The Intolerable Failure of Ephesus
Revelation 2:1-7
May 29, 2016
Well, in reading that passage you certainly are familiar with it.
We’ve covered it a couple of times on Sundays, at least once on Wednesday nights and I’m pretty sure you’ve probably covered it in Sunday School.
I know for a fact I’ve preached the church at Ephesus at least 3 times.
It is the church at Ephesus.
The church we have routinely referred to as “The Backslidden Church”
So obviously we’re not discussing this church
Because you aren’t familiar with it.
Rather, we are discussing it because it is so relevant!
Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.”
2 Peter 1:12-15 “Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.”
The apostles definitely knew that
It was actually the most familiar truths that got is in the most trouble.
They actually become so routine and second nature
That we actually begin to forget them all together.
This passage falls into that category.
To help us set the stage for the importance of understanding the truth we learn from this church, I want to remind you of a statement Jesus made:
John 15:1-8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
It is very tempting just to turn over there and
Spend the entire hour this morning looking at that passage.
But if you’re willing to skim the mountain tops of that passage with me this morning you will notice the unmistakable point.
WITHOUT JESUS IT WON’T WORK
The analogy of Him being the vine and us being the branches
Cannot be misunderstood.
Branches that aren’t plugged into the tree do not produce fruit.
• They still look like branches
• They may even have leaves for a while
• They may be useful for other things (sawn into lumber)
But without being connected to the tree
They will never produce fruit again.
Jesus is highlighting a very important spiritual reality in that passage.
Churches can organize around human ingenuity and human resources
And human wisdom and human cooperation
And accomplish very many great things.
(False religion teaches us that)
Islam, Mormonism, Buddhism, etc; have all accomplished great things simply through the power of human ingenuity.
And the church is no different.
People who work together can build great buildings
And fund massive ministries, and produce tremendous results.
BUT APART FROM JESUS YOU CANNOT PRODUCE FRUIT
(that is you cannot accomplish spiritual work)
• You cannot lead sinners to salvation
• You cannot make genuine disciples
• You cannot see true redemption from sin occur
These matters are only accomplished through the power of God.
Failure to be tapped into that power
Produces a spiritually impotent church.
Tonight we study a church that was confused about that.
• We study a church that I could have easily been a member of.
• We study a church that forgot the main point of the whole thing.
And their failure was absolutely intolerable.
So dangerous in fact that
They were about to be removed as a church altogether.
Many of you are familiar, but let’s take a refresher course.
#1 THE CHURCH
Revelation 2:1a
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:”
This letter was written to “the angel of the church in Ephesus”
“angel” translates ANGELLOS
It means “a messenger”
It can also be “a guardian” or “a representative”
I tell you that so you’ll realize that
This was a message to the church’s pastor,
Not necessarily a celestial being.
And the church was “the church in Ephesus”
EPHESUS was a port city, home to the temple Artemis,
• Which was such a secure place that it became home of a world bank,
• And a prominent hang out for criminals on the run.
• It also had many priestesses who were little more than prostitutes.
So a cross section of Ephesus shows us
It was a port city with a bombardment of sailors
And other atrocities associated with a port city.
• It was a capital of idolatry as people flocked there to worship a false god.
• It was a criminal hang out.
• It was a hot bed of prostitution.
• And it was a center of economic importance.
Where it not for the immorality, adultery, greed, idolatry, and love of sin,
Ephesus might have been a nice town to raise a family in.
But as it was, Ephesus was a rough place.
Think “SIN CITY”
Settled in the heart of this city was the church at Ephesus.
The “church in Ephesus” had a deep pedigree.
• Paul’s friends Aquila and Priscilla founded it.
• Apollos was a pastor
• Onesiphorus was a pastor
• Timothy was a pastor
• The Apostle John was a pastor
• And Paul was a frequent visitor and speaker.
This church had been equipped with the truth of the gospel,
And that set the stage for what looked to be a great show down.
The church armed with the truth verses the city armed with sin.
#2 THEIR LORD
Revelation 2:1b
“The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:”
You recognize this intro as relating directly to the vision in chapter 1.
Revelation 1:20 “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.”
And since we now know that the angels were the pastors of the churches,
This verse could read like this.
“The One who holds the seven pastors in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven churches, says this:”
Christ here is seen as the One who holds the messengers,
As the One who holds the leaders.
In short, He is the One who is guiding those who guide the church.
The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 13:17a “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.”
James said:
James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
The Lord holds the leaders of His church to strict standards.
They guide the church so He guides them.
THE IMPLICATION THEN IS THAT JESUS IS YOUR GUIDE
We just studied this recently in our “It’s All About Jesus” study.
Colossians 1:18a “He is also head of the body, the church…”
He is the ultimate authority and the supreme guide.
WE ALSO FIND that He is the “One who walks among the seven golden lampstands”
You remember this as is His presence.
He dwells with His church.
So if you put the two together we find out that Jesus introduces Himself as “The One who is with you to guide you”
He is what a pilot is to an airplane
Without Him here
The church would have no direction, no guidance, no clue.
So if we can reiterate what Jesus said in John 15:
HE IS IRREPLACEABLE
Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Could you imagine the church without the presence of Jesus?
• He is our Provider
• He is our Protection
• He is our Power
• He is our Peace
• He is our Purpose
They hymn writer seemed to know:
“Without Him, I could do nothing, without Him, I’d surely fail; without Him I would be drifting like a ship without a sail. Without Him, I could be dying, without Him, I’d be enslaved; without Him, life would be hopeless, but with Jesus, thank God, I’m saved.”
If you take Jesus out of the church, we’d absolutely fall apart.
• How could we get along without His peace to unify us?
• How could we please the Father without His righteousness to clothe us?
• How could we reach the lost without His power to help us?
• How could we comfort the hurting without His compassion to drive us?
• How could we face adversity without His hope to strengthen us?
• How could we discern error without His truth to guide us?
• How could we resist temptation without His Spirit to help us?
• How could we grow without His model to direct us?
I mean, the reality is that if you take Jesus out of the church,
The church sinks.
It is a good thing that He is here and promises to never leave,
Because if He did, it would all be over.
The Church, Their Lord
#3 THEIR SUCCESS
Revelation 2:2-3, 6
It is important that you first recognize all that this church did well.
It is important that you see that
We are not talking about a bunch of thugs here at Ephesus.
“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; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.”
Jesus talked about their “deeds” and their “toil” and their “perseverance”
These are people who work and work hard and keep working.
They have given themselves to the back breaking labor of the ministry,
And they don’t quit just because it is hard.
These are warriors
They know how to push on.
And we even see in what area.
“you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false”
(6) “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
No one really knows who the Nicolaitans were or what they they did.
All that really matters is that we do know that the Lord hated their deeds.
Whatever they did, God hated it.
And so we find here that
Whether it was false apostles or false doctrine or false deeds,
The Ephesians discerned it, hated it, confronted it, and judged it.
And I don’t have to tell you that
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CHURCHES DO MUCH OF TODAY.
I can’t think of a time where more false teachers get more television time or Facebook shares than today in America.
And yet if you speak out against any of them,
People instantly rebuke you for being divisive.
Coupled with that there are very few churches
That want to deal with sin anymore.
Did Jesus stutter when He said:
Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Was Paul joking when he said:
1 Corinthians 5:11-13 “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.”
Or when he said:
2 Thessalonians 3:14 “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.”
It is clear throughout Scripture that the church is to remain pure.
That means both the pulpit and the pew
But try it sometime in our day and I can promise you will meet resistance.
The point is, what Ephesus was doing was amazing!
But it is even more impressive coming from the Ephesian church.
Why? – Because that is not at all who they started out being.
If you’ll remember, Timothy pastored that church for a while.
1 Timothy 1:3-7 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”
1 Timothy 2:12 “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.”
1 Timothy 4:1-5 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”
1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
2 Timothy 2:14-19 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, ” Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
Can you see the main issue Timothy had to deal with?
Ephesus was a church that tolerated false apostles and false doctrine.
Timothy’s main job (according to Paul) was to
• Confront those false teachers,
• Expose their heresy,
• Remove them,
• And entrust their teaching position to qualified men who teach the truth.
And according to Jesus here in the book of Revelation,
Ephesus had completely made that change.
They went from being a super tolerant church with no grasp of the truth
To a church firmly grounded and willing to confront error.
And as I said this is NOT easy.
• It is hard to stand up for truth.
• It is hard to confront and expose false teachers.
It is a hard thing to do.
In fact two other church of these 7
Were specifically reprimanded by Jesus for their failure to do this.
Pergamum
Revelation 2:14-15 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
Thyatira
Revelation 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
These two churches had been unwilling to take the stand
That the church in Ephesus had taken.
What Ephesus did was not easy to do.
• They embraced the hard work
• They embraced the dirty work
• They embraced the unpopular work
They were a church that stood up to defend the truth
And uphold the integrity of the gospel.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
And Ephesus clearly embraced that purpose.
They became “the pillar and support of the truth.”
And not only did they embrace the battle, but they gladly embraced it.
(3) “and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.”
They believed the name of Jesus was worth defending,
And they never tired of doing so.
These were warriors in every sense.
• Always ready to go to battle for truth.
• Always clothed in the gospel armor.
And since they were not always like that,
We certainly applaud them for their success in achieving it.
I just want to make sure you understand
How hard this church was working.
But this sermon is not about their success,
It is about their intolerable, inexcusable failure.
The Church, Their Lord, Their Success
#4 THEIR FAILURE
Revelation 2:4
“you have left your first love.”
It is true that when the Ephesian church started
• They had a problem with discernment.
• They struggled with false teachers.
But one they thing they didn’t struggle with at the very beginning
Was in their love for Jesus.
TURN TO: ACTS 19:11-20
These people didn’t understand everything,
But they did understand that Jesus was the most important thing.
And they were leaving everything behind for Him.
In fact, if you keep reading in Acts 19, you’ll find that they were so devoted to Jesus that it virtually killed the artisan business in Ephesus.
• The artisan’s had previously made a living selling crafted statues of Artemis
• Now the Ephesians had fallen so in love with Jesus that their businesses were
collapsing.
• Due to the economic strain one silversmith actually started a revolt to try and
get Paul killed.
The point being, the Ephesians didn’t have it all figured out in the beginning, but they did have one thing right,
And that was their love and devotion for Jesus.
He was their “first love”
But now Jesus says “you have left your first love”
“left” translates APHEIMI
It literally means “to leave alone”
It was the word used of when the disciples followed Jesus.
Mark 1:18 “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
It is also the word used of when they deserted Him
Mark 14:50 “And they all left Him and fled.”
In 1 Corinthians 7:11 & 7:12, it is translated “divorce”
In Revelation 2:20 the church in Thyatira is rebuked because they did this.
Revelation 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
There it means that they just “left her alone”
And didn’t do anything with her.
So it is to abandon, or ignore, or to put away.
Incidentally Jesus said He would never do this to us.
John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Jesus said He will never ignore us,
Or leave us alone, or send us away.
And yet, that is precisely what the Ephesians had done to Him.
“you have left your first love”
• (you have ignored Him)
• (you have divorced Him)
• (you have abandoned Him)
Sure you are busy defending Him
Sure you are busy proclaiming His truth
Sure you are busy rebuking those who slander Him
BUT YOU ARE NOT SPENDING TIME WITH HIM
You’ve gotten busy, you’ve gotten preoccupied,
And you’ve forgotten the very basics of the relationship.
That is what we are talking about.
This church was busy doing ministry, but they had forgotten Jesus.
They worked and toiled and served and fought and battled and endured,
But they had forgotten their most basic calling,
And that is to love Jesus.
And I want you to know that this was absolutely intolerable.
It was inexcusable.
#5 THEIR RESPONSIBILITY
Revelation 2:5
“remember from where you have fallen”
Don’t focus on the things you are now doing right…
That does not cancel out what you are doing wrong.
You are defending the truth, but you aren’t spending time with Me.
“do the deeds you did at first”
When you first got saved,
• You didn’t know much about the Bible, but you were hungry to read it.
• You didn’t know much about prayer, but you did it a lot.
• You didn’t know all the songs, but you sang the ones you did know.
• You didn’t have a lot of responsibilities at church, but you never wanted to miss
WHAT HAPPENED?
• It’s called complacency
• It’s called backsliddenness
• It’s called taking Jesus for granted
AND THAT IS NOT OK.
Your personal relationship with Jesus is important.
It’s not just about what you do FOR HIM, it’s about what you do WITH HIM.
Get back to those simple first things.
• Pray to Jesus
• Listen to Jesus
• Sing to Jesus
• Abide in Jesus
• Spend time with Jesus
And let me show you why we say failing to do this is inexcusable.
“or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.”
Jesus actually said that if they didn’t do this right,
They would no longer be a church.
He was going to put them out to pasture, and pull them out of the battle.
He would rather have a weak bride that loved Him
Than a strong soldier that ignored Him.
Their battling was commendable,
But their lack of devotion to Jesus was inexcusable.
HE WAS THEIR LORD, BUT HE WAS NOT THEIR LOVE,
And that was not enough for Jesus.
Remember these stories?
Luke 10:38-42 “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Can you really overstate what Jesus said,
“but only one things is necessary”?
Of all the things that could be said about our church…
Of all the things that could be said about you…
Could there be anything greater said than
They loved Jesus more than anything else?
It is after all the greatest commandment,
And Jesus never overlooked those who loved Him wholeheartedly.
Remember this lady?
Matthew 26:6-13 “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
More important than service…
More important than benevolence…
IS OUR LOVE AND DEVOTION FOR JESUS
And if we fail to see that, then according to Jesus He has no use for us.
BECAUSE WITHOUT BEING PLUGGED INTO THE VINE
WE CANNOT PRODUCE FRUIT!!!
I’ve many times likened it to a water hose.
There are all sorts of attachments you can put on a hose.
But if you don’t tie the other end of that hose to the faucet
You’ll get nothing.
And Jesus cannot use a church like that.
It’s all about Jesus!
We can’t miss that.
#6 THEIR EXAMPLE
Revelation 2:7
Obviously there Jesus is saying that
The Holy Spirit is screaming this to the church.
He wants to know if anyone is listening.
“He who has an ear, let him hear”
And the promise to all who overcome this complacency,
“I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”
What is He offering?
Eternal life in heaven
• This is the tree Adam and Eve were banned from.
• This is the tree in the middle of heaven.
The implication is that people who don’t grasp this vital point
Won’t receive that.
Are you saying that the Ephesians were going to lose their salvation?
No.
What we’re saying is that
Anyone who doesn’t have a love for Jesus is not saved
Regardless of how busy they are in the church.
You can’t miss that point.
NOW DO YOU SEE WHY THIS FAILURE
IS INTOLERABLE AND INEXCUSABLE?
If you get everything right except for your relationship with Jesus,
Then you’ve missed the whole thing.
Nothing matters like He matters.
Loving Him is hands down the most important thing you can do.
And it is your relationship with Him, above all else,
• That secures your life and access to heaven.
• And that makes you effective for the kingdom.
If I can give you one piece of encouragement this morning
It is that above all else we need people
Who are head over heels in love with Jesus.
The church at Ephesus was BUSY, but they were BACKSLIDDEN.
It’s time that they return to Jesus.
