5 Sept 2014 by Adeline Lum CM-
“Father, we thank you for your powerful presence in this beautiful church. You have blessed this church with so much but the best has yet to come,” prayed Pr Edmound Teo of International Christian Assembly (ICA) Hong Kong as he ministered on August 24th at Metro Tabernacle during their 32nd Anniversary. He shared how we must not forget the love of God based on Rev 2:1-7.
“To the angelof the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Rev 2:1-7)
Pr Edmound shared how he was shocked to find how unhealthy he was from his doctor during a recent body check-up.
“Nobody believed me when I told them about my health because I looked young and healthy on the outside. But only the doctor can tell what’s happening inside my body,” said Pr Edmound, bidding the audience to do a spiritual check-up on themselves.
In Revelation 2, Jesus did an ‘x-ray’ on the churches’ true spiritual condition. He was not only speaking about the church but also the individuals of the church, because they are the ones who determine the church’s spiritual condition. And only Jesus can accurately see the external and internal condition of our church.
Nevertheless, Pr Edmound stressed that Jesus gave this firm exhortation to the church based on the spirit of love, which He passionately declared when He died for the church 2014 years ago.
So, how does Jesus see the church of Ephesus? Firstly, He sees the church of Ephesus as a dynamic church, from their deeds, hard work, and perseverance. (v 2) Secondly, He sees this church as a discerning church because they have tested their apostles according to God’s Word. (v 2) Thirdly, they are a dedicated church because they persevered and endured hardships for Jesus. (v 3) Fourthly, they are a determined church because they have not grown weary and continued living for Christ. (v 3) And lastly, they are a disciplined church because they cannot tolerate the evil deeds by the Nicolaitans. (v 6)
Although the church of Ephesus appeared to be a great church to worship in, Jesus said, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” (v 4) This is a very sobering statement from Jesus because he has used a strong word ‘against’ although the church has done so much for Him.
“Be it a dynamic, discerning, dedicated, determined, and discipline leader, at the centre of it all, Jesus said, ‘Go back to your first love,’” said Pr Edmound.
Even though the church in Ephesus was young and inexperienced, Paul commanded them:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19)
“Jesus is ‘against’ us not because He hates us but He loves us. And He said that with much pain. He’s calling out for our attention to return. You see love, it’s so easy to fall in love than to stay in love,” said Pr Edmound.
He shared how at one time; he was struggling in knowing the Will of God for his ministry’s direction. He asked God, “What do you want me to do and where do you want me to go?”
Quoting what God told him, Pr Edmound shared, “It’s not about the ‘what’ and ‘where.’ Why don’t you pray ‘why’? This is because if your heart is right, even if you’re at the wrong place doing the wrong thing, I will take you to the right ‘what’ and right ‘where.’”
Pr Edmound shared an analogy of how we can be present in our church but absent from God. A church member lost his cell phone in church. But even after searching high and low for the phone, he and his staff could not retrieve the phone though they could still make a call, which indicated connectivity. Like the phone, some of us are physically present in church but our hearts are far away from God.
Reflecting on himself, Pr Edmound shared his love for God was, 30 years ago. When he first knew Christ, he would read the Bible from cover to cover for four months, and sleep with his Bible. Even though he did not knew much English then, he would attend English services conducted by Christ’s Ambassadors and go to church on Fridays to pray despite the emptiness of the building.
“I loved Jesus so much that the people around me couldn’t stand me because they didn’t love Jesus. It was very annoying to them. I would be telling them about Jesus. So, they didn’t like me and kicked me out from their group and I thanked God for the opportunity to suffer for Christ,” said Pr Edmound.
Now, having known the Word better from attending seminary, preaching the Word, and conversing better, Pr Edmound confessed that he has struggled in reviving the flame of first love he once knew in his heart.
But how can he forget about Jesus? Had it not been Jesus, Pr Edmound would be in prison without the opportunity to serve Him… now with a beautiful wife and two wonderful children.
“Every time I talk about Jesus, about my first love for Him, I want to repent again. I want to come back to that first place. It’s not about where I am right now but where I was before. John said, ‘How far you have fallen!’ I am not asking you where you are right now, but where do you want to go?” said Pr Edmound.
The Scripture says to love Jesus with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and all our mind, because He loves us with everything He has. (Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27)
Again, we love Him not because we forget about us loving Him, but we forget how He loves us. We love Him because He first loves us. (1 John 4:19)
Hence, as we recall the times when Jesus showed His Love to us, the natural response would be to love Him back.
ABOUT Pr Edmound Teo: Growing up in East Malaysia, Pr Edmound was well-versed in Bahasa Melayu but he could barely speak a few words of English. As a student who won the Yayasan scholarship to study in a secondary boarding school in Melaka, he attended a local church there and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior despite his difficulty in understanding the Bible. After a few months, he was filled with the Holy Spirit suddenly while he was alone in his room. He began to devour the Word even more, and eventually started his calling as a missionary in Africa and many other countries. The Lord finally sent Pr Edmound to Hong Kong, where he has served for more than 17 years now. As the senior pastor of ICA Hong Kong, Pr Edmound has turned the wheel of leadership and witnessed ICA’s phenomenal growth into the largest international church in the world.
| Share the Good News |
Leave a Reply