KEEPING THE FLAMES LIT

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
13 November 2005

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Rev 2:1-7

1. "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

-- in the beginning of the book by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lucy Pevensie opens the door of a magical wardrobe and enters into the magical land of Narnia -- it happened in this way
-- while exploring the professor's house with her brothers and sister, Lucy discovers a room with nothing in it but a large wardrobe -- since she loves the feel of fur against her skin, she climbs into the wardrobe to let the coats and the cloaks brush against her
-- as she climbs into the wardrobe and makes her way through the coats and the cloaks that hang there, she soon discovers that she was no longer in a wardrobe -- you see, as she searched for the back of the wardrobe, she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air -- and far ahead -- much farther than where the back of the wardrobe ought to have been, she saw a light
-- as she entered into the land of Narnia and made her way through the forest in the snow towards the light, she soon found that the source of the light was a lamp-post -- as the story of Narnia and the Pevensie children begins, Lewis leaves us with this sentence concerning Lucy's discovery -- "She stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamp-post in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next."

II. The Church at Ephesus
-- now, you might be sitting there wondering what a children's book has to do with this passage from the Book of Revelation, but it has everything to do with it
-- you see, in this passage in Revelation we read Jesus' message to the church at Ephesus -- the church at Ephesus was an extraordinary church in an extraordinary place
-- the city of Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Mediterranean world at the time this letter was written -- it boasted a population of over 250,000 people and was a center of trade for the Roman Empire -- second only to Rome in importance in both trade and political influence -- but, more importantly, Ephesus was the center for the religion of the worship of Diana -- it was there that the temple of Diana was built -- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world -- the largest Greek temple ever constructed -- and it was there that all of her worshipers gathered
-- and it was there -- in the midst of this important city -- in the midst of the trade and the politics and the center of pagan worship -- that the church of Ephesus not only existed but thrived -- reaching people for the Kingdom of God and leading pagans from the darkness into the light
-- the Apostle Paul spent more time living and teaching in Ephesus than in any other church he visited -- and both Timothy and the Apostle John pastored the church at various times during its history -- and the fruit borne by these great men of God was evident
-- it was a strong church thriving in very difficult circumstances -- that is why Jesus commended the church in verses 2-3, saying that He knew of their deeds -- of their hard work -- of their perseverance -- the church at Ephesus did not tolerate wicked men or wicked doctrines in their midst -- and they had perservered and endured hardships in the name of Christ without growing weary
-- but, this church had a problem -- in verse 4 Jesus rebukes the church -- look with me as we read again verses 4-5

4. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

-- in the midst of their struggles -- in the midst of their hardships -- this church took a wrong turn -- they didn't forget their first love -- they didn't lose their first love -- Jesus says that they had forsaken their first love -- they chose to turn away from the love upon which the church had been established and they chose to press on in their own strength and in their own power -- oh, they still lived with Christ -- they still claimed the name of Christ -- they just didn't love Him like they used to
-- think about it this way -- the first love that Jesus describes here is like the love of a newly married couple -- in fact, the Bible describes our relationship with God in just this way -- in Jeremiah 2:2, God says, "I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert" -- when you are in the midst of a new relationship, your love is new -- alive -- passionate -- powerful -- your life revolves around your partner -- you want to be where they are and you follow them where they lead -- together you become one heart and one soul -- they are your breath -- your food -- your very reason for living
-- but later, the pressures of life comes in and the honeymoon ends -- I like the way Steven Lawson describes it -- he says, "The children come. The career takes off. The business expands. The activities increase. The stresses multiply. And suddenly two people wake up complete strangers."
-- this is what has happened to the church at Ephesus -- they were still living with Christ -- still serving Christ -- they were still coming to church -- they were still believing all the right things and teaching all the right things -- they just were not loving Christ as they first had -- their relationship had become routine -- they were just not in love with Him anymore
-- this would be the same as a husband coming to his wife and saying, "you know, I just don't love you anymore, but I don't want to leave you with the kids alone -- so, I'll stay here -- I'll help you take care of the kids -- I'll provide for you and for our family -- we'll still do things together -- we'll still sit together and sleep together and go out in public together -- we'll do all the things that a married couple does -- but, I am just not going to love you like I used to" -- would that be good enough for you? -- would that be the type of relationship you would want for a lifetime?
-- probably not -- and that's exactly what Christ was saying in this passage -- so, He warned the church at Ephesus to repent of their sins -- to come back to the first love that they had forsaken -- or else, He warned, He would remove their lampstand from its place
-- which brings us back to the story of Narnia and of Lucy standing next to a lamp-post in the middle of a forest, wondering why it was there and what she should do next

III. Narnia and Ephesus
-- C.S. Lewis was a master of the English language, and there is nothing in his books on Narnia that is not there for a reason -- while not a true allegory, his books are filled with symbols of our Christian faith, most famously Aslan the lion as symbolic of Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah
-- after studying this passage in Revelation and recently reading the Chronicles of Narnia, I believe that Lewis put the lamp-post in the middle of the forest to symbolize the condition that existed in the church at Ephesus when Jesus sent this message to them
-- you see, when Lucy stumbles through the wardrobe and into the land of Narnia, the land has been overtaken by the evil White Witch and is gripped in the hand of deadly winter year-round -- there is not spring -- there is no new life -- and the sun shines weakly -- but, yet, in the middle of this winter wasteland, Lucy is drawn to a light -- the lamp-post -- that is shining brightly in the gloom brought on by the power of the White Witch
-- the lamp-post in the Chronicles of Narnia represents exactly what the lampstand in this passage represents -- the very presence of the living God and the power of the Holy Spirit in our midst -- the light of the lamp-post shining in the winter wilderness told the citizens of Narnia that Aslan had not forgotten them -- that He was still with them -- and that He would one day redeem them from the evil that gripped them
-- for the nation of Israel and for the people of God, the lampstand had special significance
-- in the temple -- in the holy place -- there were only three items of significance -- there was the table of the showbread, there was the altar of incense, and there was the holy lampstand
-- the lampstand was the only source of light in the holy place and it was kept burning continuously by the priests -- it signified to the nation of Israel the presence of God with them and it provided light and hope to them as they lived in the midst of dark pagan lands
-- in the same way, the lampstand of God in the church at Ephesus represented the presence of God with them -- it represented the blessing of God in their lives -- living in the middle of a pagan land, it was a beacon of light that illuminated their path -- it gave them comfort and hope in the midst of all their trials and their tribulations -- it signified the love that God had for them and its light reflected the quality of their relationship with God
-- as long as the lampstand was burning, there was hope -- as long as the lampstand was burning, there was life -- as long as the lampstand was burning, there was God

IV. The Loss of the Lampstand
-- but the church at Ephesus had chosen to turn away from the light of God to the darkness around -- they had chosen to turn away from the presence of God and to depend on their own strength and their own power -- and Jesus warned them that if they did not repent -- if they did not turn back tothe light and to living with the presence and power of God in their lives -- then He would remove His lampstand -- He would remove His presence from them -- and leave them to their own devices
-- in the book of Romans, we see a similar situation -- in Chapter 1, Paul tells us about the godlessness and the wickedness of all those who had turned away from the light of God given to them -- who had turned away from the truth that God had put in their hearts -- and, as a result, it says that God "gave them over" to the sinful desires of their hearts and His wrath was poured out on them -- in other words, God removed His lampstand -- His blessing and His protection -- from their lives and they suffered from their own actions
-- for a church or an individual to have their lampstand removed is a horrific event -- we can argue and debate about "once saved, always saved" and whether you can fall from grace or not -- we can argue and debate about correct doctrine and about which denomination or which group within a denomination has it right -- we can argue and debate about the meaning of church membership and church life
-- we can correctly interpret the Word of God and apply its doctrines in our life -- we can have hundreds of people joining our churches on an annual basis -- we can send money to missionaries and pay all our apportionments on time every year -- but if we have turned from our first love -- if we have forsaken the very reason we exist -- then we stand in danger of having the lampstand of God removed from our midst
-- and, if that happens, it won't matter whether our doctrines are right or not -- because we will cease to exist -- we will be nothing and we will gain nothing except the wrath of God
-- listen as I read 1 Corithians 13:1-3, which speaks on this same subject

1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

-- forsaking your first love -- turning away from the love of God and trying to make a life in our own strength and in our own power -- leads to destruction
-- God is love and to have God in our life, we must have love as well -- love for God and love for our neighbor

V. Closing

-- I want you to take a moment now and search your heart and answer these questions, "How are you doing? -- How is our church doing? -- How is our denomination doing?" -- is our lampstand in its place? -- or have we forsaken our first love and seen God remove His presence from our midst?
-- Nancy Lee DeMoss onced asked a question that has continued to concern me as I look at our churches in America today -- she asked, "If God was to remove His Spirit -- [in other words -- if God was to remove His lampstand] -- from our churches, would we even know?" -- If God was to remove His Spirit from our churches, how many of our programs would continue without missing a beat? -- how much of what we are attempting in our churches today is devoid of the presence and power of God -- how much is devoid of the love of God?
-- these are questions that we need to ask and answer -- did you know that every year, hundreds and thousands of churches are closing their doors -- never to open them again?
-- did you know that in our own denomination, not only have we been experiencing membership declines for 40 years, but we have been closing the doors of churches all over this nation? -- I did an internet search for "Methodist Church Closings" yesterday, and had over 50,000 hits -- granted, some of them were for weather-related closings, but a great number of them were of local congregations being closed and their churches being locked up forever

-- why is this? -- could it be that the lampstands of our churches are being removed as we turn away from the love and the presence of God?
-- it is very possible for us to be like the church of Ephesus -- to rightly teach the truth -- to hold to all the right doctrines -- but to try to live it under our own power -- to have a form of religion that denies the power of God
-- we need to heed the words of Jesus in this passage and keep our lampstands lit -- we need to return to our first love and fan our smoldering flames into raging fires of love for God and for our neighbors

-- the good news is that our God is long-suffering and faithful -- if there is the slightest flicker of light, God will leave our lampstand in place, charging us to return to Him and to rekindle its flame -- where God is, there is love -- where God is, there is hope -- where God is, churches that have forsaken their first love can come home again

-- I want to close now with atrue story of just such a situation -- in Brie, Belgium, there once stood a vibrant Catholic church with a convent and a school -- during the Nazi occupation in World War II, the church was closed -- and, even after the war ended and the Nazis left, the church remained closed except for the few nuns who remained to take care of the buildings
-- across the street from the church lived an American military family serving in Belgium -- when their daughter was born, they went to the church to have their daughter baptized, but the nuns at first refused -- it had been too long -- there was no one left to carry on the faith -- the church was closed
-- but, the family insisted, and their daughter was baptized and in that moment, the light of God's lampstand burst into flame -- the love of God and the presence of God returned -- and as the news of the first baptism in that church since World War II spread, the flames of God's presence went out through that community -- reigniting in the people there a passion for God and a passion for God's work
-- today, that church is a vibrant part of the body of Christ here on earth -- touching hearts and lives through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit
-- a lampstand, once in danger of being removed forever, shines brightly today in a Catholic Church in Brie, Belgium

-- Lucy Pevensie found herself in the middle of a wood standing next to a lamp-post wondering what it was there for and what she should do next
-- this morning, we find ourselves standing next to the lampstand of God -- its flame may be flickering -- some may thing it is going out -- but, unlike Lucy, we know why it is there and we know what we should do to keep it lit -- the final question before you today is, "Will you do what is necessary to keep the lampstand of God in its place in your life and in this church?"
-- let us pray