First Love (Revelation 2:1-7)

[Music] [Music] [Music] well I can still remember Rachel and i's first date it lasted 18 hours long and much of that 18 hours was spent communicating back and forth with one another what are the things that you like the most what are the things that you like the least what are you looking for in the rest of your life how many kids do you want to have I mean we had all of those conversations in that first date even to the point that whenever that date was over both of us I think we knew that this is the person that I want to marry this is a person that I want to have a relationship with for the rest of my life even to the point that whenever I was getting ready to leave Rachel looked at me and she said I look like you alive she was ready to tell me she already loved me now I know that's hard for most of you to to imagine but that's how far it went and I think that's what Christ wants from us he wants that passion that intimacy and everything that we had he wants us to to remember back to whenever we first fell in love with him because he loves us with that same kind of love today and he wants us to love him with that same kind of passion with that same kind of heart and that's what he's telling the church at Ephesus they're busy they're doing a lot of things for Christ but yet they're not doing things with Christ and that's what we're going to see and be able to make application of as we see in Revelation chapter 2 the letter written to the church at Ephesus so let's begin by getting an outline we're first in gonna see a destination and description in chapter 2 verse 1 and this outline that is used here is very similar to the outlines to all the seven churches they have many of these same components but first we see a destination it's going to the church at Ephesus the description of Christ and we'll talk about that we see two key things then we're gonna see a commendation what is it that they're doing right what do they get an attaboy for then we're gonna see a rebuke what is it that they've done they've left their first love we'll see that in verse four then we're going to see an exhortation what is it that they need to do to get right and then finally we're going to see the promise that is made to the overcomers in verse 7 well the book of Revelation is written by the Apostle John the same person who wrote the Gospel of John first second and third John he is the one who is he has been exiled on the island of Patmos for his stand for Jesus Christ he stood for Jesus Christ he was exiled they thought man that you get him out here on this on this island and he can't be used by God but what happens Christ appears to him and he tells him to write down some certain things and what he tells him is found in in Revelation chapter 1 where he says write the things that are are the things that you've seen the things that are and the things that will be and so that's what he's writing down but the things that are right now is the time that we are living in it's the church age that's why he's writing to the seven churches those are the things that are and he writes this letter to the church at Ephesus that we can make application from even today so let's begin by looking at verse 1 as we see the destination and description of Christ first we'll see the destination it says to the angel of the church in Ephesus right so he says to the angel and most of the time whenever we think about angels we think about heavenly beings but also there are human beings in the New Testament that are called angels like John the Baptist he was called an angel he was the messenger who brought the message that the Lamb of God was here to take away the sin of the world so the angel that this is probably referring to is the pastor of the church the one who brought the message who would read the message that was given to the church at Ephesus and so he says to the angel of the church in Ephesus and so it's going to a specific church to the church in Ephesus it was a church that Paul established it was a church that he left Timothy to pastor to oversee it was a church that was in a city that is one of the greatest cities and it had it was well known for idolatry it was where one of the seven wonders of the world world has found the Temple of Artemis and so all of this paganism was in the city and so over and over Paul emphasized to Timothy in his letters to him that you've got to be careful you've got to stick to sound doctrine you've got to live out the Word of God and we're gonna see that that's what this church did whenever we see the commendation here in just a minute but going back to verse one we get a description of Christ it says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says this so it goes back to the description found at the end of chapter one verse 20 where it says the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches so Jesus Christ is talking and he there's two key things that we see about Christ first we see that he is omnipotent that he's all-powerful he's the one who holds the seven stars the seven angels the seven pastors in his right hand he's the one with who is in control ultimately in the church but also it shows that he's omnipresent as he walks among the seven golden lampstands as he walks among the church he cares about the church he cares about the people in the church he cares about you and me he cares about our lives and even though sometimes we want to walk away from him sometimes we leave him as our first love he never allows us to walk alone never once did he leave us on our own he is faithful God is faithful and so we have to trust in him we have to know that he loves us with an everlasting unconditional love and that he'll never leave us he cares about us he's omnipotent he's all-powerful and all-knowing but also here in a minute we're gonna see that you know not only does he he know about everything about what we do our good and our bad that we do but he cares about the motivation that is found behind our good deeds so speaking of good deeds let's look and see what the church at Ephesus was doing good look with me at verses two and three he says in verse two I know your deeds your toil your perseverance and that you cannot tolerate evil men and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false you have perseverance and have endured for my namesake and have not grown weary so Christ starts off in commending them for their deeds for their works he says you're doing good deeds you're doing well and you know what many people do good deeds but why do they do good deeds why do people do good deeds well I think there are many unbelievers in the world that do good deeds because they think that it's going to get them to God that it's gonna get them to heaven it's gonna get them eternal life but that's the lie of the devil you do good and gotta love you but the truth is we can't do good and God already loves us JB talks about that all the time so how do we get to God we don't get to God by our good works we don't get to God by coming on a cold morning like it is today and coming to church we don't get to God by reading his word so how do we get to God we get to God by faith in the person of Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter 1 verse 5 it says to him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood Jesus Christ bore in his body our sins on the cross in Revelation 1 17 and 18 it says as the first and the last the living one he says I was dead and behold I am Alive for evermore I hold the keys of death and Hades in my hand how can we have eternal life it's because Jesus Christ has conquered death he has the power over death and Hey and anyone who will simply believe in him gets the gift of everlasting life so it's not what we have done what we are doing or what we will do it's by believing in Jesus Christ that we receive the gift of everlasting life so if you're here today and you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ to give you what he promises everlasting life right where you're sitting you can believe in him and he offers you that as a gift that should make bring joy to your life it should bring freedom to your life because you're not bound by doing all of these things in order to have everlasting life but in this letter who is he who is Christ addressing he's addressing believers he is talking to the church at Ephesus so the question becomes why do believers do good deeds and I think there are many believers who do good deeds with the wrong motives with the wrong intentions there are some believers who put their faith in Jesus Christ and they understand they have everlasting life but over a period of time they get confused and they become legalistic and they think that they have to do good they have to be good they have to read the Bible on a regular basis they have to do all these things in order to stay saved or else to to make sure that they have what they got eternal life but that's not what the Bible teaches it teaches that whenever you believe in Jesus Christ you get eternal life and that he holds you just like he holds the pastor the Angel of the seven churches in his hand he holds each and every one of us who put our faith in Jesus Christ in his hand in John 10 it says that no one can snatch us out of his hands the father who is greater than all no one is able to snatch him out of my father's hand I and the father are one so whenever we become legalistic by trying to fulfill the things that the Bible tells us and we're not serving God out of love we begin to serve God out of fear but then there's other believers that serve God that do good deeds and you ask them well why do you do these things I've talked to people who tell me yeah you know I come to church and I serve on Sunday mornings because man it just helps my week to go better so why do you come to church why do you why do you serve God because it's for you know why did we come to church on Sunday mornings we come to worship our Saviour Jesus Christ the one who died and rose again for us the one who loves us with an everlasting unconditional love we are to come to worship Him to respond to him in love we were to come together together with fellow believers so that we can be in fellowship with one another so that we can encourage one another and strengthen them one another so that whenever we go out there in the community yes our life is better but we don't come to better our lives we come to worship our Savior Jesus Christ and then there are people and I think this may be the thing that the church at Ephesus was doing they were just so busy we're gonna see here in a minute that it says that not only were they doing good deeds but they were doing them to the point of exhaustion and so they were so caught up in the things that they were doing for Christ that they began to forget about doing things with Christ they were so enamored in doing ministries for God that they no longer had their quiet time they never they no longer took time to pray and spend time with God so they became very religious rather than dealing in growing their relationship with Christ so there's many reasons that believers do good deeds but the ultimate reason and the that we're going to see here in verse four in just a few minutes the proper motivation is love we are to love God like we did at first he is to be first priority in our lives we are to love him as our first love he goes on in verse three and as I said it what has the word toil there and that means working to the point of exhaustion so you know that happens a lot of times in churches that churches just work and they have ministry after ministry trying to do all these things to satisfy many people but here's Stillwater Bible we try to purpose all of our ministries to focus on what our purpose is to make disciples but also inside the church many times you have individuals who toil to the point of exhaustion because of the 80/20 rule that applies to most everything in life there's 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people and sometimes you say man that's great for them they're doing so much ministry but the truth is sometimes we can get so busy doing ministry that we lose out on our time with God with Christ spending time alone with him having our quiet times getting to study his word because we're busy doing all of our work so what should we be doing the whole body every person in the body is given gifts talents and abilities to use within the body to serve within the body and so for the body to function as it's supposed to everybody needs to fulfill their responsibilities according to Ephesians 4:16 it says to the proper working of each individual part causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love so if you're doing so much ministry to the point of exhaustion that you're losing out on your time in fellowship with Christ look around to the people that just attend on Sunday mornings or that just attend events and go to them and ask them for help ask them to help you serve in your area of ministry if you're someone who just attends on a weekly basis you know look around to the people that are serving in multiple ministries that are doing multiple things and ask them if you can come in and help them to relieve some of the load because when everyone serves based off of their gifts talents and abilities everyone benefits everyone grows the individuals within the church and the church as a whole going back to verse two the next word that he says is perseverance they're keeping on keeping on he emphasizes this and next verse as well they're not giving up they're not burning out they're pressing on for Christ's sake he goes on and says that you cannot tolerate evil men and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false so they can't tolerate people who live contrary to the Bible they can't tolerate people who teach contrary to the Bible so they're people who are doctrinally sound they know the Word of God they get the Word of God most of us here at Stillwater Bible are doctrinally sound what do we do we teach the Bible verse by verse passage by passage so that we can understand and know God's words so that we can be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks us for the hope that is within us it's something that Paul stressed in his letters to Timothy that you've got to be doctrinally sound look on down to verse 6 as it ties in to this as well it says yet this you do have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate we don't know much about the Nicolaitans but they seem to be a people whose deeds are not biblical and according to revelation 2:15 whose teachings are not biblical but notice what it says there in verse 6 you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans we hate the deeds not the deters we hate the sins but not the sinners why because God loves all people and he desires to have a relationship with them he desires for all men to be saved so just because people are living wrong or they're believing the wrong things we don't just cast them out we've got to go to them in love in grace in mercy and lead them to the truth of the gospel that is found in his word so that they can know what Christ did for them and how they can have eternal life simply by faith we have to be ready to make an answer ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us yet with gentleness and reverence going back to verse 3 again he says their perseverance he says and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary during this time the church at Ephesus was undergoing great persecution but these people they stood for Jesus Christ they persevered even amongst the persecution so the question is are we standing for Christ in our spheres of influence it's easy to stand for Christ whenever we're inside the four walls of this church but how are we doing whenever we go out into our communities how do how are we doing in our neighborhood in our place of work in our family are we standing for Christ are we willing to share the gospel with people that we know are not believers that's what the church and Ephesus did they stood by true and pure doctrine they were willing to persevere even as they were persecuted well he's been commending them for all these things that they've been doing well they've been doing deeds they've been toiling to the point of exhaustion they've persevered for his namesake they are doctrinally sound but we get a rebuke in verse four look with me at verse four he says but I have this against you that you have left your first love where is Christ to be in our lives he is to be first when Jesus was on this earth he was asked what is the greatest commandment he said you love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind this is the great and for most commandment the second is like it you love your neighbor as yourself but Christ is to be first place in our life we are to love him first and foremost we are to seek Him first Matthew 6:33 but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well we are to give of our firstfruits so whenever it's time to spend whenever we get that paycheck every month what are we to do before we go spend on ourselves before we go making all of our payments we are to give to Christ first because his place in our life is to be first he is also to be first in our family in Matthew 10 whoever loves mother or father more than me is not worthy of me he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me so Christ is to be first in our family he is our Heavenly Father who loves us who gave His Son for us so that he could be with us for all eternity so Christ is to be first in priority first in our love first in our seeking first in our spending first in our family he is to be our first love why because he first loved us without him showing us love we wouldn't even know what love is so these believers they were doing great things but yet they had left their first love I think these believers seem to be more interested in doing things for God rather than doing things with God let me give you an illustration and guys I hope this doesn't get us in too much trouble but you think about your life and the beginning of your relationship husbands and wives just like I said earlier you know you spend a lot of time communicating back and forth with one another you go out on dates but then what happens you get married you the honeymoon is over and you know life happens and husbands a lot of times men they they get their identity from their work and so they begin to work and they work 40 hours a week and then they want to move up the ladder and so it's 50 hours a week 60 hours a week whenever I come home I've got to mow the grass I've got to take out the trash I've got to do all of these things and the wife comes and says you know honey we just don't spend much time together anymore you know why don't we go out on dates why don't we communicate like we used to and you say well honey I'm so busy doing all these things for you that I can't spend time with you but I think for most wives then let me say it that way most wives would rather have more time spent with their husbands rather than their husbands doing things for them I think many times that they would rather have a healthier relationship than a healthier bank-account that wives would rather have a healthier relationship than a healthier yard I think that's what Christ is telling the church don't worry about doing so many things for me and remember to spend time with me that's why I died and rose again so that I could be with you so that I could spend time with you and that's what he is wanting from his people the time we spend with Christ is very important to him and it should be important to us as well and let me throw this in there you know everything that he has commended this church for doing and what he's got on to them is all related to him he's not even talking about all the worldly things that get into the way the time on Facebook the time watching TV the time going to this event or that event he's just talking about man you're doing so great serving me you're you're utilizing all your time for the right things but yet you're doing it with the wrong motivation and for the wrong reasons so we could talk about all of those other things that the world throws at us that takes up our time from being with Christ but that's a whole nother message so let's get back to verse 4 and see how he worded this he says you left your first love you see God didn't move God didn't change we did it goes back to the story of the Bible like JB talks about how the perfect righteous God brings sinful man back to himself using his son Jesus Christ you see God never moved but man did because in the beginning man and God were in perfect union they were in a relationship they were in fellowship but man sinned and he fell and so God came up with a plan using son Jesus Christ to reconcile man back to himself God never moved the same is true in our fellowship God never moves but we move in and out of fellowship we can never lose our relationship because whenever we believe in Him we get eternal life an eternal relationship that big that begins at the moment we put our faith in Him but we can move out of fellowship and how do we get back in fellowship we have Jesus Christ the righteous the Advocate who goes before us we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and so we get back into fellowship with him as we confess so let me give you another illustration and ladies it's your turn whenever you begin the dating process and I think a lot of you older people can relate to this better than the younger people because you all had the bench seat but what happened whenever you first started dating where did that lady sit she sent right there next to you as you drove the car she was right there next to you but what happened over time the dating process is over we get married the honeymoons over so now it's a lot more comfortable to be over here in the passenger seat than it is to be right next to you so I'm gonna sit over here now and so she moves a little farther away and then a little bit later on what happens you have kids where did the kids sit they said in the backseat so now where she had she's in the backseat and I think that's that's all good that she's taking care of her family that she's comfortable but not at the expense of moving farther and farther away not at the expense of losing fellowship with one another and I think that's what God is saying there he's saying I didn't move I didn't I'm not the one who who moved away it was you I'm still in the driving driver's seat I haven't moved I still want to see you I still want to hold your hand I still want you to talk to me but all you're doing for me and my family has moved you away from me so what's the solution he gives the solution and it threefold plan found in verse five is to remember repent and repeat look with me at verse five he says therefore remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first or else I'm coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent so first we need to remember remember what it was like at the moment that you put your faith in Jesus Christ remember the feelings the emotion the the freedom because I've talked to many people who were in other denominations and they felt bound and man I have to live a certain lifestyle and I can't live up to that lifestyle so I'm giving up on Christianity I'm giving up on this religion and then they hear the truth of the gospel and it's freeing to them and they are in love with God they're in love with Jesus Christ remember those emotions those feelings that you had then second he says repent which literally means a change of mind if we truly want to change we must be changed from the inside out like Romans 12:2 says we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds but I love what Ezra 7:10 says it says for Ezra purposed in his heart to study the law of the Lord to practice it and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel it started as he purposed his heart he had a change from the inside out that began the process of him knowing more about God of him being more like God and then him teaching other people about God it starts as we purpose in our heart you know we're at the end of the year many people have already made their new year's resolutions and those New Year's resolutions deal with coming closer and being closer to God but Christ doesn't want to be a New Year's resolution he wants to be a part of our lives that's why he died and rose again so that we would be with him so Ezra purposed we need to have a change of mind a change of heart we need to repent and finally we need to repeat simply put we're to do the things we did at first what did we do at first I know for me I told others about Jesus Christ because man what a burden lifted to know that I didn't have to go to church every Sunday I didn't have to read the Bible it wasn't based on my doing that gave me eternal life it was faith alone in Christ alone that gave me eternal life I wanted other people to know the good news that I had found out about I also wanted to know about this God who loved me so much that He gave His Son to die and rise again in my place I wanted to know more about this Jesus Christ who is willing to leave the glories of heaven and die on the cross and pay for my sin so I got in his word I began to read it I wanted to know more about him and then I prayed to God I wanted him to know about me I wanted him to know my likes my dislikes the things that I did that were good the things that I did that were bad because that's what a healthy relationship is all about it's about communication that's what you do when you're in a healthy relationship you communicate with one another that's where the passion the love and everything comes from that's what Christ wants from us he wants to be our first love so we have to communicate we have to remember we have to repent and we have to repeat so let's bring back the time of dating let's bring back the honeymoon let's bring back those emotions and those feelings that we had at first Christ gave up his life so that he could be with you and with me Christ is not telling the church to quit doing good he's not saying okay quit all your ministry so you can spend time alone with me he's not saying that he's already commended them for the good deeds that they're doing he's commended them for their toil he's commended them for their perseverance he's commended them for being doctrinally sound for knowing the word but he wants them to do them the things that they do with him he says include me in your day include me in your work include me in your play include me in your family include me in your ministry but most importantly include time in every day for me and you to get alone to spend time together that's what Christ wants from us if not what will happen he'll remove your lampstand out of its place the church will no longer exist will no longer be a light to the world will no longer be a light to the community we're set up here on a hill so we overlook still water and we are to be a light to this community giving them the truths that are found in God's Word but if we don't serve God with the right motivation for the right reasons if we don't serve Him out of love then there's the possibility of our lampstand being removed and that's exactly what happened to the church in Ephesus now in verse 7 he makes his final statement it goes back to what I said at the beginning that he cares about that he walks among his seven golden lampstands that he walks among the church and so this is not for the church as a whole but this is for each individual who is in the church and look at what he says he who has an ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God he who has an ear let him hear he's saying listen up Christ said this similar statement seven times while he was on the earth during his earthly ministry and every time it was leading to a change in direction he wants us to change our direction he wants us to put him first and foremost in our life of all you are here today listen up to what is being said because I have a promise for those who not only listen but those who heed the words that have been spoken it goes back to revelation 1:3 which says blessed is he who reads and those who hear the word of prophecy and heed the things that are written in the promise here is to him who overcomes I'll grant to the eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God there's some debate about the overcomers found in the book of Revelation but I see the overcomers in the book of Revelation not to be for all believers but for those who not only listen to the words but who heed the truths that are found in it people who hear the words and they make application in their lives in this passage it's for people who are in fellowship with Christ who are making Christ their first love that he is their priority in their life that they're not getting caught up in all the things they're doing for him but they're spending time with him to them he grants to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God they are Christians who live a life of love loving Christ first and importance and as they did it first so let's make some application this morning is my hope and my prayer that all of us who are here today have heard the words that Christ has spoken and that we not only hear those words but that we heed the words that are written as we re-establish Christ as our first love so how are we gonna do that by making application just that he gave a while ago that we remember remember what it was like when you heard that message of love how much he loved you that he was willing to go to the cross and die for you we are to remember second we are to repent we need to have a change of mindset we need to purpose our heart let me tell you there's many people who are out there today who have a mindset that what I'm gonna do for in 2018 is I'm gonna get closer to Christ I'm gonna I'm gonna grow closer to him I'm gonna make him my first love maybe they're thinking the same things that I'm teaching here today but man whenever that alarm clock went off today and they rolled over and they looked at it and they saw the date said 2017 they said man I don't have to do that yet that's not the kind of lifestyle that's not what Christ wants from us he doesn't want to be our New Year's resolution he wants to be our first love and then finally we need to repeat finally we need to repeat we need to love him like we did it first we need to scoot back across that bench seat we need to take him by the hand and tell him I love you a lot communicate with Christ as communication leads to healthy relationship if we apply his word not only will we have the opportunity to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God but will live out heaven on earth and that's what God desires for our lives he sent Christ not only that we would have life but that we would have it abundantly the abundant life that He desires for us is not living by doing abundance for him but spending in abundance of our time with him making him [Music]

Channel: Stillwater Bible Church

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Keywords: Bible Study, JB Bond, Stillwater Bible Church, stwbible, Stillwater Bible, Jesus Christ, gospel

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Length: 37min 1sec (2221 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 05 2018