<p>2:1 <em>To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things says he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, he that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks</em>- The Lord is in the midst of the churches in the sense that He &quot;walks&quot; amongst or &quot;with&quot; the churches / believers. This is an idea John uses several times in his Gospel; that the Lord walked amongst or in the midst of men (Jn. 6:66; 7:1; 11:54; 12:35). It is also John who records the wonderful promise of the Comforter; that the Lord's physical absence would be compensated for by the gift of the Spirit in the hearts of believers, so that it would be as if He were present with them still. The Jesus who walked the streets and lanes of Galilee with His followers still walks amongst us today.</p><p>If Timothy was the elder of the church at Ephesus, it would appear that the Lord's rebuke of the 'angel' or elder of that church in Rev. 2:1 may well have been directed at Timothy or his successor (assuming an AD66 date for the book of Revelation). This could imply that Timothy failed to follow Paul's charge to him of 2 Tim. 4, and that his initial devotion waned in some ways. And yet on the other hand, a study of 1 Timothy shows that the situation in Ephesus was desperate at that time; doctrinal apostasy and return to the surrounding idol cults or Judaism seemed inevitable as the weaknesses seemed so deep. And so Paul's advice to Timothy was followed and only in the power of the Spirit did Timothy turn things around in Ephesus. But it was at the cost of losing <em>agape </em>love (:4). All the same, there is encouragement here that apparently awful and almost hopeless spiritual situations can be turned around by wise leadership and in the power of the Spirit.</p>