By: Tom Lowe Date: 3-18-2015
Lesson 5: The Church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
Revelation 2:1-7 (KJV)
1 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[1], 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 Nicolaitanes, 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.
Introduction to Ephesians Chapter 2
In a sense, the letters to the seven churches are like form letters. Each letter is formulated with seven elements:
They all begin by stating the addressee—“To the angel of the church in . . .”
The speaker, Christ, is mentioned—“These are the words of Him who . . .”
Christ’s knowledge about each church is noted.
Christ’s evaluation of each church’s condition is declare.
Christ’s command to the congregation is noted.
Christ’s call is given: “The one who is willing to hear should listen.”
Finally, Christ’s promise is given: “To the victorious, I will give.”
Two letters have no commendation; two letters have no rebukes.
The letters comprise a literary unit tied to the vision of Christ in chapter 1, for each letter includes a distinct portion from the description of Christ. For example, in one letter Christ is described as the One who is the First and the Last (2:8), and in another He is described as the One who has the sharp two-edged sword (2:12).
“Classical dispensationalism” contends that these letters picture different periods in the history of the church and do not refer to actual churches. Dispensationalists understand these letters to describe seven “ages” of the church. Scholars acknowledge that the seven churches existed in John’s time; the messages to the churches, however, apply to the church through the ages. Each letter calls on believers to listen to what the Spirit says to the “churches” (plural). The commendations and rebukes recorded in each letter were to be applied by each of the churches (see 2:7, 11, 17, 23, 29) as well as by churches today. Although each letter describes an actual situation in an individual church, the letters serve as warnings to all churches through the ages.
The church at Ephesus is the only church in the New Testament to which two apostles addressed letters. When Paul wrote to Ephesus, it was at a time when the church stood at the pinnacle of spirituality. Of all the truths revealed through Paul, none excel the truths revealed in the Epistle to the Ephesians. But when John wrote to Ephesus, it was a time of crisis in the church. The furnace was still there, but the fire had gone out. There was still a measure of warmth, but the coals no longer had a bright, red luster; they had merely a dull and dying glow. Paul wrote to the saints, John to the angel.
Christians reading these opening chapters of Revelation invariably ask, “Which church is ours like?” Surely, a particular church may share positive and negative traits with several of the Asian churches. This is probably why Jesus told John to write one letter to seven churches. They all got to read each other’s mail. What a neighboring church was struggling with today, they might face tomorrow. Taken together, the letters give us a good picture of what Jesus expects from his church—faithful gatherings made up of believers who overcome. Jesus still expects us to overcome and he promises His help along the way. Rather than trying to decide which churches yours resembles, focus on faithful obedience to Christ.
Introduction to the Church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
The first letter is addressed to the church in Ephesus—the crossroads of civilization—considered to be a city of great political importance. Aquila, Priscilla, and Paul had planted the church in Ephesus (see Acts 19); Timothy had ministered there (1 Timothy 1:3); John the writer of this letter, was closely associated with the church. A letter carrier would leave the island of Patmos (where John was exiled), arriving first at the port of Ephesus, where he would begin his journey by visiting the church there. The seven churches were located on a major Roman road. He would travel north to Smyrna and Pergamum, turn southeast to Thyatira, and continue on to Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea—in the exact order in which the letters were dictated.
His basic problem with the church in Ephesus is that even though church members had stood fast against evil and false teaching, they had left their “first love”—their basic love for Christ and for one another.
The period that is forecast prophetically in this letter runs from the Churches beginning at Pentecost to approximately A.D. 160.
Commentary
1 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 [lampstands];
“Ephesus” was a center of land and sea trade, for three major land-trade routes converged in the city, and a large port sat on its coast on the Aegean Sea. Along with Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Syria, Ephesus was one of the three most influential cities in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. It had been accorded an advantage given too few cities in the Empire—it was a “free” city, meaning that it enjoyed a certain amount of self-rule. The city boasted a huge stadium, marketplace, and theater. The theater, built on the slope of a mountain that overlooked the harbor, seated twenty-five thousand people.
The temple to Artemis (the Roman name is Diana), one of the ancient wonders of the world, was located in Ephesus. According to historians, the temple was 425 feet long, 220 feet wide, and 60 feet high. I have read that there were 127 marble pillars, some of them overlaid with gold and jewels. The temple employed thousands of priests and priestesses; many of the priestesses we’re temple prostitutes, for Artemis was the goddess of fertility. A major industry was the manufacture of images of this goddess (see Acts 19:21-41). This city was also proud of its temples to the emperors—a growing cult, called the “imperial cult,” viewed the ruling Caesar as a god, so the city had built temples to the succession of ruling Caesars. In short, Ephesus was a city known for its idolatry.
Paul had ministered in Ephesus for three years and had warned the Ephesian believers that false teachers would come and try to draw people away from the faith (see Acts 20:29-31[2]). False teachers did indeed cause problems in the Ephesian church, but the church resisted them, as we can see from Paul’s letters to Timothy, who stayed in Ephesus when Paul left for Macedonia. John spent much of his ministry in this city and knew that these believers had resisted false teaching (2:2).
Although John was writing, the words are clearly from Christ, the One “who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands” (see 1:13, 16[3]). Christ controls the churches. Christ is described differently in every letter, mainly because each description is tied to the problems of the specific church. Ephesus, the mother church of all the other churches, was filled with pride. That Christ held these churches in his hand shows that he was in control over the churches. Ephesus had become a large, proud church, and Christ’s message would remind them that He alone is the head of the body of believers. How easy it is for a church to become proud and forget that pastors and teachers are God’s gifts (Ephesians 4:11) who may be taken away at any time. Some churches need to be cautioned to worship the Lord and not their pastor! [I must admit that in the past I have been guilty of placing certain pastors on a pedestal, only to be disappointed every time I do it.]
One Bible commentator has said, “In each of the seven letters Jesus Christ passes moral judgment upon the church it concerns. To the church in Smyrna He gives unmixed praise, but to the church in Laodicea He expresses unrelieved condemnation. The Philadelphian church is praised more than blamed and the church in Sardis is blamed more than praised, while in the letters to Pergamum and Thyatira and his first one to Ephesus, approval and disapproval are fairly evenly balanced.”
John begins the letter to Emphasis with two descriptions of the Risen Christ:
He holds the seven stars in His right hand. That is to say, Christ holds the Churches in his hand. Our security lies in the fact that we are in the hand of Christ. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28, NIV).
He walks in the midst of the seven golden Lampstands. The Lampstands are the Churches. This expression tells us of Christ’s unwearied activity in the midst of His Churches. He is not confined to any one of them; wherever men are meant to worship in His name, Christ is there. In the early days of the Church, Christ walked in the midst as the recognized Head, and men took instructions from Him (Ephesians 1:22-23[4]). Christ’s true sheep are safe in His hand and are thus led by Him (John 10:27-30[5]). His “walking” among the Lampstands may imply an inspection of their condition, one by one. The stars are His light-bearers; He holds them. They derive their light and power from Him. In every assembly of believers where Christ is honored as its Head, he walks among His own and takes a watchful interest in them.
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.
The One who walks among the churches (2:1) is able to say to this church in Ephesus, “I know thy works, and thy labour.” Christ keeps an account of every hour’s work his servants do for Him, and their labor shall not be in vain. Over a long period of time, this church had steadfastly refused to tolerate sin among its members. This was not easy in a city noted for immoral sexual practices associated with the worship of the goddess Artemis. The Ephesian church had been strong in its orthodoxy and had resisted false teachers.
Christ commended the church at Ephesus for five things:
Working hard (toil)
Persevering (patient endurance)
Resisting sin (cannot tolerate evil doers)
Critically examining the claims of false apostles (tested those who claimed to be apostles)
Enduring patiently (In general this church had continued in its faithful service to God for more than 40 years) and bearing up without becoming weary.
All of these characteristics show a church busy doing good works and suffering willingly for the cause of Christ. The Ephesian believers knew evil when they saw it and did not tolerate it. The Lord wrote, “I know how . . . Thou canst not bear them which are evil.” The kind of thing which took place at Corinth would not have been tolerated at Emphasis. No man who was unscrupulous in business, impure in his conversation, known to be living in immorality, habitually intoxicated, given to fits of rage, unfaithful to his pledges, or convicted of lying would have lasted in the Ephesian fellowship. He would be judged and excommunicated with due dispatch. True, there would be a certain hardness in the procedure, but high standards of discipline would be maintained. I know James would never have written to Ephesus his stinging rebuke, “Faith without works is dead.” This church was full of good works. It had a magnificent program.
The false apostles would be those who claimed to be believers but were not. The church had succeeded in weeding out those who falsely claimed apostleship. Generally, the word “apostle” in the New Testament refers first to the 12 disciples (Mark 3:13; Acts 1:2, 26) because of their special place in building the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20). The word was also expanded to include those such as Paul (Galatians 1:1), Barnabas (Acts 14:14), and James, the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19). The name referred to those who had been specially appointed by Christ. They were eyewitnesses to His ministry on earth. Miracles often accompanied apostolic authority; however, false prophets could often also do what appeared to be miracles. It was important, therefore, as John wrote in another letter, to “not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. [Believers] must test them to see if the spirit they had comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1, NLT). John went on to explain that the way to “test” if a person has the Spirit of God is to examine what he or she believes about Jesus Christ (1 John 4:2-3[6]). That was probably the method that the Ephesian church had used to “test” those who claimed to be apostles but were not.
It was not at all easy going at Ephesus. The believers came in for their share of opposition and criticism from the world. But they did not give up easily. They kept on year after year, despite lack of fruit and poor results. They may not have been very fruitful, but they were certainly faithful. They struggled on, and God commended them for it. No matter how you examine this congregation, you conclude that it is just about perfect. However, the One among the Lampstands saw into their hearts, and He had a different diagnoses from ours.
Paul had warned the Ephesian elders, “I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some of you will distort the truth in order to draw a following” (Acts 20:29-30, NLT). Jesus had told His disciples, “beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act” (Matthew 7:15-16 NLT). The message to the church in Ephesus shows that false teachers had indeed come in among the believers. To be sure, Satan has his false ministers and the church must be constantly alert to detect them and reject them (2 Corinthians 11:12-15[7]). At the time the Revelation was written, John was possibly the only living apostle, thus it would be expected that false apostles would appear there.
The damage that false teachers cause is not limited to cults, nor to past days in church history. Some of the characteristics of false teachers show up today in churches and ministries professing to be faithful to the true gospel. Many leaders and authorities today demand allegiance. Because they seem to know the Bible, their influence can be dangerously subtle. How can believers recognize false teaching?
It promotes controversies instead of helping people come to Jesus.
It is often initiated by those whose motivation is to make a name for themselves.
It will be contrary to the true teaching of the Scriptures.
To protect the church from the deception of false teachers, church leaders must not avoid theology but should teach clearly what the Bible says about key doctrines. This will help believers identify false teachers and false doctrines.
The church at Ephesus was standing up to the task. It was busy. The early Church was marked by house-to-house witnessing for Christ, the missionary journeys of Paul, the fervent witness of men and women like Stephen, Philip, Ananias, Barnabas, Priscilla and Aquila, etc. The church at Ephesus was a veritable beehive of Holy-Spirit-directed activity. There was plenty of activity, but there was no blessing. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he could commend their work of faith, their labor of love, and their patience of hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3[8]). The church at Ephesus had works, labor, and patience, but it had lost the faith, the hope, and the love.
4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Despite the commendations, Christ had something against this church—they had forsaken their first love. This “first love” probably refers to the maxim “Love the Lord your God . . . And your neighbor as yourself” (see Acts 20:35; Ephesians 1:15). It is the devotion to Christ that so often characterizes the new believer: fervent, personal, uninhibited, excited, and openly displayed. The Ephesians, though commended for their zeal in protecting the faith had fallen into caring more about orthodoxy, doctrine, and truth than they did for the person of Jesus. The same thing happened to the sect of the Pharisees—they concentrated so much on keeping all the Law that they failed to love God and to love those who were not Pharisees. You might say, they lost God in His Word.
Every church should have pure faith, and root out heresy. But these good efforts should spring from their love for Jesus Christ and for other believers. Both Jesus and John stressed love for one another as an authentic truth of the gospel (John 13:34[9]; 1 John 3:18-19[10]). In the battle to maintain sound teaching and moral and doctrinal purity, it is possible to lose a loving spirit. Yet we need both. Prolonged conflict can weaken or destroy patience and affection. In defending the faith, believers must guard against any structure or rigidity that weakens love. It is possible to serve the Lord for a variety of motives—for the praise of men, for prestige or position, for the sake of reputation, because it is simply the thing to do, because of a sense of duty. If service for God is not born out of a devoted passion for the Lord Jesus it is worthless. What we do for the Lord is important, but so is why we do it! “Sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” is the way Paul describes Christian duty, devoid of love (1 Corinthians 13:1). When a church leaves its “first love” (or when an individual does), it is a serious and dangerous matter.
This was definitely a busy church with lots of great programs, but no amount of activity, however intense, can compensate for a lack of love. Sacrifices, even to the point of poverty and martyrdom, if it have not love, shall profit nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3[11]). This church had left its first love, and this was serious, for the Lord is jealous of our hearts, and it is no small thing for Him to see our love declining. Love is the first essential in Christian character, and when it begins to decline, the soul begins to drift. Most of the Ephesian Christians were now second-generation believers, and though they had retained purity of doctrine and life and had maintained a high level of service, they were lacking in deep devotion to Christ.
The Lord never forgets His joy in the “first love” of His people: “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 the land that was not sown” (Jeremiah 2:2). The Lord God never forgot Judah’s first love; neither does the Lord Jesus forget the first love of His Church. The first commandment is to love the Lord with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength. Love is the center, the soul, the very essence of a genuine new birth experience.
We learn from the New Testament record that only what we do because we love Jesus with all of our heart, soul and strength will receive a reward at the end of life’s journey. Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we should do it all to the glory of God, not to the glory of man, a church or a denomination. Love is the heart of Christianity. Read 1 Corinthians 13.
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.
When He says “remember,” we know He is not speaking to someone who has never been inside a Church; he is speaking to those who are inside but have somehow lost the way. Memory can often be the first step on the way back. In the far country the prodigal son suddenly remembered his home (Luke 15:17). No man has truly repented when he does the same things again. The proof of repentance is a changed life, a life changed by our effort in co-operation with the grace of God.
The Ephesian church receives two commands (2:5):
They must consider how far they have fallen.
They must repent.
If they don’t comply, Jesus will pronounce judgment, and their effectiveness as a church of God will be lost.
Someone will probably wonder “Do Christians need to repent, confess, and turn back to God? Believe me, Christians need to repent; there must be a change of mind that will lead to a change of direction. We need to break the shell of self-sufficiency, the crust of conceit, the shield of sophistication, the veneer of vanity, get rid of the false face of “piosity,” and stop this business of everlastingly polishing our halo as if we were some great saint. Our Lord admonishes His Church to turn from her sins to her first love. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6). Nothing less than genuine repentance and a return to her “first love” could save Ephesus from complete collapse. Thus remembrance and repentance are stated as two essential factors in recovering the church from its backslidden state. The only proof that the heart is sincere is that the backslider returns to “do the first works.”
When Paul wrote to Ephesus, he reminded the believers of their exalted position in Christ. “You are risen,” he said. “Quickened together with Christ! Raised with Christ! Seated in the heavenlies in Christ!” That was their position. John simply says, “Thou art fallen.” Paul had also commended the church at Ephesus for its love for God and for others (Ephesians 1:15). That love is pictured at the height from which the church had fallen. Jesus called His church back to love. They needed to “repent” of their lack of love and do the things they did at first—love as they had originally loved, with enthusiasm and devotion. No love, no light is the rule. Love is to be paramount; nothing less will do. If there is no real love for the Lord Jesus, the reason for the assembly’s existence has ceased to be valid. A local church which is functioning without love for the Lord is worse than useless. It gives a wrong impression of what Christianity is all about and it is best removed.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE” (1 Corinthians 13:4-13, NIV). In short, our love for others is to Mirror our love for Jesus.
If they refused to repent, however, Christ said that He would come and remove the church’s lampstand from its place. For Jesus to remove the church’s lampstand from its place would mean the church would cease to be a church. Just as the seven-branch candlestick in the temple gave light for the priest to see, the churches were to give light to their surrounding communities. But Jesus warned them that their lights could go out. In fact, Jesus himself would extinguish any light that did not fulfill its purpose. The church had to repent of its sins.
The removal of the lampstand as a light-bearer has nothing to do with the salvation of the individual. It has to do with the Church as a whole. Certainly the lamps which once shown so brightly in this particular part of the earth—especially in the city of Ephesus—had been taken out of their place, and gross darkness engulfs that part of the world today. Mohammedanism is the religion in the seven cities were these churches were located. So we see that the lampstand has been removed. The light of the pure Gospel does not shine as it did when Paul preached in Ephesus—or even as it did when John was there. I warn you, precious reader, unless the western world remembers and repents, the lampstand will be removed from this great country of ours—and from other countries that have been blessed exceedingly because of their faith in God and their love of Christ. Unfaithfulness—whether on the part of an individual or a church—must be a judged (and will be judged) by a holy God. If Christendom continues as it is today, gross darkness will cover these lands if Jesus tarries. (Read Isaiah 60:2)
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
Christ had added a further commendation (which comes almost as an afterthought) to this church in Ephesus—he credited them for hating the works of the Nicolaitanes, which Christ also hated. While it is clear from this verse that the Nicolaitanes represent a heresy, we have only speculation as to the origin and specifics. What follows is a compilation of those speculations:
The Nicolaitanes were believers who had compromised their faith in order to enjoy some of the sinful practices of Ephesian society, including idolatry and sexual immorality.
They were almost certainly people who argued along these lines. (a) The Law is ended; therefore, there are no laws and we are entitled to do what we like. They confused Christian liberty with unchristian license. They were the very kind of people whom Paul urged not to use their liberty as an opportunity for the flesh (Galatians 5:13). (b) They probably argued that the body is evil anyway and that a man could do what he liked with it because it did not matter. (c) They probably argued that the Christian was so defended by grace that he could do anything and no harm would come of it.
The name “Nicolaitanes” is roughly the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for “Balaamites.” Balaam was a prophet who induced the Israelites to carry out their lustful desires (see 2:14; Numbers 31:16). In Pergamum they were very closely connected with those “who hold the teaching of Balaam,” and that in turn is connected with things offered to idols and with immorality (2:14).
These Nicolaitanes had incorporated some Greek, some Christian, and some Jewish practices to form a sort of civil religion.
It may have been that they were willing to worship in the imperial cult, worshipping the emperor, and justifying it has a civil duty.
They were probably advocates of freedom and compromise, but the Ephesian church had taken a strong stand against these heretics.
Some have argued that this was a heresy initiated and upheld by Nicholas, one of the seven servants chosen to serve the widows in the Jerusalem church (Acts 6), who later fell into a heresy and used his position to lead many astray. Note that the danger to the church is not coming from outside the Church but from the inside. The claim of these heretics was that they were not destroying Christianity but presenting an improved version.
The Nicolaitanes were suggesting that there was no reason why a Christian should not come to terms with the world. This teaching naturally affected the upper classes the most, because they had the most to lose if they went all the way with the Christian demand. To John the Nicolaitanes were worse than pagans, for they were the enemy within the gates.
The Nicolaitanes were not prepared to be different; they were the most dangerous of all heretics from a practical point of view, for, if their teaching had been successful, the world would have changed Christianity and not Christianity the world.
Some scholars think that they were a priestly order which was beginning to take shape and attempt to rule over the people.
Others think that this group is not associated with Nicholas and just used his name to gain credibility.
Take note that the danger to the church is not coming from outside the Church but from the inside. The claim of these heretics was that they were not destroying Christianity but presenting an improved version.
Note that John and the Ephesians didn’t hate these people, just their sinful actions. Believers should accept and love all people and refuse to tolerate all evil. God cannot tolerate sin, and he expects us to stand against it. The world needs Christians who will stand for God’s truth and point people toward right living.
The Lord Jesus said, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” God never intended His Church to be divided into priests and laity. No man has a right to be “lord over God’s heritage” (1 Peter 5:3). “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5)—Christ Jesus—not some two-legged fellow who calls himself a priest or God’s representative here on earth—not the virgin nor the pope, nor the pastor—BUT THE MAN CHRIST JESUS! Every born again believer is a priest . . . not just a priest, but a royal priest (1 Peter 2:9[12]). Every believer is invited to enter boldly into the holy of holies (Hebrews 10:19-25). All God’s people are “kings and priests” (1 Peter 2:912; revelation 1:6) and have equal access to the Father through the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:19[13]). There are no special persons in the Church of the living God. The New Testament Church knows no church bosses or priests. This business began in Ephesus—but it is not well pleasing to God. God appoints undershepherds to care for the flock, to feed the sheep and to keep out the wolves; but God does not appoint church bosses, or special men to pray for us or listen to our confession of sin. We are to confess our sin to the Lord God through our mediator THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
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.
The appeal is made to each individual in the Church. Christ pleads to His church to give the Holy Spirit His rightful place. Literally and actually Christ is not here in Person. He said that He was going away (John 14:2), and that He would send the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26). It is the Holy Spirit who testifies of Christ and glorifies Him (John 15:26-27[14]), and it is He who convicts of sin (John 16:7-11). It is the Holy Spirit who regenerates (Titus 3:5) and who chooses the believers body in which to reside (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). It was to the Ephesian Church that Paul wrote exhorting the saints to “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30) and “be filled with the spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). As we read and meditate and study His Word, He speaks; “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7).
Each of the seven letters ends with the exhortation, “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The words of the Spirit are the words of Christ. Note that all the letters were to be read to all the churches. Those who “hear” what is read should then “listen to the spirit” in order to understand what the spirit is saying and to know what should be done. Those who listen and do what the Spirit leads them to do will be victorious (also translated “an overcomer”). Those whom are victorious will remain faithful to Christ no matter what the cost.
Those victorious ones will eat from the “tree of life” in the “paradise of God.” The Garden of Eden contained the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (see Genesis 2:9). Eating from the tree of life brought eternal life with God; eating from the tree of knowledge brought the ability to discern good and evil and, therefore, to choose evil. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, they disobeyed God’s command. So they were excluded from Eden and barred from eating from the tree of life. Eventually, evil will be destroyed, and believers will be brought into a restored paradise. In the new earth, everyone will eat from the tree of life and will live forever (22:2, 19[15]). Eating from the tree of life pictures the gift of eternal life. In paradise God will restore the perfect fellowship that existed in the Garden of Eden before sin entered and ruined the relationship between people and God.
In general, an “overcomer” in the New Testament is one who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (1 John 5:5), in other words, a true believer. His faith enables him to overcome the world with all its temptations and allurements. Perhaps in each of the letters the word has an additional thought, connected with the condition of that particular church. Thus an overcomer in Ephesus may be the one who shows the genuineness of his faith by repenting when he has backslidden from his first love. They must repent: they must be grieved and ashamed for their sinful declining, and humbly confess it in the sight of God. All such “will . . . eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” This does NOT imply that they are saved by overcoming, but that their overcoming proves the reality of their conversion experience. THE ONLY WAY MEN ARE SAVED IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST. All who are saved will “eat from the tree of life,” that is, they will enter into eternal life in all its fullness in heaven.
If we are overcomers, we will share a full reward; but if we are careless and unconcerned about spiritual things, we will “suffer loss.” Salvation is free . . . rewards are earned. If we overcome, we will be granted certain privileges in Paradise that those who failed to overcome will not be granted. Certainly there will be degrees of reward in Heaven (1 Corinthians 3:11-15[16]).
It is interesting to me to note that the Lord Jesus Himself will present the rewards. (“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.”) Jesus Himself will grant the privilege. This teaches me how closely believers are connected to the Lord—not only here, but in eternity. Heaven will be a big place, there will be a lot of people there; but it will not be so big, nor will there be so many individuals, that Jesus will not have time for those individuals. I am glad I’m going there. If you are not on your way Heaven—repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, “and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31, John 5:24).
The word “paradise” means “Garden of Pleasure,” and that is exactly what God intended Eden to be. It would have been God’s great Garden of Pleasure for Adam and Eve had they not disobeyed God and listened to the devil. The Paradise of God will be restored at the beginning of the eternal ages (Revelation 22:1-7[17]). That restoration will be eternal. It will never be invaded by sin, sorrow and disappointment (Revelation 21:27[18]). Jesus promised, “I will give to him to eat of the tree of life.” In the Paradise of God (yet to come) there will be no tempter, no devil, no sin. It will be the Garden of Pleasure. The devil will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10).
Individual and direct responsibility to Almighty God is a cardinal truth and a cardinal doctrine of the New Testament Church; however, in the Roman Catholic church, souls are commanded to follow the church. Individual conscience toward God is completely ignored. It is the church, the pope, the priest, the Bishops who deal with God for the members of the Church of Rome.
Love is a personal matter. We are saved one by one; we must be restored one by one. No hint is given that the entire Ephesian church responded favorably to this letter, but the hope is that individuals would. When Adam fell, he lost paradise, and he lost access to the tree of life. Here is a fallen church. It too has lost the paradise of bliss which comes from walking with God. The Lord’s call here is a call to the individual believers to get back to the daily quiet time with Himself. It is tragically possible to have a saved soul and a lost life.
This letter to Ephesus ends with “the one who has an ear . . .” (Revelation 2:7 NET), statement used throughout these letters to the churches. It means that if anyone understands the real meaning of what he or she hears, then he or she must respond.
While the close of verse 7 refers back to the tree of life from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), God’s paradise refers to the future when God restores heaven and earth from the fall of humanity.
There is a poem (I don’t know who wrote it) that has pretty much the same message as our passage:
Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the sole-refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?
What peaceful hours I once enjoyed—
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.
Believers, take your life of wrestling here, and expect and look for a quiet life hereafter; but not till then: the word of God never promises quietness (peace) and complete freedom from conflict here.
Special Notes and Scripture
[1] Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
[2] (Acts 20:29-31, NIV) “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”
[3] (Revelation 1:13, 16, NIV) “And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
[4] (Ephesians 1:22-23, GNT) “God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things. The church is Christ's body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere.”
[5] (John 10:27-30, GNT) “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me. What my Father has given me is greater[a] than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father's care. The Father and I are one.”
[6] (1 John 4:2-3, GNT) “This is how you will be able to know whether it is God's Spirit: anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came as a human being has the Spirit who comes from God. But anyone who denies this about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the Enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already.”
[7] (2 Corinthians 11:12-15, ERV) “And I will continue doing what I am doing now, because I want to stop those people from having a reason to boast. They would like to say that the work they boast about is the same as ours. They are false apostles, lying workers. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ. That does not surprise us, because even Satan changes himself to look like an angel of light. So it does not surprise us if Satan’s servants make themselves look like servants who work for what is right. But in the end those people will get the punishment they deserve.”
[8] (1 Thessalonians 1:3, NLT) As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[9] (John 13:34, NLT) “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.”
[10] (1 John 3:18-19, KJV) “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.”
[11] (1 Corinthians 13:3, KJV) “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
[12] (1 Peter 2:9, NIRV) “But God chose you to be his people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are God’s special treasure. You are all these things so that you can give him praise. God brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
[13] (Hebrews 10:19, NIRV) “Brothers and sisters, we are not afraid to enter the Most Holy Room. We enter boldly because of the blood of Jesus.”
[14] (John 15:26-27, NIRV) “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.”
[15] (Revelation 22:2, 19) “It flowed down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit. Its fruit was ripe every month. The leaves of the tree bring healing to the nations. Suppose someone takes away any words from this book of prophecy. Then God will take away from that person the blessings told about in this book. God will take away their share in the tree of life. God will also take away their place in the Holy City.”
[16] (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, NIRV) “No one can lay any other foundation than what has already been laid. That foundation is Jesus Christ. A person may build on it using gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay or straw. But each person’s work will be shown for what it is. On judgment day it will be brought to light. It will be put through fire. The fire will test how good each person’s work is. If the building doesn’t burn up, God will give the builder a reward for the work. If the building burns up, the builder will lose everything. The builder will be saved, but only like one escaping through the flames.”
[17] (Revelation 22:1-7, NIRV) “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. It was as clear as crystal. It flowed from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit. Its fruit was ripe every month. The leaves of the tree bring healing to the nations. There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city. God’s servants will serve him. They will see his face. His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun. The Lord God will give them light. They will rule for ever and ever. The angel said to me, “You can trust these words. They are true. The Lord is the God who gives messages to the prophets. He sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” “Look! I am coming soon! Words of prophecy are written in this book. Blessed is the person who obeys them.”
[18] (Revelation 21:27, NIRV) “Only what is pure will enter the city. No one who causes people to believe lies will enter it. No one who does shameful things will enter it either. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.”
