seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 2:1 “To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:1 Or messenger; also in verses 8, 12 and 18
Apparently Ephesus was a big city church. I found this in the easy english commentary.
Ephesus was an important religious centre. It was the centre of the worship of the goddess Artemis. (A goddess is a female god.) Sometimes her name is Diana of the Ephesians. The temple of Artemis was one of the 7 wonders (interesting and important places) in the ancient world. Artemis and her temple were important to the people at Ephesus. The Romans called their Roman Emperors, Claudius and Nero, gods. They also had famous temples in Ephesus.
There was much false religion and magic in Ephesus. There was sexual sin among the priestesses. (A priestess is a female priest.) The apostle Paul visited Ephesus. He spent over two years there. He started the church there (Acts 19: 8, 10). They sold silver models of Diana’s temple in Ephesus. When Paul preached, he badly affected that trade. It caused great confusion in the city. Luke describes this in Acts chapter 19. Later Paul sent his important letter to the Ephesians. Ephesus had the most famous games in Asia. They had these every year.
There is a warning about what will happen if the Christians do not listen. They will have much trouble. It will happen quickly. Jesus says, ‘I am coming’. Christ will remove their lampstand. This may mean that he will destroy that church. A church cannot exist without love. Christ gives them a choice. They have a choice to repent or not to repent. If they repent, there is hope for them. If they do not repent there is no hope.
There is evidence that they did listen to Christ’s words. A bishop wrote to the Christians at Ephesus at the beginning of the second century. Good things were happening in the church. But that did not continue. A traveller visited the city. That was many years later. He found only three Christians there. They hardly knew the names of Paul and John, the apostles. Many churches today no longer exist. They may still have their buildings. They may still have a minister. They may still have a few people. But their lampstand has gone. The light has gone. The reason is that there is no love. The church is a dark place.
Ephesus city has gone as well. Now there are only ruins there. The harbour is six miles from the sea. There are only sandy beaches there. Ships cannot enter. The mud from the River Cayster always caused problems. The battle against it has been lost. Ephesus is no longer an important and wealthy city.
Those who followed Nicolaus gave a different meaning to his teaching. They said that the Law (The Ten Rules) was no longer for Christians. Christians were free to do as they wished. The apostle Paul did not agree with this (see Galatians 5:13). These people also argued that the physical body is evil. Therefore a Christian is free to do what he likes with it. They gave a further argument. They argued that Christ’s grace has saved us. Therefore, it does not matter what you do. You can do anything that pleases you. God’s grace will protect you from trouble. This is false teaching.
The standards of Christians are different from those of people who are not Christians. We find Christian standards in what Christian leaders teach us. We find them in our Bibles. The Christians’ neighbours in Ephesus lived by different standards. They were not careful about what they ate and drank. They had no rules on sexual relationships. To them, wrong behaviour was normal. The false teachers claimed that they were not destroying the church. They were improving it. They were making it more favourable. People outside the church would then accept it. What the Nicolaitans taught was very dangerous. The Christians at Ephesus must not follow them. Such ideas are a danger to the church today. The enemy can be inside the church as well as outside it.
There was much false religion and magic in Ephesus. There was sexual sin among the priestesses. (A priestess is a female priest.) The apostle Paul visited Ephesus. He spent over two years there. He started the church there (Acts 19: 8, 10). They sold silver models of Diana’s temple in Ephesus. When Paul preached, he badly affected that trade. It caused great confusion in the city. Luke describes this in Acts chapter 19. Later Paul sent his important letter to the Ephesians. Ephesus had the most famous games in Asia. They had these every year.
There is a warning about what will happen if the Christians do not listen. They will have much trouble. It will happen quickly. Jesus says, ‘I am coming’. Christ will remove their lampstand. This may mean that he will destroy that church. A church cannot exist without love. Christ gives them a choice. They have a choice to repent or not to repent. If they repent, there is hope for them. If they do not repent there is no hope.
There is evidence that they did listen to Christ’s words. A bishop wrote to the Christians at Ephesus at the beginning of the second century. Good things were happening in the church. But that did not continue. A traveller visited the city. That was many years later. He found only three Christians there. They hardly knew the names of Paul and John, the apostles. Many churches today no longer exist. They may still have their buildings. They may still have a minister. They may still have a few people. But their lampstand has gone. The light has gone. The reason is that there is no love. The church is a dark place.
Ephesus city has gone as well. Now there are only ruins there. The harbour is six miles from the sea. There are only sandy beaches there. Ships cannot enter. The mud from the River Cayster always caused problems. The battle against it has been lost. Ephesus is no longer an important and wealthy city.
Those who followed Nicolaus gave a different meaning to his teaching. They said that the Law (The Ten Rules) was no longer for Christians. Christians were free to do as they wished. The apostle Paul did not agree with this (see Galatians 5:13). These people also argued that the physical body is evil. Therefore a Christian is free to do what he likes with it. They gave a further argument. They argued that Christ’s grace has saved us. Therefore, it does not matter what you do. You can do anything that pleases you. God’s grace will protect you from trouble. This is false teaching.
The standards of Christians are different from those of people who are not Christians. We find Christian standards in what Christian leaders teach us. We find them in our Bibles. The Christians’ neighbours in Ephesus lived by different standards. They were not careful about what they ate and drank. They had no rules on sexual relationships. To them, wrong behaviour was normal. The false teachers claimed that they were not destroying the church. They were improving it. They were making it more favourable. People outside the church would then accept it. What the Nicolaitans taught was very dangerous. The Christians at Ephesus must not follow them. Such ideas are a danger to the church today. The enemy can be inside the church as well as outside it.
I've heard a lot of preachers say that Jesus loved the church at Ephesus the most. It bugs me that it's gone.... I guess they did loose their love and perseverance after all.
