Revelation Chapter 2

The First Church

VERSE 4 “BUT… I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

“The word translated “patience”  (in Verse 3) signifies a development of heart and character manifesting itself in an endurance of wrong or affliction with contentment, without rebellion of will, and with full acquiescence in the divine wisdom and love, which, while permitting present evils, have promised their overthrow in God’s due time. The Master recognizes and commends the existence of this grace in the early Church as evidenced by their unceasing toil and labor of love for his name’s sake; nevertheless, he declares, “Yet I have this against you—that you no longer love Me as you did at first” (Weymouth translation). Evidently, the “first love” of the Church for the Master— the warm, personal devotion and affection for him—gradually waned; and their latter works were not as pleasing to him as their earlier works. Formerly the Lord’s followers had “endured a great fight of afflictions” and thus had not required counseling to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith; they had joyfully accepted the spoiling of their goods, knowing that in heaven they had “a better and an enduring substance” (Heb. 10:32, 34). The Keys of Revelation

VERSE 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.”

“The only complaint against the Church is that there was, at least temporarily, a tendency to engage in bickering. (See 1Tim. 6:20 as an example)

In Gal 1:6-9 we see how the law became a contention. Apparently many began to argue, squabble, and engage in lengthy controversies to the point of forgetting the SIMPLE love of Jesus that attracted them at first. This led to division, hatreds, heresies, etc.

Jesus gently, at first, says REMEMBER the wonderment from which you have departed! RETURN to it and to the works which it stimulated. Then, not so gently, he warns that UNLESS this reverting of attitude occurs, he would “REMOVE YOUR LAMPSTAND OUT OF ITS PLACE.”

It is difficult to know if this threat is to individuals who did not repent or to the whole Ephesus Church if its tendencies were not corrected. If it is aimed at individuals, it probably means something like: If you do not regain your idealism, I will move the lampstand so that you will be sitting in its shadow —your light will grow dim. If, however, this threat is to the entire Church, it might well mean: Unless you change course, I will end the Ephesus period by bringing in the Roman persecutions which mark the beginning of the Smyrna period —the period of bitterness.

Those who were arguing doctrine and liking to do so, were RELYING ON SELF (See I Cor 10:12) they were, like Laodicea later, thinking themselves rich and full of truths. This could only take their focus off of Jesus and onto themselves and their so-called “superior” reasoning abilities.”

“As the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so likewise the Church was corrupted from its original simplicity in Christ (2 Cor 11:2, 3). Falling from a position of favor and harmony with the dear Redeemer, the Church did not “hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end” (Heb 3:6, 14). Adam and Eve were banished from and barred access to the tree of life and denied the privileges of Eden.

Similarly, the Church in Ephesus was in danger of losing the privilege of receiving and transmitting the light of God’s Word, of being His light-bearer (His “candlestick”) before the world . . . unless it repented and did the “first works,” thus gaining reinstatement into divine favor and again having access to its former privileges. “Works” were in Ephesus, but evidently not the works of faith; “labor” was there, but the labor of love was wanting; “patience” was there, but apparently not the patience of hope. These seemingly had dimmed, the dust of distraction having settled upon the glass through which faith views its possessions.” The Keys of Revelation

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

It is interesting to note that the first Church is commended for having HATE. We must learn to hate as God does.

They (and Jesus) hated the DEEDS of the Nicolaitans —NOT the people, but the deeds. For this they were esteemed as HAVING something. If we are to be like Jesus, we, as he, must learn not only to love righteousness, but to hate iniquity.

NICOLAITANS, like other Biblical names has a meaning. It is the meaning rather than an individual or group going by the name in which we find the aim of Revelation.

The name means “Lord over Others or Conqueror”. The “mystery of iniquity” which already worked in Paul’s day was the spirit of ruler ship in the Church which would result ultimately in the clergy-laity concept. The early Church did not put up with this, but they also could not eliminate its existence. See. 1 Peter 5:3.

The whole concept of Lordship over God’s heritage is a direct violation of Jesus’ own words in Matt 23:8. The problem was not small or unnoticed. John’s entire third epistle deals only with this problem —an elder (Diotrephes) who had taken to himself too much authority.

“Thus the theory of apostolic succession, though it had some following, was not tolerated by the early Church in general; and the Lord commends his people of that day for their inability to bear with the evil ones, for their hatred of the “deeds of the Nicolaitans,” and for trying “them which say they are apostles, and are not . . . [finding] them liars,” even “false apostles” (2 Cor 11:13; Rev. 2:2). The Keys of Revelation

 We continue with Verse 7 in our nest post.