Dear Ephesus | Dear Church | Trinity Sermons

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity

Sermons. This week we're launching a brand new

teaching series looking at the book of Revelation.

Now I'm sure you have lots of questions, lots

of ideas about this book, but it's really just

a letter. And so we're going to be looking at

the opening chapters where Jesus is writing letters

to the early church. And we're going to figure

out what does Jesus have to say to the churches

of the first century, but also what does Jesus

have to say to the church today? As we start

this series, we're going to be looking at the

letter to the church of Ephesus and how they

have lost their first love, but Christ calls

them to recover it. So now, let's listen in.

Our reading today is from the book of Revelation,

beginning with chapter 1, verses 4 to 5, and

chapter 2, verses 1 to 7. Letter from John. to

the seven churches in the province of Asia, grace

and peace to you from him who is and who was

and who is to come and from the seven spirits

before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who

is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the

dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

to the angel of the church in Ephesus. These

are the words of him who holds the seven stars

in his right hand and walks among the seven golden

lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work,

and your perseverance. I know that you cannot

tolerate wicked people. that you have tested

those who claim to be apostles but have not,

and have found them false. You have persevered

and have endured hardships for my name and have

not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you.

You have forsaken the love you had at first,

Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and

do the things you did at first. If you do not

repent, I'll come to you and remove your lampstand

from its place. But you have this in your favor.

You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which

I also hate. Whoever has ears. Let them hear

what the Spirit says to the churches. To the

one who is victorious, I'll give the light, the

right to eat from the tree of life, which is

in the paradise of God. The word of the Lord.

Well, good morning, everybody. My name's Rob,

and it's my great pleasure and privilege to be

the pastor here at Trinity Streetsville. So I

want to say a very warm welcome to all of you,

especially to those who might be visiting with

us this morning. I haven't been here for the

last couple of weeks. We've been on some vacation,

and one of the places we went on vacation, we

were so blessed to be able to go to the island

of Bermuda. And we went there for a week and

stayed in an Airbnb, and it was lovely. It was

eye -opening in so many ways. It was snorkeling,

and we did all this. really cool stuff. But Bermuda

is interesting. Tiny little island, rocky island

in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the

Sargasso Sea. And it's so small. I think the

population of Bermuda is something like 60 ,000.

It's only 50 square kilometers big. And so far,

as much beauty and fun you have there, you also

get the sense that you're trapped, that you're

stuck. Like you can get in a car. Actually, tourists

can't get in a car, but you can get in a car

and you can drive. It's only so far you can go.

And again, if Air Canada is on strike, you might

not be going anywhere. So you really get the

sense that you're like stuck on this island.

But I mean, gosh, is there a better place to

get stuck than Bermuda? Now, I want to take you

back 2 ,000 years earlier to another island.

This is the island of Patmos. It's very much

like Bermuda, actually. It's in the middle of

the sea, the middle of the Aegean Sea. It's also

very small, only about 50 square kilometers big.

It's rocky. And 2 ,000 years ago, the apostle

John... One of Jesus' very first followers, the

Apostle John, found himself exiled on this island.

He was not there on vacation. He was stuck. And

the reason he was on this island was because

he was a pastor. And during that time in kind

of what is present -day Turkey or in Asia Minor

at the time, there was a bunch of churches, and

he was a pastor in one of the churches. And the

emperor said, shut up, John. Stop talking about

Jesus. sent John to this little island of Patmos

to kind of get him out of the way and hope that

he would die there. But something amazing, something

truly eye -opening for John happened while he

was exiled on the island of Patmos. He was given

this incredible, life -changing, world -changing

vision of the risen Jesus that changes everything.

And I want to read to you just a little bit about

how that began, okay? He writes, I, John, I was

on the island of Patmos because of the word of

God and the testimony of Jesus. In other words,

I was preaching and teaching about Jesus. I got

in trouble, and that's how I ended up on the

island of Patmos. And on the Lord's day, that's

like Sunday, on Sunday, I was in the spirit,

which means I was praying, I was worshiping,

and I heard behind me a loud voice. Who's that?

And it was like a trumpet. And the voice said,

write on a scroll what you see and send it to

the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,

Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

That was the beginning of... an amazing experience,

a vision of Jesus. That might've lasted for hours,

might've lasted for days, might've lasted for

weeks. We don't really know. But what we do know

is that when he was done, he did exactly what

Jesus said to do. He wrote it all down. He wrote

down everything he had saw and everything he

heard, and he put it into one book. And today,

all of that stuff is what we would call the very

last book of our Bible, the book of Revelation.

That is John's of the vision that Jesus gave

him. the whole book of Revelation. Many people

get very scared or curious or upset about the

book of Revelation. I remember the very first

Christian book I ever bought at a Christian bookstore

like 30 years ago was a book about the book of

Revelation. Because like you, many of us are

very, very curious about it. And I bought this

book called Escape the Coming Night by Dr. David

Jeremiah. And I read that thing cover to cover.

I even dug it out this past week. And although

it's kind of wild, it's actually a really, really

interesting read. It's a really interesting book,

the book of Revelation. But forget that for a

moment and just realize this, that first and

foremost, what is the book of Revelation? It's

a letter. Write this down on a scroll and send

it to the seven churches. The book of Revelation

is a letter sent to seven different churches.

to address very specific historical things that

were happening in their midst. So here's what

we're going to do. Over the next couple of weeks,

we're going to look not just at the book of Revelation.

We're not even really going to get very far in

it at all. But at the very beginning of the book

of Revelation, there are seven different letters.

For seven different churches, even though it's

all part of one big letter, there are seven mini

letters within it. And we're going to look at

these seven different letters. That's why we're

calling this series Dear Church, Seven Letters.

And we're going to look at what is being... not

just about the historical church, but what it

can say to our church. And that's why we have

to acknowledge a couple things before we get

going in any study of a book like this. And that

is, in order to read this properly, we've always

got to start by reading Revelation in its original

context. Whenever people come to the book of

Revelation, they seem to get all caught up and

say, what does this say about the future? What

does this say about the millennium? What does

this say about the great tribulation? I've heard

about the great tribulation that is coming. All

these ideas of prophecy. What does this mean

for the end times? But just stop for a second

and don't forget, this was a letter that was

written to real people, in real churches, in

real cities, in real countries. 2 ,000 years

ago. That's the original context. In fact, John...

probably had a really good idea of what was going

on in these churches because he himself was a

pastor in Asia Minor. We'll find out he was actually

the pastor, one of the pastors of the church

in Ephesus. And so all these letters are tailored

to speak directly to certain things that were

going on in these historical congregations. Now,

the thing is, those letters were all bundled

together and put in the book of Revelation, and

that was sent to these different churches. So

they all got to read each other. mail, as it

were, but it starts with specific letters to

historic congregations. We've got to understand

that. And then only after we understand that

can we move on to say, okay, if that's what it

said back then, what is it saying to us now?

How is God using these letters to speak to us

today? And the more you read these letters, the

more you will come to see, you know what? That

sounds like a church I know. Or that sounds like

a person I know. Or that describes me. My point

is simply this. These letters still speak to

us today, right? We often want to know, what

do people think about the church? And to find

out the answer to that question, we might contact

the pollsters or do a survey or interview people

on the street or do some research or whatever

the case may be. But here we have something far

more significant. We have a record of what Jesus

thinks about the church. And that matters most.

Because Jesus, of course, is the founder of the

church. He is the head of the church. In fact,

in Revelation 1, when John gets a glimpse of

this Jesus who is speaking to him, he sees that

Jesus has what he calls eyes of blazing fire,

meaning this, that Jesus can see. Jesus can see

what is going on in any church. And here at Trinity,

We've got board meetings, staff meetings, prayer

meetings, annual vestry meetings. We're always

struggling. God, where are you leading us? We're

always trying to solve problems. How do we figure

this out? And as a pastor, I have to tell you,

sometimes it's very tricky to know the right

thing to do in every situation. But in some ways,

we don't have to wonder. What Jesus thinks of

the church. Jesus tells us what his perspective

on the church is in these letters. So today,

we're going to crack open just the first... This

is the first letter, right, that Annie read to

us. And like all the letters, we're just going

to break it down to three parts, right? There's

a beginning, there's a middle, and there's an

end to the letter. And I've given you guys all

these sermon notes. This is just so you can take

notes to follow along so you can remember what

we're learning this morning. And if you're joining

us online, you can access our fillable sermon

notes by going to our church app, Church Center.

Okay, let's start at the beginning of this first

letter. Jesus wrote to the church in Asia Minor,

to the first church, what was he saying in this

letter? Well, let's ask first this question.

Who was the letter addressed to? Who was the

letter for? Well, we're told right away that

this letter is for the angel of the church. Let's

look at what it says. It says, to the angel of

the church in Ephesus. And right away. I know

what you guys are going to say. You're going

to say, oh, here we go. The crazy visions and

symbols of a revelation, angels and demons. What

are we to make of all this stuff? But don't get

too far ahead of yourself. The Greek word for

angel is angelos, which literally means messenger,

right? So to the messenger of the church of Ephesus.

And did you know that actually all churches have

a primary messenger? And do you know who? The

primary messenger is of a church. It's the pastor.

And that means, technically, I am the angel of

Trinity Streetsville. Although you guys can be

the judge as to whether the halo fits or not.

But the point is this. These letters are addressed.

first to the pastor of these churches. And the

pastor, of course, would take those letters and

then would read them to the congregation, to

the rest of the church. That brings us to the

second thing that we are looking at at the very

beginning. Okay, so where's the postal code?

Where is this letter going? Well, it turns out

it's going to the city of Ephesus, to the church

in Ephesus. Now, Ephesus was this big and bustling

city. And located in Ephesus was one of the great

ancient wonders of the world. It was the Temple

of Diana. There's all that's left of the Temple

of Diana today. And the Temple of Diana was filled

with prostitutes. Prostitution was a big part

of how worship worked for Diana. They sold little

idols of Diana on all the street corners. Why?

Because that was a big, big moneymaker. I want

to tell you this, by the way. Kyla had a podcast

recorded with Megan, our children's ministry

director, because a few months ago, Megan was

in Ephesus, and she got to see some of this stuff

firsthand. So you really should check out this

week's podcast sometime this week. But anyways,

Paul, he planted a church in Ephesus during his

second missionary journey, which is why when

you open your Bibles, you'll find in there a

letter called Paul's letter to the Ephesians

because he was writing back to the church that

he planted in Ephesus. After Paul left that church,

he handed over the reins to his protege, Timothy,

and he pastored the church in Ephesus. And that's

why when you open your Bible, you'll find two

letters from Paul to Timothy called 1 Timothy

and 2 Timothy. And finally, there's really good

reason to believe that toward the end of his

life, John himself... who is now exiled on Patmos,

was a pastor or a bishop in Ephesus and maybe

oversaw a number of the churches in Asia Minor.

So that's the address. It's going to Ephesus.

And then the third thing we learn right at the

very beginning of the letter is who is this letter

from? Who is the author? The letter tells us

the author is the Lord of the church, none other

than Jesus himself. In each of the... seven letters

we're going to read over the weeks ahead, Jesus

always describes himself at the beginning. And

this is Jesus' self -description at the beginning

of the letter to the church in Ephesus. He says,

these are the words of him who holds the seven

stars in his right hand and walks among the seven

golden lampstands. And again, you're like, oh,

this is the stuff I hate about Revelation. What

are the seven stars? And what are the seven golden

lampstands? But here's the good news. I'm not

a scholar on biblical symbolism or anything like

this, but this one is easy. This one's easy to

figure out. Because all you gotta do is turn

back one page in the book of Revelation to Revelation

1, and you will hear... Exactly what these are.

And it turns out the seven stars represent the

seven pastors, the seven angelos, the seven messengers

of those seven churches. And they are in Jesus'

right hand, his hand of authority, which is another

way of saying that Jesus has authority over the

leaders of these churches. He's the one who's

really in charge of the church. It's not me.

It's not you. It's Jesus. Those are the seven

stars. And the seven golden lampstands, again,

just flip back a page, it tells you right there,

that's just code for the seven churches. These

seven churches are referred to seven golden lampstands.

But what's interesting is we're told that Jesus

walks among the seven golden lampstands. He walks

among his church. So just think about that for

a moment. Jesus walks among us this morning.

He walks here at Trinity. He walks among all

the churches, in fact. I got an email a couple

of days ago from someone who visited Trinity

recently. And it was really encouraging because

what she said is one thing she was certain of.

She said, I had a sense that Jesus was there,

right? Jesus said, wherever two or three are

gathered together in my name, there I am in the

midst of them. Jesus. is the author of this letter,

Jesus Walks Among His Church. That's the beginning

of the letter. But now, let's move on to the

middle of the letter. This is the body. This

is the main thrust of what Jesus wants to write

to this first church in Ephesus. We find this

in verses 2 through 4 of Revelation chapter 2,

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

in case you're following along in your own Bible.

Let's read it here. Jesus says, I know your deeds,

Ephesus. I know your hard work and your perseverance.

I know that in your church you cannot tolerate

wicked people and that you've tested those who

claim to be apostles but are not and have found

them to be false. You've persevered. You've endured

hardships for my name. You've not grown weary.

Guys, isn't that an amazing sounding church?

Wouldn't you want to go to that church? There's

a lot to be commended in this church. Right away,

Jesus basically tells us this, that Ephesus is

a hard -working church. He says, I know your

works. I know your works. Sometimes we get uneasy

when people talk about works in church because

we say, well, we're not saved by works. We're

saved by our faith. And of course, that's true.

And yet here Jesus is commending this church

for all the amazing works that it is doing, works

and faith coming side by side. He says this,

he says, I know your deeds and I know your hard

work. work. Ephesus was this hardworking church.

It was filled with very hardworking people, and

they were doing such good works. And actually,

because of all their good works, all the neighboring

countryside, and even the whole province, we

are told, was being impacted with the good news

of Jesus. If you were to... Put your finger in

the book of Revelation and flip back to the book

of Acts. You would read this description of when

Paul was in Ephesus and kind of how the church

got going and the impact it had. I've summarized

it here, but Paul arrived at Ephesus. He entered

the synagogue and he spoke very boldly there

for about three months, arguing persuasively

about the kingdom of God. And this went on for

two years and then get this. So that all the

Jews and all the Greeks who lived in the province

of Asia heard the word of the Lord. The whole

province was hearing about Jesus because of this

hardworking church. It was saturated with the

gospel. I think that it's true that sometimes

in bigger churches that have paid staff, it's

easy for people to think that, oh, somehow all

the work gets done. But that is not how it worked

here in Ephesus. This church. Nobody in this

church sat back and assumed that somebody else

was going to do the work. They rolled up their

sleeves and they served God with everything they

had. It was a model church, a model church. So

it was a hardworking church. But the second thing

we learn from the body of the letter is that

they were also a persevering church. We read,

Jesus says, you guys have persevered and you

have endured hardships for my name and you've

not grown weary. You see, in those days, if you

were living in Ephesus, you would not only be

expected to worship Diana, this goddess, but

you would also be expected from time to time

to go to the temple and offer sacrifice and incense

and offerings to the emperor himself. And you

would have to say, Caesar is Lord. But of course,

Christians... These faithful, persevering Christians

weren't going to do that because they believed

that Jesus was Lord. And so what happened? They

got harassed. They got alienated. They got fined.

They got excluded. And like John on Patmos, some

of them got exiled and imprisoned because of

their refusal to participate in false worship.

So they didn't give up. This is a group of people

who did not give up. They were tough as nails.

The third thing we learn from the body of this

letter is that they were also a discerning church.

What do I mean by that? They carefully and prayerfully

made their decisions, discerning what was from

God and what wasn't from God. And the letter

puts it this way. I know you cannot tolerate

wicked people, Jesus says, but you've tested

those who claim to be apostles but are not and

have found them to be false. So here's what was

happening. In the early days of the church, There

were these smooth talkers that would go around

from church to church, and they would say, hey,

listen, I've got orders. I know one of the apostles

personally. I know Peter, yeah, or I know Matthew

personally. Trust me, I'm good. I want to come

in, and I want to do some teaching. I want to

do some preaching. And these people would name

drop, like they were on this first century teaching

circuit or something like that, to get into the

church. But then when they got into the church,

what they would do is they would bring all these

crazy ideas and teachings, and they would often

erupt into division. divide the church. Paul

actually, if you flip back to his letter to the

Ephesians, Paul actually says, listen, when I

leave, when I go away, you've got to watch out

because these wolves are going to come after

me and they are going to try to deceive you.

And that's exactly what happened. But these believers

in Ephesus, when these wolves showed up, they

would have none of it. They said, no, sorry,

we're not buying what you are selling today.

And instead, they prayerfully discerned and made

decisions about what God was really saying and

calling them to do in their midst. This is something

we need to do today. We need to always do this,

is to be really careful and prayerful. What is

God's word to Trinity Streets, Phil? Where is

he guiding us? How is he leading us? Because

if we get that wrong, we too could find ourselves

disheveled and divided as a church. So all in

all, I think you'd agree with me. This sounds

like a great, great church. It's a hardworking

church. It's a persevering church. It's a discerning

church. Amazing church. Amazing church. But Ephesus

has a problem. It has a problem with what David

Jeremiah calls, is it was also a declining church.

Now, you might say, how on earth could Ephesus

be a declining church? We just saw how hardworking

and persevering and how faithful they were in

discerning. Well, here is what Jesus says. He

tells us in verse 4. He says, yet I hold something

against you. You have forsaken the love you had

at first. Or as some translations said, I hold

this against you, you have lost your first love.

Or as the righteous brothers put it, you've lost

that loving feeling. Now what this means, outwardly,

this church looked great. I mean, look at it.

It's active, it's busy, it's dynamic, it's persevering.

But Jesus' eyes see past all that activity. And

he sees the real problem. The fire had gone out.

The red -hot passion for Jesus that they once

had had cooled off, and now it was stale and

cold. And here's the scary, scary part. This

happens all the time. You can crank out all the

programs in a church. You can tick all the boxes

of ministry. You can keep really, really busy

without actually loving Jesus. Churches end up

looking like really well -run and fast -moving

organizations, but they forget the whole point.

There's a lot of motion, but there's not much

devotion. to Jesus. See, first love. What does

he mean, the love you had at first? Well, maybe

you can think back to someone you once met who

had just become a Christian or just met Jesus.

And you were like, oh my gosh, they are just

so, they can't shut up about Jesus. They just

keep going on and on. It's like their love of

Jesus is just bubbling out of them. They keep

talking to people about Jesus. They don't care

what other people think. It's this honeymoon

love. It's this uninhibited, fervent passion

that just oozes. out of them. You've probably

seen that in some Christians. And maybe you stop

and you think, you know what? I remember being

like that. I remember when I first encountered

Jesus, when he first broke into my life. I was

just like that. I couldn't wait to tell everybody.

I was so in love. I would never be late for church.

I was always at Bible study. I was always serving.

I was always giving. But But I've lost that somehow.

And Jesus is telling the Ephesians, listen, you've

walked away from that first love. In fact, these

words to me, they don't just sound like disappointment.

It almost sounds like heartbreak. Jesus says,

I have something against you. If your mother

has something against you, it's bad. If your

spouse has something against you, it's really

bad. But if Jesus has something against you,

that is really, really bad. And that is not something

that you want to shrug off. I think that any

couple who's here today, who's been married for

more than a few years, you know what Jesus means

when he talks about losing your first love. Because

in the early days when you were just dating or

you were just courting or you were just going

out or maybe even when you just got married,

oh my gosh, you couldn't stop talking about each

other. You were on the phone late into the night.

You didn't care what other people thought. If

you were like giggling or laughing or hugging

or holding hands in public, you were writing

these sappy letters to each other. And you look

at those letters today, you're like, oh my gosh,

what was going on, right? Because what happens

is over time, kids come along. Work comes along.

Schedules come along. Bills creep in. And pretty

soon that marriage becomes just this whole process

in figuring out logistics, right? Who's driving

where? What's for dinner? Who's paying what bill?

Who's picking up the kids? The point is, you

can still be doing a marriage, but not really

loving in your marriage. And that's exactly what

seems to be happening in Ephesus. Oh, they're

doing. They're doing all sorts of great things.

They're doing the right things. But the fire

is gone. And the romance has cooled. And this

relationship they had with Jesus has now become

more about doing than loving. It's interesting.

30 years earlier, when Paul signed off on his

letter to the Ephesians, these are literally

his closing words. Grace to all who love our

Lord Jesus with an undying love. Right? And yet,

30 years later, the love had died. Slow drift

in the wrong direction, and here they are. And

here we are. Because what about you? And what

about me? And what about Trinity Streetsville?

Have we lost our first love? Thankfully, the

letter doesn't end here. Jesus completes the

letter by offering us a prescription of how to

get that love back. He says, listen, consider

how far you have fallen, repent, and do the things

you did at first. Many preachers, many authors

pick up clearly a three -point plan to get the

love back from this closing message of Jesus.

Here's the first point. Remember how things used

to be. Consider how far you have fallen. Restoring

our love begins with remembering our love. Remember

when you first gave your heart to him. Remember

how you couldn't stop. Talking about Jesus. Remember

how you worshipped and you didn't really care

what people thought of you. Remember how you

showed up for church or you showed up for life

group. Every week you showed up to serve all

the time. Remember the risks you took, the decisions

you make because you trusted God that much. It

is easy to drift when the love goes away without

noticing, the fire cools. But remember, when

you remember, let your heart go back. Think back.

to how it felt at first. And then secondly, repent

for what has happened. Right? Repentance means,

you know, turning around and heading back. If

you left your first love, the only way back is

to turn around and head back toward Jesus again.

Often, turning back means you've got to turn

your back on the things that stole that love

in the first place. Maybe it was some bad habits

or some bad patterns of life or desire or sins

in your life or whatever. And that caused your

love to cool. Repentance is naming those things.

It's dropping those things and it's walking away

from them. It's turning from what pulled you

off course and running back to Christ. It's a

choice you have to make. It's not just a feeling.

It's a choice. It's a decision where you say,

I'm done chasing those things. I'm going back

to my first love. And then thirdly, he says,

repeat what you used to do. Jesus says, do the

things you did at first. Think back. When you

first met Jesus Christ, what did you do? Did

you read your Bible a lot? Well, do it again.

Did you pray a lot? Start doing that again. Did

you show up to church every Sunday hungry to

worship him? Well, do that again. You talked

about Jesus with anyone who would listen? Do

it again. Do it again. Love isn't just this feeling.

It is a verb. And when you act in love, then

the feelings follow. And that passion that slipped

away. can come rushing back. And in fact, I should

say as well, I think a lot of marriage counselors

would say this is true in marriage as well. If

things have grown cold, remember how it used

to be. Repent of the mistakes you've made and

repeat it. Go back and do the things you did

at first. Christ ends the letter with a pretty

sobering warning. He says, if you do not repent,

I will come to you, and I will remove your lampstand

from its place. In other words, if a church doesn't

return to its first love, not just working for

Jesus, but loving Jesus, the light's going to

go out. The flame will be snuffed, and maybe

the church will keep meeting, but its influence

will be gone, and eventually it will be gone

as well. Here at Trinity, we're always talking

about this vision we have. It's pretty simple.

Love Jesus. Learn from Jesus. Live like Jesus.

Lead others to Jesus. And the order really, really

matters. It all begins with love. If we ever

get caught up in the numbers, in the programs,

in the activity, and we lose that first love,

then we have lost the point. Because a church

can be full of activity. It can even be full

of people. And it can still be empty on the inside.

If we stop loving Jesus fervently, then one day

people will come looking for Trinity Straitsville.

And they'll either find it empty or they'll find

a condo here instead. The letter to Ephesus.

is not just ancient history. It's a mirror for

us today. Jesus is still walking among his churches.

His eyes are like fire. He is seeing what is

going on. And he's not looking for busyness.

He's looking for love. So this fall, I want to

say to you, if any of you have the sense that

your love has cooled toward Jesus, remember how

it used to be. Repent of how things went wrong.

and repeat the things you did at first. Go back

to the beginning and let that flame burn bright

again. And here at Trinity, may our love for

Jesus fuel everything that we do. Thanks be to

God. Amen. Thanks for tuning into this week's

episode of Trinity Sermons. This sermon was recorded

at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga,

Ontario on September 7th, 2025.