In this devotional, we will be looking at Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus. Together, these churches represent the whole church, and include many of the tendencies—both good and bad—of those who claim to follow Him. Because of this, the seven churches can be used with good effect to assess both ourselves personally, and the overall health of the local church. So, I will seek to use this for that purpose, recognizing that the aim of these letters is to help encourage and quicken us to the holiness that Jesus—the Exalted Christ—desires of us.
The opening verse for the church of Ephesus points us again to the exalted Christ, highlighting His relationship to the churches: “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.’” Both of these are written as titles describing Christ, literally, “The one holding the seven stars in His right hand” and “The one walking in the midst (middle) of the seven golden lampstands.” By identifying Himself this way, Christ is putting Himself as the One who not only cherishes the churches, but who binds Himself to upholding them. This is further evident when we remember that all the light of the churches do not originate in themselves, but in Christ Himself, who Himself is the light of the world. Any light that come from the churches are therefore simply refracted light, reflecting a relationship similar to that of the moon to the sun. So, there is something very fundamental to Christ having such a central and close relationship to the churches: He is their source. Nonetheless, the Exalted Christ holds the churches responsible to live in His light—the light of His grace. Hence, there is true force to His warnings for all believers. We need not pretend that such warnings were written merely to apostates or to false brethren, but can heed them with the grace that He provides for us. Let us see what the exalted Christ has to say.
Christ first gives a commendation in verses 2-3: “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.” The all-seeing fiery-eyes of Christ sees all—including all of our conduct and faithfulness (or faithlessness) to Him. “Toil” and “patient endurance” show a persistence in doing good deeds and a refusal to give into the evil around them. The church in Ephesus does not tolerate or entertain those who are evil, but exposes them. They single-out “those who are evil” and root them out, testing them against God’s Word. In other words, the church of Ephesus has become proficient in identifying posers—those who pretend to be believers, but who bring in seductive heresies and carnal practice (such as the works/teachings of the Nicolaitans in verse 6, which Christ hates). They are good with doctrine, and hence with using the Bible to good effect—preserving the purity of the church in doctrine and practice against wolves and false brethren, even false apostles. The Exalted Christ also notes that their motivation and endurance is truly “for My Name’s sake.” So, the church in Ephesus, by all appearances in doctrine and practice, is a phenomenal church. In many ways, these things are what all churches are to strive for. According to the Exalted Christ, such things are greatly commendable. So, we can never diminish seeking pure doctrine and practice. Such things are indispensable for the church to pursue, and this pursuit is present wherever the true church is present. However, these things alone are insufficient. If they were sufficient, then Christianity would have little issue with matters of the heart. In fact, the heart would become irrelevant, as we will see.
Here is Christ’s warning from verses 4-5: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” How can the church in Ephesus be commendable in doctrine and practice, but forsake their first love? The condition of the heart is the key to this love. It is very-well possible to hold to both good doctrine and practice and still be corrupt in heart. In fact, it is the condition of one’s heart that determines whether or not good doctrine and practice is something that actually reflects goodness. For instance, a person can condemn a false teacher out of wrong motives—such as pride or bitterness—rather than to become like Christ. Any apparent good deed can become a stench before God, who is the One who tests all hearts. Likewise, any good doctrine can also be used as a smokescreen for justifying or masking evil. Both become inert and impotent when the heart is corrupt; when the heart becomes fixated on anything other than God. Even good things can become corrupters when placed before God, such as our families, jobs, or even our own personal holiness. We need to remember that God Himself is the source of every good thing—even our own holiness—and therefore we ought to remain humble before Him always, seeking maintain cooperation with His manifold grace. By definition, this love entails heart-obedience to God’s commands; that is, obedience rendered from the whole person, and not merely one part or another part. As believers, we are both endued and commanded towards this love, the striving for which is the Christian life.
Three important imperatives (commands) are given to the church in Ephesus, which plot the course to their restoration: (1) remember, (2) repent, and (3) do. It is important to remember that the church in Ephesus use to be doing the proper works that reflected a proper heart after God as their first love. This is what they were commanded to remember. So, the first step entails remembering and knowing what Christ truly requires of His own: that they keep Him first in their hearts (in their whole person). The Bible was written for that purpose: that we may know and reflect the love of Christ. The second command, to repent, does not merely mean a change of mind or thought, but of the disposition of the heart: that is, our whole person becomes turned away from whatever we are repenting of, and turned towards God. Thirdly, the sign of a truly repentant heart is that of doing. It is only in the doing that the condition of one’s heart is truly revealed, and therefore it is fitting that it is the final command towards the church in Ephesus being reconciled with Christ. We, in our Western context, often like to pretend that God’s commands, warnings, and exhortations have no bearing on us. However, that would be to foolishly follow a lie of the devil, who would do anything to get us to ignore them. Does obeying God’s commands mean that it is all up to us? No, because the reason why we can even begin to consider such obedience is because of God’s gracious work in Christ. Rather, we who are saved will strive—even unto blood—to obey God’s commands for our whole selves from our whole selves: loving Him with all our heart, soul, and strength. Lacking this drive and progressing growth into this obedience should be a sharp warning to us that we too have left our first love, if indeed we have ever truly loved Him to begin with. Compartmentalization is the enemy of this love (acting as though our love of Christ only applies in certain areas of our lives), and so is partial and counterfeit love. We can easily claim to know Christ and to love Him, but be pursuing anything other than Him as more important—showing ourselves to be self-deceived.
Take note that there is yet a fourth element to Christ’s warning to the church in Ephesus: If they do not repent, then the Exalted Christ will return quickly and unchurch the church. It will cease to be a church because Christ Himself will turn against it, showing it to be not His own. This warning was given to all who do not keep Christ as their first love. Such people will show themselves to be no people of Christ, and be cast out into the outer darkness, devoid of the light of Christ. To be out of the light of Christ means certain death and damnation. Does this mean that those cast out were once saved but were condemned? It cannot. Rather, if we read the rest of Jesus’ letter, we will see that there were some who did repent and there were others who did not. Jesus is addressing the whole church, which is a mixture of true and false believers. The false do not (and cannot) love Christ with their hearts, but can only practice good doctrine and practice without the love of Christ. This difference may be largely imperceptible to many, but there is always that distinction to be made in any church. So, the proper response of the saved is not apathy or thinking, “Because I am saved I don’t really need to change or repent,” but, “Lord, save me from myself that I may return to you.” The truly saved will turn from his evil ways. He will remember, repent, and do the works, showing a whole heart for the love of Christ. Don’t let apathy or laziness get in your way. Do not think that this message is not for you. It is. Rather than being self-deceived, repent and turn to Christ.
Verse 7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” The phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear” refers to those who have had the veil removed from their eyes. This phrase was used by Christ in Matthew, Mark, and Luke with that meaning (see Matt. 13:10-17). This is thus a declaration that all who have ears to hear (that is, those enabled by God to hear and respond to the gospel) will not only hear, but also do what Christ commands in His letter (note that the word “hear” denotes not only hearing, but also doing). If we do not, then we show ourselves to be false believers, and the Exalted Christ will come quickly to remove us. We are either those with ears to hear (and therefore also do), or we are those who remain blind and deaf to the gospel.
In verse 7, Christ promises that the true believer—the one who conquers—will eat of the tree of life. That is, he will live forever, partaking of what has been removed from humanity because of sin since the Fall. He will likewise be one who lives in God’s paradise, which is untainted from all sin, evil, and suffering.
Next time we will be looking at the letter to the church in Smyrna .