EPHESUS—THE CHURCH OF A LOST LOVE
TEXT: Revelation 2:1-7
Revelation 2:1-7 KJV Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; [2] I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: [3] And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. [4] Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [5] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. [6] But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. [7] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
I. INTRODUCTION—CHURCHES UNDER PRESSURE
-If there is something that would draw all of these churches into a common area it would have to be that they are churches that are living in a pagan world and are under the pressure of persecution.
-Even John is under pressure and he told them why that he had been placed on the island called Patmos in Revelation 1:9—because of the Word of God and the preaching of Jesus Christ.
-Yet despite that pressure that John was under the Lord still had a message that He wanted to be delivered to those saints. When you began to analyze what they were facing, there is no comparison at all to what we are facing here in America.
-Recently, I have picked the book Safely Home by Randy Alcorn and started reading it again. It has been another reminder to me as to the importance of treasuring the freedom that we have to worship and the lack of secrecy that we have to worry with in serving the Lord. For the Chinese Christians there is a great price that has to be paid for their involvement.
II. EPHESUS—THE CHURCH OF A LOST LOVE
-The first church that is addressed of the seven in Revelation 2-3, is the one at Ephesus. This was a church that was in Asia Minor. There are scholars and historians who believe that the church at Ephesus was actually the one responsible for all of the other churches that were planted in that region.
-If you look on a Bible map, perhaps the one that shows Paul’s 3rd and 4th missionary journeys, you can see the church at Ephesus on the eastern coastline of the Aegean Sea. Patmos was an island out in the Aegean that the travelers would have come to in order to visit John.
-You can also note that the other six churches follow sort of an inverted U and these travelers would have dropped off the letters to all seven of the churches—Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
-There were other churches in Asia that are not addressed by the Lord in the book of Revelation: Troas (Acts 20:5; 2 Cor. 2:12); Miletus (Acts 20:17); Colossae (Col. 1:12); and Hierapolis (Col. 4:13).
-All of the letters are historical but all of them very specifically characterize the same behaviors and trends that are evident in the modern day church. Every church no matter how strong they are will have a mixture of good and evil in it. This is a fact that the Lord was clear about in Matthew 13 when he told the parable of the tares among the wheat.
-In an observation of these churches, there is a discovery that beginning with Ephesus and progressing through all of them until you reach Laodicea, they become increasingly worse. The final church, Laodicea, is very much an apostate church. In fact, so much so that the Lord is locked out of his own church.
-While we are looking at these churches at large, we do ourselves well in a spiritual sense if we see if we are guilty of the same charges the Lord had against these churches both corporately and personally.
-This is actually the second time that Ephesus would be addressed as a church by an epistle. Forty years earlier Paul had written his epistle to them and now the Lord Jesus Christ is writing one through John to them again.
-Ephesus had been a powerful church. From Acts 19 we can get a glimpse of this church. In my own thoughts, I would have thought that Ephesus was probably the most powerful church that had been established by Paul. There are some who list its numbers as between 25,000 and 30,000 members.
-Ephesus:
• Called the “light of Asia” and was literally the gateway to Asia.
• Very important harbor on the Aegean Sea coastline but also at the opening of the mouth of the Cayster River. Of the 230 cities that dotted the coastline, Ephesus was the queen of the coastal communities.
• Actual city about 3 miles’ inland.
• It was the wealthiest and greatest city in Asia and has been aptly called the Vanity Fair of the ancient world.
• Four great Roman roads led into it of which one of them became known as the “martyr’s highway” because so many Christian martyrs walked in and out of Ephesus on the way to their death.
• Greco-Roman games took place every year in the spring and rivalled the Greek Olympics.
-The real highlight of the city was its pagan worship. Paganism literally was a fuel that fed the monetary system of Ephesus. It boasted of a huge temple there to Artemis and/or Diana.
• One of the seven wonders of the world.
• Floor of Persian marble that was 425 feet long (1 ½ city blocks), 220 feet wide, with 120 columns that were 60 feet tall.
• The worship of Artemis (Greek god) and/or Diana (Roman god) which was a blurring of male/female identity was prominent there. The devil has been about this transgender matter for a long time.
• Also served as one of the banks of the Mediterranean.
• This temple supported a huge guild of silversmiths who made a mint off of sales of the idols of Diana.
-One of the most remarkable things that a historian will notice is the strong correlation that works between all of the trappings and decorations in the temple of Artemis/Diana and the setup in Rome at the Vatican.
-All of these things working in Ephesus made it utterly steeped in paganism. Amulets, charms, and spells were used and marketed in this city. The temple was home to hundreds of priestesses that were considered to be sacred prostitutes. All of those things combined made it an evil place. In fact, when you read Ephesians 4 and Paul is urging the church to put off some things (Eph. 4:17-32) because they were living like pagans.
-One of the ancient philosophers, Heraclitus, was known as the “weeping philosopher.” He said the reason for his tears was that no one could live in Ephesus without weeping at its immorality.
A. Revelation 2:1—The Counselor
Revelation 2:1 KJV Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
-There will be the same opening for all seven of the churches. . . Unto the angel. . . The Greek word is ANGELOS, which is indeed angel but it would most likely better be “messenger, pastor, elder, or spiritual leader.” Earlier in Revelation 1:16 and 1:20 there is the mention of “stars” which is also understood to be the spiritual leaders as well.
-The stars are what give guidance in the darkness of night. In the ancient days, sailors relied on the stars to help them to navigate through the seas as they moved toward their destination. Jude mentioned stars in a very negative light in Jude 13 when he said there were certain men who had crept in and were “wandering stars” who were leading people astray.
-It cannot be reiterated enough to those who are involved in spiritual leadership especially in preaching and teaching that their doctrine must be sound (clean). What makes the preaching/teaching so crucial? Because they are using their words to provide spiritual direction to saints and seekers.
-These spiritual leaders that are addressed:
• Have a place of spiritual security in the hands of the Lord
• Have a place of spiritual closeness in the hands of the Lord
• Have a place of spiritual authority in the hands of the Lord
• Have a place of doctrinal clarity in the hands of the Lord
• Have a place of sacred holiness and purity in the hands of the Lord
• Have a place of a high calling in the hands of the Lord
-Ephesus had been blessed with a great group of men who were the spiritual leaders there. These were powerful leaders who had led to the best of their abilities. Paul had spent three years there (Acts 20:31) and had returned again for another visit later on.
• Aquila and Priscilla
• Apollos
• Paul
• Timothy
• Tychicus (from Colossae)
• John
-It is the glorified Son of God that is addressing the church at Ephesus. We can see a connection in the letters that are given to these churches as to who it is—Jesus Christ.
• 2:1—He holds the stars and walks among the candlesticks—cf. Rev. 1:20
• 2:8—The First and the Last—cf. Rev. 1:18
• 2:12—A sharp sword with two-edges—cf. Rev. 1:16
• 2:18—Eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass—cf. Rev. 1:15
• 3:1—The seven spirits of God—cf. Rev. 1:16
• 3:14—The faithful and true witness—cf. Rev. 1:5
-Even until now the Lord Jesus Christ is everything to this church that He was to those churches in the 1st century.
B. Revelation 2:2-3, 6—The Commendation
Revelation 2:2-3 KJV I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: [3] And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Revelation 2:6 KJV But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
-Moving to the commendation or the compliments that the Lord has for this church at Ephesus. He literally knows this church. Just as the Lord knows this church in Dothan, Alabama.
-The Lord praises them for their work, their labor. Actually when the Lord addresses all seven of the churches, He tells each of them that He knows their works. Just knowing that should make all of us live our lives with great care for the Lord. He knows us because He watches us!
-The word that is used is KOPOS which is a word that is used fairly often in the NT.
• Romans 16:12—Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis all work hard in the Lord
• 1 Corinthians 15:10—Paul said he had worked harder than all
• Galatians 4:11—Paul fears that if the Galatians slip back that all of his hard work is in vain
-The description is a kind of toil that takes everything a man has to offer both of brain and brawn, of mind and muscle, of sense and sinew. It is a man who literally has broken into a massive sweat that is associated with labor.
-This does not mean that the church in Ephesus not only toiled physically but they did so spiritually through their prayers as well. The Lord looks on them with great joy because he is glad that they can bear some things:
• Toilsome work
• Great self-denial
• Reproach for His sake
• Persecution and suffering even to the point of blood
-There was another compliment the Lord had for them. They were a church that was marked by patience, by perseverance (HUPOMONE). It was something courageous. It was a great faith in the face of every opposition and hindrance that came in their direction. It is a matter of accepting suffering and hardship and turning it into grace and glory.
Charles Spurgeon—Men may work but yet not labour, and I fear there are many who claim to be working men who do not often trouble themselves with anything approaching to “labour.” There are also working Christians who do not approach to laboring; yet a lifetime of such work as theirs would not exhaust a butterfly. . . . A church ought, therefore, not merely be a working church, but a great deal more; it should be a church working to its highest pitch, a laboring church. If I may use such a figure, we ought to employ every particle of our steam power; we should drive the engine at high pressure; we have no force that can be allowed to escape in waste. We should be not simply walking to heaven, but running the heavenly race, and running it with diligence and eagerness.
-The Lord goes on in His assessment of them and can see their desire for purity in their church. They can’t bear them who are evil. . . They have tried the false apostles and found them to be liars and have ejected them.
-Those small congregations in the early church had to constantly contend with the wolves that came through. I have known of more than one small and struggling church that was pushed off course because of having to take a stand against such a man or wolf that was able to come in and subvert the whole church.
-Jesus warned of false prophets who were wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). Paul added his concern when he left the Ephesian elders and said there were grievous wolves (Acts 20:29) who would rise up. They came in various ways:
• Emissaries of the Jews who wanted to impose the Law
• Those who wanted to push liberty so that it was sin and not freedom
• Professional beggars who preyed on the charity of those people
• Smooth and glib teachers who promoted their immoral lifestyles
-Because Ephesus was on the major highway leading to Rome, R.C. Trench described it as saying the “whole rabble of evildoers” found their way into these churches.
-All through the NT epistles we are called to discernment and to testing of the content that we see and hear in the apostolic church.
• 1 John 4:1-3—Test the spirits by their willingness to affirm Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh
• 1 Thess. 5:21—Test all things and hold to that which is good
• 1 Cor. 14:29—When prophets preach, they are subject to the testing of other prophets
• Matt. 7:15-20—Test their fruit and then you will know them. If they do not affirm the apostolic doctrine they are not true.
-The church had Ephesus had done that in a masterful way. They had managed to weed out all of the evil and misguided men who had come their way. The Lord makes another observation about the church at Ephesus, they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
-The Nicolaitans were very closely associated with the work of Balaam. We will find them later embedded in the church in Pergamum. It is clear that they were somehow connected with the actions of being involved in immorality and eating things that were connected to idols. They actually had some form of twisted Christianity that allowed them to dine with demons in their pride. Paul had the same challenge with the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 10:20-21).
-The challenge coming to Ephesus was not from the outside but from within. Most church historians believe the Nicolaitans were followers of Nicholas, one of the seven deacons that was chosen in Acts 6. He went wrong and became a heretic. Consider what some of the early church historians had to say about him and his followers:
• Irenaeus—They lived lives of unrestrained indulgence (Against Heresies, 1.26.3).
• Hippolytus—He departed from correct doctrine, and was in the habit of inculcating indifference in food and life (Refutation of Heresies, 7:24).
• The Apostolic Constituents (6:8)—Shameless in uncleanness.
• Clement of Alexandria—They abandon themselves to pleasure like goats. . . leading a life of self-indulgence.
-Ultimately the greatest danger that was set forth by the Nicolaitans was that they did not think that the apostolic experience really should change people at the point of conversion. They felt like the world should have hold great sway over the church and change the church so that it would soften up and not be so militant in their views.
-The leaders and elders stood up to this compromise that attempted to get into the church. But something had happened in Ephesus in the middle of all of the work and the battle for the doctrine.
-That is one of my fears for our church. We have people who are highly involved in various tasks, committees, functions, and jobs. There is rarely a day that goes by that someone is not here at this church working and doing something to help us go forward. My concern is that some of you who are so highly involved in the work of the church but it has been a long time since you have really had a spiritual breakthrough and received a tremendous blessing from the Lord.
-It is a life of going through the motions without any real feeling of commitment. It is a mentality of “I’m just doing my job!”
C. Revelation 2:4—The Chastening
Revelation 2:4 KJV Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
-When the Lord has something against a church, there has to be a correction to take place in its actions. What the Lord had discovered about Ephesus was that they had lost their first love.
-Apathy, boredom, spiritual lethargy, indifference, and the lack of importance of their everyday love for the Lord had evaporated.
-The loss of love for the Lord had opened them up to a love for the world. There is a track that a church moves onto when they lose their first love. They find that one compromise is not enough. They continue moving down that path until more and more and more compromise is the call of the day. Compromise leads to righteous judgment which either turns to the Lord in repentance or its refusal to repent moves them toward spiritual death.
-Jeremiah provides a picture of those who have lost their first love:
Jeremiah 2:1-13 KJV Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, [2] Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. [3] Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD. [4] Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: [5] Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? [6] Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? [7] And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. [8] The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. [9] Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. [10] For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. [11] Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. [12] Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. [13] For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
-One other place in the Bible that points out where Israel walked away from the Lord after all He had done for them is in Ezekiel 16.
-It matters that we love the Lord with all of our heart! We should know this: Doctrinal purity and outward service that is long and sustained will have to be fueled by great love for the Lord. Because these things cannot ever be carried on for a long time with a cold heart.
-As a pastor, I find myself increasingly concerned when people are coming and going but never really experiencing their own personal breakthrough regularly.
D. Revelation 2:5—The Counsel
Revelation 2:5 KJV Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
-There is only one way to recover from a first love that has been lost and the Lord tells John to write it down: remember from where you have fallen from. No matter how long we have been in the church, it is crucial that we do not forget what the Lord did for us at the moment of our conversion.
-Spiritual delusion comes to those who forget where the Lord brought them from. John’s counsel to Ephesus is that they are to remember, repent, and repeat (do the first works).
-Ephesus. . . If there is no repentance, the Lord will remove the candlestick, the lampstand, the church from the midst of that city. Ephesus never repented and the Lord moved the light to another place. Today if you visit the ruins of Ephesus, that is the only thing that is left. Six miles inland from the coast of the Aegean Sea and it is a tourist attraction of what the place used to be.
-There has been more than one apostolic church that has gone through the same cycle as the clock rolled on and the pages of the calendar turned. If you were to visit them today, there are just ruins of what a church used to be. We cannot dare be satisfied to let that happen in this church. It has to be passed on to the following generations!
E. Revelation 2:7—The Challenge
Revelation 2:7 KJV He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
-There is an invitation. . . He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying. There is also a promise that comes to those who are overcomers: They will eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
-There is a promise to overcomers in every church which tells me that no matter what the condition that a local church may find itself in, there will be strong disciples and believers there. For every person who ever wanted to level an excuse at the conditions of a church for their own lack of devotion, this segment of Scripture (Rev. 2-3) destroys that idea. All of the churches had overcomers in them.
-The overcomers are contrasted with:
• The cowardly—2:10-13
• The sexually immoral—2:14, 20
• The idolatrous—2:14, 20
• The liars—2:9, 20; 3:9
• The fearful, unbelievers, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars—21:8
-What will ultimately take place will be the consignment of these mentioned to the everlasting lake of fire while the overcomers will be moved to a place of eternal reward in Heaven.
III. CONCLUSION—REMEMBER, REPENT, AND REPEAT
-The sad thing is that Ephesus never repented. Today there is little left except its ruins and it is around six miles from the coast. Silt kept moving in from the sea until it basically covered the city. The fight was lost and Ephesus vanished from the scene.
-The same thing has happened to more than one apostolic church that once stood in great grandeur in the past. But for whatever reason, apathy, indifference, and a loss of commitment caused them to turn away from their first love that once burned so brightly.
-Our church is not immune from that taking place! Sound doctrine is still crucial!
-That is the whole reason that we must stay vigilant but also take to heart very much what the Lord said thru John on the Isle of Patmos.
Philip Harrelson
August 15, 2016
