Jesus wanted believers to know that He knew exactly where they were. He saw their good works, faithfulness and patience in the face of persecution. He also saw the bad which included their compromise, apostasy, indifference, and lukewarmness. He wanted them to know that despite persecution from without and corruption from within, He stood in their midst as a mighty conqueror and that through Him they too could overcome. Christ's purpose in sending those messages to the seven churches was to empower believers to overcome the enemy. His purpose was to rise up His people in victory, to make them strong.
1+++“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
2+++‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;
3+++and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.
4+++‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
5+++‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
6+++‘Yet this you do 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 grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
The church of Ephesus is commended for diligence in duty. Christ keeps an account of every hour's work his servants do for him, and their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. But it is not enough that we are diligent; there must be bearing patience, and there must be waiting patience. And though we must show all meekness to all men, yet we must show just zeal against their sins.
The sin Christ charged this church with, is, not the having left and forsaken the object of love, but having lost the fervent degree of it that at first appeared. Christ is displeased with his people, when he sees them grow remiss and cold toward him. Surely this mention in Scripture, of Christians forsaking their first love, reproves those who speak of it with carelessness, and thus try to excuse indifference and sloth in themselves and others; our Saviour considers this indifference as sinful. They must repent: they must be grieved and ashamed for their sinful declining, and humbly confess it in the sight of God. They must endeavour to recover their first zeal, tenderness, and seriousness, and must pray as earnestly, and watch as diligently, as when they first set out in the ways of God. If the presence of Christ's grace and Spirit is slighted, we may expect the presence of his displeasure.
There is DIRE reason for our LOVE to REMAIN fired UP; it KEEPS us alert, aware, conscientious, and ever serving THE LORD, as well as others! LOVE KEEPS us IN HIM, and HIS WILL! LOVE KEEPS us from the chains of destruction in far more ways than we open ourselves to realize...
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