Seven Letter to Seven Churches - Pt 3

[Jesus said] “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’” (Revelation 2:1–7 ESV).

 

Earlier we saw that Jesus appeared to John on the isle of Patmos in order to reveal to the seven churches in Asia Minor things that were soon to take place (cf. Revelation 1). Before describing the vision, however, Jesus sends specific warnings and commendations to each of the seven churches (cf. Revelation 2–3). We cannot ignore the truth that these church-specific messages address issues of particular relevance to each individual church. Yet, we dare not think that each message is for only the congregation identified. Each message exhorts the reader to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (cf. Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22).

 

Remember these letters were to be circulated among all the churches. As many commentators have noted, each church is invited to read the other churches’ mail, as it were. What Jesus says to one church He is saying to all the churches, and not only to the seven churches in Asia Minor but to all churches throughout history. Any individual congregation that is part of the Church universal can find itself guilty of the sins mentioned in these verses or worthy of the praise given in those chapters.

 

Jesus addresses the church in Ephesus first among the seven churches in Revelation (vv. 1–7). Ephesus was the closest city to Patmos, so it would have been the first destination to which a messenger would carry the message of Revelation. It was also the largest and most important city in Asia Minor at the time, a commercial and religious hub because it was the location of the great Temple of Artemis or Diana, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This city was rife with false religious teaching, so the church there would have to have been discerning in order not to be led astray. The first few verses indicate that the church in Ephesus enjoyed such discernment, weighing and rejecting much error. For this Jesus praises the church.

 

Still, not all was well with the church in Ephesus. That church had “abandoned the love” it had at first, and it needed to repent or Jesus would remove its lampstand—take away its status as a true church (vv. 4–5). Many commentators argue convincingly that this love Jesus is talking about is love for people. However, we cannot separate love for people absolutely from love for Jesus. True love for one must include true love for the other (cf. 1 John 4:20–21). Apparently, the church of Ephesus had let a noble concern for true doctrine make it overly critical and unloving, unwilling to minister to people the love of Christ. The same can happen to us if we are not careful. We must pursue both truth and love.

 

Scripture commends us to look out for false teaching, so we must be ever vigilant. Yet, it is easy to let doctrinal concern devolve into a critical spirit that thinks it has found falsehood everywhere and is unconcerned with the relational needs of the people around us. We must guard the truth while continuing to love others and help meet all their needs, not just their need for biblically faithful instruction.