To the angel of the church of Ephesus,  
These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. You have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent.

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

                                                       Revelation 2:1-7

The first verse of the letter to Ephesus makes clear - the Church at large belongs to Jesus Christ. Each local church has a lampstand, given by Christ, and if the church does not obey Him, their lampstand will be removed! How many churches today are conducting business as usual depending on rituals and orders of service, even though their light has departed. This is the danger of liturgies. Churches can be fooled into thinking everything is as it was, even though their lampstand has been removed.

The church of Ephesus started well but, they had fallen. They were concerned about doctrine but, whose? Scripture teaches that there are doctrines of Christ (Heb. 6) and doctrines of men (Col. 2:22). The doctrines of men may match the doctrines of Christ word for word but, the light of life is gone from them. This light only comes from the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).

The church at Ephesus had many good qualities. 1) They labored for the Lord's sake without becoming weary. 2) They could not bear those who were evil. 3) They tested those who claimed to have ministries from the Lord, but did not. 4) They hated the deed of the Nicolaitans, which the Lord also hated.

The Lord knew of their willingness to work for His sake and He knows when we do not have such a willingness. They would not condone those who were evil. Many today do not like to admit that evil is in the world and they do not like to judge anyone as being evil - but it is there! Worldliness is evil and John even goes so far as to say "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 Jn. 1:15).

 

 The church today is infected with those claiming ministries in the Lord, shamelessly selling them over the TV. All they do is give Christianity a bad name. The church today could learn much from  the church of Ephesus! They also hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Much has been written about who the Nicolaitans were. Some say they were a movement that preached licentious living as being OK, because Christianity is spiritual in nature, but that is basically what the agnostics taught, so why not just call them agnostics?

The word Nicolaitan is a compound Greek word made from nico and laity. nico means to get the victory and laity means the people, so nicolaitan would mean to get the victory over the people. I believe this is the beginning of the separation that came between the so-called professional clergy and the people, thus placing a dividing wall in the church that was never meant to be there. But, the Ephesian church was too wise to fall for this heresy.

What they failed in was love! They had left their first love. What is this 'first love'? The Nelson Spirit Filled Bible states that they had degenerated into orthodox routine. When Jesus was resurrected, He sent us a 'love gift', the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in turn showers us with 'love gifts', commonly known as 'gifts of the Spirit.' Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments (Jn. 14:15). One of His most important commands was, "Receive you  the Holy Spirit." Whenever love is growing cold, you can bet that the Holy Spirit is not in His proper place, because it is the Holy Spirit that pours the love of God into our hearts (Rom. 5:5).

The Holy Spirit brings liberty to the individual and to the church body. And it is He alone that produces that 'first love' attitude in us. The problem is, man can't control the Holy Spirit. A church cannot have a routine, liturgical service when the Holy Spirit is free to move. We never fully know what He will do, because He works according to the mind of Christ and we mostly do not! After all, the preacher may never get a chance to preach! Or the offering may never be taken! And how could the modern church, which is mostly in debt, operate without offerings and the preacher's exhortations to give?

When the Holy Spirit is 'hovering' over the church body, as He did in the creation, all kinds of new and exciting things can happen. The gifts of the Holy Spirit will certainly move among the body of Christ which is assembled. Jesus reminds them that He holds the seven stars in His right hand. Stars speak of overcoming brightness. Paul encourages "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life." (Phil. 2:14-16).

To the church that overcomes in this area, life will be the fruit. As Jesus promised, to him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, ..." (Rev. 2:7).