Ephesus enjoyed the secrets of God.
A city that grasped the gospel from Paul,
a Church which grew to high stature in spirituality.

Paul wrote to them as

"the saints who are in Ephesus,               
and faithful in Christ Jesus."

Ephesus needed no basic moral correction
like Corinth.
Ephesus called for no reproof like Galatia,
no basic instruction as the Romans. 

Ephesus is the peak of New Testament revelation:
the whole counsel, the eternal purpose of God.

The revelation of the treasures in Christ
could be trusted to Ephesus for
their maturity and holiness.

Yet when One like the Son of Man
appeared to John in Patmos,
He took Ephesus first, into His chilling caution.

His eyes of flame blazed over Ephesus and
the light of His seeing pierced into the very heart
of this first century church.

I know your deeds, your hard work,         
and your perseverance.

The Son of God is ever aware of our labors,
performed in His power.
While He is keenly aware of our constancy,
He is never satisfied with mere jobs . . .
even the crucial work of serving His will.

I know that you cannot tolerate      
wicked men, that you have tested
those who claim to be apostles but are not,
     and have found them false.

The One with Eyes of Flame watches
His Church with amazing involvement,
holding His own median of trueness and reality
before us as His test of all believers.

This Ephesus Church held to the Mind of Christ:
recognized falseness and routed it,
as called for by the New Testament standard
and did so by Holy Spirit discernment.

Yet this high purity - noted by the King -
a rare boldness for any Christian era,
was not sufficient for His ultimate pleasure.

You have persevered and endured hardships
for my name and have not
grown weary.

Suffering is the tremendous trial of loyalty
to the Son of God.
Few of us today could have endured the
severe trials of the first century.
Few would tolerate the hardships in which they thrived.
Ephesus had tasted the cost of following Christ,
neither quitting nor fainting.

Weariness so common to victims,
did not set in with the Ephesians.
Their endurance of affliction, remarkable as it was,
commendable as it stands for all of us,
still . . .
was insufficient for the needs of
this fearsome Risen Lord.

Labors,
endurance,
energy,
discernment,
confrontation,
loyalty,
separation,
patience,
longsuffering.

Who could boast such a Church presence in this hour?
Who would dare fault such a fellowship?

Copyright © 2004 Martha Kilpatrick