When Love Grows Cold | Revelation 2:1-7

INTRODUCTION

In our last sermon we looked at Revelation 1 and today we will proceed to Revelation 2 where we will start looking at the letter to the 7 churches in Revelation. Today we will look at the letter to the church at Ephesus.

In chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, Jesus through John is prepared to address, diagnose, and evaluate the seven churches that John is specifically writing this apocalyptic prophecy in the form of a letter to. Christ does this as the One who walks in the midst of the lampstands/churches. Because of this, He is now in a position to evaluate His church. He is present with it. And His presence with His church will result in either comfort and encouragement or warning and exhortation to the churches. Jesus still walks among us – comforting us, correcting us, testing us.

The Seven Churches of Revelation

• These are definite locations in Asia Minor, Western Turkey.
• John wrote the letter from the island of Patmos.
• 7 churches are named in order in a horseshoe shape and they are probably the mail route. It’s possible that this is the route John may have taken at times in visiting these churches.
• These letters were probably delivered in sequence starting with Ephesus ending in Laodicea but revelation was read as a whole to these churches.

Basic Structure of the 7 Letters.

• All 7 letters have some aspect of Jesus’ description from 1:12-16 and promise of blessing to the overcomers, connected to the eschatological blessing in Ch. 20-22: references to reigning with Christ, overcoming the second death, the New Jerusalem, the Tree of Life, etc.
• Two persecuted churches are praised; Smyrna and Philadelphia
• Two comfortable churches face criticism; Sardis and Laodicea
• Three churches receive mixed review; Ephesus, Pergamum, and Thyatira

Although they are often labelled letters, these are probably not technically letters at all. It’s interesting when you read them, they don’t begin or end like a letter. Instead, these actually resemble more closely prophetic proclamations or prophetic messages or even royal edicts found in other cultures. King Jesus, the exalted ruler and King, now issues an edict, or an imperial edict or proclamation to His subjects, to His people, that is, these seven churches.

We’ve seen that the number seven connotes perfection and completeness. These seven messages to the churches are representing issues and problems already taking place in these seven churches and other churches in the first century. However, these problems can be reflected in nearly any period of church history leading up until the present day or until Christ comes back. Hence, these letters represent the full spectrum of faithfulness and faithlessness in the churches in different times and different places throughout church history.

What John says in a more straightforward manner in chapters 2 and 3, he says in a more symbolic way in chapters 4 through 22, this is another way (visionary way) of saying the exact same thing.

Revelation 2:1-7

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: (The angel—perhaps being the heavenly counterpart, the heavenly representative of the earthly church, rather than a human messenger or human leader.)

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

(So apparently, this church that has undergone some persecution and hardship.)

⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Background of the Church at Ephesus

• Ephesus was well known city in the 1^st Century It was a huge city, 2,50,000 people. Apostle Paul founded the church at Ephesus; Acts 19. Paul was there for almost 3 years on his 3^rd missionary journey. He spent more time in Ephesus than in any other single community. Ephesus was a center of commerce, worship, & religion.
• Ephesus was an imperial cult. The Roman emperors were claiming worship like the evil world ruler in Rev. 13:11-17. Caesar Augustus build two temples in Ephesus in his honour. Domitian the emperor ruling during this time had named Ephesus “guardian” of the imperial cult, making it the foremost centre of the imperial cult in Roman Asia. Ephesus, in fact, hosted a new cult of the emperors that had opened only about half a decade before Revelation was written. Ephesus honoured Domitian at Olympic games just shortly before this book was written. Christians who believed that Jesus Christ, only God and the Lamb are worthy of worship found it difficult to worship the emperor.
• Ephesus was also known for the worship of Artemis or Diana (Greek) (Acts 19:23–40); Artemis was the goddess of fertility. They also had the practice of magic (19:13–19). It also had a large Jewish community (19:8–9).
• The church at Ephesus was a very conservative church. Thyatira was a liberal church.

Commendation: 2:2-3, 6

• Faithful Endurance
• Orthodoxy and Discernment.

Revelation 2:2-3

²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Faithful Endurance: What Jesus says about this church: v2-3

• Deeds
• Hard work
• Perseverance.
• Cannot tolerate wicked people.
• Have endured hardships for Jesus’ name.
• Not grown weary.

Orthodoxy and Discernment.

Revelation 2:2b

….that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

Revelation 2:6

But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Who are the Nicolaitans? The most reasonable guess is that they offer views similar to (but not identical with) those of “Balaam,” hence condone sexual immorality (Israelite men engage in immorality with Moabite women which led them to pagan worship) and the eating of food offered to idols (cf. Rev. 2:14–15). This is apparently common areas of assimilation among early Christians (cf. 1 Cor. 6: 8–10).”

Probably the Nicolaitans refer to a group within the church that was teaching that it is okay to participate in the pagan, idolatrous culture in the context of the city of Ephesus and also participate in the church. They resisted those who claimed to be apostles but really were not.

Probably this is a church that is very orthodox in their belief and their teaching, and are very keen in their intent on refusing to compromise with doctrine, compromise with pagan, idolatrous society and a pagan, idolatrous empire.

The warning against the Nicolaitans is a basic lesson that we should guard against false teachers and must retain doctrinal purity.

Jesus is commending this church for: Their faithful endurance & Discernment of orthodoxy.

Problem: Loveless & Stoic

Revelation 2:4

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

They are chastised a bit for having lost their first love. They did not lose it, they turned away from the first love.

What is first love?

We can broadly consider it as their love for Jesus Christ which results in their love for one another. The issue in the church in Ephesus is: while they are very orthodox in their belief, and while they are even intent on resisting false teaching, the problem is, they have forsaken their first love to the extent that they are no longer functioning as His faithful witness in the world.

They had come to Jesus Christ and believed in Him. These people were busy working for the Lord, they had all their theology correct, but overtime their love for Jesus and one another had gone cold. Even our love for Jesus Christ can diminish.

Someone said, “You can be as straight as a gun barrel theologically, but you can be as cold as a gun barrel spiritually.”

That is a great warning for all of us today, to not allow other things to come in and replace our love for Jesus Christ

Warning: I Will Remove My Presence from You.

Revelation 2:5

Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

I will remove its lampstand from its place. Jesus said, “I am going to remove my presence from the church and in turn the city.” It happened. The entire city of Ephesus had to be vacated about 40 years later because of a malaria outbreak. Some historians say that the city of Ephesus shifted 3 km away from where it was in John’s time, due to silt deposits from the Cayster River. It is possible that the church may not have heeded the call that they should have at that point, not just the church suffered but the city suffered as well.

Craig Keener NIV Application Commentary

“The church, no matter how powerless in a given society, is a guardian of its culture. Just as the presence of the righteous in Sodom was the only factor that could have restrained judgment (Gen. 18:20–32), the fate of a culture may depend ultimately on the behaviour of the believers in that culture. Given the high degree of assimilation of Christians to our culture’s values, more time spent on entertainment than on witness, more money spent on our comfort than on human need, the prognosis for the society as a whole is not good. When pagans charged that Rome fell because of its conversion to Christianity, Augustine responded that it fell rather because its sins were piled as high as heaven and because the commitment of most of its Christian population remained too shallow to restrain God’s wrath. Naturally we recognize that not all suffering reflects judgment; but some does, especially on the societal level. Is Christianity genuinely different enough from our cultures to delay God’s judgment on our societies?”

Transition: Church, Jesus does not measure the way the world measures. He sees differently. He looks at the heart. And this is a heart check for Ephesus. It’s a heart check for us.

Have we abandoned the love that we had at first? If we have, hope is not lost. If we have abandoned our first love and we if keep on doing those things, Christ will take lampstand/His presence back. But Jesus gives them an opportunity. He gives them three ways to correct this. If you want to restore the love that you had at first, there are three things you can do.

Christ’s Remedy: Remember, Repent, Return

1. Remember

Jesus tells them is to remember from where you have fallen. Remember your first love.

ILLUSTRATION

How many of you remember what it was like when you first met your spouse? Glory and I are married now for 25 years. In these 25 years many things have changed. We have two grown up children, we have gotten 25 years older. A lot has changed, there is a tendency to forget how we were when we got married. Our love can grow cold. Remembering where we came from can be a good way to rekindle the love where we’re at.

The same is true for the church. He says remember. Look back up. He says, “Remember how far you’ve fallen. Look back up. Look how you loved me. What and all you did to me out of your love. And just how you loved Me. Look at how you loved one another. Look at how you loved the community around you. And look at your love when this was not obligation. This was not duty. But this was joy. Remember. Remember the love you had at first.”

2. Repent

Then He says repent. Now, repent is one of those words that is used very often but we seldom give heed to this word.

Repent does not mean feel bad. Repenting is not what I feel after eating junk food. No. That’s not repentance. Repentance starts with admitting the problem. “Lord, We have lost our love for You. We have lost our love for one another. Yes, Lord, we have lost our love.” We admit the problem.

Now, repent is not just admitting what is wrong behaviour. Repentance goes further to replace it with what is right behaviour. If lack of love is the problem, repentance is replacement for the lack of love with love? Love again, not just feelings of love but love in action.

So repentance is: You admit it. You stop going in the direction you’re going. You turn around. And you go the other way. You need to stop acting out of a lack of love. And then you need to start acting out of love.

Remember. Repent.

3. Return

You need to return. You need to return or come back to what? The works you did at first.

Revelation 2:5

Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

We should keep on doing the right things that we did in the beginning. We should keep on believing the right things. And we should keep on persevering in those things. But we should do it for a different reason, out of love.

Jesus is not interested in just having our religious devotion. He is not interested in simply having us check some spiritual boxes each week. Jesus does not care one bit if we are the busiest church in Bangalore. He doesn’t care one iota if we’ve got the best Christian education program. His chief concern is: Love God. Love people.

Also love even the people we disagree with. Love even the people who look different. We are to love the people who are in here. We are to love the people who are out there.

Can we be a People who will Love Unconditionally like Jesus?

The church of Jesus is so diverse and different. When it come to a metropolitan like Bangalore: People have different worldviews, political opinions, life circumstances, different professions, different languages. Yet the command of Christ remains unchanged: We are called to love one another, irrespective of our differences. The local church must be a place where love is not only professed but practiced in tangible ways.

Genuine love welcomes everyone into Christian fellowship without judgment or exclusion. Some among us may be elderly or even singles, never married due to various life situations. Others may be going through marital problems; brokenness, pain, even failure. We are not called to victimize such individuals. We are called to love them, to walk with them, to extend grace, and to offer hope in Christ.

Some maybe going through a job loss or career challenge, we are to embrace them and help them out.

In our youth groups and among young adults, some may be going through a difficult phase in education, relationship challenge, or a habit or addiction of some kind. Let us not rush to brand or label them as we feel like. We are not here to monitor or police people; we are here to nurture them in love and discipleship.

Even when we are dealing with clear cases of sin and error, does not Scripture call us to offer correction with love and grace? (Luke 15:1–2; 2 Tim. 2:24–26).

Theologian J. I. Packer rightly observed: “We Christians can smell unsound doctrine a mile away,” “and yet the fruit of personal experience of God (love) often proves rare among us.”

Love does not segregate people based on class, colour, or caste. The church of Jesus Christ is called to reflect the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Love does not divide; love unites. Love does not discriminate; love embraces. Our fellowship must mirror the heart of God, who shows no partiality (Acts 10:34).

Jesus gives a sobering warning in for those who do not return to their first love:

Revelation 2:5

I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

That’s a sobering reminder. A church where love has ceased may still be busy in ministry, still orthodox in doctrine, but it ceases to function properly as a true expression of the body of Christ. That is the kind of lovelessness for which Jesus says the lampstand can be removed (Rev. 2:5). Continuing in lovelessness will force Jesus to take his presence form the church.

It is true that some churches die from a lack of outreach, lack of vision, or lack of youth engagement. But many churches die simply because they have stopped loving.

Revelation 2:7

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

There is a call to the one who hears, resembling perhaps depending on Jesus’ use of this phrase in His parables.

Church, friends, Christian life is not just about how we operate today. The way we conduct ourselves, how we treat one another in this fellowship has eternal consequences. It impacts our testimony, our witness, our spiritual vitality, and even our eternal reward. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

What is Victorious or Overcoming here?

Victorious or Overcoming for each church, will mean something slightly different.

• Overcoming here means a refusal to compromise and maintaining their faithful witness, even to the point of death and suffering.
• Overcomer here in the letter to Ephesus is also the one who overcomes hatred and embraces love.
• Overcomer or victor here is to remain faithful in love to Christ and to His church in the midst of a hostile world.

Such people are promised that they will receive eschatological salvation. They will receive the new creation, the final kingdom, the ultimate Kingdom of God in the new creation from Revelation 21–22.

Interestingly, the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God links this to Revelation 22:1–2, which describes the new creation as containing the Tree of Life, which was originally in the Paradise, in the Garden of Eden. The new creation in chapter 22 is a return to the Garden of Eden.

CONCLUSION

When our love for Jesus grows cold, even our best deeds lose their eternal value. Christ calls us to remember, repent, and return—to rekindle our first love. Let us not settle for outward faithfulness alone, but be a people marked by deep love for God and one another. The health of the Church depends on the warmth of its love.

LIFE APPLICATION POINTS

Remember Your First Love

Revisit the joy and passion you had when you first followed Christ.

What did your love for Jesus look like then? What has changed?

Guard Your Heart from Religious Routine

Examine if your service to God has become mechanical.

Am I doing ministry out of love or obligation?

Let Doctrine Be Fuelled by Love

Balance sound teaching with Christlike compassion.

Am I more focused on being right than being loving?

Cultivate Love for the Body of Christ

Pursue unity, forgiveness, and mutual care within the church.

Is there someone in the body I need to reconcile with in love?

Pursue Jesus, Not Just His Work

Prioritize intimacy with Christ over activity for Christ.

Have I been busy doing things for Jesus but failing to spend time with Him?