Hello Ephesus. Jesus here.
Below I have given you some feedback on how your church is going.
Doctrine Matters Only if You Love
You love the truth. I like that. I like how enthusiastic you are at getting doctrine right.
But this is also the problem. You know the Bible well and you call out falsehood well, but at the same time you are failing to love me. This is reflected in you not even loving each other. Remember, knowledge can puff up.
Yes it is true, we are to shoot the wolves and defend the faith, but you cannot forget about loving the sheep, and especially the chief shepherd.
Doctrine and truth matters, but only if you love. Start loving each other and me, whilst continuing to hold onto the truth.
Don’t Graduate From the Gospel
You learnt the Gospel well, but I think you have started to move on from it.
You started to fall in love with truth rather than the God of truth.
Jesus to Ephesus
You have abandoned your first love. You need to constantly go back to the basics of your faith, the beginning, the Gospel. No graduation. You must relove God. Was it the love of truth that started your walk? Was it not your love of me that started your walk?
Then why are you abandoning me? Stick to the basics.
But keep going. I will grant you the tree of life. Don’t give up.
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
Jesus to Ephesus
“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’