Letters to the Church: Ephesus (The Church part 2)

Faithful Witnessing is actually the big idea in revelation

Revelation 1:4-6

Revelation 2:1-7

It is interesting that much of our New Testament was written to the church in Ephesus: Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1-3 John, and Revelation. Also, the Gospel of John was likely written by John when he was in Ephesus. We know that Paul and Timothy also ministered in this church.

Ephesus was the home to many major temples.

The patron God of Ephesus was Artemis who was the goddess of food and fertility/childbirth

Ephesus was also the hub of the imperial cult in Asia minor with a temple to the Caesars and worship of the empire. Ephesus was a center of patriotism.

Ephesus was also the center of commerce of the entire world.

Jesus is described in 2 ways… Power and Presence

· Jesus is described as the one who holds the 7 stars. “Holding” was a symbol of power in the Roman world.

· Jesus is depicted as the one that walks among the lampstands. It says he knows what they do… He is present!

o The churches are described as lampstands here. This is temple imagery. In the Temple the lampstand was a menorah with 7 candles, representing these 7 churches.

o the role of the lampstand in the temple was to shine light on the table of showbread. Jesus is the bread of life!

o Our purpose as the church is to shine our light on Jesus, who is our life!

Praise for Ephesus

Jesus knows their hard work Ephesus had discernment and good doctrine

They endured hardships for Jesus’ name

They hated the practices of the Nicolatians

Forsaken Love

In verse 4 Jesus has something against them… They had forsaken the love they had at first.

• There are 2 ways this can be translated- “Left your first love” (Jesus) or “left the love you had at first” (love for others) • The second view, but it connects to the first view too (1 John 4).

• Ephesus obviously loved Jesus they obeyed his commands to be in the truth and worked hard for his name but were likely hardened in their love for each other because they had spent so much energy on standing up to the culture and for pure doctrine. These are good things, but Ephesus neglected the greatest thing.

Remember, Repent, Do

The book of Ephesians if the earliest letter we have written to this church in the Bible and it’s interesting that it’s Paul’s only letter to a church that isn’t in crisis. The only command in the first 4 chapters of the book of Ephesians is to “remember” (Eph 2:11) . The letter to Ephesians is all about what Christ has done in love for the church and how that should motivate them in love for each other.

“Conquering”

Jesus redefines Roman conquering in Revelation 5 as he conquers as a slaughtered lamb. Winning in God’s kingdom often looks like losing in the eyes of the world.

Conclusions:

· This is a church that was reactive and defensive towards the outside, rather than living the love of Jesus inside the church

· Without love for the body, we won’t be counted as a faithful witness. Jesus tell his disciples that the world would know they are disciples by their love for EACH OTHER, not by pure doctrine or good works done in his name.