Jesus says Ephesus is known for works, toil, and patient endurance Revelation 2:2. He also says they tested those who call themselves apostles and found them false Revelation 2:2.
In Revelation 2:1–3, the message to the assembly in Ephesus begins by naming the speaker with images from the earlier vision: he holds the seven stars and walks among seven golden lampstands. The speaker then commends the community’s visible track record: hard work, costly effort, and steady staying power. These verses open the first of seven short messages to assemblies in Asia Minor (Revelation 2–3), each delivered in a repeated pattern: address, speaker identification, evaluation, and then (often) correction and promises.
Revelation 2:1–3 presents Jesus (the risen figure from Revelation 1:12–20) as the speaker who has authority (“holds the seven stars”) and active presence with the churches (“walks among the seven golden lampstands”). These images underline oversight and nearness, not distance.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Revelation 2:2, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
2"I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can`t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false.