Ephesus, Held Accountable

Revelation 2:4

"Nevertheless I have somewhat

against thee, because thou

hast left thy first love." 

        Let's look at a little history of Ephesus, and learn something of its conditions during it's time. It is easy to see why it comes first in the list of the seven Churches. During the time of John, Ephesus was the greatest harbor in Asia.  All the roads of the Cayster Valley ran to it. The Cayster was the river on which it stood and converged upon it.  It was at Ephesus that the road from Euphrates and Mesopotamia reached the Mediterranean.  It was at Ephesus that the road from Galatia reached the sea, having come by way of Sardis. Ephesus was ''The Market of Asia," and it may well be because in Rev. 8:12-13, John was writing  down a description of the varied riches of the marketplace at Ephesus.  Its position made Ephesus the wealthiest, and the greatest city in all Asia, and it has been rightly called the Vanity Fair of the ancient world.
        The Church at Ephesus had faithfully applied its tests and had weeded out all evil and misguided men; but the trouble was that something had gotten lost in the process. "I have this against you," says Christ, "you have lost your first love."  In Ephesus the enthusiasm was gone.  Jeremiah speaks of the devotion of Israel to God in the early days.  God says to the nation that he remembers, "the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride" (Jer. 2:2).  There had been a honeymoon period, but the first flush of enthusiasm had past.  Maybe, what Christ was saying was; that all the enthusiasm has gone out of the religion of the Church of Ephesus.
        Some where the Church of  Ephesus had gone wrong.  The earnest toil was there; the gallant endurance was there; the unimpeachable orthodoxy was there; but the love was gone.  So Christ makes his appeal and it is for their return journey to Him.  The early Christians did not identify paradise and heaven; so to the early Christians paradise was the intermediate stage, where the souls of the righteous were fitted to enter the presence of God.  But there is something very lovely here.  Who has not felt that the leap from earth to heaven is too great for one step, and that there is need of a gradual entering into the presence of God.  My friends, we must turn our minds to the words of Jesus, to the dying and penitent thief, that said "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thou Kingdom." (Luke 23:42)  And Jesus said, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke. 23:43).
        Amen!!

 Reading: (Rev. 2:1-7)
References: BSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry