Activity Does Not Guarantee Life

In the next several Sundays when we are in Revelation, we’ll be looking specifically at the seven churches individually, which are covered in chapters 2-3. Right now, I’m going to discuss briefly some of the similarities with the churches.

The One Who is speaking to each church is Jesus Christ. We see that Christ has complete and absolute knowledge about each church. We also see a listing of each of the church’s accomplishments, except for two of them, Smyrna and Philadelphia. Then there is a judgment spoken about the condition of each church. After that, comes a command to the churches on how to correct their problem or even an encouragement to continue to do something. There is a phrase that is shared with each church towards the end of Christ’s comments, He who has an ear, let him hear . . . Simply put, if you genuinely heard what was said, then do something about it. Finally, there is in each letter a promise of reward to those who are victorious.

These were real churches that were in existence during John’s time. They are not in existence anymore. Interestingly, they are not much different than many churches throughout the ages.

The late Francis Schaeffer stated in his book, The Mark of the Christian, that “the meaning of the word Christian has been reduced to practically nothing.… Because the word Christian as a symbol has been made to mean so little, it has come to mean everything and nothing.” In other words, if a person is not a Muslim, a Hindu, or any other specific religious group, then they are labeled Christian.

Now, let’s begin to look at the church in Ephesus. This church actually was the first of the seven churches. Many scholars suggest that the Ephesian church is the one from which the other six churches began.

The city itself was considered a crossroads of civilization. The Roman governor lived in Ephesus, as it had become like the capital of the region. The real capital was officially, Pergamum. Ephesus was the trade center of the area and the largest of the seven cities in these chapters.

Now, when you consider what a busy, active city this was, you have to also realize that all kinds of false religion took place. In fact, Ephesus was the center for the worship of Artemis or Diana, the fertility goddess. The temple was where there were thousands of priests and priestesses practicing this cult.

If that’s not bad enough, Ephesus was an asylum city for criminals on the run. Ephesus was considered unfit and unclean even by some of its own citizens due to its moral degeneracy.

However, it is where Priscilla and Aquila, and later Paul, were instrumental in founding the church at Ephesus. Apollos later would preach there. I would say that the people of this city certainly needed to be reached for Christ. We know that the rise of Christianity was a major threat to the city’s businessmen.

As we get ready to look at these short letters to the churches, we should be asking some probing questions. What is church? What should church be like?

Hopefully, it is not descriptive of this story, told by Vance Havner. A little boy was taken by his parents to a new church which had long services, both morning and evening. On his third Sunday, the boy noticed on the wall a list of the names of those who had lost their lives in WWII. The father explained, “Those are the names of the men and women who died in the service.”

The boy then asked, “Which one, morning or evening?”

That is not the picture of a church that we want to think about. Sadly, some in the church can die by the tranquilizer of traditionalism. Their idea is to do nothing new or different.

Some choose death by the disease of discontentment and discord. It is seen in the fact that they will not participate in church activity unless they are able to get someone upset.

Others prefer to just quietly die. Their death is caused by non-confrontational attacks of apathy. They don’t cause conflict. They just don’t really care to get involved. They are simply going through the motions.

You noticed that the title of this message is Activity Does Not Guarantee Life. I am convinced that:

If we wish to be a living witness, useful to God, we must be properly connected to the Giver of life.

The introduction to the Ephesian church gives the background of the source of the letter.

Revelation 2:1 (NASB95)

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

Christ Has a Commendation for the Church - 2.2, 3, 6

A.W. Tozer was absolute correct when he stated: 100 religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.

Revelation 2:2–3 (NASB95)

‘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.

Revelation 2:6 (NASB95)

‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

In these verses, Christ details some of their activity which He recognizes and commends them for it. He sees all of their deeds, their removing and their perseverance.

What are the projects Christ sees? He sees their deeds, their toil and hard work, or perseverance, depending on your Bible translation. The word for toil is actually more accurately defined as wearisome toil. The Ephesian church was quite familiar with busy, steadfast activity for the Lord. You can imagine the huge amount of needs and opportunities available for the church in that city. They were most likely super-busy, taking advantage of as many deeds as they could.

They were also commended for their removing, as seen from the phrase, you cannot tolerate evil men. Notice that the Lord is not commending them for getting rid of pagans who were wicked. After all, one must assume that pagans are going to be wicked. So who is Christ talking about? These wicked men were individuals who paraded about as brothers in Christ. They were false apostles, claiming to be sent from God with a message from God, but were completely fake.

My friends, these types of individuals are not always easy to spot. However, when tested against the truth of God’s Word, they are able to be seen. Just because someone may sound spiritual and be a part of the group, does not guarantee that they are part of Christ’s body. False teachers and leaders have always been detrimental to the church.

We also see, in verse 6, a hatred for the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Notice that the Ephesians did not hate the people, but rather the evil deeds that were done by them. We wonder just what did the Nicolaitans do and who were they? Some scholars suggest they were a group who was quite liberal and lax in their Christian lifestyle. From the translation of the word, it could have been a group that focused on promoting a hierarchy form of church structure. To them, it may have been about positions and authority in a local body, rather than truly being the body of Christ. Several scholars also suggest that this group, while focusing on ecclesiastical authority and position, also practiced free love. Whatever it was, the Ephesian church hated it and so did Christ, for it caused people to behave immorally.

Their perseverance is also noted in verse 3. They did not give up when it seemed as if God hadn’t noticed their work. Even in the midst of difficulties and possible hardships, they didn’t give up, but kept serving.

Christ Has a Concern about the Church - 2.4

With all of the good comments about the activity of the Ephesian church, we might expect that the Lord would give them a special medal or inaugurate them in the Churches Hall of Fame. But look carefully at that horrible word, but.

Revelation 2:4 (NASB95)

‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

What exactly does Christ have against the Ephesian church? In the context of the surrounding verses, we understand that Jesus is quite upset. We scratch our heads, as we consider that Jesus had some good things to say about the church, in that they’d been quite busy and active for Him.

The explanation is that the Ephesian church had left [their] first love. The New International Version even uses stronger language in the English which conveys the meaning even better; they had forsaken their first love. This is so serious that according to verse 5, they could lose the opportunity to be a light in their community.

What is meant by saying they had left [their] first love? It appears to be two-fold. It would seem that in their zealousness and their activity, they became so caught up in what they were doing, they no longer had time for Christ. They no longer had that intense commitment to do whatever Christ wanted of them. They were no longer willing to risk all for the sake of Christ. They had lost that devotion that newlyweds have for one another that used to be who they were in the early stages of their Christian walk. When that happens, there is a natural regression that takes place.

The second part was that people no longer had the original Christian love they should have for one another. They may still have loved (as the Greek wording implies), but it was with an inferior quality and intensity. The church may have been doing their service, but not with a spirit of love.

One commentator states, loving devotion to Christ can be lost in the midst of active service, and certainly no amount of orthodoxy can make up for a failure to love one another.

Christ Offers a Cure for the Church - 2.5, 7

We realize that activity does not guarantee life. So the question needs to be given to deal with our theme. How can we be a living witness, useful to God? How can we be properly connected to the giver of life?

Revelation 2:5 (NASB95)

‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

Revelation 2:7 (NASB95)

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

In these two verses, there is a three-fold answer. They need to remember, repent (or be removed), and respond.

The word for remember could be understood literally to keep on remembering. When a believer forgets what they used to be and what Jesus has done for them, it is only a matter of time before they go backwards in their walk.

Just like the Ephesian church, it would do all of us a great deal of good if we would remember how our early Christian walk was. We realize that it probably wasn’t as refined and as correct and neat as it may seem now. Yet, take some time to reflect to those early days after you were saved. Do you recall the intensity of your love for Christ? Can you remember the no-holds-barred willingness to do whatever you felt Christ calling you to do? Do you remember the eagerness you used to have in spending time reading the Bible, praying it in and living it out in your life?

Now take a moment to evaluate where you are today. Some have fallen deeper in love with Jesus. Some, like the church at Ephesus, have fallen from that former devotion, dedication and enthusiasm. It doesn’t have to stay that way. We should long for the way it used to be when our enthusiasm and love for the Lord Jesus outweighed the consideration of how foolish we may have looked to others. All of us should want to give every bit of our being to serving the Lord however He wants us to do so.

But wait! We don’t dare just spend time remembering. If we do, we’ll all be wallowing around in the tears of could have been. There has got to be a second part to the answer.

Repent! There needs to be a total change in our minds which leads to doing the things we used to do when we were motivated by that Christ-like love. There needs to be repentance for no longer loving God with every fiber of our being. Part of repentance is do[ing] the deeds you did at first. Get back into the study of the Bible. Recommit to regular prayer. Be intentional in having that passion to get together with God’s people to worship.

Do what we did at the beginning of our walk with God. When that fire for God was blazing hot, some of us would have gladly given our lives for the cause of Christ. So, let’s do it!

Folks, if we don’t do something about this, we just need to read on to see what Christ warned the Ephesian church. Christ guarantees that He will remove the lampstand from its place. In other words, the church will be removed.

A bull on a farm, though he may have a pedigree a mile long and look incredibly good, unless he produces, he is no good to the rancher. A church in a community, though it may have a rich heritage and have a good looking congregation from outward appearances, unless it is producing for God, is of no heavenly value. It will be removed. It doesn’t matter how hard one tries to keep it going. It may even still be active, but God will no longer use it.

So, what happened to the church at Ephesus? The city had been in existence for over 1,000 years prior to this letter. It had consisted of over 300,000 people. This city had an amphitheater that could hold about 25,000 people. This city contained one of the seven wonders of the world at that time, the Temple of Artemis. This temple was 340 feet long and 164 feet wide. This city contained a church that received a marvelous letter from the Apostle Paul. Now—it is a site for archeological study. There is no lampstand in Ephesus today.

We must respond. Our response will show whether or not the message has been truly heard. This is to all the churches; I believe it includes all churches of all ages in its application. He who has ears let him hear. Don’t just listen politely. Truly hear what is being said.

And who are those who overcome? Understand the teachings of the Bible, we know that it has nothing to do with being a super-Christian. It refers to all believers in Jesus Christ. Look at what John said in an earlier letter: 1 John 5.4-5 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” It is very clear that this refers simply to Christians.

Conclusion

If we wish to be a living witness, useful to God, we must be properly connected to the Giver of life.

The things which we as a church are doing are marvelous. Keep doing them, if the Lord is calling us to do so. But don’t assume for a second that God is impressed by what we are doing. After all, we should be doing whatever He calls us to do for His glory. It will be acceptable if we have a heart and a love for God that knows no limits.

Unfortunately, it is quite easy for us to slip into that pattern of the church at Ephesus. If that is the case in your life, I want to give you the opportunity to remember, repent, and respond.

This is a time in which you can recommit and rededicate your life to living in view of your first love.

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