Revelation 2:1-7

The Church that Abandoned Its First Love

All the letters to the churches begin with a salutation to the angel of the church and a description of Jesus. One can readily see Jesus' authority over the churches because He holds the seven stars, or angels, in His right hand. His walking in the midst of the lampstands shows His constant love and concern for the churches. Ephesus was a great city with its main deity being Artemis, or Diana. Paul first visited the city on his second missionary journey. He could not stay long because he was on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem and wanted to be there for the Passover, but he promised to return if it was God's will (Acts 18:19; Acts 18:24-28). Paul did return on his third missionary journey (Acts 19:1-12; Acts 19:21-41). This stay must have lasted three years and was brought to an end by the uproar caused by Demetrius the silversmith after the sale of shrines dropped off. Paul left town after the mob was quieted, but he did call for the elders from Ephesus to come to Miletus, as he was on his way home, and bade them a moving farewell (Acts 20:1; Acts 20:17-38). Of course, Paul also wrote a letter to this church and left Timothy in that city on another occasion to correct problems (Revelation 2:1; 1 Timothy 1:3 ff).

Clearly, the Lord knows the situation in each of his churches and is interested in them (Psalms 139:7-12; Psalms 139:23-24; Hebrews 4:13). The word labor suggests strenuous and exhausting work. The Christians in Ephesus were active in God's service. This church had purity of doctrine, as can be seen in their not bearing "those who are evil" and finding false apostles liars (1 John 4:1; Acts 20:29-30). Of the word "patience", Thayer says, "steadfastness, constancy, endurance...in the New Testament the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings." The name of the Lord, for which Ephesus patiently labored, is very important to Christians because of the salvation and justification in it (Revelation 2:2-3; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 6:11).

Like the husband or wife continuing faithfully in the marriage bond solely out of a sense of duty, the church at Ephesus had grown cold in and left her first love. Like Israel of old (Ruth 2:7-13), it appears second generation Christians had lost the ardor for the Lord and his service that had once characterized them (Acts 19:19-20; Acts 20:36-38; Ephesians 1:15). It is possible to faithfully attend all worship services and perform all the tasks the Lord has commanded His people to perform and yet lack the love that makes those acts acceptable (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The works the Lord has named that the Ephesian brethren had been involved in were in defense of the gospel. They also needed an offense, so the Lord encouraged them to "remember...repent, and do" (Revelation 2:4-5; 2 John 1:6; 2 John 1:8; 1 John 5:3; 1 John 2:4). If they did not get busy and do those works, the Lord said He would no longer recognize them as the true church.

As he had in verse 2, the Lord praised them for hating sinful deeds. God, and His people, hate evil deeds, not those who perform those deeds (Psalms 45:7; Hebrews 1:9). The Lord wrote to the church but made it plain that it was up to the individual to hear. Notice God's truth is not put into the heart by some mysterious power, instead they had to hear it. The word "overcomes" describes one conquering as in a battle or over a trial (Revelation 2:6-7).