Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus’ Letter To The Church In Ephesus: Remember And Return!

Revelation 2:1-7

Pray..

Introduction:

Let me give a little background from last week

The Roman government exiled the apostle John to the aisle of Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ

Remember John was not there alone

On the Lord’s Day, John was filled with the Holy Spirit

The glorified Christ revealed himself to John

The Lord come to Him in the midst of his and the churches present suffering

and In Revelation 1:19, Jesus commands, “Write therefore the things you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this

John wrote what we call Revelation in his 90’s

we must remember the book of Revelation is about Jesus Christ, for in it he is revealed.

The revelation both is given by Jesus Christ and centers on Jesus

The revelation was sent to show God’s “servants,” i.e. , believers, what will take place “soon.”What

was Ephesus like?

Without breaking stride, Christ continues speaking to John by commanding him to write to the angel of the church in Ephesus

Chapters 2 and 3 record a series of letters Jesus sent to seven congregations in the Roman province of Asia Minor

What we know as western Turkey today

The seven churches were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea

The first church addressed was in Ephesus

This was most likely due to Ephesus location.

It’s located on the west coast of Asia Minor, so a messenger traveling from Patmos would arrive at Ephesus first

What was Ephesus like?

Ephesus was the de facto capital of the province

because of its economic strength, diverse population, cultural wealth, and religious activities.

It was the “Vanity Fair of Asia.”

To visit Ephesus in the first century would be to visit New York City

Paul started a church in Ephesus, later led by Timothy

Apollos taught at the church and Aquila and Priscilla served

many commentators said John ministered in Ephesus before and after his exile

Ephesus has an excellent tradition

however, it didn’t rest on its acclaim

At the time of this letter Ephesus continued to have dynamic ministries

Yet, it was on the verge of swift and severe judgment

Revelation 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first

I read this quote this week.

“Love is the first essential in Christian character, and when it commences to decline, the soul begins to drift.”

It seems the church of Ephesus had good programs in place, hard work ethics, strong doctrine, possibly upright hearts

But the church os Ephesus was adrift

It was on a path of spiritual disaster

And Jesus reached out to pull it back to safety, before it was too late.

V.7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

This letter was written to the church of Ephesus

But each member was responsible for his response.

So was every member of the seven churches.

This letter was not written to us, but it was written for us

In reading this letter you have to ask the question:

Have I abandoned my first love?

maybe I can ask it this way: When is the last time you have experience the Lord?

Do you have everything but the main thing?

Just like last week I want to walk us through three principles to help us understand and apply the letter to Ephesus

Three principles to understanding and applying the letter to Ephesus

The Church is the bride that belongs to Christ - v.1

Revelation 2:1 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

Revelation is written in signs and symbols.

So “angel” may refer to the pastor-teacher of the church.

But we should not call the pastor “the angel of the house.”

Pastors are not angels.

Ask my wife and children they will tell you

Pastor’s are messengers on assignment

Angles are ministering spirits to us

look at Hebrew 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

The Lord introduces himself to the seven church differently

In v. 1, Christ identifies himself to this church as the one “who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the golden lamp stands.”

He Holds = control & protection

The two participles are instructive:

Christ holds the angels (they are in his control)

and walks among the lampstands (he is present in their midst and aware of their activities).

“I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” Lev 26:12

He walks among us.

Why?

In Revelation 1:13, John saw the glorified Christ “in the midst of the lampstands.”

The picture is intensified in Revelation 2:1 where Christ “walks among the seven lampstands.”

According to Revelation 1:20, the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Jesus is walking in the midst of the churches.

Jesus walks among the golden lampstands to examine the purity of the church.

Church growth experts teach the key to growth is to ask what guests see when they visit your church.

But the real question is to ask what the Lord sees as he walks through the church

What does Christ see in our worship services, Bible studies, prayer meetings, praise team practice?

What does Jesus see you treating your wife/kids?

In v.2, the Lord declares, “I know.”

Jesus makes this statement to each of the seven churches

And He’s saying the same thing to us today

You can fool some people for a while

but You can never fool Jesus!

He knows us fully, perfectly, and completely

we are Christ’s (provides us comfort & humility)

Look at 2 Corinthians 10:7 Look at what is before your eyes.

If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we

Turn to Ephesians 5:22-27 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.

He who loves his wife loves himself.

29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband