The Message To Ephesus

by George Prasher, Manchester, England | Category: The Lord Among The Lampstands | Feb 1995

Ephesus is the only one of the seven Asian churches named in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 about which we have any detailed account in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul described the first impact of the gospel in Ephesus as "a great door and effectual" opened by God to him and his fellow-evangelists (1 Cor. 16:9). He remained in Ephesus for two years, during which time the Church of God in that city became a powerful centre of testimony - not only in Ephesus itself, but also "all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks" (Acts 19:10).

Ephesus was a notorious centre of idol worship, with its associated immorality. The city was guardian of the famed temple of Artemis (Diana) and of her image, which was said to have fallen from heaven. So great had been the effect of the gospel that silversmiths who gained their livelihood by making silver shrines of Artemis felt their trade threatened. They stirred up a great riot in protest against the gospel. Yet the work of God prevailed, and the Church in Ephesus was still continuing its testimony as a golden lampstand towards the close of the first century.

In the first part of the Lord's message to the disciples in that Church of God he says:

These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them which call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; and thou hast patience and didst bear for My Name's sake, and hast not grown weary (Rev. 2:1-3). The Lord certainly found many features which were a credit to the disciples in this Ephesian Church - its diligence in spiritual service, its concern to maintain true doctrine, its perseverance and sacrifice. It therefore comes as a surprise to read in verse 4:

But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.

The Lord not only called on them to repent for this, but solemnly warned them that if they failed to do so the golden lampstand in Ephesus would be removed: that is, they would no longer be recognized by Him as a church of God.

How seriously this reminds us of the importance of motivation in all our service for Christ. Paul could say, "The love of Christ constraineth us". A great deal of activity in spiritual service, perhaps involving much sacrifice, may lose its value to the Lord if it is not done out of love for Him. The point is well made in 1 Corinthians chapter 13:

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am becoming sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal... and if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing (vv. 1,3).

Indeed, all our service is revitalized when it flows out of our love for Him. Let us seek grace that it may be so, for we should daily be concerned about it. Paul urged the Ephesians to show compassion, kindness, humility and other special graces, but "above all these things put on love". May our hearts share the things of the hymn-writer:

But though I cannot sing or tell or know

The fulness or Thy love while here below,

My empty vessel I may freely bring;

0 Thou, whoart of love the living spring,

My vessel fill.

There is something very special to the Lord about our first love - the love which filled our hearts towards Him in the early flow of our conversion and glad commitment to His service. It was the same with His people Israel when they had first been delivered from cruel slavery in Egypt. The point is taken up by Jeremiah:

The word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown (2:1).

But with many in Israel that warm devotion and love for the Lord quickly grew cold. They became formal in worship, and showed dissatisfaction or even rebellion in times of testing. The disciples in Ephesus had also lost their first love. They were still busy and persevering in God's work, but the loving motivation which formerly brought such joy to Him was now lacking. Their service was out of a sense of duty rather than because out of loving hearts they longed to please Him. All this is recorded for our warning and encouragement, lest we too lapse from our first love.

The opposite will be true of us if we are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our love will then deepen and mature. When imprisoned in Rome, Paul was longing for the spiritual progress of the disciples in Philippi, people he loved and knew so well.

God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment (1:8,9).

Our love abounding more and more! This is open to every disciple of

Christ. It may be brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. For love has precedence in that delightful cluster of virtues described as the "fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians chapter 5:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance (vv. 22, 23).

To walk by the Spirit is to walk in love.

We are left to wonder how the disciples in Ephesus responded to the

Lord's warning and appeal, but the closing words of the Lord's message to them are also for us today:

He that hath an ear; let him hear what the 'Spirit saith to the Churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God (2:7).

George Prasher, Manchester, England | Feb 1995
The Lord Among The Lampstands