Four Messages
REVELATION 2:1-3
Ephesus
"Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that
holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks" (Revelation 2:1).
There are certain similarities in all the messages to the seven churches. Each
message begins with a description of Christ given by Himself and then includes a
description of Christ taken from the vision in Revelation 1.
"From Him who is holding the seven stars and walking in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks": a message from Jesus as He walks in the midst of His
church, holding the angels of the churches.
To each of the churches Jesus declares His knowledge concerning them. "I know
thy works" (Revelation 2:2).
Many times we think that we're hiding things from God. No way! He knows our
works. More than that, He knows the motivation behind our works. Some of the
works will be burned - those done for vainglory (to be seen of men), about which
Jesus said, "You have your reward" (Matthew 6:2, 5). Every man, one day, will
be judged according to his works - what manner or sort they are (Revelation
2:23, 20:13).
Jesus continues to the church of Ephesus, "I know thy works, and thy labor, and
thy patience, and how you cannot bear them which are evil: you have tried them
which say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars" (Revelation
2:2).
In the early church there were itinerant ministers who went from church to
church. There were two companies: those who were apostles (they claimed
apostleship and the authority of apostleship), and those who went around as
prophets ministering to the local bodies.
In time these traveling ministers became a problem in the church because of
false prophets. These deceivers would come into a church and really rip things
up. To guard against this, a manual was written to warn the church against the
false prophets and how to spot them. If one came along and prophesied, "Thus
saith the Lord, 'Prepare a big turkey dinner'!" - he was not to eat of it. If he ate
of it, he was a false prophet.
If he declared to you by the Spirit that you were to
give him gifts, he was a false prophet. He was to stay for two days. If he stayed
any longer and tried to sponge off you, he was a false prophet. This advice was
intended to keep these itinerants on the move and to prevent them from
profiting from the churches.
In Ephesus the Christians exercised discernment on those who came in and
claimed to be apostles but were not. "You found them to be liars." The Lord
commended them for their discernment.
He commended them for their holiness. They would not bear those which were
evil. He commended them for their work, their labor, and their patience. "And
hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and not
fainted" (Revelation 2:3).
Ephesus was a working church according to Christ's description. In labor they did
not faint. They had patience and discernment. They had all of these things going
for them.
REVELATION 2:4-5
Return to Your First Love
Yet, the Lord said, "Nevertheless I have this against thee, because thou hast left
thy first love" (Revelation 2:4).
Ephesus was a church that was still going through the motions but they had left
the emotions. They were no longer motivated by the love of Jesus Christ. They
were now being motivated by pressure, habit, form, or ritual.
What a sad day when your ministry turns into a job! Paul said, "For the love of
Christ constraineth us" (II Corinthians 5:14). It was the love that drove Paul
onward.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal... And though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor... and I have not love, it profiteth me nothing (I
Corinthians 13:1-3).
I can have a lot of things going for me. I can be the hardest and most diligent
worker in a church. I can give myself tirelessly to the spreading of the Gospel.
But if I have not love, if I have left my first love, it profits me nothing. Jesus said
that, though you have all this going for you, you have left your first love.
"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first
works" (Revelation 2:5).
Many people say, "Oh, you've lost your first love." You don't lose it, you leave it.
If you lose something, you never know where to pick it up again. You don't know
where to find it. If you leave something, you know where to pick it up again.
Jesus tells us how to pick it up again.
The three R's: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen." Remember
that love that you once had? "Repent." Then Repeat. "Do the first works." Come
back to that first work of love. It is first above everything else. Do your first
works over again, those works motivated and prompted by love.
To most of the churches Jesus said, "Repent." There is the necessity of
repentance in most churches. There were only two to whom He didn't have to
say "Repent."
Repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will
remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:5).
Unless there was a repentance, a return to that first love, Jesus would remove
the candlestick from its place. Where was its place? In the presence of Christ, for
He walked in the midst of the candlesticks. Jesus is saying, "I will not stay
around a loveless church."
This is a very solemn consideration.
Unfortunately, as we look at the church today - so filled with factions, fighting,
and divisions - in many cases the candlestick has been removed from its place.
You go to church but you don't feel the presence and the power of Jesus Christ.
Instead, you feel the factions and all the pressures and strain. Jesus said, "I
won't stay around a loveless church."
REVELATION 2:6-7
"But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also
hate" (Revelation 2:6).
"Nicolaitanes" comes from two Greek words: nikao and laos meaning
"establishing a priesthood over a laity." The church of Ephesus hated that
establishment of a spiritual hierarchy. Jesus said, "Which I also hate."
Why? Because, in our minds, it suddenly puts some men closer to God than
others. God doesn't want anyone to feel far from Him. He wants every man to
feel close to Him.
God doesn't want you to feel that you have to go through
someone to get to Him. He wants you to come directly to Him in His Son Jesus
Christ. Jesus has opened the door to God for every man alike, and He doesn't
want anyone to stand in your way of coming to Him. To each church Jesus said,
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To
him that overcometh will I give..."
To each church there is a blessing to the overcomers. It is interesting to note,
and I do bear witness, that in every church, even the most apostate, there are
the individual overcomers who truly know Jesus Christ.
To the church of Ephesus He promised, "To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation
2:7).
In the Garden of Eden God had given to man the fruit of the trees for his meat.
Two specific trees were mentioned. There was the tree of knowledge of good and
evil which man was forbidden to eat, and the tree of life which, if a man ate of it,
he would live forever.
Adam and Eve had their choice of the trees. It would seem to me that they
would have chosen immediately to eat of the tree of life. Why would they choose
the tree of knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life? Why would they eat
of its fruit before the fruit of the tree of life? The knowledge of good and evil,
however, was more important to them than life.
In reality, man has the same choice today. You can't blame Adam for all your
evils or troubles or ills, because God has given you the choice of the tree of life,
if you'll just partake of it. The cross of Jesus Christ is life to those who believe
and trust in Him. You have the opportunity to partake of that life in Christ.
A lot of people have intellectual hang-ups.
They have made their intellect their
god. Because they cannot fully understand or comprehend the meaning of the
incarnation and its purpose - the substitutionary death of Christ - they do not
partake of the tree of life, though the opportunity is there for them.
When Adam ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God banished him
from the Garden. The cherubim stood above the Garden with a flaming sword to
protect it lest man would return, eat of the tree of life, and live forever in his sins
(Genesis 2:9,16-17; Genesis 3:24).
That cherubim was not stationed there as a judgment of God but as a
representative of the mercy of God. God in His mercy didn't want man to go on
forever in this corrupt, sinful body. For man's sake, He put the cherubim there to
keep stupid man from the garden lest he would eat of the tree of life and go on
living forever in a body corrupted by sin.
Too many times people see God as a God of judgment and wrath when, in
reality, He's a God of love and mercy. But they misinterpret the mercy of God for
judgment. God was protecting man from himself by placing the cherubim at the
entrance to the Garden to keep man from reentering.
The tree of life is in the midst of the Paradise of God, wherever that may be. He
that overcomes will have the opportunity to eat of that tree. We'll partake of the
tree of life!
Historically, Ephesus is the early church, the apostolic church that existed up
until the time of the death of John (c. 99 A.D.). Even at the time of John's
writing, the fire of love had begun to wane a bit in the early church. When they
first started out they were fervent. They went everywhere preaching the Gospel.
The love of Christ was driving them throughout the world. Now, they were
already becoming a bit established, leaving the first love.
REVELATION 2:8-9
Smyrna
Historically, Smyrna is the church that followed Ephesus. It continued for the
next couple of centuries (second to fourth centuries) and went through such
tremendous persecution from the Roman government. It is thought that perhaps
as many as six million Christians were martyred for their faith during the Roman
government's attempt to wipe out Christianity.
"Unto the angel of the church in Smyrna" (Revelation 2:8).
If the "angel" refers to the local bishop of the church, the bishop of Smyrna was
Polycarp, a disciple of John, martyred in his 90's. The government planned to kill
this aged man by burning him at the stake. As the fagots were gathered around
him, the executioner said, "I hate to see an old man die. Just recant Christ and
we'll set you free. Then you can live your last days in peace."
Polycarp said, "For over eighty years I have served my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Not once has He denied me. I shall not deny Him."
The executioner said, "The fire will be hot."
Polycarp said, "Not nearly as hot as the fire you'll experience!"
The executioner lit the fagot. At first the flames leaped up around Polycarp but
didn't touch his body. Seeing this, the executioner took a spear and thrust him
through. The blood that poured out extinguished the fire. The Christians took his
body and gave him a Christian burial.
It is significant, in a church whose members should suffer persecution and
tribulation and have many martyred, that even the bishop of the church was put
to death. The early leader was not above the people he ministered to; he shared
in the trials and sufferings with his flock.
Unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and
the last, which was dead, and is alive (Revelation 2:8).
Because they were to be martyred, Jesus is reminding these Christians of His
triumph over death. "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Jesus said, "Because I live,
ye shall live also" (John 14:19). By reminding them of His triumph over death,
He's giving them courage and strength for the hour when they would be facing
death.
To the church at Smyrna John was told to write: "I know thy works, and
tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)" (Revelation 2:9). This is in contrast
to the church of Laodicea that said, "We are rich," but Jesus said, "You're poor."
The estimate of ourselves is one thing, but His estimate of us is far different. The
estimate of the church of Smyrna of themselves was that of poverty. Jesus said,
"Thou art rich." "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?"
(James 2:5).
"I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are
the synagogue of Satan" (Revelation 2:9). Most of the persecution that came in
the early church was instigated and inspired by the Jews. Wherever Paul went,
the Jews followed him and stirred up agitation in each city against him.
The term "Jew" refers to one who practices Judaism. It isn't a nationality. You
can actually proselyte and become a Jew, that is, a worshiper of God through
Judaism. Some Jews were claiming to be worshipers of God but they were not.
They had their synagogues, but Jesus said of them that they were the
synagogues of Satan.
The Jews said to Jesus, "We are of our father Abraham. Who your father is
nobody knows." Jesus said, "If your father were Abraham, then you would have
believed in me, for Abraham testified of me." Jesus said, "You are of your father
