Overcomers
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. Revelation 2:7
These are Jesus’ final words to the church in Ephesus.
The Spirit continues to speak to the churches. What the Spirit says (and continues to say) must be listened to. The verb says is present tense meaning the action is on-going.
The Holy Spirit will never contradict the Scriptures. The sword of the Spirit … is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17) so we need have no fear of going astray by listening to the Holy Spirit.
There is a rich promise to this church. The promise is to him who overcomes. Again, overcomes is present tense so a continuing activity is in mind. The word overcomes means a victory, a maintaining of the cause, so here, a continuing victory, a continuing maintaining of the cause. The main challenge to this and the other young churches was from persecution. They are to conquer and overcome, not by fighting back, but by following Jesus, who won the victory through His own patient suffering. He persevered in the face of conflict and hardship. This is how we overcome.
What is the promise? I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Ephesus’ great temple of Artemis had within its extensive grounds a large garden focused on a particular tree which was used not only as a sacred shrine, but as the focal point of a system of asylum. The tree even featured in some of the local coins. Criminals who came within a certain distance of the tree were free from punishment.
Jesus uses this local colour in His promise. God’s paradise is not a refuge for criminals. It is a place where those who repent (Revelation 2:5) and overcome (Revelation 2:7) will have the right to eat from the tree and so obtain ‘life’ – the life God always intended his human creatures to possess but which, until now, they have forfeited by their sin. The tree of life was in the original Garden (Genesis 2:9) and will be in the garden city, the new Jerusalem (Revelation 22:2).
To listen to this message, download in MP3 here