- We see the birth of the church in Ephesus in Acts 19:1-7
- So, there was a small group of believers already in Ephesus when Paul passes through.
- But they were trying to do church and the Christian life without the Holy Spirit.
- Later Paul returns to Ephesus and stays there for two years teaching them.
- Acts 18:19 Aquila and Priscilla Were also instrumental in the start of the church in Ephesus.
- Now let’s look at the city itself.
- From both scripture and from extra-biblical history we also know that this city was the home to some of the Greek gods.
- Acts 19:35 tells us that there was even a temple here for the Greek god Artemis.
- So, the city may have also been a destination for those who would worship Artemis.
- Rev 2:2 tells us the city of Ephesus was also prone to the false Apostles of the day
- All of that to say the he city of Ephesus was a city ripe with syncretism.
- In Acts 20:29-30 Paul had warned this would happen.
- Rev 2:2 Jesus commends them for fighting against what was false and evil
- Rev 2: 3 Jesus commends them again for not growing weary in this fight.
- Rev 2:4 But Jesus does have something against them.
- In this constant fight against , while they may not have grown weary, Jesus does say they have lost their___________.
- So here in Rev 2:4 when Jesus says “you have lost the love you had at first,” He means both their love of God and their love of neighbor.
- Now I would imagine that they had to lose their love of God first.
- This happened because their focus was on being right, rather than having their focus on God.
- The Greek word translated as “forsaken” means “abandoned” and can even mean “divorce.”
- Jesus is saying that they have abandoned him or even divorced themselves from Him.
- And they have also abandoned or divorced themselves from their neighbors.
- In the constant battle to fight against syncretism they lost both their love for God and for people in general.
Verse Rev 2:5-6 This loss of love is so serious that Jesus says it is sin, otherwise He would not tell them to repent.
- The are two parts to this.
- First, Where is my love level with God?
- Second, and where is my love level with other people, even people I disagree with?