 Anyway, here we are, Revelation chapter 2. We're going to be looking today at verses 1 through 7. We're looking at the subject of leaving your first love as is recorded here in the book of Revelation chapter 2. And so I'll begin reading to you in Revelation chapter 2 at verse 1. I'll read to verse 7 because we're going to cover those 7 verses today and we'll look at the subject of leaving your first love. So beginning at verse 1 chapter 2 in the book of Revelation to the angel of the church of Ephesus, write, These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my namesake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent to the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. But this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an heir, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And so I'm going to lay a foundation as we're going through Revelation and all as I've been mentioning to you. And as is my common practice, I like to lay a foundation so that we can see what this passage is dealing with, what the Lord is communicating. And so I'll begin with the foundation. You need to remember that John, the apostle John who wrote the book of Revelation was instructed to communicate a message. And the message he was instructed to give was for the seven churches. When you look at chapter one in verse four, he had written, it says, John to the seven churches which are in Asia. And so this is a letter to the seven churches of Asia Minor. And in verse 11 of chapter one, these churches are named Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. And so these are the are letters to the seven churches. Now in chapter one, verse 19, Jesus then gave John specific instructions. Write what you have seen, the things which are and the things that are going to take place later. So chapter one, within the first several verses of chapter one, while chapter one fulfills the first part of the command, he's writing about what he has seen. Chapters two and three will fulfill the second part of the command. He's writing concerning the things which presently exist. Now that would be referring to John's time, to John's church age, leading up to what is called the present church age. So when you get into chapters four through 22, those chapters fulfill the third part of the command, that which will take place later. We see when we get to chapter four, verse one, how it says, come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And so chapters four through 22 fulfill the third part of the command, what will take place later. So as we look at chapters two and three, we're going to see that they contain seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor. Now going a little deeper with you and laying this foundation, each individual letter has a three-fold application. First you have what is called the primary application. It has direct bearing on the churches individually that are being addressed. It's written to a specific congregation in various locations. The second is what is called the personal because each church has people who need to hear what the Spirit says. You're going to see that kind of comment in verses seven, eleven, verse seventeen, verse twenty-nine, chapter three, verse six, verse thirteen and verse twenty-two where it says, and I'll give you an example, verse seven, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And so there is a personal application, the one who has an ear is to hear. And then third, and we'll conclude our study today of this particular church, you have the prophetic because the way to apply this is to see it as seven stages of church life from Pentecost to the rapture. And these churches represent seven eras from the apostolic age to the time of the rapture. And what we're going to see here as we go through this is these letters from Jesus reveal a slow deterioration throughout church history. They reveal that the church over time slowly loses her witness to the world. Now that's already alluded to, it's actually pointed out in various portions of Scripture. I didn't have time to go through all of them. I don't have that much time on a Sunday morning, but you'll see that in various chapters like in Matthew chapter 13 or Matthew chapter 24. You see that in 1st and 2nd Timothy and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. You see that theme in 2nd Peter or the book of Jude. The church over time slowly loses her effectiveness. He's losing her witness to the world. And you'll be seeing that as we go through these seven churches. Again, each letter contains a message to specific churches of the first century. But the messages can apply to churches throughout history. The message can apply to us today, meaning we can read this and we can be benefited. Now when we began in chapter 1 verse 13, remember that chapter 1 verse 13 revealed Jesus in the midst of the lampstands. And in chapter 1 verse 20, we're told that that represents the churches. So Jesus is in the midst of the churches because he's the Lord of the church. Remember how Jesus told the apostle Peter, upon this rock, I will build my church. And so the church belongs to Jesus. He purchased us through redemption. In Acts 20 verse 28, take heed to yourselves to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. And so the church belongs to Jesus. He purchased us. We belong to him through redemption. And so as the Lord of the church, he holds us accountable to him. Again, when we looked at chapter 1, we saw in verse 13 that Jesus is described in his clothing and his clothing is symbolic of judgment as well as dignity. Now John pointed out that he's the son of man. He is Messiah. And as the Lord of the church, he's calling the church to accountability. He's revealing the moral and spiritual history of the church. Now Ephesus. Ephesus would represent what would be called the apostolic period. In church history, that is generally from Pentecost to 160 AD. The seven churches were on the Roman male root. Ephesus represents the first church on the root. Ephesus represents a church that's busy in its infancy but is slowly leaving its first love. When you look into history and all during the time of the writing, Ephesus was a chief city in Asia Minor. Asia Minor is Turkey. It was a major marketplace in Asia. It was located on the Caster River on the Aegean Sea. By ancient standards, it was huge. And a population over 250,000. It was the main center of Greek culture as well as heathen idolatry. Ephesus had the Temple of Diana, also known as the Temple of Artemis. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And when you look into the dimensions of this temple, you'll see how magnificently it was built. It was 425 feet long. It was 220 feet wide. It was 60 feet high. It had 127 marble pillars, 36 of which were overlaid with gold and jewels. It had an image of a multi-breasted fertility goddess. Ephesus had well paved streets, public buildings, a scientific center, a medical center, a library that had between 12 and 15,000 scrolls, and a theater that seated 56,000 people. I've seen that theater. I've been to Ephesus on a couple of occasions. I've seen these things there. And I can tell you just it was an amazing place. And they still to this day have concerts there in that theater. The economy of Ephesus was built on selling images of Diana as well as Suitsane and the practice of magic. It was famous for its poets, for its philosophers, as well as its fashion. Acts chapter 19 shows that Paul served here for three years. He planted a church on his third missionary journey in 1858. So at the time of this writing, the Ephesian church has existed for close to 40 years. Some of the greatest teachers who ever lived had taught and pastored in Ephesus. When you read your Bible, you know Paul, you know Aquila and Priscilla. And you read of Apollos. They all lived and served here. You read of Timothy. Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 3, Paul had said to Timothy, I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine. Timothy was a pastor for many years in the city of Ephesus. Church tradition holds that John may have pastored in Ephesus as well. It's believed that from Ephesus John wrote his gospel as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. There's a church tradition which says that when John was an old man in Ephesus, he had to be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples. At these meetings, he would say no more than, little children, love one another. After a time, the disciples weiried at always hearing the same words asked, Master, why do you always say this? It is the Lord's command was his reply. It is the Lord's command was his reply. And if this alone be done, it is enough. So John lived there, more than likely pastored there. It was a very important city, the city of Ephesus. And so we begin by looking at verse 1. And notice how it begins, to the angel of the church of Ephesus. Now when he says the word angel, the word angel is a Greek word. That can be translated speaking of angels as we know them. But the word can also be translated messenger. It could speak of a representative. It can even be used when spoken of as messenger. It can even speak of the pastor. The word angel was used in reference to John the Baptist. In Matthew 11, verse 10, it says, this is he of whom it is written. Behold, I sent my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. For this reason, it is believed that the letter is written to the pastor of the church there in Ephesus. And each letter, as we will view each one of them individually, begins with an application of the description found of Jesus in chapter 1. Here is the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand. So he begins with a word to the pastor who is being held in his right hand, who's empowered and held by Jesus. And he's saying this, I hold you in my right hand and I am walking in the midst. I'm walking amongst you, judging your ministry. Now remember in chapter 1, verse 13, he said that he was in the midst of the seven lampstands. Now he says he's walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. He no longer is saying that he's the center of the church. He's now saying I'm looking closely at the church. This is a picture of him inspecting and surveying what is taking place in church life. And he's speaking to the pastor and he's holding the pastor most responsible. He's saying to the pastor this, I have appointed you as a shepherd. You're to shepherd this church and therefore I speak first and foremost to you. In the book of Hebrews in chapter 13, verse 17, the writer said, obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls. And they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. One of the things that I'll say this briefly, one of the things that I as a pastor of this fellowship have been pastor in this church for a long time, is I have taken that to heart long time ago because I have to give an account. I give an account for this church. And you know, I get suggestions and comments every week, several times a week, as to what I should be doing and how I should be doing it by people who are not pastors. So they don't have the accountability that I have. You know, they don't have it. None of you do. It's on the pastor. It's on me. You know, I'm the one who God says I'm talking to you first. And so I take that seriously. I really do. And so we make decisions here based on the fact. Excuse me that. Oh, I've got a fever too. We do allergies. Anyway. Somebody's I saw you dragging your mask on your face. I saw you. I have great responsibility before the Lord. It's one thing for people to say. Oh, you shouldn't train your children, your church to be afraid. They should be walking in faith. It's another thing for me as a pastor to be accountable for them in a way that nobody else is in a way that I'm concerned for them in a way that nobody can be because I'm the pastor of the church. And so we do things in church based on if it brings glory to God and if it's the wisest thing for the congregation. And that's how we do it. And so I take this word seriously. Why? Because I am accountable to God for what I do. And that's why in Hebrews 13 it says in verse 17 to obey your spiritual leaders, do what they say, but it goes on to say their work is to watch over your souls. They are accountable to God. And so he's speaking to the pastor. He is saying, I hold you most responsible. In James 3 verse 1, James said, Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. And so the warning begins with the pastor because the pastor influences the health of the church. But it also applies to the body of Christ, the entire church because all of us have personal responsibility. You see the pastor influences through teaching, but the church applies what they're learning. That's why he who has an ear is to hear what the spirit says. And so as he's beginning here to the angel of the church of Ephesus, these things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary. So he begins with five commendations for the Ephesian pastor and the church. He says first, I know your works and your labor. When he says I know your works and labor, the word labor is a Greek word that speaks about your weariness, that you're fatigued, you're working so hard, you're tired. So God is watching. He's fully aware of the constant service and he is constant and he's aware of the weariness that the pastor suffers in his service to him. He's saying that the pastor and the church is very busy, that their lives are filled with serving God. Their church is filled with good works and the good works is something that a church should be filled with in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58. Therefore my dear brother, stand firm, let nothing move you, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Their labors reveal intense religious devotion. He's saying you are a flame with activity in your labors you are tireless to the point of sweat. You're not pew potatoes. You're not spectators in a church. You're not content to eat the produce of other people's labor but you work to harvest your own crop. You're receiving the word of God and you're acting upon it. In the book of Ephesians, a letter written to the church of Ephesus, in Ephesians chapter 4, it says beginning at verse 11, he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is ahead, Christ from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. This is a church that was busy. This is a church where every member did its share and so there's a commendation there. You're busy. In verse 2, you have a second thing. He says, I know your patience. The word patience speaks of your endurance. You have a courageous, steadfast endurance under pressure. You endure hardship. You see, this church had gone through hardship. It's gone through trials, but they've held fast. Now, this is something Paul made mention in his second letter to Timothy. Once again, Timothy, the pastor of the church in Ephesus. He had said in 2 Timothy 2 verse 3, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So they have undergone various pressures, but they've remained faithful. Third, he says, you cannot bear those who are evil. That word bear means to support or endure. You can't put up with them. You have a proper standard of behavior. You do what you need to do to retain your purity. You have an obvious standard of holiness and purity, and you enact discipline in the church when necessary. Now, that's something they've been taught. That's something they practice again in the letter to the Ephesians in chapter 5 verses 3 and 4. Paul had said, let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed be among you. Such sins have no place among God's people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes. These are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. So you have a standard of holiness, a standard of purity. And then he goes on in verse 2 to say, you have tested those who say they're apostles and you've found them liars. You have maintained doctrinal purity. You hold fast to what has been delivered to you. And you need to remember that this letter here, the book of Revelation, was written between the years 90 and 96. And that means that John would have been the last living apostle. He was the last living man appointed by Jesus Christ as an apostle. And false teachers had already infiltrated the church. And the Ephesians were aware of this. They had been prepared. They'd been taught well. In 2 Timothy 1 verse 13, Paul had told Pastor Timothy, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you've heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. In Timothy verses 13 and 14, he had warned and said, evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, but you must continue in the things which you've learned and been assured of knowing from whom you've learned them. So Paul had warned them many years before about false teachers. Acts chapter 20 records that Paul was speaking to the elders of the church of Ephesus. And he gave them final instructions because he knew he would not see them again. And he instructed them and he warned them about infiltration. Somewhere around the year 58 or so, Paul gave these elders instructions. In Acts 20 verses 29 and 30, he said, I know this, that after mighty parting shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. Paul had warned them and so when these false apostles had arrived and tried to deceive the church, they had applied scripture. They had tested them. False apostles had entered in. They attempted to lead them astray, but instead of believing them, they put them to the scriptural test. They heated, in other words, the instructions and warnings that they had received concerning this. They were willing to apply the things that they learned. There's a commendation for that. In Acts 3, he says, you've persevered. You have patience. You've labored for my name's sake. You've gone through trials, but you've remained faithful to me and I commend you for that. And then he says, a fifth thing, you have not become weary. You've kept working for some time. You've labored tirelessly. You haven't wanted to quit and you haven't given up. In Galatians 6 verse 9, Paul had said, let us not grow weary while doing good and do season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. And so when you're reading these things as a pastor, as I'm reading these things, it's been said amongst my circle of friends, pastoral friends, this sounds like a pastor's dream church. This is a church that works tirelessly. This is a church that endures pressure. This is a church that lives with purity. This is a church that's well taught that actually will test false teachers. And this is a church that has remained faithful through afflictions and tribulations. This is a church, today's standards will say, that has programs, that has great worship teams, that puts on a lot of events, that does their outreaches, that sends people on missions trips, that has built their buildings, that have multiple studies, magnificent times. But in spite of all of this, Jesus is issuing a warning. Notice what he says in verse 4, nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. The honeymoon's over. Your once fiery love for me has grown cold. A slow, imperceptible decline has gone unchecked. This church, as mentioned, was around 40 years old, the same age as this church. 40 years, a generation. And it's now filled with second and third generation Christians, whose love has grown cold to Jesus Christ. He is saying you have tradition without intensity. You have labor without love. You have light without heat. You've become rigid in your tradition and you've become an organization. Your church has morphed into a religious institution. You're active, you're sound in teaching, you're filled with good people, but you're drifting away from Jesus Christ. And the heart of his concern, I desire you, but you don't desire me. The word emphasis is translated, desired. That's what emphasis is translated in English to desired. I desire you, but you don't desire me. I love you, but you don't love me. Have you ever felt that for a human being? Have you ever had that heart toward somebody that you and your own heart felt such a love for somebody, but they don't love you? Have you ever said that to one of your friends? And they're saying, how's it going with so and so in your relationship? Have you ever said anything like that? I love them, but they don't love me. Can you imagine that's what Jesus is saying, I desire you, but you no longer desire me. You've gotten so busy doing good things, all of these commendations, your patience, your work, your purity, all of these things. You're doing all of these things, but you forgot why you're doing them. You know, it is possible to maintain proper doctrine, but to stop loving the Lord and stop loving His people in a good works, well that's part of being a believer. But good works are the fruit of faith. And the foundation for such works and activity has always got to be love for Jesus Christ first. The Ephesian church had been in existence for quite some time. It represents generations. The grandparents who got saved gave their faith to their children who in turn gave their faith to their children. Generation after generation after generation within 40 years. I have that here in my own family. I have Marie and me. We have our children. Our children have had children. So we have generations even within the confines of this church itself. So Marie and I could be on fire for the Lord, but that doesn't mean my children are and that doesn't mean my grandchildren will be. The ability that takes place in every church and a generation can arise. It can fill the church. It can be there actively. But they're not deeply in love with Jesus Christ. They can attend the church but not be in love with the Lord. They can attend the church but do so for wrong reasons. It's important for us to focus our attention on who Jesus is and what He has done. You see doing the right things for the wrong reasons produces Pharisees. And you need to be aware of that. After Peter's denial of Jesus and his failure, Jesus restored him and the first thing Jesus asked Peter was do you love me? To which Peter said yes. Because Peter loved Jesus. Jesus said, feed and tend my sheep and my lambs. You see love for Jesus is a foundation of service to Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 13 verse 2 Paul said, though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains but have not love I am nothing. I am nothing. Remember verse 5 remember therefore from where you have fallen repent and do the first works so Jesus gives His solution to their situation. In the church today remember, repent, return. Remember remember what Jesus saved you out of. What were you before you got saved? What did you do before you were saved? Maybe you were a very good and very moral person lost but a good person. But maybe you weren't. Maybe you were a liar. Maybe you were a thief. Maybe you were somebody who was moral. Maybe you were into drugs. Maybe you were into alcohol. Maybe you were into violence. Maybe you were one of many different kinds of sins. Any sin you name it maybe that was you but then one day you heard the gospel and one day it finally penetrated and then that day came when you said to the Lord God forgive me a sinner. I want to be brand new. I need to be washed. I need to be cleansed. I need a new life. I need your power. God help me. In Jesus name you transform me. And man the Holy Spirit began to work in you and at one time you knew you were lost and you were on the highway to hell like we used to say and now you're on the way to heaven and God has done a work in your life and you're so grateful and you're on fire for Christ. If there's a Bible study you go to it. If there's a worship time of worship you're there. If there's an opportunity to share your faith you take it. If you have opportunity to pray with friends and minister you do that. Listen when I first got saved we would go to Bible study at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa we would come home to a place in Lahabra and several of us would come and we would go into the front room and there were a bunch of us hippie kids and we'd sit around because hippies didn't need chairs. We would sit on the carpet and we would hold hands with one another and as we held hands with one another we would sing songs and we would pray and we would talk about what we learned that night you know Pastor Chuck or Lonnie Frisbee or whomever had given the study we would talk about that. What did you get out of tonight's study? How are you going to apply that to your life? What are you going to do to change? We actually held each other accountable. That's what we did. What are you going to do to put this into practice? And we would look at Bible studies like we used to look at parties. Hey there's a Bible study in Lahabra. There's a Bible study in Whittier right now. There's a Bible study in Lahabra that would actually go and we would take all of our friends. Hey I want you to come to church with me. We'd invite them to Calvary Chapel. I didn't know how to lead somebody to Faith in Christ yet. I brought my mother and my father and my two sisters but that was just God doing something special. I didn't know how to tie scriptures together and to share a plan of salvation. I could only do what I say in scripture come and see. Come and see. Can this be a man? Come and see. Can this be Messiah? Like the woman at the well in Samaria. Come and see. Told me everything I ever did. Can this be Messiah? That's all I knew to do. That's what I did. And we were called Jesus freaks. That's what we were called. I'm old but I'm still freaky. I'm still the Jesus freak using the word from 50 years ago. That's a fact. That's a fact. That's a fact. Because the foundation was solid. The Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Chuck taught us that. The Word of God teaches that. What do you need to be successful? The Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And I could tell you we would be seated in the room there. We would hold hands. No, I didn't like holding men's hands. No, I didn't. I wasn't. I wasn't. I didn't like it. You know, so a man would hold my hand and I've shared with you because there would be guys sitting next to you and I'm not used to this. I'm not used to the affection. I'm not used to the hugging. I'm not used to the high brother stuff. You know, I'm not used to that. And now they're just grabbing you and holding on to you and it's kind of at first. When we'd pray. And I'd squeeze them real hard so they wouldn't get any ideas. That's true. That's true. I had a friend named George Adams. George and I we were young when we met. I think I might have been 19 or so and he was about 18. And George and I dropped acid together and did drugs together and came to know him well. Then one day George went to this place called Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa and George got saved and George began to share with friends about Jesus and some of my friends started going to this little church in Costa Mesa pastored by a man named Chuck Smith. He invited me to go and I went I was 19 the first time I went into the doors of a Calvary Chapel of Calvary Chapel and I was ambushed by something there that I have never experienced before even in a church and I didn't know what it was. It was and I now know what it was. It was love. There was a sense of I belong to this. This is what I want to be part of. I want to be part of a group of people who actually are taking what the Bible has to say and living it and it impressed me and so when I got saved about three months later that's where I went to church and that's the lessons I learned and that's what was placed in my life and that the fire was real and the heat was deep and the transformation was forever. There were periods in my early walk with Christ when I went into the military for two years and any vets in this room or active service know it can be tough because you're on your own. It was me and Jesus and I met a friend named Danny Rendon. Danny was from Baytown, Texas and Danny was a believer and he put me under his arm because he was Christian longer than me and he helped me and he put me into a group called the Navigators and I began to learn Scripture and began to see the value of fellowship in a deep way and my life slowly transformed and I got out of the army and I backslid for a short period of time, got right with God went to Biola University which was Biola College at that time started doing a Christian service assignment teaching the Bible to my parents and neighbors and from there went off into Ontario I met a young woman in Ontario and she lived in Chino she became my wife, we moved into this area continued to teach Bible studies John right here, John Monti when he was about six years old used to come to my Bible study he didn't come to it we wouldn't let that little brat in but his parents were very dear to Maria and me and his mom made our wedding cake I mean that's how far back we go with John John and have I changed since you remember me John? No because it's Jesus you have to love him forgive me here we go all the work that you do if it is not done for him is wood, hay and stubble that's all it is but when he grabs hold of you and he changes your life you can never serve him enough you can never serve him enough the church of Ephesus is forgetting and so you need to remember what were you like? what did people know you as? what did they know you as? if I spoke to one of your friends and I said tell me about oh the liar is a thief violent is he still? no, what happened? he's changed I don't know he says he's born again that's what you want that's what you want because you need to remember from whence you have fallen because there are a lot of believers today who are busy but they forget why they're doing what they're doing they forget and we can become hardened into a traditionalism we can be hardened into a kind of just a religious person like the Pharisees they prayed and they fasted and they gave and they taught they did all of these things they were well known they're openly religious and yet Jesus said you're like tombs he said you're cleansed on the outside but on the inside you're filled with all manner of decay your outside is fine but it's the heart and the Lord has said remember therefore from where you have fallen remember guys when before you got married how you served the Lord remember before you had children how you went to Bible studies remember those things because a lot of people once you get your life going all you prayed for the wife and now you got her and now you stay home and now you don't serve the Lord anymore now wait a minute that's how you met her in the first place and what it stops that's what kept you going and that's what will keep you together people ask me how is it that you and Marie have been together for so long how is it Jesus we serve him together we always have we always have and that's what's kept me with her and that's what helps her put up with me is we serve him together remember what Jesus saved you out of the church had once been famous for its faith and love forgotten and believers throughout the church world the church emphasis was once well known for faith and love in Ephesians 1 verse 15 I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints is what Paul said but over the years they've gotten busy they've forgotten why they serve Jesus renewed life begins where you met Jesus and you serve him out of gratitude remember what it was like when you first got saved and remember how you felt when you heard the word and they said your sins are forgiven you but he goes on to say repent you see it's easy to begin to think that you've arrived when he says repent reject the sin of coldness or Jesus and other people you see religious people can sometimes be the most harsh and even cold we can become so angry at people who reject Christ that we lose compassion I told you about my mom my mom loved to evangelize but she came and spoke to me and she said I was sharing Jesus with this person and they rejected him so I said to them go to hell I said no mom that's not what you do true story I'm not making that up true story I said no mama no she said well that's where they're going no mama don't smile when you say that don't say that I said no mama that's now how it works they reject Christ don't tell them to go to hell that's just not good but you can you can lose compassion we don't accept sin and we don't excuse it we recognize it and we recognize what it does to people and from that vantage point we exercise love and compassion we repent from our religious attitudes and we remember how great Jesus has been to us thank God Jesus doesn't treat us sometimes we treat other people and third he says return you can run for many years but it only takes one step to return do the first works return to your love for Bible study your love for prayer your love for worship return to these things out of love for Christ not simply because well I ought to go to church return to those things you see the primary and the personal message is needed by the Ephesians and so that leaves us with the prophetic element of this letter because he says in verse 5 he says or else or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent now that's not speaking of the second coming it's speaking of judgment that is sure to come soon failure to respond to this warning he's saying we'll result in my presence being removed repent his presence leaves only gimmicks to attract people to attend church services and church must center on glorifying God it needs to center on a love for Jesus Christ it needs to center on the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit it's not by might nor by power but by my spirit say of the Lord God opposes he says and so you need to return to the things that matter he goes on in verse 6 but this you have that you hate you also hate the Nicolaotans these people he's referring to are mentioned again when we see the church of Pergamos in chapter 2 verse 15 little is known of them they are heretics and they're associated with someone named Nicholas and church historians say that Nicholas was one of the seven men spoken of in Acts chapter 6 one who served as a deacon if you will so either he left the Christian faith or his disciples twisted his teachings no one can actually say anything with certainty but two things can be pointed out in verse 6 he says you hate the deeds of the Nicolaotans and then later in verse 15 verse 15 speaks of the doctrine of the Nicolaotans so the Ephesians rejected the deeds and the church of Pergamos rejected the teachings now when he speaks of these Nicolaotans the word Nicolaotans speaks of laity conquerors lording it over the people they were establishing a priesthood if you will over the body of Christ they refused the priesthood over the believers of the believers and so they knew that each believer had a private personal walk to safeguard but they began to lord it over them and the deeds that are involved with that kind of doctrine led to sexual immorality and idolatry in first Peter 2.16 Peter says that they used liberty as a cloak for vice and so because they hated their teaching and its fruit Jesus commends them and then he goes on to say in verse 7 he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God so he says as an overcomer I'll give you of the tree of life the tree of life symbolizes eternal life the paradise of God refers to heaven believers must guard themselves against a cold heart is what Jesus is saying proper Bible teaching and belief cannot make up for indifference towards Jesus in 1st John 5 whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God remember from whence you have fallen repent from your coldness and indifference and return to your first love I love you Jesus is saying but you don't love me he didn't say you have lost it he's saying you have left it when you leave something you know where it is when I leave the house I left my keys we'll say over here I come home I know where I've left my keys it's the difference between leaving something and completely losing it what they're doing is drifting slowly away they're saying you know where it is and that's why you need to repent and that's why you need to return that's why in my own heart and in your own heart you can say where was I when I first got saved in terms of my walk with God what were the things that made my relationship with that young lady or as a woman you might say with that young man what were the ingredients that made us feel that we loved each other and did we serve God together did we pray together and when we had our children what happened that we stopped doing those things how that happened because right now there's a slow drift that's taking place there's a slow drift you see I've been to Ephesus I've walked those ruins twice I've had Bible studies there with Pastor Chuck on two occasions my pastor and what used to be a thriving church a powerful church a church that has great pastors great servant leaders that you read about in the Bible well the cloak of Islam has now been placed over Christianity because you go into that area and Islam dominates Jesus removed his presence because they didn't listen we sang today an old song it's interesting I sent my notes to Jared and I'm blessed to know that he he said let's sing that song it was by Keith Green he said my eyes are dry my faith is old my prayers are called I know how I ought to be alive to you and dead to me I've only done for an old heart like mine soften it up with oil and wine the oil is you your spirit of love please wash me anew in the wine of your blood you see the sacrifices of God or a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart these God you will not despise you can run for a long time away from the Lord but it only takes one step to return and Jesus is speaking to this church and he's saying I will remove my presence from you I will remove myself from your presence he says you need to repent well what we need to do I think is to remember who he is what he has done and open our hearts to him once again in a fresh way listen if you're frustrated about where this world is going to part of the problem with the direction where the world is the church fell asleep at the wheel and we stopped caring about the lost and the lost just continued to be lost and multiplying other lost people while the church was busy doing other things but we need to wake up don't you think we need to wake up right now we need to return to first things we need to return to first things