**the church of Ephesus an ancient Greek city on the western shore of Asia Minor in what is now Turkey, it is believed that the book of John was written from (Revelation 1:1)
__ John might have been the leader of this church
__ … “who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks” -----Jesus is the center of this churches, even today Jesus should be the center of our churches, He should be in the midst of our sermons.
** we should have the spirit of discernment of spirits and be able to test all things (1 Corinthians 2:10) (1 Thessalonians 5:21) (Revelation 2:2)
__there are false teachings out there and false prophets as well, as this church was able to figure out those who called themselves.
** this church has borne, bearing up for Christ’s sake and have not grown weary (Revelation 2:3)
__today we need Christians who will fight the good fight and who will keep their faith no matter what comes their way and who will not give up when situations arise, who will keep on moving forward for Christ’s Name’s sake.
**this church has all qualities for a good church but one thing they lack or something they have fallen from is their first love (Revelation 2:4)
__this church has fallen from love
__love is the ability to give
__faith works through love (Galatians 5:6)
__love is patient (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)
__do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:14)
__love binds all things together (Colossians 3:14)
__through love one can attain favor and a good name in the eyes of the Lord (Proverbs 3:3-4)
__when we live in love, we live in God (1 John 4:16)
__bear all things in love (Ephesians 4:2)
__we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)
__love is the greatest (1 Corinthians 13:13)
__love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)
__love must be sincere (Romans 12:9)
__love is established by the power of Christ in us and by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16-17)
__without love we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2)
__love is a command (John 15:12)
__we are devoted through love in ministry or to one another (Romans 12:10)
__we are directed into God’s love or God’s love is revealed to us (2 Thessalonians 3:5)
__it is through love that God lives in us (1 John 4:12)
__one of the forms of love is physical, you love what you see first then establishes what you don’t see (1 John 4:20)
__love requires us to sacrifice (John 15:13)
__we can only see and hear the things God has prepared for us through love (1 Corinthians 2:9)
__love is the fulfillment of the Law (Romans 13:8)
__we are called children of God through love (1 John 3:1)
__There is no fear in love (1 John 4:18)
__love increases (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
__you find love, you find life (Proverbs 21:21)
__love is God (1 John 4:8)
__nothing can separate us from love (Romans 8:38-39)
__love is a language spoken in truth (Ephesians 4:15)
__without love you are an empty being (1 Corinthians 13:1)
__love is a Spirit given to us by God (2 Timothy 1:7)
__love does not cause pain (Romans 13:10)
__love is what you do not what you speak (1 John 4:10)
__love is the substance of all we do (1 Corinthians 13:3)
__love is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
__love is path to be walked on (Ephesians 5:2)
__love is a message to be preached (1 John 3:11)
__love comes from God (1 John 4:7)
**Jesus warns them to repent from where they have fallen (Revelation 1:5)
__we should realize the effort and passion we had when we received the Lord as our personal savior, we were so passionate and patient and gentle and generous, we have to return to the first love
He gives them a warning, that if they don’t repent, He is going to remove the source of their light
__whatever was the source of their lives, success, greatness, perfection will be removed from them
** “…deeds of the "Nicolaitans…” ----which Jesus hate (Revelation 1:6)
__Jesus found this in their favor (the church of Ephesus)
__ The name “Nicolaitans” is derived from the Greek word "nikolaos", a compound of the words "nikos" and "laos"
__ The word "nikos" is the Greek word that means to conquer or to subdue.
__ The word "laos" is the Greek word for the people
__ When these two words are compounded into one, they form the name Nicolas, which literally means one who conquers and subdues the people
__ It seems to suggest that the Nicolaitans were somehow conquering and subduing the people.
__ Ireneus and Hippolytus, two leaders in the Early Church who recorded many of the events that occurred in the earliest recorded days of Church history, said the Nicolaitans were the spiritual descendants of Nicolas of Antioch, who had been ordained as a deacon in Acts 6:5.
__ That verse says, “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.”
__ According to the writings of the Early Church leaders, Nicolas taught a doctrine of compromise, implying that total separation between Christianity and the practice of occult paganism was not essential.
__ From Early Church records, it seems apparent that this Nicolas of Antioch was so immersed in occultism, Judaism, and Christianity that he had a stomach for all of it.
__ He had no problem intermingling these belief systems in various concoctions and saw no reason why believers couldn’t continue to fellowship with those still immersed in the black magic of the Roman empire and its countless mystery cults.
**Jesus urges us to listen to the Holy Spirit (Revelation 2:7)
__we learn that the Holy Spirit speaks
__ “…. and to him that will overcome He (Jesus Christ) will give to eat of the tree of life”
__this tree is found in several location in heaven:
__one of its places is in the midst of the paradise of God
__in Ezekiel 47:12, says the tree of life is found alongside the banks of the river
__the fruit will serve as food and the leaves will serve as healing
__this is given to those who will overcome the temptations of this world
