HAVE YOU EVER BEEN BROKEN-HEARTED? WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where 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. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION? DO YOU UNDERSTAND IT OR STRUGGLE WITH IT?
BACKGROUND
The last book of the Bible, Revelation is the capstone of all that came before it. History records that it was written by the apostle John during his exile on the island of Patmos in or around 95 AD. John was the oldest surviving apostle. The Roman authorities attempted to kill John by boiling him alive in oil. He emerged unscathed, so they exiled him instead. He was also the only apostle not murdered for his faith.
Revelation was written to seven churches in Asia Minor, now part of western Turkey. We sometimes think of the letters to the churches as separate from the rest of the book, but that would be an error. There are different views on why these short letters to the churches were written and what they represent. Some believe that the seven churches represent seven church ages, while others hold to a representation of types of churches that exist. Certainly, we can see different types of churches that would match their various descriptions: the loveless church, the faithful church, the compromising church, the dead church, and so on. No matter what these churches represent literarily, we can see ourselves in Jesus’ warnings to these churches.
Our study today will focus on the first church, Ephesus. Ephesus was a strategic city of the Roman Empire. It was a city of trade and influence. As the city grew, it wrapped itself around a mountain and faced a port where ships would carry cargo and passengers along the trade routes. The landscape has changed in the last 2,000 years, and it is no longer located near a body of water.
Over time, Ephesus lost its importance in the empire and was deserted. This is foreshadowed by Jesus’ words to this church when he said in verse five, “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” The lampstand symbolizes the prestige or importance of the city. Jesus was telling the church that they would also lose their place of prominence if they did not repent.
The center of this passage to the Ephesian church is Jesus’ statement, “You have abandoned the love you had at first.” Love is a critical component of our faith. So, let’s look at the emphasis God places on love.
WHY IS LOVE SO IMPORTANT FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH?
Two of the greatest apostles were intimately involved with Ephesus, Paul and John. It is no coincidence that these two men wrote extensively about the love of God and of God’s people. Paul told the Ephesians that it was God’s love that brought them salvation, and John’s writings are filled with descriptions of love.
Paul planted the Ephesian church, and John shepherded it until his death in the late 90s. I visited Ephesus in 1997 and, while seeing the sights, was told that John is believed to be buried there, as is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who reportedly lived in a house on a nearby mountain. She did not attend church meetings, it is reported, because, as the mother of Jesus, she might have distracted the believers from their dedication to Christ alone. Some tradition holds that Mary died when she was around 50 or 60 years of age.
John is famous for his saying in I John 4:16, “God is love.” John also recorded Jesus saying in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” God’s love and our love for one another is central to our faith.
Let’s dig into this letter to the Ephesian church.
EXAMINATION
(V.1) “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.’”
In chapter one, Jesus already revealed the symbolism of the seven stars and lampstands. The stars are the pastors of the churches and the lampstands are the churches. The word for angel in this usage means messenger, not literally a heavenly being.
Notice the relationship Jesus has with these churches. Their leadership is in his hands, and he walks among them. This indicates closeness. They are in his hands. He holds onto them. This harkens back to John 10:28 when Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” It is because he loves them that he rebukes and encourages them. Revelation 3:19 says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.”
First, Jesus begins with words of approval before he issues a rebuke.
(V.2) “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.”
WHY ARE WORKS IMPORTANT IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?
Notice the emphasis Jesus is putting on works: works, toil, endurance, bear, tested, found. These are all good works. He is not rebuking them for their works or discouraging them from their works. Their works are a good thing. He continues.
(V.3) “I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.”
The same emphasis again: enduring, bearing, not grown weary. This language points to something that the Ephesians were struggling with, some difficulty or spiritual hardship they were enduring. He identified it as false apostles. This is significant.
In the early church, false teachers and false apostles were a major headache for believers because access to scripture was still limited at that time. They needed a way to discern truth from error. Thankfully, this church had Paul’s teaching, who warned them years earlier in Acts 20:29-30, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
Notice, he says, they have not grown weary. They are committed. Truth and integrity matter to the Ephesians. He is praising them for their resolve.
But, there was a problem.
(V.4) “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Ephesus abandoned their first love. Not forgotten, not weakened, not crushed or stolen, but abandoned. That’s strong language. Abandoned. To abandon something is to leave it totally behind, to take no thought of it. They had abandoned their first love.
WHAT SHOULD WE ABANDON IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?
We abandon sin, selfishness, pride, and the works of the flesh. The apostle Paul put it this way in Colossians 3:8-9: “You must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” But we must never abandon love. Paul also said in I Corinthians 13:2, “[If I] have not love, I am nothing.”
Paul was Ephesus’ apostle. In his letter to that church 35 years earlier, he told them that their salvation was not a result of “works” (Ephesians 2:9). In verse four, he revealed God saved them because of his great love. It is that love that he wanted them to get back to.
Sometimes, Christians say things like, “I have to love the sinner, but I don’t have to like him.” This is wrong. It’s an excuse that we make to convince ourselves we are loving when, in fact, we are not. Christians also like to say, “Love is a verb.” We say this to excuse not having feelings of love. This is also wrong.
The Ephesians had all the right works. But their emotions didn’t match their works. Jesus wants both the right works and a passion for him. There’s no such thing as compassion without passion.
(V.5) “Remember therefore from where 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.”
Notice the threat of punishment. He does not say they would lose their salvation. He doesn’t threaten them with destruction. He threatens a loss of influence for God’s kingdom. Consider what kind of church this was.
The Ephesian church was founded by Paul, some say the greatest apostle. Not only that but it was also shepherded by John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. The status of the city also made it a place where the gospel could go out from. In the culture of the day status was extremely important, and they were about to lose it.
Jesus’ solution for them was to go back to their first works. The first works are works of love.
WHAT ARE WORKS OF LOVE?
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU FIRST CAME TO CHRIST? HOW DID YOUR LIFE CHANGE? WHAT KIND OF COMMITMENT DID YOU HAVE?
Notice in this passage that Jesus is focused on works related to theology and status. They are discerning who is true and who is false. But he makes no mention of practical works of love—helping the needy, having mercy on victims or the guilty, things that express kindness and gentleness and hope for others. The things that are expressed from love. In other words, love for others. These are the works of love.
(V.6) “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
Jesus goes back to encouraging them. He identifies something that they share together: his hatred of the works of the Nicolaitans. Who were the Nicolaitans?
The Nicolaitans were a heretical group that encouraged eating meat sacrificed to idols and involvement in sexual immorality. The eating of the meat was not the issue. It was the sacrifice to demons that caught Jesus’ anger. Paul also warned about this in I Corinthians 10:21, “You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”
By mentioning both the sacrifices and sexual immorality together, Jesus is referring to temple worship with sacrifice to idols that included cultic prostitution in the temple. The Nicolaitans, therefore, were antinomian, without biblical law. They expressed their supposed spiritual freedom with hedonism.
Jesus does not approve of syncretism. We cannot mix our religions. Jesus wants exclusive devotion. You cannot be a Christian and mix other religious practices with faith in Jesus. It’s either Jesus or nothing.
(V.7) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
The word for conquer in this passage is usually translated as overcome in most other translations. Remember how Jesus used this word in John 16:33: “I have overcome the world.” He overcame the world through his love and resurrection.
If you do not conquer through your works, then how do you conquer? Through love. Love for Christ is supreme over all.
Notice the great reward Jesus offers. To eat from the Tree of Life in paradise. We learn later in Revelation that this is in the new heaven and earth. It is a restoration of Eden, where we will dwell forever. Clearly, Jesus loves this church to offer them such an eternally valuable reward. And he offers the same reward to us.
INTERPRETATION
What is Jesus’ big idea for this passage? Stay true. Love Christ. Love one another. Love others.
At the beginning of our study, I asked the question, “Have you ever been broken-hearted?” Imagine how much lost love or unfaithfulness hurts. It is debilitating. It is emotional torment.
Imagine how God feels about our syncretism or failure to make him first in our lives. Think of what Jesus did to express his love for us. Tortured, beaten, humiliated, crucified. When we falter, he has every right to express his heartache and anger. Just as he gave everything for us, he requires the same, that we surrender everything for him in return. Is Jesus Christ your whole life?
APPLICATION
- Do Not Lose Your First Love: Passion and love for Jesus should be the foundation of our faith. If our relationship with Him becomes routine or mechanical, we must intentionally rekindle our devotion through prayer, worship, and obedience.
- Do Not Lose Your Love for Others: Our measure of God changing our lives can be found in the love we show for others, especially the unbeliever. If the unbeliever cannot see God’s love through our attitude and actions, then we need repentance and restoration. Remember, people want to know how much you care more than caring about how much you know.
- Repent and Return to Your Spiritual Roots: When we recognize spiritual decline, Jesus calls us to remember from where we have fallen, repent, and return to the devotion and works we once had. Revival begins with acknowledging our need for change and taking steps to restore intimacy with Christ.
- Endurance Leads to Eternal Reward: Those who remain faithful and overcome spiritual complacency will be rewarded with eternal life. Jesus’ promise of eating from the Tree of Life serves as a reminder that steadfast faith leads to the ultimate blessing of eternal fellowship with God.
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