Leaving Your First Love

The Apostle John sent messages to the seven churches in Asia in the second chapter of Revelation. If we set the context and look at Revelation 1:20: “As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches.”

The church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7)

1. To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
3. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my namesake, and you have not grown weary.
4. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
5. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent,and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
6. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The church at Ephesus was commended for doctrinal vigilance and endurance but criticized for its loss of love. Christians there were known for their vigorous opposition to false teachers.

What was their first love? Numerous scholars have many opinions but I lean toward the love shown in the early years of the congregation where Paul commended them in Ephesians 1:15-18: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you...”  This loss of love could possibly be from the fact that the church in Ephesus was in its second or third generation and the original fires of devotion had begun to cool. As any congregation needs to grow from within and from outside to survive long term. The congregation I grew up in as a boy had 200 to 230 in attendance every Sunday morning; sixty years later they are fortunate to have 20.

There comes a time in the life of every church when it should take a fresh inventory of its whole life disposition.  “...but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). This is a call to do first works, to revive love by action, obeying God in love.

What is the penalty for not repenting? The Lord will remove your lampstand. The church would be removed. The lampstand’s purpose was to dispense light but without true love it fails in its purpose and forfeits its right to exist.

The Nicolaitans were a sect that promoted idolatry and sexual immorality. There are many in today’s world that could qualify in this category. We must strive to reject their advances and continue to do God’s will.

As an aside, it was approximately 18 years ago that a small group of saints from Southside left the cruise ship just after dawn on a Sunday morning for a two-hour bus ride through southwestern Turkey to the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus. Among the travelers I recall were Dee and Norma Bowman, Jim and Peggy Henson, Bunny Balmer, Connie Henson, Evelyn Sanders and my wife, Jeane Blackmon. We walked down the white cobblestone streets and noticed some of the stones had the symbol of the fish, which our guide indicated that meant Christians were welcome in that dwelling. We saw the ruins of the library, the ancient toilets, the stadium and the silted-up harbor. Brother Bowman remarked that “This is where it started,” and I couldn’t agree more.

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