Revelation 2:1-7
We are constantly told to examine ourselves by the Scriptures. Let us look at verse 5, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Lord help us. The church at Ephesus was in imminent danger. They were not headed to heresy, nor were they embracing sinful practices, but they had left their first love. In John 21 when Jesus was on the sea shore and the disciples came and gathered around Him, He didn't ask Peter if Peter hated sin or false doctrine, Christ simply asked Peter if he loved Him. Peter, lovest thou me? See, if we love Jesus Christ everything else will fall into place. We are to seek first the kingdom of God.
This is an attack that is constantly on every church. We do not defeat it and never have to deal with it again, this is every day. Go back and remember what Christ has done for you. Remember that He saved you when you were ungodly. He loved the unlovable. It is good to love doctrines of the bible; to love the church; but none of these are a substitute for loving Christ. Yes, we are doing things right, but do we love Jesus Christ? Are we willing to die for Him? Are we looking for and longing for His return? If not, then we have left our first love.
How do we get back? Verse 5. Repent, and focus on Jesus Christ again. Talk to Him, get in His word and listen to Him, continue to get to know Him. Remember what He has done for you, and what He is doing, and what He is going to do. He is faithful to us, may we be faithful to Him. He is worthy. When people love Jesus they are faithful to Him, and they are faithful to His church, and everyone knows it.
"Lord, Thou requirest me to keep my heart with all diligence, and I feel utterly incompetent for such a task: such a work lies altogether beyond my poor feeble powers: therefore, I humbly ask Thee in the name of Christ to graciously grant unto me supernatural strength to do as Thy hast bidden me. Lord, work in me both to will and to do of Thy good pleasure." A. W. Pink. How are we doing? We have knowledge, but how are we doing? Where is our heart?
When we have left our first love, as they did at the church of Ephesus, we will eventually give place to the devil. He will get strongholds in our lives. The fight and the resistence that we once had will get worn down. The devil does not grow weary in wicked doing, but we grow weary in well doing. We begin to drop our guard, our standards, and we do not want accountability. We do not want anyone questioning us about our actions, our prayer time, and surely don't question us about what we have been studying. We find examples of this in most of these other churches in Revelation 2-3.
Society has an impact and an influence on us. We make up the church. In reality, what kind of church are we? Let us look at some of these churches to see how they were impacted. Let us start in 2:12-17. "Seat" in this verse means power. This church was at a place where satan had power and control over all that was around them. They were in a constant battle with society, maybe even politically. This will wear you down, and this will get your focus off of what we are called to do. We can protest, all things contrary to the bible, or we can proclaim the gospel to people who are just like how we used to be. When we get political, we compromise the Scriptures to get power and pull. We allow sin in the camp, and justify our actions. Look at the verses 14-16. Little by little we tend to go in this direction.
Let us look at the church in Thyatira. Again this is a true church. This is a group of people that corporately meet together to worship. They have also compromised the Scriptures. Look beginning in verse 20-25. The law of sowing and reaping. We may say that we would never get here, but once we leave our first love there is no telling to what extent we will go in compromising the Scriptures, because our focus is no longer on Christ.
Now let us look at the church in Sardis. Let us look at verses 1-4. The majority of the people in this church are dead to the things of God. They have a name and are active in what appears to be ministry, but are dead to the things of God. They overshadow the few that are truly saved. We may ask how this can happen. It comes with compromise. When the bible is no longer the rule that we go by we automatically err.
Now let us look at the church of Laodicea. Here we see a church that does not want to offend anyone, and they just go along to get along. They want to be accepted in society, and do not want to be considered hateful bigots that have some kind of phobia. Since they are accepted by all they have much given to them. They are rich in worldly things, but look how Jesus views them, "So then because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." What causes this? When we leave our first love.
See, we can put up a front. We can learn the routine and the lingo. We can go through the motions, but Christ knows. The one thing Christ said to all these churches is, "I know." He truly knows. How much is this world impacting us? What moves us and motivates us? Our heart follows after the things of this world, and that is why we must guard our heart.
Here is a question for us: Can we live for Jesus Christ in this world? It sure is hard living in this society and culture. Look at Revelation 3:7-11, and 2:8-10. The difference is a people who have not left their first love. They are faithful to Him who has called them out of darkness. They are obeying the Scriptures. They are doing this in the midst of a perverted pagan sin loving Christ hating society.
The churches of Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea were basically overrun by the world. Instead of impacting the world they were impacted by the world. They did not start out like this. The churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia were still serving the Lord, and the church at Ephesus was at a pivotal point. Where are we at? What is influencing us? What is impacting us? Are we impacting those around us, or are they impacting us? Remember the old saying, we cannot win the world acting like the world. Have we left our first love? Thank God for His patience with us. May we be obedient to the Scriptures. "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent," -Revelation 2:5.
Soli Deo Gloria.
