You Didn't Lose It, You Left It - Pastor Tim Dilena - Times Square Church - 02.21.2021

There is a big difference between losing something and leaving it. When Jesus gave John the letters to write to the seven churches he included an oft-cited comment to the church at Ephesus. They had held fast to many things, but they had left their first love. The implication is that it was deliberate. Somewhere along the line in the decades that had passed since the church was established by the Apostle Paul, the Ephesians had moved away from the potency of their original relationship with the Lord. In this day and age many have walked away from their initial passion for Jesus for any number of reasons. The Lord remains as faithful, loving, and steadfast as ever and earnestly beseeches us to repent and to return. This is no time for mediocrity, confusion, or half-heartedness. Either God is who he says He is or not. Spoiler alert: He is.

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,

‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

Revelation 2:1-7