The church of Ephesus left its first love. In the message from Jesus to this church, there is a warning for all of us.
Ephesus: The Church That Left Its First Love
Revelation 2:1-7
If Jesus Christ were to dictate a letter to The Bridge Church today, what would He say? Would He commend us or correct us, or a little of both? That was the exact position that seven different churches faced in the ancient world. In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus Christ dictates letters to John, regarding seven different churches in Asia.
These were real, historical churches which existed in the first century. They had their own unique challenges and problems that they faced. In fact, the book of Revelation was written with these first century believers especially in mind. I believe that’s why He speaks of things “which must soon take place” in 1:2, and “the time is near” in 1:3.
But, let’s back up and get a big panoramic view of Revelation chapter 1.
The Revelation originated with God, who gave it to Jesus Christ, who sent it to His angel, who communicated it to John the apostle. In the first century, someone probably rose up in the different house churches, and read this letter. There was a special blessing to those who heard it and obeyed the things written in it. And there will be a special blessing to all Christians who do the same no matter what century they live in.
After the Prologue in the first three verses of chapter 1, John provides a salutation, a doxology, a prophecy, and a self-designation.
A Salutation: Author & Recipients – From John, to the seven churches of Asia. Prayer – Grace and peace these Christians would need to remain faithful in the midst of persecution. 3-Fold Designation of God: The Father, the Spirit, and the Son.
A Doxology (1:5-6).
A Prophecy (1:7)
A Self-Designation (1:8).
John tells them he was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. He mentions the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance. He was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when he heard a loud voice like a trumpet telling him to write in a book what he sees and send it to the seven churches. When John turns, he sees seven golden lampstands and a son of man standing in the midst. He is described in Old Testament language, all glorious. When John saw Him, he fell at His feet like a dead man. Jesus placed His right hand on him, and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
He then tells him that the seven stars in His right hand are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven golden lampstands are the seven churches.
Now, in chapter 2, Jesus will begin dictating a letter to seven different churches. We will begin with the letter to the church of Ephesus – the church that left its first love.
The standardized form of these letters includes 5 different elements:
- the Recipients,
- the Author,
- the Commendation,
- the Correction,
- and the Promise.
4 churches have both a commendation and a correction. One has nothing good said about it, and two churches have nothing bad said about them.
1. The Recipients
To the angel of the church. The first difficulty that confronts us is the identity of the “angel”. In every letter Jesus Christ writes to the “angel” of the church of a particular city. Exactly who are they? I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to give you a conclusive answer.
These “angels” would either have to be literal supernatural angels, or human messengers. The word “angel” means “messenger.”
In support of these being literal heavenly angels, the word “angel” or some derivative occurs 74 times in the book of Revelation, and in every other occurrence other than the angel of the seven churches, these are literal heavenly beings. That should make us pause before concluding that these angels must be human. However, it is difficult to understand why Jesus would write these letters to heavenly beings. Were the angels supposed to stand up in the church meeting and read the letters to the congregation? That is highly doubtful.
Some believe these angels are human messengers. Some have speculated that these seven churches would send delegates to the island of Patmos to minister to John and see about his condition. John would then send them home with the book of Revelation which would contain a letter to their church. The problem with this is that we don’t even know if the authorities would allow John to have visitors on Patmos, and we have no knowledge of any delegates ever visiting him.
Others believe these angels are probably the pastor of the church in each city. It would be the pastor’s duty to read the letter to the congregation and urge them to obey its contents. One fundamental problem with this view is that the early church did not have a single pastor. The apostles ordained multiple elders in every church. Which one was supposed to be the “angel”?
Then there is also the problem of Jesus seeming to hold the “angel” responsible for certain sins. For example, when Jesus writes to the angel of the church in Ephesus, He says in verse 4 “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first…” The “you” is singular, not plural. The same is true for the command to repent. Is Jesus really commanding a heavenly being to repent? He has committed no sins so there is nothing to repent of. Is Jesus commanding the pastor to repent? Maybe. However, it seems far more likely that whoever this “angel” is, whatever is said to him, is said to the whole church. When Jesus says that the “angel” has left his first love, He is saying that the whole church has left its first love. Each letter concludes with Jesus saying, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the CHURCHES.” Jesus was not just speaking to a single angel. He was speaking to the churches.
So, whoever the “angel” or “messenger” of the seven churches is, he functions as a representative, and what is said to him is said to the whole church.
In Ephesus. What do we know about the church in Ephesus?
- Ephesus was the largest and most important city in Asia, with a population of approximately 250,000 people.
- The city was devoted to the worship of the goddess Artemis (Diana). The Temple of Diana was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world.
- The church in Ephesus was founded in the 50’s A.D. If the traditional date for the book of Revelation is correct at around 95A.D., then this church has been in existence for about 40 years.
- It had been benefited by some great men of God: Paul the apostle, Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos, Timothy, and John the apostle.
2. The Author
In each one of the seven letters, Jesus Christ is described, usually with things that are spoken of him in chapter 1:13-18.
The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand. 1:16 says, “In His right hand He held seven stars.” In 1:20 we are told that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. Jesus holds these angels. He is the Lord over these angels (“messengers”). He holds them in the sense that He speaks the message to them, and commands them to take the message to the church.
The One who walks among the seven golden lampstands. In 1:12-13 we read, “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feed, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.” Here we find Jesus Christ walking among His churches. He is pictured as an Old Testament priest. So, the picture is of Jesus moving and ministering and empowering His churches, and purging them of sin. As a priest, He is interceding for them. This was an important picture of Christ that was given to the church of Ephesus. Jesus is going to say some hard things to them. But even before He exhorts them to repent, He is revealed as the Son of Man who serves them and intercedes for them.
3. The Commendation
In each of the seven letters, we will read “I know…” Jesus begins His letter by telling them what He knows about them. Remember, His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Jesus begins by telling them that He knows some good things about the church of Ephesus.
The church was characterized by three things, two of them being good.
Diligence. Jesus mentions their toil, perseverance, have endured for Christ’s name’s sake, and have not grown weary. This was a hard-working church. They persevered in serving the Lord when it was not easy. They endured for His name’s sake. They refused to grow weary. They diligently served one another, and obeyed Christ’s commands. They surely were diligent at witnessing to the lost, discipling the newly converted, and ministering to the poor and hurting in their midst. They were diligent.
Discernment.
You cannot tolerate evil men. That’s interesting. Jesus actually applauds them for NOT tolerating evil men. Our world today looks at intolerance as the greatest sin of all. The world would not like this church at all! They would call this church “intolerant” and “non-inclusive.” If you are intolerant of abortion, or the LGBTQ agenda, or transgenderism, you are labeled a hatemonger and will be cancelled. However, instead of criticizing this church for being intolerant of evil men, Jesus actually commends it! I wonder if the church may often be more tolerant today than Jesus is? Something to think about. The church of Ephesus exercised church discipline. If there were evil men in its midst who would not repent, they would be removed. The church was kept pure and holy.
You put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. They were a discerning church. There were people going around calling themselves apostles. Jesus says they are not apostles. The church was able to discern that they were false apostles, and did not recognize them.
There has been a resurgence of this very thing in our generation. There are many people who call themselves apostles. They believe they function like the original 12 and Paul. My friends, beware of anyone who calls themselves an apostle! The apostles and prophets were the foundation of the church. Once a foundation has been laid, you don’t keep on laying it century after century. The apostles laid the foundation through their inspired teaching and writing of Scripture.
The word apostle simply means “sent one.” The original 12 apostles and Paul were sent by Jesus Christ with His very authority to plant and govern churches, and write Scripture.
There are “sent ones” today, but they are in a different category than the 12 apostles. I’m referring to missionaries. Missionaries are sent to go to another people group, learn the language, translate Scripture, and plant churches. But these modern missionaries do not carry unusual authority over the church. Anyone who claims to be an apostle today is at best mistaken, and at worst is intentionally deceiving others.
A movement began in the late 90’s called The New Apostolic Reformation. It was given that title by C. Peter Wagner. The group that identifies as NAR has grown tremendously. They believe God is restoring modern day prophets and apostles that hold unusual authority in the church, and are given direct revelation from Christ. They believe that these apostles and prophets are needed in order to do signs and wonders and start a massive end times revival that will usher in the second coming of Christ. Brothers and sisters, beware of this movement. It is riddled with false teachers, heresy, and departs from historic Christian doctrine on many points.
I have looked into the lives of many well-known “apostles” and “prophets” today, like William Branham, Benny Hinn, Mike Bickle and Kathryn Krick, and found them to be heretics, false teachers, fakes and charlatans, and sometimes sexually immoral.
We need discernment today. We need to test those who call themselves apostles, who are not, and reject this unbiblical teaching.
Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Who were the Nicolaitans? Irenaeus said that they were followers of Nicholas, one of the 7 men chosen to serve tables in Acts 6. He said these people lived in unrestrained indulgence. The word is found only twice in Scripture. The only other place it is found in the Bible is in this very chapter. It is Revelation 2:15, “So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” What do you mean “in the same way”? The same way as who? Well, back up to verse 14, “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.” The Nicolaitans took after Balaam. Balaam was a prophet of God who led the people of God into idolatry and sexual immorality. The name “Balaam” means “destroyer of the people.” The name “Nicholas” means “conqueror of the people.” Nicholas is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament prophet Balaam.
Jesus hates it when anyone teaches in such a way that people are led into destructive sin. When someone teaches “cheap grace”, and says you don’t need to confess your sin or repent of it, because it has already been forgiven, that is a deed of the Nicolaitans. Whenever a “teacher” in the church condones sin like homosexuality or transgenderism or white lies, or fornication, or idolizing actors or sports heroes or political figures, that is a deed of the Nicolaitans. We either choose to blend into our culture, or we choose to stand for truth and righteousness and stand out in our culture of compromise.
Brothers and sisters, beware of any Christian pastor or teacher who is soft on sin!
4. The Correction
But I have this against you… In spite of the hard work, and get discernment, and intolerance of evil this church possessed, that still had a significant flaw.
That you have left your first love. Notice that Jesus did not say they lost their first love. That’s how we put it oftentimes. If a person loses something, it is just an accident. They don’t know where to find it. We wouldn’t ascribe blame if someone lost something. After all, accidents happen. But if someone leaves something, they have made a choice. They have walked away from it, knowing exactly where it was. This is blameworthy.
First love. What is that? I believe it is the love we experienced at first, when we had just been born again. Oh how we loved Jesus! We didn’t know the Bible very well, and our understanding was poor, but our heart burned for Jesus. We knew that He had come into the world to lay down His life as a sacrifice for sin, and risen from the dead, and that He had given us eternal life and forgiveness of sins. And that was enough!
- Do you remember the first flush of love to Christ in your heart when you were born again?
- Do you remember that exhilaration of just knowing God?
- Do you remember how you used to love to spend time in God’s Word?
- Do you remember how you prayed?
- Do you remember the joy you had in just getting together with other Christians?
- Do you remember how excited you were to tell others about Jesus?
- Do you remember spontaneously bursting out in praise songs throughout the day?
For the Ephesians, somewhere along the line they had exchanged their first love for duty. Remember that this church was about 40 years old. That is plenty of time for the first generation grow old, and for another generation to rise up in its place. It might be a little like the Jesus People of the 60’s and 70’s who were radically saved out of a hippie and drug culture. There was such an excitement and a fervor to serve the Lord. But what about their children who grew up in the church. Often that same fervor and love had dissipated by that time.
The Ephesians were still doing the right things outwardly. They were still working hard, still persevering, still testing false apostles, still hating licentiousness and fleshly indulgence. Yet, it had become outward and formal, instead of inward and full of life.
Ladies, how would you feel if your husband came to you and said, “I don’t love you. But nothing will change. I will still go to work, bring home a paycheck to pay the bills, mow the lawn, take out the trash, and sleep with you. Nothing will change, but I don’t love you anymore.” Would you be happy about that?
Men, how would you feel if your wife told you, “I don’t love you. But nothing will change. I’ll still cook and clean and sleep with you, but I don’t love you anymore.” Men, would that be okay with you?
Of course not! Love is of paramount importance. All the right outward actions pale into insignificance if they do not spring from love. And so it is with us and the Lord. He wants all of our service to Him to spring from love to Him!
Jesus commands them to Remember, Repent, and Repeat.
Remember from where you have fallen. Take some time to remember. Remember what your Christian life is like in those early days. Remember, your time in the Word, in prayer, in fasting, in Church, in witnessing.
Repent. Repentance begins with confession of sin. We realize our sin. It continues with remorse over our sin. We are grieved by it. We are sorry for it. We are ashamed of our sin. It culminates with a fresh new direction of life. It begins with our mind, continue with our heart, and culminates in our will. We make a decision to live differently. That’s what we need to do if we have left our first love.
Repeat. Do the deeds you did at first. If your love for Christ has cooled over the years, repent! If your time in the Word has become a perfunctory duty, repent! If your prayer time is a mere formal duty, repent! If your involvement in your church is out of habit, repent! God wants you to exercise your first love again!
If you have left your first love:
Remember – Repent – Repeat.
But what will happen if we don’t repent? What if there is an entire church which has left its first love?
Or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent. What is this all about? Well, remember that Jesus is walking (and ministering as High Priest) in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. So, what would it mean for Him to remove your lampstand out of its place? It would mean that you would be removed from His gracious presence. That church may continue to exist. It may still meet. There may still be songs and sermons, but Jesus isn’t there anymore! Folks, if Jesus left, how long would it take us to realize it?! I think there are many churches which continue to meet, but Jesus is long gone, because they left their first love and would not repent!
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The Spirit is speaking to the churches through this letter. Whenever Jesus Christ dictates a letter, you can be sure that the Spirit is speaking. The question is, “are we hearing it?” Did you know that God can speak to us in His Word and we can fail to hear it. Our ears can be dull and hard of hearing. Are you hearing the voice of the Spirit this morning?
5. The Promise
To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God. In every one of these seven letters, Jesus gives a promise to the one who overcomes.
So, who is the one who overcomes? Who is the overcomer? Many have thought that the overcomers are a kind of super-saint. They believe that some Christians will make it to glory and some will not. They believe that only those Christians who overcome Satan and the world and the flesh will make it to heaven. All other Christians will lose their salvation and be lost.
Let’s see how John defines an overcome. Remember that John wrote the gospel of John, 1st 2nd and 3rd John and Revelation. Well in 1 John 5:4-5 he writes, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” So who is the overcomer? Who overcomes the world? The one with faith. The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. There are not two kinds of Christians – those who overcome and those who don’t. Every Christian overcomes, by the power of the Holy Spirit!
And what does Jesus promise him? To eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God. Remember, that in the Garden of Eden God pointed out two trees to Adam – the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We find the tree of life again in Revelation 22:2. It has been transplanted from the Garden of Eden, to the New Jerusalem. Paradise lost has been Paradise restored. Man will again walk with God. Fellowship and communion with God characterize the New Jerusalem. You and I will eat of the tree of life. We will live forever in communion with our God! The words of the covenant will be true – “I will be your God and you will be My people.”
Conclusion
So, brothers and sisters, what should we take away from this letter to the church at Ephesus?
If you have left your first love, Remember, Repent, and Repeat! If you believe you have left your first love, this is God’s Word to you. Will you obey? Let’s pray.
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