REVELATION PART 4

How Much Do You Remember?

What do the seven lampstands symbolize?

1. The City of Ephesus

Ephesus was, at that time, a large city with an excellent harbor. It was a marketplace for all of Asia.

• Ephesus was an important religious city.

• The temple of Diana—Artemis, as the Greeks called her—was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

• The goddess Diana was the patron of all the prostitutes. Her image stood everywhere.

• Acts 19:13–19

• Black magic was also widely practiced in Ephesus.

• Paul met these occult people head on and led some of them to Christ.

• The Christian church at Ephesus was extremely well taught, having had Paul, then Apollos, then Timothy, and then John as pastors.

Works of the church

seven things the Lord Jesus had to say about the church:

1.) First, “I know thy works” (2:2).

2.) Second, the Lord commends them for “thy labor” (2:2).

3.) A third thing the Lord commends this church for is “thy patience” (2:2).

• This means they had a triumphant attitude.

• No matter how much the Ephesian Christians were beaten down or discouraged or persecuted, they did not quit.

4.) A fourth thing the Lord Jesus says about Ephesus is “and how thou canst not bear them which are evil” (2:2).

5.) The fifth thing for which Christ comments this church is this: “Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars” (2:2).

Doctrinally, the believers at Ephesus were very competent in their stand against false teaching. This is evident by their expulsion of the false prophets.

• There were those who came there claiming to be apostles of Jesus Christ, but the people at Ephesus tried them and found to be liars.

6.) The sixth thing he commends this church for is “and [you] hast borne” (2:3).

Do you notice the things they cannot bear? They cannot bear evil and they cannot bear false doctrine and doubts—but they can bear toil, sacrifice, and persecution.

7.) The seventh thing he commends the church for is this: “and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted” (2:3).

• In other words, they are people who stick with it, at any cost. They don’t faint and they don’t fail.

• The heart of the real Christian is this: that he or she is willing, in God’s hands, to be God’s servant, as God shall choose. And they do not faint.

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