KNU International English Church
Josh Broward
July 16, 2006
Revelation is a book about battles. It is famous for its battle imagery. Consider some of the famous battle scenes. First come the four horsemen of Revelation 6. (I remember a WWF wrestling team named the Four Horsemen.) In chapter 9, even the bugs get in on the battle action as locusts are “like horses armed for battle” (9:7-11). In chapter 12, there is a war in heaven between angels and a dragon (12:7-9). And of course there is the great battle of Armageddon (16:14, 16).
Even our little passage today uses battle imagery. It is hidden in one little word: “victorious” (2:7). In fact, this word is used at the close of each of Jesus’ messages to the seven churches. These churches are in the midst of a great struggle in which they must be victorious. In fact, these churches seem to be in the middle of the very battles described in Revelation. Some have called this time of struggle “the tribulation.”
The church at Ephesus definitely understood that it was in a battle. Paul explained it to them like this: “For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in this time of evil, so that after the battle you will be standing firm” (Ephesians 6:11-13). The Ephesians knew they were in a spiritual battle in this world.
Paul had warned them. Beware because some people can “cleverly lie to us and make the lie sound like the truth” (4:14). “Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse” sexual immorality and greed (5:6). “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them” (5:11).
Evidently the Ephesians listened to Paul. The church in Ephesus put on their battle gear and painted their faces with war paint for the spiritual and moral battle that confronted them. They would not “tolerate evil people” in their churches (Rev. 2:2). They “hated the actions of the immoral Nicolaitans” (2:6). They studied their theology books, and they could see a doctrinal mistake with their eyes closed. They knew all the right things to believe and all of the wrong things to avoid.
Conservative Christians can often be like the Ephesians. We understand clearly that a moral battle engulfs our world, and we often feel that it is our obligation to fight for the cause of morality and goodness in the world. We can feel the moral fabric of our society wasting away. We can see that even our churches fading morally, and we get defensive. We have hot topic moral issues like: sexual immorality (especially homosexuality), pornography, financial fraud, abortion, and sometimes, tobacco, and gambling. Some Christians get red in the face and start growling when someone even mentions these words.
Jesus says to the church at Ephesus and to us, “It’s good that you are enduring in this moral battle. It’s good that you know right from wrong, truth from error. It’s good that you hate what is wrong and stand for what is right, but I have one complaint against you.”
The Righteous Brothers sang a song in the 60’s that paraphrases what Jesus’ complaint against the church in Ephesus. (Play video.)
“You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips.
And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips.
You're trying hard not to show it, (baby).
But baby, baby I know it...
You've lost that loving feeling,
Whoa, that loving feeling,
You've lost that loving feeling,
Now it's gone...gone...gone...wooooooh.
Now there's no welcome look in your eyes when I reach for you.
And now you're starting to criticize little things I do.
It makes me just feel like crying, (baby).
'Cause baby, something beautiful is dying.
You lost that loving feeling,
Whoa, that loving feeling,
You've lost that loving feeling,
Now it's gone...gone...gone...woooooah
Baby, baby, I get down on my knees for you.
If you would only love me like you used to do, yeah.
We had a love...a love...a love you don't find everyday.
So don't...don't...don't...don't let it slip away.
Baby (baby), baby (baby),
I beg of you please...please,
I need your love (I need your love), I need your love (I need your love),
So bring it on back (So bring it on back), Bring it on back (so bring it on back).
Bring back that loving feeling,
Whoa, that loving feeling
Bring back that loving feeling,
'Cause it's gone...gone...gone, and I can't go on, noooo...
Bring back that loving feeling,
Whoa, that loving feeling
Bring back that loving feeling,
'Cause it's gone...gone...”
“You’ve lost that loving feeling!” Jesus says, “You know guys, it’s great that you are fighting immorality and all, but you’ve lost your love. Fighting immorality doesn’t mean much if you aren’t loving.”
In this spiritual battle, there are two possible errors: we can get mean, or we can get lazy.
Some Christians get mean. One person attending our church now said that before he had stopped going to churches because everyone just tried to argue with him and tell him how he should live. They didn’t seem genuinely concerned with him. They just wanted to tell him how he was wrong.
Sometimes we can get so caught up in our battles that we take on the world’s mindset of a battle. We develop an us-against-them mentality. We start to think of the people in the world and the people who don’t think like us as our enemies. We attack people instead of practices. We get defensive and argumentative. We start to shoot before we look. In short, we get mean. Too many Christians are just plain mean.
We develop an us-against-them mentality, but Jesus’ philosophy of spiritual battle is not us-against-them. It’s us-for-them. Jesus said, “Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:44). In this battle, we will win not by fighting a direct fight. That only causes more hostility. We will win when we follow Jesus example and live the Kingdom way of a life for others, loving others, lifting them up, blessing them even when they curse us, helping them even when they hurt us, giving to others regardless of whether they deserve it or not.
Some so-called Christians miss the point of Jesus’ message. Like the church in Ephesus, we hear all of the language about battles and defending the truth, but we forget the rest of the message: “Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. … Hold to the truth in love” (Eph. 4:2, 15).
But there’s another possible error for people in this battle. We can get lazy. For some Christians, Christianity is all about believing the right things and not doing the wrong things. Throughout the centuries, Christians have made the mistake of thinking that Christianity is a passive belief and a passive avoidance of wrong.
Jesus says that’s not what his Kingdom is all about. For Jesus and for all of the Bible, true relationship with God is about active faith and actively doing good in the world.
The Righteous Brothers sang, “You’ve lost that loving feeling.” But actually, Jesus’ criticism of the church in Ephesus is more like: “You’ve lost that loving action.” For Jesus, love isn’t just a mushy feeling that comes and goes beyond our choices. For Jesus, love is a practical choice. Jesus says, “Look how far you’ve fallen from your first love!” And this is his cure: “Turn back to me again, and work as you did at first” (Rev. 2:5).
In the battle for morality and truth, the church of Ephesus neglected the basic actions of love. As they fought for endurance and victory in this world full of spiritual battle, they unknowingly gave in to the Enemy by adopting his unloving ways.
Jesus says, “You have turned away from your first love. Now turn back, and start doing the work of love again. Bring back that loving action. Bring it on back now.” The Kingdom way of Jesus is a way of love, but love is hard work. Loving like Jesus is hard work. Loving like Jesus has great rewards, incredible rewards, but it requires making difficult choices in the everyday moments of life.
Jesus says, “If you are going to be victorious in this battle, if you are going to live as a citizen of my Kingdom, you have to live life my way, with a heart full of love, a heart so full of love that it overflows with good actions.”
Loving like Jesus means taking time to talk to that person who stops us when we’re in a hurry. Loving like Jesus means sharing our resources with the poor. Loving like Jesus means taking the time to build deep relationships with other Christians. Loving like Jesus means becoming friends with people who aren’t like us. Loving like Jesus means moving out of our religious circles to become friends with people who have been hurt and pushed out by religion. Loving like Jesus means giving up things that are important to us so that we can show hospitality to others. Loving like Jesus means valuing service over entertainment. Loving like Jesus means taking time to rest and to recharge with God so that we can keep making good choices to keep loving like Jesus.
The really scary thing about this message to the church in Ephesus is the end of verse 5. Jesus says, “Turn back, and live lives of love again. If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.” If love dies, the church dies. Biblical scholar Craig Keener points out, “Some churches, like the church in Ephesus, may risk simply killing themselves off by how they treat others.”1 When love dies, the church dies.
How is your love? How active is your love? Maybe, Jesus’ words are for you: “Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.”
The message of the Revelation is that we are in a real battle, a battle for the world. The Kingdom of God is coming into the world amid and against the kingdoms of power, oppression, and materialism. The Kingdom of God wages this war through the simple, faithful, loving lives of citizens of the Kingdom. The message of the Revelation is that Jesus is the victor in this battle and that we can join him in victory by living his way of life: unselfish, genuine, honest love.
Live a life of love. Live it now with each other. Live it at home with your family. Live a life of love at work. Live a life of love here at church as we serve each other and the new people who will be coming here to look for God. Live a life of love as we serve our community and open our hearts to them in hospitality. Live a life of love and watch the Kingdom come! Live a life of love and watch as God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven!
1 Revelation, NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 113.
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