To Ephesus || You’ve Got Divine Mail! || Part 1

Have you ever sat in church and heard a sermon that doesn’t sit right with you? Have you ever being in a Bible Study and listened to a teaching that triggered a visceral reaction? You see your church struggling and asked the ultimate question, “Does God care about the church?” The idea is about the group of believers gathered under one building, but we are called the church as well.

Over the next seven parts, we are looking at John’s letters to the seven churches near him in Asia Minor in a series I’m calling, “You’ve Got Divine Mail.” God knew the situations of these churches. These letters hold information about specific people, places, and events. John praises the successes and offers resolutions for their failures. Jesus cared for those churches, and cares about our church today. He yearns for it to reach its greatest potential. The goal of this series is for you be encouraged. To be encouraged to serve the church and help the body reach its best potential, and for you to serve God’s people to change the world.

We start our journey with the letter to the church in Ephesus.

Revelation 2:1-7

1             “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2             “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 

3             You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

4             “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first![b] 

5             Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 

6             But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

7             “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

These letters have a format:

• Introduction
• Positives of the Church
• Problems of the Church
• Blessings

INTRODUCTION: The letter to the church in Ephesus is written to the messenger (one of the seven stars) of the church to share with the congregation.

POSITIVES OF THE CHURCH: Jesus praises the hard work, patience, and intolerance of evil of the church. They were really good at analyzing and exploiting the false teachers that came to them. They stay strong in spite of their suffering.

PROBLEMS OF THE CHURCH: They have fallen away from their work. Jesus is calling them to repent and turn back to the work listed in verse two and three. If they didn’t, Jesus would remove his presence from the church. They are beginning the work, though. They have something working in their advantage (hatred of the Nicolaitans evil).

BLESSINGS: Jesus shares the blessing to them if they repent: those who follow through will receive eternal life.

Ephesus was the capital of Asia Minor (the area where these letters are sent). It’s a center of land and sea trade, and, alongside Alexandria and Antioch in Syria, it’s one of the three most influential cities in the eastern Roman empire. The temple of Artemis, one of the ancient wonders of the world, was found there. A major industry in Ephesus was the production of images of Artemis. If Ephesus sounds familiar to you, it should. Paul ministered here (and wrote a letter that’s in our Bible) and warned them that false teachers would come to try and draw people away from their faith. The church had resisted them, as seen in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

The one who “walks among the seven gold lampstands” (seven churches) in Jesus. He holds the “seven stars in his right hand” (messengers of the church), shows his power and authority over the churches and their leaders. Ephesus took their work and became boastful. The message of Jesus’ reminds them that he alone is the head of the body of believers. Jesus authority and powers lies within him, and the church is supposed to utilize it to do God’s will. If they’re using it on their own, without Jesus’ authority, they are falling down a slippery slope of man-made power and authority and could lose their credibility as the church itself.

Jesus commends the church in Ephesus for the following:

• Working hard
• Patiently enduring
• Not tolerating evil.
• Critically examining the claims of false teachers.
• Suffering without quitting

These good efforts should happen as a response of our love for Jesus. Jesus and John stressed love for another as an authentic way to share the Good News of the Gospel. In the battle of keeping sound theology and moral and doctrinal purity (a place where God can live), it is possible to lose a loving and caring spirit. Prolonged conflict can weaken or destroy our patience and affection. We can continue to fight and fight and fight and not make any progress. In response, we could give up, surrender, resolve the conflict, or walk away all together. In defending the faith, guard against any structure or practice that weakens the love of Christ. Sometimes, churches can get so caught up in the routines, the rule-sets, the doctrines that it removes the potential of outreach and bringing in people who wouldn’t come in on their own. There’s nothing wrong with following them, but when we allow them to take precedence over the love of Christ, then we start to lose the light of the church.

Over a long period of time, the church in Ephesus had constantly refused to tolerate sin among its members. This proved to be difficult because Ephesus was known for its immoral sexual practices associated with worshipping Artemis. Before we go any further, let’s talk about who Artemis is.

Artemis is the protector of the natural world and wildlife. She was also the patron of girls and young women. She was often depicted with a short tunic and a bow and arrow. She was worshipped as one of the goddesses of childbirth and midwifery. She was a patron of healing and disease. Her followers would engage in immoral sexual practices, based on the time and culture.

We are also living in times of widespread sin and sexual immorality. We face pressure to be open-minded toward various types of sin. Sexual immorality, as understood in my series “Boundaries of Your Sexuality,” is defined as: committing sexual acts or being nude with the intent to accomplish sexual satisfaction, obtain money, satisfy lustful desires, and/or obtain gratification with someone(s) in a noncommittal manner in a way that can involve a variety of forms of abuse, force, and/or inhumane treatment of those involved. We face pressure to be open-minded towards different types of sin, calling them personal choices or attributing them to one’s orientation (Note that that sentence was a note from my Study Bible.) We can be open-minded and inclusive about different lifestyles. We aren’t forced into living a lifestyle that’s uncomfortable from our own. It’s a choice. They way that people will demonize different sexual orientations, gender identities, and overall different lifestyles are because they are uncomfortable with the idea of accepting them because they are being “shoved in front of them.” The presence of these different lifestyles shows more visibility. They existed, but behind closed doors due to the bullying, condemnation, lack of understanding, and lack of compassion people would receive when they did become visible. As long as they are not causing harm to themselves or others, who are we to judge. We can co-exist with all different types of people and live in community with them as we do God’s will. We can use God’s word to show a healthy love and compassionate mindset instead of using it to thump and condemn people.

When new believers first under God’s love and power, they celebrate their new feeling of forgiveness. But when we lose sight of the severity of sin, we lose the thrill of forgiveness. We can go through life thinking that the actions that separate us from God are small and minute, when they are actually causing long-term consequences. The more we commit those acts, the more we create this barrier of separation. You will know when this happens, through the nudges given by the Holy Spirit. When you feel those nudges of doubt and guilt, it’s time to talk to God. Satan will try and use that to take you down from your relationship with God, but talking to God about them can restore your relationship with him and create a new forgiveness that will cause a life change within us.

Paul had once commended Ephesus for their love of God and others. As time went on, the founders of that church died and much of the next generation lost their zeal for God. It was a busy church. The members did things to help themselves and the community – but their love for God and each other had faded. They created outreach events with the goal of having fun instead of the goal of building relationships with the community. They created Bible studies to be a social group instead of learning about the word and how it can affect us. What we do for God must be motivated by our love for God or it will be short-lived.

For Jesus to “remove your lampstand from its place” would mean the church would no longer be effective. Just as the seven-branched lampstand in the Temple gave light for the priests, the churches were to give them their lights to the surrounding communities. However, Jesus warned them that their lights could go out. In fact, Jesus would come there himself and extinguish any light that didn’t fulfill its purpose. The believers here needed to repent and repent soon.

The Nicolaitans were believers who compromised their faith in order to enjoy the sinful behaviors of Ephesus. They believed that the sinful behavior was “okay” and allowed them to dictate their lives. Some believe that the name “Nicolaitans” to be roughly the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for “Balaamites” (those who followed the false God Balaam). Balaam was a prophet that received money to induce the Israelites to follow through on their lustful desires. (see Numbers 22-24 for the story of Balaam) When we knowingly take part in sinful behavior, we can make excuses to justify why. We might claim that it’s not as bad, or that it really won’t hurt, or we can just repent. The truth is that it does and creates a slippery slope to destroy our relationship with God.

Through John, Jesus commended the Ephesians for hated the wicked practices of Nicolaitans. They didn’t hate them, but the sinful behavior. This teaches us that we must be inclusive of everyone but be mindful of evil behaviors within the church building. Being tolerant is fine when it comes from treating people with other points of view with respect and how we can respect how people express themselves. We must recognize that while it’s different from how we live, we don’t have to demonize it. It’s not being forced upon us, but it’s been included in the world we live in today. We don’t have to force people to stop because we don’t like it, but we can learn to be inclusive of it. We can intercede if it’s causing harm to them or others.

God placed two unique trees in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 2 and 3) – the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eating from the tree of life brought eternal life with God. Eating from the tree of knowledge brough the understanding of good and evil, and with it, and the possibility of sin. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, they disobeyed God’s command and chose their own path. Therefore, they were excluded from Eden and barred from eating from the tree of life. Eventually, evil will be destroyed, and believers will brought into a restored paradise. In the New Creation, (see Revelation 21-22:6)

Today, we heard about the letter sent to Ephesus. Jesus celebrated the church for working hard, being patient, being intolerant to evil, and critically examining the false teachers, and suffering without giving up. However, Ephesians got caught up in their own works and attempting for their create a church for their own benefit. Jesus realized that they left the following of Christ to do their own thing. Jesus tells them they must repent, or else the church will lose it’s effectiveness with Christ. They’re starting the work needed by not tolerating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, but there’s more work that needs to be done.

Next time, we take the letter to Smyrna. Until then, stay blessed.

• Associated Scripture:
  • Rev 2:1
    • Revelation 1:12-16, 20
    • Revelation 3:1
  • Rev 2:2
    • 2 Corinthians 11:13
    • 1 John 4:1
    • Revelation 2:19
  • Rev 2:3
    • John 15:21
  • Rev 2:4
    • Jeremiah 2:2
    • Matthew 24:12
  • Rev 2:5
    • Revelation 2:16, 22
    • Revelation 3:3, 19
  • Rev 2:6
    • Psalm 139:21
  • Rev 2:7
    • Genesis 2:8-29
    • Genesis 3:22-24
    • Ezekiel 31:8-9