TEXT: Revelation 2:1-7

SUBJECT: Seven Churches #1: Ephesus

I liked last week’s sermon so well I decided to follow it up with seven of my own! They won’t be as well-informed as the one you heard last time, but I hope they will bring a blessing to you. If I preach them properly and you listen well, I know they’ll bless you: we have God’s Word on it,

Revelation is a prophecy and this means it is a word from the Lord. Being from Him, we know it is true, timely, and just what we need. All Christians believe it is true, but some interpreters make it untimely and good for nothing but speculation. Some say it refers solely to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. If they’re right, it must have been of great value to the Early Church, but what’s it say to me? Others go to the opposite extreme and limit its teaching to the End of the Word. If they’re right, then it’s of great value to last generation of believers, but says nothing relevant to God’s people for 2,000 years (so far).

The prophecy is also a revelation. Many have defined this as an unveiling—and I won’t quarrel with them—but I think it’s more a ‘peek behind the curtain’. Seated in a theatre, you see part of what’s going on—the obvious part. But, if you were standing offstage, you could see everything that’s going on—both what the actors are doing and what the director and backstage crew are up to as well. This is what Revelation does for us. It reveals the Invisible Powers at work in the world—both demons and angels, and, of greater importance, it reminds us that—whatever is going on onstage, the Director has it all in hand!

The Book is, finally, a string of letters, inspired by Christ, written by John, and sent to seven churches is Asia Minor. Though each assembly was addressed by name, it seems that all of them read the seven letters. This means there was something in the Letter to Ephesus, for example, that the church in Smyrna needed to know. It also means there is something in all seven Letter that we need to know! Some of them fit our church better than others; but every one of them speaks a Word we need to hear—

The Leading Man in Revelation is our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only the Lord at His Second Coming, but mostly, Christ visible in heaven and invisible in and among His churches. If all you can find in this Book is the End of the World, you have misread the Book. The Book is about Christ—Coming Again, of course, but Already Here as well.

John knew our Lord Jesus Christ, and knew Him well. When he was a young man, he used to sit next to the Lord at dinner and sometimes rested his head on his shoulder. Though our Lord Himself was a young man at the time, there was something of a father/son relationship between Him and John. The disciple was comfortable with his Lord.

But not any more! When Christ appears to John in heaven, the poor man passes out with reverence and sheer terror! And why not? Allowing for figurative language, what would you do if you saw One like the Son of Man? ‘Son of Man’ is a title borrowed from Daniel’s prophecy, and refers to a Great Man who rises to heaven on a cloud and receives an unending and worldwide kingdom straight from God!

When John saw this Man, he fell at His feet as dead. But he didn’t need to, because the Man he saw in glory was the same man he used to eat dinner with. His position was changed—from carpenter to King, but His character was the same. He was still full of grace and truth. He is the same Word John used to see with his eyes, hear with his ears and handle with his hands.

The King helps John back to his feet and gives him a job to do. Write to the Seven Churches in Asia, but not in his own name, but ‘Be My secretary’, you might say, and write to them what I tell you. That’s what he did, and that’s what we have in Chapters two and three.

The Letters follow a certain pattern. Scholars say there is nothing distinctly ‘Biblical’ about it, but pretty much all letters were written this way back then. The form of the Letters, therefore, is common--but not what’s in them.

So let’s get to ‘what’s in them’.

The first Letter is addressed to the church in Ephesus. The city and the church gathered in it are briefly described in Acts 18-19. The city was thoroughly pagan and famous for its worship of Diana or Artemis. She was a fertility goddess and was worshiped, in part, by sacred fornication. She was not only important to the religion and culture of the city, but also to its economy. There was a large and strong union in that town—the silversmiths who made and sold images of their goddess. When her divinity was challenged, they incited a riot, and had they had the chance, would have killed Paul.

Speaking of whom, the church in Ephesus got its start under his ministry. He and a couple of friends were traveling to Jerusalem. When they got to Ephesus, Paul visited the synagogue a time or two and proved from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. The hearing he got was a fair one. No one persecuted him, at that time, and everyone listened to what he had to say. Did anyone convert to Christ at the time? The Bible doesn’t say.

It wasn’t long until another preacher came to Ephesus, and his name was Apollos. He was a Jew from Alexandria, Egypt (which was a city of great culture and learning). He was eloquent man, fervent and spirit, and mighty in Scripture. He made a real impression on the people. His preaching was great as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough, for all he knew was the baptism of John. In other words, he called men to repent because it wouldn’t be long before the Messiah came. Of course the Messiah had already come, but Apollos didn’t know it. When he was told the good news, he joyfully accepted it and began preaching the whole Gospel, and not just part of it.

Some time later, Paul came back to Ephesus and met a dozen of Apollos’ early converts. Like their master, they believed in the coming of Christ, but they didn’t know He had come. When they heard the news, they too, rejoiced, were baptized in His name and received the Gift of the Holy Spirit. The church in Ephesus is now firmly founded on the Rock of Ages.

Paul stayed two more years, during which time many were converted, elders were appointed, and the church became a missionary center in Asia Minor. But Paul was a missionary, and not a pastor. At the end of his two years, he called for the leaders of the church and reminded them of the kind of man he had been, told them to follow example, and to watch out because the church would soon have enemies, some from outside (Jews and pagans), and others from the inside, heretics and so-called pastors who would divide the flock. With many tears, he sailed for Jerusalem, Rome, prison, and death.

But the church was not left on its own. Timothy would later go there, the Bible says, and scholars say John spent the last years of his life in Ephesus. The church, therefore, had had the best teaching in the world! What a lineup! Paul, Apollos, Paul (again), Timothy, and John!

And now, Christ Himself speaks to the church. But this is not what He calls Himself—Christ, or Jesus, or the Lord, and so on. He identifies Himself as,

Before getting to the details, think of the first impression this would make on the church. What kind of Being could hold seven stars in His hand? I know the stars are figures of speech, but still, how big and strong and awesome, and Divine would you have to be to hold stars in your hand, the way another man would hold, what? Pennies? Beans? Marbles?

They were struck with the Majesty of Christ.

But what kind of Majesty? He also walks among the candle sticks or lamp stands. This, of course, refers to the lights that were in the Holy Place in the Temple and the Tabernacle. Who could go into the Holy of Holies? Only two persons: God and the High Priest. Both of which Christ is. He is both God and the Mediator between God and men.

This gave them a sense of His holiness and reminded them of what they owed Him.

The church is not being spoken to by an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill. It is the King (both human and Divine) who has something to say, and they’d do well to listen!

Have we forgotten who speaks to us in the Word of God? In the pastor’s sermon? In a friend’s good advice? In the promptings of conscience? It is not a mere man whose word can be taken or left. It is the Lord of Glory who speaks to us, a Lord who’s used to being listened to and obeyed.

The Lord looks carefully at the church in Ephesus, and likes much of what He sees there. The church is rock-solid on effort, patience, doctrine and discipline,

They worked hard and suffered without complaint. In particular, they were good at separating truth from error, and at not listening to the fools and heretics who would mislead them.

We all respect hard work and suffering with a good attitude. But today, many Christians don’t care much for getting their doctrine right. ‘What difference does it make what you believe—they say—as long as you love Jesus and reach out to people with the Gospel?’

There is some truth in this: loving Christ and preaching the Gospel are more important than getting the mode of baptism right or knowing which comes first--the Rapture or the Antichrist!

But some doctrine must be gotten right! On secondary issues, we ought to be patient and charitable. But on the primary things, we have to be dogmatic, inflexible, stubborn, mulish, and pig-headed!

Without hating the heretic, we ought to hate the heresy. The Ephesians did this, and Jesus Christ praised them for it!

If He sees what is good in them, He spots what isn’t so good as well—

This ‘first love’ refers to the love they used to have, but not anymore. Who or what did they once love so dearly, but not so much nowadays? Scholars are divided on this one: some say they don’t love Christ the way they used to, and others think they don’t love other people (both saved and lost) as they once did.

I’m not sure we have to make a choice, but if I had to, I would choose the second option—they had lost their first love for other people. Here’s why:

In a pagan world with the threat of deadly persecution, what would a lack of love for Christ look like? I think it would look like doctrinal and moral compromise. But the Ephesians were not compromised! They were still separated from the world, devoted to the Gospel, working hard for Christ and willing to suffer for Him.

These are good qualities! But a love for truth, like other good things, can run amok. When it does, it breeds suspicion and hatred. Wanting to be right on every jot and tittle of doctrine, we begin picking apart other Christians who may not know as much as we do, who say things differently, or who are wrong on some minor points. Our love for them declines. And, if it declines toward other believers, it disappears for the unsaved. We’re not content hating their false beliefs and wicked practices, we start hating them--personally!

Setting aside doctrine for a moment, I see a great deal of this in the Religious Right’s stand on homosexuality. Of course we ought to hate this sin, hate it because it dishonors the Lord and hurts people. But where are the tears for the dear people caught in this way of life? Did Christ die for every sinner except that kind of sinner? Can every other sinner be drawn to Christ through our love while this kind will be won by disgust, contempt, and votes against them?

Oh, how easy it is to slip from a love for truth and holiness into a hatred of sinners and wrong-headed Christians!

This is what had happened at Ephesus, and the Lord calls them on it!

Thankfully, this is not all He does—call them on it. Our Lord goes on to tell them what to do about it—

To ‘repent’ here means to recognize their sin and confess it to the Lord, and each other, if necessary. But that’s not the end of it! The goal of feeling guilty and admitting your sins is not feeling guilty and admitting your sins, but change! The Lord wants them to get back to what they used to be, before they were battered by persecution and worn out by heresy. He tells them to stop being suspicious of one another and to start loving their enemies!

To help them do it, He offers a pair of incentives. The first is a negative one—

The purpose of a lamp stand is to light up a room. Some time ago, the church was lighting up the whole city of Ephesus. But lately, there has been more smoke than light. Instead of shining the love of Christ into the world, they were obscuring it by their suspicion and hatred. If they don’t quit doing that, Jesus Christ is going to take the church out of Ephesus, maybe by death, or by scattering them, or in some other way.

If they want to be the Light of Ephesus, they must return to their First Love.

The other incentive is positive. If the stick doesn’t work, the carrot will—

Loving others is a matter of life and death. If they persist in their evil ways, they will not be saved—no matter how much they do or how right they get their doctrine! But when they repent, they will enjoy the Life that Adam and Eve lost, the Life that Christ now has, and that all His people will have too, when they persevere until the end.

This tree of life was once planted on the earth, in a real Garden in what is today Iraq, it seems. But when our grandparents fell into sin, the tree was plucked up and replanted in heaven. We will see it again someday, coming down in the New Jerusalem. It bears a different fruit every month and each will be more delicious and satisfying than the other. It will also produce leaves, leaves with medical properties in them, leaves that will heal every disease of body and soul!

If we love one another and love sinners, this Tree will be ours someday. For the promise is not made to the Ephesians only, but to everybody who has an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Not just that church at that time, but all churches including ours!

Not every part of Revelation is easy to summarize! But this one is. Jesus Christ wants us to love truth and to love people, not one or the other, but both. It is not always easy to reconcile the two, but reconcile them we must. And we can, too, by study and thought, prayer and trying, confession and starting over. And most of all, by trusting Christ to work in us what we can’t do ourselves.