Study of Revelation and End Times (3)

The Church at Ephesus

Last week we looked at an overview if you will of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation.

We started with the rapture of the church in chapter 4, then seen the rise of the beast, the great tribulation, the battle of Armageddon, then the Millennial reign of Christ, the final judgment, and last we seen the final state and destiny of mankind.

Tonight, we are starting to look at the seven churches, there is a lot we can learn from these churches; therefore, we will take one church at a time.

Tonight, we will be looking at the first of the seven churches, the church at Ephesus, which begins in Revelation 2:1-7.

These letters are written to seven churches in Asia Minor, that isn’t to say that there was only seven churches, but these are the seven geographical locations of Asia Minor.

These letters were not meant just for the seven churches to keep, but to be spread to all churches.

There are even lessons we can learn from them today, if we will listen with our ears to hear what the Spirit has to say, and take it to heart, and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.

The Lord looked in on each of these seven churches at their conditions, and he pointed out somethings that they were doing good at, and somethings that they could do better at, and also gave them some promises.

The Lord was not just speaking to the church as a whole, but as the church is made up of the body of believers, that is individual believers, He is speaking to us as individuals also, we need to listen to the stirring of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, because if the church is going to be Spiritually healthy then we as individuals have to be spiritually healthy.

Look with me at our text, the letter to the church at Ephesus:

Revelation 2:1–7 NASB95

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. 6 ‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

The City of Ephesus

The background of Ephesus helps us to understand the people of the church of Ephesus, and therefore, helps us to understand then the letter to the church.

The city of Ephesus was an influential commercial and cultural center built in the 10th century B.C.

There was all kinds of people that lived there from wealthy and educated to poor and illiterate.

The general condition of life was that of a wealthy, cultured, corrupt city.

The city of Ephesus was three miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea, but sat on the broad mouth of the Cayster River which allowed access to the sea and provided the greatest harbor in Asia Minor.

Four great trade routes went through Ephesus; therefore, it became known as the gateway to Asia.

Ephesus is located in modern day Turkey.

The city was the main worship center for the goddess Artemis the Greek goddess of hunting and fertility, Artemis was known as Diana in Roman.

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The city life revolved around the temple and its activities, carried out by thousands of priests and a well-organized temple bureaucracy.

Social, cultural, and legal pressures were probably exerted for all citizens, including Christians, to conform to pagan worship.

Characteristic V. 1

Revelation 2:1 NASB95

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

There are seven letters to seven churches, and each one of these letters are addressed to the angel of the church, as we see here in verse one, Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus.

We first see this mentioned in:

Revelation 1:20 NASB95

20 “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Jesus is telling John the mystery, the secret is the seven stars represent the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands represent the seven churches.

We then must see what is the meaning of the angels of the seven churches, well, the Greek word for angel there is angelos, and is often translated messenger - whether heavenly or earthly.

The messenger can be sent from heaven or can be sent here on earth.

Here in Revelation we see it like this, Jesus is telling John to write the letters to the angel or messenger to the lampstand or church.

The angel or messenger of the church then would be the senior or lead pastor of the church in this case of Ephesus, as a lot of times there were just like today more than one pastor.

Jesus is telling John to write this letter to the church, saying first, I hold your pastor in my hand, and second I am with you, I walk in your midst, another words, I know your works, your deeds, what you do and do not do.

Jesus is about to give the church what He has observed as He has walked among them, He will give both compliments and criticize them for their actions; therefore, He wanted them to know He has been in their presence.

Compliment Vs. 2-3

Revelation 2:2–3 NASB95

2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

The Ephesian people were hard working people that were constantly serving, they were busy doing the work of the Lord.

The church was a sacrificing church, they had toiled or labored to the point of exhaustion.

The Ephesian Christians endured through all kinds of difficulties in order to serve the Lord.

The Ephesian believers were also separated people, because they could not tolerate evil people.

They had tested those who called themselves apostles but were not.

These were people coming in to teach the Word of God, or preach but were false teachers, and the Ephesian believers were being firm in their faith and trying the spirit of these false teachers and finding that they were truly false teachers.

1 John 4:1–4 NASB95

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Here we are given a test to be able to discern weather someone is of God or is a false prophet or teacher.

We must be on guard in order that we are not lead astray.

We must test the spirit of those that are teaching and preaching to us, are they truly from God, are they truly teaching the Word of God.

The Ephesian believers were doing this and Jesus complimented them because of it, they were standing firm in their faith, grounded and not being lead astray.

In verse 3, Jesus compliments the believers on persevered and endured hardships for the sake of His name, and have not grown weary.

The church had been established for 40 or 45 years at the point of this letter, and we must remember that it is located in Ephesus, which is known highly for the Temple of Artemis the Greek goddess or Diana the Roman goddess.

Also there were Nicolaitans in the city that were trying to lead the Ephesian believers astray, but they had persevered and endured the hardship of these false gods and false teachers and for that Jesus was complimenting them.

This wasn’t just false teachers and false prophets of the Greek god trying to teach them wrongly but they also were putting up with hostility from those who worshiped other gods.

This can be seen in Acts 19:23-41 where a silversmith name Demetrius, had brought to the attention of the people that Paul was leading people away from the Greek goddess Artemis.

When the people heard this the city was in uproar and went into the amphitheater, dragging some of those that were with Paul, the Ephesian people were shouting great Artemis of the Ephesians!

This was just one case of the harassment that the Ephesian Christians faced in their 40 plus years while they still persevered and endured the hardships for the sake of Jesus.

Criticism V. 4

Revelation 2:4 NASB95

4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

While they were doing a great job testing the spirit of the false prophets, and standing firm in their beliefs.

And while they were doing a great job of facing the persecution and not backing down there was one thing that they had allowed to happen in their midst.

There was a tragic flaw in the body of believers at Ephesus and it was infecting their fellowship.

Jesus’ criticism surely stung: you have abandoned the love you had at first.

These believers had the correct doctrine, they had the faith, they even were working hard, they were serving, sacrificing, being persecuted for the name of Jesus, but they had lost their first love.

What did Jesus mean by their First Love?

It is devotion to Jesus that so often characterizes the new believer: fervent, personal, uninhibited, excited, and openly displayed.

It is the honeymoon love of the husband and wife.

Jeremiah 2:1–2 NASB95

1 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.

The Ephesian believers had the correct doctrine, but not a correct heart.

The first love is like with the honeymoon, it is romantic love between a man and a woman, it involves passion.

See the thing was there was no passionate pursuit of an intimate relationship with Christ in the church at Ephesus.

They were merely following a program. Duty had replaced devotion.

In America today, we have seen this very thing, that many believers have lost their first love, they are not passionate about their pursuit for an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

They come to church out of duty, they serve in a position in the church out of duty, they give their tithe out of duty.

They do not do any of it because of their love for Jesus Christ, and surely not out of a passionate pursuit for an intimate relationship with Jesus.

The reason I know this is because if it was for a passionate pursuit for an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, we would have more here tonight than we do, we would have packed rooms for Sunday school, we would have full pews on Sunday mornings. We would have people passionate desiring to know how and where they could serve God, each and every week.

But we are not passionately pursuing an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ like we did when He first drawled us to Him for salvation.

Command Vs. 5-6

Revelation 2:5–6 NASB95

5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. 6 ‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Jesus tells the believers what they were doing right, then what they were doing wrong, now He tells them how to fix what they were doing wrong.

How are they to fix this wrong, the problem, remember how passionate they were about their love for Jesus, their passion for growing in their relationship with Jesus when they first got saved.

Once they remembered that then they were to realize how they had fallen away from that passion, from that deep love for Jesus and got away from that desire to walk close to Jesus and grow in that walk.

Then when they had seen the passion they had, and how they had fallen then they would be able to repent of that short coming, repent of that loss of passion, repent of the loveless attitude they had developed.

Once they had remember their passion, seen how they had fallen, and repented of these things, then they must return to the passionate love they once had for Jesus, verse 5 puts it, do the works you did at first.

That is saying: return to the passionate love for Jesus Christ you had when He first saved you, when you accepted salvation, when your life was saved from Hell’s damnation.

Also return to that passionate pursuit of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life.

Many people get this verse mixed up to think we have to get saved again, but that is not what it is saying at all, but that we need to return to that passion we had at the beginning of our salvation, the fire we once had for Jesus, the desire we had to tell everyone what Jesus did for us, when He saved us.

We need to get back to that passion, that desire.

Verse 5, also comes with a consequence, that says: otherwise, I will come to you and remover your lampstand.

We must remember here that Jesus had symbolized the church as the lampstand.

This is not referring to Jesus coming again, but that Jesus would bring judgment against the church, we must remember that the church is the body of believers; therefore, it is made up of individuals.

If we do not follow what God is leading us to do, then we will bring judgment against ourselves, against our church.

If a church is not passionately seeking Jesus the light of the world, because the church is individuals coming together as a body of believers, and therefore, if those are not passionately seeking Jesus, then there is not light in the church, Jesus in not in the church.

A loveless church is no longer a church, a body of believers that are no longer passionately seeking after Jesus is no longer a body of believers, they are just a body of people, a social club.

Jesus will come and extinguish the church, He will close the church down.

Tragically, the Ephesian church ultimately succumbed, and neither the city nor the church exist today, it is but a heap of stones.

Verse six seems out of place here as Jesus further compliments the Christians.

Both the Ephesians and Christ rightly hate the practices of the Nicolaitans.

There is little know about the Nicolaitans in Scripture, they are only mentioned twice, both in Chapter 2 of Revelation, here and again in verse 15.

They are condemned for their false teachings and practices, they appeared to have participated in pagan religion and immoral behavior.

Commitment V. 7

Revelation 2:7 NASB95

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

As Jesus wraps up His message to the church at Ephesus, it is very similar to all the endings to all seven letters.

He closes with three things: who has ears, the Spirit says to the churches, and the one who conquers.

First, is letting anyone who has ears to hear listen, now there is a difference in hearing something and listening to something.

We can hear what someone says, but not listen to what they say, the difference is the comprehension, of what was said.

Another words, when someone is speaking are we tuned into them, are we paying attention to what they are truly saying or we just hearing it, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Here we need to be listening to what Jesus had just written in this letter, we need to comprehend it, in order that it will change our lives, change the way we live, the way that we act, the way we follow Jesus, the way we treat others, the way we seek Jesus, the way we read our Bibles, the way we pray, the way we worship, and the way we serve.

Second, the Spirit says to the churches, Jesus’ teachings in Revelation, in the whole Bible is what the Spirit says to the churches.

We need to take and listen to what the Spirit has to say.

We need to listen to the commands that have been given by Jesus, like go forth and make disciples of all nations, to be a witness of Jesus, to love our neighbors as our self, to Love the Lord our God with all that we are, etc.

We need to be studying God’s Word as it is what the Spirit has to say to us, and we need to have our ears opened to hear from Him what He has to say, we should pray before reading and studying God’s Word, asking God to reveal to us what He would have us to receive that day.

Third, is to the one who conquers, we are constantly, just as those that these letters are written to, are in spiritual combat, and we need to prepare ourselves each and everyday just as Ephesians 6:10-12 tells us to put on the armor of God so that we can face the struggles of each day, we do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

We have to be prepared each and every day, and we can only do that by, opening our ears and listening as we study God’s Word, to hear what the Spirit has to say to us, He will equip us for the battle against the evil forces.

1 John 5:4–5 NASB95

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

If we will do all that Jesus has instructed in this letter, that is remember our passion we had when we were first saved, see how we fell and repent of our ways, then return to that passion.

Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we study God’s Word and conquer the evil forces each day, then He has promised that we will have the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in heaven.

See a true born-again-believer in Jesus Christ will do these things, and they will have eternal life in Jesus Christ, and will spend eternity in paradise with Jesus and will have the privilege of eating from the tree of life.