The church of Ephesus is the recipient of the first of the letters. (Rev 2:1-7) This church does some things well and gets a pat on the back. But, it is missing the most important thing of all and to continue in this pattern could be catastrophic. How we live is very important. It indicates what is going on in our hearts. And it also can be faked. But, Jesus sees through it. He knows all. Verse by verse: Verse 1 To the angel of Ephesus. Once again we have this reference about “angel.” Literally it means messenger and could mean a supernatural or human messenger. From the one from the vision of chapter 1. Specifically referencing the seven stars and lampstands in v12, 13, 16, 20. Verse 2 & 3 He knows! Specifically, He knows the deeds, hard work, and perseverance. I think of this as what we have accomplished, the hard work that went into it, and the struggle against opposition that we endured. This is commendable and is illustrated with the following works.
Verse 4 Big Problem: Forgotten first love! Verse 5 Solution: Remember and repent. One of the most powerful tools we have for repentance is memory. When we can remember our heart’s position then that can change us. We can reload that old memory into our current attitude and it can drive us to the proper way of living. This can work with any relationship. Birthday parties for our children help us remember when they were born and were little and our fresh heart for them. It stirs up our love. Wedding anniversaries remind us of that early infatuation with our bride and the early days of passion. Remembering the early days of our faith bring up the zeal and new found trust in our God that we have just come to know in a deep way. Warning: The God of the lampstands will remove our place among the lampstands. If we do not keep our love for God fresh, we prove our unbelief. We are just fakers, posing our way through life and He can tell the difference. Verse 6 Hate practices: An unexplained group called the "Nicolaitans" has some bad practices. They are not enumerated but are obviously opposing the way of Christ. The name can be traced back to the Hebrew meaning "destruction of people." It is bad stuff, whatever it is precisely. Notice that they get points for hating the “practices” and not necessarily hating the people. I am reminded that those who do evil are held captive by the enemy. We should still desire them to be redeemed but stand opposed to their way of life and teaching. Some of what is said of the OT reference (Numbers 24:1-3) is that they condone “upholding the liberty of eating things sacrificed to idols as well as committing fornication.” Think of the groups today that condone illicit behavior and still claim that they are Christian. This group is growing and it is not good. Verse 7 Life: The offer to the one who overcomes (a refrain which we will hear each week) is that they get to eat from the tree of life! (Gen 3:24, Rev 22:2) The proverbs have a verse that connects this teaching nicely (4:23). Above all else, guard your heart, Our heart… our love really matters! For men it is relatively easy to go into task mode. This isn’t just men. Anyone who has had to endure a lot has learned to turn off their heart and just push through. This is a survival mechanism to get through hard times. But, it can go awry. When we forget our first love we forget our actual motivation. Then we begin to serve for the wrong reasons. We do it out of legalism or to look good. We serve with a heart of stone rather than a heart of flesh. We get the cart before the horse and Jesus says this is really bad. We must keep our hearts alive. We must keep the greatest commandment to love our God and then also the second to love one another. After all, this is how others will know who we are and be drawn to God! (John 13:35 & chapters 14-17)
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Jamie SellersA shepherd and his journey Archives
June 2021
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