Revelation 2:1-7 (Ephesus)

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Introduction

2 “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 lampstands.

2 “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and 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 therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

This week we reach the first of John’s seven letters to the seven churches in Asia, Ephesus. The city was known as the “greatest city of Asia”, both in politics and trade. It was located along the Aegean Sea in the northern Mediterranean. It had a population of about 250,000 at the time (about the size of Anchorage in comparison), and it was famous for its temple built to Artemis (or Diana, as the Romans referred to her), known in Greek mythology as the goddess of nature and fertility. The Temple of Artemis was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Ephesus was also known for it’s grand outdoor theatre, which could seat as many as 25,000 people, and the city stretched from this theatre, built into a hillside, to its nearby harbor.
The city had a strong Jewish community present within it, and it was the Apostle Paul who first travelled there to plant the church in Ephesus. Therefore, the church benefited from Paul’s teaching, but also the ministries of Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila, and even Timothy. In fact, Timothy was in Ephesus when Paul wrote his two letters to him, urging him to "remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine." (1 Timothy 1:3) Timothy remained there while Paul travelled to Macedonia, in order to keep certain persons from teaching anything contrary to sound doctrine. Timothy was there to help protect the teaching of the church in Ephesus.

Jewish occultism

Because there was such a large Jewish community, Jewish occultism was also prevalent. As a result of the Jews being spread all throughout the world in the first century, apostate Judaism had, in various ways and to various degrees, accommodated itself to the surrounding pagan religions and practices. It was a form of syncretism that resulted in persons like Simon the Magician, who we see in Acts chapter 8, a man in Samaria who had practiced magic and amazed the people with his magic, and who had become intrigued at the signs and wonders that followed the Apostles. Simon eventually even offered the Apostles money to posses the power of the Holy Spirit, as if God's Spirit could be bought with a price.
And then, later, in Acts chapter 19, when certain itinerant Jewish exorcists, who were in Ephesus, “undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits,” we’re told that one evil spirit in particular answered them, saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And then the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks.”
In other words, there were many Jews in Ephesus, and throughout the Greco-Roman world who would gladly accommodate another religion if it seemed good, or beneficial to them. In fact, it would be this kind syncretism that would eventually lead to the formation of Gnosticism, a religion that was “an amalgamation of Persian, Egyptian, Jewish, and Christian ideas, along with a healthy dose of Greek philosophy.” Gnostic comes from the Greek work gnosis which means knowledge, and Gnosticism claimed to possess secret knowledge, thereby claiming for itself a certain spiritual superiority. In fact, many view Simon the Magician, who himself had claimed to be somebody great, as the first known Gnostic.
And my point here is that this was the spiritual atmosphere of Ephesus, and throughout the Greco-Roman world. This is why the doctrine of the church had to be guarded. And, as we’ll see, this background will help us understand Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus.

7 stars in his right hand

So let’s begin there in verse 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 lampstands.

We’ve seen this imagery before in chapter 1, of Jesus holding seven stars in his right hand, and who walks among the seven golden lampstands. We were told earlier that these stars are angels, who probably signify the governments or the elders of the churches, and Jesus is pictured holding them in his right hand, his strong hand. This is likely meant to convey to the Ephesian elders that he’s holding them up, preserving them, and protecting them. I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus’ words in John 10:27-29,

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Walks among the lampstands

But we’re also reminded that Jesus “walks among the seven golden lampstands,” which we’re told earlier portrays him walking in the midst of the churches, that the seven lampstands signify the seven churches. Which reminds the churches that he is present among them, and that it is the Spirit of God who gives light to the churches.
And this imagery is not new, in Leviticus 26, God said to the Israelites who had come out of Egypt, “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then... I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. (Lev. 26:11–12) In the same way Jesus walks, even now, among us, he is our God, and we are his people.
This imagery is also meant to convey that Jesus is tending to his churches, that he walks among them so as to tend to them, and to keep their lights burning. Which is descriptive of the overarching purpose behind all seven letters, to sustain his church, which it’s the same sentiment we should glean for ourselves. That even now Jesus walks among the churches, so as to tend to them, and we’re to heed these letters just as they did.
Moreover, it’s important to understand that his looking after the churches includes examining them. In all of these letters Jesus examines these churches, and by extension he examines us. And in his examination he commends the churches for what’s commendable and he rebukes them for what is not, and he exhorts them to repent as necessary. And he does all of this in order to sustain his church. Like as a master gardener be prunes and waters as necessary for his plants to go on and bear fruit.

Toil and patient endurance

So, picking up there in verse 2, he says,

2 “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and 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.

The church in Ephesus was a church marked by hard work and patient endurance in the face of opposition. They had worked tirelessly for the faith, and the testing of their faith had produced in them steadfastness.

Discernment

They were also a church that appeared to have impeccable discernment, they “had tested those who called themselves apostles and were not, and found them to be false.” Their powers of discernment had matured, as Hebrews 5:14 describes it, as having “had their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” This church didn’t know the meaning of compromise, they were willing to hold the line of biblical orthodoxy regardless of the cost. Or to borrow the language of the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3:15, they were “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” And they had not grown weary in doing so.

Intolerant of false teachers

Therefore, they didn’t tolerate false apostles, they didn’t tolerate false teaching. They didn’t tolerate the religious syncretism of their day, they didn’t tolerate those who wanted to combine the beliefs and practices of other religions with Christianity.
This should give the modern church pause today. How often have our religious practices, and how we worship been affected by unbiblical ideas? How prone are we to order and conduct worship as we see fit, as if we had the right to approach God in whatever way that pleases us? Does the Bible regulate our doctrines and practices, or does something else? How many unbiblical doctrines have we adopted for ourselves along the way? How has our thinking been impacted by the world’s philosophies? Have we adopted doctrines such as evolution, the atheist creation story? Do we think there are many ways to God? Do we think that disciples of other religions will be saved, as long as they’re sincere? There’s a whole spectrum of doctrines that run contrary to the Scriptures, and whether it’s something as seemingly simple as how we approach God in worship or whether one thinks there are other names under heaven by which men can be saved, the point is, none of us are immune religious syncretism.

Church discipline

It’s also implied here that the church in Ephesus practiced church discipline. Again, it says there in verse 2, “you cannot bear with those who are evil, but test those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.” The implication here is that they have not neglected to practice church discipline, that sin has not been permitted to thrive in their congregation. It isn’t simply that they’ve rejected heretical teachings that exist outside the church, that is, writings and teachers outside the church that might influence the congregation, but they’ve undoubtedly done so also by dealing with false teachers that had arisen within the church.
In fact, the Apostle Paul had instructed the Ephesian elders earlier in Acts 20:28-31, saying, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert..."
Moreover, listen to what the church father, Ignatius, wrote at the end of the first century in his letter to the Ephesian church, “You all live according to truth, and no heresy has a home among you: indeed, you do not so much as listen to anyone, if he speaks of anything except concerning Jesus Christ in truth.... I have learned that certain persons passed through you bringing evil doctrine; and you did not allow them to sow seeds among you, for you stopped up your ears, so that you might not receive the seed sown by them.... You are arrayed from head to foot in the commandments of Jesus Christ.”
Church discipline requires confronting sin and confronting false teaching, and the hope, of course, is that church discipline would begin and end with us coming to one another individually as sin and error arise, and reconciling immediately, but I have no doubt the church in Ephesus had to be willing, at points, to excommunicate unrepentant members of their church, and that’s not an easy task for any church, yet it’s absolutely necessary for the wellbeing of the church

Intolerant of evil

And it’s also important that we see, not only that sound doctrine guarded them from false teaching, but that it ultimately guarded them from sin. Look at what it says, later, there in verse 6,

this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

While we don’t know much of anything about the Nicolaitans, we do find out later from the letters that follow that this group is compared to the likes of Balaam and Jezebel. Apparently, they were modern day successors, if you will, to Balaam and Jezebel. The same kind of sins that Balaam and Jezebel were marked by, also marked the Nicolaitans. If you look just a few verse down to the letter to the church in Pergamum, starting in verse 14, we read,

14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

In other words, the church in Ephesus was commended for hating the works of the Nicolaitans, which we discover here were idolatry and sexual immorality. The church in Ephesus was unwilling to allow it’s members to participate in the pagan practices that were normative for everyone else, and, unfortunately, we’ll find out later that the other churches in Asia were not as successful as Ephesus was in avoiding these sins.

Deception of the world

In the same way, we too should be diligent to resist corruption within the church, to love what God loves and hate what God hates, because we’re just as prone to tolerate evil in our own day as the churches were in theirs. For instance, in our day and culture, the sin that typically creeps into the church flies under the guise of love. And since the world has successfully defined love for us (rather than the Bible), the church has become defenseless against the sin that that now corrupts it.
The world’s definition of love has very little room for hatred, the world views hatred as fundamentally opposed to love. That love is simply hating nothing, and celebrating everything, the world conceives of love as without truth. Therefore, over the last 70 years our culture has increasingly approved of sinful practices masquerading as love, and unfortunately, many Christians have fallen prey to this doctrine, giving approval to those who practice what’s sinful under the pretense of so-called love.
Postmodernism has destroyed any biblical definition of love that was present in our culture, it has robbed it of truth, and without truth, love is no longer love at all. The world’s conception of love becomes merely a license to sin. However, the Scriptures teach us that love cannot be divorced from truth, that love, is defined by truth, and therefore even necessitates hatred. The Scriptures teach us that love hates what is evil, that love cannot tolerate sin. That if we are going to be imitators of God, that we must hate what God hates and love what God loves. Just as the church in Ephesus hated the works of the Nicolaitans.

Hate what God hates

God is described in Psalm 45:7 as loving righteousness and hating wickedness. Amos 5:15 tells us that we should “hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate.” Now, we know that God loves many things, but I think we often neglect to notice the many things that he hates.
And the reason, is that the world has taught us that to hate something is fundamentally opposed to love. However, the Bible teaches us that God hates haughty eyes, a lying tongue, the shedding of innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run to do evil, and one who sows discord among brothers. The Scriptures teach that God abhors those who worship false gods, that he hates all workers of iniquity, that he detests those who wear clothing of the opposite sex (Deut. 22:5), that he hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), that he hates false weights and measures (Deut. 25:16), the he detests the earnings of a prostitute (Deut. 23:18), that to him a proud heart is an abomination, that the one who justifies the wicked is an abomination (Proverbs 17:15), that a man who lies with another man as with a woman is an abomination, and so on.
Now, most of us would agree upon that list, however, there are items on that list that may cause some of us to wince, because some of those sins are celebrated today, celebrated by people we work with, or by those in or own families, and even those of us who might not approve of such compromise can still feel the influence of the world as I read that list aloud. And as Christians, we must ask ourselves on a regular basis, do we love what God loves, and do we hate what God hates?

Don’t be silent, or turn a blind eye

Because, if we find ourselves turning a blind eye to wickedness under the pretense of love, we can be assured that we are not practicing love, but rather love cares enough not to turn a blind eye. Love cares enough to say something, love cares enough not to stand idly by, love cares enough to defend the truth. Love cares enough about the other person to act. Truth is absolutely essential for loving God and our neighbor.

Abandoned the love they had at first

Now, while the church in Ephesus had become an excellent example of faithfulness, standing for truth, guarding against error, loving what God loves and hating what God hates, they had lost one essential component, we read there in verses 4-5,

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

While truth is essential, truth pursued apart from love is equally dangerous as pursing love apart from truth. We tend to fall into one of two ditches, either 1) truth devoid of love, or 2) love devoid of truth. And I suspect the latter is the most common error in our day. And when we recognize the danger of either one we tend to over-correct into the ditch of the other. In an attempt to avoid one ditch we steer ourselves into the other. We either pursue a spineless notion of love (as defined by the world), or truth without love. Whereas, both pursuits are essential, and necessarily connected. We must never pit doctrine against love, as though they were mutually exclusive, or incompatible. As Christians we’re commanded to be both orthodox and loving.
However, Ephesus had become unbalanced. They were rightly commended for their faithfulness and their sound doctrine (notice that Jesus didn’t criticize Ephesus for being too orthodox), but they had forsaken the love they had at first. The church’s desire for sound doctrine had become perverted, and sin had hardened their hearts toward their brothers, that they lacked love for one another. So Jesus tells them, “remember from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” It wasn’t as if the church had never possessed love for one another, but that it had abandoned the love they had at first.

They will know them by their love

He tells them to do the works they had done at first, because works would be the evidence of their love. Love is not merely a state of mind or an attitude, but love results in action. James, the brother of Jesus, writes in Jame 2:14-17, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14–17)
At the end of Matthew chapter 25 Jesus told his disciples that how they treated one another would be the litmus test of their love for him. That how we treat one another within the context of the church will demonstrate our love for Christ himself. We read in Matthew 25:35-40,

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Therefore, Jesus exhorts the church in Ephesus to repent, and to do the works they did at first, otherwise he will come and remove their lampstand from its place. That the light of his presence would be taken away, that he would no longer dwell in their midst as he had before, that they would no longer be a church. Like his Shekhinah glory vacating the Temple in Jerusalem, the Spirit of God would vacate their local church, and they would be excommunicated.
There are often many churches lining the streets of a given city, but unless the presence of God occupies it, they are no church at all. There are many churches that bear Christ’s name, but if they have forsaken his word and their love for one another, you can be assured God is not there, that he has come and removed their lampstand from its place. Therefore, we too are warned, not to depart from his word or to abandon our love for one another.
Just as Jesus said in John 13:34-35,

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The two hallmarks of any true church are it’s faithfulness to God’s word, and it’s love for one another, therefore we must pursue both truth and love. In fact, sound doctrine ought to develop, deepen and mature our love for God and one another, not diminish it. The pursuit of right doctrine ought to be for the sake of growing in love for God and one another, not merely an end unto itself.

Conclusion

Now, Jesus concludes by saying in verses 7,

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

The exhortation here is universal, it’s repeated in all seven letters, Jesus exhorts them to hear and heed his words. He also exhorts the churches in every letter to conquer, or to overcome. The idea here is that they would overcome those who seek to overcome them, to overcome the world, its corrupting influence and hostility, by their faith, and by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, loving not their lives even to death.
And to the one who conquers Jesus will grant to eat of the tree of life. This, of course, is a beautiful picture of restoration, of their redemption. That unlike Adam, who fell, and was cast out of the garden and kept from eating of the fruit of the tree in the garden, if they overcome they will be granted the right to eat of that tree, which is in the paradise of God. That their reward of overcoming the world is infinitely greater than the consequences of giving in.

Prayer

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