The Current Bible Study on Ephesus is a rather Long study and there are a number of possible Sermon Topics that can come out of it as a result in covering so many bible passages.  One of those topics is the criticism by Jesus In the book of Revelation in the letter to the churches in Chapter 2.  So instead of trying to expound on this topic during the bible Study, I would like to take this sermon topic from within the study and cover it independently.  Let’s go to Revelation 2 and read the criticism and see what message is there for us today.

Revelation 2:1-3  NKJ "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:  2 "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;  3 "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

Now they were commended for a number of things.  First they held true to the truth.  They were tested by many different heresies and passed with flying colors.   They came out of a culture where people came to Ephesus for the worst of reasons.  The Pagan worship system, filled with all kinds of evil including ritualistic sexual practices.  Also the mixing of commerce with religion in the form of household idols and the license many people felt they had to live a very ungodly life because the Greek and Roman gods were not what anyone today would consider moral.  The lessons they taught were to justify war, adultery, murder, and covetousness.  The church in Ephesus not only came out of this culture, they thrived.  They resisted the many attempts by false teachers to take some of this evil and mix it into true religion.  They could spot a phony a far off. 

When people would try to teach false doctrine they would oppose them.  Not all the churches could say as much. Many congregations suffered from pagan pollution into Christian life.  With the Temple of Diana (Artemis) there, along with the magic sold for everything a heart could desire, that was no small feat.  The Ephesians remained pure here.

On top of that they had patience.  They were enduring to the end as we would say. 

So if you think about it.  Most people would see up to verse 4 as a pretty good report card.  They overcame the evil of their age and had patience for the truth of God and were content with that truth without trying to add to it or take any away.  Most congregations in the New Testament would have loved to have done as well.  So would I for that matter.  How much time do we spend on doctrine and overcoming the evils of our age?  We read our bibles and we discuss the many finer points and we resist Satan in his many forms.  What could be more important than that?

This topic was going through my mind as I worked on that series about the weightier matters of the law.  How do we balance having the right relationship with God and one another while not forsaking the truth?  In Ephesus we see that they never forsook the truth but they still missed the whole point of conversion.

How is that possible?  The answer to this question is a huge lesson to ponder.  In verse 4 we read what they were lacking.

Revelation 2:4   4 "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 

Verse 5 reveals the seriousness of this charge.

Revelation 2:5   5 "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place -- unless you repent.

Just think about what is was like to read this on the 50th anniversary of a congregation.  Revelation was written at the end of the first Century and Ephesus was founded near the middle of that same century.  Almost 50 years of coming out of the world.

Almost 50 years of resisting the pulls of the world.  This included all kinds of sexual perversion that the world around them fully accepted.  In our world today, we have our roots in the Victorian society where evil lurked under the surface but outwardly, people act pious and above board.  But in their world, people acted on their temptations and embraced the violence and perversion that came with it.  In many ways we are seeing those times coming to community near us.

Today we only seem to give lip service to those old Victorian values.  People like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and even those elected to the highest office in the land show that nowadays, many live by their own moral compass.  Like those of the congregation of Ephesus, we have to reject this new morality which is just the evil that has existed for thousands of years.  But we must do what they failed to do.  We must overcome this world without losing our first love in the process.  The title of the sermon is:

Rediscovering your first love

The Church today has much in common with that congregation long ago and we don’t want to suffer the same report in our lives today.  How can you hold on to your first love, and if lost, how do you get it back again?  These are the two questions I want to examine today.

The First Question
To answer the first question, how do we keep from losing our first love?  We must ask ourselves some questions about relationship like with God and one another? 

Our Relationship with God

• Are we one with Him? 
• Is His will our will?
• Are we about our father’s business

Our Relationship with one another

• Are we of one mind with the brethren?
• How do we get along with one another?
• Do we live to serve one another?

If we honestly answer these questions we will know how we are doing with our first love.  Now, why did I put both God and the brethren in these questions?  It’s real simple; if we don’t love God’s people then how can we really love God?  We may think that we do but we are only deceiving ourselves.  We know that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so what fills our heart?  Is God, His People, His kingdom the most important things in our lives?  If so then our heart will be filled with these things.  Studying the word of God is not studying for some exam in school.  It comes as natural as the things that you like to do when you have free time.  You spend time in His Word because you love Him and want to spend time with Him.

James wrote to a generation that argued about justification by doing good works or simply by believing and having faith.

James 2:17-20    18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe -- and tremble!  20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

What James is saying here is that a person who is exercising his faith would naturally do good works because that is what Jesus did.  I would also add that doing this just out of obligation is also dead.

Psalm 16:3  3 As for the saints who are on the earth, "They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight."

If our delight is on the work of God, the people of God, and His Kingdom, then our first love is not only intact, it is thriving.  You can rediscover that first love that you haven’t lost but not appreciated as you should.  You can re-dedicate yourself to God, His Work, and His people.  If you do, then God will use you in powerful ways to bring light to this darkened world.  People will come to us, not just for the truth, but for our compassion.  When we share the love of God with one another we will be at one with Him, and with His people.

The Second Question is: 

What if you have lost your first love, how do you get it back? How do you rediscover what is lost?  How do you put God first in your life again?  How do you put growth and overcoming back up to the top of your list?  How do you become be a part of the Work of God again?

I have talked with people over the years that say, I just don’t like people and would rather not come to church although they still believe the truth.  My Question for them, what truth is that?  How can you believe in the truth if you don’t believe in God’s people?  It’s not that people can’t let you down.  We all do that from time to time.  But overall we believe in what God is doing and therefore believe in the good work that is being done in every person who has His Spirit.

So if you feel you have lost that first love, ask yourself if you have God’s Spirit?  If you have it, what are you compelled to do with it?  Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5.  When God calls us we are given much to learn and much to overcome.  But God also gives us much to do as well.

2 Corinthians 5:14-20   14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;  15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.  16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.  17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,  19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 

What is this ministry of Reconciliation?  Remember the first Adam failed and Christ came as the second Adam to reconcile mankind to God.  But that is only part of the reconciliation.  The rest is the reconciliation with one another.  We all must live in Harmony with God and that only happens when we also try to live in harmony with one another.  We won’t fully achieve either while in the flesh but we live our lives with this goal in mind.  This is our calling.  Verse 20 gives us our commission from God. 

20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.

Revelation tells the church of Ephesus to remember who they once were. Can we remember when we were transformed into a new creation? How it changed us? It made us a part of His plan for mankind? That excitement we had about being called?  Remember when it was all you could think about?  Let those memories of where you came and of where God’s taking you propel you forward until you have rediscovered your first love.