Revelation 1:19- 2:7

I wish Jesus would have told us what we are supposed to do as the church...

Thought of the day: Jesus requires loving acts from the Church

Read Revelation 1:19-20

The entire book of Revelation is filled with symbolism, much of it is explained in the book itself, this is one of those times.

7 stars are the angels, “messengers” of the 7 churches. Probably pastors. John is writing to them so you can assume it is whomever recieved the letter.

7 lampstands are the seven churches.

The number 7 is used multiple times throughout Revelation as the number of completion. It means the whole of something. There is a dual meaning here, the first: there are 7 actual churches Jesus addresses but he’s also addressing the whole church and every pastor who would ever live.

Read Revelation 2:1

angel:pastor

Church in Ephesus:

Apollos taught Christ from the OT in Ephesus

Planted by Priscilla and Aquila around 52 AD.

Paul taught daily in Ephesus for 2 years Acts 19:9

Ephesus was probably the hub of Evangelism and there’s a good chance the other 6 churches were church plants of the Ephesian church.

Ephesians 1:15-17 “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,

16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

In each letter Christ announces his credentials… “who holds the 7 stars”

Read Revelation 2:2-3

Deeds, hard work, perseverance Good

wicked people : not just any sort of wickedness but specifically those false apostles

Read Revelation 2:4-5

You have forsaken love : what kind of love?

obviously they loved God, v3 they endured hardships for Christ name, they loved the scripture, they loved testing the purity of the church so that it might be in right relationship with God… but they stopped loving one another.

That love that Paul wrote about in Ephesians 1:15, 30 years earlier, had become dried up.

Specifically they had stopped showing one another love through deeds.

Consequences; Acting, doing loving deeds toward one another is not a suggestion it is a demand.

There is a promise:

You have purity, good deeds, hard work, perseverance, you have the wisdom to remove false teachers, BUT I will shut your doors if you don’t love one another in deed.

repent; turn your mind; align with me and my love

Read Revelation 2:6-7

Good rebuke sandwich, this is good, this you need to fix or I’ll remove you, this is good.

The one who is victorious (Jesus says this after every letter): in what? In repentance and loving deeds.

Tree of life; Revelation says the tree of life is the food of the new earth with leaves that will heal all the nations, the tree of life is eternal life that which God took from Adam and Eve after they sinned.

Does this mean that if the church in Ephesus doesn’t change it’s ways and return to the loving deeds that marked them, some “so called church members” will prove their salvation false, dead, and worthless? That’s what is says.

Some say Jesus is talking about rewards; I can’t see it, I tried. Reading good theology into a text instead of dealing with it.

Conclusion

How have you loved this week? Love has been perverted by culture into feelings and sex, that is not love. Love is when you do something for the good of another. How have you loved this week?