RENEW YOUR LOVE
Revelation 2:1-7
Turn with me to Revelation chapter 2. This is always a challenge for me to read. Because, it feels a little like I’m reading someone else’s email.
And that’s because, this chapter and the one that follows contains letters directly from Jesus to 7 New Testament churches. And these were real churches — filled with real people — dealing with real challenges in their lives. But the reason I take you here today — is because the struggle we find in this first letter is much like the struggle that many of us face in our lives.
And that is — the temptation to allow our love for Jesus to be replaced by our labor for Him. It’s the potential to allow our worship to wane, and be replaced by our work. And while work is good — it’s not the best.
TRANSITION:
It was John D. Rockefeller who once said, “When we settle for ‘good or very good’ as our highest effort, then good becomes the enemy of great.” And, while he was certainly speaking in terms of business — his words could apply to our faith as well.
Because, sometimes GOOD things like duty, or religious obligations, or dedication, or persistence and hard work (again…all GOOD THINGS), have the potential of replacing those even BETTER THINGS in our lives like, genuine passion, deep sincerity, and affection, and even an authentic LOVE FOR JESUS!
And that’s the story of the church in Ephesus.
During the first century, the City of Ephesus was a powerhouse of commerce and intrigue. It was a center for tourism and trade. Because of its location as a port city on the shores of the Aegean Sea, it was in many ways the marketplace of Asia. Along with that — three major roads met in Ephesus, making it a major trade hub in every direction. Because of this, it was a wealthy city, a city of commerce and culture — but also a very pagan.
Hosing the world’s largest temple at that time, it became ground-zero for the worship of the pagan goddess Artemis (or Diana, as she’s sometimes called).
The Apostle Paul spent over two years establishing the church there. Acts 19 tells that story. Later he would write the letter we call Ephesians to them.
Over the years they experienced the best of the early church leaders — as they were taught by Paul, and then Apollos, and later Timothy, and eventually by John.
I would venture to say, there was no church like this — they had the strongest foundation and the most potential for success.
And yet, when Jesus speaks to them in Revelation 2, He challenges them to pursue more than just religion. To remember their beginnings, and RENEW THEIR LOVE GOD!
If you have your Bible, look there with me. Revelation 2. Beginning in verse 1. Here, John writes,
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
This message from Jesus to His church teaches us several VERY IMPORTANT THINGS Revelation 2, John tells us, when it came to our faith journey we must remember:
1. Jesus Always Celebrates The Good In Your Life.
Listen again to verse 1,
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “I know your deeds…”
Let’s get something straight — nothing gets past God. He isn’t to busy, to old, to distant, to distracted by grandeur things to see you and your life. He is the God of all creation and He is completely aware of your life.
Here John uses a metaphor of stars and lamp stands to describe the church and it’s leaders. And in this verse, we’re told — He holds closely those who are leading the church, His people…but more than that — He comes close to them, and walks among His people. And not to harm them — but to protect them, to guide them, and care for them.
Understand, this is affectionate and caring language. And what He did among them, He does among us. He comes close and protects us, and guides us, and cares for us. And, that’s because He values us! And He wants the best for us.
So, don’t be confused — God isn’t out to get you! He’s not seeking to hurt you or harm you. He’s not seeking to bust you, or bruise you, or banish you from His presence. To the contrary, He wants only good for you!
And so, when He looks upon your life — He is looking for the good! Because He wants to celebrate you. God loves a good celebration!
— God not only loves to celebrate, He invented memorials, parties, and feasts! And all through the Bible, His people were called to celebrate the GOOD!
— In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son, and four times in that story He refers to the father celebrating his son return.
— In verse 10, of that story, Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
— In Revelation 19, John tells us that at the end of time, God will consummate eternity with a celebration…a feast called “the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
According to what we know from Acts 20, and the book of Ephesians, and 1 & 2 Timothy, this church knew God’s Word and they held strong convictions about the truth. The were taught well, trained well, discipled by the best…and they were committed to serving God and doing ministry.
Again, verse 2 says,
2 I know your deeds, your hard work…
Their care and benevolence and ministry didn’t go unnoticed. Everything they did FOR THE LORD was witnessed by Him.
And for that — Jesus celebrated their labor.
More than that, they lived during one of the most difficult times in Christian history. And because of Christ, they suffered great persecution from the emperor at the time, Nero. But, they stood firm in the midst of their persecution.
So, Jesus says,
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.
And again, for their tenacity, and determination, and personal resolve — Jesus celebrated!
And beyond that — when false teachers came through, and deceiving preachers arose…when wicked and perverse people, like the Nicolaitans (a cult that blended pagan rituals with Christian doctrine), the church in Ephesus would have nothing to do with it.
As Jesus says,
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
And for that — Jesus celebrated their faithful stand upon truth.
You see, JESUS ALWAYS CELEBRATES THE GOOD! This ought to encourage you. Nothing goes unnoticed. Nothing gets by Him.
He knows all, and sees all that we do. And that’s good! But good works aren’t enough to please the Lord. He wants more than outward compliance. He wants YOUR heart!
So, while HE ALWAYS CELEBRATES THE GOOD IN YOUR LIFE, John also says,
2. Jesus Always Confronts The Bad In Your Life.
So, while the believers in Ephesus might have been doing all the right things — their hearts just weren’t in it.
Do you know what I mean? Their labor lacked love. They had conviction but lacked adoration.
Somewhere along the way, their love for God was replaced with responsibility, duty, and obligation. And while those things are good — they don’t compare to affection, adoration, and intimacy.
The BIG ISSUE was, they had abandoned their love for God!
And because of that, Jesus confronts their sin — and counsels them to return to those early moments of their faith…that time (long ago), when they were filled with awe and desired His presence.
Listen, when we love God — we look to Him, we depend upon Him, we find our confidence in Him. As David said, in Psalm 18,
“I love you, Lord! You are my strength.”
Or as Jesus said In Luke 4, to love God is to worship Him. “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only'” (Luke 4:8).
And to love God is to long for and desire Him. As David said in Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God”
For those in Ephesus, they had lost that sort of love for God. And their faith had become too familiar. There was no more wonder or awe to be found in them. They had started out well enough, but over time things changed.
Something was lacking! They had lost their passion.
The fervor for Christ, the passionate love that had motivated them and burned within their hearts was given over to religious orthodoxy, and a ritualistic form of service that lacked authenticity and enthusiasm.
Can you relate? If so, be careful…because becoming satisfied by RELIGION will kill the soul.
If you focus only on the form instead of the substance of your faith,
- You will become infatuated with knowledge instead of holiness.
More than that…
- You’ll begin to treat that which is Sacred as if it were common.
- You’ll also become distracted by routines and numb to the promptings of God’s Spirit.
I wonder how often we have allowed routine to lead us in the ruts of religion (repeating the past), rather than responding to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I wonder how many MISSED MOMENTS we passed by, because we failed to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in those small, simple moments of life. People we passed, opportunities to help that we overlooked, words of hope that we never shared, a witness for Christ that we never gave. And all because we were distracted by our religious routines.
Hear me today — it’s a dangerous thing to allow ACTIVITY and MINISTRY to replace those GENUINE MOMENTS with Jesus.
It reminds me of what happened in that story in Luke’s gospel where Jesus visited the house of Mary and Martha. Do you remember the story I’m talking about? It’s where Jesus visits — and shares with those present. But the whole time Martha is busy fixing dinner and setting the table and doing all the BUSY WORK of a hostess. But she gets mad at her sister Mary, because she wasn’t helping. Instead, Mary had come and sat at Jesus’ feet and was listening to Him speak.
Martha even had the BOLDNESS to come and complain to Jesus. But, Jesus says in Luke 10:41,
41 “Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better…”
Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)
For Martha, her labor become a substitute for her love.
So what does loving God look like? Well…Jesus gives a picture of that in Mark 1. One day, after teaching and serving and healing people in Capernaum, Jesus disappeared. No one could find him. The Crowds were looking for Him, the disciples were looking for Him…everyone wanted Him. Because they wanted more from Him. More miracles. More teaching. More of the spectacular. But, Jesus had other priorities…rather than DOING THINGS FOR GOD He knew the value of SPENDING TIME WITH GOD. And that’s what He did.
According to Mark, when the disciples found Him, He was alone — praying. Just spending time with His Father (Mark 1:35-38). His example reminds us:
Time with God is more important than anything else!
It’s God first…always!
And that’s the point of this story! God celebrates the GOOD…but He’ll always confront the BAD in our lives.
But the good news is — even if we’ve failed in some way…even if we’ve put our religion above our relationship with Him, He doesn’t abandon us. Instead:
3. Jesus Always Calls You Back To Where You Ought To Be!
He always calls YOU back. And that’s because He loves you!
As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, “We love because he first loved us.” It all began with Him…and He’s not willing for it to end with us. SO, HE CALLS US BACK!
Notice again what Jesus says to those in Ephesus. In Revelation 2:5 He says,
5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
You know what that is called? REPENTANCE.
Jesus calls us to repent. To turn back. To return to that place where things began. He calls us to get back to the basics of faith. To remember the joy and excitement we once possessed — and to LOVE HIM AGAIN.
If we will, then He’ll receive us with open arms. But, if we choose not to REPENT AND RENEW OUR LOVE FOR HIM…then will end up with nothing but disappoint.
As Jesus says at the end of verse 5,
5 …If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Meaning, His presence and power won’t be found among us. We may still gather — but we won’t be His Church. We may still have our buildings, or still have our ministries, or even our busy schedules — but if we don’t repent and renew our love for Him, will be acting in vain.
That would be awful (wouldn’t you agree)?
But it doesn’t have to be that way. And that’s why Jesus says in verse 7.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says…
So, listen today. Hear what He’s saying to you…and RENEW YOUR LOVE FOR HIM!
Conclusion
If you’re feeling lost in your labor — and lacking in love for God, then turn back to Him. Call out to Him, RETURN TO YOUR FIRST LOVE!
- If you are feeling overwhelmed…
- If you are feeling alone and spiritually exhausted…
- If you are feeling distant from God…
Then, respond to God’s call…and RETURN. Renew your love by…
- Taking time to pause and remember His love for you.
- Take time to slow down and acknowledge Him.
- Take time to pray and express your love to Him.
- Take time to be refreshed by worshipping Him.
- And take time (every day) to discover His heart, by reading His word.
Listen, what I’m encouraging you to do is to simply RENEW YOUR LOVE FOR GOD.
There’s an old hymn we used to sing when I was a boy called Softly and Tenderly…the words of which echo the heart of Jesus (as we’ve studied today). It begins like this:
“Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling for you and me.
See on the portals, He’s waiting and watching, Watching for you and for me.
Come home, come home, Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling, ‘O sinner come home.
That’s the call of Jesus today. So I ask you — would you do that? Would you COME HOME and RENEW YOUR LOVE FOR JESUS?