Mar 13 Just One Little Problem

Mar 13

Just One Little Problem

Re 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee

 The Church at Ephesus was a thriving, busy church. In the second Chapter of Revelation Christ is commenting on some churches. They all had some good and some bad practices. Now no church can ever be perfect as long as they let sinful people in the doors. But these seven churches were not suffering from the day to day problems of a healthy church. Each of these churches had a systemic problem. They had something wrong that over shadowed all their good.

Re 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write;

    The church at Ephesus was a thriving, busy, hard working church.

Re 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience,

Here is a church with many wonderful qualities. This was a working church. People in this church did not hesitate to get involved; Sunday school, choir, bus ministry, calling, prayer meeting, and youth activities. James would not have told this church “faith without works is dead.

They also did not shy away from everyday labor. Someone had to keep the church clean, prepare food for fellowships, care for both the building and the grounds. They put some sweat into their labor.

They were not weary in well doing. They had patience and kept on keeping on.  A great combination of qualities existed in the “Paul the Apostle First Church” of Ephesus. But they were even better than just having works, labor and patience.

Re 2:2 …thou canst not bear them which are evil…

This church had a very active disciplinary committee. If you tried to cheat, or lie, or steal, or got drunk or any number of things they would haul you before the church and throw your evil body right out the door. This church did not tolerate hypocrites. Your walk and your talk better agree because if any semblance of evil reared its ugly head in your walk, it was goodbye for you! They just didn’t put up with evil doers in this church.  

Re 2:2 thou hast tried them which say they are apostles,

and are not, and hast found them liars

    If someone came to the church and wanted to preach or teach and told the church they were highly qualified, it better be true. If they were phonies the church committee on verification and ministerial qualifications would have checked and confronted them about their lies. This church did not accept people who had completed an exam and mailed in $99 and received a Doctorate in Theology. If you tried to pass yourself off as an apostle they would soon determine if you were or not. If you were not what you said they would call you a liar and throw your lying body out the front door.

Re 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and

for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

    Here their good qualities are mentioned again. This has to be a fantastic church. But there is even more.

Re 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the

deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

    Who were the Nicolaitans and what did they teach? Go ahead take a guess. Right, your guess is as good as anyone else’s. We do know the most important thing about whatever they were. Christ hated them. The church at Ephesus also hated them and Christ commended them for their discernment.

     What a great church. They were hard working, patient, discerning, not compromisers and not afraid to labor for their Lord.  So whatever could Christ be concerned about with this church. Just one thing they lacked.

Re 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

    This church had left its first love. They were so busy working they had forgotten the essential ingredient in a church. Love!

1Co 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

     You have probably been in a large church which had oodles of programs, outreach and were busy, busy for the Lord. Churches like that have multiple preachers, ongoing building programs and draw people from some distance. Everything in that kind of church is well planned, well executed and works like a well-oiled machine. And that is the problem.

    They have turned the ends and means around. The buildings and programs are not the goal. They may be the means but the goal is to love one another.

     “Love one another” is repeated often in our Bibles. John 13:34, 13:34, 15:12, 15:17, Rom 12:10, 13:8, Gal 5:13, Eph 4:2, 1Thes 3:12, 4:9, Heb 10:24, 1Pet 1:22, 3:8, 1John 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 4:11, 4:12, and 2 John 1:5.   That is at least 19 verses, plus all the others that mean the same thing but not in those exact words. 

    A church without love has missed the very reason they exist. Here is what Christ told the church at Ephesus.

Re 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen,

and repent, and do the first works

    We have been talking about the Church at Ephesus. But is there any room for us to apply these verses to our individual selves? I think there is. Christ continues with these words to individuals.

Re 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit

saith unto the churches;

    I couldn’t have said it any better! Are we so busy with stuff we have left our first love?

 

May that be our prayer today, that the fires of our love for one another be rekindled. 

1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity,

these three; but the greatest of these is charity.