Coming Back to Total Devotion

For our time of study in the word this morning, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2. We're continuing in our total devotion series and as a part of that series, we'll be looking at Revelation chapter 2 verses 1 through 7 and the title of the message this morning is Coming Back to Total devotion. Most of who John Bunyan is. he's a man who was wonderfully saved hundreds of years ago and who wrote the book Pilgrim's Progress that has been used in so many people's lives.

Before John Bunyan was converted to Christ, he labored rightly under God's condemnation and a fear of God's wrath for His sins, but when God regenerated John Bunyan's heart and saved him, one of the first things that John Bunyan noticed surging from his heart was a passionate love for Jesus. in his account of his conversion, he says, now, I found that I loved Christ dearly. My soul cleaved unto him, my affections cleaved unto him. I felt love to him as hot as fire.

Perhaps, thanks, bro. perhaps those words, give good expression to how you felt. In the weeks and months after Christ saved you, I know that I felt That way, when I surrendered to Christ's love on November 13th, 19. 82.

I loved him so much. That I felt as if I could never sin again. In the days that followed, I, I wondered how I could have ever even survived a day apart from his love. As I looked into the future, I saw a whole lifetime of discovery ahead of me walking side by side with Jesus and falling more and more deeply in love with Him with each passing day.

I was 19 years old and I'm, I'm being honest, to my way of thinking, my problem with sin was pretty much over. That's how much I loved Jesus. But, this will come as a shock to some of you. I did sin again.

And I've wandered far from Christ 1000 times since those early days, and my love for Jesus has often grown sinfully cold. My heart has become distracted and ensnared by other loves rather than the love of Jesus and I have on many occasions tasted the bitter fruit of those wanderings. I have gone spells when I have had little love in my heart for Jesus and a greater love sometimes for other things. All the while, I may have been engaging in good deeds on the outside, yet on the inside my heart.

was no longer on fire with love for Jesus like it was before. And perhaps the same thing. Has at times happened to you as well. This is the 11th sermon in our total devotion.

Series and As we have looked at various passages and topics over the last 11 messages in this series. I'm very aware that some of you have probably been left feeling wistful and saddened. By the realization that the words total devotion do not describe you anymore. Those two words used to describe you.

But not anymore. Over the years, We think that we're supposed to grow more and more in love with Jesus, yet maybe you look back on your earliest days in Christ as your best days of total devotion to him. Those were the days when your love for Jesus was as hot as fire. Those were your days of total devotion.

But you're not there anymore. Now you often find yourself just going through the motions and sometimes you're not even bothering with the motions at all. what's right and what's wrong. You try to live by that sense, you try to do your Christian duty, you may even be wearing yourself out in ministry to other people.

You hate the sins that plague our society today, but honestly, your Christian life, Feels like a shell of what it used to be. The passion for Christ that you once had is just not there any longer. And perhaps you wonder what would Jesus say to me if he could speak to me. Right now.

It seems, if it's any encouragement to you that the same thing had happened to the Ephesian Christians in the Ephesian church that Jesus does speak to in our passage today. When these Ephesians were first saved, their love for Jesus was as hot as fire, yet by the time we get to Revelation chapter 2, we find them in a state of having left their first love. And Jesus wants to talk to them about this. He wants to engage them.

Because you see, even though the Ephesians had left their first love for Christ, Jesus had not left his first love for them, and that's the first thing you need to realize this morning. In Revelation chapter 1 verse 5, John the apostle describes Jesus as him who loves us, present tense. Jesus didn't just love us or the Ephesians. In the past, But he loved them as fervently in the present.

As he ever did. And in our passage today, he's going to speak to them. Exactly what they need to hear from him who loves them as fervently as he ever did. But before we get to our passage for today, we do need to set the stage for our look at Revelation chapter 2.

I hope you don't mind this. I think we'll really appreciate the opportunity to look at Jesus as he's presented in Revelation 1. In Revelation chapter 1, John, Explains how the Book of Revelation even came about in the first place and ultimately how Christ's letter to the Ephesians came about. Listen to what he says beginning in verse 10.

He says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet saying, write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smymyrna. And a Pergamum and a Thyatira, and a Sardis and a Philadelphia. And to Laodicea. Verse 12, John says, then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me and having turned, I saw 7 golden lampstands and in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man.

Clothed in a robe reaching to his feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash. His head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he held 7 stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.

Keep in mind John is the one who leaned on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper and has been walking with Jesus in close relationship for about 6 decades now. Yet, look at how John responds when he sees his best friend in his glorified state. John says verse 17, when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. John is overcome with fear at the sight of the glorified Jesus, and we know that he was filled with fear because of what happens next.

In verse 17, John says, and he, Jesus, placed his right hand on me, saying, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one, and I was dead. It's almost like he's saying to John, John, you don't have to fall down like a dead man because I already did that. And I actually died.

And behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Jesus tells John then to write down what he is about to see, and then Jesus explains the meaning of the stars and the lamp stands to John. In verse 20, Jesus says, 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 7 lampstands are the 7 churches. Of Asia Minor.

Jesus then immediately says in Revelation 2:1, to the angel of the church of Ephesus, right. So the 7 lampstands are the 7 churches of Asia Minor, which is where modern day Turkey is. And the 7 stars are the angels of the 7 churches, and it is to the angels of each of the churches that Jesus tells John to write. So an obvious question that every interpreter of the book of Revelation is asking at this point is, what are these angels?

Of the 7. Churches, when we think of angels, we think of supernatural. Heaven-sent beings. To answer that question, it's best for us to remember that the Greek word Angela.

Or Angelia, but we'll say Angela just to keep it similar to our word angel means message. Angela is the Greek word, one of the Greek words for message, and in the New Testament in Angelos is a messenger of some sort, be it a heavenly messenger or a human messenger. This is why the Bible calls angels angels. Because they are messengers, but humans can be messengers too.

For example, in Mark chapter 1 verse 2, John the Baptist is spoken of as an angellos. An angel because he was God's messenger. The evangelists spoken of in Ephesians 4:11 are, here's the Greek word evangelistes, and notice the word angel. Inside of that Greek word evangelistes.

In 2 Timothy 4:5. Paul speaks to Timothy, who was overseeing the Ephesian Church, essentially the head pastor of the Ephesian Church, and he tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelistes. Quite literally, he's telling Timothy that a part of his job as a church leader, as a pastor is to be an angel, a messenger bearing the good news. That's what it means.

Whenever you evangelize, evangelize somebody, you're being an angel. In their life, delivering good news to them. So we would say that in this chapter, Revelation 212 and 3, essentially in this context, that the angel of each of these seven churches is best understood as God's primary messenger to that church that John is being told to write a letter to. Perhaps we could.

Say that the angel of each church is the pastor teacher of that church or the principal teaching elder of that church whose job it was to deliver the deposit of gospel-centered truth to that church. As John MacArthur says, The, he takes the, the word angels in this passage to be referring to the seven key elders representing each of those churches, and that's not a bad way to put it, especially if we think of these seven key elders as the seven key teaching elders who were God's messengers to that flock.

So when Jesus says in Ephesians 2:1 to the angel of the Church of Ephesus, right, he's wanting John. To write down his words to the key elder or to the key teaching pastor of that church, a pastor who also happens to embody the very strengths and weaknesses.

The good qualities and the sins. and needs of the Ephesian Church. The letter that we're gonna look at today will be both to the pastor of that church. And to the church itself.

So with all of that said, by way of introduction, we can now watch and observe Jesus engaging in eight acts as he pursues the Ephesian congregation and seeks to turn the Ephesian Church, including its pastor, Back to a life of total devotion to him. We'll look at these 8 acts of Jesus today, and the first of these acts is that Jesus describes himself in relation to the churches and their pastors. All of the seven letters to the churches, you'll notice, begin with a look at Jesus.

With Jesus describing things about himself, that he wants the members of that church to know about Him.

And here in verse one, Jesus says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, right, the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lamp stands, says this. Guys, this is how Jesus wants to present himself to the Ephesian church. First of all, he describes himself as the one who holds the 7 stars. What are the stars?

The 7 angels or messengers or pastors. Of the church. He says to the one who holds the seven stars, these chief teaching elders in his right hand. Jesus wants the Ephesian Church.

And it's pastor-teacher to know that he holds the pastors of these churches in his right hand. What hold is this? What's the hold of ownership? These men belong to Christ.

This is also the hold of security. Given the fact that no one can pluck them out of Jesus' hand. This is also the hold of usefulness. Christ holds these messengers of gospel truth in his right hand the way that a carpenter holds a hammer.

In his hand and wields that hammer. Guys, when Jesus uses any such one who's in his right hand. When he wields any such one and uses any such one to any good effect, he gets the glory. Not them.

When a house is built, no one raves about the hammer that was used to build it. They may rave about the carpenter who wielded the hammer. And Jesus holds. These chief elders in his right hand and wields them.

Jesus also describes himself as the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands. And we've already learned that the golden lampstands are the 7 churches. So Jesus wants to be seen by the Ephesians. These are lampstands upon which the fire burns and gives off light to the world.

We're told in Philippians 2:15 that we appear as lights in the world and here we see. That even as a corporate entity, each church serves as a single light. That is given off. And here in verse one, Jesus talking to the Ephesians, describes himself as the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

He walks among the churches. And at the very least this reflects His loving and tender care. For his churches. My wife Donna has a number of succulent plants on every side of our home.

And every morning she walks among the succulents. She studies them. She waters them and she notices the little differences in them from day to day as they grow. She sees the little injuries that they sustain.

She even talks to the plants. I sometimes hear her talking in our backyard and I look out the window and see that she's talking to a succulent plant. As she waters that plant, she says to me that they grow better when You talk to them. Her plants make her happy and she delights in them.

Guys, that's part of the vibe here. With Jesus as he walks among the seven golden lampstands and talks to each one of them. In these letters Jesus walks among the churches. To this day, he cares for them and tends to them.

He inspects them and he notices everything. He sees when a soul is wounded. He sees the slight changes in a church from day to day as the church progresses in the right direction or digresses in the wrong direction as its light brightens or diminishes. He sees those good deeds that some of you do that nobody else sees.

He hears every prayer that is prayed and he notices when prayers are not prayed. He sees the good things that fail to get done because we're too preoccupied with other things that are of lesser importance. He sees everything. Jesus has much to say to the Ephesian church, but before he begins, he He gets them to fix their gaze upon him.

And he presents himself to them in this way. And then having stated this brief description of himself, he turns next to encouraging them with the good that he sees in them. And this leads us to the second act of Jesus as he seeks to turn the Ephesians Church back to a life of total devotion to him. And that is number 2, he affirms the good that he sees in them as a church.

Observe what he says beginning in verse 2. He says, I know your deeds. And in the context, the meaning here is I know your good deeds. He says, I know your deeds and your toil.

The word toil speaks of labor to the point of weariness and exhaustion. Jesus sees their labor, he sees their weariness, he sees the good deeds that they have done for others, and the exhaustion that sometimes comes from serving Christ in that way, and he appreciates it and he says so here. He also says, I know your perseverance. In other words, I see how you have stuck to the task and have not given up on doing my work even though you've been tired and exhausted and provoked and discouraged along the way.

I see how you have persevered in truth while others have not. And I see that you have persevered in trusting me. Having faith in me. He also says, I know that you cannot tolerate evil men.

Jesus is saying to the Ephesian church, you are an intolerant church in the best of ways. You don't tolerate evil men in your midst, nor do you give them a platform for ministry. He says you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them. You found them to be false.

The Ephesian Church was a discerning church. They didn't just follow the teaching of anyone who claimed to be a Christian or an apostle of Jesus Christ. They would put anyone claiming to be an apostle to the test to see if their teaching lined up with the teaching of Christ and His true apostles. And if their teaching did not line up, The Ephesian Church labeled them as false apostles and warned other people about them.

If you were a false apostle living in this day in the area of Asia Minor. You didn't want to go anywhere near the Ephesian Church. Because they would find you out and expose you. Other people might be fooled, but they would not be fooled.

This church is sharp. Verse 3, Jesus says, and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have not grown weary. There's actually love here. That's indicated in the Ephesians, in these words, they, they've not just persevered and endured.

Jesus says they persevered and endured for my name's sake. For Jesus' name's sake. This means that they love Jesus and they want to exalt his reputation. They've endured hardships for him and for his name's sake.

Though they have grown weary on some levels, they've not grown so weary to the point of giving up and ceasing to do what they know to be right, and they've endured in that way for Jesus' name's sake. For the sake of his reputation and the furtherance of his cause. Guys, these are wonderful things about the Ephesian Church. And I love the fact that Jesus begins by taking the time to bring these things up and talk about these good things first.

He definitely has something against this church, and he's going to come to that in just a moment. But what he has against them does not blind him to the good that he genuinely sees in them. If you are a Christian, Jesus may right now have some things against you that he wants to confront you and talk to you about, but he never lets those bad things blind him to the good and to the beauty that he sees in you. At the same time, Jesus never lets the good that he sees in you blind him to the bad.

Which he will confront you about. And that's what he does in verse 4, and this leads us to the 3rd act of Jesus as he seeks to call the Ephesian Church back to a life of total devotion to him, and that is he faults them for leaving their first love. In verse 4, he says, but I have this against you that you have left your first love. Notice that Jesus is not telling them that they've abandoned love.

He's telling them that they have abandoned their first love. Meaning a love that they once possessed at the first, at the outset of their walk with Christ. In the next verse, Jesus will be telling the Ephesians to do the deeds they did at first, which refers to some point. Prior in time.

That could be described as the first time at the beginning of their existence as a church or as Christians. Many commentators suggest that this expression, first love refers to the fervent love of the new Christian. The younger Christian who is living in the fresh experience of salvation, of having his sins being forgiven, and of being reconciled to God through Christ and being delivered from the wrath of God. It's a love that of a profoundly grateful person.

who understands the wrath of God that he's been saved from. Grace teaches the sinner's heart to fear, and it is grace that relieves those fears, and it's in the fresh relief of those fears. That a profound love for Christ springs forth from the heart of a regenerated person as it did with John Bunyan. In Luke 7:47, you might wanna write that reference down.

Jesus basically teaches that the one who has forgiven much, loves much. And I think that's synonymous, essentially. With the first love that's being spoken of. Fresh in the experience of salvation and forgiveness and deliverance from God's wrath, the forgiven sinner loves Jesus with a love that is hotter than fire.

This seems to be the love that the Ephesians had fallen away from, as one commentator says, their fervent love had cooled off. It hadn't disappeared, it had cooled off. Or as John MacArthur says, their passion and fervor for Christ had become cold, mechanical orthodoxy. In Revelation chapter 2 verse 4.

Christ is essentially pointing to this fervent love that they once had for him at the first, and he's saying to the Ephesians, you've left that. One of the things that's hit me really hard this week is what an amazingly vulnerable and transparent thing this is for Jesus to say to the Ephesians. It's not easy for us to go to someone who doesn't seem to love us like they used to and actually say out loud. I've noticed that you don't love me like you used to.

Yet Jesus does this. This is the glorified Lord who's worshiped and adored by Uncountable angels in heaven, and here he is speaking to these imperfect and mortal Ephesian Christians and saying to them, you, you don't act like you love me the way that you used to and I want to deal with that. This is an amazingly vulnerable thing to say. It's a crazy thing to think that the fervency of my love for Christ even matters to him.

But this verse shows us that Jesus doesn't just want our service and our orthodoxy, he wants our love. And he doesn't just want our love, he wants our fervent love. And if he sees that our love for him is not what it once was, he's gonna come after us and say, we need to talk about this. And that's what he does with these Ephesians.

This is the same Lord who talked to Peter after his resurrection and said, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And here he's speaking to the Ephesians and saying, you've You've left your first love.

You don't love me like you used to. He faults them for leaving their first love, but fortunately, he doesn't just stop there. This leads us to the next act of Jesus as he seeks to turn the Ephesian Church back to a life of total devotion to him, and that is he calls them to repent and return to their first love for him. He gives them practical instructions to help them get back to their first love for Him.

Listen to what he says in verse 5. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first. First of all, they are to remember from where they have fallen. They're to think back to their former days of greater passion for Christ.

which they have fallen from. Sometimes we fall away from Christ by small measures, so small we don't even notice and we forget even what we once had and where we once were with Jesus. Then maybe we come across a journal from a few years back and we read that and suddenly we get a vivid glimpse of where we once were with the Lord and how far we are from that. And Jesus is trying to provoke that remembering in the Ephesians.

Right now, Jesus wants them to remember. Guys, if you have left your first love, remember the days when you did have that first love. Remember what it was about those days that made you love Jesus so much. And what was it about your life then?

That's different To your life now. Study that. Contemplate that, think about that, take time to remember the place of greater love that you have fallen from. It's what Jesus commands you to do.

Then Jesus tells them and us to repent. This means to change their mind and acknowledge their error. It means to say I've been wrong to leave my first love. It's a sin that I have ended up in some other place other than the place of my first love, and rather than continuing down the road that I'm going on, I aim to get back to loving Jesus the way that I once did.

This also would mean to repent of any sins that are in your life that have gotten a hold of you, that have caused your love for Jesus. To cool To repent of any other loves that you have allowed to assume a higher place in your heart and in your life than your love for Jesus. I love what Jesus says next. He then says, and do the deeds you did at first.

He doesn't say, and then after you've remembered and repented, just sit around and wait for the feelings to return. No, do the deeds that you did at the first. He doesn't say feel the feelings that you felt at first, but do the deeds you did at first. Guys, feelings often will follow action.

Emotion follows motion. And Jesus is saying, do the deeds that you did at first. Again, he's hearkening them to an earlier time when they engaged in certain behaviors and whatever these behaviors were, they were deeds that gave expression to their love for Jesus, and they were deeds that served to nurture within them that first love, and to keep it as hot as fire. We'll come back to these instructions at the end of the Message, but for now, I, I want you guys to at least see the encouragement in Jesus' words here.

If a person leaves their first love, It's easy for them to start believing that, well, I guess I must have never really loved Jesus in the first place. But Jesus' words here show us that this isn't true. When Jesus says, remember from where you have fallen, part of what he's saying is, I remember. Where you used to be.

Your former love for me was legit. And I remember it. And he's saying, please join me in remembering the place where you once were with me. He then says, repent and do the deeds you did at first.

And again, implied in this is Jesus is saying, I remember the things that you used to do. I loved it when you did those things. Those things were wonderful and legitimate. Start doing those things that you used to do when you loved me more.

That's the call. And this is not some casual call from Jesus. These are not suggestions. He's blood, earnest, serious about this.

The stakes are high here and the fate of the Ephesian Church hangs in the balance. This leads us to the 5th act of Jesus as he seeks to turn the Ephesian Church back to a life of total devotion to him, and that is he warns them of the outcome if they don't repent. Look at the warning that Christ delivers. He says, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lamp stand out of its place unless you repent.

Remember that the lampstand is the church. So what he's saying is give heed to what I'm saying. Remember and repent and do the deeds you did at first. Or I will remove your church from its place.

Notice that he's not technically saying that he will destroy the lampstand. But simply That he will remove it out of its place. This could mean it's place of usefulness. This could mean it's place of prominence.

It's prominent place of leadership among the seven churches of Asia Minor, it was the leading church. That was its place. Or Jesus could be speaking of the removal of the church from existence altogether. Guys, the only thing Jesus faults the Ephesian Church for.

is leaving their first love, and here he's telling them that their destiny as a church will depend on whether they return to that first love or not. And if anything, Christ's warning here shows us how dangerous it is to leave one's first love. Evidently, leaving one's first love introduces such malignancy into a person's life and into a church that it would destroy a church if allowed to run unchecked. One commentator says that leaving one's first love is the starting point of all church and individual failure.

And that's so true. I've read a handful of testimonies and even talked to Christians who have fallen into serious sin. have committed adultery. or done things.

That an earlier version of themselves would have never thought possible. And they all use different language as they tell how they got from point A to point B. But one of the common features in all of their stories is that the downward slide began when essentially they left their first love. When their passion for Christ cooled and they allowed other things to begin to capture their love, and little by little, one thing led to another and then another until one day they found themselves engaging in behaviors.

That 10 years earlier, They would have never thought they were capable of doing. Be warned It's against the backdrop of this understanding that we need to read Jesus' warning here, I think. Jesus is not being vindictive and petty when he threatens to remove their lamp stand from its place. He's saying to the Ephesians Church, if you continue in this state, of having left your first love, the malignancy of your Lack of fervent love.

will grow and fester and eventually infect the whole church to such a degree that there will be nothing worthwhile left. Your flame will diminish to the point where I will be left with no choice but to remove your lampstand out of its place of usefulness and leadership that it now occupies or even perhaps remove it from existence. May this never be the fate of Cornerstone. That we would be removed from our place of usefulness in Christ's kingdom.

That we would either go out of existence or even worse. That we would still exist but no longer be serving any useful purpose to Jesus. May we never lose our sense of amazement at the salvation that Christ has given to us. May we never fall out of love with Jesus.

And if we have fallen out of love with Him, may we do the remembering and the repenting necessary to let the Lord carry us back into that first love. What Jesus does next. is yet another demonstration of how worthy he is of our first love. He's just Rebuke them And called them to repent.

But after having done that, he takes a moment to share with them yet another thing that he appreciates about them. This leads us to the 6th action of Christ as he calls the Ephesians back to a life of total devotion to Him. Number 6, he commends them for hating what he hates. Verse 6, he says, yet this you do have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

We don't know much about the Nicolaitans other than that they did have a body of teaching that is referred to in Revelation 2:15. The only other thing for the sake of time that we really need to know about them. Is that Evidently they engaged in deeds that Jesus hated. And Jesus is complimenting the Ephesians for hating the same deeds that he, Jesus hates.

This means that it is a virtue to hate what Jesus hates. Jesus hates sinful deeds, and we are like Jesus, when we hate the deeds that he hates. And I think I'm safe in saying this morning. That we need more hate.

In our churches today. And when I say that, I'm speaking of a hatred that is born of love. A hatred of sin that ruins people's lives. A hatred of false teaching that sends people to hell.

A hatred of compromise with the world. A hatred of sins that are accepted and applauded as good in our society today. A hatred of our own sins. But with that hatred, For what is wrong.

We also need a love for Jesus. A passionate love for Jesus as the first and greatest love of our lives. In fact, I think we can say that a passionate love for Jesus will inevitably produce in us a corresponding hatred for all that is contrary to him. Hatred is not the opposite of love.

Hatred is a product of love. If you really love righteousness, you will hate unrighteousness. If you really love Jesus, you will hate. All that would rise up against him.

And be contrary to him. Jesus commends them for hating what he hates. Jesus has said a lot of important things to the Ephesians Church just in these verses, and he wants every word that he has spoken to be heard by everybody, including us, and this brings us to the 7th act of Jesus. In his efforts to turn the Ephesian Church back to a life of total devotion to him, and that is he urges them to hear what he's saying to them.

In fact, we can more accurately say he urges everyone to hear what he's saying to them. In verse 7, Jesus says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. To the churches. It's interesting in the gospel accounts, Jesus often says, he who has ears, plural.

To hear, let him hear. But here he says he who has an ear. Singular, let them hear. As one writer says, Jesus is saying, if you have even one ear, listen.

To what I'm saying And it doesn't even have to be a good ear. If you have one ear, listen to what I am saying. Let them hear what the spirit says to the churches. Let's not skim over this.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches plural. This is a call for the Ephesians readers to listen carefully to everything that Jesus has just said to them, but it's also a call for the Ephesians to stick around and listen to what he's going to say to the other 6 churches throughout the rest of chapter 2 and 3. This is also a call for the members of the other 6 churches who have an ear. To listen in on what Jesus has just said to the Ephesian Church.

Keep in mind That these 7 letters to the 7 churches are not private letters. This is Jesus speaking to each church in front of the other six churches. Who can now listen in and learn from each other's mistakes and hold each other accountable. In this case, of Ephesians 2:1 through 7, Jesus wants the other six churches of Asia Minor to hear what he has said to the Ephesian church.

So that they would learn not to leave their first love. So that they can join Jesus in affirming the good. Things that he has said about the Ephesian Church and also so that the members of these other six churches can be praying for and encouraging and following up with the Ephesian Church on how they're doing in this matter of getting back to their first love. Imagine guys, that Jesus, we get an announcement from Jesus where he says, I, I have a very particular message I wanna deliver to Cornerstone.

And I want you all to show up next Sunday to hear this message. What would you be thinking? And then what if Jesus said, and I want you to invite 6 other churches to listen to what I'm gonna say to you. That's the experience of the Ephesians.

Here This is community and accountability on steroids. Jesus also wants us to listen to what he says to the Ephesian Church. He who has an ear to hear, how many of you have at least one ear? Raise your hand.

All right, so we're included in this call from Jesus. Let us hear what Jesus through the agency of the Spirit is saying to the churches. To encourage and challenge the Ephesians and us, Jesus does one more thing, and this leads us to the final act of Jesus as he calls the Ephesians back to a life of total devotion to him, and that is he promises the tree of life to the person who overcomes. Listen to his promise, verse 7, to him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The word that is translated overcomes is the, the Greek word from which we get our English word Nike. Means to triumph, to, to overcome. In fact, someone on our worship team has the word triumph on their shirt. Did you notice that?

The reason I noticed is at first, I thought it said Trump. And I'm like, what are they doing? But no, there's an I there, it said triumph. And that's, this is the perfect Sunday for that.

To him who triumphs, to him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. They can eat of the tree of life. Guys, the last time in the Bible, prior to this verse, when the actual tree of life was mentioned? Genesis.

Chapter 3 verse 24, that's how long it's been. The tree of life was once in the Garden of Eden, available to Adam and Eve, but after they sinned. God drove them from the garden and blocked their access to the tree of life so that Adam and Eve could not eat from that tree and live forever in their fallen state. But here we're told that the tree of life will be made available once again.

Its location will be in the paradise of God and those who overcome will be granted eternal access to eat freely of this tree of life. And live forever You say, well, then I wanna overcome. How do I do that? Well, you need to realize that Jesus is the one who's already overcome at the cross.

His victory was sealed when he was raised from the dead and ascended to God's right hand, and anyone who puts their trust in Jesus and gets inside of him. is instantly and forever an overcomer. Because they're in him. Beyond that We're told in Revelation chapter 12 verse 11.

About those who overcome Satan. And it says they overcame him, Satan, because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. So how does one become an overcomer and eat from the tree of life and the paradise of God? By receiving and by cherishing the atonement that Christ provides through his blood.

By believing in the gospel word that serves as your eternal testimony, and by loving Jesus first and foremost, even more than your own life, all the way to your last breath. And true believers do that. And if you've left your first love, you overcome by following the instructions that Jesus provides. In Revelation 2:5.

In order to make your way back to your first love. Let's go back to those 3 instructions as we wrap up today. Three R's. The first is, remember.

Jesus says, if you've left your first love, remember. From where you have fallen. Take some time this week to remember. The way things were with you and Jesus when you were walking more closely with Him and loving Him more than you are today.

Remember the things you did, the disciplines that you practiced, and whatever you find. Whatever you find yourself remembering, realize that Jesus remembers that too, and that's why he's calling you to remember. He wants you to remember what he remembers. The memories of those days are more precious to him than they are to you actually.

Remember them and ask God to help you to remember. Those days and to even remember when things started to change for the worst. The second R is repent. It means to get mean and nasty and drastic with anything in your life that's caused your love for Christ to grow cold or has caused you to grow distant from him.

Repent of any sins that are in your life, renounce any loves that have captured your heart and assumed a higher place in your heart than your love for Jesus. Tear down any idols that have captured your affections, repent. Jesus says, And guys, don't read what he says in verse 5 and, and think that Jesus is just saying, If you've left your first love, then repent of having left your first love. That's not all he's saying.

He's also saying repent, period. One of the primary reasons that a person's love for Christ begins to wane. is because they stopped repenting, period. They stop seeing their own sin for the awful and the heinous thing that it is.

They stopped confessing their sins and obtaining cleansing through Christ's blood and forgiveness through his blood. And thus they begin to lose sight of how amazing God's grace is, and the more they lose sight of how amazing God's grace is, the less they love Jesus. The one who has forgiven little loves little. The one who is forgiven much loves much.

So be a daily repenter. When was the last time you repented? Boldly Clearly Over some sin in your life and you say, well, I, I feel bad about how this week went and I'm not asking if you feel bad. Everyone feels bad.

That's not repentance. When was the last time you called yourself out? And called your sin what it is without making any excuses. And confessed that sin to God.

This is what I did, God. And even confessing that sin to others where appropriate. And then receiving forgiveness and cleansing through Christ's blood. Guys, if we were more habitual repenters, We would be daily realizing that we are forgiven of so much and the one who is forgiven of much loves much.

Amen. That's why the word repent, I think, shows up twice in verse 5, because I think that's one of the keys. The third R, I'll say this in closing, is repeat. Do the deed she did at first.

One of which is repenting. But there are other things, get back in the word of God and feast on Christ through His word. And what guys, one of the things I'd recommend is read the book of Revelation. Part of John's purpose in this book is to present the power and the glory and the faithfulness.

Of Christ in such a way that would leave us with a fresh sense of awe and love and adoration for him. When we see in the book of Revelation, his fury against the wicked and the way he cuts his enemies to pieces at his second coming, and the way people during a coming day are going to be pleading for the mountains to fall upon them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. When we see those things presented in the book of Revelation, we do want to join John and fall down to the ground.

As a dead person before him.

But then we realized this is the one, this mighty powerful one. This Messiah of justice. is the one who died for me and shed his blood for me so that I would be delivered out from underneath his wrath and be able to live in his blessing and eat of the tree of life forever. This is the one This coming one.

Who will execute his wrath against the wicked. This one loves me. That's crazy. Read the book of Revelation.

God can use that to get you back to your first love. On top of reading Revelation, pray to God, fellowship with others, preach the gospel to yourself, remind yourself of what your life was like before Christ. Maybe some of you have forgotten. Give some thought, read the book of Ephesians and let Paul take you back.

To the way things were before Christ saved you. There's only one command in all of Ephesians 12, and 3, and it's the command to remember. To remember that formerly you were separated from Christ. And Paul in that chapter actually says, let me describe what your life and my life was like before Christ to help you to remember.

Remind yourself of what your life was like before Christ. Remind yourself of the magnitude of your sins, and then see afresh God's grace and forgiveness of those sins. Don't forget the pit from which you were dug. Don't forget the hell that you were destined for.

And that Christ delivered you from Don't forget that your sins as a Christian are even greater than any sins you committed as a non-Christian. Because your sins as a Christian are sins against a growing body of truth, they're sins against grace. And I don't say that to tear you down, I say that to excite you because, well, if my worst sins are the sins that are being committed now, and those sins are great, and Christ died for those sins, Well, his grace is amazing. And I am still daily being forgiven of so much, and the one who has forgiven much loves much.

However great your sins are. The grace of Jesus is greater. Cherish his grace. Gaze upon Him.

Be a daily repenter. Behold him each day. And I'm confident that if you and I do those things, we'll find ourselves being carried in the arms of Jesus. Back To the place of our first love.

Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we need you. We need you to do a work in our hearts. Thank you, Jesus, for, for reaching out.

To us and, and actually going here. I can't remember. In my own life ever going to somebody and saying, hey, I've noticed you don't love me like you used to. That's, that's such a vulnerable thing to do and you do that with us here.

What a savior What a friend What grace, what condescension. Lord, though you tell us to remember and repent and do the deeds we did at first, and there's responsibility on us, we know that ultimately, we can't even do any of those things without your help. We're asking you, Lord, that for any of us that have moved away from our first love, deliver us from coldness of heart. Rescue us from any other place where we may find ourselves right now, any other place other than the place of first love.

And bring us back. As only you can do. And thank you for calling out to me and to all of us in this room today. Give us the ears to hear.

And hearts that are willing to respond. And return To come back To the place of total devotion. We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you, receive these funds, do much with all that is given. For the glory of Jesus, in whose name we pray, and all God's people said,