Ephesus represents the first era of the church age, from the Resurrection through the early 2nd century. We discuss the focus of the early church’s lost love (God, one another, or both), and then we talk about the mysterious group called the Nicolaitans.
The Nicolaitans were condemned by Jesus in his letters to Ephesus and Pergamum, but we don’t know much about them. They may have been a sect founded by the deacon Nicolaus, who was mentioned in Acts 6:5; it may have been the beginning of the hierarchical church, with a clergy ruling over lay people; or it may have been a group that believed sexual immorality was condoned by God.
