Leaving Our First Love |
Christ's Message to Those Who Dwell at Ephesus |
by David A. DePra |
| In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus speaks to seven churches. He |
| tells John to write to the "angels" of these seven churches. For |
| each of the seven, Jesus has a unique message. |
| Who are these seven churches? As is the case with almost |
| every verse in the book of Revelation, there have always been |
| a variety of opinions. Some think the seven churches represent |
| seven church ages. They interpret chapters 2 and 3 historically. |
| But Revelation is not primarily a historical vision. It is a prophetic |
| vision -- but prophetic, not in the sense of foretelling the future. It |
| is prophetic in the sense of showing things how they ARE. It is a |
| revelation of REALITY in Christ Jesus. God gave John a vision |
| which embodies His redemptive plan in His Son. Everything in |
| the book of Revelation is unto that end. |
| Isn't there any historical significance to the message to these |
| seven churches? Sure there is. And we will allude to this as we |
| go on. But the historical is always but a type or foreshadow. It |
| is but a tool or vehicle for the real spiritual revelation. It is never |
| an end unto itself. |
| So when we read of the seven churches of Revelation, we are |
| reading about something spiritual. John is being given a spiritual |
| vision. He sees the seven candlesticks -- the seven churches -- |
| with Jesus Christ in the midst of them. What does this picture? |
| Envision what John saw in the physical sense: Jesus in |
| the middle, with seven golden candlesticks around Him. This is |
| quite picturesque. The churches stand for seven different spiritual |
| conditions, or perspectives, of the SAME Jesus. Just as each |
| of us would have a different perspective visually of someone |
| standing in our midst, so is there room for Christians to differ as to |
| to their vision of Christ. This is good, and right, and really part of |
| the way God has constructed the Body to function. |
| Note that the seven churches do not each have a DIFFERENT |
| Jesus. No. There are seven churches, but ONE Jesus. They |
| each have a unique perspective of Him -- the one, true Lord. |
| No one has all the Truth. There is no time or capacity for that in |
| this age. But each of us do have a unique vision of Jesus Christ. |
| We see Him from a slightly different angle than the next person. |
| Yet it is still the SAME Christ. Each Christian comprises their part |
| of the Body of Christ by contributing their knowledge of the Truth. |
| This vision of Jesus Christ, in light and Truth, is also clearly |
| represented by the fact that Jesus is "in the midst." In other words, |
| Jesus Christ is the center. He is the focus. The seven churches do |
| not focus on each other. They are not all tied up in "Body life," or |
| in church administration. The candlesticks do not focus upon |
| themselves or each other. Jesus is in the middle. He is what |
| matters -- when things are properly adjusted. |
The Message to Ephesus |
| It is in this spiritual atmosphere in Revelation of 2 and 3 that |
| Jesus gives a message for each of the churches. He is writing to |
| US. He is taking us right where we are, in our particular stage of |
| spiritual growth, and is both commending and correcting us. He |
| is telling us about the dangers of our unique perspective, and |
| giving us edification as to how we might continue to grow. The |
| first "church" to which Jesus gives instruction is "the church at |
| Ephesus." |
| In verses 2:1 through 2:3 Jesus commends "those at Ephesus." |
| He says, "I know thy works, and thy labor, 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." He then goes on in His praise of them: "And hast |
| borne and hast patience, and for My name's sake hast labored, |
| and hast not fainted." |
| These are strong words of approval from Jesus. He is |
| commending those at Ephesus for refusing to compromise with |
| error. He commends them for "trying" those who say they are |
| apostles. He applauds them for standing fast in their desire for |
| what is right. Evidently, these Christians have great zeal for the |
| Truth. They want nothing but the Truth. And Jesus tells them that |
| them that this is good. |
| But then He says, "Nevertheless, I have somewhat against |
| you because thou has left thy FIRST LOVE." |
| The "first love" of a Christian is Jesus Christ. At least He is the |
| "first love" of those who have embraced genuine salvation. When |
| a person is saved, solely by the grace of God in Christ, they are |
| focused and occupied with Jesus. This can be spiritually |
| compared to being newly married. Jesus Christ is all the person |
| cares about. He is all they can think about. |
| Again, we see that this is Jesus in the MIDST of the churches, |
| or candlesticks. Jesus is the first love; the center. There is no |
| other love substituting for Him if things are working according to |
| the will of God. |
| This condition doesn't mandate that we know everything about |
| Jesus Christ. Neither does it mean that we will alway "feel" |
| loving towards Jesus in the sense of an emotional experience. |
| But it is talking about our focus and motivation for living. Our |
| relationship with Christ should mature and grow. It should be one |
| of love. It should never regress. And we should never "leave |
| our First Love" for another love. |
| Ephesus has a particular revelation of Truth, and a unique |
| vision of the Christ. Yet despite being in this wonderful position, |
| they have somehow left their first love. They are pictured as |
| being in the early stages of leaving this circle! Indeed, Jesus will |
| later tell them to repent, or He will move their candlestick out of it's |
| place. Therefore, this is no small matter. To "leave your first |
| love" is a serious issue, and can ruin your relationship with the |
| living Christ. |
| Think about it. If Jesus Christ is my "first love," and I have "left |
| my first love," then where does that leave me? It leaves me with |
| something other than Jesus! |
What is this Condition? |
| Jesus tells this church at Ephesus that they "have left their first |
| love." But what is this condition? And why did such a thing |
| happen? |
| It would be easy to assume that "to leave your first love" means |
| to stop being a Christian. Surely, we might assume, this is equal |
| to renouncing Jesus Christ. Well, yes, renouncing Jesus Christ |
| would be to "leave my first love" in the ultimate sense. But this |
| is not the context in which the term is used in Revelation 2. Jesus |
| is not there talking to those who have turned their back on Jesus. |
| Indeed, at first, quite the opposite seems to be the case. |
| Notice in verse one of Revelation 2. Jesus is not talking to |
| those who have deserted Him. He is talking to a group of people |
| called "the CHURCH at Ephesus." These are His people. These |
| are Christians. And His first words to them are not critical. As we |
| have seen, Jesus actually begins by commending them. |
| Yet it is right here that we must notice something which opens |
| the meaning of the passage to us: The very point on which Jesus |
| commends those at Ephesus is also their downfall. Get that. |
| Jesus says, "I know your desire for Truth, and I know how you |
| have stood for it in many ways --- BUT --- I have this against you |
| in your zeal: You have left your First Love. |
| Note: The very zeal and desire for Truth which Ephesus |
| possessed became their downfall. Why? Because in their |
| zeal they did not personally surrender to Christ! As a result, |
| what began in the Spirit came under the power of religious flesh. |
| Any desire for Truth which is not followed by a surrender to |
| Truth will result in spiritual pride and arrogance. It will result in |
| the self-exaltation which comes from possessing knowledge |
| without character. It will result in leaving my First Love. |
| This is not only a possibility in each one of us, but it has really |
| been THE story of the church for two thousand years. God gives |
| a revelation or experience which He intends for our edification. |
| But instead of allowing the Truth to adjust us and guide us, indeed, |
| SLAY us, we take it in hand and try to keep it going under the |
| power of relgious flesh. Or we use it to exalt ourselves in pride. |
| If I have a great desire for the Truth, this is a good thing. But |
| Truth is not "facts" or "information." It is revelation. It is reality. |
| And in order to possess it, I must come under it's power. I must |
| allow it to possess me. This means that I must allow the Truth |
| to come in and slay me; adjust me to Christ. Then, I can say I |
| have started to possess it. |
| When God gives Truth, I will always do one of two things: I |
| will either allow it to adjust me to Christ, or I will adjust it to suit |
| myself. There is no middle ground. And if I do the latter, I will, at |
| first, seem to possess quite a list of wonderful teachings. But in |
| the end, I will stand aloof of Christ. I'll leave Him as my first love. |
| And in time, even the teachings I cherish will become corrupted. |
Leaving Our First Love |
| There are many subtle ways in which a desire for Truth can |
| end up under the power of religious flesh. For instance, there are |
| many of us who are so focused upon the "right doctrine" that we |
| forget WHO the doctrine is talking about. Our doctrines and |
| principles -- GOOD Bible ones too -- have become our real |
| love. Our walk in no longer with Jesus Christ. It consists of a list |
| of rules and principles to follow. |
| Again, it is not a matter of whether the rules and principles are |
| good, Biblical, or right. It is a matter of whether I have exalted |
| them to things I must do to be right with God. Or whether I have |
| exalted them to the place of defining my Christianity. If rules |
| and principles are Christianity to me, then I have lost my first |
| love. Rules and principles are NOT Christianity! Jesus Christ |
| is Christianity. It is with Him that I must walk. |
| Another subtle way to leave my first love is to replace Christ |
| with the church itself. Or with my particular group. The group, |
| the church, or a list of teachings can begin to replace Jesus as |
| my first love. |
| Notice that all of these things which replace Christ are initially |
| good things. They aren't wicked or evil. The problem isn't in |
| them. The sin is in ME. I have taken these things and used them |
| for purposes not intended by God. I have forsaken my First Love |
| and been carried away by something much less. |
The Apostolic Church |
| The seven churches in the book of Revelation are typical |
| of any one of us at any time. They are representative of the |
| spiritual conditions possible in any Christian. The "church at |
| Ephesus" are those who have a tremendous zeal for the Truth. |
| They are willing to do anything to stand for it. But something has |
| gone wrong in their hearts. They have left Jesus Christ in favor |
| of doctrines, teachings, and traditions about Him. |
| Actually, the "church at Ephesus" in Revelation is quite |
| symbolic of the apostolic church of the first century, and the |
| later church of the second century. The first century church had |
| a living relationship with the living Christ. HE was their first love. |
| They did not desert Him. But it was only a matter of time before |
| false teachers began to invade the Body of Christ. This was |
| already starting to happen in the life of the apostle Paul. And |
| this made it necessary to formulate doctrine. It made it |
| necessary to put the Truth down on paper in a way which could |
| be understood by the common people. |
| It was actually a good thing that God allowed false teachers |
| and heresies to attack the church. Why? Because it forced the |
| church to turn to God for answers. If the church was unclear about |
| this or that point, they might have never had motivation to find out |
| the Truth about it unless God had allowed someone to begin |
| teaching heresy on the subject. |
| Don't misunderstand this. God's use of heresy is, of course, |
| not because He approves of heresy. It 's just that He'll use even |
| the wrath of the enemy to praise Him. (Ps. 76:10) And in allowing |
| heresy, God intended that that which was genuine and true would |
| be made manifest. (see I Cor. 11:19) |
| As heresy and false teaching attacked the church, it became |
| necessary to formulate doctrine. Yet it was exactly here, at this |
| point, that things began to get off the track. The church got so |
| focused on establishing the "right doctrines" that they began to |
| leave Jesus Christ! |
| Why? Because individuals refused to surrender to Christ. |
| They would not lose their lives to find HIM. Instead, they focused |
| on establishing right doctrine ABOUT Him. And then they |
| labeled this "Christianity." Christianity became a list of doctrines |
| to believe in, and a list of principles to follow. |
| "But," we might ask, "Can't we have both? Can't we have both |
| sound doctrine and a personal relationship with Christ?" |
| Absolutely. That is exactly what God wants us to have. So why |
| didn't "those at Ephesus" have both? Why couldn't the early |
| church have both? And why can't we have both? |
| We can have both. They could have had both. So why do |
| some NOT have both? Because they want the Truth without |
| having to surrender to it. We cannot walk with Christ unless we |
| are willing to walk with Him where He walked: To Calvary. If we |
| won't walk with Him there, we will have to part ways with Him |
| somewhere along the line. We'll have to leave our First Love. |
Paul's Thorn in the Flesh |
| There are many examples in the Bible which illustrate how |
| Truth works in the life of the individual. One of the best ones is |
| found in II Corinthians 12. It is Paul's account of his being caught |
| up to the third heaven. There he hears "unspeakable words." |
| He sees some things which were so far beyond this realm that |
| there is no vehicle by which he can share them. There is, Paul |
| said, "no law or method of this realm by which I can convey to you |
| what I heard and saw." (Greek) |
| Paul had evidently seen some things in his experience which |
| went far beyond any human ability to express. This was obvious |
| a unique experience which God granted him, and a wonderful |
| blessing. But with it came a downside. Paul said that there was, |
| because of his experience, a danger: Pride. So, Paul explains, |
| "LEST I should be exalted above measure through the |
| abundance of revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the |
| flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, LEST I should be |
| exalted above measure." (II Cor. 12:7) |
| Notice what happened here. Paul had been given an |
| abundance of revelation. A tremendous abundance. He saw |
| and heard things -- was given a personal knowledge of things -- |
| which few have ever imagined. But this did not eliminate the |
| possibility that this knowledge would "puff him up." In fact, Paul |
| tells us that it WOULD have puffed him up -- if God hadn't given |
| him the thorn in the flesh. God gave Paul the thorn LEST he |
| exalt himself because of this experience. |
| You see, "knowledge puffs up." (I Cor. 8:1) It doesn't say that |
| "maybe knowledge puffs up." No. It puffs up. Always. All the |
| time. We don't have to think about it, or make it happen on |
| purpose. It is going to happen because we are born in Adam. |
| It's the way we function. |
| Paul knew this. He wrote the words, "Knowledge puffs up." So |
| if all there was to solving the problem was for Paul to decide that |
| he wouldn't let this happen, then he would have done so. And |
| God wouldn't have had to give him the thorn. But no. God HAD |
| to give him the thorn. It was the only way in which the knowledge |
| and revelation given to Paul would not do him eventual harm. It |
| was the only way in which this revelation could have it's real work |
| in Paul. |
| With revelation will always come a thorn. It may not be as |
| dramatic or noteable as Paul's thorn, but it will come. That's |
| because all revelation brings which it the absolute responsibility |
| of being adjusted to God. If God reveals something to me, it |
| not so I can tell everyone I'm special. It's not so I can add to the |
| things I know. It's because He is going to use the Word He has |
| given to SLAY me and adjust me to Himself. |
| God gave Paul a terrific revelation and then said, "Paul, if I |
| simply leave you with this knowledge, it will eventually corrupt you. |
| You will have knowledge, but no character to do anything with it. |
| Knowledge puffs up. But love builds up. So I'm going to give you |
| a thorn WITH this knowledge which will cause you to BECOME |
| adjusted to this knowledge. Then, you will be built up, not puffed |
| up." |
| Paul, of course, submitted himself to God in this terrific trial. |
| He allowed the thorn to do it's work. But this was not a sure thing. |
| Paul COULD have refused God's work. He could have side- |
| stepped his personal Cross. The result would have been a |
| Paul which would have still possessed knowledge of certain |
| things. But he would have been "exalted through the abundance |
| of revelation." He would have become a prideful, spiritually |
| arrogant teacher. And we would have never heard of him, for |
| God would not have used him to write what he wrote. |
Where the Church Got -- and Gets -- Off |
| God's method with Paul is His method. God gives revelation, |
| and with it come a great cost. It is the cost of a dead creation. |
| Actually worth nothing. But to us, it seems like a great cost. We |
| don't understand that God is giving us everything in Christ free |
| of charge. All we have to do is let go of the worthless. |
| Some won't. Most won't. Many in the early church would not. |
| Consequently, even though they had been given Truth from Christ |
| Himself, they would not allow it to have personal access to THEM. |
| They were content to simply formulate it into doctrines and |
| teachings -- true doctrines and teachings. But THEY had left their |
| first love. They had left Jesus Christ. |
| Things only got worse after that. Indeed, once the personal |
| Christ had been left behind, even the doctrines began to drift into |
| error. As a result, the church which emerged in the third and fourth |
| century possessed almost no correct doctrine. It became |
| the antithesis of what Christ intended for His Body. |
| This sort of thing is continuing today. Some churches teach a |
| body of doctrine which is Biblical. Most of the basics are there. |
| But in many places, they are just a bunch of TRUE doctrines "to |
| believe in." Or a bunch of TRUE rules "to follow." There is no |
| resurrection life in any of it. There is no Jesus in it. There is no |
| impact of life-altering Truth. Christianity has become, to |
| thousands, a list of Biblical doctrines to believe in, and a list of |
| Biblical rules to follow. |
| This has happened for the same reason it has always |
| happened. It is the EASY way. It requires no trip to Calvary. It |
| costs me nothing of myself. I can simply say, "I believe that," and |
| close the Bible. Or I can congratulate myself for being able to |
| understand a teaching. Or for obeying a principle. Or for |
| teaching them to others. I don't have to actually come under the |
| power of the things of God. I can simply talk about them and |
| intellectualize them. I can hang them up on a wall plaque. |
| The power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Truth of God |
| is not a religion. It is not a list of teachings. It MAY be |
| communicated that way, but if we leave in on that level, we will, in |
| time, both individually and corporately, begin to forsake the |
| REALITY behind it. We will, in time, even adopt FALSE teaching. |
| If there is one maxim which we must remember in regard to this, |
| it is this: If we do not allow God to adjust us to fit His Truth, we |
| WILL adjust the Truth to fit ourselves, and our agenda. And what |
| will emerge is teaching which exalts man, and his organized |
| religious efforts. |
The Place of Doctrine |
| We must return to our first love. This does not mean we |
| should throw away Biblical doctrine. No, no, a thousand times |
| no. But the object of our faith should be the living Christ, not |
| merely the doctrines which speak of Him and His plan. |
| What is doctrine? Doctrine is a formal "on-paper summary" |
| of our faith. It is our "list of beliefs" about God and His eternal |
| purposes, as revealed in the Bible. Our doctrines stand for |
| something we believe exists as a spiritual reality. |
| Doctrine is an important part of our Christian life. Each |
| Christian should be able to state what he believes and why he |
| believes it, and should be able to do so on the authority of the |
| Bible. |
| Imagine NOT being able to state what I believe. That would |
| mean I have no clue as to what Jesus Christ did for me, or why I |
| received Him. It would mean that I don't even know why I trust |
| God. Such a condition is a practical impossibility for a Christian. |
| How could we walk with Jesus Christ? We couldn't. All |
| Christians need Biblical doctrine. It defines our faith and brings |
| articulate meaning to it. |
Doctrine vs. Reality |
| As important as doctrine is, we must not leave our First Love |
| for it. To the contrary, we should use doctrine to explain our |
| first love. It should be a reflection of Him. Doctrine is NOT |
| reality. It is only an explanation of it. |
| We must see this. It is entirely possible to have a mental |
| understanding of the Truth of the Bible, and to understand it well, |
| but to have never been touched by the reality of which it speaks. |
| It is possible to KNOW many things out of the Bible, but to hold |
| oneself aloof from them, never allowing God access to me |
| personally. |
| The most simplistic example of this has to do with the Cross. |
| Everyone who calls themself a Christian believes Jesus died for |
| them on the Cross. But what about the Cross in my life? Does |
| God have access to me with the Cross of Christ? Here we see |
| the difference between faith in a teaching, and faith in Christ. |
| Faith is NOT an intellectual assent to Truth. Faith is never an |
| intellectual or emotional issue. Faith is a MORAL issue. It is of |
| the heart. The mind and intellect are only vehicles whereby we |
| can articulate, somewhat inadequately, what we embrace by |
| faith. |
| James tells us that even the demons "believe" the Truth. But |
| they don't EMBRACE it. Indeed, they reject it. In fact, if you think |
| about it, you must "believe" the Truth in the sense of |
| understanding it, in order to reject it. You could plead ignorance |
| otherwise. But this is not the condition of the demons. They are |
| evil precisely because they know and understand, yet reject |
| the Truth. |
| Things have strayed so far during the last two-thousand |
| years that even this simple fact about salvation might seem |
| strange. Most of us have been taught that all we have to do is |
| believe the doctrine of salvation and we'll be saved. But that is |
| NOT the way it works. Jesus saves us, not the doctrine which |
| represents the fact that He does. And our faith must touch reality |
| in HIM -- the actual Person -- not just a doctrine about Him. |
| And clearly, for that to happen, God must take the initiative to |
| find us. We cannot initiate any of this ourselves. |
| Substituting "faith in doctrine," in place of faith in Christ, is yet |
| another way in which man trys to reach up to God in his own |
| strength. Can we see that? If I, with my mind or intellect, can be |
| saved by simply understanding a doctrine or teaching, then I |
| don't need God to take the initiative. I'll already have all the tools |
| I need to find God. Nothing will depend on Him. And everything |
| will depend on me. That's not salvation by grace through faith. |
| It's salvation by brains. |
| God has not left us in that position. Our salvation, and all else |
| about our relationship wtih God, is based on God taking the |
| initiative by grace, and then upon our believing and obeying it. |
| Thus, we once again see the real place of doctrine. It is |
| nothing more than a formal statement of our faith, based on the |
| authority of the Bible. It describes what we believe and why we |
| believe it. But it is NOT reality. It merely points to reality. If my |
| doctrine is the Truth then it points to the Truth Himself, Jesus |
| Christ. |
| Doctrine is the letter. Reality is the Spirit. Doctrine is a |
| signpost. Reality is the destination. If we embrace doctrine too |
| tightly we will "leave our First Love." We'll lose, or water-down, |
| our living relationship with God. |
How About Experience? |
| There is an opposite extreme to putting too much emphasis |
| upon doctrine: Putting too much emphasis upon experience. |
| Today Christians by the thousands are abandoning Biblical |
| doctrine in favor of spiritual experiences. They have forgotten |
| that all experience which is of God will agree completely with the |
| Bible. |
| "Experience," for a Christian, is never supposed to define |
| Truth. Why? Because there can be many causes behind any |
| experience. The most miraculous, enlightening, freeing |
| experience imaginable, might be from the enemy. How do we |
| know this is possible? Because the Bible tells us so. It says that |
| the enemy comes as "an angel of light." "An angel of light" |
| appears to illuminate things; make them clear. It feels good. It |
| seems good. And for awhile, it may even appear to bear the fruit |
| one expects of the Holy Spirit. But "fruit inspection" can be quite |
| subjective. My experience could still be outside of the Holy |
| Spirit. Or worse, a deception of the enemy. |
| This is possible even if everyone around me is agreeing that |
| my experience is of God. Don't ever think that what can deceive |
| an individual cannot deceive a group as well. Indeed, group |
| deception is worse. In group deception, everyone in the group |
| continues to verify the deception to each other. They all agree, |
| and reinforce in each other, that what is false is true, and what is |
| true is false. Contrary to some of the modern "accountability |
| teachings" and "shepherding movements," there is NO safety in |
| numbers when it comes to discernment. History should prove |
| this to us. The greatest deceptions have always been on the |
| group or church level. |
| So how can we know whether an experience is of God or not? |
| Actually, this isn't the real question. The real question is: Why |
| am I debating the point? Why must I know whether my |
| experience is of God? The answer is always: Because I look to |
| experiences. Rather, I should look to God Himself. |
| God can and does give His children many spiritual |
| experiences. But these should never take our focus off of Christ |
| Himself, any more than doctrine should hinder our focus upon |
| Him. Experiences should be taken for what they are: A signpost |
| to Christ. And then, if they are of God, they should be kept as a |
| valued part of our history with Him. And if they are not of God, |
| they should be kept as a valued part of our testing and proving. |
| And if we don't know if our experience is of God, then put it to |
| rest and wait until God makes His point through it all. But under |
| no circumstances should we base our choices in life on an |
| experience. |
| Christians are to walk in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We |
| will know the will of God if we are WILLING (an issue of the heart) |
| to know and obey it. Not because some experience came upon |
| us and changed our point of view. Even if God uses some grand |
| experience for the purpose of clarifying or correcting us, the |
| experience itself is NOT the thing! It is merely a vehicle for |
| getting our focus back to Jesus Christ. |
| All experience, if it is of God, will agree with the Bible. But it |
| will not be "made to agree" because we agonize to find a Bible |
| verse that fits. When the Holy Spirit is working, things are always |
| pure, peaceful, and clear. They are never noisy, fearful, or left |
| hanging. THAT is never the time to draw conclusions and make |
| choices. I must wait for God to cut through all of that and bring |
| the Truth in the way the Bible says He will bring it. |
| The key, then, is to refuse to focus on spiritual experiences. |
| Don't get reliant upon them as "proof" God is with you. Don't |
| park on them as being anything more than a vehicle God is using |
| for the time being. And above all, don't take them and draw |
| concrete conclusions from them which are not fully verified in the |
| Bible. |
True Christianity |
| All of us are "in" one of these seven churches of Revelation. |
| Indeed, it is possible for us to pass in and out of several of them |
| during the course of our life. Yet we remain focused upon the |
| SAME Jesus, the real Jesus. He is to be our "first love." |
| There is, however, Jesus' warning to those who dwell at |
| Ephesus. He tells them what will happen if they don't "return to |
| their first love." He says, "...or else I will come unto thee quickly |
| and remove thy candlestick out of it's place, except thou repent." |
| (Rev. 2:5) In other words, if they don't repent of their pride, and |
| their refusal of the Cross, they are going to get to the place where |
| they aren't even in the circle anymore. Their knowledge of |
| Christ will become so totally polluted that it won't be about the real |
| Jesus anymore. They will follow a different Jesus. Their |
| candlestick, or presence, will be removed from the circle of the |
| real Jesus, presumably into the circle of a false one. |
| It isn't harsh for Jesus to do such a thing. We are talking about |
| Christians who started, not in ignorance, but with a knowledge |
| and vision of Christ. They started in the circle which had Jesus in |
| their midst. But they traded it away for something else, rooted |
| in spiritual pride. They sought to save their lives religiously, and |
| as a result, forfeited their place. It was their choice to do so. |
| This warning is not only for "churches." It is for individuals, for |
| churches only do what they do because of the individuals which |
| make them up. Jesus is saying, "Focus on ME, and your |
| doctrines and teachings will be good and right. But if you focus |
| on your doctrines and teachings, you will lose your place in Me." |
| This, again, is because focusing on doctrines and teachings |
| is ultimately not a product of ignorance. In the final analysis, it |
| comes down to spiritual pride, and a refusal of the Cross. |
| True Christianity did not grow out of doctrines. Jesus did not |
| come to give us a new religion to follow. He did not hand us a list |
| of teachings and say, "Here, if you follow these, and believe |
| these, you will be a Christian." No. Doctrine grew out of |
| Christianity -- out of a relationship with our First Love, Jesus Christ. * |