Author: Rev. Lek Aik Wee

Revelation 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

In one statement, Christ isolates a critical problem in the church. It is in spiritual decline. There is an ailment, a trouble of the heart that is diagnosed here. They have been busy doing but they have forgotten why they are doing it. The word “left” is the verb “to let go, leave, forsake, depart”. It is the technical term for “divorce”. It can be translated “forsaken”.

What is this “first love”? It was that love of God that brought us to salvation in Christ when we experienced the forgiveness of sins and becoming spiritually alive. There is a fervent love for Christ and for sharing God’s love with others. Remember at the Gate Beautiful in Acts 3, when Peter and John gave to gospel to the man who was lame from his mother’s womb? The sharing of the gospel to the lame man by Peter and John and he finds salvation in Christ, that leaping joy, praise God. A deep sense of gratitude – 1 John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Revelation 2:2-3 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: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

Our Lord Jesus gives commendation to the church in Ephesus for earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude3). They have refused to give in to the in-route of false doctrines and falsehoods but were steadfast in dealing with false teachers and in ensuring the purity of doctrine within the church.

They have searched the Scriptures and the fear of God and the knowledge of God’s Word has enabled them to depart from evil and maintain a righteous course. As Solomon taught in Proverbs 2:1-5, they have obeyed, “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”

Revelation 2:2 … 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:

The Church at Ephesus had spiritual discernment, able to tell good from evil, true from the false. You may say, they took full heed to Paul’s advice to them when Paul left them in Acts 20 after 3 years of ministry.

Acts 20:28-31 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

They had the best of teaching. The Apostle Paul himself taught them.

Revelation 2:1-2 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; 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:

Jesus says, “I know thy works and labour”. I know what is going on in your life, what you are doing in your life! This knowledge “oida” is the Greek word for a “fullness of knowledge”, a full and complete knowledge, an absolute knowledge of the situation in Ephesus as opposed to another word for knowledge “ginosko” in Greek which speaks of the progress of knowledge.

He began with a commendation. Jesus praises them for their works, labouring, a toiling to the point of exhaustion. They have exerted themselves physically and mentally going through hardship in their labour for the Lord! This is a church that is active, a serving church, busy about the Lord’s business. By good works, they were not pew warmers but can be seen at prayer meetings, going on missions, actively serving in the fellowship groups. These are those who put their faith to work, they have a faith that works.

Revelation 2:1 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;

Our Lord Jesus Christ “holdeth” the seven messengers in His right hand. The verb “holdeth” or “grasp”, “to hold in the hand” has the basic meaning “be strong or possess power”. The right hand, I believe, is to emphasize the authority of Christ and the favoured position of these messengers. There is an emphasis of the verb in the present tense to describe Christ continually upholding these messengers that He has sent.

It is described by Daniel the reward of God’s messengers endowed with God’s wisdom. Their fruitful service will render for them a great reward for they shine as the brightness of the sky, like the stars forever and ever. Their impact or finished work will render them the reward of an everlasting nature, for they turned many to righteousness.

Daniel 12:1-3 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

There are messengers sent to the seven churches with a message for each church. When we have an ailment, and we are experiencing some bodily discomfort we should go and consult a doctor to have our bodies examined so that we may know what has gone wrong with our health. You may have a family physician who has all your medical records and is able to look back at the medical records and make an assessment of your current ailment with the support of your past medical history. In this way, you would perhaps be able to know what has gone wrong.

However, you may also go for an annual medical check-up whereby you would be thoroughly checked from head to toe, with blood tests, X-rays and a medical report would be given to assess your physical health.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

The word “mystery” denotes the inner meaning of a symbolical vision”. It speaks of something secret or hidden or is used here in a derived sense of something that contains a hidden or symbolical meaning and something that can be interpreted. [Beckwith]

This word was first used in the New Testament by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 13:11 (cf. Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10) when He answered why He spoke in parables, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” When Jesus gave a parable, He will also explain its meaning to His disciples.

In the Epistles, it was first used in Romans 11:25 to speak about the mystery of Israel’s blindness in not receiving Jesus as their Messiah for till the last Gentile is saved, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

The writing of John was not man’s writing, not a concoction of man’s imagination but as Peter puts in 2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

This writing of John was not John speaking, but God speaking. An authoritative declaration of the Almighty God concerning what will befall this earth and all its inhabitants. As such, we are to pay close attention to its message. Just as the first coming of Christ was prophesied a thousand years before Saviour of the world will be born of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David and in Bethlehem, in the womb of a virgin, what is significant was that these prophesies were fulfilled to the minutest detail. Therefore, the prophecies concerning the Second Coming will likewise be fulfilled!