A Study of The Book of Revelation, Part #9

Jesus's message to the church at Ephesus

Rev. 2:1-7

I want you to visualize yourself as a part of the church at Ephesus and you are receiving a message of hope from Jesus Christ.  There is no illusion that he will be speaking to a particular denomination.

Revelation 2:1-7  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Verse 1. Unto the angel. (Angel = Messenger Daniel 8:16; 9:21, Luke 1:19, 26, Hebrews 1:14) The minister; the presiding presbyter; in the primitive sense of the word, denoting one who had the spiritual charge of a congregation. 

The location of the message to the seven churches is important to our overall study.  The messages to the seven churches are inserted between two visions.  The vision of Christ standing in the midst of the “seven lamp stands.” In chapter One,  and the vision of  “the four and twenty elders” round about the throne, found in chapter four. In chapter four we see the vision of the glorified Church with the Lord Jesus after the Church has been caught out to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:13-17). Then immediately the tribulation begins and runs its course in the following chapters in which John  gives us a view of earth from heaven.  

The seven churches represent the church age to the Rapture, and when the Rapture takes place the saints will be glorified and given bodies like unto the Lord’s glorious body (I John 3:1-3).  Good works will be rewarded and many works will be discarded. “We must all appear before the `Judgment Seat of Christ,' that every one may receive the things `done in the body' according to that he hath done, whether it be 'good' or 'bad' (worthless)." 2Co 5:10. It is not a judgment for sin, but for works." This judgment is described in 1Co 3:11-15.  This also explains what happen to the different “works and denominations”  church leaders impose upon their flock.  

The Spirit opens His message to the church at Ephesus with the words, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write.” The same words are repeated in the introduction to each of the seven churches. The message for each church is directed to the members of the local assembly. Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:1). John is writing to the angel of the church in Ephesus. No doubt the reason for the more distant form of addressing the church was because the church had sunk so low morally that the Lord could not address it through John as to the saints. No doubt they had declined to a spiritual status where they could not be referred to in the true sense of saints.  During the day of Paul the church at Ephesus was made up of almost altogether devout saints; but in John’s day the saints had departed from their first love.

Earl Gillespie
Religious Writer
and Author

“These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” In chapter 1:20 Jesus explains the symbology.  The stars are seen in His hand. In chapter 3:1 He has the stars, but here intense action is suggested: “He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand”.  He has a firm grip on the stars which is  the light bearers. The stars derive their light from Him who is “the Light of the world.”

Verse 2: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”

 “You may rest assured that you will receive from the hand of Almighty God exactly what is coming to you.” God is just, He cannot be unjust . . . He rewards fully. If a rebuke is needed, God rebukes. If any praise is due, commendation will certainly be given. God commends the church at Ephesus . . . the Lord Jesus loves to commend His saints when they allow Him to do so. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, (not abundant stuff) but the sad thing is that most of us will not permit God to shower His abundant grace upon us. We take God’s second best, when it is His good pleasure that we enjoy His very best.  God cannot bless us above what we allow by the way we live. Salvation is free, salvation is by grace; but rewards, happiness, and joy come as the result of faithful labor of love in the Lord. In our present verse, God says, “I know thy works!” No doubt the good works of the believers at Ephesus were varied and many.  The local assembly there was a working church. But all work is not necessarily well pleasing in the sight of God.  Many works  will suffer loss, in essence much work done in the churches today is a waste of time..

They were patient toward the weaker Christians, but this did not cause them to close their eyes toward evil. In this same verse, the messenger declares that the believers at Ephesus had tried them “which say they are apostles and are not, and found them to be liars” (Romans 5:3, II Corinthians 6:4). Even in the midst of trial and opposition, the church was neither patient nor indifferent toward evil. The word “tried” signifies that the Ephesians had put these apostles to the test and had found that they were not true apostles, they  were liars. Paul called such men “false apostles” (II Corinthians 11:13).  I Corinthians 9:2 and Acts 20:29,30. Many churches need to reread and study this particular portion of God’s message to the church. Certainly there are false prophets, liars, and spiritual wolves in the pulpits all over the world today, interpreting and re-interpreting the word of God, creating a Santa Claus religion and the sad thing is that most believers just do not seems to care.

Verse 3: “And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.” In this verse, the Lord’s commendation to the believers at Ephesus continues. John, the “messenger of the Lord,” wrote, “ . . . and hast borne . . . for my name’s sake.” The church at Ephesus had suffered much, had been tried many times - but they were cheerful, they did not grumble; they were suffering for Christ’s sake.  There was no thought of giving up nor of surrendering in the conflict with evil. What a beautiful picture we have here, of complete surrender and wholehearted devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 4: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”  Yes, the believers at Ephesus were hard workers.  They labored in patience, they hated evil; but in spite of that, the Lord had something against them.  This is the root of church and individual failure,  a departure from Christ.

“The first fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22). In Paul’s day the church at Ephesus was known for its “love unto all the saints.” But seemingly that love began to grow cold.  We learn from the New Testament record that only what we do because we love Jesus with all of our heart, soul and strength will receive a reward at the end of life’s journey. Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we should do it all to the glory of God, not to the glory of man, a church or a denomination.  Love is the heart of Christianity. Read I Corinthians 13. The one thing that the Lord Jesus had against the church at Ephesus was, “Thou hast left thy first love.” When a church leaves its first love (or when an individual does), it is a serious and dangerous matter. When a church or an individual departs from the virgin love of the new birth experience, that leader, a person or church will find themselves slipping farther and farther as the days and weeks go by.

Verse 5: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” In this verse, judgment is threatened. The Lord Jesus had a positive cause of complaint against the angel of the church at Ephesus. The church had left its first love, and this was serious. The Lord never forgets His joy in the first love of His people: “Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown” (Jeremiah 2:2). The Lord God never forgot Judah’s first love; neither does the Lord Jesus forget the first love of His Church. The first commandment is to love the Lord with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength. Love is the center, the soul, the very essence of a genuine new birth experience. The admonition to the believers at Ephesus was twofold:  1. Remember. 2. Repent! The Lord is saying to the believers at Ephesus, “Remember the moral elevation you once occupied. Remember the heights of love you once demonstrated. And then cast your eyes upon yourself and see how far short you have fallen - and then repent. Judge the state of your own heart, lest I am forced to judge you.  Now tell me this message is not to the church today.  Jesus said, “I will judge you quickly unless you repent and return to your first works and your first love. I will remove your candlestick out of its place”. The only way we can prevent the removal of the candlestick is to repent.”

The removal of the lamp stand as a light bearer has nothing to do with the salvation of the individual. It has to do with the Church as a whole. Certainly the lamps which once shone so brightly in this particular part of the earth - especially in the city of Ephesus - have been taken out of their place, and gross darkness engulfs that part of the world today. Mohammedanism is the religion in the seven cities where these churches were located. So we see that the lamp stand HAS been removed.  The light of the pure Gospel does not shine as it did when Paul preached in Ephesus - or even as it did when John was there. If Christendom continues the road it is traveling today in America, gross darkness will cover this lands if Jesus tarries. (Isaiah 60:2.)

Verse 6: “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.” The believers in the church at Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes. The word nikao, which means “to conquer,” and laos, which means “the people”.   No doubt the deeds of the Nicolaitanes hated by the church at Ephesus was the setting up of certain men to rule over the ordinary believers in the church, and this marked the beginning of the priestly order in the church, which continues in this day in the Roman Catholic church and others denominations that followed.  No man has a right to be “lord over God’s heritage”

(I Peter 5:3). “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5) - Christ Jesus - not some two-legged fellow who calls himself a priest, or God’s representative here on earth - not the virgin nor the pope, nor the pastor - but Christ Jesus! Every born again believer is a priest, not just a priest, but a royal priest (I Peter 2:9), every believer is invited to enter boldly into the holy of holies (Hebrews 10:19-25). There are no special persons in the Church of the living God. The New Testament Church knows no church bosses or priests. This business began in Ephesus,  but it was not well pleasing to God.  God appoints under-shepherds to care for the flock, to feed the sheep and to keep out the wolves; but God does not appoint church bosses, or special men to pray for us or listen to our confession of sin. We are to confess our sin to the Lord God through our Mediator the Lord Jesus Christ. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed!” (John 8:36). “As many as are led by the Spirit of God (not a preacher, a priest or a pope or bishop) they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).  I wonder what the Lord Jesus thinks of some of the modern set-ups. Members are commanded to sign a pledge, sign a document, sign a resolution. They are commanded to promise this,  or promise that before they can become a deacon or a teacher in Sunday School. I wonder what the Lord Jesus Christ thinks when He looks down upon all the little religious dictators we have today.  They peddle their damnable poison in the name of religion and prosperity.

Verse 7: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”  In this verse we have the spirit's call to hear. At Ephesus the church is spoken to as a whole . . . not as individuals, but as an assembly. It is interesting to note that John uses the word “repent” seven times in Revelation, but in the other writings of John that word is not used even once. After Ephesus, a remnant is admonished to repent. The call is no longer to the group, but to individuals, or to a small remnant. Individual and direct responsibility to Almighty God is a cardinal truth and a cardinal doctrine of the New Testament Church; however, in many churches, souls are commanded to follow the church. Individual conscience toward God is completely ignored. It is the “leaders” who get conflicting messages from God and  deal with the members of the church.  But in the New Testament Church, individuals are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel. Individuals are invited to enter boldly into the holy of holies. The New Testament doctrine is, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith.”