END OF TIME PROPHECIES 036

EPHESUS -   the church of loveless orthodoxy   Revelation 2v1-7.

• Commendation          The Lord begins each letter, where He can, with a commendation to the church to whom he is writing.   In the communication of divine truth , especially when there is need for correction, we do well to heed the psychology of this.   He introduces Himself to each church in the character which will precisely fit their needs.   In this case He shows Himself to be the One who holds the seven stars in His hand, and who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.      I believe the force of that to be as follows; behind every earthly institution is a heavenly administration, and the Lord is controlling both.   We can be sure that every church is the focus of attention of unseen demon spirits;  because of this there are angelic spirits monitoring their every move.    Jesus holds with a firm grip the heavenly watchers, and He walks in the midst of every church.   He knows everything that is going on.   He commends this church in four ways:
• Their moral discernment:       "I know ...... that you cannot bear them that are evil."   Can there be evil people in a church?   Surely not!   The reality is that many churches may have those who are evil in it. Sadly, churches are not an evil-free zone.   Paul said in (2nd Timothy 4v14)   "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil."   The constant warnings in scripture against evil, usually always has to do with the people of God.:  speaking evil of each other  (James 4v11): anger without a cause is evil (Psalm 37v8) : practicing deceit is evil (Psalm 50v9): planning someone's downfall is evil (Psalm 64v5): twisting someone's words is evil (Psalm 56v5): gossip is evil (Proverbs 16v22): the love of money is evil (1st Timothy 6v10): respect of persons is evil (James 2v1).   Now of course all of us can be guilty at times of the above sins but what is being referred to here is serial offenders, people who practice this behavior over and over again.   Paul warned us that in the last days  "evil men shall wax worse and worse" the context is within churches. He says in the last days people will have  "a form of godliness but denying the power thereof."  (2nd Timothy chapter 3).   We have a right not to bear professing Christians like that. "from such turn away".   The Lord Himself said He hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, a sect of particular evil practice in that day. We have similar groups around today.
• Their doctrinal discernment:    He says  "You have tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and has found them liars." In this post-apostolic period, there were men claiming to be apostles.   This church was putting them to the test and finding them out. This is a praiseworthy feature for all of us to follow, because we are encouraged by the apostle  "Beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1st John 4v1).   Peter also warns of this in (2nd Peter 2v1)  "  Their were false prophets also among the people, even as their shall be false teachers among you, who privy shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them."   In (2nd Corinthians 11v13-14) Paul warns the churches there of  "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.   And no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.   There is clearly a need for all churches to put prospective leaders to the test.  We still have false teachers today.  
• Their energy:       There was no lack of work going on in this church.   He said to them I know thy works and thy labour.   The word for labour means to labour to the point of exhaustion.   The Lord's comment was  "For My name's sake thou hast laboured and hast not fainted."   These people were energetic, they were abounding in the work of the Lord and had not fainted, as they might have done, because of the amount that they were doing.   Again another great commendation.
• Their endurance:          The Lord remarks on their patient endurance in the face of moral evil and doctrinal evil within the church that appears to have continued for a long while.   The Lord commends them for their endurance. We need strength, not our own, to endure the rigours of the Christian life. 

They were morally and doctrinally sound; they were energetic in their labours for the Lord; they were enduring in character in the face of difficulties.   In modern parlance this would be considered to be an almost perfect church.   A thriving, busy, evil- hating and doctrinally- exposing church.   There is nothing better than that is there?   Some of us wish our churches were like that, but the Lord had another view upon it!