Revelation Chapter Two, His Name's Sake

Revelation 2:3 “and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.

The Lord continues to praise the Ephesian church for their fidelity. He says of them, that they persevere. Oxford defines persevere to, “continue in a course of action in spite of difficulty or lack of success.” Verse 2 fills in details as to what the Lord means by this.

First, He commends them for their works, then their labor, and finally their patience. Then He addresses contention within the Ephesian church. Self-proclaimed apostles approached to teach, perhaps some new revelation contrary to God’s will and word, and the church expelled them, revealing them as charlatans. Think of the folly that would ensue if every Christian church opened its doors to anyone claiming to speak God’s word. Imagine more, if they claimed to have a fresh revelation from God and were His dispenser of this new wisdom. Does this sound at all familiar? Joseph Smith springs to mind. But too many names, both ancient and modern, can fit this bill nicely. The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1.

We know from Scripture that John does not mean actual discarnate spirits. There is a clear prohibition against sorcery, necromancy, and summoning spirits, Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, Deuteronomy 18:10-12. Isaiah wrote, “And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” Isaiah 8:19. John was referring to the spirit of the man speaking. Or the nature of the spirit energizing his teaching. His first epistle was a battle against the teachings of Gnosticism and its claims about ultimate reality, spirit, and flesh. John encourages the saints to test the spirit of the man teaching. How? Against the infallible and immutable word of God, of course. The Gnostics failed this test because they did not accept that Jesus Christ was God come in the flesh to die for the sin of humanity, among other reasons. The false apostles the Ephesian church contended with had their own heresies but were soundly rejected. Those deeds may have something to do with the Nicolaitans, mentioned in verse 6.

The church persevered, they continued on their course regardless of difficulty, which of course required patience, see Hebrews 10:36. Jesus tells them that they indeed labored for His name’s sake. That is a wonderful thing to hear indeed. It was tireless work; they did not grow weary in the doing of it. Despite the clear obstacles set before them, they expunged false apostles, endured hardships, bore with the labor, and received the stamp of approval that the things they had done were indeed spiritually founded; Jesus affirmed that they did so for His name’s sake. Our Lord’s name represents His person and all that is affixed to it. 

The name of Christ represents the suffering Savior who died on behalf of man, so that man may live to God. He died in meekness and rose in power, He ascended triumphant and will return in glory. He formed the universe and breathed life into man, giving us soul and spirit, thought and imagination. He holds all things together merely by His word. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Ancient of Days, the Prince of Peace. He is God, and the Ephesian church bore His name through their trials, with tireless patience to serve Him. For these things the Ephesian church excelled. But, as was the case with almost every church about to be addressed, they were not without fault. And really, who is? We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the reward for the things done in the flesh, i.e., done on this earth while we live. Graciously, the Lord is not telling the church this to shame them, but to correct them. He wants to course correct error so they are more aligned with His Spirit, and then shares with them the great bounty of blessing that is theirs because they belong to Him. This should be an added incentive to want to serve without the weight of the sin that chronically hinders us, Hebrews 12:1. And when we are redressed, we may be certain that sin is back of it, enfeebling and neutering our spiritual growth and fruitfulness.