Ephesus: When Does a Church Cease to Be a Church? (Rev. 2:1-7)

[Sung Psalm: 81]

The Lord speaks through Jeremiah of Jerusalem's first love. "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride" – And what does God mean by this? Back during the Exodus – and the conquest in the days of Joshua – when God redeemed his people and gave them a good inheritance.

But Jerusalem has exchanged the LORD her God for those who are no gods.

And so the LORD concludes: "my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

That's a great picture! Over here, there is a fountain of living water (living water can just mean "flowing water" – a spring that never runs dry). And over there, is a cistern – a cistern is an underground water storage tank.

If you don't trust that the spring will last, then you might choose to dig a cistern to store water.

But of course, if the LORD himself is the fountain of living water – then you know that the LORD will never run dry. And so the decision to dig a cistern is itself a declaration of unbelief!

"I don't trust God to provide – so I'd better take care of myself, thank you!"

Isn't that a good picture of how we tend to act? We don't trust God. We rely on our own efforts – our own wisdom – our own bright ideas – but our own best efforts are broken cisterns that can hold no water.

In short – we have lost our first love – our devotion to our Lord Jesus!

Welcome to Ephesus...