The Letters to the Seven Churches (Part 3) Revelation 2-3: The Church at Ephesus (2:1-7) (Part 2)

The Church at Ephesus 2:1-7

 The recipients 2:1

 The messenger 2:1--we will take this as the pastor-teacher of the church

 The sender 2:1

o His character

o His message

• Commendation (v. 2-3)

1) Activity—“I know your works” (usual “work” word)

2) Labor—this is work to exhaustion

3) Patience—(hupomone)—load-carrying ability

4) Intolerance—“how you cannot bear . . .”

5) Doctrinal discretion—“you tried them”

6) Persistence—“you haven’t grown weary”

• Condemnation (v. 4)

o Your first love you left (emphasis on what they departed from)

1) Loss of fervency

2) Entry of apathy

3) Redirection of affection

4) Final corruption

5) Note: the Word of God treats everything as a potential threat to love for the Lord—your family, work, children, stuff, etc.

Divine prescription for getting back to fervent love for the Lord:

• Remember

• Repent

• Return

Observations from commendations:

• The qualities valued by Christ are not dramatic things (not material or organizational)—moral qualities not material

• Christ puts a premium on persistence

• Emphasis is on quality not quantity in the church

• Ephesus church functioned in the framework of reality not idealism

• The good qualities do not cancel out the bad qualities (He commends, then He condemns).

• Patience and impatience are compatible (He commends them for both)