Revelation Chapter Two, The Letter To Ephesus

Revelation 2:1 To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:

The church of Ephesus is the only church that had an epistle written to them that was canonically accepted into the Bible. Though dates can be (and will be) speculative as to precisely when each epistle was written, it is generally believed that the letter to the Ephesians was written around 60 AD.

The other church mentioned in this list is Laodicea, who is unequivocally the most spiritually dysfunctional and disobedient of the seven churches, see Colossians 4:16. Colosse or Colossae was a close southern neighbor to Laodicea, and Paul commanded that the letters to both churches were read to the other for mutual edification. This general rule demonstrates that each epistle, regardless of its initial purpose, was to edify and comfort the saints of every church across the world and the ages. What was said to Ephesus (or Colosse, or Laodicea) was said to the saints universally. This doctrine of universality is applied to Revelation, to demonstrate that this book is not addressed to a particular body for a particular time. In fact, Revelation 1:3 indicates that it is for every saint of every era of time, including those who enter the Tribulation. But that is for a future discussion, God willing.

For the time being, our Lord is focusing upon the churches, beginning with Ephesus, so we will do the same. Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the body of Christ or the church universal. Yes there is a local church; I attend New Hope Bible Church, like the Ephesians had their local church, wherein they received the epistle we are currently considering. But Paul elevated their thinking by referring to the universal church: a singular body of believers united by faith and sealed by God the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1:13, 14, 3:6, 10, 4:4, etc. I have heard arguments against the doctrine of a universal church, implying that the notion of a singular, invisible church does not exist within Scripture. While I am not interested in splitting hairs or exhaustively examining this argument, I will say this. The first mention of the church in the NT is in Matthew 16:18. Jesus, answering Peter’s confession of faith, says, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Peter’s confession of faith provoked our Lord to reveal a profound truth: He was about to build something He had not heretofore begun. Twice He refers to it in the singular: "My church…against it.” He refers to the church not as an institution but as an organism, a body He would construct, built on the foundation of Peter’s confession that included every man and woman in this dispensation. Think of every individual church body as a cluster of cells, or an organ or a limb: an extension of a larger body, knit together not with sinew or bone but with faith in the same Lord and Savior that saved each one of us. We have one and all been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and are a part of this great work the Lord is doing, adding members to the church daily who will help to comprise the totality of His masterpiece. I am convinced that this is what Luke meant when he recorded in Acts, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved,” Acts 2:47. Luke wasn’t addressing the growing population of the church in Jerusalem so much as the beginning of the growth Jesus promised when He said that He would build His church and Hell would not prevail against it.

The angel of Ephesus’ church is informed that He who is speaking holds the angels in His hand, and the churches in His gravity. One gets the picture of the sun in the center of our galaxy, with the planets on a fixed and orderly orbit around it. They exist in their particular place, fixed there by His power, kept by His presence, illuminated by His light. The light, shed on each of us, energizes us for service as much as we are willing. The closer we stand to Him the more light we receive; the further we off the more flaccid our spiritual strength becomes. The Ephesian orbit is close, so to speak. But there is no church that is closer still, and we will attend to that in due time. Scripture reminds us that Jesus is, “upholding all things by the word of His power,” Hebrews 1:3. The Greek for “upholding” is, “phero,” and means, “to bear, carry, or be moved.” In the latter sense it strongly implies the Holy Spirit’s inspiration on men when they speak in His name; they do not speak of their own opinions or necessarily with their own words but by the Spirit’s interposition and inspiration. The former is what we are directly concerned with. Here it means that Jesus is the load bearer. The weight of the universe, like the mythological Atlas, rests on Him. But a profound difference here is that the universe is His creation, and it remains only because He wills it, Colossians 1:16, 17. In Him, we are told, all things consist, or hold together, or are set together.