4 Yet I hold this against you: YOU HAVE FORSAKEN YOUR FIRST LOVE. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! REPENT AND DO THE THINGS YOU DID AT FIRST. Revelation 2
The apostle John was taken into heaven and was given a powerful revelation by the Lord, extending to the end of the Age. Revelation chapters 2 & 3 speak of the Lord’s judgment on seven churches in Asia Minor or modern day Turkey. The birthplace of the New Testament Church has been seriously eroded by the devil, through persecution and false religion.
The first of the seven churches was the Church in Ephesus and the Lord began His revelation by selecting the things for which the Church could be praised.
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Revelation 2
The Lord praised the Church in Ephesus for their, ‘hard work and perseverance, for testing and exposing false apostles and for enduring hardships in His name and not growing weary’. That’s a lot of praise pluses, or benefits, but then the Lord begins to speak of things He’s not happy with, namely, ‘they’ve LOST THEIR FIRST LOVE’, of the Lord Himself.
Johnny Enlow called Ephesus a, ‘ONE-LEGGED CHURCH’. They had the leg of truth in place, but they didn’t have the leg of Love for the Lord. (Elijahstreams 3 March 2025)
36 ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’
37 Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22
While He was on earth Jesus said the most important thing was to Love God with our whole heart. Those who love won’t break God’s Law, like the man we mentioned in an earlier blog, who was delivering people using the Lord’s Name. Jesus told the disciples not to rebuke such a one, because he was for them and not against them.
Ephesus was a Truth based church who’d exposed false apostles, but the Lord rebuked them for losing their Love for God. Western culture and perhaps other cultures today are knowledge based, with much emphasis on learning and academic achievement. Daniel spoke of the increase of knowledge in the Last Days, Daniel 12:4
The Lord is shaking this world system and the Church today and many things are being brought to the surface. The Church in Ephesus had some positive characteristics, but their hearts had become closed to their God, which is a dangerous place to be in. We need to realise that in ourselves we deserve nothing and that we depend on God’s goodness for everything. This may be a good time to take inventory and to show God that we truly love Him above all things. Hallelujah
May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.