Where's The Love?
Revelation 2:1-7
Message #3
We finished last week with John’s jaw-dropping Revelation of who Jesus Christ is and what he looks like today.
When Jesus BEGAN this Revelation of himself to John
Jesus was STANDING in the midst of the Lampstands (churches)
He was CLOTHED like a Priest, with a Sash of Righteousness
His HAIR was shining like perfect Holiness
His EYES were a Flame of Fire
His FEET were prepared for JUDGMENT
His VOICE was like Niagara Falls
In His HAND He held the Messengers of the Churches
From His MOUTH came the Two-Edged sword
His FACE was shining like the Sun
And we said if we could get the correct picture of who Jesus Christ is today, it would radically change how we feel and respond to things going on around us in this life. And so, with that image of who Jesus Christ is today, we are going to see Jesus immediately turn his attention to the Church.
So, from our last message, John is still trembling from seeing the real, glorified Christ. And as Jesus is picking John up from John falling on his face as if he were dead, Jesus says, I want to talk to you about my Church. I need you to get a message to my Church.
Jesus cares intimately about his Church
Jesus is actively involved in his Church
And if we will receive it, Jesus will lead, and guide, and transform his Church – for his name’s sake. We just need to make sure we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
These seven letters to the Churches contain super powerful life-changing messages that will speak to each one of us if we will have ears to hear. And so, it is critical we don’t rush by them to get to “the good stuff” . . .because this is the good stuff!
No matter how soon the rest of the Book of Revelation takes place, no matter what all the exact details are, no matter who the world players are that are depicted in the rest of this book – no matter all of that – these truths in these seven letters should radically impact how we live for Jesus Christ today.
So, John is still trying to stop hyperventilating when Jesus says to him in Revelation 2, verse 1,
Revelation 2:1(a) (NLT)
1 “Write this letter to the angel (messenger) of the church in Ephesus . . .
Jesus is going to start with John’s own church.
Jesus can take care of that church. We don’t have to worry about that Church. First, Jesus wants to talk to us about our church.
And so, Jesus says to John, “Let’s start by talking about your Church there in Ephesus.”
Ephesus was John’s home church, and from there, John oversaw all the churches these letters were written to. The Apostle Paul spent three years there, starting the Church (Acts 18 and 19). And Ephesus had become the super-church in that area. And it had most likely birthed the other six churches. And the message from Ephesus to this super-church was, you’ve gotten really good at all the church stuff, but where is the love???
Jesus starts his letter with who he IS.
Revelation 2:1(b) (NLT)
. . . This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars (messengers) in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands (the church):
1). Jesus Christ has the messengers (pastors) of the Church in his right hand (picture of authority). Most scholars agree that for a lot of reasons, the high probability of these messengers is that Jesus is talking about pastors of the church. (Which genuinely scares me to death!) It’s easier to think it’s the angel, but honestly, the Lord never has angels give messages direct to churches – he uses the messenger – a pastor or leaders in the Church. This is in his right hand.
2). Jesus Christ is walking in the midst of the Church – today referring to the intimate, personal, specific knowledge Jesus has of each church.
And the first sentence of Revelations 2, verse 2 says,
Revelation 2:2 (NLT)
2 “I know all the things you do . . .
This Greek word for “know” is OIDA, and it means “to have personal eyewitness knowledge.”
Please hear me. Jesus knows – HE KNOWS!!! In every one of these seven letters to the Church, Jesus says, I KNOW!! His eyes are like a flame of fire – he knows, and that can be our greatest comfort, or it can be our greatest fear.
Revelation 2:2(a) (NLT) - Jesus says
2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance . . .
For every church – except one – Jesus begins with a commendation and an encouragement, and here Jesus is commending the Church of Ephesus for their hard work and their patient endurance.
The Church of Ephesus was what we could call today a mega church.
They were a large church with a celebrity Pastor (John)
They were planting other churches (the other 6, plus more)
They were doing a tone of ministry work,
They were in the midst of a huge and very pagan city that was built around the worship of the Goddess Artemis.
And it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of perseverance to build up and keep everything running at such a large church with so much going on. And so, the Church of Ephesus had become really good at Running the church. But – here is the warning – for years, I had a statement on my desk that said – The greatest threat to your love for Jesus is your service for him. BECAUSE it is very easy for the constant running of the church to REPLACE your genuine love for Jesus, and we will see that is exactly what was happening to the Church of Ephesus.
But Jesus is not finished with his commendations yet.
Revelation 2:2(b) (NLT)
2 . . . I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.
Jesus commends the church for not tolerating evil people, and the remainder of the verse begins to define what Jesus means by “evil” people. He says You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. Jesus is not talking about sinners. The church is a hospital for sinners. He’s referring to people who bring division, discord, and their own doctrine – into the Church. And Jesus says I commend you for not tolerating the people who do this in your church.
And Jesus continues in verse 3.
Revelation 2:3 (NLT)
3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
The Church of Ephesus is strong; they have learned to stand their ground and suffer with Jesus.
And if we’ll skip down to verse 6, Jesus goes back to the commendation he started here in verse 2.
Revelation 2:6 (NLT)
6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
According to the early church fathers, the Nicolaitans taught a doctrine of compromise with the world.
They taught that a total separation
Between following Jesus Christ
And the practice of occult paganism was not necessary.
Jesus says very clearly that he hates that, and he commends the Church for hating it as well.
So, there’s a bunch of good Church stuff down – really good. But there is just one problem, and it is an absolute deal breaker for Jesus!!
Look back up at verse 4.
Revelation 2:4 (NLT)
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
The ESV says - But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
The NKJ says - I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Some translations make this verse sound like it’s their love for others they have abandoned because this sentence can be correctly translated both ways. So, the NLT uses both translation options.
NLT You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
You have abandoned the love you had at first for both Jesus and for each other.
Jesus says to the Church in Ephesus, you’re doing what is right, but you’re not doing it in love anymore. Your actions are right, but they’re not compelled by your love for Jesus anymore.
In 2 Corinthians, verse 14, talking about us being ambassadors for Christ, Paul says For the love of Christ compels us!!
This is the agape love that Romans 5:5 says was poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says to the Church of Ephesus, you are running the Church well, but where is the love?? The love OF Jesus and your love FOR Jesus is not what is compelling you anymore.
We really need to hear what the Spirit is saying to us today. We may be doing it right, but Jesus says, Where is the love? And if we neglect the priority of his love (both vertical and horizontal), then our work becomes prideful self-righteousness, and prideful self-righteousness is easily used as a tool of the enemy to drive people away from Christ.
It’s the love of Christ that draws people.
Being right without his love repels people.
And IF we abandon our genuine love for Jesus and for each other, if we abandon that love, we become worthless to God.
1 Corinthians 13:1–2 (NLT)
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
Good church, without a fervent vertical love relationship with Jesus and without a fervent horizontal love for others, makes us a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal and of no true use to God.
So, let’s have ears to hear what Jesus says. If we have traded our genuine love for Jesus for religious rightness – then we are in very serious danger. And the remedy Jesus calls us to is to return to the love we first had when Jesus saved us, and the Holy Spirit poured out his love into our hearts for others.
So, Jesus is going to give us the “Three ‘R’s” to save us from the consequences of abandoning our love for him and abandoning love as our compelling force for others.
The Three ‘R’s are:
Remember – from where you have fallen.
Repent – turn around, go back in the right direction.
Return – to loving Christ and loving others, as you did at first.
It’s all in Revelation 2, verse 5.
Revelation 2:5 (NLT)
5 Look (Remember) how far you have fallen! Turn back to me (Repent) and do (Return to) the works you did at first . . .
Remember – Repent – Return
First, we’ve got to recognize, remember, and confess that we have drifted away from love being our compelling factor, both vertical and horizontal.
Next, we’ve got to repent, which means to turn and go in the opposite direction.
Finally, our confession and repentance must lead us to return to the love that drove us when we were first saved.
God’s design has always been for love to be the compelling factor in our life with him.
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) are:
Four Commandments of vertical love for God
Six Commandments of horizontal love for others
Jesus simplified it in the gospels as The Greatest Commandment is Love (in two parts) – Love for God and Love for others.
And when that love no longer compels us, or motivates us, then we are in real danger.
The second half of verse 5 says . . .
Revelation 2:5(b) (NLT)
5 . . . If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
That is serious, and it could mean one of two things.
1). It could mean Jesus would allow the Church to die
2). I could mean that Jesus would remove his presence from the Church
But isn’t a Church without the presence of Jesus Christ actually WORSE than NO church at all??
Jesus begins with some encouragement, but then he ends with a very strong warning. The question is: Will we receive the warning along with the encouragement?
Skip down to verse 7 (we already did verse 6)
Revelation 2:7(a) (NLT)
7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches . . .
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches . . .
He who has a heart open to the Lord – let him receive what the Spirit is saying. Our top priority is our love relationship with our Lord. We nurture that, and we guard that above all else.
Our second priority is an extension of the first. The agape love that God has poured into our hearts must be what compels us to love and serve one another.
And finally, Jesus says,
Revelation 2:7 (NLT)
7 . . . To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
If you have put your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then you are already victorious in him, and Jesus will give you fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
And, since this is true, how much more should you be nurturing and protecting your love for Jesus and his love through you toward others?
When Jesus BEGAN this Revelation of himself to John
Jesus was STANDING in the midst of the Lampstands (churches)
He was CLOTHED like a Priest, with a Sash of Righteousness
His HAIR was shining like perfect Holiness
His EYES were a Flame of Fire
His FEET were prepared for JUDGMENT
His VOICE was like Niagara Falls
In His HAND He held the Messengers of the Churches
From His MOUTH came the Two-Edged sword
His FACE was shining like the Sun
And we said if we could get the correct picture of who Jesus Christ is today, it would radically change how we feel and respond to things going on around us in this life. And so, with that image of who Jesus Christ is today, we are going to see Jesus immediately turn his attention to the Church.
So, from our last message, John is still trembling from seeing the real, glorified Christ. And as Jesus is picking John up from John falling on his face as if he were dead, Jesus says, I want to talk to you about my Church. I need you to get a message to my Church.
Jesus cares intimately about his Church
Jesus is actively involved in his Church
And if we will receive it, Jesus will lead, and guide, and transform his Church – for his name’s sake. We just need to make sure we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
These seven letters to the Churches contain super powerful life-changing messages that will speak to each one of us if we will have ears to hear. And so, it is critical we don’t rush by them to get to “the good stuff” . . .because this is the good stuff!
No matter how soon the rest of the Book of Revelation takes place, no matter what all the exact details are, no matter who the world players are that are depicted in the rest of this book – no matter all of that – these truths in these seven letters should radically impact how we live for Jesus Christ today.
So, John is still trying to stop hyperventilating when Jesus says to him in Revelation 2, verse 1,
Revelation 2:1(a) (NLT)
1 “Write this letter to the angel (messenger) of the church in Ephesus . . .
Jesus is going to start with John’s own church.
Jesus can take care of that church. We don’t have to worry about that Church. First, Jesus wants to talk to us about our church.
And so, Jesus says to John, “Let’s start by talking about your Church there in Ephesus.”
Ephesus was John’s home church, and from there, John oversaw all the churches these letters were written to. The Apostle Paul spent three years there, starting the Church (Acts 18 and 19). And Ephesus had become the super-church in that area. And it had most likely birthed the other six churches. And the message from Ephesus to this super-church was, you’ve gotten really good at all the church stuff, but where is the love???
Jesus starts his letter with who he IS.
Revelation 2:1(b) (NLT)
. . . This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars (messengers) in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands (the church):
1). Jesus Christ has the messengers (pastors) of the Church in his right hand (picture of authority). Most scholars agree that for a lot of reasons, the high probability of these messengers is that Jesus is talking about pastors of the church. (Which genuinely scares me to death!) It’s easier to think it’s the angel, but honestly, the Lord never has angels give messages direct to churches – he uses the messenger – a pastor or leaders in the Church. This is in his right hand.
2). Jesus Christ is walking in the midst of the Church – today referring to the intimate, personal, specific knowledge Jesus has of each church.
And the first sentence of Revelations 2, verse 2 says,
Revelation 2:2 (NLT)
2 “I know all the things you do . . .
This Greek word for “know” is OIDA, and it means “to have personal eyewitness knowledge.”
Please hear me. Jesus knows – HE KNOWS!!! In every one of these seven letters to the Church, Jesus says, I KNOW!! His eyes are like a flame of fire – he knows, and that can be our greatest comfort, or it can be our greatest fear.
Revelation 2:2(a) (NLT) - Jesus says
2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance . . .
For every church – except one – Jesus begins with a commendation and an encouragement, and here Jesus is commending the Church of Ephesus for their hard work and their patient endurance.
The Church of Ephesus was what we could call today a mega church.
They were a large church with a celebrity Pastor (John)
They were planting other churches (the other 6, plus more)
They were doing a tone of ministry work,
They were in the midst of a huge and very pagan city that was built around the worship of the Goddess Artemis.
And it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of perseverance to build up and keep everything running at such a large church with so much going on. And so, the Church of Ephesus had become really good at Running the church. But – here is the warning – for years, I had a statement on my desk that said – The greatest threat to your love for Jesus is your service for him. BECAUSE it is very easy for the constant running of the church to REPLACE your genuine love for Jesus, and we will see that is exactly what was happening to the Church of Ephesus.
But Jesus is not finished with his commendations yet.
Revelation 2:2(b) (NLT)
2 . . . I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.
Jesus commends the church for not tolerating evil people, and the remainder of the verse begins to define what Jesus means by “evil” people. He says You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. Jesus is not talking about sinners. The church is a hospital for sinners. He’s referring to people who bring division, discord, and their own doctrine – into the Church. And Jesus says I commend you for not tolerating the people who do this in your church.
And Jesus continues in verse 3.
Revelation 2:3 (NLT)
3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
The Church of Ephesus is strong; they have learned to stand their ground and suffer with Jesus.
And if we’ll skip down to verse 6, Jesus goes back to the commendation he started here in verse 2.
Revelation 2:6 (NLT)
6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
According to the early church fathers, the Nicolaitans taught a doctrine of compromise with the world.
They taught that a total separation
Between following Jesus Christ
And the practice of occult paganism was not necessary.
Jesus says very clearly that he hates that, and he commends the Church for hating it as well.
So, there’s a bunch of good Church stuff down – really good. But there is just one problem, and it is an absolute deal breaker for Jesus!!
Look back up at verse 4.
Revelation 2:4 (NLT)
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
The ESV says - But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
The NKJ says - I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Some translations make this verse sound like it’s their love for others they have abandoned because this sentence can be correctly translated both ways. So, the NLT uses both translation options.
NLT You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
You have abandoned the love you had at first for both Jesus and for each other.
Jesus says to the Church in Ephesus, you’re doing what is right, but you’re not doing it in love anymore. Your actions are right, but they’re not compelled by your love for Jesus anymore.
In 2 Corinthians, verse 14, talking about us being ambassadors for Christ, Paul says For the love of Christ compels us!!
This is the agape love that Romans 5:5 says was poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says to the Church of Ephesus, you are running the Church well, but where is the love?? The love OF Jesus and your love FOR Jesus is not what is compelling you anymore.
We really need to hear what the Spirit is saying to us today. We may be doing it right, but Jesus says, Where is the love? And if we neglect the priority of his love (both vertical and horizontal), then our work becomes prideful self-righteousness, and prideful self-righteousness is easily used as a tool of the enemy to drive people away from Christ.
It’s the love of Christ that draws people.
Being right without his love repels people.
And IF we abandon our genuine love for Jesus and for each other, if we abandon that love, we become worthless to God.
1 Corinthians 13:1–2 (NLT)
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
Good church, without a fervent vertical love relationship with Jesus and without a fervent horizontal love for others, makes us a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal and of no true use to God.
So, let’s have ears to hear what Jesus says. If we have traded our genuine love for Jesus for religious rightness – then we are in very serious danger. And the remedy Jesus calls us to is to return to the love we first had when Jesus saved us, and the Holy Spirit poured out his love into our hearts for others.
So, Jesus is going to give us the “Three ‘R’s” to save us from the consequences of abandoning our love for him and abandoning love as our compelling force for others.
The Three ‘R’s are:
Remember – from where you have fallen.
Repent – turn around, go back in the right direction.
Return – to loving Christ and loving others, as you did at first.
It’s all in Revelation 2, verse 5.
Revelation 2:5 (NLT)
5 Look (Remember) how far you have fallen! Turn back to me (Repent) and do (Return to) the works you did at first . . .
Remember – Repent – Return
First, we’ve got to recognize, remember, and confess that we have drifted away from love being our compelling factor, both vertical and horizontal.
Next, we’ve got to repent, which means to turn and go in the opposite direction.
Finally, our confession and repentance must lead us to return to the love that drove us when we were first saved.
God’s design has always been for love to be the compelling factor in our life with him.
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) are:
Four Commandments of vertical love for God
Six Commandments of horizontal love for others
Jesus simplified it in the gospels as The Greatest Commandment is Love (in two parts) – Love for God and Love for others.
And when that love no longer compels us, or motivates us, then we are in real danger.
The second half of verse 5 says . . .
Revelation 2:5(b) (NLT)
5 . . . If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
That is serious, and it could mean one of two things.
1). It could mean Jesus would allow the Church to die
2). I could mean that Jesus would remove his presence from the Church
But isn’t a Church without the presence of Jesus Christ actually WORSE than NO church at all??
Jesus begins with some encouragement, but then he ends with a very strong warning. The question is: Will we receive the warning along with the encouragement?
Skip down to verse 7 (we already did verse 6)
Revelation 2:7(a) (NLT)
7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches . . .
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches . . .
He who has a heart open to the Lord – let him receive what the Spirit is saying. Our top priority is our love relationship with our Lord. We nurture that, and we guard that above all else.
Our second priority is an extension of the first. The agape love that God has poured into our hearts must be what compels us to love and serve one another.
And finally, Jesus says,
Revelation 2:7 (NLT)
7 . . . To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
If you have put your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then you are already victorious in him, and Jesus will give you fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
And, since this is true, how much more should you be nurturing and protecting your love for Jesus and his love through you toward others?