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.