7 Churches: Ephesus, the loveless assembly; the physician and their failure — A.J. Higgins

Thank you all for being with us, I appreciate your attendance and hopefully there will be a few more coming along as the day progresses. Now will you turn please with me to the book of Revelation and chapter 2.

Christ’s Message to the Loveless Assembly

Revelation 2 and verse number 1, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, walketh in the midst of the seven lampstands, as we mentioned last night, a better translation, I know thy works, thy labor, and thy patience.

How thou canst not bear them which are evil, and hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, 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 thy first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent.

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Now we trust that God will add his rich blessing to the public reading of his word. In many ways as we begin looking at the actual seven churches, the church that we are looking at initially is unique, unique in several ways.

Of the seven assemblies to which John is writing, the only one of which we really know anything is the church at Ephesus. We never read of anything else about Smyrna, and of Pergamos, and Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.

We do read of course of Laodicea being mentioned in the Colossian letter, but as far as anything of any substance other than just a name dropped here, it is the only assembly of which we really know anything else.

But the remarkable thing is that of any assembly, we probably know more about the assembly at Ephesus than any other assembly in the New Testament. Just let your mind for a moment think of all that we are given about the assembly at Ephesus.

Ephesus in Acts and the New Testament

For example, we know something about its birth and beginning, don't we, in Acts chapter 19. When Paul moved to Ephesus, and you know the story so well of the preaching of the gospel, of the near riot by the craftsmen over the trade and over the potential of losing their income and the cry of the assembly that day, great is Diana, great is Artemis of the Ephesians, and all that transpired in Acts chapter 19, we are given insight into the birth, into the beginning of the work in Ephesus and the birth of the assembly.

And in the very next chapter, chapter 20, we are given to understand something of the blessing that Paul gave to those elders as they met, as he called for the elders at Ephesus, met with them and you know so well the recounting of his labor amongst them and the blessing with which he leaves them and the warning he gives them about last days and perilous times and men coming in and men rising up.

And so we have that in Acts chapter 20. But it doesn't end there because we have a letter penned to the assembly at Ephesus by Paul, what we call the Ephesian letter. Now I know there is a difference of opinion.

Some view that as what's called a circular letter that went to many assemblies and perhaps Ephesus was the first assembly. But nevertheless, we are given to us a letter that gives us teaching that Paul gave to the assembly at Ephesus.

But it doesn't end there. Because when Paul picked up his pen to write to a young man called Timothy, Timothy was at the assembly at Ephesus. And so when you are reading 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, what you are reading is Paul's instruction to Timothy and to the assembly at Ephesus again.

And in the letter to Ephesus, what we call the epistle to the Ephesians, we have what we call body truth, truth that tells us of the body of Christ and its blessings, the bounty into which we have all been brought as believers because we belong to Christ.

When you come to the letter of Paul to Timothy and 1 and 2 Timothy, we now have truth relating to behavior in the house of God. So he combines for us in his writings truth which has to do with all believers everywhere for all time, all that belong to the body of Christ.

And then in the letters to Timothy, we have truth relating to the local assembly, how one ought to behave himself in house of God. And then to cap it, we have finally John's writing here in the book of the Revelation that brings before us the blemish upon the testimony at Ephesus.

And the danger in which they were found. Now some would suggest also that it's possible that 3rd John, John's 3rd epistle, may have been written to the assembly at Ephesus or to Gaius who was at Ephesus.

But that is a little difficult to be sure of. So we're just going to limit it to those features, those different references to the Ephesian assembly. So what we have then is a tremendous amount of material concerning this assembly.

In the letter that we will look at then, we have seen something of the background of this assembly. We are going to look at this letter and look at the basis then for all departure, where departure from God begins.

The Pattern of Departure from God

Now it is not just coincidental and it is not just the way it worked out and the way in which these things occurred. But we have the beginning of departure in Ephesus that is so small and we end with Laodicea before we are done and we see that the tiny stream, the tiny rivulet of departure has now become a mighty ocean by the time we come to Laodicea.

We will see as well in this letter some barriers to recovery and we will see as well the blessings to the overcomer and we will see the beginning of opposition to divine pattern that was developing even as early as the assembly at Ephesus.

Now just a couple of quick comments in a general way because some were not with us last night. We are going to be looking at these seven assemblies not in the dispensational view, looking at apostolic church order and then looking at the ten persecutions under Diocletian and looking at Constantine and looking at the beginning of Romanism and looking at the Reformation and then moving from there to local assembly testimony today and looking at departure in Laodicea.

All of that is very true. Our brother was mentioning last night and I sat under similar meetings and a brother who has since gone to be with the Lord, Mr. Hector Alves, who was of course a grandfather to David Alves that we all know, had a large chart, seven churches and linking them with the seven parables of Matthew chapter 13, linking them with the kings of Judah that you probably, if you have a Newberry Bible, it has it in the margin, linking them as well with the seven stages of Paul's voyage in Acts 27.

All of that is very helpful, very profitable and can be looked at and can be enjoyed. But what we are going to look at today is not that big, broad, great picture, which is very, very valuable. What we are going to look at instead is the literal and the typical teaching of these letters.

When I say literal, what I mean is that they were seven real assemblies. They existed. There were problems in each of the assemblies to which John was writing. They were real assemblies. Just like the assemblies represented here, they were real.

But also because of there being seven and the Lord walking in the midst of the seven, there is certainly the suggestion that they are going to be for us a typical picture of all of the types of problems that assemblies will face in seeking to bear testimony for God in the day in which they are found.

We mentioned that the letter begins with the emphasis upon bearing testimony, bearing witness, and throughout the letter, throughout this tremendous epistle of John, there is the constant reiteration, the reminder, the reflection upon those who bear testimony for God, the testimony of Jesus, those beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, those who have died for the testimony of Jesus, those who overcame by the word of their testimony and the blood of the Lamb.

I am he that testify at these things. And so testimony bearing for God is the theme of this entire book. And to local companies gathered to the Lord's name, lamp stands that are viewed in this context in Revelation two and three, to your assembly, to the assembly where I bear responsibility has been given the awesome task of bearing witness to what God is like to a godless world, to uphold testimony for God in the day that God has given us that responsibility.

So we will be looking at it in that light. And as I mentioned as well, we will not necessarily be dealing verse by verse and statement by statement, but we'll attempt while giving an understanding of a letter to emphasize what I would call just a major take home point from each individual letter.

The Divine Physician and His Findings

So let's begin now by hurriedly looking at this epistle or rather this letter to the church at Ephesus and see what we can understand from it. You will notice if you have an outline that I have called this the divine physician and his findings, the divine physician and his findings.

It's a very interesting thing that men and women differ in many ways, many ways. Some good, some not so good, but we differ. One way in which men and women differ is in going to a doctor. Men go for the big checkup, you know, once a year, here I am, tell me how healthy I am.

Men like to think, you know, invincible, immortal, nothing can, you know, just tell me how healthy I am. And so often someone makes their way to a physician's office and submits themselves to the battery of testing or examination, whatever is involved, only to come away with finding out something they didn't know.

Something they were not aware of was wrong. So let me look with you first of all then at this master specialist. Revelation chapter 2, verse number 1 and 2. I want you to see three things about this specialist.

I want you to look at his ability, his availability, and his awareness. Now what do I mean by that? His ability. Now when you are looking for someone to take care of your particular problem, more and more people are getting sophisticated and, you know, with the internet and with profiles available and information available, people are very anxious to make sure that the person taking care of them is someone of ability, not just anybody.

Just amazing, as I'm speaking of this, last night in leaving, sitting in the airport, waiting to come here, you know, a call from a patient, I found out I've got prostate cancer. I want to make sure the doctor taking care of me is the best.

I'm not just content with anyone, I want the best. So let me then bring you to this specialist with such tremendous ability. Did you notice what it says about him? He holds in his hand, holds in his hand the seven stars.

Now there are little nuances that are valuable to notice. Just let your eye go back to chapter 1 and verse number 16. Notice what it says in verse number 16, that in his hand, in his right hand are seven stars.

Look at verse number 20 of chapter 1. The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest, now the word really there is on my right hand. So they were in his hand, on his hand, but now when you come to chapter 2, he is holding them.

He can control them. He can use them, is the idea. Not just that they're there, they're under his control. And we mentioned last night that these are the messengers. This is the way in which God communicates.

The Lord communicates to local assemblies and to those in need. And so what I find, first of all, is there is in our risen Lord Jesus the ability to communicate to any assembly what its needs are through ministry that he is able to give.

Now I am not in the least against, in fact I think it's very appropriate, when overseeing brethren see a need and see a condition in an assembly, to approach a ministering brother and say, look, we would like you to come and minister on separation, on assembly truth, on prophecy.

We feel we need this kind of ministry for our assembly. We'd like you to come along. I think that is perfectly in order and is part of the responsibility of shepherds to feed the flock. But I realize as well that there are needs that none of us have any idea about.

The most sensitive overseer, the most in-touch group of elders, the most exercised group of men may be unaware of needs in a local assembly, may be unaware of trends, currents, problems which may be beginning to affect some.

But you see, the master specialist has the ability to provide ministry, to meet needs that none of us know about. He is able to give ministry to meet whatever the condition, whatever the need of an assembly is, and so here's one who has ability.

Ability. But most people have found when they have tried to get a specialist that the best isn't always available. You know, the best isn't always available. But here's one who is available for an assembly's needs.

He is seen walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. And so he is seen here in verse number one, not just that he holds the seven stars, but that he's walking. He's available. Now, a whole other line here, and I just leave it with you.

You cannot read this letter without your mind going back to Genesis chapter 3, can you? The Lord walking in the garden. The tree of life at the end. Left thy first love. You're getting back to Edenic type background, aren't you, in this letter?

The Lord was walking. He was available for fellowship, but of course you know what happened with Adam and with Eve. Here again, he's making himself available to the assembly, making himself available to meet its need.

There is one who can meet the need of your assembly and my assembly. He is available for it. And so we have his ability. We have his awareness or rather we have his availability. And we have also his awareness.

I know seven times over to each church. He presents himself in this very same way. I know. So you will then just allow me to quickly underline for you the master specialist as he relates himself to the assembly at Ephesus.

But then when you go to a physician, probably the very next thing is, you know, you get brought into a room and they do what they call measuring vital signs. Measuring vital signs. And, you know, pulse, blood pressure, weight, height, all the rest.

They take all of those measurements to begin to evaluate how things are. And in a very real sense, there is a measuring of vital signs here. He says, first of all, that he knew of their labor and their patient endurance.

He had a pulse of the assembly and how it was doing. The pulse was steady. It was strong. They were laboring. They were working. And they had patient endurance. And then again, he takes their, or rather, next he takes their weight, doesn't he?

He says to them, you were born. You've carried your load. You've held up well under the burden. You've carried your weight for me. You're born and have had patient endurance as well. And then he says, you haven't fainted.

Your blood pressure is good. You've labored and you haven't fainted. You haven't grown weary. So he takes their pulse. Good. Their weight, good. Blood pressure, good. So everything seems so good outwardly.

All the vital signs seem to be so in keeping with health and with vitality as he looks at this assembly. Outwardly. Outwardly. It was an assembly that was marked by labor, activity, endurance. Those who appreciate the language better than most of us here do would tell us that in these words there is the suggestion they had faced a great trial.

That they had been willing to bear testimony amidst difficulty and had endured and had gotten through. So we're not looking at just a nice social club of Christians. This is an assembly that was marked by activity, marked by faithfulness, marked by labor, marked by endurance, marked by patience.

All of it was so commendable. And as we will look at, as we go through these letters, we will find that virtually five out of the seven assemblies the Lord does commend. All that he can commend about an assembly.

That's a helpful thing to see. We are so prone to look at the negative. So prone to see the failure. So prone to see what is deficient and what perhaps is inconsistent. But the Lord genuinely, not just flattering and not just building up to bring down, but in a genuine, sincere way, he mentions what he appreciates about the people of God, about local companies.

So the measuring of vital signs. But the next thing is the medical history. The medical history. Three things mark them as we go through this letter. As far as the history of this assembly, there was the expelling of evil, there was the exposure of what was false, and there was as well the exclusion of what was hateful.

Three things. The expelling of evil, the exposure of the false, and finally the exclusion of what he hated. Okay. Now, again, these are things that are important. These are things he appreciates about an assembly.

These are things that should characterize and mark every company of believers. These three same things. The first thing was the expelling of evil. Thou canst not bear them that are evil. Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars.

Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans. So the first thing, and here were lives that despite all that was said were marked by evil. And the assembly realized this has no place amongst a testimony for God.

So a testimony for God is marked by purity and by holiness. But then as well he says not only that, but there are those who claim to be apostles and are not, and it was likely to do here with those who came with false credentials and false teaching.

And they were tried. Now that doesn't mean that there was a court tribunal that was put on. And what it meant was that what they were teaching was judged by the word of God. And if it was contrary to truth, they were rejected.

The exposure of what was false and an assembly still must do that today. Everything that is taught must be judged, not by the charisma of the speaker, not by the eloquence of the speaker, not by anything about the speaker himself, but all must be judged by the word of God.

They judged them according to the word of God. They found that they were liars and they were rejected. So there was the expelling of what was evil, the exposure of what was false. And then finally there was the exclusion of what was hateful.

Verse number six, This thou hast, thou hatest the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Now there have been different suggestions about the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. You can look them up, any of the different reference books on the book of Revelation.

Let me just suggest to you what has the authority at least of most expositors and most men that handle this. It was the beginning of the rise of those who would set themselves apart. If you want to call it the clergy, if you want to call it clerisy, if you want to call it organized religion.

But it was the beginning of a division between the people of God and those who would rule over them. Those who would control and seek to dictate to others. Not now the idea, please don't misunderstand me, we're not talking about oversight and leadership in an assembly which God has instituted.

But it is rather the division that would seek to rule over people and would seek to take all of the prerogative of the leadership of an assembly and the control of an assembly, all of its gift, all of its participation into the hands of a few and would put down those who were the mere laity.

Those who would be the mere laity. The average person would have nothing to do with it, it would just be big jug, little jug type of arrangement. The beginning of that is seen here and the Lord Jesus says which thing I hate.

I hate. Let me just digress for a minute. I am a dangerous reader of bumper stickers. Sometimes I can't read them, I get as close as I can to read the bumper sticker and can get kind of hairy sometimes.

But one bumper sticker we have back home I haven't been here that long to see it. Maybe you don't have it. And of course you would understand where it comes from. Bumper sticker goes something like this.

Hatred is not a family value. Hatred is not a family value. Now that sounds good on the surface. Sounds good on the surface, you know. Teach your kid to hate people? No, we don't. But I want to tell you hatred is a family value.

It is a family value. We should be teaching our children to hate evil. Not people, but evil. To hate sin. Because that is the character of God, isn't it? Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

God hates sin. So, if the sentiment of that bumper sticker is that we should never teach our children to hate people, then 100 agreement. But if the teaching of that bumper sticker is tolerance for whatever people do, however people live, whatever lifestyle people want, whatever people think is right, and everybody does their own thing, if that's the sentiment of it, then it's contrary to the Word of God and we are to hate evil.

The Lord Jesus says, here's something I hate. I hate this arrangement in my assembly. People ruling over others and people being the clergy and others. He says, that thing is hateful to me. He says, fortunately, you hate it as well.

So, there was the expelling of evil, the exposure of what was false, and the exclusion of what was hateful. Now, it's not coincidental as we will see and come to in a minute, that this began to arise at Ephesus.

And we'll see why in a few moments as God enables us and looks at it. So, we have then the medical specialist himself, we have the measuring of the vital signs and the medical history that is so commendable and so worthy of commendation by the Lord Jesus, but then we come to the malady he detects.

The Loss of First Love

The malady that he detects. Silently, unknown to many in Ephesus, was this malady that was working in the hearts of the assembly there. The secret nature of the problem. Now, we mentioned last night and we will possibly have reason to mention this several times through the course of the weekend.

I think the background of the letter to the seven churches perhaps the background is a wrong word to use, but the Old Testament corollary of it is the book of Malachi. Remember how Malachi begins. Remember how Malachi 1 begins?

I have loved you, yet ye say, wherein have ye loved us? It began he puts his finger he starts in Malachi with this issue of love. Or you might say, but I thought in Malachi they were questioning God's love to them.

Whereas in this letter they're questioning their love, he's questioning their love back to him. Or really it's one and the same because our love back for him comes because we appreciate his love for us.

That's the only way you'd never, you're a young Christian, never think that you have the ability somehow just to sit back and conjure up feelings of love for God and Christ. That's not how it happens.

It doesn't work that way. When you do that you just feel so cold and empty and barren. But it's when you're not thinking of your love for him, rather of his love for you that your love flows the freest and the fullest in return.

So he begins with this issue. You remember back in Malachi's day they were busy with their sacrifices they were busy with their religious observances they were busy with their activity at the temple and if you will allow me the revised version in Malachi God says, oh that one would close the doors of the temple.

Just close the doors. It's just so empty. You remember what it says as well the Lord Jesus says in Matthew perhaps around chapter 23 He was looking over the city there were priests that were working in the temple there were those who were busy in the temple with the various rituals of the day they were preparing for religious holiday and the worshippers were thronging into the city.

He looks over the whole thing and says your house is desolate desolate so there can be plenty of activity there can be plenty of going to meeting there can be plenty of carrying on as usual but there can still be this malady present in a local company the secret nature of the problem there was the symptom then of a cold heart.

Thou hast left thy first love. What is first love? What does the Lord Jesus mean thou hast left thy first love. Some would suggest to us that it means that love that you had for Christ the night that you got saved.

Well let me just ask a question that maybe will help us to understand what the Lord Jesus is saying. Let me just address it to the men in the audience and particularly the married men in the audience.

Let me just ask do you love your wife as much as you loved her the day you married her? I think any of us who are married any period of time would say in comparison to then it seems like I really wonder did I really love her then because our love has grown and developed and matured as we have shared experiences together as we have gone through trials together as I have learned to appreciate traits in her that I had never known when we got married love her like then?

No no no no I love her a hundred times more than the day I married her. My love has grown and increased now let me ask you I don't want to minimize the affection you had in your heart the day you got saved.

But that's not the best love is it? Hasn't your love grown? Hasn't your love for Christ increased through the years? Hasn't your love for Christ developed, matured, deepened developed in so many other ways?

You see the word he uses here that we have in our authorized version now it's left by first love. Really the word is you've left your best love. You've left your best love your chief love. I really think it's actually a title of the Lord Jesus rather than a condition.

I almost would take it that it's a title of the Lord Jesus He is the best love, He is the chief love but just taking it then in the other sense you've left your best love. It is the word that is used just to help to balance it, it's the word that is used in Luke 15, bring forth the best robe and put it on him.

What is that? The best, the very best the house had to offer the robe of sonship we speak of in the gospel so that's the word here you've left your best love. I don't know how that affects you but I want you to think of the implications of that just think for a moment of the implications of that because what that really means is that if my love for Christ is not increasing then departure has begun then I have taken the first step that could lead to lay of the sea and conditions of heart so that if my love for Christ is not increasing there's no standing still in spiritual things there's no treading water and just coping in spiritual things he says you've left your best love so that if there was any time in your Christian experience any time in my Christian experience when my love for Christ was greater than it is this minute then that's the measure of departure that's the measure of to use an old fashioned word backsliding that has occurred in my heart towards the Lord Jesus.

Now again this is corporate this is the Lord Jesus addressing an assembly of believers and the assembly was marked by coldness of heart. It's interesting isn't it? We are so prone we are so given to outward judgments well that's all we can see isn't it?

But the Lord begins with what's within the Lord always works from the inside out. We work from the outside but the Lord works from the inside out. And so the first thing he would deal with the first problem he would address the first danger he would call our attention to is this the condition of heart thou hast left thy first love.

Lots of activity lots of meetings lots of conferences lots of messages but a problem a problem that existed that carried with it the tremendous danger because the moment the moment Christ does not the moment Christ ceases to be preeminent the moment Christ ceases to be the attraction something has to fill the vacuum now that happens in marriages when love begins to cool it doesn't have to be another person it could be a job my job, could be my career, could be my home, could be my children, could be my grandchildren the moment love begins to cool between a husband and wife something else comes in to fill the void because vacuums cannot exist in our affections in our emotions, something has to be there and so that's why there began to come in in Ephesus this Nicolaitan type of thinking because the moment Christ is displaced, you know what we have to do?

We have to have social functions and I'm not against social functions it's great and we have to entertain and we have to organize more because we're not organized enough and I'm not against organization, I don't believe that disorganization is a sign of the spirit of God's leading but we have to take more and more control and we've got to introduce more and more to fill a void and so the moment Christ is displaced, the moment that we become cold and hard towards him then we have to have organization.

Nicolaitanism comes in there's a clergy set up and they begin to take over, I hope that what I say is not misinterpreted. Let me first say that I think that you would understand that the assembly the teaching of the assembly the truth of the assembly is dear to my heart but I have found there is the possibility that even the assembly can begin to displace the centrality of Christ in my thinking now that's subtle but I have found it.

I would hate to say this and to make anyone an offender for a word so please I don't want to put people on alert and make them afraid to take part. I have been to places where men have gone up on the Lord's Day morning at the breaking of bread and the sum and substance of their thanksgiving is thanking God that they are gathered to the Lord's name.

They are not mixed up in the sects and systems and the assembly is such a wonderful place. And I have realized sometimes that's in my heart as well. Yeah the assembly is a tremendous place, no place like it on earth.

I would be nowhere else, go nowhere else. But the moment even the assembly becomes the center instead of Christ there's a danger. There's a tremendous risk because then I am going to guard the assembly as though it's everything and fail to realize that what gives it value is the one who is in the midst the gathering center the person who gives it value.

Now I hope I have balanced that. So you don't think I am somehow minimizing the value of a local testimony minimizing the value of the assembly and living for and pouring my life into the assembly. But if it's not done because I want to honor Him.

If the goal is that I want my assembly to be big because well then people are going to look on and see wow there's a prospering assembly. There's an assembly that's doing things right. If that becomes my goal if preaching the Gospel to others and bringing them in and having them in Sunday school.

If my goal is just to make the assembly something to put the assembly on the map and not that everything done might bring honor to Him. There's a tremendous danger. We just get into a very very religious type of mentality.

And so there is here then this malady that he so skillfully detects. What about the medication prescribed. We all want physicians who prescribe skillfully who prescribe specifically for my needs and who provide safely that this medicine is going to be safe here then is the ultimate the great physician in his prescription.

Remember, Repent, and Repeat

Three things. Remember repent and repeat. Very simple. Remember repent and repeat. He wants them to remember first of all how far they have drifted. Measure how far you have gone. Remember he says. Isn't it interesting that it's the Ephesian letter.

The Ephesian letter that emphasizes for us the love of Christ. Chapter 5. Is it verse 2 walk in love. As Christ has loved us given Himself for us. Chapter 5. Further down around verse number 25 or 26 husbands love your wives as Christ loved the prayer of the apostle in chapter 3 Christ may dwell on your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints the breadth depth height length and to know the love of Christ.

He brings them back to that love time and time again. In the Ephesian letter I want you to remember the display of love you appreciated at conversion and to move in the good of it to live in the good of it.

Remember. He says repent. Change your mind. Five out of seven assemblies. Okay now you can do the math. That's what 72 Five out of seven assemblies are told to repent. To repent. We preach repentance to the unsaved.

Don't we. And rightly so. And we sometimes tell believers who are away from God that they need to repent. The Lord Jesus speaks to assemblies and says to assemblies five out of seven of you need to repent.