Cross Examined 2 | Where Is The Love?
September 21, 2014 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
Examining Jesus' first letter to the seven churches—addressed to Ephesus—this teaching shows Christ intimately involved with His church, commending their doctrine and discernment yet indicting them for leaving their first love. The summons is to remember, repent, and return to simple faith and love, lest He remove their lampstand.
- In Revelation 2–3 Jesus "cross examines" His church, looking first at His own people before judging the world.
- Each of the seven letters follows a "rap sheet" pattern: revelation, commendation, indictment, summons, and promise.
- Jesus is intimately involved with His church—He holds the stars in His hand and walks among the lampstands—and He knows what is going on, both good and bad.
- Ephesus had sound doctrine and tested false apostles, yet they had deliberately left their first love—and we are nothing without love.
- The summons is the three R's: remember, repent, and return to the first works, or else Christ will come and remove their lampstand.
- We overcome by faith in Jesus, and to the overcomer is promised the right to eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
To the angel of the church at Ephesus write, These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say that they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. —
The church at Ephesus had everything that identifies a church—except the one thing that identifies a Christian.
A Courtroom Drama in Revelation
In September of 1990, NBC aired the first episode of Law and Order, which became one of the longest-running TV dramas in American history. It opened the door for an avalanche of similar programming—Court TV, criminal-intent spinoffs, and now law dramas you can watch around the clock. Authors like John Grisham have made millions writing legal thrillers, with more than twenty bestsellers, many becoming box-office hits.
There is something about that courtroom scene that draws us in—the judge, the jury, the prosecution and defense, the indictments, objections, and sentencing. In imagination it fascinates us, even if a real legal proceeding is about as exciting as putting together Ikea furniture.
What we have before us in Revelation is something like a courtroom scene. Jesus, the prosecutor and ultimate judge, shines His light upon His church. He examines His church in light of the cross—which is why we've called this series Cross Examined—as He writes seven letters to seven churches.
Letters to Real Churches, a Word for Us
These seven churches actually existed about 1,900 years ago in what is southwestern Turkey today—Ephesus, Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and so on. The letters had clear application to the people of that day. But I believe the Lord also has prophetic application He wants to speak to us in the 21st century. These churches reflect back to us like a mirror; we can identify with what was going on in them.
Some object that Revelation is about the judgment God will one day pour out upon a Christ-rejecting world. That is true—much of the book points to future wrath. But chapters 2 and 3 focus on the church, where that same examining gaze of Jesus falls on His own people. It reminds us of Peter's words: "The time has come where judgment must begin at the house of the Lord" ().
This is how God works. The book of Isaiah begins by focusing on God's own people in Judah and Jerusalem, identifying their sin, and only then, in chapters 13 through 23, shifts to the nations of the world. Here in and 3, the Lord first looks at us, His church. One day Judge Jesus will sentence a guilty world to capital punishment, but first He looks at His church.
The Imperfect Bride and the Grace of Jesus
Last week, in , we saw that the glorified Jesus had eyes like a flame of fire. Now that bright gaze looks upon the church—and one of the things we discover is that the church is not perfect. It never has been. There has never been a golden era. The church is full of people, and people are full of problems.
Yet the church is called the bride of Christ. In , Paul reveals that Jesus desires to present His bride blameless, without spot or blemish or wrinkle. Ladies, you remember the work that went into looking just right on your wedding day. We want that day when we stand before the Lord to be without spot or blemish. And yet, looking at the church now, sometimes she looks more like Shrek.
So Jesus examines His church in order to prepare us for His glorious revelation. We see the church's imperfections, but we also see the grace of Jesus. Thank God I'm not Jesus—if I looked at the church's problems, I'd probably just say, "Suck it up; fix it." But Jesus is "full of grace and truth" (). Many Christians are full of truth but short on grace; they just hammer people. Jesus is full of truth, yet His grace counterbalances it, and He mercifully reaches out to His people.
The Rap Sheet
As we go through these seven letters, we'll find each follows a consistent pattern—about five steps we'll call the rap sheet: (1) the revelation, (2) the commendation, (3) the indictment, (4) the summons, and (5) the promise.
There is also a correlation between how Jesus works here and what Paul gives us in : "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Scripture is revealed by God and reveals God. He gives us doctrine—good teaching about who He is. Then comes reproof: when we see Him, we see we don't measure up.
This is exactly what happened to Isaiah. He saw the Lord high and lifted up, the angels crying "Holy, holy, holy," and he said, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips." The mere revelation of God reproved him. After reproof comes correction—"this is how you get back where you should be"—and then instruction in righteousness—"this is how you stay there." We see the same pattern in and 3.
To the Angel of the Church at Ephesus
Each letter opens, "To the angel of the church." There's much discussion and little agreement about who the angel is. Some make a good case for an angelic being overseeing each church. Others note that the Greek word angelos means "messenger" and suggest it refers to the overseeing elder or pastor. We don't know for certain, and in the end it doesn't much matter; it's simply how the Lord addresses the church in that area.
The apostle Paul passed through Ephesus on his second missionary journey and returned on his third, when God primarily used him to plant and establish the church there. Ephesus was a chief city of Asia Minor, and many of the other churches—Smyrna, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Laodicea—were probably offshoots of Paul's ministry there. Paul later wrote his letter to the Ephesians almost forty years before this letter from Jesus, so the church is now forty to fifty years old.
The Revelation: Jesus Is Intimately Involved
Each letter begins with a revelation of Jesus. Here He says, "These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." This reveals that Jesus is intimately involved with His church.
We understand this from , which is like a key on a map. John records, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," and heard a loud voice like a trumpet. He turned and saw seven golden lampstands, and in their midst one like the Son of Man, who had in His right hand seven stars. Verse 20 gives the interpretation: "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
So when Jesus says to Ephesus, "I am he who holds the seven stars in my right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands," He is saying, "I hold you in My hand, and I walk in your midst." His presence and protection are with them. Some of us need to be reminded that Jesus is not distant. He is alive, actively and intimately involved in what's happening right here, and in each of our lives. He knows the number of the hairs on your head—not because He's counting in heaven, but because He is intimately involved.
This flies in the face of deism, that worldview popular in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, which imagined a God who wound up the clock and then went off to the edge of the universe. No—Jesus is intimately involved in His church.
The Commendation: Jesus Knows What Is Going On
Because He is intimately involved, Jesus knows what is going on. In verses 2 and 3 comes the commendation: "I know your works, your labor, your patience. I know that you cannot bear those who are evil, and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars."
The church at Ephesus did not put up with sin. Paul had to rebuke Corinth for retaining wicked people, but that wasn't happening at Ephesus. They also tested traveling teachers. Early on, Apollos came through knowing only part of the gospel, and Priscilla and Aquila pulled him aside to set his theology straight. At Paul's last meeting with the Ephesian elders in , he warned that savage wolves would come; they took it to heart. Forty years later, Jesus commends them: you tested those claiming to be apostles and found them liars.
This is a blessing—Jesus is intimately involved in your life and our church. But it is also challenging. A burglar once broke into an empty house, and in the darkness a voice said, "Jesus is watching you." It turned out to be a parrot named Moses—named by the same people who named their Rottweiler Jesus. A silly story, but the point stands: Jesus is watching, and that is challenging, because He knows both the good and the bad.
The Indictment: You Have Left Your First Love
Then comes verse 4: "Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love." You've waited for that "but" before—"I love your church, it's wonderful, but…" Ephesus had their doctrine in order and their practice in order, but somewhere along the line they lost something.
We can't say they merely dropped it or drifted, because there seems to be deliberate neglect here. Everything looked great on the outside, but deep within there was a deliberate departure from the most important thing.
When a lawyer asked Jesus the greatest commandment, the answer—taken from the Shema in —was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And in Jesus said, "By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." Think about it: the church at Ephesus had everything you'd need to be identified as a church, yet lacked the very thing that identifies them as Christian.
We Are Nothing Without Love
This reminds us that we are nothing without love. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become like a sounding brass or clanging cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
As we grow older, become spouses and parents, there are many things we leave behind in the past. But this is something we never move away from as Christians: love.
The Summons: Remember, Repent, and Return
Verse 5 is the summons: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent." Here are the three R's: remember, repent, and return.
Notice that "or else." So many in the church say, "Lord, come quickly." But here Jesus says, "Repent, or else I will come quickly and remove your lampstand"—the lampstand being a symbol of the church. If the Lord came quickly today and removed the church, some of you might still be here. He says it as a caution. That puts a different spin on the rapture.
What are the first works? Perhaps the early things of the faith—before all our doctrinal positions were buttoned up and our Christianese was fluent. The simple things of loving God, loving others, and praising Jesus for our salvation. This is a conditional, cause-and-effect prophecy: if you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand.
The Promise and the Nicolaitans
The fifth part of the rap sheet is the promise, in verse 7: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." If you repent and overcome, you will eat from the tree of life.
But back up to verse 6, a strange juxtaposition: "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." Ephesus, you're unloving—but I'm glad you hate these deeds. Notice Jesus says you hate the deeds, the sinful actions, not the people themselves, because God hates those actions too.
Who were the Nicolaitans? There are about as many theories as there are commentators. Irenaeus and other early church fathers said they were followers of Nicholas, one of the early deacons of who went off into the heresy of Gnosticism. Others say they were a carnal, sexually immoral group calling themselves Christians. We don't know for certain. All we know is that Jesus hated their deeds, and Ephesus was commended for not liking them.
Why say this here? It's instructive. Jesus says, "Get back to your first love, back to love"—but in doing so, we must not go so far that we tolerate all kinds of sinful action. Some say, "We're a loving church, so it's okay to keep walking in adultery, fornication, or homosexuality and still be Christian." Jesus says, no. He is the most loving thing in the universe, because God is love—yet there are certain things the God of love hates. Read Proverbs 6: the things the Lord hates, yes, seven that are an abomination.
How We Overcome
To the overcomer, Jesus promises the tree of life. In Genesis, an angel with a flaming sword guarded the way to the tree of life; it is not for the sinful, but for those made righteous by Christ. How do we overcome? In , John—who would later receive this very revelation—writes, "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" adds, "They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony." So we repent, do the first works, and return to our simple faith in Jesus.
Some of you today, though you have fluent Christianese and buttoned-up theology, recognize something is missing. The Lord says it's time to repent—return to the simplicity of the faith, to loving God and loving one another, even those who hold a different opinion on eschatology than you do.
I once counseled a couple whose marriage was falling apart. They got saved in that meeting and asked, "What do we do next?" I gave them a Bible and said, "Read Ephesians." They came back the next week and said, "We were reading this, and we think we should stop getting drunk." I said, "That's a good idea." Week after week it was the same: they'd read the next book, come back, and say, "We think we should do this." I'd say, "Yes, you should."
Remember how it was when you first read the Scriptures? You read, "Do this," and you did it. Now you read it and say, "Well, I need to look at the Greek and make sure it's really saying what I think." "Thou shalt not." "Well, there's some nuance in the original." No, there isn't. Just stop. Repent—or else I will come quickly and remove your lampstand from its place.
Closing Prayer
Lord God, there are some sobering things in this passage. Open our eyes. Help us to walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as those who know what they are to do, understanding the times. Work in us these things from this text. Help us to be those whose hearts are soft and ready to receive what You want to speak to us.
And Lord, it may be that some here, perhaps for the first time, realize they are not where they should be in their walk with You. Would You bid them to come? Jesus' word is simple: remember, repent, and return to simple faith and obedience in Him.
If that's you today, pray with me: Dear Jesus, I recognize that I have fallen. I recognize that I'm not where I should be. I ask You, God, to work in my heart. Lord, please forgive me. Receive me to Yourself again. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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