Revelation 2:4-7 - Ephesus

4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Jesus condemns the church for “losing their first love”. They were doing the right things, but somewhere along the way they had lost the passion behind their motivation. They didn’t have a head problem but a heart problem. Obedience out of love for Christ had been replaced by obedience out of duty. This is a difference between “I obey and Jesus accepts me” and “Jesus accepts me and I gladly obey”. This difference is massive.

The song sings that “Jesus is jealous for me”. Jesus wants our first love, the purpose behind all that we do and our first response to be a testimony for Him. There can be no idols and life can’t flow from any other source except Him.

He offers a plan of recovery. Repent. The first step is always to repent. Turn from your direction and purposely choose His direction. Turn from you being god and let Him be God. Turn from thinking your deeds have merit and you’ve done great things for God and let Him do great things and get the glory for it. Remember what you first did and do those things again. What did you do and how did you feel when you first knew Him? Restore that first love.

What are some evidences that you’ve lost that first love:

1. You delight in someone else more than you delight in the Lord. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30). 
2. Your soul does not long for times of rich fellowship in God’s Word or prayer. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy . . . soul . . .” (Mark 12:30). 
3. Your thoughts in leisure moments do not honor the Lord. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy . . . mind . . .” (Mark 12:30). “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). 
4. You make excuses for doing things that displease the Lord. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy . . . strength” (Mark 12:30). As your Good Shepherd, He will lead you “in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love” (John 15:10). 
5. You do not willingly and cheerfully give to God’s work or to the needs of others. “whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (I John 3:17). 
6. You cease to love others as God loves them. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (I John 4:10–11). 
7. You view Christ's commands as restrictions to your happiness rather than expressions of His love. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). 
8. You strive for affirmation from the world rather than approval from the Lord. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (I John 2:15–17). 
9. You fail to make Christ or His words known because you fear rejection. “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20). “hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5–6). 
10. You become complacent toward sinful conditions around you. Jesus warned that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). “Be sober [discreet], be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith” (I Peter 5:8–9). 

 What are some actions we can take to lead us back to our first love?

1. Worship.  Listen to and remember songs that touch us deeply or did touch us deeply.  Consider why they did at that time.
2. Prayer.  Set a deliberate time to pray and reflect in conversation with God.  Expand that time until you are able to walk daily at all times in prayer and conversation. 
3. Study.  Read and study God’s Word. 
4. Apply God’s Word.  If you are reading it, you will immediately have an application in your life.  Step out in faith and believe it and stand on His Words.  Let the world fall around you wherever it must.  
5. Give.  Give to others as needs become evident around you. 
6. Serve.  Be watchful to see the needs around you and step in and help others where you can.

Jesus offers a stern warning. “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” If you do nothing, you will be removed as a carrier of His light. The church that does not repent and turn will cease to be a church. The person who does not repent and turn will cease to be a witness.

“The key to remember here is that there is an opportunity to change. All is not lost.” – My Dad

7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Not only is this message for the church of Ephesus, but for the seven “churches”. It is also for “whoever has ears”. To anyone who will listen with their spirit, hear what God’s Spirit is saying. Those who respond to that challenge and become victorious, there is the promise of the “tree of life”. This reference to “victor” is the same as the one who “conquers” in 1 John 5:4-5 and is derived from the Greek word Nikao or our word “Nike”. It is a reference of superiority and victory over a vanquished foe. It is in Genesis 2:9 and 3:22-24 where we read of the “tree of life”. The next reference is in Revelation 22:2. What Adam and Eve forfeited in sin we regain in Christ. He is the source of eternal life.

Tell me what you think about and I’ll tell you what you love.
Tell me what you talk about and I’ll tell you what you love.
Tell me what excites you and I’ll tell you what you love.

I pray that the answer for these is the same for each of these. May the answer always and forever be Jesus for us personally, for our local church, and for the universal church.