I Have this Against You

I was reflecting on the words of our glorified Lord when He asked John to write to the church in Ephesus. For the first time the strong warning that the Lord Jesus gave them made me afraid. He said, “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent (Rev. 2:4, 5).

Jesus first commended the church for their deeds, their toil, their perseverance and their intolerance towards false apostles (Rev. 2:2). He also approved of their hatred towards the Nicolaitans—those who advocated false doctrines and teachings (Rev. 2:6). Yet despite all this, the Lord warned them that He would remove the church—they would be no more—if they did not repent from their half-hearted devotion to Him. This brief yet strong warning shook me because it showed me how seriously God looks at our love and devotion to Him. The risen Lord reprimanded the church in Laodicea for this same reason saying, “I would that you were cold or hot” (Rev. 3:15). In simple words: It’s all or nothing. Here again the warning of the faithful and true Witness was powerful: “So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:16).

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he sought to secure from them “an undistracted devotion to the Lord” (1Cor. 7:35). The Amplified New Testament elaborates this so well saying: “…to secure your undistracted and undivided devotion to the Lord.” Another term that beautifully brings out this meaning is single-minded devotion. When writing to the same church in his second letter Paul said something similar, “…I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2Cor. 11:2, 3). We have heard God say that He is a jealous God (Deut. 4:24). What do we learn from these verses? That our Redeemer is looking for us to be true to our part of the covenant by loving Him with a sincere undistracted love and devotion.  

Coming back to the church in Ephesus. Here were Christians that Paul had spent three years with (Acts: 20:32). Day after day in this period (from around 53 AD) he laboured with them. He never ceased to admonish each one with tears. 40 years later when the Apostle John was writing the revelation of Jesus Christ (around 90 AD), the Ephesian Christians were still faithful to their work and toil for the kingdom of God; conducting several activities for the glory of God. All these spoke volumes of the strong foundation Paul had established in them. They persevered in the things of the gospel. They tested every teaching that so-called false apostles taught. From all this it appears that despite the city itself being an idolatrous, corrupt business hub they were an 'active', 'vibrant' church. Still the Lord Jesus told them that He would remove the church from its place if they did not repent and get back to that simplicity and purity of undistracted devotion to Him.

Oh that each of us, members of the body of Christ, would love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind (Mt. 22:37). Oh that every stone in the living temple of God would be firmly established in the truth of righteousness knowing well that each one is sanctified for God alone—a people for God’s own possession (1Pet. 2:9). Oh that every branch in the living Vine would recognize that apart from Jesus we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5b). There is such a crying need in the Church today to get back to our first love for Christ—a love that clings to Him in faith; a love that submits wholeheartedly to His will; a love that says to Him in sincerity, “the world behind me; the cross before me.” We need to awaken. We need to arise that Christ will shine on us (Eph. 5:14). It is imperative that we hearken to the warning of the Spirit of God for if the glorified Saviour was willing to take away the “lampstand from out of its place”—and we know that God does not lie but always keeps His word—will He treat us differently?

I believe that the church at Ephesus took the warning of Jesus seriously and repented; for history tells us that 20 years later (around 110 AD), Bishop Ignatius of Antioch wrote a letter to the church to encourage them. May we learn from these examples the things that are important to God. May we be preserved from deceiving ourselves; satisfied with leaves only and bereft of fruit. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Mt. 7:14).