The Church in Ephesus

1“To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: “He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lamp stands says these things: 2“I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. 3You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you left your first love. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lamp stand out of its place, unless you repent. 6But this you have, that 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 assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.

The apostle John had been forcibly exiled to the island of Patmos by Domitian, the Roman emperor who persecuted the Christian faith. Yet there he loved Jesus Christ all the more and leaned on him more deeply. Around AD 95 the Holy Spirit showed him a vision. John heard words of prophecy and wrote them down as the book of Revelation. Jesus Christ commanded him to make known to the seven churches of Asia Minor what God’s will was for them, and John delivered the word as he was told.

The church in Ephesus was planted by the apostle Paul around AD 53, when he stopped in the region of Ephesus on his way back from Corinth to Jerusalem. Paul spread the Christian faith in Ephesus together with Priscilla and Aquila and pastored there for two years; after him Timothy, following Paul’s example of faith, led the same flock. Some years later, around AD 66, the apostle John also served as its pastor. The names of these pastors alone tell us how sound the truth must have been that the congregation heard and learned. Every one of them was a gifted person, and yet each, with the humblest of faith, loved and proclaimed Jesus Christ alone.

One would expect such a church to be praised, which makes it all the more astonishing that it was rebuked for having lost its first love. Its pastors laid down their lives for the truth, and still the church lost its first love, which must mean that in the end it had failed to keep its love true.

Acts 19:8-10

8He entered into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for a period of three months, reasoning and persuading about the things concerning God’s Kingdom. 9But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10This continued for two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul proclaimed the word boldly in the synagogue for three months, but because many spoke evil of the Way, he took aside those who had received Jesus and taught them the word daily in the school of Tyrannus. Through pastors faithful in their own faith, the church in Ephesus came to know the will of God. Their faith was sound, and that made a sound devotion possible.

Ephesus was home to the statue of the goddess Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and superstition flourished because of it. The city was immoral and made an idol of its emperor, and its religion was clouded and impure as a result. Into a church striving to keep the faith in so murky a world came false teachers. They unsettled the believers by teaching them to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. Yet the church held fast to the word taught by Spirit-filled pastors such as Paul, Timothy, Priscilla, and Aquila, and because of that its members did not worship Artemis, the goddess of fertility and abundance.

But sad to say, in a fallen world and a religiously corrupt city, those who had struggled to keep their faith gradually lost their love for souls. They strove to be rational and learned in their faith rather than to love God and depend on him. As they argued to keep out those who taught the prosperity gospel as if it were the truth, their faith came down to weighing logic and passing judgment. It is true that we can stand against falsehood only when we judge with reason and logic. That is the reason we teach Scripture and help people gain broad experience: so that they will not lose such arguments. But we must never forget that God wants people to be saved.

What Jesus Christ says to the seven churches comes to this: know the will of God fully, live by the truth, and love God and your neighbor honestly. So we need to understand that reason and logic alike, all of it, are needed for one end, loving God and saving souls. If those with much wealth stumble over their wealth, and those with much knowledge stumble over their knowledge, then however much grace they have received from God, it is of no use to them.

The Christians in Ephesus had learned the word from outstanding pastors and knew what the truth was, but they took the word in as mere knowledge. As a result, in the name of keeping the word, they became people who weighed everything by logic alone. Even now there are churches and church members who have learned the word and know it well yet do not live by it. If we have knowledge of Scripture, we are not to criticize and judge others with it; we are to live out the truth and become an example.

God wants his people to gain a rich knowledge of Scripture and, with that knowledge, to show genuine love so that others may be saved. Just as Jesus sacrificed himself to forgive sinners, we must first take the lowly place and give ourselves up in order to love God and love our neighbors.

Jesus Christ appeared in a symbolic form, holding seven stars in his right hand and walking among seven golden lampstands. Through this he taught that, just as the seven golden lampstands branch out from a single root, Jesus Christ himself is the head of every church on earth.

Revelation 2:2-3

2“I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. 3You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

Here “evil men” does not mean worldly people who behave immorally; it means the Nicolaitans, who twisted God’s word. They deceived the members of the church, made them eat things sacrificed to idols, and caused them to commit sexual immorality, and now they were teaching that the law was not needed at all.

But the law serves to make us aware of sin. And because the law tells us that there must be a Jesus who will atone for that sin, it must be upheld. Salvation, to be sure, is received by faith; yet we are able to believe in Jesus Christ because the law made sin count as sin.

The Nicolaitans also taught that the flesh is evil and the spirit good, and that whatever one does in this evil body therefore does not matter. But for the work of a good God, the body must be whole and clean, because if we live in the world as we please, we cannot take up the work of a holy God. They taught, too, that Christians are under protection, so that wherever they go and whatever they do, Jesus will keep them from harm. God does protect his own. But the world is ruled by Satan, the prince of the power of the air, and so the Holy Spirit works only when we do what is good.

Christ commended the church in Ephesus for their works, their toil, and their perseverance. He praised them because they toiled with a faith that refused to tolerate those who threw the church into confusion. They fought the false teachers with their whole lives and did their utmost to overcome the persecution those teachers brought upon them, which tells us how earnestly they labored to guard the church. The Nicolaitans, calling themselves apostles, not only denied Jesus but tried to teach doctrines of their own; yet because the believers could discern the spirits, they were not taken in.

When the Nicolaitans came into the church teaching that one ought to possess the world’s wealth and power, the Ephesians met them firmly with the word and drove them out. It took a remarkable faith to stop false teachers from working in the church: teachers who denied Jesus, stressed the works of the law, and preached a prosperity gospel that calls a comfortable life in the world a blessing. They were not deceived, because they knew, as the apostle Paul had taught them, that the idea that worldly success means God’s blessing is not the truth. Having grown well on the word Paul and Timothy had taught, the church in Ephesus persevered to the end so as not to mingle with those teachers, and never grew weary in exalting the name of Jesus. They did everything they could to keep the church from being stained by the ideas of evil men.

But knowing a great deal of the word does not make the church a place that can accomplish God’s will and providence. The church is where the truth itself must be proclaimed, and where those who have grasped it save souls through self-sacrifice, with a love as complete as God’s. That a church which had labored so diligently should be rebuked by Jesus Christ is truly heartbreaking.

Revelation 2:4

4But I have this against you, that you left your first love.

To put the situation simply, picture a soccer player with outstanding individual skill, a player whose ability everyone recognizes. But if that player trusts only in their own talent, never passes the ball to teammates, and tries to play the whole game alone, the team will end up losing. Playing well matters, but it matters far more to keep in mind why the game is being played at all. Likewise, however much of the word we know and however much we give ourselves, if we do not pour out the love of God and do not sacrifice for souls, we are no better than parched ground.

Jesus praised the church in Ephesus on matters of doctrine, so it is true that they had a faith not easily attained. But when he says that he has this against them, that they left their first love, it becomes clear that their faith had grown thoroughly formal. They knew the word but did not live it. Granted, keeping such a faith in Ephesus, where idols ran rampant, deserves praise. God, however, does not want overflowing Bible knowledge or a rigorously doctrinal faith; he wants a faith that sincerely loves God and loves the members of his body. That is why Jesus Christ rebuked them and told them they must recover their first love.

Among the seven churches, Ephesus was without doubt one that did its utmost to keep the word pure, since its works, toil, and perseverance were recognized by the Lord himself. Yet the labors of those who gave everything to guard the church turned into a dry and formal faith that judges and condemns.

God desires a genuine faith, one that embraces other souls all the more as we come to know more of the word and grow in faith. If we love God, we can discern those who carry a false gospel, and even without judging and condemning them we can bring them to submission by spiritual wisdom. We need not pile up knowledge to debate with people who care only for logic and doctrine; where there is love for God, we can exercise the power of the word quite naturally. And if we love God, our brothers and sisters, and souls, then on top of a faith that knows, we must have the wisdom of true understanding.

These people, however, used their great knowledge not to save and protect souls but only to argue, and because of that their hearts withered. It grieved God to see them so, and he told them to recover their first love.

Paul, Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila, and the apostle John certainly knew the word and had more knowledge than anyone. Paul’s family and education go without saying, and the Gospel of John, the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John, and the book of Revelation reveal John’s exceptional knowledge and wisdom. Yet in the letters they wrote, they never boast of their own wisdom or blend their learning into the word they deliver, because those letters bear the marks of their struggle over how to make the word so plain that everyone, from small children to the elderly, would receive Jesus Christ. They spent their very lives for one purpose, to bring souls to God, and their faithfulness was pure love.

God reproved the Ephesians because they used the truth as an instrument of argument. Their arguing aimed not at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ or at winning people for him, but at a faith of works, which is why he told them to recover what they had lost. Even Jesus, when he debated with the Pharisees and scribes, had a clear purpose and steered the conversation so that they would acknowledge God. Even if we know the truth, unless our aim is to lead others to salvation, we are only showing off our knowledge, and that has nothing whatever to do with Jesus.

Even in the world, an employer interviewing candidates will choose a person of sound character, good attitude, and courtesy over one who is merely clever and well connected. The work itself can be taught, because the one doing the hiring knows how it is done. But someone with poor character and no manners causes serious trouble in the life of any organization, and for that reason no one hires them. In the same way, because God is almighty, he can help with anything his people lack in doctrine or knowledge. A person of bad character, a proud person, is another matter: however much of the word they know, they will in the end betray God for their own sake, so he cannot raise them up.

The Ephesians were diligent in doctrine, but they lacked true love for souls and a heart of unconditional loyalty to God. They had forgotten the essential thing: why they were arguing at all. So Jesus Christ told them to recover their first love, since it bore heavily on their own salvation as well.

Matthew 22:37-40

37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

The Pharisees kept the law at the cost of their lives, yet they were rebuked because they kept it by works for their own salvation, knew neither sacrifice nor forbearance, and did not believe in the atonement of Jesus. Only by receiving the truth can we love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind, and only by loving God sincerely can we love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said that the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments, because the law made it known that we cannot rid ourselves of sin, and the prophets, for that very reason, proclaimed that we must believe in the one who would atone for it.

These commandments lay bare the problem of the church in Ephesus. Ephesus loved God, but only with the head, and served him with cool reason. They mistook this for the faith that serves God. But God does not want knowledge held only in the head; he wants it lived out sincerely, with all our heart, soul, and mind. When the pastors taught the word so diligently that the church could sift out evil men and false apostles, they did not mean for the people to rest content with knowing the word; they meant for them to be faithful to death in leading others to salvation.

Yet the Ephesians did not practice the Lord’s command to be faithful to death. They were content to win arguments with the word, and they were slack in the work of bringing people to Christ. As arguing from knowledge became their habit, the humble faith that once served God with self-sacrifice disappeared, and they became people of faith who judge and condemn. They must have craved ever more knowledge to defeat the Nicolaitans in debate. Seeing themselves never lose would have pleased them, and in time that pleasure turned into pride. So their concern for leading others to salvation, God’s Great Commission, faded, and all that was left was discussion of how to beat their opponents. The church in Ephesus knew so much of the truth. Had it considered for itself, in step with all it knew, what it could do for God and the church, and then planned and acted, it would have become a church God highly commended.

Looking at the church in Ephesus, I have thought about our own church. You have read the Bible a great deal, so you know what God’s will is. And because you know it, you must now pray for others’ salvation, share the gospel, and give yourselves in sacrifice and service.

The church has a calling: to teach people God’s word and his will, and to make plain to them where they will go after death. So if you know the word only in your head, God will rebuke you as he did Ephesus. The church’s role is to tell people that Jesus has made the road to our eternal home safe. Our calling as Christians is to proclaim that anyone who keeps to the way of truth can enter heaven and receive eternal life.

The world, though, is where Satan has dug a wide pool in the middle of the road and lies in wait, to hinder those who travel it. So the church must teach not only the way to heaven but also the wisdom to get past the pools of hardship we meet along life’s road. If we teach people that they can leap across, or throw stones into the middle and step over on them, it will be a little easier for them to stay on the way. This is the work of the church: helping people travel safely toward heaven.

But if, having heard the word, we never even set foot on the way of truth, we cannot experience the love of God. Faced with a wide pool, some people ask how far they must stretch their legs to cross it, or how large such pools are on average. Those who ask such questions may think themselves wise, but in the end they will not reach the eternal home. What is sad is that they heard, through the church, exactly how to get to heaven, and still they do not go.

Revelation 2:5

5Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lamp stand out of its place, unless you repent.

If we know the word yet do not act in faith, Jesus will move our lampstand out of its place. When he said he would move the lampstand, he meant this: a word that only fills the head is no different from the knowledge of the world, so to extend the Kingdom of God he will choose hearts full of the word and of love, and begin his work through them. When those who know the word only boast of their knowledge and do not give themselves to winning people for Christ, they are doing exactly what Satan does.

Friends, now that you know and understand the word, I hope you will work for the church. If you who have grasped the truth are not faithful to the Kingdom of God, God will seek out a church and a people who are full, even if he must move the lampstand to do it. The moment the lampstand is moved, the labors of Paul, Timothy, Priscilla, and Aquila, who preached the word with their whole lives, vanish along with it.

We know how those pastors toiled to establish the church in Ephesus and to raise up its people. In those days they had to move from region to region to spread the gospel, so their hearts were likely all the more earnest. Knowing that a day would come when they could no longer pastor, they must have longed for the church to go on living by faith, and to labor with all their strength to make the love of God known. Jesus said that to those who overcome the powers of darkness by faith, he would give to eat from the tree of life in Paradise. To eat the fruit of the tree of life is the blessing of being promised salvation.

The church in Ephesus could discern the Nicolaitans by the word, but that discernment went no further than boasting of their knowledge, and because they did not give themselves sincerely to leading souls to salvation, they had to repent and turn back. This teaches us that until the day we stand before God, we cannot, and must not, boast that we are saved. They argued to defend the truth, but the moment the truth becomes mere knowledge, God’s word becomes one’s own boast. It becomes a word with nothing to do with God, like rubbish thrown out into the world.

The arguments in Ephesus began from a love for God and a desire to keep his word, but in the end the church forgot the essence of the word and failed to make the gospel known. Once people used the word as knowledge, even the word itself became knowledge drained of its power to save.

God’s power, of course, works regardless of human deeds; but turning the word into a boast that puts yourself on display is also a sin, so you must be careful. When you share the word, then, share it wisely, so that anyone can easily understand and accept it, because the word was given not for human boasting but as a sharp sword to save even one soul headed for the fires of hell.

Do you still hold on to your first love? If God asked you whether you still have it, how would you answer? This is a question that matters deeply to all of us who believe. At first you would have believed simply because you loved Jesus, who bore the cross, even without knowing the word, and you would have worshiped because you longed to go to heaven, where God reigns as King. But as you have learned the word and your years of faith have lengthened, has a proud thought crept in, that you know God a little? I hope you will ask yourself whether you have looked down on the faith of those who have only just received the Lord, or of those who do not know the word well.

May you never boast of your knowledge, however much of the word you come to know. May you tell people who Jesus is and how beautiful heaven is, so plainly that anyone can easily understand. Then you will be able to make the lampstand Jesus gave you burn all the brighter and, together with many others, to eat the fruit of the tree of life that Jesus Christ gives.

Whatever happens, I hope you will never forget the true heart of the word God has given you. May you be his treasured people, loving God honestly as the word teaches, loving souls, and living out the will of God.

May you always carry the love of God in your heart and give yourselves up to save souls. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.