Some of news reports surrounding Katrina have been speculating that we’re watching the end of the world.  Doesn’t it seem like after a major environmental disaster someone someplace says something like that?  Global warming caused this.  We’ve finally done it to ourselves.  Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.  Earthquakes in Japan.  The end is near.  

Watching the desperation of people - looting and raping and preying on each other - destroying what’s left of their city - people shooting at their rescuers and then blaming them for not coming sooner.  Something is desperately wrong.  Its not just New Orleans.  Behind the fabric of society is a growing ungodly lawlessness that seems so much like what Jesus said would happen before His return.

Are we watching the end of the world?  Can we see it from here?  Only God knows the answer.  But we ask the question because we believe that one day God will bring an end to all this.  And sometimes we wonder if this is it.  Right?  Its like it’s a part of us - deep inside - to wonder about the future.

The future is always in transition.  Hard to see the future is.  Will the future bring sickness or health - life or death - what will happen to my family?  What about persecution?  Martyrdom?  How will I be able to handle tomorrow if I’m struggling just to keep up with today?

When the Bible speaks about the future the emphasis is not some sort of chronological timeline - a list of future historical events that we’re suppose to check off as we go by.  Although the Bible does mention events that will happen - the emphasis of the Bible is that God is in control of the future and that we need to trust Him in the present.

Let me emphasize that:  The purpose of prophecy is to declare God’s authority and power over all things and to call His people to trust Him.

This morning we’re beginning a series of messages from the Book of Revelation - Seven Letters to Seven Churches.  Our emphasis is on how we can live trusting God today - knowing that God is in control of tomorrow.

I invite you to turn with me to Revelation 2.  In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 there are seven letters - messages - given to seven churches that were located in what is now western Turkey.  Today we’re going to look at the first of these seven letters - the letter which was given to the church of Ephesus.

The Apostle John - some 60 years after Jesus returned to heaven - was living in exile on the Island of Patmos - about 50 miles off the coast of Turkey - banished because he had been sharing about Jesus.  On a Sunday - Jesus - appears to John and tells him to write down in a book the things that are being revealed to him.  What John wrote is what we have today as the Book of Revelation.

The Book of Revelation deals mainly with what will happen - future - world ending - final apocalyptic judgment type of stuff.  But these 7 letters to the 7 churches are in a part of the book that deals with what is happening.  In other words - Jesus is talking to His church - and us - about how to live today - knowing that all that other stuff is coming.

Revelation 2:1:  “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:  The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:”

Let’s stop there for minute.  There’s a lot of symbolism here to get lost in.  If you go back with me to the last verse of chapter 1 - 1:20 - Jesus explains what all this symbolism is about.  He says, “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

The Greek word for angel - “aggelos” - literally means “messenger.”  A heavenly being that God employs to give messages to people - or to do what God wants done.  Like Gabriel telling Mary, “You’re going to have a baby.”

Looking behind the scenes of how God operates - the idea is that each of these seven churches has an angel - assigned by God - an angel who’s responsible for helping the leaders and congregation know what’s in the heart of our Lord.

The lampstands are the churches.  A lampstand holds up the light.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)  We’re not the light.  But, we hold up the light - the truth - the Gospel of Jesus Christ - in the world.

Going back to 2:1.  While Jesus is walking among the churches - in intimate contact with each church - Jesus holds these messengers - and so the church leadership and the church - in His right hand - a position of authority and protection.  The point being that Jesus is in complete authority over the Church - knows what’s going on in His Church - and is about to give specific directions to each of these churches.

Verse 2:  “I know your deeds - there’s that intimacy - 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; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.”

This is great stuff.  What an encouragement for the Ephesian church.  Notice three things that Jesus commends this church for.

First:  Toil And Perseverance.

Toil means hard physical sweat producing work.  Perseverance means that kind of work was done day after day.  The brethren and sistren were working hard at the ministry of the church.  Dogged commitment.  Daily effort.

Reading what Jesus said here, I’ve been thinking that we need to change our brochure.  You know what I’m talking about.  The thing we hand out to guests.  Most church brochures talk about what?  How wonderful the church is.  What a tremendous staff we have.  All the programs and ministries and opportunities that the church offers to serve the needs of the congregation.

I’ve been thinking that we need to change our brochure.  To something like, “Come join us as we sweat for Jesus.” or “Come persevere for Christ.”  Have you ever seen that on a church brochure? 

Some Christians have the strange idea that somehow the church exists to meet our needs.  That somehow sacrificing for Jesus means showing up on time for Sunday worship.  As long as something more important doesn’t come along - they’re at church.

“We have family coming from out of town and they’re not church goers.  So we’re not going to be in church next Sunday.”

“The party is at 11:00.  So, we can’t come to church and make it on time to the party.”

“There was a wedding or a whatever on Saturday night and we had to stay late.”

“We’re there most Sundays.  Missing one doesn’t really matter.”

“We’ve done our part.  Its someone else’s turn.”

“Its our only chance to be with the kids.”

That doesn’t seem to be what Jesus is commending the Ephesians for.  The founder of this congregation sweat blood doing God’s will and He told us to follow Him.  What did Jesus say, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself and take up your cross daily.”  “Lose your life for My sake.” (Luke 9:23,24)

We shared communion today.  A crucifixion is a bloody mess.  A cross is an instrument of torture.  What were we really taking part in?  “Come join us as we die for Jesus.” 

Second:  They had zero tolerance for false teachers.

They knew the truth.  They understood the gospel.  They were educated in the things of God.  When someone came into Ephesus claiming to be an Apostle - a teacher who claimed to speak for Jesus - they tested them.  If they found that what was being taught was false - they didn’t compromise - they didn’t try to be Politically Correct - tolerant of new ideas and philosophies.  They exposed it.  They rejected it.  Ungodly teaching or ideas had no chance of penetrating into their lives.

That’s a challenge for us.  As Christians we have come to tolerate so much in our lives that is ungodly.  What we wear.  What we watch.  How we speak.  Our behavior.  Our standards of morality.  What we pursue and run after.

Third:  They persevered for the sake of Jesus and had not grown weary.

Ephesus was the most prominent city in the Roman province of Asia.  It had a harbor - theaters - a library.  It was a major market place with trade from all over the world.  It was tourist mecca.  A major religious center for pagan and demonic religions.  It was a lot like our neighbor to west - San Francisco.  To be a Christian was not popular.  It meant persecution - isolation.

The Church in Ephesus was in the middle of all this.  The church had been established by the Apostle Paul.  Timothy had pastored there.  John the Apostle had pastored there.  It had good roots.  In the midst of Ephesus they were faithfully serving Jesus Christ.  Determined - faithful - enduring hardship.  These were not quitters.

This church had gone out and lived for Jesus.  They’d stood up against the odds.  Not for themselves.  But for Jesus’ sake.  To carry the message of the gospel forward to where it had never been heard before.    

Imagine getting a commendation like this from Jesus.  “I see that you’re committed workers.  You’ve stayed true to My teaching.  You’ve been  holding up under difficult circumstances - enduring and persevering for Me.”

God is doing awesome things here in this congregation.  But, can we agree that we haven’t even come close to what Jesus commends the Ephsian church for.  They gave everything.  They stayed uncompromisingly grounded on the word of God.  They persevered against their culture.  We need to learn from them.  We need to pray for mercy and thank God for His grace.

Verse 4:  “But - with all that Jesus commends the Ephsians for - how could there be a “but.”  But, here it is.  “But - Jesus says - I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

A Jewish Rabbi and a Roman Catholic Priest met at the town's annual 4th of July picnic.  Old friends, they began their usual banter. “This baked ham is really delicious,” the priest teased the rabbi.  “You really ought try it.  I know it's against your religion, but I can't understand why such a wonderful food should be forbidden!  You don't know what you're missing.  You just haven't lived until you've tried Mrs. Hall's prized Virginia Baked Ham.  Tell me, Rabbi, when are you going to break down and try it?”  The rabbi looked at the priest and said,  “At your wedding.”

Someone here sent me that.  I will not say who.

Ever watch a bride and groom at a wedding?  All glassy eyed - only seeing each other. - passionately in love.  Remember the song, “We’ve only just begun.  White lace and promises.”

Ever watch the married couples at a wedding?  The one’s who’ve been around the block a few times?  There’s wisdom there.  They know what the blissful lovers have just gotten themselves into.

Passionate love can cool.  Slowly it gets replaced with the routine of marriage until all that’s left is the routine.  How quickly the white lace can get stained with angry words and bitterness.  How easily the promise can become a lonely commitment.

In verse 4 - the word “left” - in the original Greek - has the idea of neglect - gradual abandonment.

There are thousands of churches like this in America today.  The congregations meet year after year - Sunday after Sunday - they sing hymns or choruses - they pray - listen to sermons - recite a confession of faith that’s right on Biblically - even do outreach.  But, they have no spiritual impact.  There’s no change in people’s lives - no change in the community around them.  They’re serving Jesus.  But they’re hearts have grown cold.  The passion for Jesus is gone.  Jesus says that they’ve left their first love.

We live in a constant battle to resist the pressures of our society which are designed to cool our love for God.  Sometimes we fall into the Christian routine - an American Christian lifestyle - and we loose sight of the greatness of God’s love - His grace and mercy - our salvation.  Are we passionately in love with Jesus?  Is that passion growing - or cooling?

Verse 5:  “Therefore - because you’ve let your passion for me grow cold  - therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place - unless you repent.”

There are three steps here - steps for rekindling passion.

First:  Jesus says.  “Remember where you came from.”  Remember the honeymoon.  Remember the times of intimacy that we shared.  Get out the photo album.  Play the LP’s.  I’m talking to my generation now.  Get out the 8-tracks.  Let the memories rekindle your heart - your passion for me.

First - remember - Second:  Jesus says, “Repent.”  The train wreck is coming.  “Repent”  Turn back while there’s still time.

I once read of a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is practicing archery in his backyard.  Instead of aiming at the target, he would shoot the arrow at his fence and then walk over and draw a target around wherever the arrow stuck.

Lucy walks up and says, “Why are you doing this Charlie Brown?”

Charlie Brown answers, “This way I never miss.”

As Christians - if we want to grow in our love for Jesus - its important what we aim at.  Maybe we need to admit that we’ve grown cold in our love for Him.  We’ve been aiming at the wrong targets.  Focused on and involved with stuff that’s taking us farther away from God.

We need to take aim at renewing our love for Jesus - to focus on those things that renew our love for Him.  That draw us closer to Him.

Remember - repent - Third:  Jesus says, “Do the things you did when you first met me.”  Return - get back to the basics.  Take aim at the basics..

Spend time talking with Jesus in prayer.  Spend time reading what He’s written in the Bible.  Spend quality time with Him and His other children.  Learn to worship Him and Praise Him.  Tell others about your relationship with Him.  Its not rocket science - not impossible.  Just too easily neglected.  And crucial that we get back to where we once belonged.

Before we go to verse 6 - don’t miss the warning Jesus has here.  The removal of the lampstand - the testimony of this church in Ephesus.  Without this church the city would be in spiritual darkness.  Who would share about Jesus.  How crucial are our actions - our commitment - is our passion for Jesus?

Verse 6:  “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

The Nicolaitans were a group founded by Nicolaos that was trying to control the church and lead the Christian community into all kinds of perverse sins.  Jesus commends them - even without the passion for me you still hate the sins of the Nicolaitans.  Point being:  There’s still something left.  You’re not too far gone.  The passion can be rekindled.

Verse 7 - the promise:  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”

A kindergarten teacher gave her class a “show and tell” assignment.  Each student was instructed to bring in an object to share with the class that represented their religion.  The first student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Benjamin and I'm Jewish and this is a Star of David.”  The second student got up in front of the class and said, “My name is Mary.  I'm a Catholic and this is a Rosary.”  The third student got in up front of the class and said, “My name is Tommy.  I'm Methodist and this is a casserole.”

What represents us?  What characterizes our life together?

To do Church the way Jesus does Church - what He commends the Ephesians for - requires everything that we are - time - talent - treasure.  Everything - not just some things - or what we feel comfortable with - or things that fit into our schedule - but to give everything - heart - mind - body - soul - in service to Jesus.

Doing Church the way Jesus does Church requires dogged 24/7/365 commitment.  It requires tackling the hard stuff - hanging in there with each other - chewing through God’s word together - being on our knees in prayer together - running counter culture - even counter church-culture.  Putting our lives on the line for each other.

If we’re going to be a part of what God is doing in this congregation be prepared to sweat.  Not just because we live in Merced where we have hot and hot running water in the summer.  But because Church Jesus’ way is not easy.

But, that’s how we live today - knowing that God controls tomorrow - paradise is coming.  But today - live passionately devoted to Jesus - passionate about the things that He’s passionate about - passionate in our love and devotion to each other and our community.

Would that people would say about us - would that Jesus would say about us - those people are deeply in love with Jesus.