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1 "To the
angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds
the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden
lampstands: 2 I know
your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot
tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but
are not, and have found them false. 3 You have
persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I
hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember
the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at
first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand
from its place. 6 But you
have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I
also hate. 7 He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in
the paradise of God. 8 "To
the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is
the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know
your afflictions and your poverty --yet you are rich! I know the slander of
those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be
afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some
of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of
life. 11 He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who
overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Yet
I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Revelation 2:4
Chapter
2 commences John's address to seven of the local churches in Asia Minor. John
penned this epistle while on the island of Patmos (site of a Roman penal
colony) where he was exiled for being a Christian missionary. The order that
each church appeared was for practical geographical reasons. If you have a
map of first century Asia Minor, you will see that a messenger carrying
John's letter from Patmos to these churches would logically start at the
seaport city of Ephesus, go up to Smyrna, and then Pergamum. Then the
messenger would loop around and travel down to Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia, and end at Laodicea. The purpose for the writing was to give
encouragement and exhortation to these churches as they were facing intense
persecution because of their worship of Jesus Christ over emperor worship. It
is important to note that these exhortations are very relevant today as we
also face similar types of problems in our churches. The
first church addressed was the church in Ephesus. If you will recall, the
apostle Paul had establish the Ephesian church some four decades earlier and
it had experienced remarkable growth. Most of the Ephesian Christians were by
now second-generation believers. This church had a long track record for
persevering under hardships, for which John commended them. But at this
point, the Ephesians were forsaking their first love, Christ. As a result,
they fell from their height of worship and had sunken to a new low, much like
a stock market crash. John urged the Ephesians to repent and go back to their
first love, Christ. The
second church addressed was the church in Smyrna. Smyrna, which means
"myrrh" (a perfume), was a proud and beautiful Asian city that was
located about 35 miles north of Ephesus. This city was closely aligned with
Rome. Consequently, the Christians were persecuted because of their refusal
to worship the Roman emperor. To make matters worse, some of the hostile Jews
were also persecuting this church. As a result, these Christians became
poverty stricken and their afflictions were compounded. Some of them would be
imprisoned and some would even die for their faith. However, John wrote to
encourage these Christians by reminding them that they were rich in Christ.
Their extreme suffering would not be in vain because their faithfulness would
eventually result in the crown of life, eternity with God. While the
Christians of the church at Smyrna were experiencing the bitterness of
suffering, their faithful testimony was like myrrh or sweet perfume to God.
These Christians at Smyrna greatly pleased God because they did not forsake
their first love, Christ.
Jesus,
may I look to You in every situation I find myself in. May I never forsake
You, but continue to love You will all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Grant me undying faith and hope to endure in spite of what comes my way.
Amen.
There
are times in all of our lives when we go through experiences similar to the Ephesian
church and the Smyrna church. Like the Ephesians, we may be experiencing a
big high in life when things seem to be going well. It's at these times that
we can be in jeopardy of forsaking our first love. Somehow when things are
going well, our pride gets in the way and we are prone to lose sight of God.
We end up putting God in the closet and only plan on bringing Him out when we
need Him. On
the other hand, like the Christians in Smyrna, we can go through periods of
intense suffering of one sort or another. During these times, we are also in
jeopardy of forsaking our first love as we can lose hope in Christ. However,
our suffering can be used for good as it compels us to draw near to God and
to rely on Him through our trials. We need to continue to draw close to God
daily no matter where we are in our life. What
is your situation right now? Do you feel on top of the world or do you feel
at the bottom of it, or somewhere in between? Remember that your attitude in
life should not be based on circumstances, but on God. When you have this
attitude, you can rest assured that the final outcome will always be good
because He is in control. Go to God in prayer, vowing not to forsake what
should be your first love. Whether
you're on top of the world or at the bottom of the world, have peace for God
is always in control of the world. [Top] [Living Life Home] [SWIM Home]
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Copyright (c)1995-2000 Tyrannus Press & SWIM.All rights reserved. |
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