Chapter 2

Ephesus: No Love for the Lord

Revelation 2:1-7

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The Root of the Letter (v. 1)

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Concerning Christ

As mentioned in Chapter 1, each of these letters contains some feature of the Lord Jesus that is taken from the vision of Revelation 1. The feature in view here appears in 1:12, 13 and 16:

And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. . . . And He had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.

Not only was the Lord Jesus the Author of Revelation, He is much more; He is the “Head Of All Ministry;” it is He Who controls and empowers His Church. How we need to remember that principle! As He promised, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The Ephesian believers knew some great leaders—Paul, Timothy, and even the Apostle John. But it is the Lord Jesus who puts such servants where He wants them, where they can serve Him most.

We need to apply that truth today. It is God Who calls men to the ministry. It is not we who decide to be “ministers,” as is a common tendency these days. There are many who merely choose the “clergy” as their vocation. Worse, even among evangelicals today the tendency is for men (and even women) to appoint themselves as teachers or preachers, regardless of biblical qualifications, training, and ordination.

Moreover, it is God who calls men to serve in specific local churches, not the congregations. We should get away from the term, “the church extended a call” because there not a single biblical precedent for that concept. Where do we get such terms? A church can certainly examine a man’s qualifications and ask him to pastor them, but God does the calling and guiding of men to the field.

Concerning the Church

The basic meaning of the word “Ephesus” is “desirable.” That is an amazing fact, for in the eyes of many people, the church at Ephesus was truly desirable, virtually perfect. Acts 19 records the great beginning of that church. Paul did some of his greatest work there, and that church became the center of evangelism and church planting in Asia.

Prophetic History

The church at Ephesus pictures the history of the Church from Pentecost to A.D. 100. As we have seen, and will detail as we continue, this historical local church was mighty indeed. The same was true of this entire period of Church History. But, as we will see, even though there was something desirable in the beginning, this church, and this period of Church History, had one serious problem.

Concerning The City[1]

Paul founded the Ephesian church near the close of his second church-planting journey (Acts 18:19-21). He paused at Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem and preached in the Jewish synagogue and then left a Christian couple, Priscilla and Aquila, to minister there. Upon his return to Ephesus during his third journey (Acts 19:1), he spent an unusually long time there, almost three years (Acts 18:18-21; 19; 20:31), longer than any other place during his church planting ministry. The reason for the long stay was undoubtedly because of how strategic that city was to the spread of Christianity.

To say the very least, Ephesus was an important city in the ancient world. Like all the cities mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, Ephesus was located in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. It was located on the Western shore and was, in fact, the capital of that Roman province and its greatest commercial city. It sat at the mouth of the important Cayster River, right on the shore of the Aegean Sea, and therefore functioned as the “Gateway to Asia.” Additionally, four main roads, from all over Asia Minor, led to Ephesus, and historians have even called it, “The Market Place of Asia.” An analogy of this would be old colonial Pittsburgh, which was called the “Gateway to the West” because it sat on the Ohio River, which in turn flowed into the Mississippi. As in that day before mechanized travel, so it was in ancient times that waterways were the crucial to travel and trade. Not only was Ephesus a strategic waterway, it was an important caravan route. An analogy here is as Chicago serves as a hub for railroad travel, a highway to Ephesus made it the hub of caravan travel.[2] It was because of this strategic location that Ephesus was important to commerce and the military. It likewise proved valuable as a strategic location from which to launch evangelistic work. It is that latter point, in fact, that provided the reason for Paul’s lengthy stay. Because of this city’s strategic location, he wanted to found a church and teach it at length so as to create a solid launching pad for further work.

Ephesus was also important for another reason—its pagan worship. Ephesus was among the most pagan cities of that day. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world was the great temple of Diana (or Artemis in Greek), which was located at a sacred site of an ancient Anatolian fertility goddess, about a mile and a half northeast of the city. It was widely represented on Roman coins, and was reported to be four times the size of the Roman Parthenon. Consisting of 127 white marble columns, each 62 feet high, it was 425 feet long and 220 feet wide. All were made of marble, and some were studded with jewels and overlaid with gold. Additionally, each had been a gift of a particular king, and therefore acted as a tribute to the king who donated it.

Besides ornate carvings and paintings, the temple was best known and most revered for the image of Diana, which supposedly had fallen directly from Heaven to Earth. The image was of a crowned woman with multiple breasts that symbolized fertility. The temple was so popular that Ephesus became the religious center of all Asia. The worship of Diana was hideous; it involved temple prostitution, orgies, self-mutilation, sadomasochism, and other sexual perversions. Some historians have called Ephesus, “The Vanity Fair of the Ancient World.” Do we not have those same things going on today? Besides Diana worship, Ephesus was also known as the center of occult arts and practices. Indeed, what better place could there have been from which to launch evangelistic outreach? Paul wanted to go to the center of pagan worship and then go out from there. And it is, indeed, amazing what happened in that city.

Directly linked to this worship was commerce and tourism. People from all over the region visited the temple, carried on worship, and purchased silver shrines of Diana (Acts 19:24). The significance of this is one of the most dramatic illustrations in all Scripture of the effect the Gospel has on those who truly believe. That truth, in fact, is a recurring theme through all these seven churches. The Gospel changes lives and changed lives means the abandonment of pagan practices.

Like everywhere else he went, Paul met opposition in Ephesus, but his greatest work was done there. As mentioned earlier, this church became the most prominent church in the region. Acts 19:10 tells us: “All the Jews and Greeks who lived in Asia heard the Word of the Lord.” That is astounding! They didn’t have the printing press, raido, TV, or the Internet, but the Gospel spread everywhere nonetheless. How did that happen? Some might think that the reason for this was because of great evangelistic campaigns and citywide crusades, which today we seem to think are an absolute must. But this happened because individual believers, who were trained in the local church, went out as witnesses. That is evangelism.

We also discover that the Gospel even hurt the economy in Ephesus. As people came to Christ, they stopped purchasing miniature idols of the temple and Diana, which were made by the silversmiths. Again, this fact of the Gospel driving out every piece of pagan religion will be a recurring theme throughout our study. While we often invite it right into our homes and churches, Godly people drive it out, for it has no place there.

The Regard of the Letter (vs. 2, 3, 6)

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. . . . But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

The first words we notice are I know. In contrast to the common word ginōskō, to know by experience, and indicates a continuing acquisition of knowledge, the word here is oida (or eidō), which speaks of a full, complete knowledge.[3] Our Lord knows His Church and each of its individual churches. He knows what’s going on, whether good or bad, whether edifying or detrimental, whether they are operating biblically, traditionally, or even humanistically. This fact in itself should challenge us today to examine what we are doing and how we are doing it.

Again, “Ephesus” means “desirable.” The church in Ephesus was doing great things for God. In fact, we see here a truly amazing, sevenfold commendation from the Lord Jesus. He praises them for seven realities.

Their “Labour”

The Greek behind labour is kopon. The verb form, kopiaō, speaks of “exertion and toil,” “the process of becoming tired,” and the “consequent fatigue and exhaustion;[4] in short, to labor to the point of exhaustion. They were truly giving it their all.

Peter used this word, for example, when he told the Lord that he and his companions “toiled” all night fishing and had caught nothing (Lk. 5.5). While we don’t see much toil in casting out and reeling in our fishing line today, they had labored all night in a small boat throwing out their net and dragging it in over and over without success. It is also used of the duty of a pastor to study the Word of God: “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine” (I Tim. 5:17). In contrast to today’s tendency to stay out of the “Pastor’s Study,” entertain people with jokes and cute sermons, Paul makes it clear that the responsibility of a pastor is to exhaust himself in the study of the Word of God. The Ephesian church, therefore, as a whole, practiced true sacrificial toil in every area of Christian service.

Their “Works”

The Greek for works is ergon, which speaks of work in general, such as working “in a field (Matt. 21:28) or at a trade (Acts 18:3),” or even “to do business” (Matt. 26:16).”[5] The clear implication here is that the Ephesians were systematically doing good works. Not only were they working to the point of exhaustion, but they were doing it systematically and consistent, doing it every day. As James declares, “Faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:7), that is, a profession of Christianity that is not evident by godly living in every area of life is a false profession. And with regard to the believers in Ephesus, what they did matched what they said.

Their “Patience”

The Greek here is hupomonē, a compound word formed from menō, “to remain,” and hupo, “under.” The idea then is to “remain under,” that is, “to stay behind, to stand one’s ground, survive, remain steadfast.” In Classical Greek, it was “used frequently in military contexts,”[6] to dig-in and hold ground. The Ephesians, therefore, were enduring every obstacle that came into the path of Christian service, stood their ground, and persisted through it all, never gave an inch.

It’s important that we keep these first three commendations in mind as we continue; they are most significant and will be in view again in “The Rebuke.”

Their Separation From Sin (“cannot bear evil men”)

Here is a great commendation! These Christians would not allow sin to remain in their midst. They were, indeed, following the admonition Paul wrote to them many years before: “Put off concerning the former manner of the life the old man, which is corrupt . . . and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24). What is the “old man?” He is all that we were in Adam, that is, all the guilt, penalty, power, and dominion of sin that was in Adam. Paul lists in the surrounding context the sins that characterize that old man, and Jesus now commends them that they would not tolerate sin in their midst. Undoubtedly this church practiced Biblical church discipline, putting out anyone who was persistent in sin and rebellious.

Their Doctrinal Purity (“tried those who called themselves apostles”)

In his farewell address, Paul had warned the Ephesian elders that false teachers would come from the outside and from the inside (Acts 20:28-31):

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Apparently, then, they had not forgotten those words. At the time John wrote, he was probably the only living Apostle, so it was a given that false claimants would appear and claim to have authority. An example of this was a group called the Nicolaitanes. We shall see this group again in our study of the church at Pergamum, but briefly, this group, according to several early Church Fathers (Ignatius, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Hippolytus) had turned “liberty” into “license.” As one commentator writes, “What in Ephesus was ‘practices’ (v. 6) became in Pergamum a ‘teaching’ (v. 15).”[7] They viewed their “Christian Liberty” to be a license to do anything they desired, which of course resulted in total self-indulgence. But the church evidently weeded out those who took this heretical position and were on guard for false teachers.

Here is one of countless encouragements to discernment in Scripture.[8] Additionally, the Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve, was an early 2^nd Century document, written by an unknown author, which contains teachings on Church order. While it wasn’t recognized as part of the Canon of Scripture, it was highly regarded in the Early Church. It also warned against false teachers:

Welcome every apostle on arriving, as if he were the Lord. But he must not stay beyond one day. In case of necessity, however, the next day too. If he stays three days, he is a false prophet. On departing, an apostle must not accept anything save sufficient food to carry him till his next lodging. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet (11.4–6)

Again, while that isn’t Scripture, it is based on Biblical principles. As they are today, false prophets were rampant in that day, and one of the earmarks of such teachers is the motive of money (II Pet. 2:1-3). Such teachers are out to get what they can.

In a day when error is everywhere and discernment is virtually nowhere, we need this challenge. As Paul again wrote to the Ephesians some years before, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14). Obviously, the Ephesians were at that time undiscerning, acting like children, who will believe most anything you tell them. The Greek for “children” is nēpios, which is a combination of nē (“not”) and epos (“word”), so the literal idea is “one who cannot speak, that is, an infant.” Metaphorically, it pictures one who is “unlearned, unenlightened, simple, innocent,”[9] and even “foolish;” when the ancient Greek philosophers wished to dismiss someone who was foolish in his views, they would use nēpios with biting sarcasm.[10]

What, then, is the key to discernment? There is only a single principle: what does the Word of God say? It doesn’t matter if some new idea, new method, or other new teaching “sounds good,” but whether or not it’s right according to Scripture. At the very heart of the Reformation was Sola Scriptura, that it is “Scripture Alone” that dictates all we believe and practice, not Church Tradition, human opinion, or anything else. For centuries Roman Catholicism has been adding its traditions to Scripture, and even incorporating pagan practices (and even gods) into its system, Evangelicalism is not much better as it also adds men’s teachings, methods, and ministries to Scripture. How we need a new Reformation today![11]

So, in light of Paul’s challenge years before, the Ephesians were now doctrinally pure, and Christ praises them for it. That is, indeed, a great commendation. They were discerners in an age that demanded such discernment.

Their Endurance of Persecution (“hast borne, and hast patience”)

We again find the word patience (hupomonē). The first time this word was used (v. 2) it referred to service. It now refers to suffering. Most of the seven churches experienced persecution to one degree or another. This was true of those in Ephesus, as recorded in Acts 19. The Ephesians patiently endured without complaint.

Their Positive Attitude (“hast laboured, and hast not fainted”)

The Greek used here for laboured is a form of kopon, which we saw earlier. The word here literally speaks of “fainting from weariness” and implies discouragement. How often Christians become discouraged! But may we realize that discouragement is actually sin. Why? Because we can only become discouraged when we take our eyes off Christ and begin to look at circumstances and react to them. Well, these folks did not become discouraged. In spite of persecution, in spite of repercussions from church discipline, in spite of rumors spread by spurned false teachers, they just kept on laboring faithfully.

May we say once more, this sevenfold commendation is, indeed, a remarkable description! As one looks at these commendations, he seems drawn to believe that this church had everything a church needs. In fact, in the eyes of many today, a church like this one would be flawless. It would be held up as a model to follow. The pastor of the church would no doubt write a book titled, How to Build an Ephesian Church. I have personally seen churches like Ephesus. Churches like this one have all the mechanics, all the programs, all the great methods of evangelism, and experience what they define as “great results.”

But there is still something lacking in such a church, and it is this thought that leads to our third point.

The Rebuke of the Letter (v. 4)

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Despite its outward appearance, our Lord had a strong rebuke for the church at Ephesus. Let us first examine the problem and then its cause.

The Problem

We cannot help but notice the first word of verse 4, Nevertheless. Surely the Ephesian believers were feeling quite edified by Christ’s words of praise, but undoubtedly their “bubble was burst” by His nevertheless. In spite of all they were accomplishing, there was still a serious problem—they had left [their] first love.

Please notice that it does not say they “lost” their first love, as some incorrectly quote. One does not “lose” his first love like he would misplace his car keys. The Greek behind left is aphiemi, which literally means “to leave, desert, forsake, leave behind.” What then does it mean to leave our first love? Simply put: To leave one’s “first love” means to leave behind the simplicity, joy, depth, and passion of a personal relationship with Christ.

Once again, some 35 years earlier Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers” (Eph. 1:15-16). At that time the believers in this new work loved the Lord and had a passion for the Lord. But now, 35 years later, most of the believers in Ephesus are second generation, many of the first generation having gone to glory. Now, while these believers had the purity, they didn’t have the passion. Everything had become mechanical and methodical. The paradox is that while they were doing things right, they were also doing them wrong.

A practical illustration of this is the newly wed couple. Their new life together is one of constant excitement. Serving her new husband is not service at all to the bride but gladness, and pleasing his new bride is not tedious but satisfying for the new groom. But after a couple of years it all becomes habit. She keeps the house and cooks the meals as well as before (perhaps even better), and he provides as much as he did before (perhaps even more), but things have just become routine. She no longer sees him off to work but says “goodbye” from somewhere in the house, and he no longer tells her that he loves her as often a he did before. They have both left [their] first love. They’ve left behind the simplicity, joy, depth, and passion of their love.

Perhaps the most graphic biblical illustration is found in Ezekiel 16:8-15:

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

Think of it! Once in love with God, Israel had actually become a harlot. And how close Ephesus was to that! This leads right to the cause of the problem.

The Cause

Here is a truly amazing contrast. Please remember the first three commendations the Lord had for the church at Ephesus: their “works,” “labour,” and “patience.” Now contrast those with I Thessalonians 1:2-3:

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, Remembering without ceasing your work of FAITH, and labour of LOVE, and patience of HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ . . . (emphasis added).

Do you see? Works, labour, and patience are not enough in themselves. Without the controlling attitudes of FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE (I Cor. 13:13), our works, labour, and patience become mere ritual; they become mechanical. We can do all the right things, but still be wrong. That is exactly what happened in Ephesus. The believers there did all the right things but without the passion and depth that gives it all meaning. The result was emptiness.

How tragic it is that this is the case in the lives of many believers today. We pray, read our Bibles, go to church, sing, pray, observe the Lord’s Supper, and do countless other things mechanically. The passion is gone.

To go deeper, ponder three further correlations.

First, our works are tied to our FAITH. James tells us this in those words, “Faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:17). All our works are to flow out of our faith, trust, and dependency on Christ. We do everything in the knowledge that God will use it for His purpose. Apparently, the Ephesians were “doing things” but without truly believing that God would in-turn accomplish anything through it.

Second, our labor is tied to our LOVE. “God will not forget your work and labour of love” (Heb. 6:10). Many of us do a certain thing only because God commands it, or we do something in the church just because the pastor asks us to do it. But that’s the wrong motive. It’s simply mechanics, and God won’t bless it. As important as doing the right thing is, it’s not enough. All our labour must be done because we love the Lord and want to serve and please Him.

Third, our patience is tied to our HOPE. We can only be patient in trials and tribulations because our hope (which literally means certainty; Greek elpis) is in Christ. The only reason we can be patient in anything is that we are looking way beyond the circumstances to our position in Christ. Paul wrote of this often:

. . . We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. 5:3-5).

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:20).

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? (I Thes. 2:19)

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

May we each ask ourselves, “Am I practicing mechanical Christianity?” May we not be guilty of just “going through the motions.” May our churches not be guilty of mechanical, ritualistic, or man-made methods and practices either in worship or service. May we all truly love our Lord and cling to that passion.

The Requirement of the Letter (v. 5)

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

The Lord Jesus required three attitudes from the church at Ephesus.

“Remember”

The Greek behind remember (mnemoneuō) doesn’t just refer to the mental capability to recall something, but also “to be mindful” of it and “take [it] into account.”[12] This is also in the Present Tense, yielding the idea “keep remembering.” The Lord Jesus wanted the Ephesians to just to constantly take into account from whence [they were] fallen, which implies two principles.

Remember Where You Came From

First, our Lord says. One of the most beautiful verses in all the Word of God appears in Isaiah 51:1: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” To the nation of Israel God said in effect in verses 2 and 3, “Remember your past; remember where you came from; remember that your nation exists only because of My power that created that nation from an old man and an old woman who were beyond the age of child-bearing.” Oh, may we also remember what we were—lost, hell-bound sinners. But God loved us, had mercy on us, and sent His only begotten Son to die in our place. As Paul told the Ephesians of their riches in Christ in chapters 1-3 of his Epistle to them, we should make habit of reading those chapters in our Christian life to be remember what we have in Him.

Commentator William Barclay recounts a short story by O. Henry:

There was a lad who had been brought up in a village; and in the village school he had sat beside a village girl, innocent and sweet. The lad found his way to the city; fell into bad company; became an expert pickpocket. He was on the street one day; he had just picked a pocket--a neat job, well done--and he was pleased with himself. Suddenly he saw the girl he used to sit beside at school. She was still the same--innocent and sweet. She did not see him; he took care of that. But suddenly he remembered what he had been, and realized what he was. He leaned his burning head against the cool iron of a lamppost. “God,” he said, “how I hate myself.” Memory was offering him the way back.

Indeed, may memory bring us back to the sweetness of fellowship with our Lord.

Remember the Relationship You Used To Have

Dear Christian, do you remember the joy, the thrill, and the peace you felt when you first came to Christ? Do you remember the hunger and thirst you had to know more about what God’s Word says? Many Christians have left that behind in favor of the values and priorities of the world. Others have left it for the new and novel, leaving behind doctrine and chasing after entertainment in the Church service. Still others have allowed their Christian life to become “old hat,” just going through the motions. May our relationship with our Savior continue to be as close and as personal each day as it was on the day of our conversion. In fact, it should be even more so.

“Repent”

The word repent translates metanoeō, “to change one’s mind.” Not surprisingly, this word is rarely found in Classical Greek because “Greek society never thought of a radical change in a man’s life as a whole, of conversion or turning round.” In fact, the whole concept of conversion is not found in Greek thought, but is derived from the New Testament.[13] The idea in this word is to turn around, change one’s mind, relent, and in the theological sense involves “regret or sorrow, accompanied by a true change of heart toward God.”[14] So, in the present context, the admonition of the Lord was, and is today, to change our attitude toward God, to turn away from mechanical Christianity, to get back the passion, joy, and thrill that is characteristic of a spiritual believer.

“Return” (“do the first works”).

Notice carefully that this doesn’t speak of “Christian service” or being “busy in the Lord’s work.” They were already doing that! Rather our Lord is saying, “Get back to the basics.” Get back to the things that originally brought the joy and thrill of knowing the Lord, namely: worship, the depth of the Word of God, communion with God in prayer, fellowship with other believers, and sharing with the lost people around you the true Gospel of Christ. Oh, that we would get back to the basics!

As one commentator observes, this is the story of the bride in the Song of Solomon (5:2-16). Her delay in answering his knock caused him to withdraw and caused her sadness. Finally finding him, however, the brought joy to her heart. For her, then, the first works were finding him whom she loved.[15] Likewise, some Christians delay in what they should do and leave that real love for the Lord.

Let us also consider the consequences of not heeding Christ’s admonition. He said to the Ephesians, I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy [lampstand]. As commentator Adam Clark put it, “Take away my ordinances, remove your ministers, and send you a famine of the word.” That is a frightening warning. And tragically there is today a famine of the Word of God is countless churches. Our Lord’s words vividly picture the fact that He would remove their light, which would also mean that real life and vitality would disappear.

It’s important to note that the letter to Ephesus is, indeed, the key church of the seven. It unlocks the door to the others. We say this because it appears to be “the perfect church.” Everything seems to be flawless. But such was not the case, and Jesus said that if the problem was not dealt with, He would remove the light from them. And that is, in fact, exactly what happened to this historical church. Today there is no church in that region of the world. The entire area was swallowed by the Moslems, and there is no Christian church for miles around. What’s more, there isn’t even a city where Ephesus once stood. Ephesus was destroyed by the Goths in A.D. 262, and even though it was rebuilt, it never rose to its former glory and completely declined by the fifth century. Only a small Turkish town (Ayasaluk) remains in the area. Writing in 1861, commentator John Eadie graphically described the Ephesus of his day:

The candlestick was at length removed out of his place, and Mahametan gloom overspread the city. The city also has become one of external desolation. The sea has retired from the harbour, and left behind it a pestilential morass. Fragments of columns, arches, and porticos are strewn about, and the wreck and rubbish of the great temple can scarcely be distinguished. The brood of the partridge nestles on the site of the theatre, the streets are ploughed by the Ottoman serf, and the heights of Coressus are only visited by wandering flocks of goats. The best of the ruins—columns of green jasper—were transplanted by Justinian to Constantinople, to adorn the dome of the great church of Sancta Sophia, and some are said to have been carried to Italy. A straggling village of the name of Ayasaluk, or Asalook, is the wretched representative of the great commercial metropolis of Ionia. While thousands in every portion of Christendom read this epistle with delight, there is no one now to read it in the place it was originally addressed. Truly the threatened blight has fallen on Ephesus.[16]

What a vivid example this is of what a lack of God’s Word will do to a society! How sad this is when we think of the Ephesian believers. Of all the Christians in the New Testament, they had the greatest advantages. They had had the most of Paul’s time, teaching, and training. But now look at them. One would think that with that great letter Paul had written in their hands, that there would be no way they could fall away from the Truth as they did. Sadly, however, the same is true today. We also have that same letter in our hands, but we still are weak.

Oh, may we return to our first love!

The Reassurance Of The Letter (v. 7)

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

What a blessing it is to see that our Lord doesn’t end his letter to each church with His rebuke, but rather He ends with a tender reassurance. Here Christ’s reassurance is twofold.

An Exhortation

The exhortation, which is found in each of the seven letters, is, He that hath an ear, let Him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches. Most of us probably tend to think that to hear something simply means that sound registers in our ears and brain. But Webster says that it goes further than that: “to perceive or apprehend with the ear; to gain knowledge of by hearing; to listen to with attention.” Every parent has experienced times when their child says he or she hears what the parent is saying but doesn’t really listen with attention.

The Greek akouō, however, from which we get such words as “acoustics” (the science of sound), goes even further. It not only means to hear in general (e.g., Matt. 2:3), to hear with attention (e.g., Mk. 4:3, “hearken”), and to understand (e.g., Mk. 4:33), but also to obey. A graphic example of this word appears in the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31); when the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to tell his five brothers about the torment of Hell, Abraham answered, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” His point was piercing. As he goes on to explain, if they would not hear (obey) God’s Law as revealed, they would not be convinced by someone who rose from the dead. That Truth is proven everyday as people reject the resurrected Lord Jesus.

It’s amazing how many times in Scripture we see this principle of the “hearing ear.” As Jeremiah declared to Israel, “Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:” (Jer. 5:21). Likewise, Ezekiel called Israel “a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not” (Ezek. 12:2). Why did the Lord Jesus finally speak only in parables? “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matt. 13:13). Even His disciples failed to really hear what he said: “Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” (Mk. 8:17-18). On several occasions our Lord declares, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mk. 7:16; Lk. 14:35). James declares that some people are hearers but not doers of the Word (Jas. 1:22-24), which implies that while they might hear the Word, they don’t really listen to the Word. What a grave difference!

This dramatic statement, therefore, shows that individual Believers can be faithful no matter what others might do (or fail to do). The implied question then is, “Are we going to listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us?” The Ephesians didn’t. Few scenes in Scripture are sadder than this one. Here was a church that had everything, but threw it all away. Likewise, much of Christianity today has thrown away the Word of God. The joyous thought in Christ’s statement, however, is that it implies that there will always be some who listen. As we’ll see, in every period of Church History, no matter how corrupt the period is, there is always a remnant, a group of believers who stay faithful. May we each commit ourselves to be a part of that remnant.

A Promise

Jesus ends His letter to the Ephesians with the promise that to those who obey His admonition he will grant the privilege to eat of the tree of life. This subject has puzzled many over the years, and several views have been offered. The tree of life is first mentioned in Genesis 3:22 where we find that if Adam and Eve had been permitted to eat of this tree while in their sinful condition, they would have forever remained sinful. Our text, then, and Revelation 22:2, speak of us eating the fruit and the leaves being used to heal the nations.

More specifically, believers will partake of the fruit as a symbol of eternal life. Then, since it is through the nation of Israel (according to the Abrahamic Covenant) that all nations will be blessed (Gen. 18:18), then the leaves (and perhaps the fruit also) will be used to “heal” the nations, that is, make them acceptable in God’s sight. We say this since the number 12 is symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel—the number seems to mean “Divine Administration and Control”—and because the number 12 is then used in reference to the tree of life. So, all this is merely a symbol, a picture of the fact that all men, no matter what nation they come from, are accepted of God because of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean all men are accepted no matter what they believe—that is Universalism—rather they are accepted if they have trusted in the merits of Christ.

But the point we need to make is, obedience brings God’s blessing, and as our text declares, that blessing will take place in the paradise of God, that is, Heaven and the New Jerusalem. As Jesus said the thief on the Cross, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). Likewise, Paul recounted how he had been “caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (II Cor. 12:4). What does Paul mean? We don’t know! He wouldn’t say. It was beyond language, beyond the limits of what language allows. And as the Apostle John declares later in the Book, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:2).

Dear Christian Friend, have you fallen out of love with the Savior? Have you left your first love behind? Have you forsaken the things that originally thrilled you about Christianity? Christian pastor, have left behind the Truth of the Word of God alone. If so, may you right now remember, repent, and return.

Back to MP3 Library Back to Home Page