Outward Show

Revelation 1:1-4 - "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: ‘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. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.'"

The Ephesian church was an active church. They were busy about serving God, but they were serving Him out of duty not out of love. They had put their service for Christ ahead of their love for Christ. And this is not the only time we see this in the Bible. There are numerous examples in the Scriptures of people who get so caught up in their religious service for God that they forget the main thing of a loving relationship with Him.

In Romans chapter 10 the apostle Paul is talking about the nation of Israel as a whole and he says in verses 1-4 - "Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." The nation of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, are Gods chosen people, and the majority of the Old Testament talks about the Lords dealings with this special chosen people. But by time we get to the New Testament the primary focus changes from Israel to the church. When the Lord came to this earth as the Messiah the nation of Israel, the Jewish people largely rejected Him. They said "We will not have this man to rule over us." Christs primary opposition came from the religious leaders in Israel. They were holding to a form of godliness, but they had forgotten the God who called them. They had a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. And this is who Paul is talking about in this passage. The nation of Israel had a zeal for God, but they became so zealous in trying to serve Him and expanding His laws that they forgot all about a relationship with Him and all they had left was the Law which they could never keep. By their works they were seeking to establish their own righteousness, but righteousness before God doesn’t come as a result of what we do or don’t do, it comes through a relationship. John 1:12 says - “But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those that believe on His name.” That's a relationship.

In Luke chapter 10 we see another example of someone who was more concerned about serving the Lord than cultivating a relationship with Him. Luke 10:38-42 - "Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”" As this scene opens up the Lord Jesus comes with His disciples to the village of Bethany and a woman named Martha welcomes Him into her home. She was hospitable and we see her in this passage serving the Lord. She was busy, she was probably fixing Him something to eat. So she was working, she was serving the Lord, but her service was a burden to her. She was getting fed up with the work. Her sister Mary on the other hand was seated at the feet of the Lord Jesus cultivating a relationship with Him. She wasn’t cultivating that relationship that Mary was.

I want to clarify that there is nothing wrong with serving the Lord. The Lord has work for His people to do, but our service for the Lord is to flow out of that loving relationship with Him. Our service for the Lord is the fruit of a loving relationship with Him, it doesn't work the other way around. And later on we'll see from Scripture that we are called to serve, but that service always stems from a loving relationship with our Lord. If we're serving out of a sense of duty or obligation we'll become frustrated with the work like Martha was. She was serving the Lord but because it didn't flow out of a relationship with Him the work became a burden instead of a blessing.

In Luke 15 the Lord Jesus gives us the parable of the prodigal son. We are all familiar with this parable, but what I want to focus on the older brother in this story. When the prodigal son returns we read this in verses 25-32 - "Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’" When we first see the older brother in verse 25 he was in the field. He was working, he was busy serving his father. We come down to verse 29 and we see again that he was serving and obeying his father’s commands, but he isn’t serving his father because he loves him, he’s serving his father out of duty.

Luke 18:9-14 - "And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”" He told this story to people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous. This Pharisee put on a pretty good show. Outwardly he looked very religious. His life was devoted to serving God and because of everything that he was doing he thought that he was pretty well off spiritually. He had a zeal for God but not in accordance with knowledge. In fact, this religious man wasn't even saved. The tax collector went down to his house justified, but not this man. He was caught up in the external of rules and regulations and missed the main thing of an internal relationship through the marvelous grace of our loving Lord.

With all of these examples there are some interesting connections. Those who are serving God out of duty rather than letting those works flow out of a relationship with Christ have their focus on themselves and they have their focus on other people, but their eyes are not on the Lord. They are not focused on Him.

When Martha was serving the Lord she became frustrated and overwhelmed with the work, and she said to the Lord “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” Martha was not focus on the Lord like Mary was. She was focused on the work, she was focused on what she was doing and was caught up in her service. And she was also focused on Mary. She was concerned about whether other people were serving the Lord as much as she was, but her focus was not on the Lord. When we are serving the Lord out of a sense of obligation rather than letting our service flow from a loving relationship with Him our focus will not be on Him. We'll focus on the work, we'll focus on ourselves, we'll even focus on other people and whether or not they're serving as much as we are or in the right way, but our focus will not be on Him. But a person who is developing that intimate, personal, loving relationship with the Lord will have their eyes on Him.

When the older brother was serving his father and he heard that the younger brother had come back and they were having a party for him he became angry. He was serving his father, he was busy about his fathers work. His focus was on the work that he was doing and on his younger brother, but his focus was not on his father. He began to tell the father how much he has done for him. He began to point out to the father all the service that he had done on his behalf. And he also began to complain to the father about the younger son and how he wasted the fathers wealth. He focused on his younger brothers unworthiness, but he was not developing a close relationship with his father. The work was burdensome to him, and his focus was not on his father. 

When the two men went up to the temple to pray, the Pharisee prayed a very grand prayer, but you’ll notice that the text says “he prayed to himself.” And his prayer to himself was him showing off all the things that he had done for God. At the same time he was pointing out to himself how much better he was than the tax-collector. He was focused on himself and his own good deeds, and he focused on the unworthiness of other people, but his focus was not on the Lord.

One more example. In John 21 the Resurrected Christ asked Peter a question. He asked him if he loved Him. And He gave him work to do, a work that would flow out of that relationship with Him. After this the Lord Jesus began to talk about the death that Peter would die and glorify God, and we read in John 21:19-22 - "Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”" Right after the Lord Jesus tells Peter to follow Him, the next words we read are "Peter, turning around..." He took his eyes off of the Lord and put them on his fellow servant. And he said "What about this man?" I know you want me to serve you, but what do you want him to do? Do you want a good gauge for where you are in your relationship with God? Consider where your focus is. If you're focused on yourself and everything that you are doing for God, or if your focused on other people and evaluating how spiritual you are compared to them, or even if you're consumed with service for the Lord itself rather than with the Lord Himself, you may be in the same place as the church at Ephesus. The Lord may say to you, “I know your works. I see everything that you’re doing for Me, but I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

I want to contrast the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 with the church at Thessalonica. We read in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 - “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.” The description of the Thessalonian church is "Work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness" or "perseverance of hope." The Lord told Ephesus that He knew their work, labor and perseverance, but their work wasn’t a work of faith, their labor wasn’t a labor of love and their perseverance wasn’t a perseverance of hope. The Ephesian church was laboring, but it was not a labor of love. Their focus was on what they were doing not on their loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The service of the Thessalonian church flowed from a loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were busy serving the Lord, but their labor was not burdensome, it was not toilsome, it was a labor of love. And this should be descriptive of all Christian service. The Lord is more concerned with the inside than the outside. He wants to work on your devotion to Him, on your loving relationship with Him that no one can see. That's the most important thing. Works play a part, but they are to flow from loving devotion to Him.

Revelation 2:2,4 - "I know your works... But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."