The passage does not tell us the exact method they used, but Scripture gives us several biblical principles that explain how they likely tested these false apostles.

1. They Tested their doctrine Against Apostolic Truth The first and greatest test was whether their teaching agreed with the gospel delivered by Christ and His apostles.

•Apostle Paul warned the elders of the church of Ephesus that false teachers will arise from amongst them. You must remember Paul taught in Ephesus in 3.5years no wonder they are sound in doctrine (Acts 20:28-31).

•The presence of strong teachers or teaching priests and shepherds keeps vicious wolves at bay and seems to neutralize the vicious wolf instincts. My aim is to turn as many people as possible into an army of apostles, shepherds and teachers to keep the spirit of vicious wolves at bay (Acts 20:28-32) Vicious means deliberately cruel or violent, immoral and brutal.

•Even if an angel preached another gospel, he was to be rejected (Galatians 1:6–10).

•The Bereans examined the Scriptures daily to verify Paul’s teaching and guess what? Paul was so excited they did. He recommended highly because He realized they were a different breed as compared to the Christians of Thessalonica (Acts 17:12)

Be blessed as you listen to this thought provoking and challenging teaching from our father!

The Things Jesus And Was Not Happy About The Church Of Ephesus Nevertheless means that all the good in the Ephesian church did not cancel out the bad Jesus is about to describe. You have left your first love: Despite all the good in the Ephesian church, there is something seriously wrong. They have left - not lost - their first love. They once had a love that they don’t have anymore. This can be described as “a definite and sad departure.”

1. The distinction between leaving and losing is important. Something can be lost quite by accident, but leaving is a deliberate act, though it may not happen suddenly. As well, when we losesomething we don’t know where to find it; but when we leave something, we know where to find it.

2. Though they had left their first love, everything looked great on the outside. If you would have attended a service of the church at Ephesus, you might have thought, “This is a happening church. They are doing so much, and they really guard the truth.” At the same time, you might have had a vague, uneasy feeling - yet it would probably be hard to pin down. It wasn’t hard for Jesus to see the problem, even though everything probably looked wonderful on the outside.

3. The problem was serious. Without love, all is vain. No wonder Jesus said, “Nevertheless I have this against you.” “A church has no reason for being a church when she has no love within her heart, or when that love grows cold. Lose love, lose all —— 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT), 1 John 4:7-13.

Be blessed as you listen to this thought provoking and challenging teaching from our father!

Jesus Christ is Described as the Faithful Witness.

1. This is because Jesus Christ modeled to all mankind during His earthly life and ministry the perfection of the God-kind of Life He multiplies bread in the wilderness John 5:17-23, Mathew 9:1-7.

2. Jesus Christ witnessed about who God the Father is, He was the one who showed us what God looked like - Colossians 1:15 (NLT), John 10:30, John 14:6-11, Mathew 11:27

3. Jesus is the faithful witness because God was in Him reconciling the world unto Himself by the preaching of the gospel of salvation, Healing and Deliverance — 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

•The First Begotten of the Dead or the Firstfruits of the Resurrection of the Dead. The reason Jesus is called the firstborn or the firstfruit of the resurrection is not because he was the first to die and be resurrect from the dead. To say Jesus died and resurrected from the dead is not a correct statement, why? Because no man dies and resurrects himself from the dead. When the Angel of death, takes a hold of you, He is so powerful that you cannot deliver yourself from his hand except someone with a higher power than the Angel of death. So in the case of Jesus, the Holy Spirit did (Psalm 16:10, Romans 8:11).

Be blessed as you listen to this thought provoking and challenging teaching from our father!

The mystery of the seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches. The mystery of the seven (7) stars is that, there are certain spiritual secrets about Pastors in Charge of His Churches which were not made known to His people until this revelation.

1. The mystery of a Pastor being a Spiritual Star. A star is a body that produces light of itself. Unlike a moon that reflects the light of the sun. A star has the capacity to produce its own light. A Senior pastor or a set-man for a ministry or church is equipped with enough capacity to stand on his own. Let me add that not everyone is called with this capacity or capability —— Romans 1:1-7, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1.

2. The mystery of a Pastor being in the Hand of Jesus Christ. It is not easy to bring down a man who is in the hands of Jesus Christ. Nobody has the power to pluck a man who is planted in the right hand of Jesus Christ from His hand. It is difficult to bring down a man who is in the hands of the Lord, He jealously guard and watch over their souls - John 10:27-30.

Be blessed as you listen to this thought provoking and challenging teaching from our father!