I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus instructed the apostle John to write letters to the seven churches of Asia.

                                                             1.      In each of these letters, the Lord stated that He knew the deeds of the churches, and He commanded, admonished, and encouraged them according to their particular needs.

                                                             2.      All but two of the seven churches had major shortcomings, so Christ advised them on how to correct for their failures.

B.      In the letter to Ephesus, Christ said that the church had left its first love (Rev. 2:1-7).

                                                             1.      Despite all of the good that this church had accomplished, their failure left them on the brink of rejection by Christ.

                                                             2.      What was the Ephesians’ first love, and how had they left it?  Might we also be guilty of leaving our first love?  These are questions to be answered in our lesson.

II.      THE EPHESIAN CHRISTIANS LEFT THEIR FIRST LOVE

A.      The church at Ephesus had been established for a long time when Christ sent His message through John.

                                                             1.      Ephesus was an important city in Asia Minor.

a.       The location of this city as a port on the Mediterranean Sea made it a major center of trade and culture.

b.       Religion was prominent in Ephesus, for in it was the temple of Artemis (or Diana), which was one of the so-called "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.”

                                                             2.      The apostle Paul first visited Ephesus at the end of his second missionary journey.

a.       Paul stayed only a short time and preached to the Jews in the synagogue, but he left Aquila and Priscilla, who continued to teach Christ in the city (Acts 18:18-21).

b.       While Aquila and Priscilla were in Ephesus, Apollos came to the city and preached Jesus, but they had to explain "to him the way of God more accurately” because he knew only of John’s baptism (Acts 18:24-28).

                                                             3.      Early in his third missionary journey, Paul returned to Ephesus and stayed there for three years.

a.       For three months, Paul preached in the synagogues, and then he began teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:1-9).

b.       Over a period of two years, Ephesus became a beacon through which "all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).

c.        Through teaching and powerful miracles, Paul had a great effect on the city such that the idolaters who profited from the temple of Artemis nearly caused a riot (Acts 19:11-41).

d.       The full timeframe of three years was stated by Paul in Acts 20:31.

e.        Paul’s letter the Ephesians was written later when Paul was imprisoned in Rome.

B.      Paul had warned the Ephesian elders of the threat of false teachers, and Christ recognized that the church had successfully resisted error.

                                                             1.      At the end of his third missionary journey, Paul called the Ephesian elders to Miletus where he warned them of the coming trouble (Acts 20:28-31).

a.       He told them to "be on guard” because "savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”

b.       Specifically, he said that "from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

                                                             2.      Years later when Christ told John to write to the Ephesians, he indicated that they had heeded Paul’s warning.

a.       Jesus said to them, "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” (Rev. 2:2).

b.       He also said, "Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Rev. 2:6).  Evidently, the Nicolaitans (followers of Nicolas) were false teachers who had deceived some (see Rev. 2:15 regarding Pergamum).  These Ephesian Christians had successfully resisted them.

C.      However, Christ convicted the Ephesian Christians of leaving their first love (Rev. 2:1-7).

                                                             1.      Jesus did not state what their first love was, but we find some clues in the text of His letter.

a.       Notice the Lord’s commandment to them: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first.”  Their first love was connected with the deeds they did at first, but what were these deeds?

i.         When Paul was preaching in Ephesus, the people feared God, magnified the name of the Lord Jesus, believed the word of God, confessed their sins, and repented of their evil works (Acts 19:17-19).

ii.        It was these types of deeds that the Ephesians had ceased to do later.

b.       It seems that the Ephesians’ first deeds were motivated by a sincere love of the Lord and for each other, whereas their later deeds were motivated by something else.

i.         Paul’s letter to the Ephesians speaks of their love for the saints and for the Lord Jesus (Eph. 1:15; 3:17; 4:2, 15-16; 6:24).

ii.        Apparently, this love had diminished so that the Ephesians were motivated perhaps by nothing more than reverence for their new tradition of fending off false teachers.

                                                             2.      Another clue regarding their first love is found in 1Timothy 1:3-7.

a.       At some time after the events recorded in Acts, Paul had returned to Ephesus, and he had left Timothy to prevent men from teaching or paying attention to falsehoods (vv. 3-4).

b.       Notice then verse 5 – "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

c.        In other words, the instruction of the gospel was not simply for denouncing false teachers, but rather it was intended to bring about genuine love in the believers.

                                                             3.      Therefore, it seems that the first love to which the Ephesians needed to return was love itself – love of Christ and love of one another.

III.   HAVE YOU LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE?

A.      Do you do the deeds you did at first?

                                                             1.      Your first deeds done in faith were motivated by a pure and sincere love of the Lord.

a.       You confessed your faith in Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ, and the Savior.

b.       You repented from your sins and changed your ways forever.

c.        You submitted yourself to be immersed in water for the cleansing of your sin in the blood of Jesus.

d.       You don’t need to do these things again, but the same attitude of love, faith, and fear that you had at first should continue to motivate everything you do in the Lord.

                                                             2.      Like the Ephesians, many of us have become experts at pointing out the errors of others around us, but we need to be certain that our motivation is right.

a.       Rather than "speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), we may be speaking the truth in apathy or self-righteousness.

b.       When we love the Lord, we will also love those who are in error, for Christ also loved them and died for them.

B.      Are you pursuing the goal of love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith?

                                                             1.      The goal of the gospel’s instruction is love that comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  If our learning of God’s word is not achieving such love, then we are missing the goal.

                                                             2.      Pure hearts, good consciences, and sincere faith are worthy pursuits, but these are only the means by which we are to attain God's true goal for us, which is love. 

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      If you have left your first love, then heed the commandment of the Lord: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first.”

B.      As all of us grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord, let us never forget our first love.  "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.” (Eph. 6:24)