Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Jesus Wants Your Deepest Love | Who Is Jesus? | Revelation 2:4

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. My name is Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now we're asking, who is Jesus? Every St. Louis Cardinal baseball fan remembers Saturday, June 22nd, 2002. There was a scheduled game between the Cardinals and the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but it was canceled because of an unexpected calamity. The Cardinals' ace pitcher was found dead in his Chicago hotel room. Darrell Kyle had been a major league pitching sensation for 12 years.

Starting point is 00:00:37 He had appeared in three All-Star games. It was a shock to everyone because the 6-foot-5-inch 33-year-old Darrell Kyle had been a high-performing athlete. He'd never missed a scheduled start. By all appearances, he seemed to be in excellent health. When the medical examiners conducted an autopsy later that day, they discovered that Kyle had died from a massive heart attack. His main coronary artery was 90%.

Starting point is 00:01:03 blocked. Daryl Kyle appeared to be an excellent physical condition, but appearances can be deceiving. On the outside, everything looked great, but on the inside, something was seriously wrong. You can go to a doctor and run enough test that you can get a pretty accurate picture of your physical health, but how do you do that spiritually? How do you know if outwardly your faith looks strong, but inwardly your heart has wandered from God? In the book of Rev. Revelation, chapters two and three contain seven letters from Jesus that were sent to seven first century churches. And in those letters, he gives a penetrating assessment of each church. In most, he has both a commendation, but also a sobering warning. The first of the seven letters was

Starting point is 00:01:54 addressed to a church in the city of Ephesus. This was the church that the letter of Ephesians was also addressed to. Ephesus was a large city, maybe close to 300,000 people, fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. It was a major player on the world stage. Ephesus straddled three major trade routes, making it a business and economic center. It contained the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, making it also a religious center of its day. But the city, as magnificent and wealthy and powerful as it was, was headed for long-term decline. You see, Ephesus was located on both a coast and a river, and the river was producing silt that was clogging up the harbors. The dredges couldn't keep up with the river.

Starting point is 00:02:46 If you wanted to go visit the city of Ephesus today, you'd go to Turkey, but you wouldn't find the city on the coast, as it was in the first century. Instead, it's located six miles inland, the slud. All that is more valuable than just knowledge for your next trivial pursuit game. You see, Jesus was using the condition of the city to teach them something sobering about the condition of the church, about the condition of their own personal Christian lives. Just as people could see that although this city appeared prosperous and powerful, it was truly decaying and withering, so also people with eyes to see could see that this church was strong and influential, but it was dying from the inside out. When you read this letter to the Ephesian Church, Revelation

Starting point is 00:03:34 Chapter 2 verses 1 through 7, you find that Jesus commends them on their service. These aren't apathetic people. They are hard at work doing ministry. He also commends them for their biblical knowledge and their faithfulness. These are people who know their Bibles. They aren't being deceived by false teachers. So Jesus commends them for their hard work in Christian ministry, and he commends this church because they take knowing the Bible seriously, and yet he has a rebuke for them. It's the only piece of negative feedback he gives to Ephesus, and yet it's a really big piece of negative feedback. He says this in Revelation 2-4, yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first your first love. They had forsaken their love for Jesus. Jesus wants our heart. Jesus wants our deepest love.

Starting point is 00:04:38 Is it possible that we've lost our love for Jesus? I'm sure the people in Ephesus would have been shocked to hear this. They were doing so much. They knew so much. But their faith had become busy schedules and packed brains, but empty hearts. It's possible to have everything look good on the outside and their heart to be a million miles away from God. Daryl Kyle appeared to be in great health, but remember that appearances can be deceiving. He had a heart problem, and it killed him. Jesus tells this church to repent. He called them to repent of leaving their first love. You see, being a Christian doesn't mean just doing a lot of things for God. The essence of being a Christian is loving Jesus.

Starting point is 00:05:28 Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8, If God were your father, you would love me. See, a person can have a lot of biblical knowledge, a lot of theological knowledge and not be a Christian. A person might not have much biblical and theological knowledge and be a Christian. A person might lack courage to publicly identify with Jesus and be a Christian. A person might commit a great sin and be a Christian. But if a person doesn't have a love for Jesus, then that person is not a Christian. Jesus said, again, in John 842, if you belong to God, you would love me. What's it mean to love Jesus? What's it mean for him to have

Starting point is 00:06:11 our deepest love? Well, think about what's true of you when you love a person. If we love a person, we like to think about him. We don't have to be reminded of him. If we love a person, we like to hear about her. We find pleasure in listening to those who speak about her. If we love a person, we like to read about him. We might love to get a letter from him, an email, a text, a phone call. If we love a person, we like to please her. We're glad to consult her tastes and opinions and to act upon her advice. If we love a person, then we like his friends. We are favorably inclined to his friends, even if we don't know them. If we love a person, we care about her honor and her name.

Starting point is 00:06:56 We don't like to hear her spoken against. We don't like to hear her criticized and critiqued. We stand up and defend her. If we love a person, we like to talk to them. We tell them our thoughts and pour our hearts to them. Finally, if we love a person, we want to be like her. We model her and emulate her. If you find yourself wondering, if you're leaving your first love, if you find yourself wondering

Starting point is 00:07:25 if you are growing in your love for Jesus, then heed what God says in 1. John 419, we love him because he first loved us. dwell on this truth. In Jesus, God loves you. In Jesus, God has forgiven you. In Jesus, God watches over you. In Jesus, God never fails you. And as you meditate on God's love for you in Jesus, your love for Him will grow. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more recently. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually.

Starting point is 00:08:17 If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Jesus Wants Your Deepest Love | Who Is Jesus? | Revelation 2:4

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