Jesus told John to write to the angel of the church in
Ephesus, “The One who holds the seven stars in His right
hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands
says this.”
The introduction of the message stresses Jesus’ authority,
control, possession, and provision for the messengers of the
local churches that have the responsibility to lead and
teach God’s Word. They are in the hand of the risen Savior
to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given
(Matthew 28:18). As the one who holds them, He will provide
for, protect and enable them for their ministry. However,
this also stresses the messenger’s need to be both
submissive to and dependent upon his Lord for all that is
needed for his ministry. In chapter one, John saw Jesus
standing in the midst of the golden lampstands, in the
introduction of the messages Jesus tells the messenger of
the church He is walking “among the golden lampstands.”
Walking among the golden lampstands stresses Jesus’ active
ministry. In that ministry, He examines us for the quality
of our ministry.
Verse 2- “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance,
and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to test
those who call themselves apostles, and are not, and you
found them to be false.”
The opening words of verse 2, “I know,” stress Jesus’
omniscience, interest, and evaluation of the works, life,
and activity of the church. Nothing escapes Him, nothing. He
is aware of what the church accomplished. He is aware of
their faithfulness and they will not tolerate the presence
of evil in the church.
In this present Church Age, there is a tendency to blame
Satan or God for the increasing evil in the local churches.
The presence of evil in the church is due to the toleration
of evil by the church membership. The leaders and members of
the church have been brainwashed by a false understanding
concerning judging. There comes a time when believers should
no longer tolerate evil men, including women, and follow the
example of the church in Ephesus. The believers in the
church in Ephesus refused to allow apostasy and immorality
to go on in the church. They exercised church discipline
when men refused to respond to God’s Word (Matthew 18:15-18;
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Titus 3:10-11).
When church doors close or the church is no longer a light
shinning in the darkness put the blame where it belongs,
toleration of evil.
The church in Ephesus remembered the word of the apostles
regarding false teachers (Acts 20:20-31; Jude 17-18). They
tested those claiming to be apostles. The areas of testing
were, (1) the message and doctrinal belief (1 John 4:1-2);
(2) the manner of life (1 John 3:10; 4:8; Jude; Matt.
7:15-19).
Verse 3 summarizes their perseverance. They endured. They
had not grown weary but things were not as they should be,
something was missing which, if not corrected, would ruin
their light-bearing capacity.
The One walking among the seven golden lampstands saw what
was missing: they had left their first love. The local
church is espoused to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2), but there
is always the danger of that love growing cold. Like Martha,
we can be so busy working for Jesus that we have no time to
love Him (Luke 10:38–42). Jesus is more concerned about what
we do with Him than for Him. Labor is no substitute for
love. In the eyes of man, the church in Ephesus was
successful; in the eyes of the One walking among the seven
lampstands the church had fallen.
The church in Ephesus from all outward appearances was a
very spiritual church for it was certainly a church that was
very active in the work of God. They toiled for the Lord,
endured much, were doctrinally sound, and took a strong
stand against the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:3,
6). Nevertheless, something was wrong. They were guilty of a
sin that is sometimes hard to detect. However, the Lord, who
knows our hearts as well as our outward deeds, counsels
Ephesus to do three things that were desperately needed to
reestablish their closeness and walk with the Savior, or
they would lose their witness.
There is a very important lesson in this message for God’s
people in any period of history, but the message here is
particularly important for this present generation. It is
the warning that, if we are not careful, we can lose our
spiritual vitality, the abiding life principle where we live
and serve out of our awareness of Him, and slip into mere
rituals.
The One who walks among the golden lampstands told the
church in Ephesus, “remember from where you have fallen.”
This is a call to reflect, to go back and recall the past.
Jesus is saying, “remember the way it used to be in your
relationship with Me.” The call to reflect, look back, and
recall the past is also a call to recognize one’s true
condition. We cannot very well confess sin if we do not
clearly see it for what it is. Has our Christian life lost
some of its excitement and joy? Are we finding our Christian
work rather boring and dull, even to the point of drudgery?
Have we lost the joy of the Lord, if so, it is because we
have left the position of devotion and fellowship with
Jesus. We seek man’s approval more than the approval of the
One walking among the golden lampstands.
The One who walks among the golden lampstands told the
church in Ephesus, you are out of fellowship and laboring in
the energy of the flesh. You have moved away from love and
devotion that stems from personal fellowship or a walk of
faith. However, not all is lost, repent.
Repent means to change one’s mind or purpose, to change
one’s decision. It means to recognize one’s previous
decision, opinion, or condition as wrong, and to accept and
move toward a new and right path in its place. Repentance
includes confession of sin with a view to stopping the bad
behavior so it can be replaced with what was right. Repent
means do the deeds you did at first. This does not mean
increase Christian service or activity. Then what does the
Lord mean and how does this apply to us?
First deeds include looking back to the beginning of your
Christian life, the basic disciplines of fellowship and
abiding in the Lord, honest confession of sin, prayer, Bible
study, reading, meditation, memorization, fellowship with
believers, being occupied with Christ and refocusing all of
our life on Him, and our position in Christ.
The One who walks among the golden lampstands tells us there
is no alternative. He is telling us, remember from where you
have fallen and repent. If you do not repent the One who
walks among the lampstands said, “I am coming to you and
will remove your lampstand out of its place” (Revelation
2:5).
The church of Ephesus does not stand today. Its light has
been completely snuffed out.
However, the One who walks among the lampstands approves
something; they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Scholars
differ on their understanding of this group. Some think they
were the followers of Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch
(Acts 6:5). Since their heresy seems to be associated with
the doctrine of Balaam in 2:14-15, some believe this was a
sect that advocated immoral conduct, including free love.
Others believe, the word “Nicolaitans” can mean, “one who
rules the laity” or “laity-conqueror,” that it was an error
that exalted the clergy over the laity. Regardless, the
church in Ephesus took a strong stand against the heresy and
is commended by the Lord for doing so. Note that what was
merely a matter of deeds in the church in Ephesus became an
accepted doctrine in Pergamum because it was tolerated.
There is an important lesson here for the twenty-first
century church. If we do not correct our practices by the
Word of God, they will become traditions and the doctrines
of men who nullify the Word of God.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches” (Revelation 2:7).
This is a call to hear what the Holy Spirit is teaching in
these seven messages. Note the change from an appeal to the
individual, “he who has an ear,” to the plural, “what the
Spirit says to the churches.” This change broadens the
appeal of each message to all the churches because the
messages are representative and applicable to all of us. The
Spirit of God who is the Spirit of truth and the author and
teacher of Scripture is calling on us to respond to the
things that need to be learned and applied in these
messages.
To those who hear and respond to the call of the Holy Spirit
and learn and apply these messages the One who walks among
the seven golden lampstands He will grant him the privilege
of eating the fruit from the tree of life that is in the
Paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).
The tree of life is not just a symbol for eternal life. In
Revelation 21:1-22:5, John describes the eternal state; it
includes the new heaven and the new earth with the new
Jerusalem, a literal place with some 25 verses devoted to
its description. It is not a symbol.
Second, it is probably not just one tree, but a row of trees
that exist between the river and the avenue described in
Revelation 22. This is all a part of the beautiful park or
paradise of God.
Third, having a right to the tree of life is not equivalent
to salvation, nor is it necessary for the maintenance of
life because possession of eternal life and the maintenance
of eternal life come from possession of Jesus Christ who is
our eternal life. All believers possess eternal life at the
point of believing in Christ (John 3:16). Furthermore,
eternal life is God’s gift to those who believe in Jesus
Christ, we cannot earn eternal life.
Fourth, the privilege to eat the fruit from the tree of life
is a reward for those who overcome through a walk of faith
that results in faithfulness, a special reward of special
blessing that will somehow enrich the blessings of paradise.
“Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, your toil is not in vain.”
