Yet I hold this against you – Jesus said to Ephesus

Revelation’s Letter to the Church in Ephesus has a mix of good and bad news. And yet, there was a warning in the beginning that hasn’t been addressed yet. It’s time. And the sense of foreboding that’s been hanging in the air now comes to fruition. It’s brutal. The church in Ephesus is in danger of losing their status as a church of “The Way”. “Followers of The Way” is how early followers of Jesus described themselves. This is one huge wake-up call.

The adjacent image shows Jesus blowing out the candles in a traditional Temple candle stand. It is, of course, a metaphor for the seven lampstands in Heaven.

I suspect that the example of Jesus blowing out the flames isn’t quite accurate though. In reality, we’ll see that it’s the people in the church who are responsible for the flames going out.

It’s the actions of the people in the church that are the issue here. It’s them who are putting out the fire of the Holy Spirit. So, it’s also them who are responsible for their situation.

Jesus could just come and take away the lampstand, take away their status as part of His Church. But He doesn’t do that.

This letter, as bad as it sounds, is a warning. A warning given out of love. A warning to return, before it’s too late. And so, that’s how we should read it.

And remember – since all the letters were to be read to all the churches, the other six also heard what Jesus said to Ephesus. Can you imagine, if the letters were read in order – we don’t know if that was the case, but if it was – can you image hearing this first letter with Ephesus in danger of being removed from the Church, and then you sit and wonder with some sense of trepidation – what is my church going to be told?

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How could it get this bad?

You might wonder, “How could it get this bad?” Actually, you should wonder. And ask questions. As you read this, think about where the Ephesus church was. You’ll see comparisons of where they used to be – and where they were when the letter was written.

It was a major downfall. You might even wonder, “How could God let it get this bad?” I’ll tell you up front – it wasn’t God’s fault. So, as you read – also look for clues about all the things God did to teach and to warn the people in this church ahead of time.

And, oh, while you’re at it, remember that as part of scripture – these warnings are also for all of us, even today.

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Let’s take a quick look at the entire Letter to the Church in Ephesus as a reminder of its contents before deeper examination of what happened in Ephesus.

Remember the height from which you have fallen!

Does this phrase sound familiar – like you’ve come across it while reading the Bible?

Of course, there were warnings to Israel – prophecies – about how they would fall if they didn’t heed the warnings. They didn’t. And so, they did. That is, they didn’t heed the warnings, and they did fall, conquered others, and were led into destruction by the very human kings God warned them about back in 1 Samuel chapter 8.

I included the entire passage, not for detailed study, but to show you what they ignored.

Seriously, it feels like that scenario should never have happened. How could they get that kind of advance notice from God about what would happen – and they pretty much told God to “bring it on!”

So, as we’ll see with the Ephesus church, this isn’t God’s fault. The people were warned. But they refused to listen. And it’s not like they didn’t “hear” the words. It’s that their own desires overrode their ability to either understand or believe the message Samuel gave them from God.

Of course, this part of the prophecy came true as well –

When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.

– and God did rescue them.

And yet, we just keep on doing the same things, over and over.

So, obviously that kind of warning didn’t work.

Another instance of falling from a great height

Maybe this example is more memorable?

Does that sound familiar? Do you remember who this is about?

Here’s a refresher/brief statement on those verses. The passage, A Prophecy Against Babylon, is quite long. And it’s about the King of Babylon. However, because of the verses above, many/most scholars agree that there’s a dual prophecy in there. Some parts of it, especially those three, are also about Satan. You know – the angel of light who rebelled against God and was cast down to earth.

Try to imagine being a Jewish person, and your people were waiting 400 years to hear from God and were praying about Messiah – then He came, was crucified (according to God’s plan) by a collaboration between Judas (a disciple of Jesus), the Jewish leaders, and the Roman government. You know believe Jesus was Messiah – and He’s telling you, “You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen!” – which is very much what happened with Satan. How do you feel about that?

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Did God warn the angels about what would happen if they rebelled?

Here’s a question though. Did God warn the angels what would happen if they rebelled? I don’t remember ever reading anything about a warning to them. So, I did some research on it.

The bottom line is – we just don’t know. However, there’s a passage in Jude that tells us something we should know. Jude is only one chapter. And yet, it’s one we should reread on a regular basis. It could’ve been a solid warning to the people of the church in Ephesus. One that added to all the others they also had, to be sure, but then – can we ever have too many warnings about things that involve our eternal souls and affect the things we do as Christians?

After all, the Holy Spirit enables us to do great things. But only if we allow Him into our innermost being. On top of that, the Holy Spirit is yet another source of warning for us when we start to wander off that narrow path.

So, let’s take a look at the first of two main passages in Jude.

Notice especially:

1. certain men: Yes, Jude is going to write about specific things. On a larger scale though, the warning does apply to anything that might take us away from God. There are so many prophecies, so many examples, so many warnings. Even the parable of the rich young man, which many people think is about money – it’s equally applicable to whatever we put above God. And the reality is, as soon as we remove the #1 thing on our list of things above God – there’s a new #1 to be wary of.
2. the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home: Our first instinct may be to associate this with the rebellion, and think these are the angels who followed Satan. The problem there is that “these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” doesn’t line up with what we know of the current status of those angels. Instead, these angels are most likely the Nephilim of Genesis 6 and Numbers 13. For today, the important thing is that both sets of fallen angels are examples to us of what happened when they turned away from God. They’re also a reminder that, while they were not and will not be forgiven – we do have forgiveness offered to us. But then – will we remember that? Will we heed these warnings? For that matter, will we even remember these warnings?

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Since we probably need more warnings – or encouragement – depending on which motivates us – there are three more in the aptly named “call to persevere” in this passage from Jude.

So, let’s check out these three things in that last passage from Jude.

1. build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit: Remember what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit.
   

   Jn 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

   It’s much harder to mess up if we keep this in mind. All the other warnings will be available for the Holy Spirit to try to prompt us to get back to the narrow path.
2. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life: The Holy Spirit will also remind us of this – keeping ourselves in God’s love. And, of course, it’s impossible for us to lose our first love if we remain in God’s perfect love.
3. snatch others from the fire and save them: This goes a long way towards preventing a community collapse in the church. If people are willing to reach out to each other – ask what’s happening with them, is something wrong, something causing them to drift away – then this event of everyone losing their love isn’t going to happen. BTW 0 it’s not because the people do it on their own – it’s because the actions and motivations behind this kind of effort will bring in the Holy Spirit. The thing is, it takes courage by all parties involved to make it work. It takes a real sense of God’s community. Therefore, the earlier the better. There’s less baggage to overcome if it doesn’t go too far.

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Are those enough warnings from God?

Do we think God gave enough warnings to the Ephesus church? Maybe we want to say yes. Maybe we think it should be, but realize it isn’t. It’s also possible that some people, but not you, have already stopped reading.

But hey – there’s one more. And if we thought the others should’ve been enough, wait until you see this one. It’s someone who knew Ephesus well. And they knew him well.

Paul in Ephesus

Yes, Paul was preaching in Ephesus from approximately 52 to 55 AD. Scholars believe Paul wrote 1 Corinthians during this time. Given that Paul was preaching and writing in Ephesus at the same time, it’s reasonable to believe that the church in Ephesus heard the same messages Paul sent to the church in Corinth.

Oh yeah – Paul was founding the church in Ephesus at this time. So, as you read this portion, imagine what goes through the minds of the people in this church at the time the letter is delivered – who were there from the beginning and heard Paul preach about the themes that he wrote about to the church in Corinth. It had to be devastating.

But then, not as devastating as when they realize what they did with God’s love. No, this would be devastating on the side of – “how did we let this happen? We should’ve known better. Especially us – of all people”.

Do you see what I mean?

Let’s focus on the highlighted items.

1. these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did: It’s not that God forced people in the past to do evil things. There was plenty of evil happening all the time. No need for God to force anyone to do anything. Plenty of things for us to learn from. If we choose to listen to sermons, read the Bible, study the Bible, journal as we read/study to track our progress, and more – then we can learn about those examples. If we do none of those things, then how can we learn anything?
2. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us: See the bullet point above. And realize that things repeated in the Bible are extra important.
3. when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it: I wonder, when we read this passage, how often do we pay attention to “so that you can stand up under it“? Ever? In modern Western countries, we like to win. The idea of surviving is kind of foreign to us. Only “losers” survive. Even second place is often regarded as the “first loser”. Coming out of any kind of test, trial, or difficult circumstance merely standing isn’t victory. Smashing the opponent is victory. Smashing them with our own skill, knowledge, power – that’s a great victory. But that’s not what it says here.

I wonder – lots of wondering on this one – is that why we don’t pay attention to these warnings? Maybe why we don’t even consider them warnings? Especially not warnings for us? We can take care of ourselves! But, we can’t.

And then, the next passage really hits home, especially on how they lost their first love, how they fell so far, and how they didn’t seem to notice.

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Earlier, we looked at part of the passage in John where Jesus promised the Holy Spirit after He returned to Heaven. Let’s now check out another portion of that passage.

Jesus on love and obeying – how we can misunderstand His words

What’s your first impression of that verse? If you know it well – and understand the meaning – try to think back to a time before you knew what you know now. Or try to put yourself in the position of someone who’s reading it for the first time.

Can you imagine reading it, not paying attention to it, or even knowing but then forgetting what it means, and eventually coming out of it with something like this:

1. I obey Jesus’ teaching, so I must love Him.
2. Since I accomplished #1, then the Father loves me.
3. Since I’ve done #1 & #2, the Father and the Son will come to me – The Holy Spirit will reside in me.
4. Verse 24 isn’t for me, since I obviously love Jesus – see #s 1, 2, &3.
5. Jesus relayed those words from the Father, so they must be true.

Can you imagine that? Do you believe it’s correct? If you do, let me try to explain the possible misunderstanding – and what the fatal logic error is in the process.

Let’s try that list again, with some analysis of the assumptions made in it.

Step	Statement	Possible problem with statement
1	I obey Jesus’ teaching, so I must love Him.	The order is reversed. It says If we love Jesus, then we will obey His teaching. Flipping that order can yield a conclusion that’s logically not true. The issue is whether our love of Jesus is defined by our hearts – or by our actions.
2	Since I accomplished #1, then the Father loves me.	The potential problem from #1 carries through. Our actions, absent of what’s in our hearts, is not the basis for #1, so it cannot be carried through to #2.
3	Since I’ve done #1 & #2, the Father and the Son will come to me – The Holy Spirit will reside in me.	Same problem. The Holy Spirit will enter us when we’re baptized. However, I have to believe there’s a condition in that process. God cannot be mocked, and He will not reside in us if we only go through the motions – but love for Him isn’t present.
4	Verse 24 isn’t for me, since I obviously love Jesus – see #s 1, 2, &3.	Because of the logic issues above, no such statement can be made. We have to go back and correct the original assumption in #1. We also need to do something like pray Psalm 139 to get a true assessment of whether love for God is truly in our hearts.
5	Jesus relayed those words from the Father, so they must be true.	This one is true. However, it’s only true if we correctly interpret those words. It’s easy to misinterpret if we don’t understand them. And we cannot truly understand them without God’s help. However – it’s not really a catch-22. We seek God, He will answer. Then the knowledge will flow – not all at once like taking a pill, but gradually, as we take the time to learn and grow.

Enter apathy

I used to know someone who said, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy”. So true.

There’s a corollary to that as well. “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you apathetic.”

In the case of Ephesus, after all those warnings, after being founded by Paul, hearing him preach, receiving a letter from him,

Did Ephesus really fall from a great height?

Let’s return to Paul. In his letter to this church – the book of Ephesians – he writes this near the beginning:

That’s a very nice letter. Was it because Paul had a special place in his heart for this church? Well, I’d guess he did – but I also know from other letters that any special place wouldn’t prevent him from being honest with them if they were “losing” their faith, love, or anything else that they had when he was with them.

But still, sometimes his writing can be on the sarcastic side, to make a point. I don’t have the time to pore through hundreds of commentaries to see if anyone thought that was happening here. So, I had Faithife’s AI search their library for me.

Ephesus is in a bad place. Is it too late?

Ephesus has a problem. Many of us today have a similar problem.

So, bringing yourself to the present day, did that change your thinking about what Jesus told the Ephesus church about forgetting their first love?

And – did you, hopefully, think about yourself – and assuming you’re Christian – how are you feeling about Jesus? How’s your love for the One who went through everything He did to save you?

Are you with the Israelites in 1 Samuel who wanted a human king? Are you with the angels who joined Satan in the rebellion against God? Or are you evaluating your Christian walk now in a new light, with an eye to some things you’ve probably heard or read before, but never put them together, let alone put yourself right there with them?

Did Jude, or Paul, or anything you read touch your heart and make you wonder where you stand with those same issues?

Honestly, while this is a letter mixed with good and bad news, can any amount of good news outweigh what Jesus just said to them?

But wait – there is a way to repair this situation.

Repent and do the things you did at first

Repent and do the things you did at first. That sounds like it’s time to pull out the manual, see what kinds of things we used to do, and go back to doing them again, doesn’t it? But it’s not quite right. There’s more to it than that. It’s not a case of what they were doing – but how they were doing it. We could say they were going through the motions, but with no “E”-motion.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, that’s something the Ephesian church almost certainly heard – more than once. Let’s check that out.

Yet I hold this against you – Repent and do the things you did at first?

Think about it. Jesus says to repent. OK – that’s a necessary starting point.

But what about “do the things you did at first”?

If we’re doing all the right things already – which appear to be what the letter says up to this point – we are largely doing the right things, aren’t we – then what are we supposed to return to?

Uh – how about going back to Paul one more time, to learn about love. Another passage from 1 Corinthians. At least one more message the Ephesian church likely heard when Paul was there preaching.

To sum that up, no matter what we do – no matter how great and awesome we seem to be – if we do things without love, we’ve done nothing and we are nothing.

Why?

It’s simple, really. And also very hard.

If we do things with God’s love, then we are the instrument that God plays. God gives us the wisdom, the strength, the knowledge, everything we need to accomplish the goal He has for us. We don’t do it on our own.

What’s so hard about that? How about a three-letter word – ego. And then for those of us in Western cultures, it’s what we learned while we were growing up. It’s what’s advertised, encouraged, almost demanded, every moment of every day. It’s our way of life – or so we’re told.

But then, I think about things like these: People take drugs to enhance performance. I used to know people who did cocaine because they said it enhanced their brain. People cheat to get an advantage in nearly everything in life. Politicians destroy each other to make themselves appear better. And on and on and on.

The reality is that there aren’t that many people who consider themselves to be great – or are considered by society at large to be great – who actually do that much on their own.

So really – why is it so hard to turn to God – and let Him do infinitely more important and greater things through us? And not the bonus – but the very core of that “success” is God’s love working through us to accomplish things that can’t be done any other way.

No – we don’t deserve the credit. But hey – look at the life we can lead? Why settle for less?

For the church in Ephesus – maybe they need to learn that: Love has no apathy.
Maybe we need that as well? Hint – the correct answer is yes.