This presentation examines Jesus' letter in Revelation to the church at Ephesus.

2. ―To the angel of
the church in
Ephesus write…‖
The loveless church

3. The Letter to Ephesus
―To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds
the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the
seven golden lampstands, says this: ‗I know your deeds and your toil
and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you
put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not,
and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and
have endured for My name‘s sake, and have not grown weary. ‗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; or else I am coming to you and will remove your
lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. ‗Yet this you do have,
that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ‗He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in
the Paradise of God.‘ ‖ (Revelation 2:1–7)

4. The Opening of the Letter
―To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds
the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the
seven golden lampstands, says this. . .‖
• The angel is the chief elder or pastor
of the church
• ―As for the mystery of the seven
stars which you saw in My right hand,
and the seven golden lampstands: the
seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches, and the seven
lampstands are the seven churches. ‖
(Revelation 1:20)
• ―Walks among…‖ Examining,
assessing, and evaluating.

5. General Background on Ephesus
• In the province of Asia Minor,
which is modern Turkey today
• Called ―the Light of Asia‖
• Other six churches were likely
‗daughter‘ churches of the
Ephesian church
• Founded by the Apostle Paul;
stayed with them about 3 years
(―Therefore be on the alert,
remembering that night and day for
a period of three years I did not
cease to admonish each one with
tears.‖)
• Revelation was written some forty
years after its establishment

6. General Background on Ephesus
• Also shepherded by Priscilla and
Aquilla, Timothy, and the apostle
John.
• .John was no doubt the leading
elder in the church at Ephesus
when he was arrested by Domitian
and exiled sixty miles away from
there to the Isle of Patmos, that
rock in the middle of the
Mediterranean where he was when
the Spirit of God revealed all of
this to him.
• You have a church that had some
powerful influence.

7. Spiritual Background of Ephesus
―God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that
handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the
diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish
exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who
had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ―I adjure you by Jesus
whom Paul preaches.‖ Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were
doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, ―I recognize Jesus,
and I know about Paul, but who are you?‖ And the man, in whom was the evil
spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that
they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to all,
both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and
the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Many also of those who had
believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of
those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning
them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and
found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing
mightily and prevailing. ‖ (Acts 19:11–20)

8. Spiritual Background of Ephesus
―After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, ―Men of Ephesus, what man is
there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian
of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from
heaven? ‖ (Acts 19:35)

9. Spiritual Background of Ephesus
• Temple was one of the seven ancient
wonders of the world; made of
glittering Persian marble
• Center of Artemis/Diana worship
• The actual Artemis idol was a big,
ugly black cow-shaped thing. It was an
ugly beast that was supposed to
suckle people and give them spiritual
life
• Many eunuchs present with
thousands of priestesses /
prostitutes charged with engaging in
orgies and sexual mutilation to move a
person up into the presence of the
deity

10. Spiritual Background of Ephesus
"The morals of the
temple were worse than
the morals of animals,
for even dogs do not
mutilate each other. . . .
The people there were
fit only to be drowned.‖
- Heraclitus

11. The Commendation
―I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance‖
(Revelation 2:2)
―Toil‖ literally means to labor to the point of sweat and exhaustion in a state of discomfort
or distress. The Ephesian church wasn‘t sitting back and taking it easy.
―Perseverance‖ equates to both patience and endurance; to hold out in the face of
difficulty. In these two regards the Ephesian church makes many churches today (especially
in the U.S.) look bad.

12. The Commendation
―and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the
test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not,
and you found them to be false‖ (Revelation 2:2)
• They have a holy standard against
unrighteousness in the church. ―A little
leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. ‖
(Galatians 5:9) . Psalm 5:5: "Thou dost
hate all who do iniquity."
• They have spiritual discernment. ―Beloved,
do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out
into the world. ‖ (1 John 4:1)
• Both of these traits are something other,
upcoming churches lack

13. The Apostate’s Profile from Jude
1. Ungodly (vs. 4) 10. Grumblers (vs. 16)
2. Morally perverted (vs. 4) 11. Fault finders (vs. 16)
3. Deny Christ (vs. 4) 12. Self-satisfying (vs. 16)
4. Defile the flesh (vs. 8) 13. Use arrogant words (vs. 16)
5. Rebellious (vs. 8) 14. Use false flattery (vs. 16)
6. Revile angels (vs. 8) 15. Mock God (vs. 18)
7. Ignorant about God (vs. 8) 16. Cause divisions (vs. 19)
8. Proclaim false visions (vs. 10) 17. Worldly minded (vs. 19)
9. Self-destructive (vs. 10) 18. Devoid of Spirit/unsaved (vs. 19)

14. The Commendation
―and you have perseverance and have endured for My
name‘s sake, and have not grown weary.‖ (Revelation 2:3)
• They have the mark of real saving faith –
perseverance. ―Because you have kept
the word of My perseverance, I also will
keep you from the hour of testing, that
hour which is about to come upon the
whole world, to test those who dwell on the
earth.‖ (Revelation 3:10)
• They have endured all their trials for the
right reasons – for His names‘s sake
• ―And let us not grow weary of doing good,
for in due season we will reap, if we do not
give up.‖ (Galatians 6:9)

15. The Rebuke
―‗But I have this against you, that you have left your first
love. ‖ (Revelation 2:4)
• ―have left‖ indicates a deliberate act on the
part of the church
• Some commentators think the church‘s first
love was the love they had for one another:
―For this reason I too, having heard of the
faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among
you and your love for all the saints‖ (Eph.
1:15)
• Most believe it was a heart-felt love for
Christ
• ―He who loves father or mother more than
Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves
son or daughter more than Me is not worthy
of Me.‖ (Matthew 10:37–38)

16. The Rebuke
―‗But I have this against you, that you have left your first
love. ‖ (Revelation 2:4)
• This is the second generation of
believers in the Ephesian church.
While they maintained the service of
the church, they lacked what their
previous generation had
• Their service and practice evidently
had become a mechanical orthodoxy
• Could this indicate a lack of new
converts in the church? New believers
tend to be on fire for God

17. The Rebuke
―Therefore remember from where you have fallen‖
(Revelation 2:5)
• ―For this reason I remind you to kindle
afresh the gift of God which is in you
through the laying on of my hands. ‖ (2
Timothy 1:6)
• ―Therefore, I will always be ready to
remind you of these things, even
though you already know them, and
have been established in the truth
which is present with you. ‖ (2 Peter
1:12)
• Christians should be maturing and
moving forward, not moving back

18. The Rebuke
―and repent and do the deeds you did at first‖
(Revelation 2:5)
Note that the church is not commanded to merely feel the things
they felt at first, but their ‗first love‘ had been demonstrated by
action. Works flowed from their first love feelings. What were
these things? We aren‘t told.

19. The Rebuke
―or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand
out of its place—unless you repent. ‖ (Revelation 2:5)
The lampstand represents the church, so Jesus is telling them
that unless they change their ways, He will remove their church
from existence; someone else will bear the Light.

20. Secondary commendation
―Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the
Nicolaitans, which I also hate.‖ (Revelation 2:6)
Early second century sources (Irenaeus) say the Nicolaitans started
with the Nicolas identified as a proselyte from Antioch (Acts 6:5).
Nicolaitanism sported many of the characteristics of Gnosticism in that
it encouraged the practice of physical immorality, a fact called out by
Jesus again by Jesus in Revelation 2:15 in His address to the church at
Pergamum.

21. Secondary commendation
―Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the
Nicolaitans, which I also hate.‖ (Revelation 2:6)
In this accepting and ‗tolerant‘ culture, ‗hating‘ the moral activities of
another person is not in vogue. But Jesus commends the Ephesian
church for their hatred of the immorality of the Nicolaitans. Later in
Revelation, we see Jesus condemn the church at Pergamum for their
acceptance of the immoral practices of some of their people.

22. A command to Hear
―‗He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.‖ (Revelation 2:7)
This phrase is repeated each time in Christ‘s
address to the seven churches of Revelation. In
the gospels (it is never used in John), it is
always used to highlight radical truths, great
principles, and promises.
Note that Jesus says it is the Spirit speaking
to the churches, even though He is the actual
one talking: ―All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness‖
(2 Timothy 3:16)

23. A Promise to Obtain
―To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of
life which is in the Paradise of God.‘ ‖ (Revelation 2:7)
―Overcome‖ (nikao) means to be the ‗victor‘;
‗conquer‘. The name Nicolas (from the
Nicolaitans) means ‗conqueror of the
people‘. Rather than being overcome by
them, Christ speaks to those who truly
overcome. The overcomers in the New
Testament are believers: ―For whatever is
born of God overcomes the world; and this
is the victory that has overcome the world—
our faith. ‖
(1 John 5:4)

24. A Promise to Obtain
―To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of
life which is in the Paradise of God.‘ ‖ (Revelation 2:7)
The tree of life first appears in
Genesis and is protected after the fall:
―So He drove the man out; and at the
east of the garden of Eden He
stationed the cherubim and the flaming
sword which turned every direction to
guard the way to the tree of life. ‖
(Genesis 3:24).
To be able to eat from the tree of life is
to be given eternal life with God.

25. The Return to Paradise
―Then he showed me a river of the water of
life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne
of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of
its street. On either side of the river was
the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit,
yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves
of the tree were for the healing of the
nations. There will no longer be any curse;
and the throne of God and of the Lamb will
be in it, and His bond-servants will serve
Him; they will see His face, and His name
will be on their foreheads. . . .―Blessed are
those who wash their robes, so that they
may have the right to the tree of life, and
may enter by the gates into the city. ‖
(Revelation 22:1-4, 14)

26. What Happened to Ephesus?
―or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand
out of its place—unless you repent. ‖ (Revelation 2:5)
Sadly, it doesn‘t look like
the Ephesian church
heeded Christ‘s letter.
Sometime after this letter,
the church did indeed die
out and today there is no
church in Ephesus nor any
real city. The light ended up
going somewhere else.

27. Conclusions
• God values and expects diligent service and perseverance
from the saints
• Spiritual discernment is valued and the Church is required
to exercise discipline in keeping the body pure in doctrine
and deed
• God also exercises discipline in the Church. He wants a
zeal from the heart in His people that are displayed in their
actions

28. ―To the angel of
the church in
Ephesus write…‖