Do The First Works

Do The First Works – Rev. 2:1-7

This is not just about going back to “the basics.”  We are not a sports team returning to “fundamentals” because we’ve lost some games, nor are we looking for the key to happiness and success.  We can’t win at the game of life because we are part of the human race... and we were born to lose.  There is only one real hope for us – the Cross.  It’s time for us to come home.  We must come back to Christ and what He did for us at Calvary if we are going to survive.  Then, we must take up that cross and follow Him.  Make no mistake – this is a matter of life and death.  Why?  We have a sin problem, and it is destroying us.

After warning the Church of Ephesus to “remember” and “repent,” Jesus told them to go back and “do the first works” (v. 5).  There is no indication given in scripture that the Ephesians were bad people.  In fact, they were commended by Christ for their good works (v. 2-3).  You might say that they “oozed” goodness.  But they had left their first love (v. 4) – meaning they had departed from what defined them as Christians in the first place.  The faith that they had once placed in the finished work of Christ on the cross they were now transferring to the works they were doing in the church.  Jesus was now sending them a personal letter through John to warn them what would happen if they didn’t repent.  He said he would remove the candlestick out of its place (v. 5).  Keep in mind what a good church this was.  They were solid in their doctrine and had rejected sectarianism (v. 2, 6).  Jesus also commended them for laboring in His name without giving up (v. 3).  I think you and I would have been proud to have been members at the church at Ephesus!  But, no matter how good our church is, if we’re not preaching the gospel, then it’s all for naught.  When I say preaching, I mean that preaching which is anointed by the Holy Spirit and done with boldness.  Without Him, we might as well nail up the doors and windows and turn the building over to the dirt daubers and wasps because we no longer have a church.

The Ephesians were just like us.  There is something within human beings that causes us to feel as if we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.  We have been taught – and we’ve raised our children to believe – that hard work pays off.  Call it the success principle – setting high goals with a good dose of determination and self belief will bring success in the financial world, the sports, world, and any other part of life in which we want to use it.  Any part of life except one - this principle won’t work with God.  There is absolutely nothing we can do that is good enough to earn His favor.  The Bible is very clear that our righteousness is as filthy rags (Is.  54:6).  That’s why Jesus had to die.

The Ephesians were full of good works.  Let us not be too hard on them - we should remember that they were smack dab in the middle of a pagan world.  Perhaps they thought that their good works would distinguish Christianity from the other religions of their day.  If they could just do enough good, then they could convince the world around them that Christianity was the true religion.  However, the only work powerful enough to bring about such a change is the finished work of Christ on the cross.  Only the gospel can change hearts and lives.  Good works, even by the saints, can never atone for sin.  The LORD said that “it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:11)  When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the Garden of Eden, they hid themselves because of their shame.  I am afraid the significance of what happened next is often lost on us.  The LORD took animal skins and clothed them to hide their nakedness (Gen. 3: 21).  That means that blood had to be shed so that their sin would be covered.  At that moment He established the principle that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.  In the next chapter we see Abel offering a proper sacrifice that was pleasing to the Lord (Gen. 4:4).  Where else could he have learned that principle?  Throughout the Old Testament, especially the first five books, the nation of Israel was commanded to make sacrifice after sacrifice.  Reading through the books of Leviticus or Numbers can leave even the most dedicated Christian full of questions.  Was all this bloodshed really necessary?   This is one of the reasons for the many critics of Christianity – how could we follow a God that is so bloodthirsty?  Why would such an all-powerful God need the blood of innocent animals to appease his anger toward human beings?  The answer is a simple one – the LORD was trying to teach man something wonderful.  Forgiveness of sins WAS possible, and one day the ultimate sacrifice would be paid.  The law is a schoolmaster that shows us our sinful condition (Gal. 3:24).  It points men, women, boys, and girls to the Lord Jesus Christ.  God would send Him into the world as the final sacrifice to pay the ultimate price for the sins of all humanity.  He loved us so much that He was willing to offer His one and only son as the atonement for our sins (John 3:16).  That was the plan of God from before the foundation of the world.  While on earth, Jesus taught that His purpose was to die for our sins.  That’s why He came – to die in our place as a sacrifice. 

The LORD told Adam that the day they ate from the tree they would surely die (Gen. 2:17).  Eventually they did die, but not that day.  Why?  Wasn’t that what God said?  Certainly, it would have been justice for them to die the very day they sinned because the wages of sin is death. Instead, God in His mercy provided a substitute to die in their place.  Blood of animals was shed, and the skins of those animals were used to cover Adam and Eve’s shame.  He would do the same thing for Isaac many years later when he was to be offered as a sacrifice by his father Abraham.  Rather than Isaac’s blood be offered for the sins of the people, God provided himself a sacrifice and Isaac was spared (Gen. 22:13).  Do you see the pattern forming here?  This was the principle of the substitute sacrifice.  Then one night in Egypt as the death angel passed through, He instructed the children of Israel to offer a sacrifice and place the blood on the doorposts of their houses.  When the angel came through and saw the blood on the door, he would pass by that house and all within would survive (Ex. 12:13-14).  They were told to keep that day as a remembrance and never to forget it.  When the law was finally given, blood sacrifice was to be used to atone for the sins of the people.  That is, until the Messiah came to save the people from their sins.

Sin is the REAL problem.

Many people of Christ’s day thought their messiah would come to deliver them from Roman domination.  But it wasn’t Caesar that they needed to be delivered from, it was sin.  That’s the reason Jesus came.  Not only for their sins did He die, but for yours and mine as well.  Without Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we would be eternally lost.  There have been some in the church who have taught that the original plan was for the Messiah to come and the people to accept Him which would usher in the Kingdom of Heaven.  It was only after the Jews rejected Christ that God came up with the cross.  That teaching is false!  Scripture makes it clear that Christ’s purpose in the world was to die for our sins and that purpose was established before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20).  Jesus was not martyred, nor was he assassinated.  He was a sacrifice.  It wasn’t an amendment to the plan of God, it was THE plan!

Are we getting this? Have we left our first love as the Ephesians did?  We establish programs on top of programs to bring about church growth.  We center all of our efforts on building churches that will be attractive to the multitudes.  We “compel them to come in” and make them comfortable.  Are we supposed to be comfortable at the house of God?  Doesn’t the scripture teach us that judgment begins there?  I know that people say it’s a slaughterhouse religion and you can’t reach people that way in today’s world.  Remember the words of Paul who said that the preaching of the cross was foolishness to those that perish (1Cor. 1:18).  I don’t know about you, but as a believer I was begotten by the word.  Let us hear the preaching of John the Baptist as he exclaims “Repent and believe the gospel!”  Repentance is not only having a change of mind and making a 180 degree turn, it comes about through godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10).  Our good deeds alone will never cause someone to call upon the name of the Lord.  They must hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the church doing good works.  Certainly we are to help the poor, feed the hungry, and heal the sick.  In fact, I would argue that these things are not the responsibility of the world or the government, but rather the responsibility of the church!  However, the only thing that can change the hearts of people is the gospel of Jesus Christ.   Like the church at Ephesus, have we forgotten what the gospel is?  Have we set the preaching of the cross aside in order to be less offensive to the world?  Make no mistake, there is only one gospel message, and that is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no other gospel. The shedding of His blood at Calvary is the means of our salvation.  Not only are we saved from the punishment of sin, but we are freed from the guilt of sin and delivered from the power of sin.  The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin!

Let us heed the warning that Christ gave to the church at Ephesus - Let us do the first works - go back to preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

The Evangelist