Study Guide: "Living with Jezebel"

Text: Revelation 2:18-29

OPEN:

As we look at these seven letters in the book of Revelation, it is helpful to remember that they are a picture of seven kinds of churches that you find in any age, in any period of history. Every church in the world today will fall into one or more of these categories of churches. We fit into one of these ourselves.

Today we come to the fourth of these churches, the church at Thyatira. Beginning in Verse 18 of Chapter 2, the Lord addresses the pastor of the church. Thyatira was located about 35 miles southeast of Pergamum. It was a very small city, but a busy commercial center. It was on a major road of the Roman Empire, and, because of this, many trade unions had settled in this city. Everyone who worked there was a member of one or more trades. There were carpenters, dyers, sellers of goods, tent makers, etc. In the church at Philippi, which the Apostle Paul began, there was a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, who came from Thyatira. It was difficult to make a living as a Christian in Thyatira without belonging to the union. This is a factor which will bear upon the interpretation of this letter, as we will see.

"These are the words of the Son of God, whose has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze." 2:18b-19

Thyatira is the most corrupt of the seven churches that are presented in Revelation 2 & 3. The message is clear: Christians must live among unbelievers, but belong only to the Lord.

I. LOVE LEADS TO SERVICE.

But there were some good things going on in this church. Our Lord tells us what they are: "I know your works-- your love, faith, service and patient endurance." These are related to one another. 

  1. Love leads to service; faith leads to perseverance. 

If you love God, you will serve his people. It is the sign that you love that you are willing to serve. Service without love is senseless and vain.

And if you have faith you will persevere; you will understand that God is in control and things will work out according to his purpose. You keep at your work; you do not quit. 

So here was a church that had many people that loved God and served his people. They had faith in his word, and they persevered. They helped many, and they kept it up. As others then got involved, the church grew. 

So the deeds, or the works, of the church were far more when this letter was written than when it first began. 

  2. Thyatira was an active church.

If you and I had been there at Thyatira, we would have been greatly impressed by this church. It was a busy, bustling, active church with some wonderful people in it who obviously manifested love and faith, concern and care for others. It must have seemed a very attractive church. In fact, you would probably think it an example of the best that the culture had to offer.

But now the blazing eyes and the burning feet go into action. We begin to learn deeper facts about the church. 

II. TOLERANCE IS NOT ALWAYS A VIRTUE.

"But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and to eat of food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication." Rev 2:20-21

  1. The Church Tolerated Wrong Leadership.

Evidently there was in the church at Thyatira a woman who was a very dominant leader. Jesus names her "Jezebel." 

That was not her name, of course, but our Lord always names people according to their character. Here he chooses the name of the most evil woman in the Old Testament. 

The Old Testament Jezebel was the daughter of the king of Sidon, a town in Lebanon. She was the wife of King Ahab of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and she is particularly noted for having made the worship of the god Baal popular in Israel. 

She was the one who tried to kill Elijah after his famous encounter with 480 of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel when fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice. That mighty man of God had faced with great courage 480 false prophets, but when Jezebel got after him he ran for his life. 

She was also the one who murdered her neighbor Naboth because her husband wanted his vineyard. 

She was a ruthless, immoral, seducer of the people, and that is why Jesus selects her name for this dominant woman at Thyatira. According to the prophecy of the Old Testament, Jezebel ended her days by being thrown from her palace window into the courtyard below where the dogs came and ate her body and licked up her blood.

2) This Jezebel in Thyatira called herself a "prophet." 

There is nothing wrong with that in itself. It was not her gender that was the problem concerning her leadership in the church-- it was what she was teaching. 

There were other women prophets in the Bible. The Old Testament lists a number of them who were well respected in Israel. In the book of Acts, in the New Testament, we are told that Philip, that wonderful, Spirit-filled evangelist who preached throughout the land of Palestine, had four daughters who were prophetesses and who had prophesied within the church. 

But the trouble with Jezebel is that she was a false prophet. She taught that it was all right for Christians to indulge in sexual immorality and in idolatry. 

3) Here is the link with the trade unions of Thyatira. 

In order to work in these unions, which constituted the entire business of the city, Christians had to join a union, or guild, made up of pagans for the most part. 

The meetings of the guilds were devoted to licentious debaucheries which were connected with the worship of erotic idols of the Greek world.

Essentially, this false leader was saying that the Church should be no different from the culture. This whole scenario is paralleled in many churches today who pride themselves on accommodating the world and closely resembling it.

But notice that the Lord holds the church responsible. His accusation to them is, "You tolerate that woman Jezebel."

  2. The Church and Individual Believers are Held to a Higher Standard.

If people deliberately reject the Lord's authority, he is no longer their God.

Whatever you are living for, whatever makes life worthwhile to you, becomes your god.

The Church was never intended to be identical to culture. Churches should always reflect their communities; they should always stand out in relief against the customs of unbelieving culture.

We are called to be relevant; we were created to be unique.

III. JUDGMENT HAS A HIGHER PURPOSE.

  1. The punishment that our Lord assesses against this teaching reflects the sickness that idolatry and immorality always bring. There are three parties involved: 

First, there is Jezebel herself. Jesus says: "I am throwing her on a bed." 

There is a note of irony or sarcasm there. He is saying, in effect, "She likes beds, so I will give her one, but it will prove to be a bed of agonizing pain and hurt." It would constitute her only chance to realize what was happening to her, and lead her to change. 

2) Then there is another group: "and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings." 

Those who commit adultery with her are those who followed her way of removing the distinctions between the Church and the world.

3) There was still a third group: "I will strike her children with death."

"Children" represents those who not only practice immorality but who teach it as well, as Jezebel was doing.

  2. Our Lord Always Gives an Opportunity for Repentance.

 "unless they repent of her ways."

Repent of accommodating their faith to the culture around them.

CLOSE:

"But," Jesus says, "she was unwilling." And so the judgment must come. The impact of that judgment is given in verse 23: 

"And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and  hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve." 2:23b

"Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches." 2:29

The message to Ephesus: Return to your first love.

The message to Smyrna: Remain faithful even in the hardest times.

The message to Pergamum: Refuse to compromise your commitment.

The message to Thyatira: Repent of accommodating your faith to the ways of the world.

Christians must live among unbelievers, but belong only to the Lord.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Study Guide: "Marriage of Convenience"

Text: Revelation 2:12-17

OPEN:

This message to the church in Pergamum begins with a reminder that at once erases any excuse for surrendering to pressure of any kind.  The Lord designates himself as the one "who has the sharp two-edged sword." The great sword with its two razor sharp edges is the symbol of omnipotent power.  The two edges may indicate his ability to use the sword in two directions--one edge for dealing with the world, and the other edge for dealing with his Church. It is good to remember at all times that our God is an awesome God.  He is not weak or faint of heart. We never have excuse to bail on him, thinking him outwitted and outmatched by the world.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Revival is desperately needed when the Church allows its influence to be compromised.

I. The City Proved a Hard Place To Stand For the Lord.

1. Historical description of the city.

The modern Turkish city of Bergama, situated 55 miles north of where we were last week in Smyrna.

At the time John wrote Revelation, Pergamos had been a capital city for more than three hundred years – first of the Attalid kingdom and then of the Roman province of Asia.  Pergamos was historically the greatest city in Asia Minor – it had all the atmosphere of an ancient capital city and all the pride of centuries of greatness behind it.

It boasted one of the most famous libraries in the world, containing no fewer than 200,000 books, an immense number in an age when every book had to be written and copied by hand.  So close was the connection of Pergamos with literary activity that the word parchment is in fact derived from the name Pergamos.

It was a famous center of religious worship.  It was the center of the worship of Asklepius, the god of healing.  To his temple there came sufferers from all over the ancient world.  The temple had medical wards, medical schools, and priests.  As the last outpost of Greek civilization, Pergamos was proud of the worship of Greek gods.  Behind Pergamos there rose a conical hill which was dotted with the temples and shrines of the pagan gods (such a hill might well be known as Satan’s throne).  In particular, one of the most famous shrines was that of Zeus. It stood on a ledge which jutted out from the hillside 800 feet up.  It was 90 feet square and 20 feet high.  All day long the altar to Zeus was shrouded with the smoke of countless sacrifices to Zeus.  It dominated the city.  No one could fail to see it; the eye of anyone in Pergamos was drawn to it.  As it stood there on its jutting ledge on the hillside, it would have looked like a great throne.

2. Life was hard for the Pergamum Christians.

  1) The message to the church at Pergamos begins with the grim statement that the Christians there have to live “where Satan has his throne.”  Pergamos was therefore not simply the place where Satan existed in an abstract kind of way, but the place where Satan wielded a very special authority and power.  Pergamos was a place where the anti-God forces of the universe were at their most authoritative and powerful.

  2) It is in this adverse climate that the church of Pergamum finds itself.  

3. The Lord offered words of commendation.

  1)These Christians were unable to avoid pagan pressure..

When the New Testament speaks of the Christian living anywhere in this world, it ordinarily uses the Greek word paroikein (1 Pe 1:17; Heb 11:29).  Paroikein is the word characteristically used of a stranger and sojourner – someone just passing through; it is the word that usually describes a temporary residence in contrast with a permanent residence.  It is the word which is summed up in the statement: “The world is a bridge; the wise man will pass over it, but will not build his house upon it.”  The word paroikein looks on the Christian who in this world has no permanent home in any city, but whose home is in that city whose maker and builder is God.

The significant thing about this passage is that it is not the word paroikein which is used; instead, it is katoikein, and katoikein is the word that is regularly used for residence in a permanent and settled place. For the Pergamum Christians, there was no way out.

  2) The risen Christ goes on to commend these Christians because they were remaining true to His name (v.13).  

Literally, they had never lost their grip on Christ.  There was much in Pergamos deliberately calculated to pry them loose from Christ, but grimly they held on.

  3) Further, they had not renounced their faith.  

The word renounced is in the aorist tense.  In Greek the aorist tense points to one particular action done and completed past time.  This phrase means that in Pergamos there must have been some definite hour of crisis, some definite outburst of persecution, in which the Christians of Pergamum had remained firm and true.  One martyr is mentioned by name.  We know nothing historical about Antipas, but later legend tells us that he was killed by being roasted to death in a brazen bull.

II. The Problem in Pegamum was Compromise.

In verse 14 the tone of the letter changes.  The praise stops and rebuke and warning begin.

(It seems the two things for which the church was commended, became their downfall – became comfortable near Satan’s throne (the word may also mean “marriage); somewhere along the way they had and accepted a marriage of convenience with Pergamos and began the long slide down the slippery slope of compromise that leads to spiritual ruin.

1. Their Membership Included Followers of Balaam.

The Balaam reference is to Numbers 25. Balaam was a false prophet who had been hired by Balak, the King of Moab, to curse Israel, but when he tried to do so he found he could not. Every time he tried to curse them, words of blessing came out of his mouth. God would not let him curse his people. 

So, in order to achieve the end for which he had been hired, he paid beautiful maidens from Moab and Midian to parade before the young men of Israel, tempting them into sexual immorality. Since these women were worshipers of idols, by that means he introduced idol worship into the tribes of Israel. Thus he corrupted and enticed them into sin. 

There were those in Pergamos who were trying to teach the people of the church to sin.  They were encouraging them to do two things:

1)   They encouraged them to “eat things sacrificed to idols.”

To us it seems remote, but to the early Christians it was a burning issue.

When a man sacrificed some animal in a pagan temple, only a small part of the animal as burned – sometimes no more than a few hairs cut from its forehead was burned in the fire.  Of what remained the priest had a certain share and the remainder was given back to the worshipper.  The worshipper made a feast with his share for his friends.  The feast might be held in his own house, but more commonly was held in the temple of the pagan god.

Could a Christian attend such a party?  Could he share in a party held in the temple of a heathen god? Could he eat food that had been offered to a pagan god?

Dare the Christian compromise? The false teachers said, “Sure.”  They declared it unnecessary to cut themselves off from all social fellowship in this way.  They argued the way of conformity, the way of compromise.

2) They were encouraging them to “commit sexual immorality.”

It is said that chastity was the one completely new virtue which Christianity introduced to the ancient world.  In the ancient world sexual morals were loose.

The early church was in constant danger of relapsing into the standards and lifestyle of the world.

2. They were also being seduced by the error of the Nicolaitans. 

Though it is difficult to know exactly who these people were, the name means "conquerors of the people." It appears they claimed to have a special relationship to God. They professed to be the beneficiaries of intimate revelations that were not given to others, and that they therefore had an inside track with God.

3. Probably both of these false teachings worked together. 

One appealed to physical lust, and the other to the ambition for power exercised in a religious way.

III. Remedy for a Compromised and Compromising People.

1. Turn away from Compromise.

(v. 16) "Repent, then"

This is the same command found in verse 5 when addressing the church in Ephesus: "Repent!"

"Repent" is a military term that means to make an 'about face.'

The "or else" is to have the Lord come and struggle against you.

2. Listen and Receive.

(v. 17) "Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it."

Don't miss the message. Compromise is a short cut that prevents us from experiencing God's power.

Israelites were instructed not to hoard manna, but collect just what they needed for one day-at-a-time. Those who disregarded the Lord's command revealed their lack of faith and blatant disobedience. The hoarded manna rotted and became maggot infested.

The symbolism of the white stone is unclear. In this ancient age the white stone was often a token of acquittal in a legal case; or it was a symbol of victory in an athletic contest, to grant entrance into the celebrations to follow. It could also be an expression of welcome to a guest from a host.

What we can safely say is that this is a promised reward to the overcomer.

The new name is evidently the new name given these who overcome, who sanctified themselves as holy over and against all pressure to be otherwise.

CLOSE:

It's interesting to me that the Lord Jesus didn't say to leave their strategic spot between a rock and a hard place; he told them to change and overcome.

Revival is desperately needed when the Church allows its influence to be compromised. I need renewal when I allow my influence to be compromised out of comfort or convenience.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Study Guide: "Be the Miracle"

Text: Revelation 2:8-11

OPEN:

Smyrna was a beautiful city located on the coast about 40 miles north of Ephesus. It was one of the most prosperous cities of Asia. There was a hill named the Pagos back of the city, and around the crest of that hill a number of pagan temples, forming a rough circle, had been erected. Because it looked like a crown, Smyrna was called "the Crown of Asia."

The city was one of the major centers of emperor worship. As early as 26 A. D., during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, a temple had been erected to the emperor, and thus the Christians of Smyrna were confronted with the need annually to choose between saying, "Jesus is Lord," or, "Caesar is Lord." That was the test the Romans applied to all their citizens. It meant that a great deal of pressure and persecution came upon this church because of their unwillingness to say "Caesar is Lord." There was also a large community of Jews within the city who were hostile to the Christian faith, as we will see. 

Christians will face hardships; the way we respond gives testimony to our faith and our Lord.

I. Christians Are Not Exempt From Trouble.

That is our Lord's appraisal of this church. It is obviously a church in trouble. 

1. The name Smyrna means "myrrh." 

It is a very fitting name because myrrh is a perfume, the fragrance of which is released by crushing. Here was a church that was being crushed through persecution. 

It was tough to be a Christian in Smyrna because they had to live constantly between two extremes. There was within the church a rich and loving fellowship which must have greatly warmed their hearts and strengthened their faith, but outside, in the city, they faced continuous cruel and persistent hostility.

2. There is an ascending scale of troubles harassing the church: 

    1) The first thing the Lord says is, "I know your afflictions." 

The Greek word means distresses. It is a picture of crushing, unending pressure upon them. 

Illus: We can best understand what that would be like if we remember what we have read about the Holocaust in Germany, and the continual pressures that the Jews faced daily under the Nazi regime. Every day they were hounded and harassed on every side. They were humiliated and attacked without mercy. It is the kind of distress these Christians in Smyrna were enduring.

    2) The second thing Jesus says is, I know your poverty: "I know your afflictions and your poverty -- yet you are rich." 

We do not know exactly what made them poor. Smyrna was a prosperous city, but it was likely that their poverty was caused by the persecutions they were experiencing.

Work and patronage in business may have been withheld from the Christians; mobs may have looted their homes and shops.  This was common in the early church in times of persecution. Perhaps they had to resort to menial work, and to eat cheap food to get by. Yet the Lord says their fellowship within the congregation and their families was rich indeed.

    3) Thirdly, Jesus says, "I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." 

There was a smear campaign going on against these Christians. Lies were being told about them. We know from early literature that, because the Christians talked about eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ, they were accused of being cannibals. 

Also, because they refused to visit the pagan temples, or to acknowledge the gods of the pagans, they were called atheists. Consequently they were treated with scorn in this world given over to idolatry. 

Christians talked often about being members one of another and of loving one another, and so they were accused of sexual orgies. Lies were spread about them that when they met together it was to indulge in licentious and lascivious practices. This slander is what produced much of the persecution of the early Christians. It came, we are told here, from false Jews. These were physical descendants of Abraham and they had a synagogue there in Smyrna, but, like the Pharisees who harassed and hounded Jesus, they persecuted these believers, proving they did not have the spiritual insights of Abraham. They were, in effect, "a synagogue of Satan" and were far removed from being true children of Abraham. It is hard to bear up under slander.

3. It is significant to note that there is no word of rebuke given to this church.

Among these seven churches, the only other one to escape rebuke is the Church at Philadelphia.

II. Things May Go from Bad to Worse.

The worst was yet to come. Jesus says, "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you." 

The Lord acknowledges that he who is the First and the Last is going to allow this to happen. The devil will put some of them in prison. Those Roman prisons were terrible places where prisoners were faced with the threat of execution at any moment. But our Lord says three very encouraging things. If you ever have to face this kind of persecution here are three things to strengthen you: 

1. First, "You are going to be put into prison to test you." 

It is to test you that this hardship is given. It is to strip off the superficial supports that you have been leaning on and to show you how much you have truly learned to rely upon the grace and the strength of God. 

2. Then, second, he says it will be only for a limited time. 

He is going to test you "ten days." 

We do not know when or how this took place though it undoubtedly did occur to this church at Smyrna, but the encouraging thing is that the Lord determined the limits. The test cannot go beyond it. 

3. Third, he says, "Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." 

That is intended as a contrast to the Crown of Asia, the pagan temple buildings that were built on the hill of Pagos. That was an earthly crown, a recognition of earthly status, and a source of great pride to this city. But our Lord says that he will give something much better -- a Crown of Life, of eternal life.

Looking back through church history, we can see that this church is a picture of the period in history from about 160 A. D. to 320 A. D. The whole period has been termed the "Age of the Martyrs." In this first period, Christians were persecuted in ways almost beyond belief. Their bodies were torn apart on racks. Their fingernails were pulled off. They were hung by their thumbs, oftentimes for days. They were wrapped in animal skins and thrown out for bulls to gore and to pitch around. They were covered with tar and set alight in the gardens to light the festivities of the pagans. If you want the gruesome details get a copy of Fox's Book of Martyrs and read what some of the early Christians went through.

One of the first was a man named Polycarp who was the bishop of this very church at Smyrna. His tomb is shown on the acropolis back of Smyrna. On February 23, 155 A. D., at the age of 86, he was sentenced to death by being burnt at the stake for his faith. He had refused to say, "Caesar is Lord." When he died he gave eloquent testimony to his love for Christ. The account of it has been preserved in Fox's Book of Martyrs. He was the disciple of the Apostle John, and had probably heard from his lips the truth recorded here in Revelation.

CLOSE:

Christians will face hardships; the way we respond gives testimony to our faith and our Lord.

“Never pray for an easier life–pray to be a stronger person! Never pray for tasks equal to your power–pray for power to be equal to your tasks. Then doing your work will be no miracle–you will be the miracle.”

~ Phillips Brooks

The role of suffering in the Christian life remains a mystery, yet holds enormous potential for molding a healthy response to human agony in the world, as well as our own upward climb. Sadly, many gravitate toward one of two opposing poles: asceticism that glorifies suffering as something good in itself, or the numbing approach to living that would eliminate suffering at all costs. Help is available to gain a grip on this slippery slope by revisiting a familiar and oft quoted Scripture passage in the New Testament Book of Romans, the eighth chapter and twenty eighth verse: “All things work together for the good of them who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Frequently invoked as a sort of Christian talisman, the interpretation follows that belonging to God insures me against extended suffering and disaster of any sort. That kind of thinking calls into question God’s character and my own faith every time I fail or fall or stub my toe. I remember hearing Henry Blackaby say that God’s primary concern for us is not our position, retirement benefits, or our comfort; instead, his ultimate goal for us is Christlikeness and will allow whatever is necessary into our lives so that we become like Jesus.

If not insurance against hardship, what does Romans 8:28 promise us? Regardless of how difficult and demanding our circumstances, by relying on God and responding toward rather than away from him, God will see to it that we emerge on the other side of our situation more like Christ. When we decide that Christlikeness is more important than momentary ease and comfort, we become the miracle rather than another casualty.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

Study Guide: "Return To Love"

Text: Revelation 1:19 - 2:7

Open:

This church at Ephesus was planted by the Apostle Paul (you can read the account of it in the 19th chapter of Acts). When Paul came to Ephesus he found a number of disciples who had been led to some knowledge of truth by Apollos, the great orator of the early church. But they knew nothing but the ministry of John the Baptist. When Paul asked them whether they had received the Holy Spirit, they confessed that they did not know that the Holy Spirit had been given. So Paul preached Jesus to them, they believed and were baptized by the Spirit and so the church in Ephesus came into existence. 

Some time later Paul himself labored there for over two years, and many years later he sent Timothy to this church. (The two letters to Timothy are addressed to him while he is working there). Tradition tells us that after John had written the book of Revelation he also went to Ephesus and spent the closing years of his life there. In our passage, the Church in Ephesus, so prominent in the New Testament was in serious danger but didn’t know it.

We are in tremendous spiritual danger when the religious routine of our lives replaces our central passion for the Lord Jesus Christ.  In other words, we are in danger when religious activity or anything else is allowed to edge Jesus Christ out from being the central passion of our existence.

I.  THE LORD COMMENDS CHRISTIAN SERVICE (vv.2-3).

"I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false. I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary."

Each of these letters consists of a searching appraisal, of both good and bad, which our Lord makes of the condition of that church; and also an appeal for repentance on the part of those who had fallen away and plea for a return to faith, with a spiritual promise to those who hold fast. 

The Lord sees three commendable things about this church: 

1. First, he says they were hard, committed workers: "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance." 

These Christians were activists; they were not 'couch potatoes.'

They took their faith seriously and they put it to work. 

They witnessed; they labored; they ministered to human needs. They helped the downcast and ministered to the homeless and outcasts of society. 

They were busy people, continually working, and our Lord commends them for that. 

2. Second, their doctrine was orthodox. Jesus commends them highly for this: "I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false."

Their faith was well defined and well defended. 

They did not run after every theological fad that came along. They examined them as to whether or not they were true. They checked up on what was being taught and they strongly opposed some of the teaching that was being presented by some of the itinerant speakers of that day. 

Here, the Lord Jesus recognizes how well they had followed the apostle's advice. They had checked up on speakers, and had refused the teaching of many. They had tested those who claimed to be apostles and found them to be false. 

3. The third thing reason he commends them is found in Verse 3: "You are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary." 

They had persisted in their teaching and their work despite much discouragement and hardship. 

They were not quitters. They were sturdy, determined disciples, faithfully working and witnessing and not deviating from the truth they had received. 

II.  THE LORD CONDEMNS HEARTLESS RELIGION (v.4)

"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

Now we can see that this is a church in serious trouble. Something was seriously wrong at the First Church of Ephesus!  Our Lord puts it in one brief phrase, "You have abandoned your first love." That is the problem. So serious is the problem that Jesus says, "If you do not correct it, I will remove your lampstand from its place." This indicates this is a very serious matter. 

The removal of the lampstand does not mean that the individual members of the church would be lost or condemned to hell. 

What it means is the church would lose its ability to shed the light of truth. The light from this church would stop shining. They would become a church with no influence or impact spiritually upon the community around.

1. What caused the condition in the Ephesian Church? Our Lord says it is because they left their first love. 

  1) They abandoned it. 

The word translated here as "abandoned" is aphekas, which holds two meanings:

It is used of willful abandonment, a deliberate giving up;

It also includes the meaning of long neglect. 

2. When we ask, "What is first love?" the answer is almost obvious:

"Love" here is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 13, agape.

It is the love you felt for Jesus when you first came to know him. 

It is that wonderful sense of discovery that he loved you, and had delivered you, and freed you from your sins. Your heart went out to him in gratitude and thanksgiving; you had eyes for no one but him. 

So it is with a Christian when he first comes to Christ. Her heart is filled with gratitude. What an amazing thing it is to him that he has been forgiven! He can hardly believe it. This is why new Christians often break into tears when they give their testimony. I have seen strong men break down completely and are unable to tell their story because it means so much that Jesus has come into their heart. Their home, their family is different. They are forgiven of their sins. The love of Christ seems almost incredible to them. 

Under the impact of “first love”, the new Christian eagerly takes on various ministries. It is a delight to serve, to sing, to help, to reach out to others. It seems the least he can do for such a wonderful Lord. That is first love. But gradually there comes an almost imperceptible shift of focus. We get busy, and what we do for Christ begins to loom more and more important to us. Gradually our position, our status, the longing for approval by others, begins to take first place. We go on doing the same things but not from the same drive or motive. We drift into the loss of first love. 

3. There are always symptoms, signs, of this happening. Here are three of them: 

  1) The first one, visible at first only to the individual, is the loss of the joy and glow of Christian life. 

It soon becomes humdrum and routine. You begin to feel like you have heard it all already. 

Even the church service loses its impact. It seems mechanical, routine, dull and drab. That is a sign you are beginning to lose your first love. 

  2)  Second, you lose your ability to love others. 

One of the great revelations of the Scripture is that the reason we love others is because we have first been loved ourselves. When we lose that consciousness of the wonder of Jesus' love we also lose our awareness of others and find our love for them fading. 

It is difficult to love. We become critical, censorious, complaining. We begin to choose our friends more closely and only associate with those we like. We lose the compassion that reached out to everyone at first. 

  3)  Third, we lose a healthy perspective of ourselves. 

We become more and more important in our thinking. Instead of what the Lord wants and what will please him we begin to think of what we want and what will please us. 

Gradually, we become sensitive and touchy, unable to bear criticism.

This begins to make divisions and often schisms in a congregation. Individuals in the church are no longer interested in evangelism. They are no longer concerned about those around them without Christ, but are focused on themselves, their own comfort, their own pleasure. Self-centeredness sets in. 

Those are the marks of the loss of first love, and this is what was happening at Ephesus. I am fully aware that we have all done this at times. I have. You have. We have all felt the debilitating symptoms of a loss of first love. When a whole congregation begins to reflect that atmosphere it soon loses its influence. Its light goes out. Its lampstand has been removed. 

III. WE MUST MAKE RADICAL CHANGES WHEN WE DISCOVER THIS CONDITION (v. 5)

"Remember then from what 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."

What do you do when that happens? How do you recover from this? Our Lord gives three clear, specific steps to take: Remember, Repent, and Return! 

1. Remember.

There it is. "Remember that from which you have fallen." Look back to a Person (Jesus Christ). 

Remember what it was like when you first came to Jesus.

Remember the joy you had in the Lord. Remember the closeness you felt to him and him to you. (If you can’t remember, was it real?)

Remember the inner support you leaned upon in times of pressure and trouble. 

Remember the ease with which you prayed. 

Remember the delight you took in other Christians, in the reading of the Word and in the hearing of it. 

Remember how you could hardly bear to miss a service because you were learning so much of the truth about life. Remember that?

Look back. Think back. NIV translates this: "Remember the height from which you have fallen." 

2. Repent.

Change your mind. That is what repentance means. 

Change your mind about what has taken the place of Jesus in your life. 

Renounce that ambition, that pride of position, that longing for approval that has become all-important to you and is motivating your work. 

Give up your critical spirit, your complaining attitude, your reliance on your knowledge or your training to make an impact in life. 

Put the Lord back in the center and focus of all your endeavors. Repent. Change your mind. 

3. Return.

Literally: "The first works do." What are those things?

Well, you read your Bible with eager eyes. You could not get enough of it. You longed to find out what the Word of God said. 

And you prayed about everything -- even finding a parking place! 

You responded to the hurts and the needs around you with compassion and with love, and you did not count it an imposition. 

Above all, you praised God from your heart. You loved to sing praises to his name and to think about his grace to you. Now, do that again, Jesus says. Start there. 

*Don’t give up what remains.  But don’t rest until you go back and regain the single-minded passion for Christ that once ruled your life!

CLOSE:

Some of us are in grave danger and don’t even know it.  We can’t see it, we can’t hear it, we can’t feel it.  We are so familiar with Christianity that we’ve anesthetized ourselves against the penetrating Christ.

Verse 7 contains our Lord's appeal/invitation to this church: 

"Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God."

"Anyone who has an ear," i.e., to the one who recognizes the voice of the Lord. 

This is the same appeal/invitation He gives to you today.

Do you recognize the real condition of your heart right now?

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)

New Sermon Series Begins January 4, 2015

Dr. Fowlkes will begin a new sermon series this Sunday, "People of the Dream," consisting of messages taken directly from those delivered by Christ to seven churches in the Book of Revelation. Jesus Christ had a definite vision in mind for his Church when he said, "Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18), and he addresses that vision in the Book of Revelation as he delivers specific messages to seven different churches that were located in Asia-Minor of the first Century.  We will examine each of these in turn in order to hear what the Lord is saying to our church as we enter a new year as God's people in this community:

January 4 "Return to Love" (Church in Ephesus) Revelation 1:19 - 2:7

January 11 "Be the Miracle" (Church in Smyrna) Revelation 2:8-11

January 18 "Marriage of Convenience" (Church in Pergamum) Revelation 2:12-17

January 25 "Living With Jezebel" (Church in Thyatira) Revelation 2:18-29

February 1 "The Walking Dead" (Church in Sardis) Revelation 3:1-6

February 8 "People of the Dream" (Church in Philadelphia) Revelation 3:7-13

February 15 "Satisfied, But Not Satisfactory" (Church in Laodicea) Revelation 3:14-22

Come and join us in order to hear what the Spirit is saying to our church.