In Revelation 2 we read of the message to the church in Ephesus. We read from verse 1-7, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember 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. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’” God wants to tell us also today – Remember from where you have fallen; repent and do the deeds you did at first. God loves the church in Ephesus a lot and that is the reason why God shows them what they lack in their life and gives them correction. God desires to see them as over-comers ( V7). God reminds them that they have fallen from the first love.
In Acts 19, 20 we read about the church of Ephesus. Apostle Paul reminds the church of Ephesus of the effort he put into the building the church. In Ephesians 1:15 Paul praises the love the church of Ephesus had for the Lord and for the brethren. And in Revelation we read that the church came to a state where they lost this first love. God speaks strongly to the church and says that He will remove their lampstand out of its place unless they repented. It is a very serious thing to have lost the first love. God appreciated the many good qualities of the church but their lack is in love. But all deeds without love is a dead work and so God warns the church.
Br. Zac says in one of his message – What does a true husband desire from his wife primarily? Is it her love or is it her labor? Definitely her love! Our Lord also desires our love first ! All other things are secondary. God desires us to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. At one point the church of Ephesus had this love, but now they had lost it. What is our condition? At some point, we also had this fervent love to the Lord, our zeal to know the Lord, a sensitivity to sin, love for our brethren; but now where are we standing? Do we lack these things in our life? In the end days, the love of many will become cold (Matthew 24:12 – Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.) Today God wants to gives us warning so that we can check ourselves. We may fall in many areas, but we shouldn’t continue in that fallen state. We need to repent and come back to the first love. In Jude 1:24 we read, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,” The Holy Spirit can keep us from falling. God doesn’t want us to be a defeated Christian. We have the promise that sin will not be our master.
In order to have this victory; we first need to understand the weakness of our flesh and not lean on our on understanding. Paul reminds us in Philippians to put no confidence in the flesh. Peter had a self confidence in his flesh. He depended on his flesh and made up his mind that he will not fall. But we see how Peter fell and denied Jesus 3 times. But Peter did not stay there. He repented and we see how God used him mightily. The second thing we need is to be humble!. In one of the article says “A humble person cannot fall, because he is already at ground level”. If there is pride in our heart, we will definitely fall. In Philippians 2:8,9 we read, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,” This is an example for us – Jesus’ life.
Today God wants to restore that love in our hearts. He wants to restore the lost thing in our lives. In Leviticus we read, “the fire shall be continually be burning at the altar. It is not to go out”. Never allow the love to grow cold. Never allow the lamp to go out. Remember from where we have fallen and let us examine ourselves to see what we lack. In Psalms 139:23, 24 we read, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” May this be our prayer. Ask God to show what lacks in our lives. Let us come to God with a repented heart.
