My dear readers,

Jesus - He Walks in the Midst of Churches (Rev 2:1-7)

In all the seven introductions to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus Christ introduced Himself differently. Each of these seven introductions reveals His assessment of each of these seven churches. It is either to commend or to condemn. Every church throughout her existence fits into one of these seven characteristics of Christ’s assessment. They are all warnings with a common thread. This common thread is that there is still hope. To a church that has gone astray, there is hope of repentance and restoration. To a church under persecution, there is hope to hold fast to the end, for it will be worth it. If Christ were to evaluate Calvary Pandan church, which of these seven characteristics would she reflect?

The first church on the list is the church in Ephesus founded by the Apostle Paul during his second missionary journey. It was a church where Apostle Paul spent a lot of time establishing and building up. He spent two years in that city building up the faith of the brethren. Acts 19:10: “And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

It was very rare that Paul could do that as he was often persecuted and had to leave each city after staying a few weeks. With so much time in Ephesus, it is no wonder that the church in Ephesus was very strong on doctrines. It must have been awesome to have such a powerful teacher and preacher like Paul ministering to them for two years. More than 50 years later, around the end of the 1^st century A.D., the LORD addressed the church in Ephesus. He introduced Himself in Revelation 2:1: “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.”

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. Angels have never been placed in charge of churches. Men, like the elders and pastors, are placed in charge of churches. The Greek word for “angel” is “anggelos” which simply means messenger. For example, John the Baptist was called Christ’s “anggelos” (i.e. messenger) in Matthew 11:10: “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”

The seven golden candlesticks refer to the seven churches (cf. Rev 1:20). Elders and pastors are messengers of Jesus Christ. Christ holds them in His right hand. The word “hold” means to seize something with authority. It is the root word from which we get the English word “demo-cracy”, i.e. people power. Christ has power over all the churches. The church in Ephesus is the only church to which Christ introduced Himself in this manner. To all the other six churches, Christ introduced Himself specifically to each church alone. These church leaders are not the final authority but Christ is, for He is the Head of every church. He holds them in His right hand which signifies His right of authority and control. His basis is that He died on the cross for their sins.

Every church exists only because of Christ’s finished work on the cross of Calvary. The church refers to the people rather than the church building. All professing believers are subject to Him just as all leaders are. The subjection to Christ is through His holy and perfect Word. Every ministry in the church must be managed according to Holy Scriptures where the Word of God is the only focal point. The Word of God is the yardstick of Christ’s evaluation of every church. He begins with the church in Ephesus.

He walks in the midst of all the churches. He has absolute knowledge of everything that happens in every church. No man can hide anything from Him. He knows our thoughts and motives of our hearts even before we know them. Every word spoken in secret is no secret to Him. The reason for such an emphasis by Christ is that every believer has to give an account to Him for every minute of their lives they live and serve after salvation. The believer must first make sure of his salvation. Every wolf in sheep’s clothing had better beware. Christ knows who you are even though everyone in the church does not. Do not deceive yourself by pretending to be a child of God. But once your salvation is assured, live a life of holiness. Christ desires the best for God’s children.

The manner in which Christ describes Himself here is because the church in Ephesus, though strong in doctrine, has left her first love. The believers rebuked those who attacked God’s truth. They contended for the faith and stood strong for Christ’s Word. However, Jesus says in Revelation 2:4, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” The “first love” refers to the love of every believer when they first came to receive Christ as their Lord and Saviour. The love was very sweet. It thrills the soul in a way that the child of God has never felt before. This is Agape Love which is unconditional and sacrificial.

To leave his first love does not mean that the love of God that was shed abroad by the Holy Ghost at the time of salvation has departed from him. That agape love will never leave the believer’s heart. What it means is that the believer has failed to exercise the love that God planted in his heart. One of the symptoms of the lack of love is legalism. Legalism is to judge others using a list of man-made do’s and don’ts. When legalism becomes the manner of judging or even of church discipline, the first love is not exercised. There is no mercy and compassion shown toward the repentant one.

It is not the end. Repentance is still the key to restoration. Jesus urged the church in Revelation 2:5: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” The practice of the purity of doctrines is only good in the sight of God when the motive is the love of Christ. In this way, compassion and truth follow through. Lives are blessed. Christ is glorified. Believers are strengthened in the faith.

All truly born-again believers will heed the warning from their Lord. It is the clear evidence of their salvation as Revelation 2:7 reveals, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” The manner in which Christ introduced Himself is directly related to the issue of the church He addressed.