Well, Shabbat Shalom and welcome everyone to the Bible classes and to the Shabbat meeting of the Holy Scriptures and Israel. We are very grateful to the Lord to be able to study the Word of God together. We are very thankful for the Lord's help. As we study the Word of God, we realize that we need His help, His grace. we need really the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God to help us to understand the Word of God. And so we pray that the Lord will bless us as we study the Scripture together. We are studying now in the book of Revelation. In Hebrew, it's called Hitgalut. Chazon, and, Apocalypsis, and this is the revelation of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. We will pray together, and we will read the first seven verses of Revelation chapter two. Let's pray together.

Our God and our Father, we want to thank you for your love and care for us. Thank you for the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Thank you that he, in grace, came from heaven and paid for the, for our sin and sin, and washed away our sins. And how wonderful to know that you have saved us. You washed away our sins by the blood of the Lamb. Bless your word today, and bless your word as we study in Revelation, in the Hitgalut. Bless your word to us all, we pray in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

So dear brothers and sisters and dear friends, I would like to read for us today in this, Bible study today, Revelation chapter two and verses one to seven, and we are really beginning in this meeting to look into the chapter two and chapter three of Revelation that deals with the seven local assemblies in Asia Minor, seven local churches to whom the Lord glorified Lord Jesus the Messiah wrote letters in order to give them instruction and to, encourage them on the one hand and to correct them on the other hand. And so we read in chapter two of Revelation verse one of chapter two, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write. This thing 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 labor, 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 patient, and for my name's sake hast labored, and has 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 candlesticks out of his place, except thou repent.

But this thou hast, that thou hast 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. And so I'm concluding here with these first seven verses that are found in chapter two of the Revelation. We are, of course, reminded immediately, beloved brothers and sisters, that when we have studied, chapter one thus far, we have learned from chapter one that the apostle Yohanan was on the isle, on the island that is called Patmos.

He was there on this island because he was banished by the emperor, the Roman emperor, and because he gave testimony to the word of the Lord and testimony to the person of the Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach, the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah. Well, when John, Yohanan, was on this island, he didn't go there to rest, he have gone, he was banished. It was a place where prisoners were held.

And John, because of his testimony to the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and because of his testimony to the Word of God, was banished because the emperor desired to stop him from ministering and sharing the Word of God and presenting the person of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah. Well, while he was on the island, he received an amazing revelation. The Lord Jesus the Messiah, seen as the glorified Messiah, and you remember he said, Behold, I cometh quickly. In other words, he sees the glorified Christ, the glorified Messiah, in a, in a, of course, he's in heaven as, as a great high priest, but he's also seeing him as the one that is coming as a king who will be taking the role of a judge. He gonna judge the world.

In righteousness at his second coming, but he's also observing to see the spiritual condition of the church of the living God. That's why, if you remember after he saw the vision in verse 19 of chapter 1, we read of the, of the command to Yohanan by Yeshua the Messiah, by Jesus Christ, he said, write the things which thou had seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. Here we have the division of the whole book of Revelation. The things which thou has seen, it is really chapter 1.

John Yohanan saw this amazing vision of the glorified Messiah. The things which are is the representing for us the church age from from about thirty AD, after the ascension of the Messiah and the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the assembly, the church, until the time when the church will be taken out of this world before the tribulation at the rapture, the lekicha in chapter as we read it in first Thessalonians chapter four and verses thirteen to eighteen. And the things which shall be hereafter is the remaining of the whole book of Revelation from really chapter four all the way to the end of the book of Revelation chapter twenty two. And when the Lord Jesus the Messiah asked John to write He asked him to write letters that will be sent to all the seven assemblies in Asia Minor. And as you remember, he told him already the names of these seven churches, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Seven assemblies in Asia Minor, present-day Turkey, and Yohanan from Ephesus in present-day Greece. Is writing, receiving the revelation and writing these letters that were sent to the seven angels, angelos in the Greek, malachim in the Hebrew, messengers of the Lord, that are now, perhaps will be coming to him in the island of Patmos, receiving each one of them that letter that the Lord has for them and the whole book of Revelation, and they are to take it to their local assemblies and they are to show the word of the Lord. That was written by the Lord through the Apostle Yohanan to all the assemblies, initially to in Asia Minor, but it's written to whole, to the whole body of Christ. I just want to mention, before we're going to go to chapter two and verses one to seven, just to remind us, beloved brothers and sisters, again, once again, that these seven churches that the Apostle Yohanan was writing about in chapter one and verse eleven are local assemblies that existed in a local city in Asia Minor.

And when we say local assembly, we mean true believers. This is the true assembly, but within these true assembly, there's always those who are really not really belong to the Lord, but he was, that's why when he, when Apostle Paul was writing to these seven assemblies, he was writing specifically to the believers, but oftentimes within the professing church, you have those who are truly, who are not truly believers, professors. So, these seven letters, really, beloved brothers and sisters, are written to seven literal churches of true believers, but also in the midst of them, there may be some who are not. These seven letters that we are going to look through at Ephesians, of course, beginning with, are really written in order to reveal their spiritual condition of every local assembly. Are they spiritual minded? Are they carnal? What kind of condition they have in their locality?

Also, these seven letters that are written are written really to, local assemblies with different condition, but these conditions of the local assemblies in Asia Minor exist throughout church history. You have all sort of churches, assembly, congregation, kehilot, with different spiritual state. So, it's applied to all churches of all the age of the church age, the local assemblies of the church age, and it's really the condition of the seven churches that are written here in chapter two and chapter three actually exists in every or in many local churches throughout the world, throughout the two thousand years of church history.

Also very interesting, just one more point, that these, seven types of local churches exist not only everywhere at all times throughout church history, but also, beloved brothers and sisters, they are representing a specific period in church history. Ephesus will represent the early apostolic church, congregation, assembly, and Laodicea will represent the final church in the church age. In other words, if you study carefully these seven letters to the seven local churches, they will represent before us seven period of times in church history. Beginning with Ephesus, meaning desirable condition, and ending with Laodicea, which represent an undesirable condition of the people who rule instead of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah who rule in the midst of the assembly. He is out, and the Lord is from outside knocking on the door, desiring to come in to the assembly, so he will become the head and recognized as the head of the church. So we have covered the first chapter, and we are entering now into chapter two, and we have learned from chapter one and verse nineteen that the division of the whole book of Revelation is given unto us, the things, as it says in verse nineteen of chapter one, which thou have seen, this is in the past, I've seen the vision.

The Chazon that Yohanan have seen. And now the things which are is dealing specifically with Revelation chapter two and Revelation chapter two, three with the seven churches of Asia Minor. And once the church will be taken out of here, Revelation four, five, all the way to the end of the book of Revelation, we are going to learn about the things which shall be hereafter. In the future day, after the church will be taken out of this scene. Now notice these beloved brothers and sisters, this church of Ephesus. Notice in chapter two and verse one, we first of all read of the location of this church. Where was the location? The location is in the city of Ephesus. It says here in chapter two and verse one, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, And he began to tell him what to write. So the location of the church was in the city that is called Ephesus.

The city that is called Ephesus is existing today in, in present-day Turkey, and apparently in that city, the, there was, believers come to know the Lord, and the meaning of the word Ephesus means desirable. Apparently, there was a desirable spiritual condition in this local assembly. In fact, when we read in the Book of Acts, beloved brothers and sisters and dear friend, in the Book of Arts, in the Book of Acts, that is, the desirable condition was there because initially this local, the local church was built by godly men and women that come to Ephesus, according to Acts chapter 18, verses 18 and 19, Priscilla and Aquila came there. And They came, in fact, I would like you to turn with me for a moment to Acts chapter, chapter 18, and you will notice in verses 18 and 19 concerning Aquila and Priscilla, you notice what it says in, in verses 18 and 19, and Paul, after this tarried there, this is, was in Corinth, yet a good while, he said, and then he took his leave of the brethren, and he sailed thence unto Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila.

Having shorn his head in Caesarea, for the, for he had a vow, verse 19 tells us of Acts chapter 18, he came to Ephesus. And he left them there. Apparently, he left Priscilla and Aquila there, but he himself entered into a synagogue and reasoned with the Jewish people. The Apostle Paul was one of those early individuals that have an impact, that founded the local assembly in the city of Ephesus. Of course, Aquila and Priscilla were involved. In fact, if you read in a little bit later on of this, of this chapter, actually in Acts chapter 18 as well, in verse 24 to 26, you read that Apollos was there, a Jewish man, in verse 24, a certain Jew by the name of Apollos. He was born in Alexandria, and he was an eloquent man. He was mighty in the scripture, and he came also to Ephesus.

And a man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and he taught diligently of the things of the Lord. He only knew the baptism of Yohanan, Yohanan HaMatbil, John the Baptizer, but then he was instructed, and later on he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla have heard, they took him unto them, and they expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

So Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos were involved, and the apostle Shaul Paul was involved there as well, beloved brothers and sisters. We do read, if you just turn to chapter 19 of the book of Acts, and you will see how much impact the apostle Shaul Paul had on the local, establishing of the local assembly at Ephesus. We read in chapter 19, In of Acts that it came to pass, verse one, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, and he came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples. Apparently by now, disciples, believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah were already there, the impact of Priscilla, Aquila, Apollos, and the early visit of the Apostle Shaul Paul, visiting in the synagogue of the Jews, the first thing that he always do, did, he always went to the synagogue, to Beit HaKneset.

And we, he shared with his own people, his own brethren, the things concerning the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah. If you read a little bit later on, beloved brothers and sisters, you will notice how the Apostle Paul, in the next verses of Acts chapter 19 verses 17 and onward, you will find out how the Apostle Paul was preaching there in Ephesus, beloved brothers and sisters. And what happened, there was an uproar in Ephesus, and there was, a if you remember, there was a large theater, and they wanted to kill the Apostle Paul because he preached the word of the Lord, and they were shouting, Great is the Diana of the Ephesians, in Acts chapter 19 and verse 20. And ultimately, the Apostle Paul was taken and have gone out of there. But not only that, Priscilla and Aquila and Apollos and Paul were involved. There in the assembly, even at Timothy, and I want you for a moment to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 1, you will notice that Shaul Paul left Timothy at Ephesus to give the Ephesian assembly an additional instruction.

According to 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 3, we read, And I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou might charge some that they teach no other doctrine. So by the time that we arrive to Revelation chapter 2, we learn now That even John was the one that was banished from Ephesus to the island of Patmos, and the godly men were involved in the establishing of the early church in the city of Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos, Paul, Shaul Paul, Timothy, influence, tremendous influence that occurred there in that city of Ephesus. And that's why when we think the first assembly, the first church to whom the glorified Christ, the glorified Mashiach, is writing to is the Ephesians.

And you notice what he's saying? In chapter 2 and verse 1a, he began and he tell unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, he's saying to John, write. And who is the one that is, is speaking to the local assembly? The second thing that we learn in, in Revelation two and verse one B, we have a description, not only that we have the location of the local assembly, which is in Ephesus, representing a desirable spiritual condition, but then he continued to say, who is the one that is writing this letter to the assembly there?

And in verse one B, we have a description of the head of the church, the Lord Jesus the Messiah himself. We read a description of him. Again, notice, beloved brothers and sisters, we read in verse one B, he, the one that is writing, these things saith he that hold the seven stars. In his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. In other words, the one that is writing to this local assembly in Asia Minor called Ephesus, representing the desirable spiritual condition that existed there by virtue of the meaning of the name, he's writing to them and he's explaining to them that the one who's writing this letter is none else but the Son of Man, taking from chapter one, who holds in his right hand, notice that verse 1b, the seven stars, and he's the one that is walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, or the golden lampstand.

And we have already established, beloved brothers and sisters, that the seven stars, if you just turn the page one more time back into chapter one, and the Lord Jesus the Messiah Himself explains to us who are these seven stars and who are, who, what these seven lampstands represent. Notice in chapter one and verse, twenty, we read the mystery of the seven stars, which you sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. He said the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the, the seven candlesticks or the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

So in other words, beloved brothers and sisters, what the Lord, the glorified Messiah, Jesus the Messiah, says to John to write down to these seven assemblies, now to the Ephesians in chapter two and verse one B, that he's the one that is holding in his right hand the spiritual leadership that oversee the seven local assemblies in Asia Minor. Again, to remind you that the word angels, unto the angels, chapter two verse one, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, the word angelos in the Greek, in Hebrew the word is malach, and it simply has a reference to a messenger, to the spiritual leader.

Now, of course, as we learn from the Word of God, we we learn very quickly that there is a multiplication of a spiritual leader. It's not a one-man leader only. Always you have the the the plurality of leadership in the any local church, local assembly, according to the Word of God. So what we really learn from this, that the Lord Jesus, the glorified Messiah, is the one that is holding in his right hand the spiritual leaders who are responsible and accountable to him.

And they are accountable to take care and to minister to the local assemblies whom the Lord have entrusted them the responsibility of teaching the word, shepherding the sheep, ministering the word of God. They are responsible over the local church, the local assembly. Again, I would like to emphasize. That when the Lord is writing unto the angel, or the messenger, angelos in the Greek, and malach in Hebrew, which is simply mean messenger. You remember when we studied the book of Malachi, Malachi the the the priests are called messengers, malachim. Malachi, the the prophet of Israel, called malachi, my messenger. And even the Messiah is called the messenger of the new covenant.

The one who make the Brit HaChadasha according to the prophecy of Malachi. And So we see here, beloved brothers and sisters, number one, the local assembly in the city of Ephesus, believers. And of course among them, you never know every heart, the Lord knows the hearts, there may be some who are not believers, but they are coming under the professing church of that local area in Ephesus, and the one that are responsible over them are the angels, the messengers, the spiritual leaders, and the one that is writing is none else but the Son of Man. You remember we read also in the vision that John, Yohanan, have seen, he saw one like unto the Son of Man in chapter 1 and verse 13, clothed with garment down to his foot.

So he is now the head of the church. We read of him in the book of Colossians. And now as the head of the assembly, he's writing to the local assembly who has a responsible spiritual leadership to care for the assembly. Now, thirdly, when we get to verses two, and three, and onwards, you notice in verses two and three, and actually also verse six, jumping over verse four, five, you will notice that now he's presenting in these verses a description of the glorified Messiah.

The one who is writing, who is the one who, who holds the seven spiritual leaders of the local assembly at Ephesus, and he's the one walking in the midst of the assemblies of the seven assemblies and watching everything that is going on, now the Lord is interesting that he gives John a description of the vision that he saw from chapter one. You will notice that every church to whom we're going to look through in these seven churches, you always have a description of Christ.

And the description of Christ is given to us, of course, already in verses one B, but as he's, as we receive the description of him, the one who hold the, the seven stars and walking in the midst of the assembly, he continue on and he began now in verses two and three and, and then verse Six, he gives us now some commending expression. He's commending, he's giving some commendation to the assembly, there to whom he writes, into Ephesus. And now notice what he's saying about the Ephesians in this local assembly. He says in verse two, he's saying a few things. Notice verse two and verse three, he's commanding them for resisting, resisting false teachers.

You know, if there's anything that we are always in danger as believers is allowing false teaching to creep into the assembly, into the church. So what a commendation that we have here that he gives them in verse two and three. says, I know your works, I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience. And how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tested or tried them which say that they are apostles and are not, and found them liars. See, apparently, already in the first, in the early days of the church, we know it very well as we read the, word of God, already in the early days of the assembly of the church age, just like it was in the early days of the history of Israel, it didn't take too long that already those rose in, a in the, in the church, in the assembly, who began to teach false teachings.

Already then and there, it's nothing new today. It was already existing in the early days. And you notice the commendation, something that he commending them for, he's showing to them that they resisted false teachers. Now, what's the point of having a so-called church, a local assembly, if you don't have sound teaching? If we don't have sound teaching, ministry that is coming from the Lord, and those that minister the word desire to be a blessing to God's people and teach the word of God as it is given to us in the scripture.

What's the point if there is no resisting of false teaching? So God desire his people to enjoy sound doctrine, to be instructed by the, in the ways of the Lord. And you notice this, that we read in verse two, I know your works. Apparently, the Ephesian believers were serving God. They were serving the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Notice it says, and your labor. Apparently, they were laboring, they were sharing the gospel, they were ministering at the word of God. But even more, beloved brothers and sisters, they were patient.

As you minister the Lord's work, as you serve the people of God, as you labor among the people of God, as you preach the message of the gospel, one need much patient, because the Spirit of God has to work in the hearts of individuals. So, so, John, by the word of the Lord, the glorified Messiah says, really, I, I know your works, the Lord is saying to them. I know your labor, he's saying to them. And I know your patience. In other words, nothing is hidden from him with whom we have to do. We know, I know everything about you, the Lord is saying to the Ephesian believers that had a desirable condition.

He continue to tell them, beloved brothers and sisters, in these two verses, verses two and three, he's telling them in verse, two at the end, he says that you cannot bear them which are evil. And they say that they are apostles, you know, the Greek word apostolos, the Hebrew word shlichim, there were many who claimed to be messengers of the Lord, but they are not.

And you have found them liars. You have exposed them. They claim to serve the Lord, but in reality they didn't. And Satan, whenever God's work is going on, Satan is always as an angel of light coming in. He has false apostles who seek to creep in among the people of God and the Ephesian believers, beloved brothers and sisters, they did not want them in their midst.

The scripture, the word of God tells us, beloved brothers and sisters, that they were laboring, they had a much labor, they served the Lord, they preached the message of the gospel, they ministered to the people of God, patiently serving the Lord, but you cannot bear them which are evil, and thou hast tested them. Tried them, and have found that they are claiming to be apostles, messengers of God, but in reality you have found them liars.

Now, put your finger here for a moment and turn with me to the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 20. In Acts chapter 20, the apostle Shaul Paul, he called the Ephesian elders to come to him in Acts chapter 20 in verse 29, and as he was, he because he ministered there, he loved the brethren, he he wanted them to continue to grow spiritually, but he called the elders to come to him, and notice that we read in chapter 20 of the book of Acts and verse 29. According to verse 17, I'll just read verse 17 first, he said, from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and he called the elders of the church.

And notice what he tells them. He says in verse 18, And when they were come again, and were come to him, he said unto them, You know, from the first day that I came unto Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, I served the Lord with all humility of mind, verse 19, and with many tears and trials, which befall me by the lying in wait of the Jews, even his own brethren, according to the flesh, opposed him. You remember, he opposed the early Jewish believers, and now he himself is being opposed by his Jewish brethren, because he preached that Yeshua was the Mashiach.

So he received an opposition. But then he says in verse 21 on, he testified both to the Jews and to the Greeks that repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And now notice what he is telling to the Ephesians in verse 29 onward to verse 31. He's saying to them, I know that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. See, Shaul knew that, that wolf will come among the believers at Ephesus and will not be sparing the flock of God. And then he said to them in verse 30, in verse 31, also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of two years I cease not to, to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace.

I wanted also to read verse 27 when he spoke to these Ephesians elders. He says, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Shaul Paul presented before the Ephesians God's plan for Israel. He shared with the Ephesians God's plan for the church. He shared with the Ephesians God's plan for the world. The all the counsel of God. He was ministering to the Ephesian believers the complete Promises of God in the whole Word of God, all the counsel of God. But he warned them, and he said, I know that among you will come those that will claim to be apostles.

Even from among your own selves some will rise. And he says, watch, be alert. Now notice back to Revelation chapter two and verse three, we, verse, two, I'm sorry, where we read, I know your works, I know your labor, I know your patience, and I know how you cannot bear them which are evil, and you try them which say that they are apostles and are not, and has found them liars.

And now, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse, three, he continuing, he's saying and commending them, he's giving them a word of encouragement. And this is so beautiful, the Lord always give a word of encouragement, or a word of, of support, you might say, before he's giving and correcting them on certain things that were wrong in the local assembly as well. And so he's saying to them in verse three, you have borne, you has patient, and for my name's sake you have labored and has not fainted. In other words, he's commending the Ephesian believers, and he's saying to the Ephesian believers, he says, for my name's sake, you're continuing on.

You notice he twice mentioned the word patient. In verse two, I know you're patient. In verse three, you have patience. You remember what we read in the book of Romans, tribulation worketh patience. They must have gone through trials and terrible time, and they've learned with the help of the Lord, the help of the Spirit of God to have patience. Somehow as they dealt with so many issues in the early, you might say, in this church at Ephesus, in this local city of Ephesus, and he says, but even more for my name's sake, you have labored, and you have fainted. You know the name of Jesus, the name of Yeshua, for his name's sake, for the name of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, they continue on. They have not fainted. What a commendation. Beloved brothers and sisters that we see here that the Ephesian believers, for the name of the Lord, you shall call his name Jesus, Yeshua, for he shall save his people from their sins.

There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue shall confess that Yeshua HaMashiach, that Jesus Christ, is Lord. And for the name of Yeshua the Messiah, they continue on. Yes, they suffered. Yes, they had challenges. Yes, they had those who claimed to be apostle, shlichim, apostolos messengers from God came among them. Tell them that they are coming from God, they are teachers, and they are, to listen to them, they found them liars and they set them aside.

They had a desirable condition. They were not perfect, but they were pleasing to the Lord. And now notice verse six, he tells them another thing that he commending them. The second thing that he commended them is found now in verse six. If you jump over verse, four and five and go to verse six. And in verse six we read, But this thou hast, that thou hatest the, the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Now we don't know who are the Nicolaitans, but it is very interesting. The Nicolaitans were, come from two words, laity come from ruling, and the Nicol come from the word the people. So already in the early days of the church age, already in those days there rose some The word niko means victory or ruling. The word laos means people, instead of ruling of the people. Already in the early days of the church age, there rose a group, we might say, and apparently the Lord is mentioning this, where he says in verse six, you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. What does the Lord hate? You know, the Lord does never hate people. The Lord never hates sinners, but he hates sin.

And when they were rousing a A group of people who claim to be rulings, having victory over the people, what we call clergy, who is a system of men that rose up to claim that they are the one through whom God is administrate his truth to the world and to his people. Already in these early days, there were those that are called Nicolaitans, rulers of the people, who rose already in the early days of the church age, and the development of a system that is called the clergy laity. The clergy is a certain elected people who perhaps elected themselves or electing one another, and the people, the ordinary people. And they are ruling over the people. In other words, it's not done in accordance with the will of God. They set themselves in a position that was not given to them. And I would like to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that the Lord Jesus, the head of the assembly, gave gifts.

And the gifts that were given to the assembly are gifts that he gave. No one can set himself as a ruler, as a leader. No one can place himself as a ruler. The Bible clearly gives us the fact that God gave gifts to men, apostles, pastors, teachers, and so on. We have it in Ephesians 4. And they are responsible to lead the people of God, not to rule over them. With some sort of authority of themselves and not biblical authority, they are to lead God's people. I want to read a verse in 1 Peter chapter 5. Notice that in 1st Peter chapter 5, Peter, who was an apostle called by the Lord Jesus the Messiah, Apostolos, he was the apostle to our own people, to the Jewish people, to the circumcision, while Shaul Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles, to the nations.

Peter said in 1st Peter chapter 5, he says, the elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God. Which is among you, taking oversight, notice oversight, taking oversight thereof not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being an example to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Peter is saying to the shepherds that were elders that are called by the Lord to feed the flock and to lead the flock of God. But you see, beloved brothers and sisters, already in the early days of the church, there rose up certain men that are called here in verse six, Nicolaitans. Conquering of the people, ruling over the people, and this clergy laity system of men, Jesus the Messiah says, I hate.

He says to them in verse six, he says, you Ephesians hating the, these, the deeds, the doing of the Nicolaitans, but I myself also hate their doings. Later on, we will find out, he will write about the, the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which the Lord hates as well. But here in the context of Ephesians chapter two and verse six, he's speaking about the deeds of the rulers of the people, and he hated it.

They positioned themselves in the places that were not given to them by God. And by the behavior, apparently the Lord hated their behavior. They were ruling over the people, they were taking place that is not theirs, they were claiming to be rulers, and the Lord hated it. And the Ephesians saw it, and they hated it as well. So he commending them. So if we will look at these verses back to Revelation chapter two, in verses two, three, and six, twofold, we can say, we can maybe say twofold commendation. Number one, verses two and three, they resisted false teachers.

And number two, verse six, they hated the works of the rulers of the people of the Nicolaitans. And now he continues. And notice what he does in verse four five, and then verse seven. He gives additional important points that he want to communicate with the Ephesians. In the next verses, verses, verse four, he give a condemnation. You see, he gave first of all a commendation, but now he's have something to say against them.

When there is a need to commend, he commend. When there is a need to condemn and to say something to expose them, he's exposing them. And you notice what he says to them. Listen, this is very, very sad. You see, they had a lot of labor, they had a lot of works, they were sharing the gospel, teaching the word of God, resisting false teachers, resisting the apostles. Hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, of the ones who are claiming to be rulers, but something sad the Lord had to say about the Ephesians assembly. He said to them in verse four, notice that? He said, nevertheless, in spite of all what I have to commend you, nevertheless, I have somewhat against you. I have to say something that is I'm against you, something against what you are doing. He said to them in the end of verse four, why? Because you have left your first love.

You see, beloved brothers and sisters, it is so interesting that one can know all truth. Doctrinally, he or she can cross every T and dot every I. Labor, here and there, and do the work of the Lord, resisting false teachers, hating the system of clergy laity of the Nicolaitans, but at the same time, their hearts and the love affection towards the Lord Jesus the Messiah, they have left. And we can apply this many times in our own life. I have somewhat against you. You have left the love relationship that you have had with me when you first came, Notice the first love. The first love reminds us of the days when we recognize that we are wretched sinners. And we recognize the grace of God who brought us to realize that the Savior has come, the Mashiach has come, and He loved us even unto death, and that is the shameful death of the altar of the cross.

And we fell before Him, prostrate, and we say, Lord, save me, I need your grace, and we fell in love with Him. I'm sure you remember the first day when you became a believer in Yeshua HaMashiach and Jesus the Messiah. We fell in love with him. Don't you remember that? Remember the days when we met our wives or our spouse and our husband or wife and what a wonderful day it was. We couldn't have a day without to make a phone call, write a letter, take something in olden days some 50 years ago or so. We didn't have all the privileges that we had today. We were waiting for some kind of a telegram that will say, I love you.

Amazing, isn't it? Oh, yes, you know all the truth. You can cross the T's, you can dot the I, you have, as it says here, you have labor and works and even patience. And you're really exposing those that are claiming to be apostles, messengers of God, and you say, no, no, you found them liars, and not even that, you really hate the deeds of the rulers of the people, the system of clergy laity.

But your heart have left the fresh love relationship that you had when you first came to me. Let me read you a verse in the prophet Jeremiah, what God said about our people, just as he's saying here of the church, our people Israel in days of old. Notice what God says in Jeremiah chapter two, in verse one and two. So moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, Jeremiah saying, he said, go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, thus says the Lord, I remember. Thee, I remember the kindness of thy youth, thy love, or the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in the land that was not sown. O Israel, I remember those days, God said to his wife, the wife of Jehovah.

Here the Lord is speaking to the church, the assembly, the bride of Christ in its locality, of course, here, in the city of Ephesus, he said, Oh yes, you have much works, and much labor, and much patience, and you, you tested them which say that they are apostles, and they are not, and you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, the system of men, of men ruling over the people, setting themselves as rulers over the people. Oh yes, I commend you for this, but here is your problem that I want you to address. He says, you have left your first love.

That shows us, and I don't know how you feel, I know in my heart, many times the relationship that I had with the Lord when I first became a believer is not the same. Oh yes, you know more theology, but the heart is not the same in affection and love for the Lord. We love Him because He first loved us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting Life. Ephesians five, we read that Christ loved the assembly and gave himself for the church, for the assembly. Paul said, the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Jeremiah said about Israel, I have loved you with an everlasting love. And in response, we are to respond to him and love him because he first loved us.

See, the local church at Ephesus left. Now, notice that many times we make a mistake when we read in verse four, you have lost. We read it as we, you have lost your first love. You notice he doesn't say you have lost your first love, he said you have left. Why? And it's so encouraging because we can always return to love God. To love the Mashiach, the Messiah, because He first loved us, because He gave Himself for us, to love Him because of who He is, because of what He has done for us.

And that's what the condemnation that Yeshua, the Messiah, has against the local assembly at Ephesus. Now quickly, in the next verse, verse five, we have the exhortation. The Lord is always exhorting. And in verse, notice that we read in verse five, He gives them an exhortation. He says, remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlestick or thy lampstand out of the place Of his place except I repent. In other words, there is a need of repentance. And in order to repent, we need to remember. Notice there are three R's that we have here in verse five. We have remember where you fell from. And secondly, repent, change your mind and change your ways. And thirdly, do the first works, another return. Do the first work and return.

This is also, beloved brothers and sisters, very important. Remember, you know, God remembered the days when you and I first came to know him, but you and I need now, the Ephesians are called to remember and to repent. You know, we read in 1 John 1 9. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us. He's speaking to believers from all unrighteousness. In other words, the believers, the Ephesians, he's speaking to the church, to the assembly, and he's speaking to them and he's saying, you need to remember, you need to repent, and you need to return to where you were before.

Oh yes, you can go on through the routine of healthy routine, works, labor, patience, trying them that claim that they are messengers of God and find them liars, hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, all these doctrinally is very, very important, but you know when you go this and your heart is not there, and true waiting on the Lord and the guidance of the Lord can make one, can be, you can become a system of man again. A Religion.

And so we learn from this, that the Lord gives them an exhortation. Remember, repent, return, and if you will not, notice at the end of verse five, if you will not, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and I will remove thy candlestick out of the place, except you repent. In other words, if you will not remember, repent, and return, I will shut down your testimony.

I am able, and you know how many, I still remember a few years ago, there's a believer, he was a shepherd, a pastor of a large assembly, very large, in the United States, and he told me, Brother Gideon, he says, because God's people are so when they are turning away from the Lord and they are not repenting, remembering where they came from and repenting and returning, many local churches, local assemblies, they've been shut down. Maybe two people there, three people there, four people there, some ten people there, and slowly but surely God is able to shut the testimony. And that's why he's saying to them, listen, if you're not going to remember to repent and to return, he said, I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlestick, thy light. You are, you're supposed to be light in the world. I will remove your testimony out of his place. In other words, there will no longer be a testimony Ephesus.

You know, I've taken many groups to, to Ephesus, apparently in Asia Minor, in present day Turkey, there's only about two percent of nominal Christians in there in Asia Minor today. And these are nominal Christians. Some of them are not, you might say, evangelical Bible believers. And apparently, from history, the Lord had to come and to do so in many, many, many areas in Christendom. He said, I will come, and I will, will come, and I will remove your light. And you will no longer be able to have a local assembly that give a testimony and enjoy the things of the Lord. And let me just conclude with verse, seven. Now, jumping over verse six, which we have covered it already. And in verse seven, he's giving a promise. What is the promise in verse seven? He that hath an ear, do you hear? He's saying to the Ephesians, all of them had ears, they had more than one ear, they had two ears, like you and I have two ears, but sometime we don't listen.

He that hath an ear, notice that, he said, let him hear what the Spirit, this is the Holy Spirit of God, saying unto the assembly, the notice the word churches here, it is in plural, while in verse one it is unto the angel of the church, the assembly in Ephesus, in verse seven it is applied to all the churches, at all time, throughout the whole church age, in every locality throughout the church age, in the last some two thousand years.

Of church history. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, and listen to the promise, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Let me just remind you, in closing, that the overcomer here is the overcomer believer who is already an overcomer according to 1 John chapter 5, who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Messiah.

So it's not a matter of salvation to those that are believers, but it is overcoming practically the condition that existed in the city Of Ephesus. That's why he's saying, he that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life. You will find the tree of life is mentioned in Revelation chapter 22 and verse 2, and in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was the tree of life. And the promise, beloved brothers and sisters, is to have part in the eternal order, those that belong to the Lord will have part in the eternal order, but the assurance that overcoming practically is assuring that they will be rewarded by the Lord, and they will be eternally with the Lord in the midst of the Paradise of God, and they will eat of the tree of life. Which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, just to close with these remarks.

This church in Ephesus, meaning desirable, also, beloved brothers and sisters, it represent the first, we might say, seventy to one hundred years of the church age chronologically. It really is the apostolic church, the early church age, and everything began so good, but it didn't take too long, and the love relationship with the Lord had diminished, and the Lord had to write to them and to challenge them. Although they had a desirable condition in the apostolic church, from about thirty AD to about one hundred AD, yet at the same time, They needed to return to the first works, to have love towards the Lord, love towards the people of God, and you and I need to have this in the same way. And we are challenged as well by the word of the Lord to the church of Ephesus that is written for you and I as well today. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying unto the assemblies, unto the churches.

Well, may the Lord help us to adhere to the word of the Lord. And so, Abba, our Father, thank you for giving us this time to learn from the first seven verses of Revelation chapter two concerning the church of Ephesus. Bless us, bless your word to us all, we pray, for we ask it in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you, my dear friend, until the next time, we say Shabbat Shalom and Shabbat Shalom.