The church of Ephesus was described by Jesus, in Revelation 2, as a church that had persevered through many hardships for His name’s sake.  Men with evil intentions had tried to derail this worshipping community time and time again.  Many of them had claimed to be apostles, yet every time the church of Ephesus was tested they withstood false teaching proving each one of these men to be false teachers.

It is clear from Jesus testimony about this church that they had received the gospel message with full conviction. They had been taught the word of God by teachers like the Apostle Paul, Priscilla and Aquila along with Timothy who had laid a solid foundation for them.  One can easily detect the level of maturity that had been developed in their faith through the testimony of Jesus found in Revelation 2:1-7.

So, what happened to this church? Morally, they seem to be on top of things.  They hated evil, they were good at recognizing truth and exposing false teaching.  It would be really hard to know what is false unless one already knew the truth.  If the truth was so prevalent in the life of this church, what went wrong?

Jesus said, “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first.” (Rev. 2:4-5)  Is it possible for a church family to have truth, faith, and moral clarity along with the determination to hold to these convictions and still be seriously lacking in love?  Well, it happened to the church of Ephesus, and it still happens in some churches today.

1 Corinthians 13:2 states, “If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”  What would your life be like if you knew all mysteries, if you understood all knowledge and you held in your hand the shield of ultimate faith?  It sounds like the makings of a super hero, but if one has no love those things would amount to nothing.

Do you remember what it felt like the first time you fell in love? I remember!  It was such a wonderful feeling to love and to feel loved in return.  My dad told me he saw my mom for the first time while she was working in a grocery store and he told his friend, “I’m gonna marry that girl.” Love at first sight happens, but she did not love him until they spent time together.  Although, two weeks later he popped the question and she said, “Yes!”  It does not happen that fast for everyone, but for everyone it happens once they invest themselves in each other.

Somewhere along the way the people of the church of Ephesus got so caught up in maintaining the image of a Godly church that they lost the simple and precious ways of daily relationship building with Jesus.  A church that teaches truth and maintains high moral character eventually becomes ineffective without the love of God. The Love of God is the key ingredient that enables all gifts and talents to touch the hearts of others.

Marriages are often revitalized when couples begin to do many of the things they did when they first met.  Married couples need to continue dating, go on adventures together, take walks together, play together and talk to each other like we did when we first met.  We need those same daily times of refreshing with Jesus?  Love can be stirred, love can grow, love can spread to others, but most assuredly when we return to the deeds that created that love in the first place.

Pastor Jonathan