Revelation 2:2-3

² I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars.

 

·         Look at what Jesus tells the leaders of Ephesus, that He knows their industry and their labors. Jesus does not start off by telling them that He knows our Fathers labors through them. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that there will be many who stand before Him who did works in His name, but Jesus will say that He never knew them. Jesus will say this to these people because the works that they performed were of themselves; they were not our Father doing His works through them. Matthew 7:22-24. The works that many people do look righteous, but even though they have a form of godliness, they deny the power of our Father working through them, 2 Timothy 3:5. 

·         So how can we know which works are of our Father and which are not? We can know the Truth by listening to what the people are saying about the works. If a person’s confession is somewhere along the lines of, “look at what we are doing for God,” instead of, “look at what God is doing through us,” then you have your answer that the works are denying our Father’s power. It's that simple, if the confession of a person is that we have to do, or I did, or our responsibilities, then the works that are being done are glorifying man. Jesus told the people that it was the Father in Him doing the works, John 14:10. People who are truly being used by our Father always bring the power back to Him. So when you hear a confession of look at what our Father is doing, or it is the Father within us, and the confession always seems to drive the listener back to our Father, you may have peace and confidence that the works are of God. 

³ I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary.

·         We are shown that this group of people has been working for a long time.

·         Remember Jesus is still in the midst of these Churches. Even at our worst Jesus is with us.