Letter to Ephesus

  1. Ephesus

    1. Jesus is the foundation of the churches and the Spirit in their midst.

      1. ""To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:" - Revelation 2:1

        1. Stars and Lampstands – Messengers and Communities

          1. ""As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." - Revelation 1:20

            1. Angels – angeloss – meaning “messengers” or “those who bring tidings” and typically either referring to humans or lesser elohim (spiritual creatures) that carry messages from God.

            2. Churches – ekklesia – those who are “called out” (ek-kaleo). Used of citizens gathered together for the purpose of deliberation or assembly.

              1. Used by the disciples of Jesus to describe those who had been “called out” of their previous allegiances and who now represented and carried out the work of establishing the Kingdom to Come.

        2. Jesus is saying, “I AM the one who holds you up and establishes you and I AM the breath of life that moves within your communities.”

    2. The Ephesians are a solid, respectable and unwavering community of faith and allegiance to the teachings of Christ.

      1. "'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary." - Revelation 2:2-3

        1. The Ephesians have absolutely zero compromise for those who would twist or pervert the teachings of Jesus.

        2. They test those who say that they are called of God and are willing to reject those that don't pass the test.

        3. They continue to live in line with their calling as representatives of the Kingdom to come and do so for the glory of Jesus.

    3. For all their devotion, they're losing their joy and their passion.

      1. "'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love." - Revelation 2:4

        1. This is the most succinct, most calm, most gutting, and most perfect description of how a soul begins to die that I've ever read.

        2. Wrapped up in this statement is the gentle but biting, scalpel-like character we can associate with the Voice of Jesus.

          1. "For the Word of God [Spirit of Jesus] is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." - Hebrews 4:12-13

          2. We should see that He is neither furious to beat us over the head, nor fearful of upsetting our delicate sensibilities. His words are exactly like a spiritual scalpel in the hands of a master; they expose the issue perfectly and we're forced to see it clearly.

        3. If this doesn't strike you as tragic, I'd ask you to picture Ephesus and Jesus in the context of the Bridal Paradigm we talked about.

          1. Though the bride is still faithful and respectful of her husband, his heart is breaking and he turns to her saying, “You're a wonderful wife, but I wish that you still loved me.”

    4. The Ephesians are asked to remember the early days of their faith and of the joy of their salvation and redemption and to engage in those behaviors again.

      1. "'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first;" - Revelation 2:5a

        1. Jesus is portraying their current “All-Star Christians” status as something that they have fallen into and the immature but joyful love they had at first as their high point.

          1. Remember – mnaymonyoo-o – to call to mind and to feel for something.

          2. Repent – metanoe-o – to change your mind, to return, or to adopt a better attitude.

    5. If they won't rekindle their love, they will lose their authority, power, and place.

      1. "'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent." - Revelation 2:5

        1. Lampstand symbolizes the church, the called-out community representing the kingdom to come.

        2. Ephesus at the time was second only to Rome in grandeur, splendor, wealth and influence.

        3. The church in Ephesus was also thriving and was a major hub of missionary journeys throughout the Mediterranean and into modern-day Turkey.

        4. They risk losing all of this if they allow their heads to continue to rule their hearts.

      2. God is always content to destroy movements and missions to save the hearts of those in them.

        1. ""Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness And speak kindly to her. "Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. "It will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me Ishi [my husband] And will no longer call Me Baali [my lord]." - Hosea 2:14-16

          1. Allure – mifteah v'holectiah – I will draw her and carry her

          2. Wilderness – ha'midbar – the uninhabited land, mouth

          3. Speak kindly – v'dabirti al libah – to speak upon her heart

      3. Lonely places are for lovers.

        1. "But the news about Him [Jesus] was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness [midbar] and pray." - Luke 5:15-16

    6. If they will return to prioritizing their love and their joy in Christ over their confidence in their discernment, then they will experience the life humans were made for.

      1. "'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'" - Revelation 2:7

        1. You may notice the subtle reminder that there were two trees, but only one that had life.

          1. Tree of knowledge of good and evil.

            1. Emblematic of personal moral judgment and valuation.

            2. Results in death if you eat it.

            3. The Ephesians are excellent at discernment and identification of good and evil but somehow falling out of love.

          2. Tree of life

            1. Emblematic of freely given grace and life from God.

            2. Results in life.

            3. Ephesians are “growing cold” which is another way of saying, “dying out”.

        2. The reward for overcoming is Paradise restored, God dwelling with humanity, and feasting together on life.

          1. In the age to come: they will not be embarrassed at the inadequacy of their diligence, but will experience the joy of friends who worked with God.

            1. ""A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "So then, you will know them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'" - Matthew 7:18-23

          2. In this age: for all of their intelligence, discernment, and skill, they will add to it the thing that redeems all of those: the joyful, life-giving, love of God.

            1. "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." - Galatians 5:4-6

Letters From Jesus: Overview
Letter #2: Smyrna