As it seems clearly mentioned in Revalations, there had been an early church in Ephesus, Turkey. Word 'Ephesus' is mentioned seventeen times in the New Testament. Church in Ephesus is also known as the Double Church, because it is thought one aisle was dedicated to the Virgin and the other to St. John. Also it is one of the Council Churches because the Council of Ephesus is believed to have been held here in 431. After 654 the bishop of Ephesus moved to the Basilica of St. John located nearby Ephesus and remained there for two centuries until it came under attack in 867. The Paulicians, a militant Armenian group, turned the Basilica of St. John into a stable and the bishop moved back to the Church of Mary, which was repaired and partially rebuilt for that purpose.
The later history of the Church of Ephesus is not clear, as the city of Ephesus was in sharp decline. But sealed graves have been discovered in and outside of the church that date all the way to the late medieval period, indicating the church was still in use by local Christians until at least the 14th century.
to the angel of the church in Ephesus, write this:
The one who holds the seven stars in his right and walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands says this : " I know your works, your labor, and you endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and discovered that they are imposters.
Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. But you have this in your favor: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."
"Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God."
(Rv 2:1-7)
