – the deficit at Ephesus has often been noticed:
“I know thy works, and thy labour and thy patience…”
Cf
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
What has happened to:
Faith
Love
Hope
That is of course a very pertinent observation, however for me the more pressing question for me is not only:
What happened to … How could anything happen without…
It is absolutely astounding, that you could remove:
Faith
Love
Hope
Strip away the essence of Christian experience and yet everything seems to run on regardless!!
That is a phenomenal observation!
This is a church in a coma!
Why? How?
Habit Ritual Routine Sense of duty / expectation
Many people find great reassurance in going through the same rituals and routines week after week month after month, never really critically examining what and why they are doing what they are doing, if anything is coming out of it.
This church seems to have become focused upon / satisfied with:
principles, precepts, dogma and teaching; “and hast found them liars” (v2) practices patterns of behaviour
But not the PERSON of Christ!
What would such a church look like?
Boring Orthodoxy? – routine and ritual with no reality of the presence of Christ and the power of the Word of God?? Respectably backslidden?
As opposed perhaps to Pergamos and Thyatira:
Exciting Heresy
Or Laodiceas
Entertaining Vacuum
Ephesus seems to be dogged with the problem of:
‘Fatal Distraction’
Ephesus has become focused on:
Activity for Christ (v2) – Toil Standards of Christ (v2) – Testing Truth about Christ (v3) – Truth Persevering because of Christ (v3) – Testimony
Ephesus strikes me as being like a bad marriage; in which one or both partners are so busy doing and working and earning that they are never present for one another!
Ephesus is the NT church so dogged by distraction:
1 & 2 Timothy:
False Teachers – 1:20; 2 Tim 2:17ff False Teaching – 1:4ff; 4:14ff; 4:16; 4:2; Asceticism (4:3ff) False Gospel of works righteousness – 1 Tim1:7-9; 1:13ff Immorality – 1:5, 10; 1:19-20; 3:1ff; 3:9, 12; 4:2; 5:20-24; 6:5; 2 Tim 2:18-22; 26 Materialism – 6:5-10; 6:17-19 Lack of fervour in prayer – 2:1ff and evangelism 2:1ff; 2:8
It is Ephesus which ultimately becomes canvas upon which is painted the fatal distraction and false desires of the other loves of the last days:
Lovers of Self (2 Tim 3:2) Lovers of Money (2 Tim 3:2) Lovers of Pleasure (2 Tim 3:4)
Intriguingly the Ephesians appear to have tackled many of these problems highlighted by Paul to Timothy:
Deficit in activity – Rev 2:2 False Teachers – Rev 2:2 False Teaching and the Truth – Rev 2:2 Immorality and evil – Rev 2:2
They appear to have addressed:
Moral Problems Doctrinal Problems False Teachers Inactivity
But they haven’t really managed to tackle the underlying problem!
“thou hast left thy first love” (v4)
In many ways our understanding of this statement is critical not only for our understanding of Ephesus but also for our understanding of the other 6 churches, since this error lies at the foundation of all subsequent churches and their problems!
So what was this problem?
It is a problem which reflects the central concern of Paul for the Ephesians in 1 Timothy 3:16:
1 Timothy chp 1 – Law and Sin 1 Timothy chp 2 – Sacrifice and Saviour 1 Timothy 3:16 – The Sanctuary ark and the mercy seat 1 Timothy chp 4 – The lamp, the loaf and the altar of incense 1 Timothy chp 5 – The sacred 1 Timothy chp 6 – The secular
The deficit lies in what ought to be at the centre of our Christian life – Christ!
What does it mean to have ‘left your first love’?
Often times this is interpreted to mean that the church at Ephesus has left the ‘intensity of the love it had at first’.
That this was a problem of INTENSITY of PASSION
The problem with that is that if it primarily means the INTENSITY of PASSION it really has little meaning at all.
Illust: Failing driving test and need to do better, and again and again
The problem with setting a fail or a standard based on ‘not enough’ you need a ‘bit more’ is that this will always be true! There is always more that we could love.
How much is enough?
How can I have enough?
How can I know I have enough?
An unrealistic expectation founded on an unjustified assumption leading to an unachievable standard!
I would suggest that the primary issue here is more concrete, down to earth and practical.
This is not so much leaving the intensity of love but rather leaving the object of love.
Not primarily a matter of PASSION but rather a matter of the PERSON.
Not WHAT but WHO
That seems hinted at by the use of the word “left” : ἀφίημι - used approximately 167 times in NT and almost always used of leaving a person or of leaving an object eg nets, a cloak, debts.
The solution to the problem then is not:
How do I work up a greater passion – which will never succeed – there will always be a greater passion
But rather
How do I get closer to the person?
In 1 & 2 Timothy they had got caught up with all of the distractions, here in Revelation they had got caught up with dealing with the distractions and all the activity of being a Christian!
What now seems to hinder is not the problem but rather the solution to the problem!
Starting with the problems won’t necessarily bring you into communion with Christ.
Starting with communion with Christ will tackle the problems however.
Ephesus is unique amongst the 7 churches of Asia in that we have other NT letters written to this church: Ephesians, 1 + 2 Timothy
We know relatively so much about it
Only Laodicea is mentioned in Colossians 4:16
That is useful for there are some fundamental issues here:
Ephesus is the first of 7 churches Error at the foundation may well make its way through the whole of subsequent church history, if you do as I do take a church perspective on the pattern of the 7 churches.
As you travel through Europe and see the impact of Christianity on city skyline can’t help but be impressed by the impact that Christianity has had. Yet as you take a closer look you are equally struck by the amount of other things and the tangents that people have gone off on.
Probably out of the 7 churches of Revelation I have heard more ministry from Ephesus than any of the others, with Laodicea a close 2nd. It would be and has been very easy to take this verse and to do violence to the verse and use it to berate the believer.
That is not only an unproductive approach but is also an erroneous one.
Over the years I have heard this text used to chasten the Christian that they have left their original intensity of affection to Christ, that their current levels of devotion and love for Christ are insufficient and that that intensity, devotion and passion must be augmented to previous levels.
This is very misleading.
This is almost a salvation by works.
This is not the quantity nor even the quality of a believers devotion to Christ this is the presence or absence of it as a fact!
Its not the kind of love but the reality of that relationship that is absent!
Instead of a relationship with Christ being number 1, that relationship became number 2.
Like Adam in the garden (2:7) the tree of knowledge of good and evil, deceived by Satan, crept in and became the priority; displacing the tree of life (2:9) from it’s Divinely appointed centre place.
The beginning of the Church seems to re-echoe the fundamental problem at the beginning of creation!
History may not repeat itself but it certainly rhymes!
1 + 2 Timothy are so important; these letters give us the background as to what had been making inroads at Ephesus:
Hedonism (1:19ff; 3:1ff; 4:12) Antinominism (1:19ff) Jewish mysticism and the mystery religions (1:4ff; 4:7) Legalism (1:7ff) and asceticism (4:3ff) Materialism (6:10) Demonic deception (4:1ff)
This is why at the centre of 1 Timothy in 3:16 we have THE GREAT MYSTERY, far surpassing anything you could be offered in any of the mystery religions!
They have let their first love (2:4).
How did that happen?
Failed to grasp the obvious
The all sufficiency of Christ
As the foundation and cornerstone of the building, the head of the body and the bridegroom of the church.
Christianity is all about Christ
Neglected the essentials
The centrality of Christ
Distracted by their own attainments and spirituality
False teachers
False teaching
The world
Distracted by the utterly irrelevant
and then inevitably:
'thou hast left thy first love' (2:4)
What is the content to this our first love?
His Person His Presence His Peace His Personal ministry His Prayerful communion
This is a relationship with a person
First the person, not the religion, not the activity but the person
That relationship with Christ is pre-eminent
His Person
in the scriptures in prophecy in picture in patterns in the gospel
His Presence
'Jesus Himself drew near' 'Lo I am with you' 'There am I in the midst of them' 'I shall not leave you comfortless, I will come to you' 'The joy of the Lord is thy strength'
His Peace
That surpasses understanding The peace of the upper room 'my peace give I unto you'
Prayer
Communion with Him is two way
Personal Communion
'God is in you of a truth' 'let him speak as the oracles of God'
'Thou hast left thy first love'
Here is the first church
Here is the first condemnation
The first condemnation of the first church
This becomes the primary, the root condemnation for each of the failing churches, leading to all of the condemnations thereafter.
Leaving our first love is a prelude to disaster
It is easy to see how that could happen when the heart of Christian experience has been removed.
It is like the distinction between Mary and Martha:
Luk 10:40-43 “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
From a series of sermons in our bible teaching series on the book of Revelation and the seven churches.
Within this 1st of the letters to the 7 churches of Asia we have what is arguably the most significant statement made throughout the entire 7 letters.
‘In life the most important thing is that the most important thing remains the most important thing.’
At Ephesus it would appear that the most important thing, or better the most important person, becomes number 2, 3 or 4 in a list of revised priorities!
If I managed to convince you last week that these 7 churches could be viewed in 5 ways; 4 you will find elsewhere, and the 5th known only to you and me:
Historically Practically – ‘what kind of church am I in?’ Personally – ‘what am I in this church?’ – in each there is the ‘overcomer’ and the exception (2:24; 3:4) Prophetically:
The significance of ‘7’ These stars and lampstands are ‘mysteries’ (1:20) This whole book is a book of prophecy
Perfectly / Positionally / Eternally in Christ
What is a lampstand on earth is also a star in heaven. The temporal has a link with the eternal. The earthy is a reflection of the heavenly; as was the tabernacle and temple of old. What is done of Christ on earth, before men and in time has an abiding worth and dignity in heaven, before God and eternally. That reward never passes away! All of the ministry to these 7 churches has as its goal the conformity of each church to the eternal and heavenly standard for it – its star in heaven! Every step of obedience to this ministry and conformity to it brings us closer to God’s glorious vision of His church in Christ. The star is what the church is in Christ – its perfect heavenly representative and the lampstand what that church is on earth.
Cf Elizabeth Elliott who speaks of love as being God’s gift to allow us to see another person the way God originally intended them to be.
If we appreciate that prophetic aspect to the 7 churches then we will see that in Ephesus that we have the PRIMITIVE church – the very first of the 7 churches, the church of the apostolic era and first century church.
It will be appreciated that problems and errors affecting the foundation of a structure could potentially have lasting and catastrophic effects on the whole of the structure subsequently; like a bad foundation to a house or like the sin sown into humanity in Eden! So it is here. The fundamental problem identified in Ephesus resonates through the subsequent churches; an empty hunger seeking fulfilment throughout the 7 in different avenues.
The church at Ephesus is unique in this list of 7 – it is the only one that we have any other NT letter addressed to: Ephesians, 1 & 2 Timothy. It is only Laodicea out of the others which is mentioned elsewhere in Colossians 4:16.
That turns out to be particularly helpful in our understanding of what is actually going on here at Ephesus!
Verse 2 – the deficit at Ephesus has often been noticed:
“I know thy works, and thy labour and thy patience…”
Cf
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
What has happened to:
Faith Love Hope
That is of course a very pertinent observation, however for me the more pressing question for me is not only:
What happened to … How could anything happen without…
It is absolutely astounding, that you could remove:
Faith Love Hope
Strip away the essence of Christian experience and yet everything seems to run on regardless!!
That is a phenomenal observation!
This is a church in a coma!
Why? How?
Habit Ritual Routine Sense of duty / expectation
Many people find great reassurance in going through the same rituals and routines week after week month after month, never really critically examining what and why they are doing what they are doing, if anything is coming out of it.
This church seems to have become focused upon / satisfied with:
principles, precepts, dogma and teaching; “and hast found them liars” (v2) practices patterns of behaviour
But not the PERSON of Christ!
What would such a church look like?
Boring Orthodoxy? – routine and ritual with no reality of the presence of Christ and the power of the Word of God?? Respectably backslidden?
As opposed perhaps to Pergamos and Thyatira:
Exciting Heresy
Or Laodiceas
Entertaining Vacuum
Ephesus seems to be dogged with the problem of:
‘Fatal Distraction’
Ephesus has become focused on:
Activity for Christ (v2) – Toil Standards of Christ (v2) – Testing Truth about Christ (v3) – Truth Persevering because of Christ (v3) – Testimony
Ephesus strikes me as being like a bad marriage; in which one or both partners are so busy doing and working and earning that they are never present for one another!
Ephesus is the NT church so dogged by distraction:
1 & 2 Timothy:
False Teachers – 1:20; 2 Tim 2:17ff False Teaching – 1:4ff; 4:14ff; 4:16; 4:2; Asceticism (4:3ff) False Gospel of works righteousness – 1 Tim1:7-9; 1:13ff Immorality – 1:5, 10; 1:19-20; 3:1ff; 3:9, 12; 4:2; 5:20-24; 6:5; 2 Tim 2:18-22; 26 Materialism – 6:5-10; 6:17-19 Lack of fervour in prayer – 2:1ff and evangelism 2:1ff; 2:8
It is Ephesus which ultimately becomes canvas upon which is painted the fatal distraction and false desires of the other loves of the last days:
Lovers of Self (2 Tim 3:2) Lovers of Money (2 Tim 3:2) Lovers of Pleasure (2 Tim 3:4)
Intriguingly the Ephesians appear to have tackled many of these problems highlighted by Paul to Timothy:
Deficit in activity – Rev 2:2 False Teachers – Rev 2:2 False Teaching and the Truth – Rev 2:2 Immorality and evil – Rev 2:2
They appear to have addressed:
Moral Problems Doctrinal Problems False Teachers Inactivity
But they haven’t really managed to tackle the underlying problem!
“thou hast left thy first love” (v4)
In many ways our understanding of this statement is critical not only for our understanding of Ephesus but also for our understanding of the other 6 churches, since this error lies at the foundation of all subsequent churches and their problems!
So what was this problem?
It is a problem which reflects the central concern of Paul for the Ephesians in 1 Timothy 3:16:
1 Timothy chp 1 – Law and Sin 1 Timothy chp 2 – Sacrifice and Saviour 1 Timothy 3:16 – The Sanctuary ark and the mercy seat 1 Timothy chp 4 – The lamp, the loaf and the altar of incense 1 Timothy chp 5 – The sacred 1 Timothy chp 6 – The secular
The deficit lies in what ought to be at the centre of our Christian life – Christ!
What does it mean to have ‘left your first love’?
Often times this is interpreted to mean that the church at Ephesus has left the ‘intensity of the love it had at first’.
That this was a problem of INTENSITY of PASSION
The problem with that is that if it primarily means the INTENSITY of PASSION it really has little meaning at all.
The problem with setting a fail or a standard based on ‘not enough’ you need a ‘bit more’ is that this will always be true! There is always more that we could love.
How much is enough?
How can I have enough?
How can I know I have enough?
An unrealistic expectation founded on an unjustified assumption leading to an unachievable standard!
I would suggest that the primary issue here is more concrete, down to earth and practical.
This is not so much leaving the intensity of love but rather leaving the object of love.
Not primarily a matter of PASSION but rather a matter of the PERSON.
Not WHAT but WHO
That seems hinted at by the use of the word “left” : ἀφίημι - used approximately 167 times in NT and almost always used of leaving a person or of leaving an object eg nets, a cloak, debts.
The solution to the problem then is not:
How do I work up a greater passion – which will never succeed – there will always be a greater passion
But rather
How do I get closer to the person?
In 1 & 2 Timothy they had got caught up with all of the distractions, here in Revelation they had got caught up with dealing with the distractions and all the activity of being a Christian!
What now seems to hinder is not the problem but rather the solution to the problem!
Starting with the problems won’t necessarily bring you into communion with Christ.
Starting with communion with Christ will tackle the problems however.
Ephesus is unique amongst the 7 churches of Asia in that we have other NT letters written to this church: Ephesians, 1 + 2 Timothy
We know relatively so much about it
Only Laodicea is mentioned in Colossians 4:16
That is useful for there are some fundamental issues here:
Ephesus is the first of 7 churches Error at the foundation may well make its way through the whole of subsequent church history, if you do as I do take a church perspective on the pattern of the 7 churches.
As you travel through Europe and see the impact of Christianity on city skyline can’t help but be impressed by the impact that Christianity has had. Yet as you take a closer look you are equally struck by the amount of other things and the tangents that people have gone off on.
Probably out of the 7 churches of Revelation I have heard more ministry from Ephesus than any of the others, with Laodicea a close 2nd. It would be and has been very easy to take this verse and to do violence to the verse and use it to berate the believer.
That is not only an unproductive approach but is also an erroneous one.
Over the years I have heard this text used to chasten the Christian that they have left their original intensity of affection to Christ, that their current levels of devotion and love for Christ are insufficient and that that intensity, devotion and passion must be augmented to previous levels.
This is very misleading.
This is almost a salvation by works.
This is not the quantity nor even the quality of a believers devotion to Christ this is the presence or absence of it as a fact!
Its not the kind of love but the reality of that relationship that is absent!
Instead of a relationship with Christ being number 1, that relationship became number 2.
Like Adam in the garden (2:7) the tree of knowledge of good and evil, deceived by Satan, crept in and became the priority; displacing the tree of life (2:9) from it’s Divinely appointed centre place.
The beginning of the Church seems to re-echoe the fundamental problem at the beginning of creation!
History may not repeat itself but it certainly rhymes!
1 + 2 Timothy are so important; these letters give us the background as to what had been making inroads at Ephesus:
Hedonism (1:19ff; 3:1ff; 4:12) Antinominism (1:19ff) Jewish mysticism and the mystery religions (1:4ff; 4:7) Legalism (1:7ff) and asceticism (4:3ff) Materialism (6:10) Demonic deception (4:1ff)
This is why at the centre of 1 Timothy in 3:16 we have THE GREAT MYSTERY, far surpassing anything you could be offered in any of the mystery religions!
They have let their first love (2:4).
How did that happen?
Failed to grasp the obvious
The all sufficiency of Christ
As the foundation and cornerstone of the building, the head of the body and the bridegroom of the church.
Christianity is all about Christ
Neglected the essentials
The centrality of Christ
Distracted by their own attainments and spirituality
False teachers
False teaching
The world
Distracted by the utterly irrelevant
and then inevitably:
'thou hast left thy first love' (2:4)
What is the content to this our first love?
His Person His Presence His Peace His Personal ministry His Prayerful communion
This is a relationship with a person
First the person, not the religion, not the activity but the person
That relationship with Christ is pre-eminent
His Person
in the scriptures in prophecy in picture in patterns in the gospel
His Presence
'Jesus Himself drew near' 'Lo I am with you' 'There am I in the midst of them' 'I shall not leave you comfortless, I will come to you' 'The joy of the Lord is thy strength'
His Peace
That surpasses understanding The peace of the upper room 'my peace give I unto you'
Prayer
Communion with Him is two way
Personal Communion
'God is in you of a truth' 'let him speak as the oracles of God'
'Thou hast left thy first love'
Here is the first church
Here is the first condemnation
The first condemnation of the first church
This becomes the primary, the root condemnation for each of the failing churches, leading to all of the condemnations thereafter.
Leaving our first love is a prelude to disaster
It is easy to see how that could happen when the heart of Christian experience has been removed.
From an expository series of bible teaching messages on the book of Revelation and the 7 churches of Asia.
Ephesus, the first of the 7 churches of Revelation. Ephesus is unique amongst these 7 in that we have 3 other letters written to them in the scripture, only Laodicea is mentioned elsewhere as a footnote in the Colossian letter and Thyatira referenced in Acts. There may be a reason as to why we have so much on Ephesus elsewhere in the NT – that we may be given an understanding of the fundamental problem identified in Ephesus. The first problem of these 7 churches is the problem at Ephesus; it is this problem which is fundamental to the other 7 and critical for us to understand, fortunately we have the key to unlock the mystery! The fundamental problem at Ephesus:
“you have left your first love” (2:4)
Probably out of the 7 churches of Revelation I have heard more ministry from Ephesus than any of the others, with Laodicea a close 2nd. It would be and has been very easy to take this verse and to do violence to the verse and use it to berate the believer. That is not only an unproductive approach but is also an erroneous one. Over the years I have heard this text used to chasten the Christian that they have left their original intensity of affection to Christ, that their current levels of devotion and love for Christ are insufficient and that that intensity, devotion and passion must be augmented to previous levels. This is very misleading.
It is an unachievable goal based on an Unjustified assumption leading to an Untenable exhortation
Why do I say that?
The assumption that passion was better and stronger in the past in anyones Christian life is clearly a presumption; what makes you so sure that it was? That that passion / intensity of affection needs to be increased is an unachievable standard. How much is more? How great is greater? How strong is strong enough? How far is far enough? If I don’t know how much more passion I need, how can I ever know that I have enough? This is an impossible ideal founded on an unjustifiable assumption. This is almost a salvation by works; you need to love more and enough, serve with a greater passion than the one that we presume you once had!
This is not the quantity nor even the quality of a believers devotion to Christ this is the presence or absence of it as a fact!
Its not the kind of love but the reality of that relationship that is absent!
Instead of a relationship with Christ being number 1, that relationship became number 2.
Like Adam in the garden (2:7) the tree of knowledge of good and evil, deceived by Satan, crept in and became the priority.
That is why 1 + 2 Timothy are so important; these letters give us the background as to what had been making inroads at Ephesus:
• Hedonism (1:19ff; 3:1ff; 4:12) • Antinominism (1:19ff) • Jewish mysticism and the mystery religions (1:4ff; 4:7) • Legalism (1:7ff) and asceticism (4:3ff) • Materialism (6:10) • Demonic deception (4:1ff)
There appears to be so many threads to the problems facing the Ephesian church, so many that scholars struggle to bring those thread together. What was the challenge at Ephesus?
• Judaisers teaching the law? • Was it an early form of Gnosticism? • Do we have here in 1 Timothy the whole spectrum of problems which we could encounter as a Christian?
This is why at the centre of 1 Timothy in 3:16 we have THE GREAT MYSTERY, far surpassing anything you could be offered in any of the mystery religions! False teachers had been making inroads; not so much to simply take the edge off of devotion to Christ but to present another gospel and keep believers from enjoying a real relationship with Christ and prevent unbelievers from ever knowing Christ!
An unexpected link perhaps between Revelation and pastoral epistles This is the 4th epistle to the Ephesians:
Decisions have consequences, a little leven, leveneth the whole lump. Disasters have an origin Problems don't just appear as if by magic and out of the blue It is easier to nip a problem in the bud than deal with a full blown catastrophe. The Ephesian epistle is an incredibly Christ centred epistle with an exhortation to be 'filled with all the fullness of Christ' The church is the body, the building, and the bride of Christ. Probably the most Christ centred of all the NT epistles cf. Eph 1:10 – God's purpose.
Perhaps we have illustration of this idea in the 2nd marriages / relationships of the patriachs and others in the OT – with affections drifting and distracted and resulting in all of the contention and problems subsequently: Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Jacob and his wifes and concubines, Elkannah and his 2 wives; Solomon and his wives!
By 1 & 2 Timothy, the church at Ephesus is drifting quite a bit Paul needs to emphasise the centrality of Christ to the Ephesians in 1 Timothy 3:16, as well as addressing key doctrines:
• Resurrection (2 Tim 2) • Salvation by justification by faith through the gospel (1 Tim 1:5ff) • Moral compromise
Now by Revelation chapter 2, they have left their first love (2:4).
To each of the 7 churches:
“I know…” (2:2)
He knows all about me, nothing escapes his knowledge and understanding. Cf. 1 Thess 1:3:
‘works’ but no faith? ‘labour’ but no love? ‘patience’ but no hope?
Halfway to paradise The problem at Ephesus is the problem since the beginning of the Bible; their added problem is their attempt at a solution to that problem; their attempt to get back to where they were; their attempt to overcome the problem they perceive they have. The wrong diagnosis results in the incorrect treatment. Sensitive enough to appreciate that something isn’t right but not spiritual enough to know what is wrong. They decide to run faster on the same treadmill! Agitation in response to inadequacy!
More meetings More preaching Longer meetings More activities
More is only the solution if less is the problem!
• Works without faith • Labour without love • Patience without hope
• Lots of activity • Lots of intensity • Lack of reality
They have let their first love (2:4). How did that happen?
1. Failure to grasp the blindingly obvious
The all sufficiency of Christ As the foundation and cornerstone of the building, the head of the body and the bridegroom of the church. Christianity is all about Christ
2. Willingness to neglect the essentials
The centrality of Christ
3. Distraction to something else (2 Timothy)
False teachers False teaching The world Distracted by the utterly irrelevant
and then inevitably:
'thou hast left thy first love' (2:4)
The 'angel' (2:1)
John Baptist is described as an 'aggelos' in Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27, messengers of John Baptist (Luke 7:24) Messengers of the Lord (Luke 9:52) Consider the ministering spirits of Heb 1:14 The angel – likely to be the messenger or correspondent of the church. It would seem unlikely that the apostle would be writing to an angel, a physical letter to a spiritual being is a little improbable!
2:1 'right hand'
cf. 'sit thou at my right hand' Place of dignity? The place the church ought to have? The dignity bestowed on the church by Christ. Do I live up to it?
2:1 'walketh in the midst of the 7 golden lampstands'
'there am I in the midst of them' Christ in the midst of His people 'golden' : marked by a sense of the Divine 'lampstands' : shine light; Christ like
2:2 Ephesus certainly marked by activity and labours (v2) despite drifting from Christ, we can be busy and active and yet having left our first love!
'first love'
First in what sense? First in order? Is Christ the:
• First person • First object • First religion
They have ever given their affections to? Probably not! First rather in:
• Priority • Importance • Pre-eminence
Rather than first in:
• Primacy
What is this? Perhaps evidenced by how little it takes to distract me from Him!
They have drifted away from:
• Devotion to a person • Care for a person • Enjoyment of that personal relationship
to mere activity!
In their affections.
Ephesus had:
• works • labour • patience
But something seems to be missing?
“work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father” (1Th 1:3)
what about the:
• faith • love • hope
This is not what we do but what we are! This is not Christian service but Christian character. This is a consequence of being 'with' Christ rather than doing things 'for' Christ. They certainly have a sense of morality, a sensitivity to evil
• Activity • Sensitivity • Discernment
And yet:
• Activity in service (2:2) • Perseverance in trial (2:2) • Sensitivity to evil (2:2) • Discernment of teachers (2:2) • Adherence to the truth (2:2)
Is not the same as holding to and is not necessarily preventative of leaving our 'first love' (2:4) This perhaps causes me to ask the questions; was all of this:
• Activity in service (2:2) • Perseverance in trial (2:2) • Sensitivity to evil (2:2) • Discernment of teachers (2:2) • Adherence to the truth (2:2)
Merely religious fervour? Merely orthodoxy? Merely self serving pride?
Perhaps like the proud orthodoxy that can be seen in any religious system, defending its traditions, position and orthodoxy?
Religious fervour but lacking personal devotion Religion without relationship? Cult without a personal Christ? Preaching sermons but never encountering Jesus?
What is the content to this our first love?
• His Person • His Presence • His Peace • His Personal ministry • His Prayerful communion
This is a relationship with a person First the person, not the religion, not the activity but the person That relationship with Christ is pre-eminent
1. His Person • in the scriptures • in prophecy • in picture • in patterns • in the gospel
2. His Presence
• 'Jesus Himself drew near' • 'Lo I am with you' • 'There am I in the midst of them' • 'I shall not leave you comfortless, I will come to you' • 'The joy of the Lord is thy strength'
3. His Peace
• That surpasses understanding • The peace of the upper room • 'my peace give I unto you'
4. Prayer
• Communion with Him is two way
5. Personal Communion
• 'God is in you if a truth' • 'let him speak as the oracles of God'
'Thou hast left thy first love'
Here is the first church Here is the first condemnation The first condemnation of the first church This becomes the primary, the root condemnation for each of the failing churches, leading to all of the condemnations thereafter.
Departure here from their first love, results in:
• Distraction to false gods at Pergamos • Deception at Pergamos and Thyatira • Doctrinal confusion at Pergamos • Defilement at Thyatira • Self deception of Laodicea – quite content with what they are and yet they are a million miles away
Leaving our first love is a prelude to disaster It is easy to see how that could happen when the heart of Christian experience has been removed.
Doctrinal exposition is critical, there must be a faithfulness to the Word of God but who expounds the Word of God? Jezebel? Nicolaitanes?
Sound exposition of the Word of God must be with the same Spirit of God who gave it! Any sound exposition of scripture, any presentation of the Gospel, must be founded on a sound devotion to Christ, otherwise I am just an empty vessel, a tinkling symbol.
Verse 5: Better days in the past “remember” They had put Christ first in the past He had at one point been their first love
'the first works' :
A difference between 'duty' and 'devotion' This is not the same as has been done 'for my name's sake' (2:3) This is the distinction we often see in a family setting, in family relationships, what goes wrong at times:
• To do things for someone • To do things with someone
There is a distinction between the two Works not so much 'for' Him, as many well intentioned works can be, but rather 'works' or encounters that 'focus' on Him.
It is like the distinction Peter makes in 1 Peter 2:
• A Holy priesthood • A Royal priesthood
The distinction?
• Serving God in the temple • Serving for God amongst men
It is like the distinction between Mary and Martha:
• Luk 10:40-43 “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
It is perhaps the distinction too, between 1 and 2nd Timothy:
• 1 Timothy – Christ at the heart of the assembly and at the centre of Timothy's experience • 2 Timothy – Timothy transformed by that experience
From a bible teaching series on the book of Revelation and the 7 churches
