#1 - Letter To The Church At Ephesus Series

Letter # 1 – To the church at Ephesus

Revelation 2:1-3 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.

The Church at Ephesus

The first letter is addressed to the angel of the church in the city of Ephesus. From this statement it looks like Jesus is talking with the church at large at Ephesus – not a particular congregation in Ephesus. Jesus being the founder of the Church at large, is concerned that the church be presented to Him at His second coming, “…a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph.5:27).

The Seven Stars and the Seven Golden Lampstands

Jesus then makes reference to two different symbols John saw in his vision recorded in Rev.1:13 & 15 where Jesus was walking among the seven golden lamp stands, and further down, He was holding the seven stars in His right hand. The Lord even explained to John what the seven golden lampstands and the seven stars referred to. We can read this in Rev. 1:20 - “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the lampstands which you saw are the even churches.” Now let’s take a deeper look at the message to this city church.

THE WORDS OF COMMENDATION

1. I know your works

Jesus began this letter by commending them for their works. The term, ‘works,’ was often used by the Apostle Paul to refer to living the Christian life, reflecting Christ in every way. In Eph.2:8-10 we read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that we were not saved by good works, but rather by grace through faith in Jesus. But later in verse 10 he says that we were saved for good works, meaning that our good works could not save us, because we could never be good enough but now that we are saved, we are supposed to reflect the good God we believe in, by living good lives.

What about us?

• Are we known for our good works after coming to know Christ?

• Do people see us and recognise us as followers of Jesus or does our lives contradict our words? In other words, does our walk and our talk sync or is there a contradiction?

2. Their Labour

The second commendation Jesus goes on to give them is for their labour or hard work. Often living the Christian life is not an easy road – it is challenging, and we’re called to overcome temptations and obstacles and it calls for a lot of hard laborious effort to carry out our responsibilities, especially in sharing the gospel with those around and making disciples of new believers.

The church of Ephesus was actively busy in carrying out the great commission and were making disciples, just as they were supposed to do. They were labouring hard in this area, and were also perhaps seeing great results.

What about us?

Every one of us as believers in Jesus have been saved to serve the Lord and carry out the great commission (making disciples of all nations) that Jesus Himself commenced and passed on to us. But sadly, and to our own detriment, the church of today has abdicated that responsibility to a large extent, and passed it on to a select few who have been called to full-time ministry. By taking this stance towards our responsibility the task is getting increasingly difficult to accomplish, and the church is on the decline in many parts of the world, especially in the so-called Christian nations.

3. Their Patience

The third commendation in favour of the Ephesian church was the fact that they were patient. When the word patient is used it can sometimes be understood to refer to patiently waiting for something to happen – a bus to arrive, a healing to take place, a promotion to come through, a business deal to materialise, and the like. It can also refer to being patient with people – not giving up on people. But it appears that the patience Jesus was referring to in this letter was in connection with their patience in the midst of suffering and persecution, for their involvement in sharing their faith and making disciples.