Revelation 2:5

⁵ Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God’s will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent.

·         This seems to tell us that at one time there were truly saved leaders in the Church at Ephesus. But they have either moved on or died. The ones who remained were now doing it through themselves and Jesus is not getting the credit that He deserves.

·         Notice that Jesus doesn’t encourage the leaders of the church of Ephesus with the Truth that the Holy Spirit would cause them to remember their first love. Or that He would Shepherd them back to green pastures, or that He was greater within them, then whatever was in this world. The Truth for the true believer is that Jesus never leaves or forsakes us, even when we are wrong, He will correct us.

·         But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined and chastened, so that we may not [finally] be condemned [to eternal punishment along] with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:32. 

·         Our Father prophesied through Ezekiel that He would place His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments, Ezekiel 36:27. But we really don’t read that Jesus spoke to the leaders of Ephesus in this way. Jesus told them remember or they would lose their church! We can do nothing without Jesus, John 15:5, especially in correcting our bad behavior. Our Father knows full well how we are, so He did something about it, He empowered us with the fullness of Himself, to seal and keep us until the day of our redemption.

·         And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). Ephesians 4:30

·         There are many churches like this today. They do a ton of good things, but man is getting the credit and not Jesus. They will talk about Jesus, but the underlying message is always what we are doing for Him, not what He is doing through us.

·         Jesus told us that the cares of this world could hinder us from being used to produce fruit, Matthew 13:22. So the care of doing works and the care of being seen by others chokes out our Father actually working through us. Jesus tells us to do our good works in secret and don’t make a show of it, Matthew 6. This is what could have been going on at Ephesus and this for sure goes on today in many churches.

·         One thing is also for sure, this is what will be going on in the anti-christ’s church. It will be all about showing others what it is doing. The members of his church will be boastful, prideful, arrogant, lovers of self, and extreme lovers of money. They will have a form of godliness, but deny the power of our Father.