The Letters To The Churches: Ephesus

Rev 2:1-7



Observations about the seven churches

• Seven actual churches
• Not periods of church history—

o There is no Biblical evidence for that viewpoint

o And the historical national and international “catholic” churches are not true churches in any sense of the word, they are, and have been for 1700 years or more, apostate political-religious entities.

o Some Protestant and formerly evangelical churches are just as dead

o And many Baptist and other “free churches” are dead.

o When God removes the candlestick, that which is left is NOT a true church in any sense of the word

o Some former churches die out numerically, but others may continue for generations, dead shells ruining lives and sending multitudes to Hell

o The churches in Asia here addressed through John must be churches of true form and doctrine who are in various stages of health

• In an application, they could be seen as somewhat typical of different types of congregations throughout history, and even now

• The seven churches are tied together by the Roman postal system.

• They are

Ephesus the orthodox, hard working loveless church

Smyrna, the persecuted church

Pergamus, the church in early stages of corruption

Thyatira, the corrupted church

Sardis, the dead church,

Philadelphia, the good church

Laodicea, the sickening church

1. The city and church of Ephesus

a. The city

(1) A free city, no Roman troops
(2) Locally governed
(3) 250,000-500,000 population
(4) Large stadium for games
(5) Very prosperous
(6) Extremely devoted to the Goddess of the Ephesians, Artemis
(a) See Acts 19:23-31

(b) Very sensual, immoral worship—thousands of temple prostitutes and slaves

(c) The worship was loud, boisterous, and wild. This was popular worship because is was sensual, because is was done with total abandon.

(d) There were large civic events in the Spring—for a month!

b. The church

(1) The Lord has the messengers of the churches (pastors) in His hands

(2) We know some of the pastors, elders, and teachers who have been to Ephesus and ministered

(a) Paul stopped there briefly—Acts 18:18-21

(b) He came there to definitively plant the church, Acts 19:1-20:1

(c) Apollos—Acts

(d) Timothy—1 Tim 1:3

(e) Onesiphorus—2 Tim 1:18

(f) Acts 18:24-28—Pricilla and Aquila

(g) The trusted solid elders that Paul had trained—Acts 20:17-34

(h) (probably) John the Apostle

2. Analysis

a. Incidentals

(1) The messenger being written to—2:1 "To the angel of the church of Ephesus…”

(2) The authority of the author of the message— “…These things says…”

(3) How Christ represents Himself to them—Rev 2:1 "… He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands…”

b. Commendations—(Rev 2:2-3)

(1) Jesus first notes their industriousness

(a) "I know your works…”

(b) “… your labor…”, Hard labor, toil (ATR)

(c) “… your patience…”

(2) Then He notes that they have taken the difficult step of dealing with and expelling false teachers and false believers—“…and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars…”

(a) Note the instructions given to the leaders of the Ephesian church in Acts 20—(Acts 20:26-31) ""Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 "For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 28 "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 "Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears."

(b) Note Paul’s warning to Timothy in 1 Tim 4:1-6 and 2 Tim 3:1-12

(i) How they reacted when tested in this way—

(ii) “…and that you cannot bear those who are evil…” These false teachers and false believers were a great burden to the church (ATR), and they Ephesians could not put up with them, would not put up with them, and they did deal with them.

(iii) “… And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars…” As taught (probably) by John as well as Paul, they applied the tests given in 1 and 2 John
(1 John 2:18-23) "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

(1 John 4:1-3) "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of 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 of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

(iv) {3} "and you have persevered and have patience,..” This was a long battle, not one easily fought, requiring great efforts on their part.

(v) “…and have labored for My name's sake…” Their Motives were RIGHT! They did this difficult thing, not for the benefit of themselves, but for the Glory of God, as they had been instructed (along with other places) in:

(Eph 3:21) "to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

(vi) Their steadfastness and strength were worthy, they did not flag out at the beginning. “…and have not become weary…”

(3) Their overall foe—probably the Nicolaitans.

(a) (Rev 2:6) "… you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate…”

(b) ATR— Of the Nicolaitans (tōn Nikolaitōn). Mentioned again in verse 15 and really meant in verse 2. Irenaeus and Hippolytus take this sect to be followers of Nicolaus of Antioch, one of the seven deacons (Acts 6:5), a Jewish proselyte, who is said to have apostatized. There was such a sect in the second century (Tertullian), but whether descended from Nicolaus of Antioch is not certain, though possible (Lightfoot). It is even possible that the Balaamites of verse 14 were a variety of this same sect (verse 15).

(c) What were the Nicolaitan beliefs?

(i) Hierarchy of leadership
(ii) Tolerance of sexual immorality, including by church leaders.


c. Condemnations—

(1) They quit loving their first love—(Rev 2:4) "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love…”

(2) Who or what did they cease to love?

(a) Jesus

(b) The Lost

(c) The poor

(d) Each other

(e) Holiness

(f) Their own salvation?

(3) What is going on here?

(a) They were second generation believers, trained in the great school of the Ephesian church, but they did not have the fervency and love that the originals had

(b) As a church, they were so concerned with being right that they neglected to love the people they had to deal with.

(1 Cor 8:1) "…We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."

d. Correction Required—(Rev 2:5) "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works,.

(1) Remember

(a) First, remember where you are, who you are, and what you are—and what you were

(b) From where you have fallen—they had, at some time been doing the right thing

(2) Repent—turn from the path they were on—as a church!

(3) Retrench—Do the First Works—rediscover the first love!

e. Consequence—“…or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place; unless you repent…”

(1) Again, what does this mean?

(2) The Bible Tells us exactly what this means—(Rev 1:20) ""… the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

(3) If they do not repent (quickly) the Lord will “pull their franchise license!” They will cease to be a true church—and the scary possibility is that they might not even notice it.

(4) And, it happened!

(a) The church at Ephesus sold out!

(b) We don’t know exactly when, but the church of Ephesus, along with all of the ancient mainline congregations, joined the imperial church and taught the false doctrines of all brands of Catholicism.

(i) salvation by works

(ii) baptismal regeneration

(iii) a hierarchical form of church government

(iv) monasticism

(v) worship of the “saints,”

(vi) worship of Mary the Mother of Jesus

(vii) Persecution of the true churches by the Imperial churches

3. Challenge and Charge—(Rev 2:7) ""He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…”

a. Regardless of the church, the true believers in it will survive and thrive.

b. First, let’s unpack this repeated phrase

(1) He—anyone

(2) Who has an ear—this is not physical hearing—this speaks of one who hears and understands and agrees with Biblical Truth—

(a) Not everyone listens to the Truth!

(i) (John 8:47) ""He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.""

(ii) (1 John 4:5-6) "They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."


(b) (Rev 2:7) ""He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev 2:11)… (Rev 2:17), (Rev 2:29), (Rev 3:6) (Rev 3:13), (Rev 3:22)

(3) “…Let him hear What the Spirit says to the churches…”

(a) Even though it is the Son of God we see and hear in His glorified visage, He still respects the ministry of the Spirit to the churches, which He Himself gave in John chapters 14-16

(b) “…to the churches…” Not to the Church, for that body has never met and will not meet in one Body until after the Rapture, but to the churches, each individual congregation, so long as they are true and have their “candlestick.”

4. Promise—“…To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'"

a. “…Him who overcomes…” One of the great concepts in this book is that of the Overcomer—the meaning is plain in this and other Scriptures

b. What is an Overcomer?

c.

(1) You are an overcomer if you are saved—(1 John 5:4-5) "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

(2) You are an Overcomer if you are promised a meal from the Tree of Life—(Rev 2:7) ""… To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'"

(3) You are an overcomer if you won’t be hurt by the second death—(Rev 2:11) "" He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."'"

(4) (Rev 2:17) ""…I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."'"

(5) If we overcome, and our fruit will confirm that, we will reign with Jesus—(Rev 2:26) ""And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations;"

(a) (Rev 3:21) ""To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

(b) (Rev 21:7) ""He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son."

(6) We who are overcomers will receive many signs of that, including being vouched for by our Savior Himself—(Rev 3:5) ""He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."

(7) If we are overcomers, we will be established permanently—(Rev 3:12) ""He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name."



5. The Scary Thing For Us—This had been a great church, and it still looked like one!

a. They opposed false doctrine

b. They resisted the Nicolaitans

c. They stood for orthodoxy

d. They had been founded, discipled, led, and nurtured by a “who’s who” of the apostolic church

e. They were the recipients of one of the great theological masterpieces, the Epistle to the Ephesians.

f. But when their love waned, then they were open to and subject to all manner of false teachings, because if your doctrine does not include love for the Lord, Love for the brethren, and love for the lost, then the sooner or later, love for the Truth will also fly out the window.