The Church in Ephesus

Prophecy note, 4 December 2016
If a man
really wants to walk
in the Lord’s way,
he must read
Revelation 2 and 3;
today
the church
has problems,
so Revelation tells us
what to do;
if you
do not seek the way
in these two chapters,
you do not know
how to be
a Christian.

The seven epistles
to the seven churches
start with
the Lord
and end with
a call to the overcomers;
the overcomers
are the normal and ordinary ones;
those who are not abnormal
during the time of abnormality
are the overcomers.

Today
men fall, fail,
and go downward continually,
but the overcomers
are recovered
to the will of God
and return to
the orthodoxy of the church.

There are
four main points
in the Lord’s epistle
to the church in Ephesus
—love, life,
light, and the lampstand:

We must not leave the Lord
as our first love,
and we must do
the first works;
“but if not,
I am coming to you
and will remove
your lampstand
out of its place,
unless you repent”
(vv. 4-5):

The leaving of the first love
is the source of
and main reason for
the failure of the church
throughout the ages.

Colossians tells us
that our Christ
must have
the first place
in all things;
He must have
the preeminence.

To recover
the first love
is to consider
the Lord Jesus
as the first
in everything;
if we make Christ
everything in our life,
this means
that we
have overcome
the loss of the first love.

To overcome
the loss of the first love
is to be constrained
by the love of Christ
not merely
to live for the Lord
but
to live to the Lord:

To live to the Lord
means that we
are determined
to gain the honor
of being well pleasing
to Him
by being absolutely under
His control, direction, and governing
and that we
care uniquely for
His aims and goals.

To live
to the Lord
means that we
are under the Lord’s direction and control
and that we
fulfill His requirements,
satisfy His desires,
and complete
what He intends.

The failure of Israel
was that they
forsook God,
the fountain of living waters,
and the degradation of the church
is the leaving
of the first love;
actually,
to leave the first love
is just to leave Christ,
not taking Him
as the first
in everything.

The first love
must be
to have
God, Christ,
the Lord, our Master,
as the first One
in everything
—in great things
as well as
in small things;
we
need to ask the Lord
to forgive us
for all the things
in which we
do not give Him
the preeminence.

The “first works”
are works
that issue from
the “first love”:

When we stand
before the judgment seat of Christ,
we will surely
not be praised
for the greatness or volume
of our work;
what the Lord
will investigate
is how much of
what we do
is out of
our love to Him.

Only those works
that are motivated
by love
are the gold, the silver,
and the precious stones;
when the saints
are filled with
the first love
for the Lord,
everything they do
originates from
their love
for the Lord
and is
a “labor of love”.

It is possible
that we,
like the children of Israel,
may worship and serve God,
but we
may do it mournfully,
not at all happy
that we
are required
to do these things.

For the Lord
to remove
the church’s lampstand
does not mean
that from now on
it has
no more outward activities or moves;
it merely means
that it
can no longer be
God’s faithful testimony:

If we
leave the first love
to the Lord
and do not repent
and do the first works,
it is possible
that we
may still be standing
on the ground of locality,
but we have lost
the reality and testimony
of the Triune God
as typified by
the golden lampstand.

The removal of the lampstand
means that before God
the church’s position
is lost
and that she
has lost
her testimony, the testimony of Jesus;
she has lost her position
and is disqualified
from being the church
of the Lord’s testimony
anymore.

In such a good, orderly, and formal church life
like the church in Ephesus,
we need to maintain
the eating of Christ
as the tree of life:

If we
give the preeminence
to Christ
in everything
and enjoy Him
as the tree of life
every day,
we will be
marvelous, overcoming Christians,
and the church life
will become
a paradise
to us.

God’s original intention
was that man
should eat of
the tree of life;
because of the fall,
the way to the tree of life
was closed to man;
through the redemption of Christ
the way
by which man
could touch the tree of life,
which is
God Himself
in Christ
as life to man,
was opened again.

But in the church’s degradation,
religion
crept in
with its knowledge
to distract
the believers in Christ
from eating Him
as the tree of life;
hence,
the Lord promised
to grant the overcomers
to eat of Himself
as the tree of life
in the Paradise of God
(the New Jerusalem)
as a reward;
this is
an incentive
for them
to leave religion
with its knowledge
and return to
the enjoyment of Himself.

This promise of the Lord
restores the church
to God’s original intention
according to
His economy;
what the Lord
wants the overcomers
to do
is what the whole church
should do
in God’s economy;
because of
the church’s degradation,
the Lord came
to call the overcomers
to replace the church
in the accomplishing
of God’s economy.

Eating the tree of life,
that is,
enjoying Christ
as our life supply,
should be
the primary matter
in the church life:

The content of
the church life
depends on
the enjoyment of Christ;
the more
we enjoy Him,
the richer
the content will be,
but to enjoy Christ
requires us
to love Him
with the first love.

If we leave
our first love
toward the Lord,
we will miss
the enjoyment of Christ
and lose
the testimony of Jesus;
consequently,
the lampstand
will be removed
from us.

These three things
—loving the Lord,
enjoying the Lord,
and being
the testimony of the Lord—
go together.

Love is related to life,
and life is related to light;
love, life, and light
are a trinity:

If we make Christ
the first
in everything,
we will have
the first love;
if we
have this love,
we have life,
and we will enjoy the Lord;
if we have life,
this life
becomes light
to us.

The light of
the lampstand, the church,
shines forth
corporately
versus individualistically
in the dark night
of the church age.

If we
are enjoying Christ
as our love, life, and light,
we will keep
the testimony of Jesus
as the shining
of the lampstand
in our locality.

We need to remember
these four words
that begin with
the letter l
—love, life, light, and lampstand:

We
must give the Lord Jesus
the preeminence
in every way
and in everything
to recover
the first love.

Then we
will enjoy Him
as the tree of life,
and this life
right away becomes
the light of life.

Then we
will be shining
in our daily life
and corporately
as the lampstand;
otherwise,
the lampstand
will be removed
from us individually
and from the church corporately.

If today we
take Christ
as the first
in everything,
we will have love,
we will enjoy Him as life,
we will shine forth with Him as light,
and we will become
the shining lampstand
as the testimony of Jesus;
this eventually will become
our reward
not only in this age
but even more
in the coming age;
in the thousand-year kingdom
we will enjoy Christ
as our reward
in the Paradise of God.

Day 5
Rev. 2:7
He who has an ear,
let him hear
what the Spirit
says to the churches.
To him
who overcomes,
to him
I will give
to eat
of the tree of life,
which is
in the Paradise of God.

Gen. 2:9
…Out of the ground
Jehovah God
caused to grow
every tree
that is
pleasant to the sight
and good for food,
as well as
the tree of life
in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.

God’s original intention
was that man
should eat of the tree of life.
Because of the fall,
the way to the tree of life
was closed to man.
Through the redemption of Christ,
the way
by which man
could touch the tree of life,
which is
God Himself in Christ
as life to man,
was opened again.
But in the church’s degradation,
religion crept in
with its knowledge
to distract the believers in Christ
from eating Him
as the tree of life.
Hence,
the Lord promised
to grant the overcomers
to eat of Himself
as the tree of life
in the Paradise of God,
as a reward.
This is
an incentive
for them
to leave religion
with its knowledge
and return to
the enjoyment of Himself.
This promise of the Lord
restores the church
to God’s original intention
according to His economy.
What the Lord
wants the overcomers to do
is what the whole church
should do
in God’s economy.
Because of the church’s degradation,
the Lord came
to call the overcomers
to replace the church
in the accomplishing
of God’s economy.

In such a good, orderly, and formal church
like the church in Ephesus,
we need to first overcome
the loss of the first love.
The second thing
we need
is to maintain
the eating of Christ
as the tree of life.
It is
in the epistle to the Ephesians
that the Lord says,
“To him
who overcomes,
to him
I will give
to eat
of the tree of life,
which is
in the Paradise of God”
(Rev. 2:7).

The Lord Jesus
charged us
to overcome
the leaving of the first love
and to maintain
the eating of Christ
as the tree of life.
If we
give the preeminence to Christ
in everything
and enjoy Him
as the tree of life
every day,
we will be
marvelous, overcoming Christians.
When we
enjoy Christ
as the tree of life,
we have
the Paradise of God.
The tree of life
is first seen
in Genesis
in the garden of Eden.
That garden of Eden
was the paradise of God
at that time.
Today
our paradise
is the church life.

I have been
in the church life
for sixty years,
starting from 1932,
so I have
much church-life experience.
If you
do not give the preeminence
to the Lord
or enjoy the Lord,
even for a month,
the church life
may become
an unpleasant place
to you.
Of course,
you might not say this,
but deep within you
would think
that there is
not much good
in the church life.
Then
the church
is altogether no longer a paradise
to you.
But when you
overcome the loss of the first love
and maintain
your eating of Christ,
your enjoying of the Lord,
right away
the church life
becomes paradise
to you.
Thus,
our sensation and our attitude
toward the church
depend upon our situation.
If we
give the Lord
the preeminence
in everything
and enjoy Him
as the tree of life
throughout the day,
right away
the church,
regardless of its condition,
becomes paradise
to us.
This is
why the Lord says
that we
have to eat
the tree of life
in the Paradise of God.

Of course,
the Paradise of God
in Revelation 2:7
actually refers to
the New Jerusalem
in the thousand-year kingdom.
If we
enjoy the Lord
in this age,
we will be rewarded with
the eating of
the tree of life, Christ Himself,
in the New Jerusalem
as the Paradise of God
in the thousand-year kingdom.
We need to continue
in the enjoyment of
the life supply of Christ
in the present church life
so that we
can be rewarded with
the enjoyment of
Christ as the tree of life
in the Paradise of God, the New Jerusalem,
in the millennial kingdom.
In the New Jerusalem
in its freshness
as the Paradise of God,
we will participate in full
in the enjoyment of
the rich life supply of Christ
as the embodiment of
the processed and consummated Triune God.

Day 3
Rev. 2:2
I know
your works
and your labor
and your endurance…

Rev. 2:4-5
But I have
one thing against you,
that you have left your first love.
Remember therefore
where you have fallen from
and repent
and do the first works…

One thing
which surprises us
is that while the Ephesians
were in such a condition
of leaving their first love,
they could still have
so many activities,
so much zeal, diligence,
and forbearance for sufferings.
…The Lord wants us
to ask ourselves
for whom the works are.
It is a pity
that we would work
out of our habit
or out of an intention
to retain our fame,
rather than out of
the prompting of the Lord’s love!
In that day,
when we stand
before the judgment seat of Christ,
we will surely not be praised
for the greatness or volume
of our work.
His flaming eyes
will not be after those things.
What He will investigate
is how much of what we do
is out of our love to Him.
Only those works
that are motivated by love
are the gold, the silver, and the precious stones.
No matter how great and numerous
are the other works,
and no matter how zealously and diligently
one applies himself to them,
they are
but the wood, hay, and stubble.
They have
no use except to be burned.
May all our works
be done
as if they were done
before the judgment seat.
May the degree
of the Lord’s judgment on us
shine brighter day by day,
and may it expose
our intention.

When the saints
are filled with
the first love of the Lord,
everything they do
originates from
their love for the Lord.
They have
no intention
other than this motive.
…The Lord’s demand
for us
to hold on to the first love
means that we
should consider His love
to be forever fresh.
Although it pleases Him
for us
to love Him
and to taste of His love once,
this will not satisfy Him.
In the same way
a couple begins their marriage with love,
the Lord wants us
to continue
in this kind of love.
To borrow a human expression,
the Lord
wants us
to have
an eternal “honeymoon” with Him.
The many works, labor, and endurance
will not satisfy Him.
Even perfect works, labor, and endurance,
unless they
are done in His love,
will not be approved by Him either.

“Do the first works”
[Rev. 2:5].
This is
the result of repentance.
Without repentance
there will not be
a self-condemning heart.
Without a self-condemning heart,
we will remain in oldness
and will not be renewed.
If there is repentance,
there must not only be
the recovery of the first feeling
but the doing of the first works.
…To do the first works
…must not be merely outward “works,”
for the Ephesians
had that already.
Neither must it be “labor,”
for the Ephesians
had that also.
It is not “endurance”
either because they
also had this.
…They had left
their first love.
…Outwardly speaking,
the first works
are not much different
from the former works of the Ephesians,
but there is
a difference
in the motivating power and the goal.
The works are the same,
but the power
that motivates the works
is different.
The “first love”
is the same work
with different motives.
The “first works”
are works
that issue from the “first love.”
…All works
that are not done
out of love to the Lord,
though they
may be as numerous, perfect, and great
as that of the Ephesians,
are bound to be condemned.

After we
have read the book of Ephesians,
we will see
the relationship
between “the first love”
and “the first works”:
“But holding to truth in love,
we may grow up into Him
in all things,
who is the Head, Christ,
out from whom
all the Body,
being joined together
and being knit together
through every joint of the rich supply
and through the operation
in the measure of each one part,
causes the growth of the Body
unto the building up of itself in love”
(4:15-16).
These are
the “first works”
that parallel the “first love.”
The “first works”
are not what man praises or sees.
They are
works in secret,
like the works done by the “joints.”
The works
considered precious by the Lord
are not those
that are outwardly great or important
but those
that actually build up
the Body of Christ
“in love.”
This is
the truly effective work.

Day 1
Rev. 1:4
John
to the seven churches
which are in Asia:
Grace to you
and peace from Him
who is
and who was
and who is coming,
and from the seven Spirits
who are before His throne.

Rev. 1:11
Saying,
What you see
write in a scroll
and send it
to the seven churches…

With regard to the seven churches,
which are represented
by the seven lampstands,
we should understand
three things:
First,
these seven churches
were real churches
existing at that time.
Second,
these seven churches
represented the sevenfold history
of the church.
Third,
the conditions of the seven churches
exist simultaneously
in the church’s sevenfold history.

The original intention of the Lord
in Revelation 1:4 and 11
was to send the seven epistles
to the seven actual churches
existing at that time.
Although we know
that these seven churches
represent the churches throughout the ages,
…we must not think
that Christ’s intention
was for us
to wait
until these two thousand years
have passed
and the conditions of these seven churches
have all become
history in the seven periods of the churches
before He returns.
Such a thought
will only make man slumber!
On the contrary,
our Lord often spoke to these churches
that He would be coming again
and they must be watchful.
…So the things of the seven churches
which the Lord spoke of
were the actual happenings
in those days.
There was
already the possibility of His second coming
at that time!
We must never assume
that the Lord will not come
and that we must wait
until the fulfillment of such and such prophecies
before He will come.
…This was
the attitude of the evil servant,
whose words were,
“My master delays”
(Matt. 24:48).

The reason
that our Lord
only spoke to these seven churches,
to my mind,
is because there
was a deeper intention.
The churches at that time
were not just seven.
In the province of Asia alone,
there were
a few more churches.
Moreover,
those that needed
admonishing, warning, and encouragement
were not just these seven churches.
…His intention
was to select churches
that would match
the conditions of the churches in the future
in order to reveal
His will toward them
(the churches in the future).

The Lord’s intention
was to use these seven churches
to reveal
the general state of the church
from the time of the apostles
to the end of this age.
…These seven churches
…were but a group
representing all the other churches.
In addition,
the word seven in this book
is a very meaningful number.
The meaning of the word seven
is completion.
Seven churches
indicate one whole church.

Revelation 2 and 3
are God’s dealings
with the abnormal conditions
of the churches.
The first seven Epistles of Paul
deal with
the normal behavior of the church.
Later,
the church
was not normal;
therefore,
John wrote
the last seven epistles
in Revelation.
The first seven Epistles
contain the truth
the church must know;
the last seven epistles
show the way
the church must take.
Today
if a man
really wants to walk
in the Lord’s way,
he must read
Revelation 2 and 3.
Today
the church
has problems;
therefore,
Revelation tells us
what to do.
If you
do not seek
the way in Revelation,
I do not know
how you
can be a Christian.

These seven epistles
start with the Lord
and end with
the call to the overcomers.
Who are the overcomers?
What are the overcomers?
Are they
special ones,
those who are above the ordinary?
In the Bible
the meaning of the overcomers
is that they
are the normal, ordinary ones.
Those who are not abnormal
during the time of abnormality
are the overcomers.
Most people
are below this level.
The overcomers
are not above this level,
but at this level.
God
is calling the overcomers today
to rise up and walk
according to the normal pattern
in the beginning.
The will of God
never changes;
it is
just like a straight line.
Today
men
fall, fail, and continually go downward;
but the overcomers
are recovered anew
into the will of God.