Ephesus the church of Love
Revelation 2:1-7, “"Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: "I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the immoral Nicolaitans, just as I do. "Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.”
The seven churches listed here in Revelation 2:1-3:22 were actual, historical churches in Asia Minor. They are representative of churches that have existed throughout the church age. What Christ says here to the churches is relevant in all times.
Church history tells us that Ephesus was a great commercial, political, religious, and sports town. The location of Ephesus made it a great town. In the beginning part of AD cities that sat at the mouth of rivers commanded the trade of the hinterland. Ephesus lay at the mouth of the Cayster Valley making it one of the greatest harbors in all of Asia Minor. Not only did Ephesus have a great seaport, but three great roads also connected it to the rest of Asia, and the world. The greatest of these roads was the great trade route from the Euphrates, which reached Ephesus by way of Colosse and Laodicaea, and brought the trade of the East by way of the markets. The road from Galatia came into Ephesus by way Sardis, and poured into its lap the trade of Asia Minor. A third road came up from the south, and added the trade of the Maeander valley to the trade of the Cayster Valley. In commerce and in wealth there were few cities that could match up with Ephesus in its day.
Ephesus was also a city of the greatest political importance in Asia. Once again church history tells us that Ephesus enjoyed the title of ‘Supreme Metropolis of Asia’. This was what was known as a free city. Ephesus also was granted political freedom by Rome, because of its status as the premier town in Asia. Therefore it had its own magistrates called strategoi; a democratically elected governing body called the boule; and an assembly of all its citizens called the ekklesisa. Further Ephesus was what was called an assize town meaning that in Roman provinces there were certain centers where justice was dispensed. The Roman governor made regular and periodical tours throughout the provinces, and at these assize towns the governor tried the most important cases. At certain times in year Ephesus saw all the pomp and pageantry that came with the arrival of the Roman governor and his staff. Ephesus knew well the majesty that was Rome.
Ephesus was also a town that was big on sports. Ephesus was the center of the Pan-Ionian Games. These games ranked only second to the Olympic Games itself. Ephesus was also a town of great religious importance. An example of this would be the temple of Diana was one of the seven great wonders of the Ancient World was located in Ephesus.
Vs.1, “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands.”
The seven stars represent the seven pastors who watch over those regions in which those churches are. Timothy was the chief pastor of Ephesus during this time period.
The seven lampstands is a reference to each church listed here in 2:1-3:22. Each lampstand represents a church vs.20 from which the light of Jesus Christ shone.
Vs.2, “"I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.”
The first sentence in this verse is a reference to the fact that the Ephesians Christians have stood firm in the solid teaching that they received from the Apostle Paul who labored among them for three years, and whose ministry was based there. This verse is also a commendation to what Paul wrote in 1st Thessalonians 1:3. While Christ here is pictured as the One who is speaking it is in fact the Apostle John that is doing the writing. John is commending the Ephesians, and those who are Christians for their spiritual discernment. We are to test everything against what the Word of God says. 1st Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” This is not a reference to testing a person’s spirit, but their teaching against what the Word of God says. As Christians the Word ought to represent who we are. That is the greatest sermon ever preached. It is not with words that we preach, but with our lives to a world that is spiritually bankrupt.
Vs.3, “You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
John here was commending the church for its patience endurance in the midst of great persecution, and their faithfulness to the Word of the Lord. The motive of the Ephesians was pure in its essence because they lived for the right reasons; Christ’s name. Living for Christ ought to the most joyous thing; after all that He did on Cross-our temporary suffering is nothing compared with the future state of our eternal glory. Let us not give up doing good, but remember that our labor for the Lord is not in vain.
Vs.4, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” To be a Christians means to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all that you are. (John 14:21,23; 1st Cor 16:22) To the Ephesians though they had become cold, methodical remnants of what they were. While their theology and moral purity was good, their diminished zeal for truly living for the love of God had been forsaken. When we allow ourselves as Christians to get into a “routine” of just doing and not being we run the risk of simply losing our first love, which ought to be Christ. Before we do anything for the Lord; we ought to first be reading His Word, praying, and fellowshipping with other Christians otherwise we run the risk of simply being irrelevant to our culture as these brothers and sisters were becoming. This is why Christ rebuked them. The Ephesians were a church of the lost love.
Vs.5, “Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first. If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. “ In this verse there is three things remembrance, repent, and do.
“Look how far you have fallen from your first love! “ First we must REMEMBER all that Christ did to pay for our sins. F.W. Boreham quotes a letter by Thomas Goodwin, the Puritan preacher, wrote to his son: ‘When I was threatening to become cold in my ministry, and when I felt Sabbath morning coming, and my heart not filled with amazement at the grace of God, or when I was making ready to dispense the Lord’s Supper, do you know what I used to do? I used to take a turn up and down among the sins of my past life, and I always came down with a broken and contrite heart, ready to preach, as it was preached in the beginning, the forgiveness of sins.’ We must remember what Christ did for us on the Cross-to pay for our sins, as well as the sins of the world, and rejoice in Him.
“Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.” If you have lost sight of what Christ has done for you, or have turned your back on God totally REPENT. In our hearts there must not be defiance, indifference, but godly sorrow over our sin leading to a new life in Christ.
“If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. “ We must DO.
The only thing a person can do to demonstrate the reality of his/her repentance is to live in the newness of life that Christ has given to us through the Cross. Our sorrow over our sin is the fruit of true repentance leading to living in the newness of life in Christ. The sorrow of true repentance is not an emotion in which we luxuriate, but an antiseptic that cleanses our lives. A failure to change means that the lampstand will be removed from its place. The duty of the Church is to be a light in a world that is sin stricken, and it is the light of Jesus Christ that brings healing to that sickness.
Vs.6, “But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the immoral Nicolaitans, just as I do.”
Many commentators on this verse have said that the Nicolaitans are the herectial followers of Nicolas of Antioch, who was one of the chosen seven. (Acts 6:5) The error of the Nicolaitans were that people ought to Eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication; (vs.14) however, at the Council of Jerusalem these were the two very things that the Apostles all agreed against teaching the Gentiles. (Acts 15:20) It is very likely that the Nicolaitans were the very people who said that the Christian is freed from all the law, and as a result can do anything he likes. They basically made a public mockery of the Apostle Paul, and turned Christian liberty into Christian license for sin. As Christians we possess perfect liberty, but we cannot ever do what we like to do; we must always do that which God likes us to do. When we truly love God with all that we can muster; we will not live to satisfy our own desires, but the desires of God. Christian liberty is not freedom to please ourselves; it is the freedom from our selfish ways, sin, and Satan in order that we may please God.
Vs.7, “"Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.”
John here is speaking to us to pay attention to what our Lord Jesus says. As Christians we must remember that every promise and command in Scripture is offered and addressed personally to us. Henry Ward Beecher once said, “The Churches of the land are sprinkled all over with baldheaded old sinners whose hair has been worn off by the constant friction of the countess sermons that have been aimed at them and glanced off and hit the man in the pew behind.” When we take serious God’s Word in our life we apply it to our lives.
“Everyone who is victorious will eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God.”
This is a promise to all those who overcome that we will eat from the tree of life which stands in the midst of heaven. The tree of life is a symbol of immorality meaning that if we live in the power of the Spirit; we have the power that defeat death and gives us eternal life.
May we all walk in the power of His Spirit not forsaking our first love of Christ, but walking fully in the power of His Spirit.
God bless,
Pastor David
