I know your deeds, your tireless labor, and your patient endurance. I know you do not tolerate those who do evil. Furthermore, you have diligently tested those who claim to be apostles, and you have found that they are not true witnesses. You have correctly found them to be false. I know you are patiently enduring and holding firm on behalf of My name. You have not become faint.
Last week, we used that paragraph and the later reference to the Nicolaitans to talk about how the beastliness of Rome and the allure of Babylon offered and will offer challenges to the church throughout history. John’s vision illustrates the clash of the Kingdom of God and the empires of the dragon quite vividly. Today, the clash of that war kind of fades into the background not because it has stopped, but because there is a different kind of battle taking place: the war within.
T.S. Eliot wrote in The Hollow Men, “ This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper.” John has a warning here: it’s possible for faith to end not with the bang of epic spiritual warfare, but with a whimper of fading love.
However, I have this against you: you have left/ abandoned your first love. Do you remember what it was like before you fell? It’s time to rethink and change your ways; go back to the deeds you did at first.[2] However, if you do not return, I will come quickly and personally remove your lampstand from its place.
The part about abandoning your first love is a bit of a cryptic phrase, but everyone seems to agree John is making a point that is made over and over in the Bible: love for God is always expressed in loving acts toward others. The Bible never draws a dividing line between our hearts and our hands, our motivation and action, our intents and our accomplishments.[3] People can work hard in the Kingdom, have a an appropriately righteous hatred of sin, love and protect the truth, and endure trials and hardship for the name of the Lord… but without love, these acts are like a “sounding brass or a crashing cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13).[4]
We were not created to be segmented or compartmentalized people. The “deeds you did at first” are supposed to be actions that complete an inner desire.[5] The allegiance of the heart translates into the actions of the hands. Lovers do the things the lovers do.
John is calling them to do something they once did but don’t anymore motivated by a love they once had but don’t anymore.
Here are the three most prominent understandings of what is happening here. I feel the same way about these options as I do with the 5 options I gave in Week 1 for reading Revelation: They all have something to offer. #don’tdieonthishill
1.THEY STOPPED THEIR COMMUNAL GENEROSITY
In the book of Acts, we read about what the early church did with great excitement. Among other things, they met together regularly and shared love feasts and communion; they lived in radically generous community, they lived with great servanthood. Their early reputation in Rome was remarkable because they lived loving lives of humility and purity marked by pretty radical generosity. In this first reading, their generosity had dried up because they had forgotten the generosity of God.
2. THEY HATED THE SIN AND THE SINNER
2:6But you have this in your favor: You hate (despise; denounce) the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
William Ramsay notes this of the letter to the church in Ephesus:
“It shows admiration and full appreciation of a great career and a noble history. Yet it does not leave a pleasant impression of the Ephesian Church; and there is a lack of cordial and sympathetic spirit in it…when, in order to finish with a word of praise… the one thing which he finds to say is that they hated [the deeds of the Nicolaitans].”
This is a hint at the heart of the problem: the heart. In their zealousness to reject things that ought to be rejected, the message of what they were for got overwhelmed by the message of what they were against. It’s not a good look when the best you can say of someone is that they denounce or despise the right things. It’s the person who offers light in the darkness that makes a difference, not the one who simply keeps pointing our how dark it is.
Unfortunately, there’s more. Some commentators point out that God hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans; the text doesn’t say he hated the Nicolaitans. Perhaps in their zealousness for protecting the truth, the church in Ephesus began to hate the people along with the problem rather than having hearts broken for those living in sinful darkness.[6] In the midst of their protection of doctrine[7] they forgot that they were supposed to love the people holding the false doctrine. This was Jonah’s problem, right? He didn’t want the Ninevites to escape judgment. There's something in this letter that desires to church in Ephesus to ground orthodoxy and orthopraxy with orthopathy, having the right heart (see 1 Corinthians 13).
3. THEY LOST THEIR MISSIONAL FOCUS
In this third reading, “they lost their first love” = “they lost their passion for spreading the message of the gospel.” Passionate love of and allegiance to Jesus leads us to love others so much we witness to them.[8]
You know how when you first start something that is life-changing, you can’t stop talking about it? It’s the running joke about crossfitters. I have a couple friends who have found a person to work with them on their physical health (losing weight, etc), and I am pretty sure they post at least 3 times a day about how amazing their coach is and how good they feel. If you learn how to ride a bike, or find an essential oil that feels like a miracle cure, or start fishing, or find an app that organizes your life, or discover you can draw….anything that has (in some sense) brought you life, there is often a rush at the beginning of excitement that bubbles over into evangelism – the spreading of the good news.[9]Besides enjoying life in a new way, people around you notice something different about you, or it just comes up in conversation, or you purposefully start recruiting.
This, it seems, was lacking in the church in Ephesus. So what does God advise? Remember (how you loved the reality of salvation), repent (of distraction and disinterest), and do the deeds you did at first (from a newly focused heart).
REMEMBER
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is full of language of how life in Christ and in the community of the church changes everything. Some excerpts:
“2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air… 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions… [and] raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)10 and find out what pleases the Lord…
When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, they were on the front end of this life-changing reality that Jesus brought them. They were once children of darkness; now they are children of light. It’s incredible. They are rooted in a love that will fill them with the fullness of God, so that they can do the good works God created them to do: bearing the fruit of goodness, righteousness, and truth. AMAZING!
That passion for the Savior spilled over onto one another and out to those in the culture they inhabited.[10] But…they had forgotten how glorious it was to be pulled into the light.
Maybe they had forgotten how deep in the darkness they really were, or how ugly that darkness truly was. Did you know that the act of remembering slowly and subtly changes our memories? The emotions and biases we bring reform our memories, such that over time we can gain a really distorted view of the past.[11] Our memory is like the telephone gameJ And the less honest or precise we are when we remember, the more distorted our memory becomes over time. We can convince ourselves that the darkness in which we were drowning wasn’t that bad. That makes it hard to appreciate the Savior who pulled us from it.
Maybe they had stopped genuinely appreciating the gospel light into which they were drawn.That can happen when bad orthodoxy leads to disillusionment (“Why isn’t life like what you told me it would be?”) or when bad orthopraxy leads to pain (“How is it possible that transformed people are so mean and hypocritical?”). If they were known for what they hate rather than what they loved, I’ll bet life together in that church was hard. And if the kingdom of God stops feeling like home, Babylon –as trashy as it is – can start to look good.
Maybe they had become so busy cursing the darkness that they forgot to light the candle.Witch hunts are easy when you see witches everywhere and there’s lots of wood handy for a bonfire. But somebody needs to pray for, and love, and invite to a meal, and befriend those others want to burn. As Paul wrote in Romans 2:4, “Do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
Revelation doesn’t tell us the precise dynamic at work in Ephesus. I suspect all three example are reasonable possibilities – and can all probably see ourselves in one of these. So what do we do?
REPENT
“Remember from where you have fallen, and repent.” This is an act of the mind that will lead to a renewal of the heart. I have found that the things I need to revisit are the many times God has been merciful to me, the many times he has pulled me up from the mire of sin and set my feet on the rock of my salvation. It turns out I don’t have to go back decades to see God’s mercy at work. There’s already good examples from this September.
How did the joy of my salvation stop motivating me to respond to God in a lifestyle of worship and to others with a lifestyle of gospel-oriented service? When did I start hating the sinner rather than praying for them and moving toward them so that they, too, might experience the joy of salvation? When did I stop appreciating the miraculous work of God in my life? Here’s part of David’s prayer after his sin with Bathsheba:
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me….17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:10-17)
DO THE FIRST DEEDS
This is living missionally with a goal to broaden the boundaries of Kingdom. I left out a couple verses from the previous psalm.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
That is God’s intended response to our appreciation of the glorious grace of salvation. How do we do this? There are a lot of ways. There is really only one rule: re-present Jesus wherever you go.
Talk about Jesus (pray for people; share the gospel; give your testimony; mention life-giving things in your church – let your life in and with Jesus overflow naturally into your conversation).
Live like Jesus – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good work and glorify your father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Introduce people to the Kingdom of Jesus (invite them to church or small group or game times with the people of Jesus; talk about outreach ministries that embody the love of Jesus; share articles on social media about righteous kingdom work happening in the church around our community and the world.)
* * * * * * * * * *
For our #practicerighteousness this week, I want to offer a condensed version of this message to focus our hearts and minds for the week.
· First love = our primary, worshipful allegiance in response to God’s love for us
· First deeds = “Redeeming the time”[12] to make more and better disciples of Christ.
What will this look like practically for you this week with your family? Friends? Coworkers? Neighbors? Fellow church members?
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[1] Key resources that have heavily informed this series:
· Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation, by J. Nelson Kraybill
· A teaching series by professor Shane J. Woods on Revelation (shanejwood.com)
· The Bible Project’s videos, notes and podcast
· Michael Heiser’s teaching on Revelation (Podcast: The Naked Bible)
· Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship And Witness: Following The Lamb Into The New Creation, by Michael Gorman
· Dragons, John, And Every Grain Of Sand, edited by Shane J. Wood.
· Matt Chandler’s Revelation Series (Village Church)
· Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture: Revelation, from IVP
· Seven Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelation’s Letters for Today's Church, written by T. Scott Daniels
· The Letters To The Seven Churches: A History Of The Early Church, W.M. Ramsay
· Commentary from Adam Clarke, Greg Beale’s, Bible Gateway, biblehub.com, and preceptaustin.com
[2] Old Testament connection: “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote…” (Isaiah 29:13)
[3] Thanks, IVP New Testament Commentary.
[4] People can serve very effectively in a ministry in the church and ignore God or even love their ministry more than God, and inevitably the sound of clashing cymbals will be heard.
[5] HELPS Word Studies
[6] “People are not our enemies; our enemies are the powers of evil themselves. We are called in Christ to love all—to hope that God can save even those embracing evil—and we are called to believe that the gospel is good news for all.” Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It
[7] For what it’s worth, they kept their doctrinal tradition strong. “A decade or two later, Ignatius of Antioch would write to them that their bishop, Onesimus, had praised them because "you all live according to truth, and no heresy dwells among you; in fact you will not even listen to anyone who does not speak about Jesus Christ in truth." "I have learned," Ignatius added, "that some from elsewhere who have evil teaching stayed with you, but you did not allow them to sow it among you, and stopped your ears, so that you might not receive what they sow." (IVP New Testament Commentary)
[8] Beale talks about this at length in his commentary
[9] Questions Greg Beale asks: “Why is there such a close relationship between lack of love and lack of evangelism? What counts as evangelism? Do we put structures or expectations around evangelism in a way that discourages us from doing it? If we see love for God as the heart of evangelism, how might that change how we view evangelism?”
[10] https://www.gotquestions.org/left-first-love.html
[11] “Your Memory Is Like The Telephone Game.” https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2012/09/your-memory-is-like-the-telephone-game
[12] Ephesians 5:16