Excerpt From mini-book "A Table Narrative of the Seven Churches of Revelation"

Purchase full book of "A Table Narrative of the Seven Churches of Revelation" and other publications on Amazon at Auriol Sonia Morris' Author Page

CHAPTER ONE

EPHESUS:

THE LOVELESS CHURCH

Scripture

Revelation 2:1-7.

The Loveless Church

2 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,

‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 

² “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; 

³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 

⁴ Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 

⁵ 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. 

⁶ But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ “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.”’

Please note:

The word “angel” referring to the recipients of John’s letters is the word for messenger, which was the head bishop or pastor of the church. There would be no need to write a letter to a spirit, the most common use of the word.

Church

Ephesus

Characterization

Loveless

Christ Appears as …

He Who holds the 7 stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the 7 golden lampstands

Credits

works, labor, patience, cannot bear those who are evil, have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, have found them liars; have persevered, have patience, have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Charges

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Remedies 

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Risks

Or else I will come quickly and remove the lampstand from its place – unless you repent.

Rewards

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the Tree of Life in midst of Paradise of God

Observation and Lesson:

From the initial glowing report this church received from Jesus Christ, one could scarcely imagine what would come next. They engage in some very good work and clearly at a very high level to recognize lying apostles. But when Jesus follows this glowing report with “Nevertheless,…” it’s as if all they had on the credit side of their spiritual balance sheet was about to be wiped away completely. What was their “crime?” They “forgot their First Love.”

So we understand from the Scripture that the people of the church at Ephesus got so caught up in the works, which they clearly did well, but forgot the One for Whom there were doing them. Forgetting your “first works?” What are the “first works?” The Scripture does not say exactly but we can glean this from Scripture when Jesus gave us the Greatest and Second Greatest Commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.. They had lost sight of love, the reason for the existence of the Church, which is to demonstrate God’s love and to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Without this love connection to God, the church was like a ship without a rudder. How could they know His desires and direction when they had left Him behind? And how could they love those God had entrusted to them without loving Him first and foremost? He personifies love so, everything flows out of that place. Without love, what is left? The work. But then, not even the first work. Sometimes it so much easier to throw oneself into a comfortable routine; perhaps focusing on the needs of people, the world around them, and whatever seemed good to do.

But they were so focused on the tasks that they left the Lord of the tasks behind. The works may mimic a love relationship but it’s a façade without the Object of that love. Oh, it’s impressive. The "such and such church is involved in every and anything but not by the will of God because they neither have a connection to Him nor His will."

Where there is no love, there is no life. So this loveless church is therefore also, lifeless. That’s the reason the reward given to those who follow His remedy to repent, will be to eat from the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God.

That brings us to the ones who do not repent. The implication here is that to disobey God and refuse to repent is to not enter into the Paradise of God and to not eat from the Tree of Life.

The key here is to beware of being involved in too many tasks so as to forget the primary purpose of walking this walk of faith. That purpose is intimate relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, facilitated by the Holy Spirit, Who keeps us connected to the Godhead.

The Gospel in one sentence: The Father sent His Son to redeem us from our lost condition and broken fellowship with God by His sacrificial death on a Roman cross; once the Son returned to the Father in heaven, He asked Him to send the Holy Spirit that we might be in constant contact with Him as He leads us into all truth and empowers us to do His will.

Purchase full book of "A Table Narrative of the Seven Churches of Revelation" and other publications on Amazon at Auriol Sonia Morris' Author Page