Desirable”
VI. Ephesus
The chief city of the province of Asia.
Ephesus was the jewel of Asia.
A beautiful thriving metropolis, which at times had one to two million people, gathered in its streets.
The side of one of the mountains had a theatre, which seated twenty thousand people.
She had a great amphitheater, which seated one hundred thousand people.
The city was formed around the temple of Diana by the Anatolians who worshiped her.
The first temple was a wooden structure, built in a low place near the ocean where the waves lapped at its base.
By the time Paul came to Ephesus the city and the temple were built on a higher plateau because the Maeander River brought so much silt that it filled in around the temple filling in the harbor.
At the site of the old temple which had burned down, a foundation of charcoal and skins was placed over this area, and Alexander the Great led in the construction of a new temple of Diana which became one of the wonders of the ancient world.
It was the largest Greek temple ever constructed. In it were over one hundred external columns about fifty-six feet high.
The temple served as the bank for Asia and was a depository of vast sums of money.
It was also an art gallery displaying masterpieces of the greatest artist of ancient times.
Around the temple of Diana were performed the grossest forms of immorality. She was the goddess of vertility and worshipped more than any other idol. Her worshippers indulged in the vilest religious rites of sensuality and orgies.
Paul came to Ephesus on his third missionary journey where he had spent two years spreading the word of God.
John, the “apostle of love”, came to Ephesus as a pastor.
After his exile to Patmos, he returned to Ephesus.
The Basilica of Saint John, which is the highest point there, is built over the traditional burial spot of the apostle John.
Letter to the Church of Ephesus
Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus
He holds the church in his hands.
Ephesus is the jewel of the orient and brims with crass materialism.
Ephesus is the center of paganism and degraded animalism.
The church is still in his control though it’s surrounded by evil.
He holds the seven stars the preachers of the churches.
He holds the stars in his right hand; he holds them with power.
He walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which literally means he is walking up and down the aisles of the churches because they are precious to him.
He has seven words of commendation for this church.
I know thy works.
He is speaking to the believers of the church (Titus 3:5).
After you are saved he wants to talk about good works (Romans 4:5).
He has a lot to say about this subject (Ephesians 2:8-10 & Titus 1:16).
They are spirit filled believers (Ephesians 5:18).
The Lord commends them for their good work.
I know thy labour.
The word labour carries a meaning of weariness.
They suffered weariness in their labour for His work.
I know thy patience.
They were mature Christians.
Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
How thou canst bear them which are evil.
Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.
They tested everyone who came to Ephesus claiming to be apostles.
The Lord Jesus tested them for testing men.
Hast borne . . . for my name’s sake hast laboured.
They preached Christ.
They paid a price for their beliefs.
And hast not fainted.
They have not grown weary of the work of Jesus Christ.
They grow weary in the work but not of the work.
These seven words of commendation, which Jesus gave to the Church of Ephesus, also apply to the period of church history approximately between Pentecost and A.D. 100.
D. He has only one word of condemnation.
Thou hast left thy first love.
They had lost their intense and enthusiastic devotion to their service to Jesus Christ.
Ephesus offered many distractions that could draw away those Christians who were neither hold nor cold.
When your home life and your church life become a burden, there is something wrong with your relationship to Jesus Christ.
The second generations of Christians were now the leaders in the church. They didn’t have the same drive and commitment as the first generation whom suffered growing their church.
What is the solution to get back to the dynamic love they once had?
Remember!
The first thing they are suppose to do is to remember what a marvelous thing it is to be in love with Jesus Christ.
Remember where they once were and repent. They need to turn back to Jesus and receive the salvation that He can give and release all the sin that is holding them back from productive Christian lives (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
Or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove the candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. How many churches today are lifeless and dead and there doors practically closed because the Word of God is no longer taught?
Nicolaitions.
There was a man by the name of Nicolaus of Antioch, who apostatized from the truth and formed a Gnostic cult which taught (among other doctrines) that one must indulge in sin in order to understand it. People think that the New Age way of thinking is something new.
They gave themselves over to sensuality with the explanation that such sins did not touch the spirit.
The church in Ephesus disliked this group and their teachings with a passion.
He that hath an ear.
When a priest in the Old testament was commissioned to service one of the rituals was to have some blood placed on the lobe of his ear from an offering sacrificed on the alter of God.
Jesus used this expression often, referring to those who hear the Word of God but suffer from spiritual perception.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, the teacher of the church.
To him that overcometh. Those that hear the Word of God and obey the commands of Jesus. They overcome the world.
Will I give to eat of the tree of life.
You will recall that man was forbidden to eat of the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24).
In heaven we will all have access to the Tree of Life and we will be restored to all that God has wanted to give to his people.
The paradise of God. This means the garden of God. Man will once again be allowed to walk freely in the Garden of Eden.
