Letter to the Church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)

Ephesus was a very important city in the Roman Empire. In it was located one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Diana, which was about 600 years old when Paul and his colleagues took the gospel there. A far greater wonder, of course, was the existence of a Christian church in the city, a church composed of people who worshipped the living God. The church became important as a centre of Christianity. Three councils in the early church met there before the city gradually dwindled due its harbour becoming silted up. Today, the city is only a collection of ruins, but it is an interesting place to visit.

The church in Ephesus was probably the largest of the seven congregations. This was not the first time that the church in Ephesus received a letter that is now contained in the New Testament. Previously, Paul sent a letter to the church there, and he also sent 1 Timothy to his friend when he was in Ephesus. Peter sent his letters to the geographical area in which Ephesus was located. John sent his first letter there too, according to early church tradition. So it was certainly a privileged church. Indeed John is said to be buried in Ephesus, as is Mary the mother of Jesus.

Jesus addresses the letter to the angel of the church, as he does in the other six as well. The angel is a symbol of someone. He could be the messenger who delivers the letter, he could be the angel who protects the church, he could be an angel present with the church in its services (Paul refers to such in writing to the Corinthians). The angel is not facing a rebuke, so it is unlikely that he is the pastor. Instead of facing a rebuke, he is safe in the hand of Jesus. In any case, given that John lived in Ephesus, and given that he was the last apostle, it is likely that he would have been the pastor of the congregation, and he would not have sent this letter to himself.

Jesus begins this brief letter by reminding the church in Ephesus that he walks among the churches (the seven lampstands). Since he does so simultaneously in each, this is a claim to deity, to omnipresence. Perhaps he described himself in this way to assure the Ephesians that he scrutinised all churches and not just one. There is not only a claim to omnipresence here; in addition, there is a claim to omniscience because none of the churches can hide anything from him. So what did he discover?

The commendation (2:2-3)

The Saviour mentions that the church in Ephesus was an active church that engaged in arduous endeavours persistently. They had stickability. We are not told what their activities were, but they had plenty. They had no intention of reducing their commitment to Jesus. Although there was opposition, they did everything for Jesus.

Moreover, they had an accurate grasp of doctrine and they knew how to assess those who preached to them, including the Nicolaitans. Paul had warned the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20 that false teachers would try and damage the church. Clearly they had taken this warning seriously, and they had kept themselves from doctrinal error and confusion. They had the right attitude towards false doctrine and wrong living based on false doctrine – they hate it.

The reality is that most people would have assumed that the church in Ephesus was a spiritually-healthy church. Perhaps other congregations craved the initiatives and the programmes and the way the Ephesians performed their church life. We could say that the church in Ephesus was interested in edification within and in evangelism to those who were without. Yet all was not well, and Jesus had observed the problem as he walked around the church.

The concern (v. 4)

What was wrong with the church in Ephesus? I have heard some people refer to it as the loveless church, although that is not what Jesus says about them. There was a problem with their love, and it was a shared problem. The whole church was guilty of this defect, but they had not ceased to love.

I suppose we need to ask if Jesus is referring to the object of their love or to the manner of their love. Had their love been diverted from someone or had it been dampened? If he is referring to the object of their love, then he could be referring to the affection they once had for him and for one another. If he is referring to the strength of their love, then it was not as warm as it used to be. Of course, there is a sense in which the object and the manner are affected by one another. A dampening of love will lead to diverted love because Jesus would no longer receive their constant, full affection.

It is interesting to read the letter by Paul to the Ephesians and the first letter by John and observe what they said about the necessity of love, both in attitude and in action. The contents of this letter indicate that they still had a love for Jesus because that was why they engaged in all their activities.

The question also arises regarding who had the first love. Some commentators think that the ones who had the first love were the first generation of believers. The ones to whom Jesus sent this letter would be the third generation in the main because most of the first generation would have passed away. Yet I would say that it is difficult to accept that as an explanation because the third generation would not remember what the first generation had been like. And Jesus in his counsel to the church members in verse 5 says that part of the remedy is for them to remember where they once were. So it looks to me that the actual ones to whom he is writing once had a stronger love.

Something had caused them to lose their first love. It could have been the existence of persecution, because in such times we are told that the love of many becomes cold. Or it could have been the battles they had fought to preserve the church from error because often in such times conflict brings about decline in love. Or maybe they engaged in all their activities out of routine and everything became formal. It is striking that Jesus does not say anything about prayer in his commendation and one would think that a church like Ephesus, with all the things going on, would have valued prayer. But we know most things in a Christian church can continue without prayer, and what causes that is a loss of first love. Spurgeon sums it up when he says that it is possible to do many things for Christ without spending much time with him.

The counsel (vv. 5, 7)

Jesus, as the Good Physician, not only diagnoses the problem. He also advises the path of restoration. His instruction can be summarised as 3rs. They are to remember, repent and repeat. The first involves the mind as they recalled what they once were like. The second involves the heart because repentance flows from a broken heart. The third reveals a renewed will that delights to practice what is pleasing to God.

The one that is stressed is the middle one of repentance. Perhaps it is stressed because it would be easy to engage in remembering and repeating without repenting. They, and we, could do them without going into the presence of God and expressing our deep sorrow for failure. Yet there is no recovery without repentance. Instead, there will be removal and Jesus will be the One who will bring an unrepentant church to an end.

Jesus then reveals that this letter is not just for the church in Ephesus. He points out that through this letter the Spirit is speaking to all the churches. They may be heading in the direction that Ephesus had gone. Or they may have lost their first love through other reasons. Whatever the circumstances, they were to recover the 3rs, or else they would be removed out of existence.

The consolation (v. 7)

Jesus provides the church in Ephesus with comfort. The comfort is not connected to anything on earth. Instead he tells them about life in heaven and that it is possible for them to participate in it. This is what John Piper calls the power of future grace, how what we are going to get causes us to focus on it. We all know that the prospect of a future event, such as a holiday, can make the discomforts of the present bearable.

The participants in the heavenly experience are said to be conquerors or overcomers on earth. The description points to the reality of spiritual conflict, and it is not difficult for us to see here a reference to the spiritual foes of believers, to the world, the flesh and the devil. It also points to the possibility of victory, even as Paul says in Romans 8 that believers can be more than conquerors through him who loved them.

On that great future day, the King of kings will grant something. What ideas come to mind through the word ‘grant’? Obviously, it refers to something that is freely given – one does not purchase a grant. In addition, when something is granted, it is usually permanent unless there is a reason for specifying a shorter period of time. So here Jesus is stating that he will freely give something for ever.

The benefit that will be granted to the overcomer is to eat of the tree of life. This is a reference to what used to happen in the Garden of Eden. There the tree of life was the way to live forever. So Jesus is promising eternal life to every overcomer. But what is eternal life, which is illustrated here by the illustration of eating? Eternal life is to know God the Father and Jesus (John 17:3). In heaven we come to the source of infinite supplies of wonder and share it. We can imagine how the believers in Ephesus, who left their first love, but who recalled, repented and repeated their lives of love, have been feeding there for almost two thousand years.

Jesus also mentions the position of the tree of life – it is in the middle of Paradise. If something is in the middle, there is equal access to it. In addition, it points to the fact that the source of life will be central in the eternal world. And we can also see who the garden belongs to – God.  

Applications

The big question here is not, ‘How right is your theology?’ Correct theology is essential, but if that is all we have, Jesus does not want us to be a church. The big question here is not, ‘What activities and programmes do you have?’ Such things are essential, but if that is all that we have, Jesus does not want us to be a church. There must be love along with correct theology and activities. If we have not got love, we are on the way out.

How can we know that we have left our first love? If we spend time with Jesus in his Word, speak to him in prayer, and speak about him to others, we have our first love. If we don’t do these things, we have lost it.

How can we recover the lost love? Repent, says Jesus. I wonder how Jesus said the word ‘left’. Was he angry, sad, disappointed, loving? Sure, we can repent by looking at our failures and that is good. But we need encouragements to return, and one of the encouragements is that Jesus misses our company.