LETTER TO THE LOVELESS CHURCH
Revelation 2:1-7
In the first century, the
harbor at
The message of the gospel was
first preached in
24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to
25 This
man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he
was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being
acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak
out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and
Apollos had heard the preaching of John the Baptist. He had heard the message that the Messiah was
coming and would bring His kingdom. Apollos believed the message of John and he became a
disciple of the Baptist. Now he was in
Also in the city were two
other Jews named Priscilla and
It was some time after this
that Paul came to
For the next two years, Paul
stayed at
As we come to the book of
Revelation, many years have passed. Paul
has written an epistle to the Ephesians, encouraging them to grow in their
faith. The doctrinal foundation he laid
is still to be seen in that church as a second epistle is now addressed to
them. This one is addressed by Jesus.
OPENING SALUTATION
To the angel of the church in
The salutation contains a
vivid description of Jesus. He is
pictured in two ways. He is the one
who...
•
Holds the seven stars in His right hand.
•
Walks among the seven golden lampstands.
What do these represent? What are the seven stars? What are these seven golden lampstands? The meaning has already been explained in the
previous chapter.
As for the mystery of the seven
stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven
golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and
the seven lampstands are the seven churches (Revelation 2:20).
We do not have to guess at
the meaning of these symbols. The
meaning has already been given. They are
explained in the context. This is
frequently the case in the book of Revelation.
This is a book that contains a great deal of symbolism, but more often
than not, the symbolism is explained. We
merely have to look for that explanation.
• The seven stars represent the angels of
the seven churches.
• The seven lampstands stand for the seven
churches to whom these messages are addressed.
There is a message here. Notice where Jesus is seen. He is standing among the lampstands. He has not gone off and forgotten about His
churches. He is personally involved with
all of their problems.
This is important for us to
know. It is important became sometimes
we forget that Jesus is in the midst of His churches. We get to thinking that Jesus was only
interested in what happened a long time ago and that He has lost track of
things. That is not the case. Jesus is still standing in the midst of the
lampstands.
THE LORD KNOWS YOUR DEEDS
2 I know your deeds and
your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put
to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found
them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My
name's sake, and have not grown weary. (Revelation 2:2-3).
Jesus has some good things to
say about this church. If we look at
these qualities, we can agree that they are positive. This church had a good track record. There was a lot to commend this church.
• Their toil.
• Their perseverance.
• They did not endure evil men.
• They put false teachers to the test.
• They had endured testing.
There is much here to be
commended. They are praised for their
intolerance of evil living and evil teaching.
This was a doctrinal church. It
was a church that knew its doctrine. It
was also an active church. They did not
view Christianity as a spectator sport.
Too many people think of Christianity in the same way they think of a
football game — twenty two men who desperately need rest being watched by
seventy thousand people who desperately need exercise.
AN ABANDONED LOVE
4 But
I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5
Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you
did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of
its place unless you repent. (Revelation 2:4-5).
This reference to an
abandoned love is given as the very center point of the entire message to the Ephesian church.
This is seen in its placement in the passage. The entire passage of Revelation 2:1-7 is
given in the form of a chiasm. A chiasm
is a form of parallelism that offers parallel thoughts and expressions. When there are a number of different points
in a chiasm, our attention is intentionally directed toward the center. We can chart out the flow of thought as
follows:
|
The One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (2:1). |
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You cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call
themselves apostles, and they are not (2:2) |
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But I have this against you, that you have left your first love (2:4) |
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Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the
deeds you did at first (2:5) |
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I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its
place unless you repent (2:5) |
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You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate (2:6) |
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I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of
God (2:7) |
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Do you remember the first
time you ever fell in love? It was a
time of intensity. It was possibly a
time of innocence. You wanted to spend
every possible moment with that one who was the object
of your love. Everything was fresh and
exciting. But then time passed and
perhaps that first love faded.
Why? What causes this problem? How do we get so wrapped up in the daily
affairs of life that we lose our first love?
It was not as if these believers had never loved Christ in the first
place. A number of years earlier Paul
had commended them for their reputation for love when he said that he had heard
of their love for their love for all the saints (Ephesians 1:15).
I think that the problem at
Love can grow cold if it is
not carefully tended. Keeping your first
love involves keeping your focus centered on the object of your love. How do you return to a love that has grown
cold? Jesus gives the answer. This is the cure for a lost love. It is given in three parts.
1. Remember
where you were.
Remembering
is important. The Sabbath day was given
for this reason. It was to be a time of
remembrance of the works of God and of the love of God. This is also the point of the Lord’s Supper. It is to be a time of remembrance. If you are a Christian, then you need to
remember where you used to be. Do you
remember that time of love? Do you
remember that intensity?
Repentance
from past sins led you to a new joy of living to serve Christ and to know
Him. You could not get enough of God’s
word. You wanted to be with other
believers. You talked about the Lord all
the time.
2. Repent.
Remembrance
of where you were will lead to a desire to turn around and to return to where
you ought to be. This is called
repentance. It is a change of mind and
of heart and it leads to a change of actions.
That brings us to our third point.
3. Do the
Deeds you did at first.
Notice
this emphasis on your deeds. True love
always brings with it a corresponding action.
Love acts.
At
this point, you might be thinking to yourself, “But I don’t FEEL the way I used
to.” That is okay. Jesus doesn’t say to work up a feeling. He says to do the deeds that you once
did. If your body gets involved, your
feelings will eventually follow.
How do you regain lost
love? You remember what it was like in
the first place and then you go and you repent of the lost love and then you
act as though that lost love was not lost.
When you do that, the love starts.
By the way, the same is true of faith.
When you are having trouble believing, go to Him and repent of your lack
of faith and then act as though that faith were there and then you will find
that the faith starts.
At this point there is a
warning. It is a warning of not
returning to your first love. Failure to
remember and repent and return to the former deeds will bring about a result.
Therefore remember from where you
have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming
to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.
(Revelation 2:5).
This is a warning of coming
judgment. Jesus says, “Repent or
else.” Remember that there were seven
lampstands in John’s vision. Those seven
lampstands represented seven churches.
Jesus is saying, “Change your ways or else I might be left with six
lampstands.”
This brings us to a
question. What is the nature of this
threatened judgment? Jesus says that He
will remove their lampstand out of its place.
What does this mean? Does it mean
that these people will lose their salvation?
I don’t believe so. Rather, let
me suggest that this refers to a removal of the local church to whom this is addressed.
If there is not a change, then before long this church will fall
apart. It takes more than solid doctrine
to keep a church together. It takes a
living relationship with its Lord. There
is no substitute for this.
I mentioned that my wife and
I had the opportunity to visit the site of
THE NICOLAITANS
Yet this you do have, that you
hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
(Revelation 2:6).
We are not told much about
the Nicolaitans.
They are not mentioned in any other book of the Bible. The two apostolic fathers, Irenaeus and Clement, each said that this group was
originally made up of followers of Nicolaus, one of
the first seven deacons of the church at
That reminds me of a little
girl who lived in our neighborhood many years ago. I was sharing the gospel with her and I tried
to explain to her how our sin separates us from God and how Jesus came to die
in our place and to take our sin away and to give us eternal life. I then asked her if she knew what she had to
do to enter into that eternal life. She
thought for a long moment and then replied, “Sin a lot!” She was wrong and the followers of Nicolaus were wrong.
The Christian life is not to be a life that is filled with sin. That is a misuse of the doctrine of
grace. Grace does not mean that we are
now free to go out and sin a lot. It
means that God has delivered us from sin so that we can be pure and holy and
clean and set apart for His use.
THE PROMISE
He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the
Jesus is going to end each
message to each of these seven churches with a promise. In each case, it is a conditional
promise. In each case, the promise is
only offered to the one who overcomes.
What does it mean to overcome?
How can you overcome?
You first need to realize
that Jesus is the overcomer. John pointed this out in his account of the
life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus
Himself taught that He had overcome the world.
“These things I have spoken to
you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
We are to find peace in the
fact that Jesus has overcome the world.
But that is not all. John also
goes on to say that you can be an overcomer. He tells us this in his first epistle.
4 For whatever is born of
God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world‑‑
our faith. 5 And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he
who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5).
We can overcome the world
when we come and place our faith in the One who has already overcome the world
— Jesus Christ. This world is going to
be difficult. There are rough times
ahead. If you don’t believe me, then
look ahead a few chapters in the book of Revelation. You are going to experience problems. Some will be big and some will be little,
although even these will seem big at the time.
If you live on planet earth for any length of time, then something bad
is going to come into your life.
Perhaps you’ve heard of
Murphy’s Law. It says that anything that
can go wrong will go wrong. Then there
is Petrov’s Law.
It says that Murphy was an optimist.
While I do not endorse either of these two laws, I do have to point out
that you will encounter various trials.
That is the nature of life. Jesus
promised that “in the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33).
How many times have you heard
some well-meaning preacher say that once you become a Christian all of your
troubles will end and life will become wonderful and peaceful? Our churches suffer from such a message. They are filled with people who are smiling on
the outside, but who are hurting on the inside.
Each one hides behind his own smiling mask, thinking that he is the only
one who doesn’t have it all together, each one afraid
that the others might learn that he alone is not experiencing victory in Christ.
Let me dispel such ideas with
an official announcement. You are in for
hard times. You are going to encounter
various trials. Bad times are coming.
I haven’t said this to
discourage you. I am not trying to turn
you into a pessimist or to fill your day with gloom and doom. The reason I want you too be aware that bad
times are coming is so that you will get ready to meet them.
I spent 29 years as a career
fire fighter. It was a challenging
career as I rose to the rank of Battalion Chief. It the fire service, we put together preplans
of hazardous areas so that we would know how to handle any emergencies that
might arise in those areas. In the same
manner, God provides a preplan for Christians.
It gives us instructions on how to get past the hazardous conditions
ahead. It is called the Bible.
What are you to do when hard
times come? How do you meet problem
situations? What do you do when disaster
strikes? God has provided a means to
deal with those coming difficulties.
Be an overcomer. Take the promises that God has given to you
and apply them to your life. Begin
depending upon Him for all things.
Instead of being overcome by your problems, overcome those problems by
trusting in the Lord.
Christ has already overcome
the biggest problem. He has overcome
death. If you come to Him in faith, then
you will eat of the tree of life which is in the
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