Jesus Christ in all His glory has appeared to the Apostle John who has been imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos for preaching God’s Word. After a brief introduction Jesus takes John, in spirit, into the distant future to a time called the Lord’s Day–the final year of the Great Tribulation. He then tells John to record what he is about to see and hear in a book that will be read by each of seven churches–symbolized as lampstands–located along a Roman mail route in Asia Minor at that time (about 96 A.D). Later that book, called The Apocalypse (“Revealing”) would be read by billions of people throughout the world. Jesus’ first message is to the church located in Ephesus, a city in a country now known as Turkey.

The Lord begins His message by acknowledging that the church has been doing good works, that the people have labored with patience, which indicates that they were under duress for living and ministering His Word. He congratulates them for removing those from their midst who were not obeying Him. They had also tested those who claimed to be apostles and had found them to be liars. This was a hard working, diligent, patient, conscientious church. Judging by what Jesus has said to them, most people would assume that He was satisfied with that church. Not so. As verse four tells us, the people in the Church of Ephesus had committed a (one) sin: “Nevertheless, I have found that you have LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE. Remember, therefore, and repent, and do the FIRST WORKS, or else I will come quickly and REMOVE YOUR LAMPSTAND.” Jesus is saying to that super active church that, though she has been doing an heroic work with great diligence and power, He would remove her from being a church if she did not repent and return to her FIRST LOVE/FIRST WORK.

From her founding the Church of Ephesus had zealously proclaimed God’s Word–her FIRST LOVE AND WORK. The people had labored tirelessly and with great patience. They had put out of the church those who would not obey God’s Word, along with those who appeared to be doing so but were not. All was well as long as they were living and ministering GOD’S WORD AS GIVEN TO THEM BY THE APOSTLES–“the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). Living the Word and ministering it had been their FIRST LOVE–their FIRST WORK. Note that the Lord equated LOVE AND WORK.

However, they had left their FIRST LOVE, had stopped doing their FIRST WORK and had allowed false teaching and false doctrines to become part of the church’s spiritual walk. The church’s departure from God’s Word took place because true saints were not diligent against those who would “improve” her walk. While on earth Jesus, then the apostles, continually warned the saints to watch out for those who would compromise God’s Word. Today it is called “liberalism” and continues to have the same devastating effects which are being graphically brought to light by this website.

The Lord told the people in the Ephesus church that in order to remain His church they had to REPENT OF THEIR GREAT SIN, RETURN TO THEIR FIRST LOVE AND DO THEIR FIRST WORK–THEY HAD TO WALK THE WORD BEFORE THE WORLD THAT HATED THEM.

The Church of Ephesus learned a great lesson: all of the wonderful deeds, all done in the name of the Lord, would be in vain if they did not believe and obey His Word. Today’s church system must understand that all of her religiosity and churchiness is irrelevant to God if she does not WORK THE WORD–believe and obey the Holy Bible AS HE WROTE IT. Satan’s hold on her is too strong for this to happen. There will be no corporate repentance because he has convinced her, as he did Adam and Eve, that she is right and God is wrong. Therefore, only individually can a true God-seeker find the strait gate, enter it and walk the narrow path to salvation (Mat. 7:13,14). One must divest him/herself of all that is of the devil. For this reason God commands that he/she “come out of her (the Institutional Church) and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing.” Then and only them will He be one’s God and one will be His child (2 Cor. 6:17).  L.J.