The Letter to the Church in Ephesus

¹ "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lamp stands. ² "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear evil men but have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and found them to be false; ³ I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁵ Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶ Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicola'itans, which I also hate. ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' ⁸

Revelation 2: 1-8

I have been reading a couple of books on Revelation of late. Sometimes when reading books of eschatology, I am tempted to just give up trying to understand all the symbolism and hidden meanings. But the first part of the Book of Revelation was a revelation to the writer about specific churches in a specific time frame from the risen Lord. I think the messages are universal in that they apply to all churches in all times; but, the messages are specific.

The church in Ephesus was one of the earlier churches planted by the apostle Paul. His letter to the church in Ephesus gives us an insight into its community of faith. The church was standing firm in its faith and doctrine and was doing good things. But, there was a serious problem. Verse 4 says that they had abandoned their "love that you had at first" for the Lord. I can collective hear the church saying, "What? What do you mean? Aren't we doing great things for the kingdom?" But, the issue goes to the heart of each believer. Unless one is acting out of love and gratitude for the personal relationship of Jesus as Lord, there will always be something missing. The apostle Paul told the church in Corinth the same thing. One can even give his or her body to be burned; but, if that person does not have love it means nothing. Too many Christians go about the "work" of the church as faithful employees taking pride in their work. But, they are doing it for themselves. The message is direct. The church needs to "repent". Or, Jesus is going to remove his lamp stand. Note that Jesus is not getting this third hand. He is "among" his church when he speaks these words. He knows what lies in people's hearts.

This is not an idle threat or punishment. It is a simple fact. If a believer is not connected in spirit and in truth to the body of Christ, then there is no relationship. If there is no relationship, there can be no fruit of the Spirit. The battle today is being waged at the congregational level. Are people willing to commit to becoming part of the family of God by being in relationship to brothers and sisters under the Lordship of Jesus Christ? The reward is the promise made by the one who conquered death. He reminds the reader in the first chapter that He holds the keys to Hades in his hand. Jesus broke the gates of hell and restored the possibility of life eternal with Him. If we "conquer" we will get to eat of the tree of life with Him in paradise.