Going Through the Motions

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Going Through the Motions

When the Fire Dies Out, Part One — Revelation 2:1–7

Preached Sunday, October 25, 2026 by Pastor Jeremy Arnold

Revelation 2:1–7 • Psalm 34:18 • Leviticus 6:12–13 • Leviticus 9:24 • Leviticus 10:1–2 • Leviticus 24:2–4 • Revelation 2:5 • Matthew 11:28–30 • Revelation 3:20 • Matthew 28:19 • 2 Timothy 1:6 • Romans 10:17

Jesus commends the church at Ephesus for everything they are doing right — their work, their endurance, their stand against false teachers. Then He names the one thing they have lost: the love they had at first. It is possible to keep every motion and lose the fire.

• When reading the Scriptures is a chore?
• When prayer is a duty instead of a place of solace and refuge?
• When sin no longer grieves our hearts as it once did?
• When being in the presence of the Lord is no longer our greatest desire?

We all go through periods of spiritual dryness, but identifying the why behind it is the crucial part.

Sometimes we go through periods of physical sickness, mental stress, grief and unanswered questions, which can lead us to drifting.

Other times we allow our love and zeal to grow cold because we have been captivated by the allurement of what the world has to offer.

And sometimes our love grows cold while we are doing everything right. A church can be doctrinally sound and loveless at the same time. That was Ephesus.

If your fire is low because you are hurting, hear this first:

The call to repent today is for love we have walked away from, not for love that is tired.

In our opening text we see the risen Christ commending the church of Ephesus for their labor, faithfulness and patience. He praises them for the things they have right! Then He lovingly spells out for them where they have erred, and gives them the remedy as to how to return to Him.

In Leviticus it was the responsibility of the priest to keep the fire of the altar burning.

We cannot make fresh fire. Fire we make up ourselves is strange fire. Our job is to tend the fire God already lit.

Under the old covenant, the priests were commanded to keep the altar fire burning. As a picture for our lives today, this reminds us not to neglect our relationship with Christ. We must attend to the things that nourish our faith, confess our sins, pursue obedience, and continually turn our hearts toward Him.

The altar is about our offering. The lamp is about our witness. Ephesus was warned about the lamp.

• The wood had to be cut and stacked.
• The ashes had to be removed before fresh wood and sacrifices could be placed back on the altar.

• Do we have unconfessed sin?
• Are we harboring unforgiveness toward someone?
• Have we allowed our prayer life to be snuffed out by the demands of daily life?
• Has the pursuit of comfort and self-preservation replaced the pursuit of Christ Jesus?
• Are we more concerned with doing and being active rather than obedient?
• Have we become more focused on our appearance and reputation than on our relationship with the Father?

Grandmother would say you can make sin out of going to church. She was speaking to our motive.

In Revelation 2:5 Jesus gives us the recipe for revival: remember, repent and return, and do the first works.

Jesus did not instruct them to start a new program or meeting. He did not tell them to imitate what others were doing, or to follow another prescribed method of worship.

He tells them to do the first works — to pursue Christ as if in a courtship. Christ Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:29 to learn from Him, and in Revelation 3:20 He stands at the door knocking, desiring to fellowship with us.

• If prayer has been neglected, return to prayer.
• If the study of the Scriptures has been neglected, return to study.
• If unforgiveness has taken root, pursue forgiveness and reconciliation.
• If secret sins have been tolerated, bring them to the light and turn from them.
• If serving has been for self-gratification, shift your focus to glorifying God.
• If love for your brothers and sisters has cooled, go and make it right this week. That was Ephesus’s first work.

The enemy would love for the church to keep a full calendar of activities while the heart grows cold. The enemy doesn’t always have to persuade us to abandon the truth; sometimes all he has to do is distract us from the One who is the Truth.

Jesus calls us to something deeper than programs and activities. He calls us to Himself, and to walk in His ways.

Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift God gave him. Timothy was not to neglect what God had entrusted to him. In the same way, we must not neglect the gifts, responsibilities and spiritual disciplines God has given us. And as we grow in Christ, we must remain rooted in His Word.

Paul told the pastor at Ephesus to keep the fire burning. About thirty years later, Jesus told the church at Ephesus it had let the fire go out. Every generation has to tend its own fire.

We sometimes hear people say that someone is too heavenly minded to be any earthly good, or that a person is too deep in the Word. But Scripture calls us to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us. Paul reminds Timothy not to neglect his gift, and we too must remain faithful in our calling while growing in the knowledge of God’s Word.

May we return to the altar, carry out the ashes of yesterday’s sacrifice, and tend the fire God lit in our hearts. May we return to prayer, return to the Word, return to obedience, and return to the love that shaped everything we do.

Paul reminds us that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.

We need to remain rooted in God’s Word, because it directs our hearts toward the truth and teaches us to walk faithfully with our King.