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This talk was delivered at the 2022 Evangelical and Reformed Conference which is held annually at the Skogheim Conference Center, Port Shepstone, KZN, South Africa. The conference theme was Life in Babylon and Ronald Kalifungwa preached 5 sessions on the first 3 chapters of Revelation calling us to a renewed vision of Jesus and his lasting commitment to His church.
Consider this warning given to the churches for yourself: Are you in grave spiritual danger? Has your love for the Lord grown cold? Have you stopped delighting in fellowship, prayer and Bible study? Is your good behaviour on the outside disguising a distance from God on the inside? That was the problem with some of the churches written to in Revelation.
These churches were in grave danger of being removed from holding out the light of the Gospel and of losing fellowship with the Lord. Something needed to change.
They’ll give him religious activity without heart, without love.
Pastor Kalifungwa reminds us this about Jesus, “He is the Amen – the essence of truth. He knows the whole truth about your spiritual condition.” Allow the shortcomings of these churches to move you to examine your own spiritual condition. Honestly examine your heart in his presence. The cure for these churches is the same as the cure for you: Remember, repent and return. “These things you left are the things God uses to keep you alive. Go back there,” urges Pastor Kalifungwa.
If you are in grave spiritual danger, the Lord warns you out of love. Return to him. He is the God of true love and true fellowship. He warns you so that he can point you to the cure – himself.
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Event: 2022 Evangelical and Reformed Conference.
Location: Skogheim Conference Center, Port Shepstone, KZN, South Africa.
Transcript
Bible Reading
We’re going to read Revelation Chapter 2. We’re going to read two sections; this one first and then we’ll go onto chapter 3, but first to the church at Ephesus. Revelation 2 verse 1-7. Revelation 2 verse 1-7. Let’s read:
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Revelation 2:1-7)
Then on to chapter 3, chapter 3. We’re going to read from verse 14 there. Chapter 3:14. That’s the letter to Laodicea. Revelation 3:14,
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
“‘…You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:14-22)
The Churches in Grave Danger
In Revelation 2:1 we read the letter to the angel of the Church of Ephesus. Then in chapter 3 and verse 14 we read the letter to the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans.
In the last session, we reflected in a general way on the Church of Christ and saw four things about it: first she is cast in the mold of golden lampstands. We could also say she is cast in the metaphor of golden lampstands. We also saw that she has a Lord who walks in her midst. She is in varied states or conditions. And she is given hope, and that hope comes in the form of warnings, encouragement and promises.
In this sermon, I will zero in on the varied conditions of the seven churches of Asia Minor. And we will begin with a reflection on the churches that were in grave danger, the churches that were in grave danger. And there were two churches in this condition, namely the church in Ephesus and the church in Laodicea. And I’d like to note three things about them: the problems, the dangers, the cure. The problems, the dangers and the cure.
The Problem of the Churches
Let’s begin with the problems and under that we begin with the problem of the Ephesian church. And that problem is very clearly outlined in verse 4 of Revelation 2. “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:4)
First love is the love that this church would have had for Jesus when she first heard the gospel, when she first sat under the ministry of Paul in Acts chapter 19 and heard the gospel expounded. And in that exposition, the Lord Jesus Christ was held before them in all his glory. He was held before them in his triumphs on the cross and he was offered to them for them to believe, to turn their backs on sin, and whatever they might have been holding on to, and to embrace this Lord Jesus. And they embraced him, they loved him.
Jeremiah calls this type of love in his book in Chapter 2 and verse 2, “the love of your betrothal.” “The love of thy espousals,” as the King James version would put it. (Jeremiah 2:2) And he uses that language because that love is similar to the love of a wife who has her eyes on none other than her husband, who has her eyes on her husband only.
First love refers to the love when our souls are first captivated by the beauty and the fullness and the loveliness of the Lord Jesus Christ and because they are so captivated, they rest upon him only for salvation.
Samuel Rutherford says, “If you saw him who is standing on the shore, (imagine you are on a boat and if you saw him standing on the shore) holding out the arms to welcome you on land, you would not only wade through a sea of wrongs, but through hell itself to be at him.” End of quote.
How do you know that you have this love? Because if you are a believer this evening, if you really know Christ this evening, you have known this love. Indeed, you do have that love, I trust. But how do you know you have this love?
Well let me let me say first of all, putting it negatively, that you don’t know it necessarily by outward religious activity. The church at Ephesus had such activity and the Lord commends them for it. Listen to what he says concerning that:
“I know your works, your labour, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for My name’s sake and have not become weary.” (Revelation 2:2-3)
They were known for their works. They hated false prophets and false apostles. They persevered and they did it for the sake of Christ and they did not become weary.
Now all of these things are commendable, aren’t they? And yet, he still holds this against them: that they had lost their first love. So that you are active, that you go under the banner of Christ, and that you achieve things for the church – all that is very well – but that in itself may not be an indication of the fact that you are being driven by love.
How then do you know you have this love? Well, when you have this love, you will often think of him, that is Christ, and rejoice in saying according to Song of Solomon Chapter 6 and verse 3, “My beloved is mine and I am his, and his banner over me is love.” (Song of Solomon 6:3)
When you have this love, you will speak of him often. Have you not seen how lovers behave, especially those that have just fallen in love? Nobody asked them to speak about their loved one but they’ll find a way of doing it: doesn’t matter where they are, doesn’t matter what they are doing. They may be at table with a whole lot of people or they just find themselves speaking about him or her.
When you have this love you will speak of him to others. You will speak of how precious he is and how much, how much you need him and how you couldn’t live life without him. When you have this love, you will speak much with him in prayer. Can you imagine being in love with somebody who you never speak to? You want to speak to them at every opportunity and for hours on end. When you meet Christ and fall in love with him, as it were, you want to speak with him, you want to tell him how much you love him. You want to ask him for help, for blessing.
When you have this love, you want to meet with him wherever he is. It may be alone or in company, you want to meet with him. When you hear that he is present at some gathering of his people – all of whom love him and desire his presence – you want to be there. When they say to you, “Let us go to the house of the Lord,” you would respond, “Did you say the Lord? Did you say the Lord? Yes let us go to the house of the Lord, of course!” And you will go readily, willingly to meet your Lord, to meet your beloved.
When you have this love, you are grieved when you offend him. Haven’t you found so, those of you who are in love? You may be the offender and you feel bad about offending him or about offending her. You are grieved about it. And when others offend him, you are equally grieved about it.
I’m a pastor. Sometimes, in the context of the church, people fight you. You may not be fighting them but they fight you. They stab you. Sometimes I don’t share that with my wife because she may start fighting and she may fight more than I do!
Haven’t you found so? When your beloved is being dishonoured, is being offended, is being sinned against – you feel offended too, you feel grieved at it. When you feel like this, it is a sign that you have that love.
But the problem with the Ephesians is that they had left that love. “I have this against you. You have done well. I like all these activities you are doing. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:4)
Might the Lord be saying a similar thing to you? “I like what I see. I know what you’re doing, it’s all good, it’s all very well. Nevertheless, I have this against you, you have left your first love.” And there seems to be a deliberateness about it. It’s not as if someone unstuck you from your first love. You left, you have left. You have done it. And to leave is to abandon. To leave is to forsake. You have abandoned your first love. You have forsaken your first love.
And you will know you have forsaken your first love when you are conscious of the growing distance between you and your beloved, you and your Lord. You know you were close, very close and now you know it’s not the same. There is a distance. And it’s not the Lord who distanced himself from you, it is you who left your first love.
You know you have forsaken your first love when you are conscious of a growing distance from the people of God; there was a time when to be among the people of God made you rejoice, when going to them made you glad, when the opportunity came, you sang, “I was glad very glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Well, not anymore. You now stay away from them. You now avoid being in their company. You no longer delight in singing with them and praying with them and working with them. When you meet on the streets sometimes you even avoid them. You know there is a growing distance between you and the people the Lord, your beloved, loves.
You know you have forsaken your first love when you are conscious of a waning interest in the advancement of the kingdom of God. You have no interest in winning the unconverted and drawing them into the church and into the kingdom. You have no interest in investing in the Kingdom anymore. It doesn’t excite you when you hear reports of people coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you hear that the church is expanding, the kingdom is expanding, righteousness is reigning – it doesn’t excite you. It doesn’t excite you to hear people praising your Lord. Maybe it irritates you.
Now please remember, such consciousness can be present even while we remain outwardly active. Is it not true that you are active in church? You’re active religiously, but you don’t really love the Lord as you once did. You have lost your first love. That was the problem of Ephesus.
But notice, in the second place, the problem of Laodicea. We read about it in chapter 3:15 and 16. The Lord says to them,
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16)
Their problem is that they were neither hot nor cold, they were lukewarm. That is to say they treated the preciousness of Christ with indifference. They were unmoved by his love. When they first met him, they were running to him, running to embrace him, running to be hugged of him. Well now they are unmoved when he invites them to come, or at least only slightly moved. They manifest little affection, little earnest devotion, little self denial, little self sacrifice, little or no zeal.
They are blunt, not sharp. They are compromising. They don’t have clear cut spiritual principles anymore. They are flabby. They are hard-hearted. They are limp. They don’t express vigorous activity anymore. They are on the fence.
Initially, when it came to a meeting for worship, they sat at the front because they wanted to hear everything and soak in everything. But over time, they began to move to the back and to the back, to the last bench. Well, eventually they got out.
I do see such people in our church sometimes who don’t don’t sit to listen to God’s word. They’re outside. During the service, they are standing outside, talking to one another. The worship is going on, they’re standing outside. They used to sit at the front. They didn’t want anybody to disturb their fellowship with the Lord. But now, they prefer fellowship with others outside the worship. They are lukewarm.
Well, that’s the problem of Laodicea.
The Danger for the Churches
Let’s come to the danger. First, the danger for Ephesus, the danger for Ephesus. First, the fact that they had left their first love was clearly offensive to the Lord. “I have this against you.” The Lord is unhappy, the Lord is offended. It is an offense to the Lord because it is a failure to love him with all their minds and hearts with all their strength. It’s a failure to love him. He wants all their heart and all their energy. He wants everything and they won’t give him everything.
They’ll give him religious activity without heart, without love. They give him the shell and hold back the core, the heart. The activity is an end in itself. Yes, it used to be done in his name but now it’s just a name: no heart. The activity can become the idol that replaces God. That’s why it’s offensive.
But the other danger is he threatens to remove the lampstand. This is how serious this matter was. “Remember therefore,” he says in verse 5, “where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Revelation 2:5)
Unless you repent. And that’s another way of saying, “I can remove this church. I can remove it. and when I remove it, you will not have the honour and privilege of preaching the light of the Gospel and of living out that light before the world.” The light will never go from dim, but that which holds it before the world may.
For Laodicea, he says to them in chapter 3 and verse 16, “So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. I’ll spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)
They disgusted him. How does lukewarm water taste like? Anybody like lukewarm water? It’s not so nice. They were lukewarm and therefore disgusting. And when he says he will spit them out of his mouth, he is saying he will not have fellowship with them anymore. That’s the danger.
The Cure for the Churches
Let’s turn to the cure, the cure. For Ephesus, we started there: three “R’s”: Remember, repent, return. First, remember. Look at verse 5, “Remember, therefore from where you have fallen…”
Remember, recollect, be mindful. What are they to remember? The height from which they have fallen. They used to be up there. There was love, there was heart in what they did. The Lord was supreme, the Lord was precious, the Lord was everything. They were up there. Well they have fallen from there.
Why must they remember? Well, when you remember, it makes the heart long for the happier days of piety.
I remember talking to a friend who had been backslidden for a number of years. And I spoke to him and I asked him how he was converted, what he remembers of the Gospel he heard. And he spoke about Christ, how he could not resist coming to Christ and how he left his sin. I asked him about the change he had experienced and he spoke about it. And as he did that, his eyes were tearing. It made him long again for Christ.
Remember.
And then repent, repent. Don’t just remember, repent, change your mind. A loveless Christianity is wrong. I think it was Socrates who said the unexamined life is not worth living. Well, the Lord seems to be saying a loveless Christianity is not worth living.
It has become a chore, a burden. It does feel like it’s just legalism and you don’t last long when you live like that. Change your mind about this. To repent is to regret. To repent is to have a broken spirit. To repent is to be humble under a sense of sin.
The next “R” is not there but we deduce it: return. “Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent…” And then he says, “and do the first works.” The NIV would say, “Do the work you did at first.”(Revelation 2:5) Return to that.
And I ask you, my friends, have you lost your first love? Did you lose the Lord in the closet? Go back there, go back there. Did you stop reading your Bible and meditating upon your Lord and you found in the process that you had lost your way? Go back there.
Did you stop going to church regularly? Do you only go to church once a month or once in two months? Go back, go back, go back to church. Do the things you did at first. Were you active in church? Did you teach Sunday school? Did you participate in evangelism? Did you relieve the distressed? Did you offer Hospitality? Did those things help to keep you alive and you’ve stopped doing that? Go back there. These things you left are the things God uses to keep you alive. Go back there.
But also know that the one who calls you to remember and to repent and to return is the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. It is the all powerful one, the sovereign Lord. It is the omnipresent one, the omniscient one – you can’t deceive him by your activity. He knows, he sees and he has the power to remove your lampstand.
For Laodicea, it says in chapter 3 and verse 18, for their lukewarmness, they too needed to repent. “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.” (Revelation 3:18)
They were to give up whatever stood in the way of an intimate relationship with the Lord. They were to give that up. I wonder what it is, what it is, this evening that stands in the way of intimacy with the Lord in your life?
Turn your back on it. Turn from that. Know the one who calls you to turn. In verse 14, he is called “the Amen, the faithful and true witness.” (Revelation 3:14) He is the Amen. That’s another way of saying he is the essence of truth. He knows the whole truth about your spiritual condition. He desires truth in the inner parts.
Laodicea could not hide her lukewarmness from the Lord. They could not hide behind their wealth. Sometimes the wealthy can flaunt their wealth, give to the church – not saying it’s a bad thing – but they can do that even while remaining lukewarm. He knows. He desires truth in the inner parts. He’s the faithful and true witness because he knows, because he sees, he can stand against you like a witness in a court of law and testify against you.
And then he calls them to buy from God. “Buy from me…” (Revelation 3:18) Get the resources you need to be holy, to be pure, to be happy. You cannot buy happiness with your wealth. You cannot buy joy with your wealth. You cannot buy godliness with your wealth. Come to me get true currency, get true gold. Buy from me and it will be well.
The Lord Restores Life and Fellowship
Please allow me just to take a couple more minutes, even as I conclude. Because the Lord ends with some promises, doesn’t he? For Ephesus he says, “I will give you to eat of the tree of life if you repent. What you think is life is not life. I can give you life. I will give you to eat of the tree of life.” (Revelation 2:7)
And for Laodicea, the lukewarm church, he promises to give them fellowship – that’s what they lacked. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
The Lord knocks. He is knocking on your door. Will you open it? He is knocking on your door. Do you want to fellowship with him? He says when you do open that door, he will come in and sup with you. The fellowship will be as delicious, more delicious than the food you have had here at Skogheim. And you will sit with him on his throne. That is his promise. Let him who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen.
Let’s pray. Father, we realize that we are at risk. We are reminded of the Lord Jesus that told the parable of the seed sown amongst the thorns. And the thorns choked that seed because of the cares of this world and because of the deceitfulness of riches that choked the word. And Lord, we want to pray for the church in our country, in Ireland, in Zambia and all the places that are represented here, as we see churches around us just floundering, just being choked.
It concerns us. Lord, we want to pray for your church and we want to pray in the first place for ourselves. Help us not to be blind to what the cares of this world may be doing to us. Help us not to be blind to the wealth that we perceive ourselves to have, that we do not have. We ask again that you would give us a sight of our saviour: of him and of his value and of his beauty and help us to return to do the things that we have done at first. And this we pray in Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.
Let us stand together sing, “Holy holy holy.”
[Music] Song: Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall be;
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore you,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before you,
You were, and are, and evermore shall be.
Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide your,
Though the eye of sinful man, your glory may not see:
Only you are holy, there is none beside you,
Perfect in power in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All your works shall praise your name in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty,
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Ronald Kalifungwa has been in pastoral ministry for thirty six years and is presently the pastor of the Lusaka Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia. ln addition to this, he teaches Christian Reasoning and Rhetoric at the African Christian University and is also presently serving as the acting Principal of the Lusaka Ministerial College. Ronald is married to Sarah and together they have five children (three biological and two fostered), a daughter in love(law) and 4 grandchildren.