[Audio of this message may be heard here.  The manuscript is below.  Note that the sermon was not preached from the manuscript, so there may be slight differences between the two.]

“Just Once Before I Die”
Covenant Life Together: An Embraced Expectation

Revelation 2:1-7

1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

Let me invite you to take a journey with me.  It’s Wednesday night, June 11th, 1891.  There’s a meeting going on down at the Dawson Baptist Church.  There’s excitement in the air.  The church has been talking about building a new church building there in Dawson on the corner of Orange and Church St.  Around 6 months later, they’ll actually move into the new facility!  So there’s anticipation in the air.

At this meeting on June 11, 1891, the pastor, Bro. Patterson, stands up.  The clerk records his motion:

Upon motion of Bro. Patterson to have a no. of copies of Church covenants and of Articles of Faith, published, or print[ed]. 

This strikes you as interesting.  The pastor moves that copies of the church covenant be printed up and distributed to the members.  Then another member, Mr. G.L. Dean stands up and speaks.  The clerk records:

Bro. G.L. Dean proposed to defray expenses necessary for this publication.

So the pastor wants the church to consider the covenant again and a layman, G.L. Dean, offers to pay for it.  Obviously this covenant business is important to the members at this meeting.

Now let’s fast forward seven years and three months.  It’s now September 7th, 1898, and we’re back in church conference.  We’ve now been in the new building over 6 years.  A special committee has been taking a long look at the church and it has brought a series of resolutions to the church for its consideration.  Again, the clerk records.  Listen carefully:

The resolutions of the Special Committee, were unanimously adopted. The resolutions were as follows:

Whereas, we as a Church have failed to exercise that Godly watch care over each other which is enjoined us by the Word of God and exemplified in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and which is embodied in our Church covenant.
Whereas, because of such neglect, many of our members have been enticed into forbidden paths, and whereas the Glory of God and the prosperity of His Church defend upon our watchfulness as well as our prayers.
Whereas, our Decorum fails to clearly define the attitude of the Church ensuring certain acts of conduct which are condemned by the Word of God.
Therefore, be it resolved…

And then the record goes on to record a number of practical ways that the church can return to covenant faithfulness and obedience.

Let us fast forward again.  It’s now September 9th, 1903, five years and two days after the conference I just mentioned, and you’re attending a regular church conference yet again.  J.M. Long is the pastor and moderator.  It’s a long conference and a lot of work is done.  Finally you reach the end of the meeting.  The clerk records the final item of business:

On motion, the clerk was instructed to have printed one hundred copies of the Church Covenant and decorum to be distributed to the Baptist families of our church.

What’s happening here?  Why did our forefathers call the church back time and time again to a covenantal understanding of discipline?  Why did they connect the discipline of the church to the covenant of the church?  What is a covenant?  And if it was that important to the men and women who planted this congregation, why exactly have we neglected it all these years?

Maybe the best way to describe what did happen and what is happening in this church is to consider the story of yet another church.  It was a congregation in Ephesus and their story is recorded in Revelation 2:1-7.  Jesus is speaking to these believers.  Let us hear what He says:

1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

I. The church in Ephesus was not a bad church, it was just a forgetful church. (vv.1-4)

I think this is an important point to note:  the church in Ephesus could not be considered a “bad” church.  They’re doing lots of things right.  Listen:

1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.

They’re hard working, they’re patient, they have endurance, and they do take a stand against things that are not right.  They’re careful about who they listen to and give ear to, and they’re willing to suffer for the name of Jesus.  Yet, there’s just something missing, something that’s not quite right.  Jesus tells them in verse 4:

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Wow!  Verse 4 drops like an atom bomb in a flower garden, doesn’t it?  I mean, things look pretty good in this church.  Nothing’s really “bad” per se.  There’s a lot to commend and even a lot that is worthy of imitation, but Jesus looks at their hearts and says, “you have abandoned your first love.”

This gives me chills!  Is it possible to be a church that’s doing pretty good…but has forgotten why it’s supposed to do good?  Is it possible that a church could move forward on the inertia of its experience with Jesus while at the same time forgetting what it means to love Jesus?

Is it possible that a church could become like some marriages become:  going through the motions but forgetting why and forgetting what is at stake?

First Baptist Church:  I speak to you this morning not only as your pastor but also as a member.  I speak to you today out of a heart that is heavy with conviction that we have contented ourselves with too little.  I speak to you today out of a burden that I believe God has placed upon me.  I speak to you today as the pastor of this church, as a member of this church, as the husband of a church member and as the father of a church member.  I speak to you as one who, like you, has inherited a one-hundred-and-sixty-year-old legacy of faithfulness and ministry.  I speak to you as one who, like you, is an heir of all that our forefathers have bequeathed us.

And I say this to you:  we are not a bad church, we are just a forgetful church.  We are not an apostate church, we are just a church which has forgotten its first love.  We are not so much a disobedient church as we are a church which has forgotten why we are supposed to be obedient.

Believe me when I tell you this:  these efforts to call us to covenant membership have less to do with the covenant or your signature than they do with the church collectively repenting before God that we have drifted away from the impassioned, conviction-driven life that our forefathers embraced and that we are called by Jesus, by Holy Scripture, and by the better example of the cloud of witnesses that precede us to embrace again.

When I read the New Testament account of the early church, and even when I read the mid-19th century account of the life of this church, it impresses upon me in ways stark, jolting, and unavoidable that we have forgotten some very important things and we need to return to our first love.

Please know, whether you agree with these efforts or not, that we are not proposing something new, we are proposing something old.  We are not calling us to novelties and experiments, we are calling the church back to the rock-solid, time-tested truths of Scripture and of our forefathers who understood that when a church loses a sense of covenanted corporate identity, then the strings begin to unravel and the whole structure of who we are is threatened from within.

I plead with you as I plead with myself:  let’s not forget our first love.  Let’s not forget Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Let’s not forget that Jesus came not only to save our souls but to give us, He said, “life and life abundant.”

II. The church in Ephesus needed to return to a life of faith and not just a declaration of faith (v.5)

Look at verse 5:

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Do you see the verbs in this verse?  “Remember.”  “Repent.”  “Do.”

Remind yourselves of what you used to be as a church.

Repent that you have allowed yourselves to drift away from what I was calling you to be.

And do again the works you did at first.

“Remember.”  “Repent.”  “Do.”

What a challenge for us today.  What a calling God has placed upon us. 

I ask you:  are we not Ephesus?  Does our fellowship in this place not show the marks of forgetfulness, of disobedience, of drifting?  Are we not a people who need to be reminded of what we are called to be?

Dear church, we were once a covenanted body of conviction-filled Jesus followers who felt that faith wasn’t just a declaration to be made it was a life to be lived.  We once believed that our relationships with Christ were not the individual possessions of an isolated people, rather they were the living, united, corporate expression of a common desire to know Christ and Him crucified.

When I read the account of the New Testament church I see “an authentic community around the whole gospel for the glory of God.” 

Our forefathers thought it was right and good to use the plural pronouns that we find so distasteful. 

“Let us be a church!”

“Let us covenant together!”

“Let us not violate our biblical and covenant commitments!”

“Let us be a body!”

“Let us be a family!”

We have become a fractured, loose community of people who see Jesus in individualistic and consumeristic terms. 

We speak of Jesus as “my Jesus.”  Our forefathers spoke of Jesus as “our Jesus.”

We speak of salvation as a moment.  Our forefathers spoke of salvation as a life.

We speak of “being saved.”  Our forefathers spoke of living like we are saved.

We speak of not wanting to offend one another.  Our forefathers spoke of not wanting to offend God.

We speak of calling people to conversion.  Our forefathers spoke of calling people to discipleship.

Oh dear Church, let us remember who we were and let us remember who we are.  Let us come back to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Let us no longer go through the motions of what we want to be, let us embrace who we are in Christ.

Church, let us repent!  Let us repent of our weak and tepid witness for Christ in the world.  Let us repent of our negligence of the New Testament picture.  Let us repent of our easy-believism and our cheap grace.

Timothy George has written of seeing a sign outside a church that read:  "The Church That Asks Nothing Of You!"  And this was a selling point, you see?  But I think it is a tragedy and I hope you do as well.

Let us not become a church that asks nothing of its membership.

Let us be a church!

Notice finally:

III. The church in Ephesus had lowered the bar and needed to be reminded of who they were (vv.6-7)

6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

“To the one who conquers.”

We are not called by God to maintain.  We are called by God to conquer. 

We are not called by God to exist.  We are called by God to live.

We are not called by God just to meet budget.  We are called by God to storm the gates of hell.

We are not called by God to make the members comfortable.  We are called by God to make Satan uncomfortable.

We are not called by God to fear one another’s feelings.  We are called by God to honor the heart of God.

We are not called to be pampered.  We are called to be holy.

We are not called to be a group.  We are called to be a church.

We are not called to be silent.  We are called to fill the world with shouts of praise.

We are not called to get by.  We are called to overcome.

We are not called to merely believe.  We are called to fully obey.

We are not called keep the machine running.  We’re called to keep the glory shining.

We are not called to be big.  We are called to be faithful.

We are not called to flicker.  We are called to burn.

We are not called to whisper.  We are called to shout.

We are not called to silence.  We are called to sing.

We are not called to isolation.  We are called to community.

We are not called to fragmentation.  We are called to unity.

We are not called to float.  We are called to move.

We are not called to appearances.  We are called to reality.

We are not called to opinion.  We are called to the gospel.

We are not called to a mirror.  We are called to Jesus.

And we are not called to be a country club for the saints.  We are called to be an army of disciples.

And I say this:  let’s answer the call.