Sermon Notes

March 19, 2023

A Lumberjack Without an Ax Head

Revelation 2:1-7

Do you remember the story of the lumberjack in 2^nd Kings? Well not really a lumberjack, but there were a group of prophets that needed a larger meeting place. They went to the Jordan River where there were plenty of logs. One was cutting on a tree when his ax head flew into the river. It’s at this point the man has a few choices. He could have kept chopping away, he could have just quit and walked away, or he could have gone to get help to fix his problem (This is the one he chooses and if you want to read the whole account check out chapter 6, verses 1-7 of 2^nd Kings). I wonder how many times in our lives, when we are faced with the same question (metaphorically speaking) that we choose to keep chopping without our ax head. It seems ridiculous, doesn’t it? I think we find ourselves doing it more than we realize. This was what was happening to the church in Ephesus when Jesus wrote to them in the book of Revelation. They were chopping away without an ax head and had no clue. This morning I want to look at what Jesus says to this church to make sure we, as a church, don’t find ourselves in the same place.

When we lose our ax head, we can still do work. - Revelation 2:1-3

¹ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: ² I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. ³ You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

Jesus starts this letter to the church with some language that is used throughout the first few chapters of the book of Revelation: the angel of the church, seven stars, and seven gold lampstands. The angel is the leader of the church or pastor, and the seven stars are the same thing, but Jesus says he keeps these in the palm of His hand (what a wonderful and comforting thought for a pastor). The seven lampstands are the churches He is writing to. Jesus is saying that He’s got the leaders in His hands, and He is walking amongst the church. Jesus is present and is very concerned for His church. They might be in separate locations, but they are of one purpose. A lampstand is created for the purpose to shine light everywhere it is placed, and that is the mission of the church as well (Matthew 5:16).

This church was the church where Paul had spent a good deal of time during his ministry. We can read of all the good things that the church was doing near the end of Paul’s ministry in the book of Ephesians. Around 30 years had passed and from the outside it looked like things were going well at the church. Jesus even mentions some of the great things they were doing. The church was full of hard workers and this is important in every church. You need servants who will be diligent and faithful in their work. Not only did Jesus compliment their hard work, but He also makes note that they are patient people. This is what all church members are called to be. We are working with sinful people and we are sinful people as well. Therefore, we are going to have problems and issues with one another. However, we are called, in Colossians 3:13-14, to make allowances for each other's faults and forgive each other constantly and immediately. Jesus forgave us, we must as well. As freely as we have received His grace and mercy, we must freely give it as well (Matthew 10:8).

Jesus also points out that they had suffered by standing up to false teachers and He commended them. They stood upon God’s Word, even when it wasn’t popular. They tested all teachers who came and claimed to be teaching God’s word. Some passed the test, while others were found to be liars. These were very good things the church was doing and Jesus points that out. Jesus doesn’t just look at the fruits of our labors, He’s just as concerned with the motives behind them (Proverbs 16:2, Matthew 6:1, 1 Thess. 2:4, Hebrews 4:12). The church at Ephesus had a motive problem, they were missing their ax head.

When we lose our ax head, we have a problem. - Revelation 2:4

⁴ But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!

In Ephesians 1:15, Paul really bragged on the church for loving God and loving others. Loving God and loving others is the great commandment and the church at Ephesus was doing a fantastic job carrying it out. Now we find ourselves 30 years later and Jesus was confronting them about something that Paul once commended them for. They had left their first love, lost the correct motivation, lost their ax head, and when this happens the church has a major problem. There is a lot that can be done in a ministry out of obligation, pride, or tradition. When we operate under these things it can seem like the church is still operating normally. However, when a church isn’t operating out of and being motivated by love, it’s worthless.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 tells us that if we could speak every language of the earth, prophesy, understand all of God’s mysteries, have all knowledge, have faith that can move mountains, gave everything we had to the poor, and gave up our own lives, but those actions didn’t have love, then all of that (no matter how great it would seem in the eyes of the world), would be worthless to God. That was Ephesus’ problem. They were doing so many things right and on the outside (they seemed to be doing great), but it was their motives that were the problem. As we said before, Jesus can see and is very concerned about our motives. We can’t keep going on like this. It’s like trying to chop down trees without an ax head. It will just lead to exhaustion, burnout, and most importantly it’s disobedience. Jesus didn’t just tell them what the problem was, He shared with them how to fix it.

When we lose our ax head, we have to fix it. - Revelation 2:5-7

⁵ Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. ⁶ But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. ⁷ “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

The seriousness of this lack of love in their motives is laid out here in verse 6. Jesus says if you don’t fix it, He will remove the church. That’s serious - that’s very serious but God gives them three steps in order to correct this problem.
1. Remember
The first thing Jesus said is to look at how far you have fallen. He’s inviting them to look back and remember what it was like when they were on fire for God, and not just going through the motions at their church. It was an invitation to be honest and admit there is a problem with their motives. It was not an invitation to look at the church through an outsider's eyes, but rather to look at it through the eyes of Jesus. When we do this we will be able to see that we aren’t where we need to be. We are called to remember what it was to really be on fire for the Lord. That’s our first step to regain our ax head. It’s not that we lost our first love, but rather we walked away from it. Jesus is calling us back to our first love - Him first and then others before ourselves.
2. Repent
Our next step is to repent, to turn from what had caused us to walk away in the first place and turn back to Jesus. This is difficult because we don’t like to talk about our sins, or to admit we sin. We must get honest about the sin - even if we are still producing fruit in our lives. We must get serious about sin, be broken over our sins and the sins of others, confess them to God, weep over them, and take them to God. Scripture tells us He is faithful and just to forgive us of those sins and purify us from those unrighteous things we have done. Once we remember where we used to be with God, then repent of the sins that caused us to get there, then Jesus shows us how we are to proceed.
3. Return
Do you remember what life was like when you were on fire for God? Do you remember what it was like the last time you just sat speechless in awe of the goodness of God? God is calling us to return to that, and do those things we first did when we were on fire. Were you at every Bible study you could because you had such a hunger for the Word of God? Go back and study God’s Word like you once did. Were you waking up early to pray and read God’s Word? Return! Were you singing praises in your car to the King of King and didn’t care who saw you? Return! Whatever you were doing when you were on fire, when your motivation was correct, when you had your ax head, return to those things. Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

You might ask this morning, “Pastor Ryan, do you think our church is having this problem?” No, I don’t think we are. Some of us might be struggling with this right now. We need to remember, repent, and return. Some of us might just need this reminder, so we don’t find ourselves there. I don’t want us to ever find ourselves there as a church. God is doing great things here at First Baptist Church Bloomfield and He closed this letter to the church in Ephesus with “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.” Jesus didn’t finish this letter by saying, “This only applies to the church at Ephesus.” Rather He said for everyone to listen and hear what God is saying to the churches. I pray that we constantly examine ourselves. If we find we aren’t metaphorically chopping wood with an ax head, we find we are burnt out, or are laboring out of anything other than love, that we stop, to remember where we came from. We need to repent and return to loving God with everything we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves - so God will not remove our lampstand.

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Sermon Notes

A Lumberjack Without an Ax Head

Revelation 2:1-7

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