Revelation Chapter 2
Vs. 1-7: to the church in Ephesus
Key Verse; Revelation 1:19
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”
Revelation Chapter 1: Things you have seen,
Revelation Chapter 2 & 3: The things which are,
Revelation Chapters 4 – 22: The things which shall be hereafter.
Chapter 2 & 3 – The Things that Are.
Chapter 1 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Glorified One.
Chapter 2&3 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Head over the Church.
Chapter 4-22 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Triumphant One.
We will see the Lords striking message to the seven churches of Asia.
They are applicable to the churches of today.
Before the vision of the Father in Heaven in Revelation Chapter 4, we have the vision and words of the Son, Jesus Christ in Chapters 1 – 3.
We must know the Son before we can know the Father. He is the only way to God.
Salvation – We see that salvation is given to them who overcome sin. The verses in Revelation that use the Greek word for “Overcome” are;
REVELATION
2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21, 5:5, 6:2, 11:7, 12:11, 13:7, 15:2, 17:14 & 21:7
Overcoming sin is an important theme in Revelation, with promises for those who overcome.
Revelation 2:1 – To the Church in Ephesus
2:1 – Remember Christ says in Revelation 1:20 “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lamp stands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches.”
From this statement we can deduct that in 2:1 the angel of the church of Ephesus is a man, not a heavenly being, and this man is the spiritual leader of the church whom Christ holds in his hand (through the Holy Spirit).
2:2 – Tested: The necessity of testing for correct doctrine and dependable advice was widely recognized in the early church. (1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:13)
2:4 – First Love: The love they had at first for one another and Christ. (Jeremiah 2:2; Matthew 24:12)
2:5 – Remove your lamp stand: This statement refers to immediate judgment. (Matthew 11:11, 15, 17, 29; Genesis 2:9; Genesis 3:22 – 24; Luke 23:43)
2:6 – Nicolaitans: A group within the church that had worked out compromise with pagan society at the cost of God’s Holy Word. They taught in a way that allowed them to participate in idolatry and immorality.
2:7 – overcomes: The challenge to overcome occurs in each of the 7 letters.
2:7 – paradise: Originally a Persian word for a pleasure garden. (Luke 21:43) In Revelation it symbolizes the eschatological state (theology dealing with death, judgment and the eternal state of a soul.) in which God and man are restored to the perfect fellowship that existed before sin entered the world.
The Church in Ephesus
The Church can be compared to the Pharisees in their having more love for Law than the Lawgiver, at the expense of the brotherhood. (1 Peter 2:17; 1 John 4:20)
They may have gone beyond Paul’s intensions in Acts 20:28 – 31.
