The Church in Ephesus

Revelation 2: 1-7

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3

Revelation 2:1-7

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. 2I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.”

4“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Greetings to the churches

· Ephesus: “The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” Left their first love

· Smyrna: “The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.”Persecuted church

· Pergamum: “The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.”Compromising church

· Thyatira: “The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.”Corrupt church

· Sardis: “The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.”Dead church

· Philadelphia: “The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” Faithful church

· Laodicea: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.”Lukewarm church

Picture of Christ

SymbolReality

Golden sash/long robeChrist as high priest

Glowing white hairHoliness

Eyes of fireAll-knowingness

Feet of fine brassDivine judgement

Voice of rushing waterAuthority

Right hand holding 7 starsControl of church leaders

Two-edged swordJudgement on church’s enemies

Face like the sunGlory

To the church in Ephesus

· The words of Jesus.

· Jesus Christ in glory.

· 7 stars. (angelos: messenger/pastor)

· 7 lampstands (churches)

Ephesus

· 3 miles inland

· Large harbor

· 4 main trade routes

· Center of worship of Artemis (greek) or Diana (roman)

Revelation 2:1-7

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. 2I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.”

Commendation

· Works, toil and patient endurance.

· Cannot bear with those who are evil.

· Test those who call themselves apostles.

· Enduring patiently.

· Bearing up for his name.

4“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

Criticism

· Abandoned the love you had at first.

“5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

Instruction

· Remember from where you have fallen.

· REPENT!

· Do the works you did at first.

· Remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

“6Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

More Commendation

· Hate the works of the Nicolaitans.

Nicolaitans

· Followers of Nicolaus. Acts 6: 5-6

· “5And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6These they set before the apostles and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

· Proselyte means new convert.

· Greek word Nicolah: let us eat.

· They often encouraged people to eat food sacrificed to idols.

“14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”

Revelation 2: 14-15

· Thought to be a group that followed the doctrine of Balaam.

· “4For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 1: 4

· Sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality.

· Seeking a life of pleasure and self-indulgence thinking that grace will cover them and they can just do whatever they want.

“12But these like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing.”

2 Peter 2: 12-15 (ESV)

“25But as for the Gentiles, who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgement that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

Acts 21: 25 (ESV)

“6Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Promise

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

· The one who conquers will eat of the tree of life, which is the paradise of God.

“3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world---our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

1 John 5: 3-5 (ESV)

Questions

1. Have you overcome the world? Do you believe and have you placed your faith in Jesus?

2. Have you abandoned the love you had at first?

3. He who has an ear, let him hear. What did you hear from the Spirit today?