TPC Connections

Sermon Notes

“The Lost Love Connection”
2/16/25

Revelation 2:1-5 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 2 I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
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The incredible book of Revelation was delivered to the beloved disciple John after being banished to a lonely island called Patmos for his witness for Christ.

Patmos was a tiny island, about 10 miles long and 6 miles wide—just a tad bigger than downtown Fort Worth!

It was barren of trees and extremely rocky with no natural beauty.
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At the time of John’s banishment he was around 92 years old.

The early, baby church of his day was enduring vicious persecution because Rome at that time was an anti-Christian state.

The Roman Government was godless and Rome itself was infested with a multitude of anti-Christian religions, mainly the worship of a pantheon of mythical gods.

This was a time of great distress for God’s people!

So one reason Jesus gave The Revelation to John was to bring the church comfort and assurance that—though their circumstances were extremely difficult—God was still in control!
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Jesus quickly reveals to John the target audience for the incredible vision he was about to receive:

“What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches …” (NLV)

Jesus names seven churches that were all about a row-boats journey from the place of John’s banishment.
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Now, the first church Jesus addresses was in Ephesus, the same church Paul had birthed and wrote his epistle to.

True to form, when the Apostle Paul had first visited, he began immediately winning people to Christ.

As the numbers swelled it quickly became a church.

It was so successful that Paul stayed there for two years teaching and preaching.

—Now, the Ephesian church was birthed around 55 AD and John wrote the Book of Revelation around 90-95 AD.

So what we’re about to see is that something deeply concerning to Jesus happened to this church in that 35 to 40 year window.
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As Jesus did with five other of the seven churches, His first comments to them are positive:

Their pluses were:

hard work,
perseverance,
intolerance of evil,
Good discernment, and
patiently suffering without throwing in the towel

So at first glance they’re batting a thousand!
But the Lord’s next words point out His concern:

Revelation 2:4 “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

NLT puts it: “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!”

Now, what does “first Love” mean?

Their first love was their original passion for the Lord—the love that was first ignited in their souls when they got saved!

Jesus tells them straight up, “You don’t love me or each other like you once did.”

The Ephesians had been known for their love!

Eph. 1:15 “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you.”

Strong FAITH and fervent LOVE were their early strengths!

But a few decades later they’d drifted from it.

So catch this—they were doing everything right, but it wasn’t flowing out of the love-for-Jesus motive like at the first!

Maybe now it was a PRIDE motive,
or a RELIGIOUS motive,
or a PUBLIC RELATIONS motive…we don’t know.

But it was serious enough for Jesus to tell them, “Get this fixed or I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp-stand from its place…”

The lamp-stand was the light of Christ shining in and through the church to the culture.

To remove the lampstand would be to essentially “un-church” it—they would cease to shine.
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So in vs 5 Jesus gives them a three-step path back to spiritual health:

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works..”

The three steps are REMEMBER, REPENT, RECOVER.

First:

I. Remember

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen!”

—In other words, hit the pause button on all your activity and think back.

Do some honest self-assessment regarding your relationship with me—where it once was and where it is today.

Do you have the same passion and zeal for Jesus?

Are you excited to come to God’s house because you love Him, or has it become a robotic, empty duty?

Has your zeal and fervent love for Him cooled off?

On a scale of 1-10 where would you place your current walk with God compared to when you first got saved?

Jesus says to them (and to us)—put the brakes on your busyness and make an honest appraisal of your spiritual temperature and love for Me!
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And then SECONDLY he says:

II. Repent

Vs. 5 “Remember from where you have fallen; (and) repent…”

Repentance is an ACTION word meaning “to change your mind and turn around.”

It is to turn around and return home to God.

ILLUS: The prodigal son didn’t just deeply regret his sin, he put feet to his repentance and returned home to the father!

Luke 15:18 “I will arise and go to my father…”

So Jesus is saying to the Ephesian church, RETURN to your first love!

—Get your focus back on Him.

—Worship Him when no one is around.

—Spend time with Him again just for Him, not just for what He can do for you!

Essentially, as author Steven Covey put it, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!”

And according to Jesus, the MAIN THING is to maintain a daily, living, real, growing, love relationship with Him!

And everything else good and wholesome flows out of that relationship fountain!
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So first, REMEMBER, second REPENT…

And the third step back to spiritual health is:

III. Recover

“…do the first works…”

He’s talking about having the right motivation for the good works you do.

Some people do good works for attention.

Others do them out of religious duty.

Still others do good works for financial gain.

But Jesus says, RECOVER the first works that were motivated out of your first love!

Think back to your first works after you got saved.

Do you WITNESS like you used to out of a “love-for-Jesus” motivation?

Do you PRAY out of passion for Him like you did then?

Do you read the Word because you can’t wait to learn more about Jesus?

You see, the right motivation for good works comes from that first love relationship with the Lord!

—Everything good in our walk with God flows out of a daily, living, vital, love relationship with Jesus!

When that’s intact you will do again what your first-love motivated you to do when you started!

Doing the work of the Lord is supposed to spring out of our love for Him!

—Teaching a Bible class…

—Doing street ministry…

—Outreach to the lost and needy…

—Lifting up and encouraging the brethren…

—Opening your heart, your wallet, your helping hand to bless a dying world…

These and much more flow out of the love-for-Jesus motivation!
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And so today I encourage all of us, starting with myself, to hit the pause button and ask,

“How’s my relationship with the Lord doing?”

“Am I still walking in the fire and fervency of that first love?”

“Is what I’m doing for Him motivated primarily by my love for Him?” LET’S PRAY