Sermon Tone Analysis

In the next several Sundays when we are in Revelation, we’ll be looking specifically at the seven churches individually, which are covered in chapters 2-3.

Right now, I’m going to discuss briefly some of the similarities with the churches.

The One Who is speaking to each church is Jesus Christ.

We see that Christ has complete and absolute knowledge about each church.

We also see a listing of each of the church’s accomplishments, except for two of them, Smyrna and Philadelphia.

Then there is a judgment spoken about the condition of each church.

After that, comes a command to the churches on how to correct their problem or even an encouragement to continue to do something.

There is a phrase that is shared with each church towards the end of Christ’s comments, He who has an ear, let him hear . . .

Simply put, if you genuinely heard what was said, then do something about it.

Finally, there is in each letter a promise of reward to those who are victorious.

These were real churches that were in existence during John’s time.

They are not in existence anymore.

Interestingly, they are not much different than many churches throughout the ages.

The late Francis Schaeffer stated in his book, The Mark of the Christian, that “the meaning of the word Christian has been reduced to practically nothing.…

Because the word Christian as a symbol has been made to mean so little, it has come to mean everything and nothing.”

In other words, if a person is not a Muslim, a Hindu, or any other specific religious group, then they are labeled Christian.

Now, let’s begin to look at the church in Ephesus.

This church actually was the first of the seven churches.

Many scholars suggest that the Ephesian church is the one from which the other six churches began.

The city itself was considered a crossroads of civilization.

The Roman governor lived in Ephesus, as it had become like the capital of the region.

The real capital was officially, Pergamum.

Ephesus was the trade center of the area and the largest of the seven cities in these chapters.

Now, when you consider what a busy, active city this was, you have to also realize that all kinds of false religion took place.

In fact, Ephesus was the center for the worship of Artemis or Diana, the fertility goddess.

The temple was where there were thousands of priests and priestesses practicing this cult.

If that’s not bad enough, Ephesus was an asylum city for criminals on the run.

Ephesus was considered unfit and unclean even by some of its own citizens due to its moral degeneracy.

However, it is where Priscilla and Aquila, and later Paul, were instrumental in founding the church at Ephesus.

Apollos later would preach there.

I would say that the people of this city certainly needed to be reached for Christ.

We know that the rise of Christianity was a major threat to the city’s businessmen.

As we get ready to look at these short letters to the churches, we should be asking some probing questions.

What is church?

What should church be like?

Hopefully, it is not descriptive of this story, told by Vance Havner.

A little boy was taken by his parents to a new church which had long services, both morning and evening.

On his third Sunday, the boy noticed on the wall a list of the names of those who had lost their lives in WWII.

The father explained, “Those are the names of the men and women who died in the service.”

The boy then asked, “Which one, morning or evening?”

That is not the picture of a church that we want to think about.

Sadly, some in the church can die by the tranquilizer of traditionalism.

Their idea is to do nothing new or different.

Some choose death by the disease of discontentment and discord.

It is seen in the fact that they will not participate in church activity unless they are able to get someone upset.

Others prefer to just quietly die.

Their death is caused by non-confrontational attacks of apathy.

They don’t cause conflict.

They just don’t really care to get involved.

They are simply going through the motions.

You noticed that the title of this message is Activity Does Not Guarantee Life.

I am convinced that:

If we wish to be a living witness, useful to God, we must be properly connected to the Giver of life.

The introduction to the Ephesian church gives the background of the source of the letter.

Revelation 2:1 (NASB95)

“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:

Christ Has a Commendation for the Church - 2.2, 3, 6

A.W. Tozer was absolute correct when he stated: 100 religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.

The first requisite is life, always.

Revelation 2:2–3 (NASB95)

‘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; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

Revelation 2:6 (NASB95)

‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

In these verses, Christ details some of their activity which He recognizes and commends them for it.

He sees all of their deeds, their removing and their perseverance.

What are the projects Christ sees?

He sees their deeds, their toil and hard work, or perseverance, depending on your Bible translation.

The word for toil is actually more accurately defined as wearisome toil.

The Ephesian church was quite familiar with busy, steadfast activity for the Lord.

You can imagine the huge amount of needs and opportunities available for the church in that city.

They were most likely super-busy, taking advantage of as many deeds as they could.

They were also commended for their removing, as seen from the phrase, you cannot tolerate evil men.

Notice that the Lord is not commending them for getting rid of pagans who were wicked.

After all, one must assume that pagans are going to be wicked.

So who is Christ talking about?

These wicked men were individuals who paraded about as brothers in Christ.

They were false apostles, claiming to be sent from God with a message from God, but were completely fake.

My friends, these types of individuals are not always easy to spot.

However, when tested against the truth of God’s Word, they are able to be seen.

Just because someone may sound spiritual and be a part of the group, does not guarantee that they are part of Christ’s body.

False teachers and leaders have always been detrimental to the church.

We also see, in verse 6, a hatred for the deeds of the Nicolaitans.

Notice that the Ephesians did not hate the people, but rather the evil deeds that were done by them.

We wonder just what did the Nicolaitans do and who were they?

Some scholars suggest they were a group who was quite liberal and lax in their Christian lifestyle.

From the translation of the word, it could have been a group that focused on promoting a hierarchy form of church structure.

To them, it may have been about positions and authority in a local body, rather than truly being the body of Christ.

Several scholars also suggest that this group, while focusing on ecclesiastical authority and position, also practiced free love.

Whatever it was, the Ephesian church hated it and so did Christ, for it caused people to behave immorally.

Their perseverance is also noted in verse 3.

They did not give up when it seemed as if God hadn’t noticed their work.

Even in the midst of difficulties and possible hardships, they didn’t give up, but kept serving.

Christ Has a Concern about the Church - 2.4

With all of the good comments about the activity of the Ephesian church, we might expect that the Lord would give them a special medal or inaugurate them in the Churches Hall of Fame.

But look carefully at that horrible word, but.

Revelation 2:4 (NASB95)

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

What exactly does Christ have against the Ephesian church?

In the context of the surrounding verses, we understand that Jesus is quite upset.

We scratch our heads, as we consider that Jesus had some good things to say about the church, in that they’d been quite busy and active for Him.