Apparently there is a church in Columbia called the church of the penitents. It stands ten thousand four hundred feet above sea level. Penitents, who carried two bricks for every sin committed, built it over three hundred years ago.

It was a church built on sin. A church cannot be built on sin rather it must be built upon the sin bearer. As Paul reminds us in first Corinthians.

I wonder what we are building our churches on?

As we study the letters to these seven churches I trust the Lord will reveal to us any shortcomings we may have in our Churches.

Why these particular seven churches? I want to suggest a few reasons.

Geographically a circular road that connected the most populous parts of the province of Asia Minor linked them. We meet the various cities as a traveller would have met them with Ephesus firstly on the coast and Laodicea last of all.

These seven churches can also be viewed in different ways

They are primarily seven literal churches. They are seven real churches made up of real believers in real places and the Lord is speaking to these real churches. That is the primary interpretation of these letters.

Secondly the seven churches represent the conditions found in the churches throughout this dispensation. You will find many of the same qualities and concerns in churches today. For example we will encounter the following; formalism, ritualism, materialism, coldness, liberalism, clericalism and even fundamentalism.

Thirdly these seven churches can also often be viewed as being prophetic. Let us never forget that Revelation is primarily a prophetic book.

As we look closely at these churches we will see an interesting picture develop. Church history from the birth of the church right through to its rapture can be traced in the conditions found in the seven churches. Consider the following outline:

• Ephesus would represent the post apostolic church where we find a gradual

cooling towards the Lord.

• Smyrna would represent the persecuted church, reminding us of that period of

church history under various roman leaders who cruelly persecuted Christians.

• Pergamos would represent the patronised church, that period of church history

when Constantine embraced Christianity. Reference is made to Balaam his motto was "If you cannot curse them then corrupt them."

• The church at Thyatira would represent the Papal church, reference is made to

‘Jezebel that woman’ It marks in church history the rise of Roman Catholicism.

• Sardis would picture the Protestant church. It marks the period of the reformation

the days of Wycliffe, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and Knox

• The church at Philadelphia could be called the practical church, it is the church

with an "open door." It represents the days of men like the Wesley’s, Moody, Finney and Livingstone.

• Last of all Laodicea represents the present day church, which is in a lukewarm

condition.

The first four churches are successive and the final three run contemporaneously. It is interesting how chapter four begins.

The church age ends with the rapture of the true church and we are taken to heaven, what a lovely picture of the rapture of the church.

The churches also can be viewed personally.

Rev. 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The Lord speaks to us as he challenges the churches about their various shortcomings and sins.

Each of the letters has certain things in common. Most of the following are found in all the letters.

• Communication from Christ
• Character of Christ
• Commendation from Christ.
• Criticism from Christ
• Counsel from Christ
• Call to individuals
• Challenge for overcomers.

Look us have a look at verse seven..

Rev. 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Notice the call comes, before the challenge to be an overcomer. The call is to all in the church.

From Thyatira onwards the order is reversed, look at the following verses.

Such was the condition of the churches that the overcomers are only going to be listening anyway this marks a decline in the churches, a spiritual decline.

Let’s look at the first letter to Ephesus. This is the only church in the New Testament to receive two letters from different apostles.

Ephesus was not the capital of the province but this city liked to be called the first city of Asia. It had a population between two hundred and fifty thousand and half a million. Ephesus was a seaport, a place were all trade had to pass through. The many mighty warehouses would give evidence to its’ business life.

It was a city where the Asian games where held. The Asian games were in competition with the Olympian games. Ephesus was a sporting city so there was evidence of recreational life.

In Ephesus, was the temple of Diana, the goddess of fertility. It was an immoral and idolatrous form of worship. The temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This gives evidence to the city’s religious life.

A philosopher said of Ephesus, "No one could live in the city and not weep over its morality."

There was business life, recreational life, and religious life. Ephesus was a busy, immoral and godless place. And yet in that city was an assembly of believers, praise God there was spiritual life in that city.

Ephesus was a church founded by the missionary endeavours of Paul. Look at Acts chapter eighteen.

Priscilla , Aquila and Apollos all ministered in Ephesus. From Ephesus the gospel went out- it was a church planting church. Look at Acts Twenty.

Acts 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Paul spent three years in Ephesus on one occasion.

Timothy pastored the church at Ephesus and it is believed that John succeeded him until his arrest and deportation to Patmos.

By the time of this letter forty years had passed since the birth of this church. It surely should be of great interest to all of us what the Lord has to say to a church with such an illustrious past, it is no understatement to talk about the rich teaching this church at Ephesus had received from many gifted preachers.

Notice Christ’s position. Look at verse one.

We considered the word angel in our previous study and concluded that the messenger in this context was the elder or pastor. He is charged with the responsibility of bringing this message from the Lord Jesus to his own church.

It should read the church in Ephesus and not he church of Ephesus. The latter would give the idea of some denomination but the word for church in the New Testament means, "called out ones," the church is not the building. The church is the called out ones, it is the believers who make up the church and they probably didn’t have a building.

"These things saith he," That’s a good place to start a message to concentrate on what the Lord says.

Notice the phrases used, "That holdeth the seven stars in his right hand," and "Walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks."

This description has already been used of Christ and indeed most of the churches are greeted with a description of Christ as was found in chapter one.

Let us again reflect on Christ’s position.

He is walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. It reminds me of HM the Queen inspecting a guard of honour, the Lord Jesus is inspecting the troops. The Lord is walking through the churches inspecting them. Perhaps he wants to ascertain the following.

• How bright is the light shining?

• Is there a church that needs his help? He is never far away and always within reach.

We can imagine the Lord scrutinising, examining, assessing and evaluating each church.

Here is Christ’s position, he is inspecting, assisting and sustaining the churches. The Lord is watching over them he is holding their messengers in his hand, so they will know his protection and empowering.

We must make sure we recognise Christ’s position in our Churches.

Let us notice also some commendable practices.

The church at Ephesus was a busy church. I am sure the announcements on the Lord’s day would have taken a long time.

We need to ask ourselves this question. Is there more to a church than activity? Look at verse two.

The word used for ‘know’ is ‘oida’. It means complete or full knowledge. No matter what we think we know and no matter what we hope others know or do not know. When it comes to the church, Jesus says, "I know."

The Lord begins by commending this church.

This was a church full of doers. Christianity in Ephesus was no spectator sport all got stuck in. They were a hard working assembly. They were involved in reaching the lost, trying to win souls and evangelising the city. If we bear in mind the nature of the city, the Lord recognised and commended their hard work

The Lord continues in verse two, "And thy labour."

They were dependable. The word for ‘labour’ means ‘toil to the point of exhaustion.’ It is used of physical and mental toil. The believers in Ephesus didn’t give up they kept going on.

They were also a durable church, consider something else the Lord said. "And thy patience," the word for patience is the Greek word, "hupamone" It means a courageous acceptance of hardship, endurance would be a good word to use in its place. The believers in Ephesus had faced many hard days but still they kept the flag flying, there were no deserters in Ephesus.

They were also a disciplining church.

"And how thou canst not bear them which are evil." No man who was unscrupulous in business, impure in his conversation, living in immorality, habitually intoxicated, bad tempered or convicted of lying would have lasted in this church.

There was no messing about in Ephesus. If you stepped out of line and you would either toe the line or you would be disciplined. The Lord Jesus commends the Ephesians for this.

Look again at this statement we looked at something they couldn’t bear ‘evil.’

Interestingly the word used for evil was used of evil influence. The word was used of a lazy student or a cowardly soldier and how they would influence others. The church at Ephesus would not let the sort of bad influence that was in the Church at Corrinth settle. They had heeded Paul’s earlier warning.

As we consider something they couldn’t bear, we could mention something we should bear, look at this verse in Galatians.

This church was a doing, dependable, durable, disciplining and doctrinally sound church. Look again at verse two.

When we look back at Paul’s visit to Ephesus in Acts he had warned them about false teachers.

These false teachers were now to the fore but they didn’t get stopping in Ephesus.

The early church father Ignatious writing not long after John commended the Ephesians. "You heed no body beyond what he has to say truthfully about Jesus Christ, I have heard that some teachers came your way with a wicked teaching but you did not let them sow it among you."

This church’s basis of doctrine was biblically sound and fundamentally unquestionable and they stuck to it. Notice God commends them for it.

Something else we should mention before we leave the doctrinally sound point, look at verse six.

It is good to hate that which Jesus hates not the Nicolaitanes but their deeds.

Two possibilities exist in the identifying of this sect or system called the Nicolaitanes. Look at the following verse from Acts.

Notice the man called Nicolas some of the early church fathers said that the Nicolaitanes was a sect named after this man. It is said that this sect allowed all sorts of immorality to be practised and yet they professed to know Jesus Christ. The Nicolaitanes in their estimation was just a false cult.

Jim Allen said in his commentary on Revelation, "The evidence for it historically is so weak as to be almost non existent."

The other explanation comes from the word Nicolaitanes. It is made up of two Greek words.

"Nike" which means victory and "laos" which means people. Together they would mean "conqueror of the people."

Some have linked this to a clergy, laity system. This is what we find today, some that lord it over the people. It is just popery and there is much Protestant popery and even Baptist popery.

Dr T La Haye said the following, "The greatest single curse in modern Christendom is ecclesiasticism when men get control of the spiritual training of other people and are in a position to dominate the church. Their theological position will eventually dominate the church. The history of the church of Jesus Christ is a continuous cycle of autonomous churches, amalgamating into great conventions or denominations of ecclesiastical hierarchies that eventually become apostate.

You can see why the one who walks in the midst of the churches would hate his position to be undermined by some Pope. The church at Ephesus had resisted such a development. This church was doctrinally sound.

The church at Ephesus was also determined. Look at verse three.

Rev. 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

This church had really suffered, they had known persecution and hard times and yet they had not become weary. Paul reminds us in Galatians.

Notice also their motive or their driving force in verse three. It was for His name’s sake.

From the outside this looks like a powerful church. It has the appearance of a mighty church, we would say a wonderful church with so much going for it. It had a full programme with so many dedicated people. What could possibly be wrong with a church like Ephesus?

We have looked at Christ’s position. We have looked at their commendable practises. Now we want to concentrate on the coldness they possessed. Look at verse four.

The word ‘somewhat’ is in the italics this means it is not in the original, that reminds us that love is not a somewhat.

When God says nevertheless, this church would need to sit up and pay attention.

"Thou hast left thy first love." What a sad indictment. This church was once commended for its love as you can see from the following verses.

Ephes. 6:23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

However there had been a gradual dwindling of the first love, which they once possessed. Love for Christ produces love for each other and in turn a love for the lost. Their service had become cold and mechanical.

They had formality but no reality. They may have had a certain faith, but no fervour, and there was plenty of participation, but no passion. We could say that their heads were in it, they were doctrinally sound. Their shoulders were in it, they were hard workers. But their hearts were not in it they had left their first love.

When we carry a heavy burden for a distance there is relief, joy and appreciation when we can get rid of it. Soon we get used without the weight and no longer do we appreciate it. The night we were saved, oh what joy! What relief! What appreciation! What love! When the burden of our sin was rolled away we had so much passion and so much love for our new found saviour. Soon the honeymoon passed and coldness has set in. We are awash with doctrine but very short on devotion.

We can serve for prestige or for the praise of men. We can serve the Lord for position or reputation and sometimes quite simply it’s just the thing to do.

We can see our labours for the Lord as our duty but without love it will be cold and fruitless. The church at Ephesus had everything but the main thing, which was love.

During the reign of King Rehoboam, Israel was attacked by the King of Egypt.

The golden shields were taken and Rehoboam replaced them with brass shields.

They looked the same and may even have shined the same but the enemy had stolen the gold of devotion. Look what Paul said about brass.

All our service without love is empty.

It is not that they didn’t have a first love rather they had a new first love. Look at verse four again.

The words used for ‘left’ is ‘aphiemi’ the same word was used of putting away or divorce, it usually applies to a person.

Love for the Christian is not just an emotion but it involves a person. This person had been left aside or abandoned the person of course is Christ.

Notice how Israel left their first love.

Solomon left his first love as the following verses show us.

What is your first love? Look at the following verses.

The church at Ephesus had left its first love they were Martha’s but not Mary’s. [Luke 10]

Dear believers have we the same love in our hearts for Christ that we had that moment we first believed?

Do we love him less now that we did at any other time?

If the answer is yes, then we have left our first love.

We have looked at Christ’s position, the commendable practises, the coldness they possessed, and next we want to look at a challenging prescription.

Firstly the Lord says, "Remember." Looking back can be harmful at times. We are told to forget those things, which are behind, but in the right context it can be helpful.

The Lord exhorts the believers in Ephesus to retrace their steps. He wants them to get back to the start. He encourages them back to that love they once had for the saviour. Remember its blessedness, remember the delight you had in serving the Lord and meeting with God’s people.

The Lord said, " Thou art fallen," this indeed was their present condition.

Paul said on a previous occasion concerning Ephesus the following.

You were risen and now you are fallen, how sad!

Look again at verse five.

The Lord next commands them to repent. That means they had to have a change of mind, which issues in a change of behaviour.

The Lord gives them a challenging prescription, firstly remember then repent and after that repeat.

"And do the first works;" In other words get back to that devotion you once had. You need to spend time at the master’s feet. Here is the great physicians’ prescription for those who have left their first love. Remember, repent and repeat get back again to the life you once lived and enjoyed for Jesus Christ your Saviour.

We have noticed in our study Christ’s’ position, the commendable practises, the coldness they possessed and the challenging prescription.

Someone once described this as the pattern for dealing with an erring brother.

1. Confronting was done with love and goal of restoration.
2. Encouragement preceded correction.
3. Christ openly stated the problem.
4. He told them the remedy.
5. He told them of consequences of failure.
6. He wrote expecting a positive response.

Let’s look now at a clear possibility. Look at verse number five again.

We need to remember, repent, repeat or else we will be removed.

Notice what Jesus said, "I will come," It means "I am coming." This could not refer to the Lord’s return for his Church. If that were the case all candlesticks would be removed. Also it would make his return dependant upon an unrepentant church.

The Lord was coming on judgement upon this loveless church, they would be removed if they failed to heed his warning. About the first century this church was removed- and today there is not a church within a fifty mile radius of Ephesus.

This could be applied locally and denominationally. Some of the denominations are just a flicker of what they once were, because of their loveless attitude the candlestick has been removed.

It could happen us personally. God could remove us he could set us to the one side. Have we left our first love and refused to repent? Do we want our own way? Do we want to do our own thing? God may say "Remove him, set him aside." We could become of no further use to God.

Notice finally the call that is personal. Look at verse seven.

Christ wants us to listen to what the spirit says. Notice who the Lord speaks of, "to him that overcometh."

Is this some sort of super saint?

Look at the tree that is mentioned in verse seven, the tree of life. This tree was in the Garden of Eden and man because of his sin was shut out from the garden. We read again about this tree in Revelation twenty two.

We find this tree in eternity and there is access to all. So an overcomer and a believer are the same thing, as all believers will have access to the tree of life.

The word overcomers is found twenty eight times in the New Testament, John uses twenty-five of these. What is an overcomer according to John. Look at his definition.

Again we see that all true believers are overcomers. The Lord knows that true believers will come through so this is a word of encouragement to the saints.

One day they will eat of this tree, but even now they could be enjoying the presence and blessing of the Lord in special way. Simply put if you have left your first love you are loosing out.

Let me make a practical application.

• Adam was not deceived.

• Adam was not beguiled.

Why then did Adam eat? Adam was faced with a choice, Eve or God. He left his fist love and ate to please Eve. Adam was shut out from the tree of life because of his sin.

As a result of leaving his first love Adam lost fellowship, he lost blessing Oh he lost so much.

A church will loose out when it leaves it’s first love. We could become just a formal, ritualistic and lifeless church.

How you are loosing out? In your life there may be plenty of activity but no affection for the master.

John Philips said, "Here is a fallen church, it has lost the paradise of a bliss that comes from walking with God. The Lord’s call here is for believers to get back to a daily quiet time with him.

Let me leave you with the words of Jesus to Peter.