“1. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3. And haste borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
Its important first to understand the angel of the church, the seven stars, and the seven golden candlesticks. Jesus Christ is the one holding the stars in His hand and walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. First, the angel is referring to the pastor of the church. The church of Ephesus is a real church that you read about in the book of Ephesians and also Acts chapter 19. Second, the stars are the pastors of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). Third, the seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches in Asia (Revelation 1:20). Jesus first addresses the church at Ephesus and continues with the other six through chapter three. Notice how Jesus first starts out with positive. As Christians, we tend to find the negative in everything and everybody. Though Jesus has some very important things to deal with at Ephesus, He first starts out by naming off the things that they are doing right(vs 2-3). Try to be an encouragement to others! As Christ begins to deal with the serious issue, its important to take note that His order still shows love and appreciation! Ephesus is appearing to be a very spiritual church, but when we come to verse four it must surely grieve the heart of our Saviour that they are falling away from the most important topic as a church; “thou has left thy first love.” Jesus Christ must be the center of everything we do. The only thing that will help the church grow is soul winning. We have many churches today that may fit the part of spirituality, but there is no soul winning going on. The church is the body of Christ, those who have trusted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. When was the last time you gave out a gospel tract? When was the last time you won someone to Christ or even shared the gospel? There are a lot of churches today that look like Ephesus; they have a strong biblical stand against the world, they are patient, they identify with the liars and false teachers, they don’t faint in the work of the church, but yet soul winning gets neglected. A church that is not soul winning is dying, regardless of what it may look like, but that also applies to a believer as well. Have you been soul winning? Verse five says Christ will move the church out of its place. If a believer doesn’t soul win, what good are they for God? Don’t lose focus! There are people around you everyday that are bound for a devil’s hell. If you don’t tell them about Christ; how will they know how to get to heaven? Don’t be like this church at Ephesus. Keep your eyes on the cross and go witness to someone! Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Memory Verse Week 6/10/19
Mark 16:15
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
