thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate.

7. 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.

Verses 1-7.--This first epistle, addressed to the church in Ephesus,
comes from the Lord Jesus, who holds the stars in his right hand; who
gives commission to the ministry, gives them authority as his
ambassadors to negotiate with mankind, communicates to them the light
which they diffuse in the world, sustains them in their respective
spheres, and controls them as they move in their orbits. He walks in the
midst of the candlesticks, as the sun in the system of nature, trimming
and snuffing the lamps that they may burn more clearly.

This is the second epistle sent from Christ to the church of Ephesus.
Paul, who is thought to have planted this church, (Acts xviii. 19,) had
written to those Christians some thirty years before, while he was a
prisoner in Rome. (Eph. i. 4; vi. 20.) Paul and John were nothing more
than Christ's amanuenses,--"the pen of a ready writer." (Ps. xlv. 1; 1
Cor. iii. 7.)--"The angel of the church" is at once a symbolic and
collective name, including also the idea of representation:--not a pope
or any other prelatic personage. No doubt in our Saviour's estimation
the saints take precedence here of the "bishops (overseers.) and
deacons," as they do in Phil. i. 1; Eph. iv. 8-12. All ecclesiastical
officers are Christ's gift to the church; but the object or recipient of
the gift is more valued than the gift. And just here is the point where