Commendation (verses 2-3 and 6)

We see in verses 2 and 3 that He praises their toil, their work, their effort, and their patient endurance, an endurance that bore up under all kinds of difficulties, all kinds of struggling, and all kinds of suffering. They did so, He says, without growing “weary.”That is a wonderful testimony. Any congregation of the Lord’s people would be glad to receive that evaluation from the Lord.

He also praises them because of their vigilance in looking out for and identifying those who would be false prophets, false apostles, and they were apparently good at doing this. You will recall that Paul had warned the elders of the church of Ephesus about that very thing—that there would be some who would rise from their very midst [either from among the elders themselves, or from among the congregation of the Lord’s people in Ephesus] who would teach false things. So the Ephesian elders apparently took that warning to heart and they were good at identifying those who would be false teachers. They were also vigilant as they looked out for others who would have a negative impact on the Lord’s church and on the work there, specifically the Nicolaitans [verse 6]. The Lord said to them “you have identified them”—“you hate them just as I hate them.”

Well who are these Nicolaitans? We don’t know exactly. They are not specifically identified here. They are mentioned again in verse 15 in the letter to the church at Pergamos. We see that they are closely identified with the teaching of Balaam. Apparently they were those who were teaching that it was all right to compromise with the world—to engage in heathen, pagan festivals. They were apparently not teaching or not pushing this practice on worldly people, but they were pushing it on Christians. In effect, they were saying, “You can do this and you won’t damage your relationship with the Lord; you won’t have any negative effect on your soul.” They perhaps took part in a form of popular error in that day that made a radical distinction between “acts of the flesh” and “acts of the spirit,” believing and teaching that nothing done by the flesh could have any affect on the spirit. In this way, they could justify compromising and being involved in immoral behavior. Even though we don’t know specifically who they are, historians in the 2^nd Century mention these people again. In fact there are several, including Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus and others, who mention them and they are always identified as individuals involved in lives of self indulgence.

Well, the Ephesian church had vigorously opposed their false teaching, and so the Lord had some good things to say about them, their work, their patience, their endurance, their ability to endure suffering and persecution, their vigilance in watching out for false teachers, and even people such as the Nicolaitans.

Condemnation and Warning (verses 4-5)

“Good job,” but, there is that word “nevertheless,” that we run into there in verse 4. The Lord had something against this church. They were outstanding in what they did; but they were also negligent. The Lord says they had left their “first love”—the love that they had had at first [verse 4]. What is the Lord talking about here? What is it that they have left? It could be several things. Perhaps, though, it doesn’t deal with doctrinal issues. You know, at first we might look and say, well, maybe they have the “spirit of denominationalism.” Maybe they are not doctrinally sound. Maybe they are drifting away from the faith. Maybe…but on the other hand, they’ve just been praised for being diligent and identifying false apostles, and hating the Nicolaitans and not having anything to do with their teachings, and so on. So maybe it wasn’t a doctrinal issue or a doctrinal problem that they had there at all.

What was it? Well, we really don’t know, but several writers whom I have read suggest that it might have been their love for one another. Was it that they maintained their vigilance, their doctrinal soundness, perhaps even their love for the Lord, but their love for one another had waned? Was this what the Lord is now criticizing them about?

We can’t be certain. All we can say is that they had lost their “first love,” what they had loved at first. We see that the Lord makes an appeal to them, and if you stop and think about it, this appeal that He makes to the Christians here in Ephesus is the same appeal that He makes to everyone today. It is a three-part appeal that we see in verse 5 of the text. Let’s look at that again: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen.” Everyone needs to remember from where you have fallen—remember what the Lord has done for you. The second part of the Lord’s appeal is, “repent.” Stop doing what you are doing; turn around; have a change of heart. And the third component of His appeal is, “do.” Remember, repent, and do. Take action. If you repent of the actions that you’ve been involved with, that have, or that would cause the Lord to be critical of you, then, take action. Don’t do them any more! “Take action to do the things that the Lord would have you to do,” I believe, is the Message here for these Christians.