They endured for the Lord's name and did not grow weary.
To this church the Lord presents Himself as "He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, He who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." This is to make the church in Ephesus and the messenger know that He has full authority; He searches the whole church. B. Revelation 2:2-3 "I know your works and your labor and your endurance and that you cannot bear evil men; and you have tried those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false; and you have endurance and have borne all things because of My name and have not grown weary." This section is the Lord's word of praise. This section of praise is divided into three aspects: 1. Concerning Them "Your works." Their works must have been very good. "Your labor." They must have labored diligently. "Your endurance." This church had the heart of a father or mother in bearing others' weaknesses. 2. Concerning the Administration of the Church "You cannot bear evil men." See 1 Corinthians 5. "You have tried those who call themselves apostles and are not." They did not loosely receive people into the work. Even if one was an apostle, he still needed to be tried. From this we see that they had much spiritual insight. 3. Concerning the Outward Work They endured for the Lord's name and did not grow weary. Judging from only the items mentioned above, the church in Ephesus was indeed quite perfect.
C. Revelation 2:4 "But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love." Although the church in Ephesus was so good, the Lord still had something for which to rebuke her—she had left her first love. We may wonder why a church which labored so diligently would not at the same time love the Lord inwardly. However, much experience tells us that one may be laboring diligently outwardly, yet may have already left the first love inwardly. The "first love" is the best and most perfect love; it is the virgin love which saints offer to the Lord through His love.
We may ask how they could have left their first love. It may be that they emphasized work more than love for the Lord, or it may be due to their disobedience to the Lord (John 15:10). Nevertheless, what we see here is that the Lord demands our love to Him. If we have diligent labor and spiritual wisdom yet are without love, our labor and wisdom are useless (1 Thes. 1:2-3; 1 Cor. 13:2). D. Revelation 2:5 "Remember therefore where you have fallen from and repent and do the first works; but if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent." Here the Lord tells them of the way of recovery: (1) "Remember therefore where you have fallen from." This means that they should find out the cause. Every time one backslides, there must be a cause, and unless the cause is discovered, there is no way of recovery. From the Lord's point of view, the church in Ephesus was outwardly perfect, yet inwardly fallen. First she fell inwardly; then she failed outwardly. (2) "And repent." To repent is not just something that sinners have to do; believers should also repent. Whenever there is a fall, there is the need to repent. (3) "And do the first works." Repentance is negative, while to "do the first works" is positive. From this we know that the church in Ephesus had not been doing the first works. What were the first works? Although they are not explicitly mentioned here, we know definitely that they are not matters like labor, endurance, diligence, rejecting evil persons, and so forth. By reading the book of Ephesians carefully, we can find two points of their "first works": One, they were faithful (1:1), and two, they allowed Christ to be the Lord (3:17). In Revelation 2:5, the Lord mentions the way of recovery on the one hand and speaks of His judgment on the other. First He exercises love; then He exercises His righteousness. "But if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place." The lampstand represents the church, whose responsibility is to shine, to be a witness. Where was this place from which the lampstand might be removed? This place was before the Lord (1:12-13; 2:1). Therefore, to be removed out of its place means that it loses its position before the Lord and is rejected by Him. For the lampstand to lose its position means that it cannot receive oil (the filling of the Holy Spirit) from the Lord, and as a result, it cannot shine for the Lord. Therefore, the problem here is not a matter of
salvation, but of work and testimony. From the Lord's point of view, there are many churches today that are merely lampstands which have been removed. E. Revelation 2:6 "But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." The word "Nicolaitans" in the original language means "those who subdue others." Therefore, this sect is one which, being greedy for power, assumes the position of leadership. The Lord hates this. The church in Ephesus hated what the Lord hates, sharing His feeling; thus, she was praised by Him. F. Revelation 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." This shows that this epistle was given not only to the church in Ephesus, but also to all the churches which have the same condition as that of the church in Ephesus. Although the Lord's words are spoken to all the churches, how many are actually able to hear them? "He who has an ear" reveals that there were many in the church who did not have an ear to hear. Why did they not have an ear to hear the Lord's word? This does not refer to the physical ear but the spiritual ear. By considering Matthew 13:13-15, we can understand why some did not have a spiritual ear. It is because (1) they did not have a heart to be spiritual, and (2) they were afraid of the Lord's word. Finally, He mentions the promise. "Him who overcomes" is singular. Although the church as a whole has failed, individuals can endeavor to overcome. The Lord's emphasis in these seven epistles is that some would overcome. The reward to the overcomers is to eat the fruits of life in the Paradise of God. The Paradise here probably refers to the kingdom of the heavens, because the kingdom of the heavens recovers us back to the situation in Genesis 2. Just as there was a garden of Eden on earth, so also will there be a Paradise in the kingdom of the heavens. The overcomers will be with the Lord in Paradise; how joyful this will be! Not only will they be in Paradise, but they will also be able to eat the fruits of life. Since the creation of the world, no person has tasted the fruits of life, but at that time, the overcomers will enjoy them first.
III. THE CHURCH IN SMYRNA (REVELATION 2:8-11)