“You cannot bear those who are evil” (verse 2)
I am amazed that the Lord was and is proud of a church that “cannot bear those who are evil”, or that which “hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate”, as we see in the 6th verse. So this was a congregation that was striving for holiness. You see friend, it’s unbelievable that the word “holiness” has completely disappeared from the lips of the modern churchmen and their preachers. Do we need to remind people again that God’s true church is that which hates sin, not just hatred for the sins of others but our own sins deep within our hearts? That is the evidence that as fellow heirs with Christ we are moving in the right direction.
“You have tested those who say are Apostles and have found them liars” (verse 2)
Have you noticed that these days anyone can preach and teach anything, in the name of Jesus, even the worst bizarre and most blasphemous thing of all, yet still have everyone clapping and declaring it as a “powerful revelation”? The brethren of Ephesus were commended by the Lord for their discernment. It seems like these guys went to the same school as the noble Bereans, who were not ashamed to test and examine even Paul, the chief of Apostles (Act 17:10-11). We need to grow dear friends, into mature believers who don’t just accept anything, but are willing to test the doctrine of Christ, and shun those who are liars in God’s name. By the way, didn’t you know that a discerning believer is the most fearful inside the heart of a false prophet?
“You have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for My name's sake and have not become weary” (verse 3)
I am always heavily challenged by this one, because once in a while, I ask myself: am I labouring for the name of the Lord or have I become tired and retired? Am I persevering in this faith or I have long gone backwards? Am I patiently enduring for the sake of the Lord or it’s all impatience and bitterness deep within my heart? Over to you; how are you doing in your own faith; is labour, perseverance and patient endurance for the Name of Christ found anywhere near your Christian life? Why not? What is hindering your walk with the Lord? Well, pray about it.
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 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.” (verse 4-5)
It looks like these were believers who had everything else right as a group, except for just one crucial matter: they were a loveless congregation. The Lord labelled what they lacked as “first love”. What first love is being talked about here? It is something similar to that which happens to humans when they first fall in love with the opposite sex. It is that passion and desire to serve the Lord with gladness of the heart. These are the things that the Ephesians did at first, they had first love for their Saviour. Sadly, by the time the Lord addressed them, they had long thrown that out of the window and grown cold and lazy in their Christian walk. You see friend, it doesn’t really matter how many activities you do as a church gathering, it doesn’t matter how seemingly good it is from the outside. It’s all meaningless if you, as a local gathering have long lost that passion and joy for the One who washed your sins in the first place.
Yes, it matters to Jesus what the church does, but the attitude of the heart matters more in the work of the Lord. Without that genuine and heartfelt love for the Saviour, it all becomes performance and duty. It’s that “let’s do it for the sake of it” kind of Christianity. Ask yourself, what happened to that passion you had those days when you first knew the Lord, or was it ever there? Then what happened? We must all zealously guard this from happening deep within our souls. To quote my favourite preacher, “What you are is more important than what you do. Your godliness is more valuable than your giftedness. Your private life must take priority over your public life. The size of your heart is more important that the size of your church. Our purity as a church is more desirable than our programs.” For this reason, the good Lord gave a warning, “repent and do the things you did at first, if you do not, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place.”
As we all know, a lamp is something used to give light, hence the seven churches of Revelation all had lampstands, just as all the true churches of our time are lampstands that give out the light of the Gospel. And the good Lord is always moving among these churches. Therefore, we should all fear when He says “I will remove your lampstand from its place.” That means He has a right and authority to take away His presence. I bet we all remember David’s plea, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” The light that is supposed to give light into your own faith path could be taken. You may not even experience it when darkness is already reigning inside your own heart. Once you persistently neglect the fire of Jesus and become cold-blooded in your soul because of the world, you will forfeit the right to shed the light of life that Jesus provides to the world and disqualify yourselves from anything good in the Kingdom of God. We can say the same thing about the church as a whole – your church included. Therefore, the good Lord is always gracious to warn us first.
Conclusion. Friends, as much as Scripture contains much encouragement to our souls, it also has good warnings that we may do well to heed and act accordingly. May we, therefore, mirror ourselves through the church at Ephesus, who knows, perhaps Master Jesus is not at all pleased by our ways and all our well-meaning church activities. This is the time to consider where we have fallen and be wise and humble enough to repent. Grace and peace unto you all.
Rejoice Ncube
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