The Ephesian church:

Rev 2:1 ¶ 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;


Rev 2:2 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:


Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.


Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.


Rev 2:5 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.


Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.


Rev 2:7 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.

Here we have a church commended for the following:

1. Works. They were doing many works in the name of the Lord.

2. Labour. they were engaged in evangelism, the "labour" of the gospel.

3. Patience. They were no MacDonald's fast-food religious enterprise - they had patience, and were able to not only put the hand to the plow but were able to patiently wait for the harvest.

4. They were also commended for their testing of ministers and their rigorous examination on the basis of doctrine of those who purported to represent God. They were commended for their exposing and rejection of false teachers masquerading as Christian ministers.

5. Endurance. They worked and laboured for the name of Jesus Christ and were faithful in that respect and held firmly to the work.

But they had some problems...

They had left their first love.

This church had the right doctrine, and the right attitude toward ministry, and the right attitude toward the work of spreading the gospel... but had nevertheless left their first love (which would of course be GOD HIMSELF, Jesus Christ.) Like a man who labours to maintain a "near-perfect marriage" but does so not out of love for his wife, but out of love for the fact he has a marriage...

They were commended because they hated the doctrines that Jesus hated, they hated the practices that Jesus hated, nevertheless..

They were in danger of becoming totally apostate and rejected as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unless they repented, and did the first works, the Lord was going to remove their position from among the churches of God.

We can be doctrinally correct, and steadfast in our labours, as a church, yet slip into apostasy and reprobation if our motive is misplaced....

There is a promise, that to him who overcomes will be given the priviledge of eating of the tree of life... the true power of the gospel, resident in the Cross (the tree of life), is available to those who overcome the tendency which enshrines apostasy within the garb of perfect obedience and doctrinal purity.

Doctrinal purity and obedience and patience and steadfastness are necessary, but cannot be used as replacements for our first love, the Lord Jesus Christ himself.