I know thy works and [thy] labour, and thine endurance, and that thou canst not bear evil [men]; and thou hast tried them who say that themselves [are] apostles and are not, and hast found them liars;
The risen Christ opens His message to Ephesus with praise, not complaint: hard work, endurance, and the courage to expose men who falsely claimed to be apostles. Yet one thing is missing from the praise, and the Lord goes on to expose it.
The words "I know" follow from where the Lord has just placed Himself — walking among the lampstands. That has a sharp edge for a church tempted to keep the peace by leaving hard questions closed.
The first expression, found also in the letters that follow, tells us that the Lord always sees the condition of His people. Their state and their activities are always before His eyes, and He examines them. This follows from the position He takes here as walking in the middle of the lampstands. It is good to remember this. There is often a temptation to close up questions, or even to cover up sin, in the assembly — to prevent discussion, or for the sake of peace. That is paying more attention to the faces of men than to Christ, who searches into everything with eyes like a flame of fire. "No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." (Heb. 4:13.)
The Lord does have a complaint to make. Praise comes first.
The Lord commends before He reproves. He loves to count up what grace — His own grace — has produced in the souls and ways of His people. In these letters we see the Church in its downward course, going from bad to worse. But the Lord is unchanged. He loves to commend His saints when and where He can... Always be ready to own gladly, and to say openly, how much you value all that is good and excellent — especially where evil may be present.
The verse lists "toil" as well as "works." They are not the same thing.
Then the Lord commends the "labour" that marked their works. There may be much service and yet little labour in the service. The word shows that their service called for energy and real toil. It cost these saints an expenditure of labour.
Patience can slide into putting up with evil men. At Ephesus it did not.
There was patience, and this is the first if not the greatest mark that Paul gives of his own apostleship. More than this, nothing breaks down more readily than patience, after it has stood many a trial. But here at Ephesus there was endurance... Again, where there is patience, there might be a tendency to pass over evil, or at least evil men. But it was not so here. They had borne things for His name's sake, but they could not bear evil persons.
Set beside later practice, that refusal looks sharp:
In the days of Ephesus, believers could not bear those who were evil. In our day, discipline in the church is almost at an end. In many places anyone is welcome to share fully in all church privileges, especially if they have a good bank account. In the beginning it was very different. That little Ephesian assembly said, "We don't want growth at the expense of holiness."
The timing of these false claims was no accident.
The apostles were disappearing, and perhaps all had disappeared except John. It is easy to see why Satan would then try to supply men quite willing to claim to be their successors. The church in Ephesus tested these pretended apostles... When men made such a claim, the church stood together in testing them and refusing those who set themselves up to be what they were not.
The testing was not a hunch but a measurement against a known standard.
Moreover, they had tested the claim of some to rank alongside the apostles. They tested it thoroughly, and the light of the signs which marked the Lord's apostles exposed every false claim... The word "tried" means tested, or put to the proof. "Hast found them liars." The groundless claim of these pretenders to apostolic office and authority was completely overthrown, and the men themselves branded as "liars," or, as Paul puts it, "false apostles."
The praise is real. But two words are missing from it.
The Lord is aware of their "labour" and their "endurance." But the springs of "love" and "hope" are missing here. Those two were the source of the labour and endurance of the Thessalonian saints (see 1 Thess. 1:3). The searching gaze of the Lord goes right down to the inner springs of the soul. Those springs give character and energy to every action. When an action is cut off from the spring that alone can give our work spiritual vigour and tone, He exposes it faithfully — in love, yet firmly.
Commentators read these seven letters as tracing the course of the church as well as addressing seven real assemblies.
As Paul had predicted, failure soon began; and at the time this book was written, first love had already cooled, and the seeds of serious evil, both in doctrine and in practice, were already sown. Still, for a time, evil teaching and practice were resisted, and there was much activity and zeal in labour. This is the state of things described in Ephesus.
- He knows. Christ walks among the lampstands and sees everything. Covering a matter for the sake of peace fools people, never Him.
- He commends. What He knows first, He praises first — He counts up what His own grace has produced before naming a single fault.
- He values toil. Their work cost real toil. Their patience was endurance that had already stood many a trial.
- He honours discernment. Patience did not soften them toward evil men. They tested men who called themselves apostles and found them liars.
- He looks deeper. He names labour and endurance. He does not name love and hope as their source, and that missing spring is what He goes on to expose.
and endurest, and hast borne for my name's sake, and hast not wearied
This verse finishes the Lord's praise of the church at Ephesus. They held out, they carried suffering for His name, they never gave up — yet one question hangs over the record: does a list like this prove love?
Before any praise or blame, the Lord says "I know." One writer shows what those two words settle for every church.
The same expression appears in the letters that follow. It tells us that the Lord always sees the condition of His people. Their state and their activities are always before His eyes, and His eyes examine them. This follows from the position He takes here as walking among the lampstands. This is worth remembering. In the assembly there is often a temptation to shut down questions, or even to cover up sin, to prevent arguments or to keep the peace. That pays more attention to people's faces than to Christ, who searches into everything with eyes like a flame of fire.
Plenty of people start well and then stop. One writer treats endurance as the mark that tells real work from a good start.
Then they had patience — endurance. Many begin well, like the Galatians, but give way when unforeseen difficulties come. It is the mark of divine work that it endures. Human energy quickly spends itself; faith draws on a supply that never runs down. It was true faith that was at work in these Ephesian saints.
They carried their suffering for the Name of Jesus Christ. One writer links that Name to something it had already done for them.
Not only had there been endurance, but it continued. They were still enduring when the apostle, "the Lord's secretary," wrote. They had also borne suffering for His Name. They had suffered much and been severely tried, but they carried it all gladly for the sake of the Name of Jesus Christ. Because of that same Name their sins had been forgiven (1 John 2:12).
"Not grown weary" describes someone still standing when everything around them moves the other way. One writer asks what that looks like for the church now.
The verse sketches the position of a soul standing in integrity for God while the current rushes past it. You may find the evil strong, but you have God and you can endure; you can look for the way out that God will provide. What is the position of the church of the living God now? Everything is tottering and shaking. Have you no heart for what is dear to God?
This praise could pass as a full measure of a healthy church. One writer goes through it item by item to show what it cannot prove.
What, then, is the test of "first love"? Not "work" — activity in outward service; they had that at Ephesus. Not even "labour," for they had that too. No, nor "endurance" either — though that is a clearer sign than either of the others of divine power in the soul. Not zeal against evil. Not boldness to examine and refuse the highest claims. Not even suffering for Christ's name, and suffering it without growing weary. All this is good and acceptable to God, and the Ephesians had all of it. Yet the Lord says, "I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."
One writer notices a silence. Another letter praises the same three things in Thessalonica and names the source of each. Here those sources go unnamed.
They had not "grown weary." There was no thought of giving up the conflict with evil. They had not wearied of the contest, nor wearied in it. What a beautiful picture of devotedness to the interests of Christ! But what about the springs of these holy activities? They are not mentioned — not because they were entirely missing, or there could have been no praise at all... "remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 1:3). The Ephesian assembly showed work, labour, and endurance. But the "work" seems in part separated from "faith," its moral source. The "labour," too, seems not to have drawn its full strength from "love."
- Seen — Christ walks among the lampstands and examines everything. No church can settle a question by managing appearances.
- Endured — endurance is the mark of divine work. Human energy spends itself; faith draws on a supply that never runs down.
- Borne — they carried it all for the Name of Jesus Christ, the Name that had already brought them forgiveness.
- Unwearied — they stood in integrity while the current rushed past. They never wearied of the contest or in it.
- Yet lacking — not one item on this list is the test of first love. The work went on, but it had drifted from the springs that feed it.
but I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love.
Ephesus was a hard-working church that endured and refused false teachers. Yet the Lord, who had just praised all of that, says He holds one thing against them — and it is about their love, not their work.
Some older versions soften the charge by adding the word "somewhat." Those versions also read "first love" where the ESV has "the love you had at first," and the writers below use the older phrase. The charge is single, and it is severe.
This uncovers the root of Church and individual failure: the heart has departed from Christ. The fine gold had become dim. The flower was fading… Love is the very heart of Christianity, its crown, and its distinguishing glory. When love is missing, the moral power of Church and individual life is gone. Things may look fine and promising on the outside. Only an all-seeing eye sees the lack within: coldness of heart to Christ… The loss of that first, pure love is a serious matter. We must not treat it as a mere "somewhat," as the Authorised Version does.
Commentators describe it as a heart taken up with Christ, gripped by what He has done in redemption.
Ephesus had gone on well in staying consistent. But that forgetting of self, and thinking only of Christ, which are the first fruits of grace, were gone. As we find everywhere in the Scriptures, nothing can make up for a lack of heart for Christ… First love is that absorption of the heart with Christ. An overwhelming sense of His grace and love in redemption always produces it.
Everything the Lord praised in the verses just before was real. But it was not what He was measuring.
What is the test, then, of "first love"? Not "work" — activity in outward service; they had that at Ephesus. Not even "labour," for they had that too. No, nor "endurance," though that is a clearer sign of divine power in the soul than either. Not zeal against evil, nor courage to examine and refuse the highest claims. Not even suffering for Christ's name, and suffering without tiring. All this is good and acceptable to God, and the Ephesians had it all. Yet the Lord says, "I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."
Love and works are not rivals. Where love is real, works follow.
It is not that works will be lacking where there is love. The Lord Himself, in this message, links "first love" with "first works." There were indeed works at Ephesus that the Lord could approve. But they were not the first works that come out of first love.
The reproach itself shows how much He cares.
What must Christ be jealous about but His love to the church, which was stronger than death? It is impossible for Him to forget His love to the church. So it is just as impossible for Him to rest content without her love returning to Him. Remember, only love can satisfy love… There may still be much outward fruit in "works, and labour, and patience." But whatever the toil and labour may be, the spring of it all is gone.
The wording matters. Where the ESV says "abandoned," the older text this writer quotes says "left." Either way, they walked away from something; they did not mislay it.
It is not, "lost your first love." I do not think that is a scriptural thought. It is, "left your first love." Something has come in, says that blessed lover in Revelation 2, that has eclipsed Me. All your affection for Me and interest in Me has gone. You can get on without Me now, but there was a time when you could not.
The heart cools in private before anything goes wrong in public.
Any sin a Christian falls into is only the outward act. There were failures in secret before the outward wrong ever showed itself… Notice how significant this is: at the very start of the church's history, love to Christ was already declining. That is the root and starting-point of all failure and sin.
The remedy is a return to the starting point.
The only remedy is to go back to first things. "You have abandoned the love you had at first… Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first." There must be a return to the beginning, and in the beginning Christ was everything. His will came first. He alone was "honoured, loved, adored."
- First — First love means self forgotten and Christ everything. A fresh sense of His grace in redemption produces it.
- Left — Not lost by accident. Something crowded Him out, and He noticed while everyone else saw a model church.
- No substitute — Work, labour, endurance and courage against error were all there, and all praised. None of them can stand in love's place.
- Because loved — He complains because His own love is too strong to accept a smaller return. Only love satisfies love.
- Root — This first cooling is where the whole decline begins. So the cure is to go back to the beginning, where Christ was everything.
Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works but if not, I am coming to thee, and I will remove thy lamp out of its place, except thou shalt repent.
The risen Christ walks among His churches. Here He speaks to one that was busy, discerning and patient — yet had let its love for Him cool. Verse 5 is His remedy: three commands, and a warning if they go unheeded.
The first word sends the church backwards, not forwards. Commentators read this as a rule that holds everywhere. You cannot see how far you have slipped until you compare where you stand with where you began.
The first clause holds a principle of the first importance, one the Word affirms again and again. To discover the character of our failure, or how far we have backslidden or departed from the truth, we must always go back to the beginning. For example, we can only see the true state of the church today by comparing it — or rather contrasting it — with what it was when it was first founded at Pentecost.
They were to recall a height of love, not a record of achievement. Even the city's name carries that idea.
The Lord never forgets His joy in the first love of His people. He never forgets Judah's first love. He remembers the Church's first love just as much, and He desires it — which is, in fact, what "Ephesus" really means. Remember the moral elevation you once occupied. To what depths you have fallen!
Memory alone only produces nostalgia. The second command is harder. It means seeing yourself as Christ sees you.
In the eyes of others the assembly at Ephesus might well look like a model assembly. In the sight of Christ it was fallen. The assembly must not only remember; it must repent. It is useless to grieve over the loss of early freshness if there is no repentance. What is repentance but owning our true condition before the Lord?
Verse 2 has already credited this church with works. So the call to do the first works cannot mean simply more activity. The difference lies in what drives them.
Recover "first love" and the "first works" will follow as a matter of course. To human eyes these may look just the same as the works mentioned in verse 2, but to His eyes they are very different. He judges everything by the motive behind it. The mainspring matters so much to Him that if first love is damaged for good, the ability to shine departs and the lampstand is removed.
"I will come to you" is not the promise of Christ returning for His people. It is a coming that deals with the church where it stands, like His warning to Pergamum.
With Ephesus, the only coming described is a providential coming: "or else I will come to you quickly, and will remove your lampstand out of its place." It is the same with Pergamum, where He fights with the sword of His mouth. But this is not His coming to receive the saints, nor to bring in His kingdom.
Older translations add the word "quickly" to this verse, and the ESV leaves it out. The difference matters, because the sentence on Ephesus was not carried out in a hurry.
"Or else I will come to you." He does not say "quickly" here, though our text has it, as it does at the later stage of evil in verse 16. "And remove your lampstand out of its place." He is slow to carry out judgment. This is the warning of the final removal of the assembly from its place of lampstand responsibility. That sentence is only put into force in Laodicea.
The lampstand is the church's place as a light-bearer. Losing it can look like a small penalty for a heart grown cold.
This may seem harsh treatment for such an offence, but the Lord looks to the final consequences. A church that was once taken up with work may grow cold in its affections. For a while it may escape scandalous evil and corruption, but it has lost its security. If it does not repent, its fall is sure, though it may be delayed. Its lampstand will be removed. It will stop bearing the light entrusted to it. God will openly disown it as unfit for His use.
Losing the lampstand raises an obvious fear: is salvation itself at risk?
Removing the lamp as a light-bearer does not in any way weaken the eternal security of all who build on Christ — the Rock of Ages.
The severity is not coldness. A church exists to show the world what Christ's love is like.
He cannot let anything remain in the world that fails to show the great love with which He loved the church. If He did, He would not be "the faithful and true witness." This tender, faithful reproach is the blessed proof that His love never grows cold, however much ours may fail.
- Remember — measure today against the beginning; that is the only way to see the fall.
- Repent — not regret over lost freshness, but owning your true condition before the Lord.
- Redo — the first works look the same as busy works. The motive behind them is what differs.
- Removal — this coming is a visit in judgment, not the coming for His people. What it takes away is the lampstand, the place of light-bearing.
- Rooted in love — the reproach itself proves His love never cooled, however much ours has.