"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; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 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. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 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 church at Ephesus was one of the churches in Asia minor, or what is today western Turkey. It is seen to have been represented by one of the seven candlesticks John saw surrounding Jesus in the beginning of his vision.
There has been much speculation as to what the true intent of these letters to the churches represent. I will readily admit that I am not convinced that the content of Today's lesson means anything other than what it says, literally.
We should by all means intently study every word of this prophesy to try and better understand its intent. However, I don't believe we should begin drawing uncertain conclusions until such a time as we can know the true intent so as not to cause undue confusion.~
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