🙋🙋
Sir, I have a few questions on this
passage, Rev 2:1-4.
1 ¶Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus
write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand,
who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy
patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried
them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for
my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
Q1.
Who is the recipient of the rebuke "thou hast left thy first
love"?
Q2.
Why is there such a stern rebuke despite having so many praises and
commendations?
Q3.
How do we know whether we have left the First Love? Please illustrate with examples.
Thanks so much.
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sing
Thanks for the good questions
Q1.
Who is the recipient of the rebuke "thou hast left thy first
love"?
A1. "unto the angel of the church of
Ephesus write..."
- the angel of the church is the messenger
(angelos), an envoy, one who is sent by God.
- the pronoun "thou" (1st person
singular) refers back to the angel of the church.
- what is shown to him as the messenger of
the church is intended for the whole church, collectively viewed as a singular
entity.
- so, the message is directed to the church
as one singular body and not to any specific or particular individual.
- all the things said about the church,
whether commendations or censures, are true of the majority, not all, that made
up the church of Ephesus when the message was delivered.
- As a whole, the church HAS LEFT her first
love even though there might have been a few individuals who can, with clear
conscience, claim otherwise. Nevertheless, the church has left her first love
unto the Lord and Husband and Head of the church.
- this evil has happened, is happening, and
shall happen to churches throughout church history.
The same message is directed to each child of
God in churches in every generation;
v7 ¶He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Three things to note here:
- He who has an ear to hear these spiritual
things is necessarily a child of God.
- Such are expected to be associated with the
churches of Jesus Christ; they are to be members of local churches.
- These things the Spirit of Christ said to
the church in Ephesus are also directed to other churches.
Q2. Why is there such a stern rebuke despite
having so many praises and commendations?
A2. To understand why there is such a rebuke, we need to ask a more basic question: what is meant by the first love?
What is the first love?
- first (protos): adjective, indicating first
in rank, in honour; not first in time or earliest.
- love (agape): NT speaks of 4 kinds of love;
the love spoken of here is love as the fruit/effect of divine grace, a love as
a product of God's love shown towards us. See 1John 4:19 "We love him,
because he first loved us"
The first love is the love reserved for God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ - love that is first in honour and rank is
properly due to Them, and His people.
Mark 12:30 KJV — And 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.
It was this first love that INITIALLY
animated/empowered/enabled the church (a body of saints) to do those things
that Christ commended them for.
The church must have exhibited that first
love at the beginning; otherwise how can it be said that she has left it? See
Eph 1:
The first love is NO LONGER in the activities
commended by Christ; those activities are no longer ANIMATED by that first
love.
Without that first love animating these
activities, they shall soon degenerate into outward customs and traditions.
Those things were NO LONGER done out of that
first love unto God; they were for a host of other reasons.
It's like a marriage with the first love
intact but later the first love has left same marriage even though it keeps up
the nice appearances.
But only Christ can see beyond those
impressive outward appearances of commendable things.
Q3. How do we know whether we have left the First Love? Please illustrate with examples.
A3. How does a church know whether she has NOT left the first love?
How do I know whether I have NOT left the
first love?
Let us first remind ourselves of one
important truth:
1Co 2:11a "For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?"
Only the spirit of the man knows the things
within him; others cannot truly know the things within a man - his thoughts,
his motives for action, etc. BUT, God sees and knows all things; nothing is
hidden from Him.
Despite the many commendable things done by
the church in Ephesus, the all-seeing Lord sees and knows the rot within. Man
sees outwardly only but only the spirit of a man sees the things in his own
heart; even then, the heart is so inclined to self-deceit. See Jer 7:9. So,
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of
life." Pro 4:23
ONLY a man's own spirit knows whether the
things he does is done out of that first love to God, or out of other reasons:
e.g. a sense of duty, a rote routine, to maintain reputation, to impress
others, to find favour, etc.
Without the first love, all those right and
commendable good works shall soon degenerate into joyless burdensome chores...
that was what has happened in the church in Ephesus. That's what has happened
in many marriages too.
The ONLY remedy prescribed by the all-seeing
Lord is:
v5: Remember therefore from whence thou art
fallen, and repent, and do the first works.
The first works and the first love are
related: the first works are works that manifest our first love to God. WithOUT
the first love, our services and works are like DEAD sacrifices instead of
living sacrifices.
Rom 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
