“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.”
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first — the call to remember frames repentance as return to prior condition, a restoration of first love through deliberate works of love. If Ephesus does not repent, Christ threatens to remove the lampstand, meaning the church will cease to be a luminous witness; this is conditional judgment, not predetermined doom.
Church Fathers on Revelation 2:5
“And you have left your first love: remember whence you have fallen.” He who falls, falls from a height: therefore He said whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless this is done, He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its place, that is, to disperse the congregation.
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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