October 1, 1999 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The following article is by Dave Halyaman, Assistant Pastor, Believers Baptist Church, Winona Lake, Indiana.

Text: Revelation 2:1-5: "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; 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: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

Earlier this year, I spent two weeks in Romania, teaching at a Bible College and preaching in several churches. It was a great blessing. Many of the simple country folk of this eastern European nation have an intense desire to hear the Word of God. I especially remember in one church in a town called Sighetu. The church held morning and even services, both longer than in most America churches. After the two-hour evening service one Sunday, about half the church members left to go home. The other half (about 75-80 people) broke up into small groups and traveled to several to several small villages in the country. They held evening preaching services for several hours, not returning home until 10:30 or 11 p.m. I found out this was a regular ministry of this church. They did this every week; it wasn’t for the benefit of the Americans.

When I heard and saw this, I was amazed, and ashamed: I don’t have that kind of zeal. And I was discouraged that I don’t see that zeal in our church. And I wondered why.

I think the reason why is found in our text. Indeed, the church at Ephesus was a serving church, which had good standards. Many members exercised discernment and had a great zeal for holiness. They took strong stands against doctrinal compromise. But despite these commendable attributes, the Lord Jesus said there was something wrong: "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Rev 2:4). The danger this church---or any Christian--faces is to lose our first love.

As Matthew Henry said, Jesus was not condemning the church for forsaking the object of love (Christ), but for losing the degree of fervency of love. We might say today they had "cooled off." They were continuing in the "mechanics" of a good church ... all the right elements were there, except for one thing: A TRUE LOVE ... A TRUE DEVOTION ... A TRUE FERVENCY ... FOR WHAT THEY WERE DOING. Christ’s condemnation was for the spiritual temperature of their hearts, not their lack of activity.

I believe what happened to the church at Ephesus has happened to the churches of America. I think sometimes we do things in our Christian walk because of routine rather than real fervency ... a real LOVE for Christ. It’s an easy trap to fall into. What causes this "cooling off"?

HOW WE LOSE OUR "FIRST LOVE"

1. Distractions of this world. John called them cares, riches, lusts of other things in his first epistle.

I happened to be in a wealthy person’s home recently. In a recreation room there was a TV, a full size pool table, a Nordic track exercise machine, a ping pong table, a portable basketball shooting game, a fooseball game, a miniature golf driving range game, a VCR, and on and on. As I looked at all this stuff, I realized: God is not a priority in this man’s home! None of these things is inherently evil, but Satan has used them to take this man’s mind off the eternal, and onto the temporal.

How easily this can happen to the Christian, especially here in America! Prosperity, good jobs, popularity and ease have numbed many members of Christ’s Church. A marked increase in "disposable income" has tempted us to spend more, to relax more, to focus more on vacations than service; more on leisure than sacrifice. The "other things" John warned us about are choking the very life out of our families, our churches, ourselves! Amos warned his people, "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion..." Amos 6:1.

2. Then. there is what I call "Christian Laziness." To love the pillow in the morning more than getting up and spending time with God. To have a love affair with the "snooze (sloth)" button. To never memorize a Bible verse, except when the Pastor makes you feel guilty enough to do it. Christian laziness is regarding our walk with God so lightly that we won’t discipline our flesh enough to obey even the basics of the Christian walk. This laziness ties directly with the wealth mentioned above.

Moses warned Israel: For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. Deut. 31:20 Is this not what our nation has done? Is not the milk and honey flowing in America? Do we not fill ourselves? Have we not turned away from our glorious roots to secularism, humanism and materialism? Where are God’s people? Where are the modern prophets standing up and crying against evil and indifference? Where is the servant’s heart? Where are the commitment and sacrifice?

3. Perhaps some of our problem is a lack of persecution. The Romanians who are in their late teens and older know the reality of persecution. Nicolae Ceausescu ruled with an iron fist from the 1960’s until his overthrow and execution in 1989. There are thousands of horror stories from his brutal reign of terror. But Christ’s churches continued and prospered in the midst of the persecution. The churches in China are suffering horribly ... yet continue to see numbers come to Christ. The same can be said of many persecuted nations.

We’ve never experienced anything like that in America. Perhaps we need to. Perhaps what American Christianity needs is some modern day coliseums. Maybe we need some lions. Maybe God will have to send terrible persecution and suffering to wake us out of our sleep! I have often said that this country doesn’t need four more years of economic prosperity and peace ... but rather ten more years of a depression and persecution. My flesh doesn’t desire it, but I think it would be good for us all.

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?

1. We need to admit there is a problem: not just with someone else in the church, but with us. We have to acknowledge that our hearts are cold, that we have left our first love. Jesus said in Rev 2:5, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen..." "Fallen" means to drop away or be driven from one’s course. When we were saved, we were on a right course, but we’ve "fallen" away from what’s right. Our hearts are cold. And it is not the fault of the Democrats, or Republicans, or the Pastor, or our parents, or the ozone layer or anything else. It’s our hearts that we have allowed to become cold. If we don’t acknowledge a problem, we’ll never see any fire or zeal!

2. We need to confess it to the Lord. Verse 5 also says: "...and repent..." This means to change our mind; it means to take positive action to make things right. A cold heart is sin. Nothing less. If you are spiritually cold, you will never get on fire by simply resolving you’ll do better. Confession is good for the soul, and is necessary to repair and maintain our walk with God.

We often pray for our nation and our leaders, as well we should. But as I read 2 Chronicles 7:14, the admonition is for God’s people to get right, not the pagans in Washington!

3. We’d better start doing what we used to be doing. "...and do the first works..."

Don’t confess it at an altar and go home feeling better about yourself. Let’s get off our blessed assurances and get busy for God! Volunteer to do something. Seek to have a ministry in your church. Every body should have some sort of ministry to people. If you don’t, you’re backslidden.

IF WE FAIL TO REPENT

Putting off or ignoring God’s admonitions brings terrible warning: "...or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

I believe this is judgment on the church. When the members of a church refuse to listen to God and repent of their sin, the Lord Jesus will come and take away the church’s authority. It will die. So will the Christians within it. Oh, the building may still be there. The people may still file in each Sunday morning and dutifully conduct their religious rituals. The "mechanics" of the church may still be moving. There may be lots of activity. But the real source of power has long departed. And you can see it on their faces: No fervency. No zeal. No "first love."

When I attended a small house church that Sunday night in Romania, I thought only the Bible College students would serve (part of their obligatory "training"). I didn’t expect to see all these church people. But it was the church people---farmers, housewives, common everyday folk who were weary after a long week’s work--- who went and ministered. And when I found out that there were many other such services going on at the same time---mostly held by everyday church members--- I realized this was a form of Christianity I had never seen before. There was zeal there. There was fire there. There was love there...a "first love."

I might not see eye to eye on every practice of this Romanian church, but I can tell you one thing: they hadn’t lost their first love. Have we?

[The Believers Baptist Church of Winona Lake, Indiana, operates the Hephzibah House, a ministry for troubled teenage girls. The director of the Hephzibah House is Ronald E. Williams. This ministry has many needs and is a very worthy ministry for support. Many young ladies have seen their lives turned around to serve the Lord through the gracious ministry of the Hephzibah House. Pastor Williams travels to churches to preach and to represent the ministry. They publish the monthly Hephzibah Happenings to describe the victories and needs of the ministry. They also have a video tour of the Hephzibah House ministry which is available for $10 plus $3 S/H. They can be contacted at Hephzibah House, 508 School St., Winona Lake, IN 46590. 219-269-2376 (voice). hephzibah@kconline.com (e-mail), http://www.kconline.com/hephzibah (web site).]