The Book of Revelation, Chapter 2:1-7

The message to each church seems to follow a certain pattern:
• A Commendation: Jesus commends the church for its characteristics which please Him.
• A Rebuke: He calls attention to the things which displease Him.
• A Call to Repentance**• A Warning: Jesus warns of the price to be paid if they refuse to repent.
• A Promise: Jesus gives a promise to those who overcome.

The churches have a 3-fold application:
• A Literal Application: The issues addressed in each letter were real issues the churches
were dealing with at that time.
• A Historical Application: The 7 churches of Asia are representative of the 7 MAJOR
PERIODS of church history.
• Each church represents a different period.
• The order in which they’re given aligns perfectly with the 7 periods of church history.
• A Practical Application: Each church in the world today fits in one of these 7 categories.

The name of each church describes the characteristic of the church period it represents.

The 1st letter is to the church of Ephesus, which represents the Apostolic church (the 1st period of church history). The word Ephesus means

.

The Commendation: The church of Ephesus remained true to the faith, despite the world around them. They were also commended because they didn’t allow anyone to preach behind the pulpit who wasn’t qualified.

The Rebuke: They left their first

_. They were still working hard; they just weren’t doing it for the right reason. They were simply going through the motions.

The Call to Repentance: The Lord wants them to

. He tells them to ‘do the first works.’
• The first works are those things that you did when you first fell in love with Jesus.
• They’re also the things that keep the relationship strong and passionate.

The Warning: If you don’t repent and do the things necessary to keep the passion alive, then the love will die. It becomes an empty relationship.
Nicolaitans: ‘conquerors of the laity’ or ‘to rule over the laity.’ The Priests rule over the laity and they have control of the church.

The Promise: Whoever overcomes gets to eat of the tree of

_.

• Some scholars believe that the tree of life is just a figure of speech that refers to eternal life.
• Those who believe that the tree of life is real believe that its purpose is to give our resurrected physical bodies immortality.
• Either way, it means the same thing: for those who overcome, they’ll be given eternal life.

Prov. 3:18 Gen. 2:9;16-17 Rev. 22:2,14 Prov. 11:30 Gen. 3:22-24 Acts 6:5 Prov. 3:18