A number of years ago I had the honor of serving as a groomsman in a friend’s wedding. I watched my friend and his fiancé’s relationship develop from the beginning. In the early days, they spend a lot of time together, went out to dinner together, he bought her gifts, and he actively shared in her interests. Their love continued to grow and it culminated on their wedding day.

But as the years went by, the flame of romance began to flicker and their relationship lost its initial excitement. He became consumed with his own interests, their conversations became shallow, and they didn’t spend much time together anymore. Offenses that used to be quickly forgiven turned into bitter resentments. Even though they slept in the same bed at night, their hearts were miles away from each other.

Don’t get me wrong, he was a decent husband: he was morally faithful to his wife and he worked hard to provide for their family, but he became emotionally cold and detached from his wife. He maintained a high degree of purity in his relationship with her, but he lost his passion. She repeatedly tried to talk to him about it, but always shrugged it off and pretended like nothing was wrong, until one day when he came home from work, she and all of her things were gone.

She felt like she had endured a loveless marriage long enough, and it was now time to look elsewhere. She felt like she had a right to “be happy” even if it meant breaking her marital vows. She maintained her passion but lost her purity.

Unfortunately, what happened to my friend’s marriage is similar to what happens to many relationships. One person becomes distant or disconnected, and the other one becomes disappointed and dissatisfied. One person preserves their purity but loses their passion, and the other person preserves their passion but loses their purity. Either way, when purity or passion is lacking, the whole relationship suffers.

It is bad enough when this happens in a marriage, but it is even worse when it happens to our relationship with God. Some people have a high degree of purity in their relationship with God, but they don’t have any spiritual passion. Others are spiritually passionate, but they struggle to maintain their purity.

The church in the city of Ephesus had a high degree of purity, but it lost its spiritual passion. On the outside, the church members did all of the right things, but on the inside, their hearts were far from God. So, during John’s vision of the glorified Christ, he writes to the Ephesian church and praises them for their purity but criticizes them for their lack of passion.

Every local church and every individual Christian is to measure themselves against these seven churches in Asia so we can get an accurate assessment of our own spiritual lives. So, let us take a closer look at Jesus’ praise for and criticism of the church in Ephesus.

Praise for Purity in the Church (2-3, 6)

Jesus begins the letter to the church in Ephesus by reaffirming his sovereignty over the church. Remember, from 1:20 we know that the seven stars are symbols for the angels of the seven churches and the golden lampstands are symbolic of the churches. Jesus has absolute power and authority over the church; therefore he has the right to offer praise and criticism to the church.

His omniscience allows him to see everything that the church had been doing, and he praises the Ephesians for their purity in three specific areas: “deeds” refers to their moral purity, “hard work” refers to their ministerial purity, and “tested those who claim to be apostles but are not…” refers to their theological purity. They behaved properly, served faithfully, and believed correctly. A group of false teachers, who referred to themselves “apostles,” sprang up in Ephesus and tried to spread heresy throughout the church, but the church tested them, proved them to be false, and refused to tolerate their wickedness.

Likewise, in verse 6, Jesus praises the Ephesians for hating the practices of the Nicolaitans, who taught that that participation in the idolatrous culture of Ephesus was permissible, which probably included emperor worship and sexual immorality. Christians would have experienced a lot of pressure to participate in these practices because “everybody was doing it” in Ephesus at the time. But the Ephesian church resisted the temptations of the day and remained faithful to Jesus Christ. They maintained their moral and theological purity, and Jesus praised them for it.

Today the American church faces many of the same temptations and pressures to conform to the idolatrous culture rather than be faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Like the false teachers in Ephesus, there are many today who promote heresies like pluralism (the belief that there are many ways to God), syncretism (the belief that Christianity is compatible with other religions), universalism (the belief that everybody will get to heaven), and what I believe is the most widely held heresy in the church today, works-righteousness (the belief that one can get to heaven by doing good deeds or by being a good person). It is our responsibility to test these and other beliefs against God’s word to see if they are true or not, and if they are not, we must not tolerate these heresies and practices!

Likewise, there are many from outside and within the church who promote the modern equivalent to the practices of the Nicolaitans. They say, “If everyone else is doing it, it must be OK!” They say, “We don’t need no self control!” They say, “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that baaaddd!” They say, “It’s OK to sleep around and fool around with anybody you want!” They say, “It’s your life; live it how you want!”

The Ephesians faced all of these same pressures toward heresy and immorality, and yet, they maintained their purity! And Jesus praised them for it! Will you preserve your moral and theological purity? Will our church preserve its moral and theological purity? Will we receive praise from our Lord Jesus Christ?

Criticism for a Lack Passion in the Church (4-5)

Well, even though the Ephesians maintained their purity, they still weren’t a perfect church. Jesus still had one complaint against them. Yes, their beliefs and behaviors were praiseworthy, but their hearts were far from God. In verse 4, Jesus charges them with forsaking their first love. They lost their zeal from when they first became Christians and fell in love with Jesus. They got to the point that they loved God’s truth more than they loved God. Their early passion for God had been replaced by an infatuation with cold orthodoxy. The Ephesians relationship with God was like my friend’s relationship with his wife. On the outside, it was a good church. It was honest, hard-working, and faithful, but it lost the passion it once had.

So, Jesus exhorts them to rekindle the old flame in their hearts by considering how far they had fallen and to repent by returning to the things they did at first. He warned them that if they did not repent that he would remove the lampstand from its place. If they did not fan the flame of their love and regain their passion for God, Jesus would personally remove their church from the earth. God want his church to be both pure and passionate!

This indictment on the Ephesian church should cause us to evaluate our own relationship with God. There are many people today who followed in the Ephesians footsteps. When they first became Christians, they were filled with excitement, zeal, and passion for God, but over the years the flame of love has died down. They have forsaken their first love and turned their attention to other things. They have become so preoccupied with their own interests that they don’t spent any time with their first love any longer. On the outside, they do and say all the things that Christians are supposed to do and say, but their hearts have fallen so far away.

Does this letter describe your relationship with God? Have you forsaken your first love? Have you become so infatuated by and preoccupied with other things that you have neglected God? Has our church lost its love for the Lord?

If you have lost your passion, I encourage you to heed Christ’s words and warning before it is too late. Repent and return to the things you used to do? Get back to faithful church attendance! Get back to reading and studying your Bible! Get back to spending time in prayer! Get back to sharing your faith with the people around you! Get back to using your gifts to serve people in the church and community! Do what you used to do when you were passionate for Christ!

A Call for the Church to Listen (7)

After Jesus praises the Ephesians for their purity and reprimands them for their lack of passion, in verse 7, he issues a final appeal for the church to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. The fact that he uses the word “churches” in the plural rather than “church” in the singular means that this was meant to be read and heard not just in Ephesus, but in all seven of the churches addressed in the Book of Revelation and by implication, all Christian churches in all places and at all times.

Therefore, to all churches and all Christians who hear his words and heed his warnings and overcome, he offers the hope of eternal life. He uses the image of the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. This should remind us of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve fell into sin. Jesus promises paradise to those who persevere to the end—those who maintain the purity and passion of their faith.

Even though Jesus spoke these words nineteen hundred years ago, they are still meant for us today. Do you hear what Jesus is saying to you? Are you persevering in the purity of your faith? Are you persevering in your passion for God? Do you want to taste the fruit of the tree of life in God’s paradise?

I was telling you about my friend who got lost his passion for his wife. When he got home from work that day and she was gone, it served as a wake-up call to him. The fear of losing his wife motivated him to action. So, he found her, apologized to her, and promised to change his ways—and he did. He renewed his passion and started doing the things he used to do in their relationship. She apologized to him for leaving and renewed her purity. They worked through their problems and their relationship began to thrive once again.

The same thing can happen with your relationship with God! Come back to your first love! Jesus wants a pure and passionate church!