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The Message to Ephesus
2 1 Write this to Ephesus, to the Angel of the church. The One with Seven Stars in his right-fist grip, striding through the golden seven-lights' circle, speaks:
2 "I see what you've done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can't stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders.
3 I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out.
4 "But you walked away from your first love - why? What's going on with you, anyway?
5 Do you have any idea how far you've fallen? A Lucifer fall! "Turn back! Recover your dear early love. No time to waste, for I'm well on my way to removing your light from the golden circle.
6 "You do have this to your credit: You hate the Nicolaitan business. I hate it, too.
7 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I'm about to call each conqueror to dinner. I'm spreading a banquet of Tree-of-Life fruit, a supper plucked from God's orchard." The Message
(the following is from www.easyenglish.bible)
"Verse 1 The Lord told John to write the first letter to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was the chief city in the region called Asia Minor. It was a major city for commerce and trade. Three great trade routes came through Ephesus. In it, there were temples to the Roman kings. But the great temple was to the female god called Diana or Artemis. It was one of the greatest buildings in the ancient world.
Each letter starts with parts of the description of the Lord from chapter 1. Here, it is from verses 13 and 16. The letter comes from Jesus, who holds the seven stars. (The word ‘holds’ here is stronger than in chapter 1. The Lord grasps the stars and he holds them firmly. They are safe in his hand. Nobody can take them from Jesus.) He walks in the middle of the gold lamp holders. Jesus is present with them. He knows their situation. He knows all about his church, then and now. This should both encourage and warn us.
Verse 2 The church at Ephesus was active and its members worked hard. They had almost worked too hard. The situation that they were in was not easy. There were many people in that city who hated the church. However, the church members did not stop when troubles came. The Lord approves of what they had done.
Much of the trouble came from people who tried to join the church. Some of these people were false teachers. They said that they were apostles. They tried to persuade the church to believe them. But the church tested what they said. If anything did not agree with the word of God, the church refused it. The church at Ephesus believed that the word of God is the truth. The church at Ephesus refused those who proved to be false.
Verse 3 This verse repeats that the church at Ephesus had been patient. They had suffered much trouble. They were patient as they suffered for Jesus. They had troubles because they lived for Jesus. Through all the problems, they remained true to Jesus. They did not turn away from him.
Verse 4 This church did what was right. They were careful to teach the truth. They would not believe what was wrong or false. All this was good but it was not enough. They had lost the most important thing.
These Christians did not love as they used to. They did not love God as much as when they first became Christians. Their love for each other was not as strong as it had been. But a hot object becomes cool. And their love for God and for other people had become less.
Verse 5 The Greek says, ‘You have fallen.’ The first love was like a high place. They had fallen from that high place. Their love was not now as strong as it was then. The Lord says to them, ‘remember.’ At that time, their love for God was so strong. Also, they loved each other. And they worked for each other. Now it was not the same. They had lost something of that first love.
They must turn again. They must do as they used to. Love must again be very important in their lives. Love for God must be the reason for their actions. Their actions must show love for each other. Actions without love have no worth at all.
The Lord warns them to repent. If they do not repent, that church will end. Jesus will come and remove the lamp holder.
All the other things that the church in Ephesus did were good. But the most important thing was their love. Love is more important than good actions. But love will always produce good actions.
Verse 6 There was a group of people called the Nicolaitans. We do not know much about this group. But they did things that were not right for the Christians. They ate the food that people gave to false gods. And their ideas about sex were not what Christians should believe.
The Lord was pleased that the Christians at Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. He also hated what they did. There are many such strange groups. Christians must be careful to obey what the Bible teaches. They must refuse the actions of those who teach against the truth. They should hate all that is false.
Verse 7 ‘If you have an ear, listen!’ Anyone who is able to hear should listen. The Lord calls all of us to listen. We all need to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. It was not just for the church in Ephesus.
The Spirit of Christ gives a promise to those who overcome. They are those who obey God. They do what the Lord has said to the church in Ephesus.
Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. In that garden, there was the tree of life. When Adam and Eve sinned, God stopped them from going to the tree of life. He put a guard there so that they could not eat the fruit of it (Genesis 3:24). If they ate of it, they would always be sinners. Then they would not be able to live with God.
Those who overcome will be free from sin. They can eat the fruit of the tree of life. And they will always be with the Lord. They will have eternal life with God."
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