The Seven Churches: The Church in Ephesus

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.  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.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.  If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.  -Jesus in Revelation 2:1-7

This letter prophetically describes the church from its start (AD33) to around the end of the century (AD100), also known as the Apostolic Age.  There are a number of indications of this, especially when we look at the other letters and the rest of church history.  One very clear indication is the fact that Jesus tells John that the lampstands (churches) and stars (angels) are "what is now and what will take place later."  Just in this letter there is mention of those who claim to be apostles but in fact are false, which we know is something that went on while the apostles were leading the church (2Corinthians 11:13).  And we can tell by the epistles that these false apostles were not tolerated.  We also know that Christians in the Apostolic Age worked hard, persevered and endured hardship; the book of Acts is an indication of that.  The conditions of Judea, Asia Minor and everywhere else Christianity had gone at that time, are also an indication that they persevered and endured hardship.  Furthermore, we have reason to think there was a height to fall from.  Its important to note that the church during the Apostolic Age is not just the apostles, but all Christians in that church.  When the apostles were going out and making disciples, its not hard to think that it was a high time for the church.  This is the "first love" that Jesus talks about.  But as time progresses it can be hard to keep the fire and excitement alive.  Just imagine those who witnessed all the miracles performed by Peter or Paul.  After having seen those things, their hearts had to be on fire for the Lord.  But decades later, its hard to have that same fire and love.

Consider for yourself what "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" means.  It will become clearer when we take a look at the other churches, and how they are perfect descriptions of other church ages.