From Chapter 2: Ephesus

Description of Jesus

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands’” (Revelation 2:1).

Christ’s self-description refers back to John’s vision of the seven stars and seven golden lampstands (Revelation 1:12, 20). There, Jesus told John the stars were the angels (or leaders) and the lampstands were the churches. So Christ is seen, in Ephesus, holding the leaders and the churches in His right hand.  He holds the angels. He holds the churches. 

The Ephesian believers needed to know of this nearness of Christ. Though their love for Him was waning, His love for them was not. His love was strong and vibrant. Though they had left their early fervency for Christ, He had remained fervent for them. This letter stands as a plea for them to return to their former love and devotion.

Praise

“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary…This you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Revelation 2:2–3, 6).

In between many words of praise for the Ephesian church, Jesus had one simple word of correction. The praise is not mere flattery, for Christ is incapable of that. No, these are the generous words of admiration from Christ for His church. They are attributes He values, and since He values them, we value them.

He praises them for their works, saying, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance” (Revelation 2:2). They were a working church—so much so, in fact, that their work had turned into toil and necessitated patient endurance. Work is one thing, but toil and the need for patience are another. This was work of the sacrificial variety. They were not a social club or a collection of friends; rather, they were hard-working Christians on a mission for Jesus Christ.

This is noteworthy praise. When the man Araunah offered to give Israel’s King David his threshing floor as a place for sacrifice, David replied he would pay full price. He did not want to “offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24). David’s was a costly worship. He knew it needed to be so, and the church in Ephesus worked in like spirit. They endured patiently and did not grow weary (Revelation 2:3).

Additionally, Jesus praises them for their carefulness in doctrine and teaching. Perhaps due to the good start they’d had from Paul’s teaching ministry, the Ephesian church did not bear with those who were evil. They tested and rejected false apostles (Revelation 2:2). They didn’t believe everything they heard and were able to test new winds of doctrine against the right doctrine of God’s Word. Astute to the core, the Ephesian church was careful when confronted with new ideas and movements. They weren’t skeptical for skepticism’s sake, for that is easy. Instead, they were able to test doctrines because they were already biblically alert.

This alertness led to a rejection of the works of the Nicolaitans, something Jesus also praises them for (2:6). The Nicolaitan doctrine was probably of the antinomian variety. It turned God’s grace into license. Whatever this doctrine was, the Pergamum church embraced it. We might not know exactly what this doctrine was, but we do know Pergamum had already adopted a loose sex ethic. This makes it likely the Nicolaitan error had encouraged them in their license. Ephesus, however, was not so easily deceived. Jesus commends this church for their readiness with and in the Word of God.

Taking all of Jesus’s words of commendation as is, the reader comes away believing the church in Ephesus was a great church. They didn’t only have a great history but also a current fruitfulness unto Christ. If we had lived in that day, we might call this the most magnificent church we had ever seen. They had been explosive with the gospel—a dynamic center of gospel preaching and faithful Bible teaching. Jesus thought highly of this church, not only in the past but in their present.