From Him Who Holds the Stars Among the Lampstands

Revelation 2:1-7
May 3, 2020
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Last Sunday, after wrapping up another live stream service at church, after enjoying some take out from Wendy’s with Pastor James and Pastor Peter, after stopping by the Korean grocery for the week, and after coming home and catching up on the news and knocking off yet another Disney+ movie - after all of that, I went to sleep with a very stressful question in my head.

What am I going to preach on next Sunday? What comes after Ephesians?

For nearly two years, I never really had to think about such a question. But last week, I had to think long and hard. I thought about all of you. I thought about what we are all going through in light of the coronavirus pandemic. And I thought that it would be good for us to hear the words of our Savior and Lord in Revelation 2-3.

The book of Revelation is a written account of a spectacular visual story that John received from Jesus. John is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. And the visual story that he received is a story about the final and glorious victory of Christ and his church.

But before Jesus revealed his story to John, he commanded John to write seven letters to seven churches that were located in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. And in each letter, Jesus blessed his people with more encouragement and called them to more repentance.

Some of the strongest and toughest words in all of Scripture can be found here in these seven letters. But remember this. The strongest and toughest medicines are for the strongest and toughest illnesses. And when it comes to Scripture, the strongest words and the toughest discipline comes from the strongest care and the toughest love of our God. Jesus speaks to his church here in Revelation 2-3. And it is a very good word for us.

Listen to what Jesus says about the church in Ephesus. And bear in mind that we just spent the last two years going through Paul’s letter to this church. So there’s a cool connection going on here.

The church in Ephesus was good at protecting what was true and right. They did not let any false teaching happen in their church. They were very sensitive against evil sin among their members. And they worked hard and patiently endured in all of this for the name of Jesus. Jesus knew their works. And their works were good. Good works were happening in the church in Ephesus.

But Jesus had this against them. They abandoned the love they had at first. It’s easy to think that Jesus was referring to their love for him. That they abandoned their love for him. But it doesn’t look like he was referring to that. Jesus already affirmed earlier that the Ephesians did what they did for his name’s sake. So it seems that a love for Jesus was really there. But Jesus had this against them. They abandoned the love they had at first… for the lost.

This makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that Jesus commended them for playing good defense. The church in Ephesus was good at keeping their church free from false teaching or evil sin. And they worked hard and patiently endured as they looked inward and thought about their own members. That’s good defense.

But here’s the thing. The Ephesians had good defense. But they did not have good offense. They hated what Jesus hated. But they did not love what Jesus loved. Jesus loved the lost. Jesus loved sinners. Jesus loved to call people to repentance and faith in him. This was his love. And the Ephesians abandoned this love.

This also makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that the church in Ephesus was symbolized as a lampstand. And on top of that, Jesus, having unique introductions of himself that were tailored for each of the seven churches and what they were going through, intentionally described himself to the Ephesians as the one who who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

The church in Ephesus was a lampstand. They were supposed to shine the light of Christ. They were supposed to proclaim his gospel to the lost. They were supposed to invite sinners to repentance and faith in Jesus. But they didn’t. They used to at first. But they stopped. They abandoned the love they had at first for the lost. This is what Jesus had against them.

This is why the Lord called them to repentance. Repentance is confession of sin and a turning away from it. Repentance is change in one’s life and a renewal of obedience to God. Jesus said these words to the Ephesians: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” These are strong and tough words. But it is the medicine that the church in Ephesus needed. They needed to hear this.

And we need to hear this too.

Dear Highland, I am so thankful and I praise the Lord for the fact that we are good at protecting what is true and right. We are careful to be doctrinally sound with the preaching and teaching that happens here. Many of you have been Christians for a long time and you know the difference between right and wrong. As a Presbyterian church, we have a good system of checks and balances and safeguards for us and for all of our churches in our denomination. And I do believe that all of you take sin seriously and want to honor Christ to the best of your ability. You can say that we play good defense. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord for our defense.

But could it be that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has something against us? Could it be that we have abandoned the love we had at first? The love we had at first for the lost? Dear Highland, I do think that this is something worth considering. I think our defense is pretty good. But what about our offense? Yes, we hate what Jesus hates. But do we love what Jesus loves? Do we love the lost? Are we shining the light of Christ as his lampstand? Are we proclaiming his gospel to non-believers as we should? Are we inviting sinners to repentance and faith in Jesus as we ought to?

Dear Highland, if so, then praise the Lord. Keep shining brightly. But if not, then let us repent. Let us repent and do the works we did at first. The works we did when we were Christians for the first time. The works we did when being lost sinners ourselves was still super fresh in our hearts and minds. Let us admit that we do not love the lost as we ought to. Let us admit that now. Not later. Right now. In our hearts and minds. We have abandoned the love we had at first.

The best sports teams do two things at the same time really well. They allow the least amount of points possible from the opposing team. They play good defense. And they get the most amount of points possible for their own team. They play good offense. Highland, this is the winning formula for our church. We need to play both good defense and good offense. We need to both protect the church and send the church. We need to both love God and love the lost. Playing not to lose is a good thing. But are we just merely playing not to lose? No. We are also playing to win. We do both.

I make no apologizes for talking about sports here. And the reason is because we are conquerors. Listen to Jesus’ amazing and encouraging words: “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Highland, you will conquer. You are united with Christ. You are one with him in his life and death and resurrection and ascension. And are united with Christ and you will win. Sin and death will be gone soon. And remember that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20). Our victory is not a matter of if. It is only a matter of when. And you will soon eat of the tree of life. You will have a perfect, consummate relationship with God in his paradise. You will see Christ Jesus face to face. There will be no more suffering or pain. There will be no more things like the coronavirus. We will conquer. So let’s play to win. Let us love the lost. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

Highland, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Hear the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. And remember that he who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” And so we say: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Soli Deo Gloria