Churches of Revelation#1 - Ephesus
February 2006 • Chris Rowney
These messages are also available as audio podcasts at www.tcfnet.org.au/podcasts
In a couple of days time it is Valentine’s day
Now I know we really don’t make much of a thing about that in Australia usually (though the marketing arms of chocolate makers and florists are trying to change all that).. But it got me to thinking about Love..
Have you ever ‘fallen in love’? I have…
Have you ever ‘fallen out of love?’ You know I’m not really sure that people DO fall out of love.. instead I think we just wander away from it.
Sometimes we don’t even know.. we’ve been going along doing things and we don’t even miss it, until we look to see if it is still there and we can’t find it anymore.
We can do that, and so can a church… For the next seven weeks I want to look at things Jesus wrote to some churches in what is now Turkey, but that the Spirit of God collected together as part of the Bible and so I think they speak also to us here and now.
They are found at the start of the Book of Revelation.
TALK ABOUT REVELATION IN GENERAL, SYMBOLS, NUMBERS
“9 I am John, your brother. In Jesus we are partners in suffering and in the Kingdom and in patient endurance. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and speaking about Jesus.
10 It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast.
11 It said, “Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.”
Revelation 1:9-12, NLT.
I was surprised when preparing this to notice where John was.
Exiled to the island of Patmos.
He wasn’t there on holiday, it wasn’t a stop on his cruise of the Aegean sea..
John hadn’t chosen to live and work there… and there be a Christian.
NO..
He CHOSE to be a Christian,, and because of that.. found himself where he was.. on Patmos, in exile,, basically under arrest..
What hit me was how often we want to make our own choices about our lives.. where will we live, what kind of house, what kind of job, and we make that choice FIRST, and let our Christianity, our faith follow on, and find room amongst everything else that is our ‘life’…
But the expectation of the New Testament is different, at least for those we find leading and shaping the early church.
The first choice John had made was that of Joshua in the OT
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord…” and sadly perhaps for him, that led to his arrest and exile on Patmos.
One Sunday, he was praying and worshipping and he heard a voice commanding him to write what he sees, and send it to these seven churches.
(Map seven churches in Asia.)
The seven churches.. (some have felt they are symbolic of seven church ages from Christ to the Second coming.. doing this because they look a Laodecia (being lukewarm) and say .. that is the church today.. we must be in the end time. BUT every age has done that!
They WERE actual historical churches, being written to by Jesus, ,speaking to John.. But they speak (each one of them!) To our church today..
John, turning to follow the voice sees an amazing sight.
“13 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 round his chest.
14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
Revelation 1:13-20, NIV.
Speak about this vision..???
Now, let’s see what Jesus says to the first of these churches..
“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:
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.
3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
4 But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
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.
6 But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the immoral Nicolaitans, just as I do.
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.”
Revelation 2:1-7, NLT.
Each of the letters begins describing Jesus with one of the images in the vision John has, .. the one who Holds the stars and walks among the lampstands.
Fortunately, we have already been told that he lampstands ARE the churches.. Jesus walks amongst our churches, the ones meeting here in Torquay.
(Even when he has complaint against a church, he is still present there!)
AND I KNOW.. he says..
“2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.”
Revelation 2:2, 3, NIV.
Before going on lets look a bit at what we know about EPHESUS
As a city it was large for the time, about 250,000 people maybe.. and it had one of the ‘wonders of the ancient world’ a huge temple to ARTEMIS (or Diana) .. Goddess of the hunt, of fertility, of childbirth..
It was capital of the Roman province, and contained other temples as well..
Apollos may have started the church there, and Paul visited it, lets read in ACTS.
Read Acts 19:23-41
“23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.
24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen.
25 He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: “Men, you know we receive a good income from this business.
26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s travelling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theatre.
30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.
31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theatre.
32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.
33 The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defence before the people.
34 But when they realised he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 The city clerk quietened the crowd and said: “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?
36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash.
37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.
38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.
39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.
40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today’s events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.”
41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.”
Acts 19:23-41, NIV.
In the midst of all this.. a group of believers in Jesus was established, and grew
After the church was founded, Timothy (to who the letters in the NT werw written) was leadin the church there,, but he was martyred for his faith during one of the Festivals worshipping the Goddess. Diana (or Artemis)
In Acts 20:16-38 we read more of Paul’s dealings with the church there, that have a special relationship to what Jesus writes to them in Revelation.
“16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.
18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.
19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews.
20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.
23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.
24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.
26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.
30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.
35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.
37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.
38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”
Acts 20:16-38, NIV.
ACTS 20:16-38 Paul had warned the elders at Ephesus of coming false teachers.
THEY remembered Pauls warning (or so it seems) and carefully checked what people who came to them said and taught.
We should do the same.. just because someone claims to be a Christina, even one who genuinely is a believer, does not mean everything they teach and say is right .. and that goes for me too!
The Ephesians also took note of Paul’s example, as he helped the poor and the weak, and was generous in spirit and in practice..
Jesus ‘congratulates’ them if you like, on these things
“2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.”
Revelation 2:2, 3, NIV.
BUT… Don’t you hate it when you know there is a BUT coming…
BUT, they had forsaken, abandoned, left.. they’d walked away from their first Love.
IS that their Love for God, their love for one another? Maybe both.. but in their passion for truth and rightness, they had forsaken Love..
If you have been a believer in Jesus for any length of time, where do you stand today? Is that first love still there, or have you wandered from it without even realising?
As I said before, what has struck me personally is just that John is not where he has chosen to be, doing what he has chosen to do.. not FIRST.. his FIRST CHOICE,, his FIRST LOVE if you like, was to follow Jesus, was to live out his Christianity.. and other things flowed from that. He ended up in exile on Patmos, not because that is what he wanted.. but because Jesus is WHO he wanted, and that is where that passionate pursuit of God led him..
What has been the first choice in your life? Where your house is? Where your kids go to school?, what you do 9 to 5.. Now none of those are bad choices to be making.. but which choice came first? What was the first love?.. what even was your second? I must say I think that often relationships get into trouble because having a particular job or owning a house come before being in a good relationship with your lover.
SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD.. maybe even I should just Say SEEK YE FIRST GOD, ,and all these thing shall be added…(Matt 6:33)
If you identify with having wandered from the love you had at first.. DON’T DESPAIR!
Jesus invites you to TURN back (that is what the word repent means, simply to ‘turn’.. turn back, he INVITES you .. if you hear his words..
LET HIM WHO HAS EARS HEAR!..
James says “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”
James 1:22-24, NAS95.
Hearing is doing, taking to heart what is said.
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.”
At the end of the book of Revelation (Ch 21 and 22) is a wonderful description of paradise, of life eternal in the presence of God.
In rev 22:2 the Tree of Life is described.
The imperfect church at Ephesus still has hope for the perfect in the New Creation…
And so always do we.
Let’s Pray....
