Dead Love

Awesome. Great to have everybody here today. Great to have everybody here. Thank you so much if you are a guest with us. I just want to extend just a super warm greeting to you. This is my warmth coming to you. There you go. If you are always here, man, you have so much more of my warmth as well. So blow a little bit of this candle your way.

All right. We are coming to our time where we just, we have a portion of our service every Sunday morning where we just want to pray. I say this all the time. We need to continue to be reminded of it. When God’s people pray, it’s like we are pushing on the fulcrum that moves the world. We can try to do things and I feel like we’re just like that guy from Greek mythology and he’s just kind of pushing the rock. Was it Atlas that did that? It doesn’t really matter, but just pushing the rock up the hill. That’s us. But man, whenever we pray, it’s like we’re grabbing the fulcrum that could move that boulder. And that fulcrum is God. And that’s how we do that. How we’ve changed this world is through prayer. So that’s why we set aside a significant portion of our service every Sunday morning.

So we’re coming to end our prayer time. If you did get one of the bulletins this morning, and if you did not, that’s okay. We are coming into our Janie Chapman week of prayer. So this is what we’re going to be praying for. For Janie Chapman. If you’re not aware, it is a missions collection that the Southern Baptists of South Carolina collect every year. And there is a week of prayer that goes along with it. If you would like to directly contribute to the Janie Chapman offering, our state goal is just over $2 million. The way that you would do that is you can grab one of the special bulletin or special tithe envelopes that are on the back tables that look a lot like this little prayer guides and you can put money in that in the offering plate or you can do it with your regular path of giving and just designate it for the Janie Chapman stuff.

The better part though, I mean contributing money is very worthwhile. We need to do that. But the better part is prayer. Today is day one of the Janie Chapman week of prayer. So if you open it up, you see today we are praying for Camp McCall. Camp McCall, it’s a boy camp that our state directly contributes to and helps fund and operate. And what we’re praying for is that Camp McCall would be launching staffers on mission. I’ll let you read that paragraph later in your own time, but this morning we’re praying specifically, if you look at it, for Aiden and Hannah as they are going to Oslo, Norway. We’re praying for Wesley as he goes to London as well as just Camp McCall staff that they would continue to equip and mobilize campers for missions.

So, what I want to invite you to do is grab a neighbor. We’re just going to pray for a few moments for the ministry of Camp McCall and for some of those names in particular. Y’all take it away and I’ll put a bow on it here in a second. Thank you guys.

Holy Spirit God, You put it on the hearts of Baptist in our state years ago, Lord, to dedicate just a particular giving drive in the legacy of Miss Janie Chapman. Lord, thank You for the work of the Women’s Missionary Union here in the state of South Carolina and what they do. Lord, thank You in advance for the $2.2 million that I trust that You are going to move the hearts of Your people to raise for this giving initiative. Father, thank You for Camp McCall. Never went there myself, but I’ve got some brothers that did. Got some friends that have served on staff there. And Lord, I trust that I have worked overseas with some other men and women and their kids that have been impacted by that camp. God, I’m begging that You would continue to use Camp McCall to help boys and young men sense a calling into missions and ministry. Lord, I want to thank You for Aiden, Hannah, and Wesley, God, who You have very clearly pressed on and that You have called into missions. Lord, I pray that You will bless their time in Norway and in London, Lord, that they would serve You well and that they would have tons of fruit there. Lord, I pray for Camp McCall that they would just continue to be about their Father’s business to equip and mobilize campers and staffers to live on mission. Lord, whether that looks like London and Norway or that just looks like Colombia or even Ravenel, God, I pray You also get a hold of this time. Holy Spirit, please speak. Please speak. I’m asking You right now to do something that only You can do. I’m asking You, the great mover of this universe, to move, to get a hold of this time. Lord, if there’s anything I say that that’s not true or helpful, would You just let that pass through the hearts and the minds of everybody here, but anything, Holy Spirit, that You want to say to us, I pray that it would just lodge. It’d be like a pebble in our shoe, but we just couldn’t ignore it. We love You, Lord, and it’s in Your great name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Well, if you have your copy of God’s Word, I invite you to go ahead and open up to Revelation chapter 2. We are going to close out this series where we’ve been looking at the letter to the Ephesians by going to the very end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 2. If you’re still new to God and God’s Word, navigating this, you are in luck. All you have to do to find this is open up to that right cover and just start going ever so slowly into the Bible and you’ll come to a book called Revelation. Not Revelations, Revelation, just it’s just a single Revelation and you meet me in chapter two.

This week I was reminded of a pretty special occasion that happened here at Sauldam Baptist Church some years ago. You see, we have two of our members that began a love story and a journey in 1967, and they got married right here in this church. Man, such a beautiful occasion. But what happened 10 years later to me, having just celebrated my 10-year anniversary, is even more beautiful. Mr. Johnny and Linda Matthysse in 1977 renewed their vows at their 10-year wedding anniversary. That was 48 years ago, man. Can we give them a round of applause? 58 years now, Linda has got the short end of the stick and we are so proud of her. No, I’m just kidding. I love that couple and I I I love what this was. I was talking a little bit with them about this and you know what what’s true about a vow renewal is that you’re no more married after you renew your vows than before. They were just as married the day before the renewal as they were 10 years after the 10-year celebration. But what does change perhaps is the quality of the relationship. How close you feel to your spouse. You know what a vow renewal does? It it it reminds you of where you started. It kind of rekindles some things and it it helps paint a picture of where you’re going to go afterwards.

As we close out this Ephesians series, I believe that God is inviting us as a church and many of us as individuals to renew our vows with Him. I believe that what we are going to take away from Jesus’s own words to the church at Ephesus is, hey, remember where we used to be, let’s rekindle some things and chart a path forward. Revelation chapter 2, it’s it’s fascinating. The book of Revelation is this one singular revelation, this unveiling that God Himself gives to this guy named John. This beloved apostle or the beloved disciple of Jesus made an apostle. John is the only one that we know of of the 11 original disciples that made it through the end that was not martyred as a young man, but he served out the rest of his life in obscurity and exile on an island named Patmos. If you were to turn to Revelation chapter 1, you would see, Revelation chapter 1, that what John has is this moment where on the Lord’s day, he is meditating on God and on God’s Word. And Jesus just shows up. The clouds, the sky is torn open and His buddy Jesus shows up. Jesus Himself gives the letter that we’re going to read this morning. This is not just John’s Holy Spirit-inspired words. This is the voice of Jesus Himself. And He’s going to write a letter to the church at Ephesus. The church at Ephesus is one of seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. It would have been kind of the hub church for the area. What we’ve since found is that these were seven churches in the same region along with Ephesus. Now, if you’re not aware, the number seven in the Bible is really important. It has this idea of completion, perfection. So, as we look at this letter to this main church out of seven, it’s not just a numerical guide. It would also represent the totality of churches. This is a letter from Jesus to Ephesus for every other church. Not just the other six churches in this list, but even for us here this morning, Sauldam Baptist Church. In this letter, Jesus is going to introduce Himself and introduce what He’s want to talk about. He’s going to encourage the church. He’s going to bring a warning to the church. And He’s going to offer a promise to the church. We’re looking at this because what we just saw last week as we closed out the series in Revelation is that man, this is an incredible church. It’s the only one of the New Testament churches that receives a letter from Paul and from Jesus. Just a few years in that time span, Paul to right now in Revelation, something changes though. Start it with me. This is Revelation. I’m going to start actually in chapter 1, verse 17, and we’re going to get into chapter 2. This is how Jesus introduces His letter. At least this is what happens as an introduction. When I—that’s John—when John sees Him, when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. Remember, John walked with Jesus for years. John knows Jesus. John loves Jesus. And John knows that Jesus loves Him. When John sees Jesus in His resurrected glorious state, he falls at His feet like a dead man. Jesus laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one. I was dead, but look, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. Therefore, write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this. The mystery, and pay attention right here, the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in My right hand, and of the seven golden lampstands is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

Chapter two, write to the angel of the church in Ephesus. Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands. Again, let’s remember this is Jesus. This is Jesus who was dead, but now He is alive. He is ascended and He is sitting on the throne in heaven and He has a word for us. And He comes to John and He’s going to reveal that to John. He’s going to give that to John. When John sees Him, John sees seven stars in His right hand. And John sees Jesus standing amongst seven golden lampstands. Jesus is really clear. He goes ahead and does the Bible study for us. He says those seven stars are the seven churches that I’m about to address. Those seven golden lampstands—or sorry, you get it. Yeah. The seven stars are the angels to those churches. Those golden lampstands, they are the churches themselves. That is Jesus. Jesus begins this vision of Himself, which is ultimately meant to be encouragement to the church. The church is experiencing extreme persecution. They needed a good word and they’re about to get 20 plus chapters of hearing Jesus is the King. Jesus will conquer. Hold on. So Jesus is starting to give that, and as He does that, He wants to speak straight to the churches themselves. The glorious and resurrected Jesus, who is the beginning and the end, who is life itself, is personally appearing to John, directly speaking to the churches, and He’s writing this particular letter to the church at Ephesus. This is the same Ephesus that we just studied the letter to. This is the same Ephesus of Acts chapter 19 where Paul goes and shares the gospel and stirs up a bunch of stuff as he’s exposing the idolatry of the city. This is the same Ephesus that had Apollos as an evangelist. This is the same Ephesus that Paul just said, “You have undying love for Jesus.” The passage starts so well. Look at it with me. I’m starting in verse two. This is Jesus. I know your works, your labor, and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. I know that you’ve persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. Jump to verse six. Yet you do have this, too. You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

After introducing himself to the church at Ephesus, and I think it’s fascinating Jesus has to introduce himself to the church. After introducing himself, he gives some encouragements. He says, “Guys, you’re busy. Way to go. You’re faithful. That’s awesome. You are totally self-sufficient, man. Good for you. You even reject the teaching of the Nicolaitans. You got great teaching in yourself. This is an awesome church.” Jesus himself giving them gold star after gold star. Man, this is a model church. Who would not want this? If this church was around today, they’d be on the cover of the pastor magazines, the pastor of the church at Ephesus. He’d always be the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. We’d y’all be flying me to the church at Ephesus to learn about what they do and bring it back and have some, I don’t know, some like seminars or practices. This is what we would do. This is an incredible church, yet it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

Jesus has a rather severe warning for the church at Ephesus. Verse four and five, but I have this against you. You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember, remember then how far you’ve fallen. Repent. Do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. Incredible church on the brink of closure. You see, they had as much encouragement as Jesus could offer. Jesus also has a severe warning because they’ve got a dire issue. Jesus himself looking at them says, “You have abandoned the love that you had at first.”

That word abandon does not mean to misplace. It does not mean to put on a shelf for some time. That word abandon does not mean to consider other options to. That word abandon means you pack it up. You put it back in the corner and you leave. You depart from it. You have totally left it behind. This incredible church has abandoned their love for Jesus. Man, I look at this as a pastor and as a Christian and I’m like, man, how can a church as awesome as that at Ephesus do this? And not only that, how could they do all the great things they did without love for Jesus? Think about it this way. Look at verses two and three. But know now that they don’t do it without love for Jesus. It’s like Jesus says, “I know the works that you do without loving me. I know your labors without loving me. I know your endurance without loving me. I know that you can’t tolerate evil people, but you don’t love me. I know that you’ve tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you found them to be liars without any love for your Lord. I know that you’ve persevered without loving me, and you’ve endured hardships for the sake of my name without loving me. And I know that you have not grown weary, but you have grown loveless.”

How, Danny? Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, puts it this way. They, the church, was still doing all the right things, but sometime in the past, they had forsaken the right motivation. They they didn’t have a head problem. They had a heart problem. Obedience out of duty had replaced obedience out of love for Christ. That was the Ephesians issue. An incredible church that did incredible things, that had awesome leaders and awesome members. Totally getting it wrong. See, apparently Jesus cares more about our love for Him than our labors for Him. Our lives practicing kindness, not our calendars full of activity and church success. If I could put a sharper point on it, I fully believe a church can win in ministry and fail in Christianity. Man, I a church can win. We can win as a church. We could flood this place. We could donate tons of money. We could be uber successful in a lot of ways where other churches would want to learn from us and say, “How are you doing it? What are the systems you got? How have you remained strong under all the weight and the temptation and the pressure?” And we could do all that and be totally failing because we don’t love Jesus.

So Jesus, our good shepherd, offers a cure. What Jesus has the right to do is remove the lampstand. He’s the King. What He has the full right and power to do is wipe them out. But before He just goes to that option, He offers them a way out, a cure. He says, “Remember, repent and return. Remember, repent and return.”

As I was looking at this passage and I saw that word remember, it reminded me of that old story that I’m sure y’all have heard before. I’m sure it’s made up in its origin, but it is true in practice. There’s this older couple that’s riding around town in their bench seat truck. Older guy got his left hand on the steering wheel and right hand on the top of the seat and they’re riding around and his wife is safely strapped into her seat belt on the far end of the truck. And they’re just kind of riding around and they see another younger couple and a similar truck pass them by. And the difference between that older couple and the younger couple is that that younger guy also has his left hand on the steering wheel, also has his right hand on the top of the seat, but instead of being on the far end of the seat, his girl is tucked snugly into his side. The wife looks at the older gentleman and says, “We used to ride like that.” The guy looks at her and says, “Darling, I didn’t move.”

I wonder if Jesus were with us and He was riding and driving the truck. Are we snug under His arm or are we strapped in on the far side and Jesus is looking at us and saying, “I didn’t move.”

He offers a cure. Remember, repent, return. Look at it with me. Verse five. Remember then how far you have fallen.

You see the way it is with Jesus is that when He saves you, there is a natural rush of emotion and desire and passion for Him. Reading the Bible becomes natural. Prayer starts to roll off your tongue. And dare I say it, you start to share the gospel with folks. You start telling people about what God has done in your life. You have this natural passion for Jesus. And here’s the deal. Emotions tend to rise and fall with the seasons. So, it’s okay. But sometimes what happens to us is that what we start as white hot and in love with Jesus kind of loses its passion. And Jesus says, “Remember, remember your love for me. Remember your passion for me. Remember my love for you, my passion for you. Remember how I died on the cross for you. Remember how I’ve made a way of salvation for you. Remember those things.”

Here’s the deal. In our marriages, a vow renewal is a lot better than a divorce. A vow renewal is a lot better than a divorce. Man, what happens in America and what happens in churches in America is that we fall out of love with our spouse or we come to what some people call irreconcilable differences and instead of renewing the vows we once made, instead of rekindling the passion we once had, we just dump the spouse and go looking for a new one. Jesus is saying, “Don’t dump me. Renew your vows with me. Remember how far you have fallen.”

And then He goes on in verse five, repent. Repent. Do the works you did at first, but repent. To repent, man, that’s just this churchy word that means agree with God. Agree with God about your sin and how you are and turn away from you and go to Him. Repent of your lovelessness, oh church at Ephesus. Repent of laboring without me. Repent of doing all these great things without loving your great Savior.

Jesus is calling to the church of Ephesus to acknowledge their sin, to intentionally turn away from it and to change their minds about it and agree with God about it. This church, man, they could have heard this message from Jesus and said, “Nah, we’re good. Look at all these things we’re doing. Look at how busy we are. Look at how fruitful we are. Look at how great we are. Jesus, do you not know that other pastors want to learn from us? Jesus, do you not know that we’ve got the best choir in town? Jesus, do you not know that we are the most financially stable church in the region? Do you not know these things?” Jesus is saying to them, repent. Because it doesn’t matter how many check boxes you can get. If you do it without love, it’s all for naught.

So after you remember how far you’ve fallen, After you repent, the final part of this cure that Jesus offers to them is to return. Slide back across the seat, nuzzle back up with your Lord, and return. Return to your first work. Return to the works you did at first.

Here’s where it gets dicey. As I’m doing research this past week, scholars are nearly completely agreed that as they’re reading between the lines of what’s gone on here at Ephesus, as the church had stopped loving God, they had stopped loving each other. Jesus tells us what’s the most important command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. And the second is like it to love your neighbor as yourself. Those two things are tied together. You can’t love your neighbor as yourself unless you love God. And if you truly love God, you’ll begin to love your neighbors.

So as we are reading in between the lines here, what we have to think is that as the Ephesians stopped loving Jesus, continued to prioritize success, their relationships with each other fell by the wayside. Because you notice what’s not commended here. What’s not commended is their fellowship. What’s not commended is their family vibe. What’s not commended is their community. What’s commended is their knowledge and their hard work. Prioritizing knowledge and hard work usually does not grow relationships. It puts you on an island.

So Jesus Himself is saying, “Return to loving me. Return to loving each other and trust all the fruitfulness will come later.” If the Ephesian church does not heed the warning, Jesus Himself says, “I will come to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place.” I fully believe any church that does not love Jesus and love each other, Jesus will come and remove it. Removing the lampstand, I’ll say it in no uncertain terms. Jesus is threatening to kill the church at Ephesus.

Richard and Henry Blackaby who wrote the content experiencing God which our men are going to start studying together starting tonight here at the church with Al and Mr. Johnny men of the church if you want to jump in this and you have not yet signed up today is like the day. Okay, join the 40 of us that are going to do this thing. The same guys that experienced God revitalizing that church in Saskatoon, Canada, and all the growth that happens, they wrote this book called Flickering Lamps about this moment. And they said this, Christ won’t tolerate a church that forgets its purpose. He just won’t. Jesus is the king of this thing. He’s the one that died to save us. He is the one that sets the rules about how we operate and what we ought to value. If we forget our purpose that He has given us, He has no obligation to continue us. Christ has no obligation to continue a church that won’t operate according to His ways or prioritize His values. He’s already told us the most important thing we could ever do, to love God with everything we’ve got and to love others sacrificially.

I want to recognize in the room this morning are probably some folks that don’t yet love Jesus. I’m so glad you’re here. I am so glad that God brought you to church this morning. What I want you to hear right now is that there is a good and holy and loving God who made you. May He loves you. He made you and He has a unique plan for you in His plan. God loves you so much that He actually made you in His own image. He made you with the capacity and an innate desire to have a relationship with Him. But you know that that relationship that God wants with you doesn’t happen naturally because you struggle with the darkness and the demons and the sin and the temptations of this world. You can’t conquer it. You’re like the guy trying to push the boulder up the slope. And every time you think you make progress, you slide back down a little bit. And you’re just afraid that one day that boulder is going to roll over you and crush you. That boulder is your sin. You cannot get your sin out of the way on your own. You cannot deal with your sin. You can change your behavior. You can read self-help books. You can ignore it. You can even go to church a lot. You can donate a lot of money. You can read the Bible a lot. But you can’t deal with your sin. Someone has to come and remove that from you. His name is Jesus Christ. He came and lived the perfect life in your place that you’re supposed to, but you can’t. He died a sacrificial death for you on the cross, absorbing the guilt and the weight of your sin that you deserve to die. But in God’s love, you don’t have to. And He, after living perfectly and dying sacrificially, rose to life victoriously, totally securing an eternal future for you in God’s presence.

That’s what I want you to take away from this morning. If you are here today and you are not so sure about God or Jesus, I would love for you to tune me out for a moment and just talk with God about this. He has brought you here so that you can meet Him. Would you please accept the gospel? Would you please repent of your sin? Agree with God about you that you are a sinner, but you are loved. And would you accept the love of God for everybody else?

God has already told us what the most important thing for us to do is. It’s to love Him and is to love others. Here’s the thing. The Southern Baptist Convention loses hundreds of churches every single year. Could it be that Christ Himself is removing some of them because they have so diligently and stubbornly refused to return to their first love?

Yet all hope isn’t lost for the church in Ephesus. Jesus offers them, or He rather declares a promise. Look at verse seven with me. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.

Anyone can conquer their lovelessness for Jesus. Any church can move past a season of not loving God the way He ought to and not loving one another the way they should. Anyone can enjoy the life-giving presence of God forever. Christ does not want to end the church in Ephesus. If He wanted to, there would be no letter because He would have just removed them. I don’t believe that Christ likes removing any church. I don’t think He enjoys going up to a church which He calls a lampstand and just He doesn’t like that. But Christ will not tolerate churches that forget their purpose. That was hotter than I thought it was going.

So, what do we learn? What do we learn from this one simple declaration? Sauldam Baptist Church, restore your first love. Renew your vows, as it were. We can do lots of great things. Host Bible studies, feed the hungry. There’s some obvious bad things we’ve got to avoid. Fostering division, biting each other. But there is two most important things we’ve got to get right. Loving God and loving each other.

So, what are some signs that you’ve left your first love? Some signs perhaps that a church has? I think when a church cares about doing things for God more than just being children of God, man, they get overly busy. They fill up their calendar with so much good stuff. They don’t have time to simply be with Him. They can’t hear from Him. Man, churches that leave their first love have a lot of fighting and not very much evangelizing. Churches that leave their first love begin to feel like arenas of battle where we’re just contending with each other. Christians that have left their first love have stopped reading their Bible. They’ve stopped praying and singing in church just feels dull. Churches and Christians that leave their first love no longer see their money as a stewardship and a tool for God. Instead, they see it as a means to their own ends. Churches that lose their first love have stopped investing time and money into the next generation, but they’re only prioritizing memorializing the past. Churches who have lost their first love divide instead of uniting.

Could it be that we could end up like the Ephesians? One letter commended for our love for God, the next being given a warning from Jesus Christ Himself that we have left our love. Man, do any of those stick out to you? Are you here this morning and you’re wondering if your love for Jesus has grown a little stale or cold? I want to invite you to a vow renewal right here at the front. If you personally or you feel like our church needs this, for you to come and pray that God would once again stoke our passion and our love for Him. Will you come join me and we’ll pray that God will get a hold of us. Jesus has already given us the cure.

We would remember, we would repent, and we would return.