Revelation 2:1-7 - Homiletics

Ephesus: the declining Church.

This letter to the Church at Ephesus, as welt as all the others, is sent to the Church through its "angel." It is not very easy for an English reader to understand to what office in the Church such an expression can refer. The various meanings of "bishop" or "overseer," "pastor," "messenger," have been assigned. We do not accept either to the exclusion of any other. We will, however, indicate some historic matters concerning Church officers, and then leave the student to draw his own conclusions. It is well known that some of the offices of the earliest Christian Churches were named after those of the later Jewish synagogue. £ The word "presbyter" is one of these. Among the synagogue officers we find one to which, by reason of our different form of organization and worship, we have no exact parallel. This officer was appointed to be the leader of Divine worship, going up before the ark, to conduct the service. He was not one ordained to a permanent office; but exercised it only as he was occasionally appointed thereto. Any lay member of the congregation might thus serve, provided he possessed the necessary qualifications. He was required to be in sympathy with the people, pure in life, ordering welt his family, with a good voice, able to read and expound, and to conduct with a devotional spirit the worship of the people, to whom he must be acceptable, as their representative therein. He was regarded as their legate; the mouthpiece of those who were present, and the deputy of those who were absent through illness or otherwise. There should not be any fierce disputation about this, for evidently we have no such officer in any of the main forms of Church government. There are those whose duties correspond in some respects, but none whose position is precisely the same. What name should we give him? Not bishop, and not pastor; for his was not a permanent office. Not a president; for he did not belong to the rulers of the synagogue—he acted only for the time as leader of the worship, as expounder of truth; as the people's mouthpiece in prayer. The Jews had a name for such a one. He was called the "angel of the Church." Now, it is far more likely that, at the outset of Christian Church life, it would be easy to find men who could occasionally than such as could permanently discharge such duties. In the transition period between the passing away of the synagogue forms and the settlement of new ones, it would be natural to use the old and familiar phrase, "the angel of the Church," although the office indicated by the name in former days was merging into the more sacred one of a permanent overseer of the Church. Although, therefore, there is now no office in the Church precisely corresponding to this old Hebraistic phrase, yet it is intensely interesting to find it retained as one of the last dying echoes in Scripture of the ancient forms; as a connecting link between the old and the new. At that time, if any message were sent to a Church, it would be sent to them through the "angel," who had to conduct their worship, at any rate pro tem. But whether Ephesus or any one of the seven Churches had, at the time of receiving these letters, substituted a temporary by a permanent officer, there are no data to enable us to affirm. Can we not well imagine the interest and excitement of the people, when the leader of their worship opened a roll—prefacing, perchance, the reading thereof by saying, "Our loved Apostle John, who used to teach among us, but who is now in banishment at Patmos, has been caught up in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and has been moved to send, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, the following letter"? With what deep emotion would its words be heard! In it there are six lines of thought suggested.

I. THE ASPECT IN WHICH THE SAVIOUR PRESENTS HIMSELF TO THEM . It is twofold.

1 . As holding the stars in his right hand.

2 . As walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (see homiletics on Revelation 1:9-19 , sect. I.; 20, sect. II .).

The first indicates the special care of Christ over the ministers of his Church. It is not for a minister to "lord it over God's heritage," or to attempt dominion over their faith; but he is guilty of a sinful and a mock humility if he does not "magnify his office," and if he does not regard it as a trust from the Lord Jesus. He will also wrong his Saviour if he does not take comfort in the thought that, as a minister of the Church, he is the object of his Lord's especial care. The second indicates the active energy of Jesus in watching over his Churches, to administer strength, help, comfort, commendation, cheer, rebuke, or warning, as the case may require. There is also a reminder that the Lord has an omniscient eye, to discern the state of things in every one of his Churches. "I know thy works." This attribute of the Lord Jesus is one which should awake the utmost solicitude in any Church, that it may be approved of him.

II. THE SAVIOUR 'S ESTIMATE OF THE CHURCH .

1 . There had been much good, which, indeed, had by no means died out. They had laboured, even unto toiling (verse 2). They had endured, when work had to be done under trying circumstances, in the midst of a great city, the inhabitants of which were carried away by the worship of the great goddess Diana. There was still an abhorrence of evil, and a keen and faithful detection of error in doctrine (verse 3). They had applied to some false apostles a test so severe and so successful, that they were exposed and put to shame. And towards the close of the epistle the commendation is again renewed, as if to show how lovingly our Lord notices every virtue.

2 . But still there is a grave charge against the Church. A charge not modified by the word "somewhat," which the Authorized Version thrusts into the translation. "I have it against thee—thou hast left thy first love. £ Note: It is quite possible for all the machinery of a Church to be in full working order, while at the same time the spirit of love and zeal which first set it agoing is on the decline. This is a great evil; for

III. THE SAVIOUR 'S REBUKE . "I have it against thee." "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Although it be the case that we must all stand before the tribunal of Christ, it is also the case that we are under his all-searching eye even now. "I the Lord search the heart."

IV. THE SAVIOUR 'S DIRECTION . "Repent," etc. There is a way back to the cross. It is the same as that by which the sinner came at first. Repent. There must be direct, personal confession to the Lord Jesus. It is indeed a great wrong done to a Church when its members bring a current of cold air with them, and leave it behind them everywhere; but the greatest wrong is towards that Saviour whose cause has been so solemnly espoused, and for whom the professor has sworn to live and die. Cold-hearted professor! thy Saviour calls to thee to renew thy broken vow, and to return to him.

V. THE SAVIOUR 'S WARNING . It is twofold.

1 . The declining Church will sooner or later receive from Christ some stern reminder of its sin. "I will come unto thee." "The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God."

2 . If the warning be unheeded, the Church will in time disappear. "I will remove thy candlestick out of its place." Our Lord Jesus does not desire the prolonged continuance of a Church whose love is on the decline. A cold Church does not and cannot represent Jesus in the world; it is no longer accomplishing the object for which Churches are formed, and therefore there is no reason why it should continue. Where our Saviour would be most gracious he will, in such a case, be most severe. Churches, as such, are judged in this life.

VI. THE SAVIOUR 'S PROMISE . It is made to individuals. "To him that overcometh." It pertains to another realm, even to "the Paradise of God." The word "paradise" means an enclosed, park-like place, with all arrangements for refreshment, comfort, luxury. It is first used in Scripture for the garden of Eden, in which was a tree of life. At the Fall, man was barred both from Paradise and from the tree of immortality. We read no more of it till Christ says to the dying thief, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise"—the word being used to denote the realm of the blessed in the invisible world. Still the tree of life appears no more till we get it mentioned here, as in the higher realm of everlasting life, in the Paradise of God. There it is in Christ's own keeping. The fruit of it HE will give to the victor! That is, to drop the figure, whosoever overcomes, to him, in the nobler and the deathless realm, Christ will be the Giver and Sustainer of a life that shall never, never die. There there will be no temptation to decline, for within the gates of that Paradise no tempter can ever come; and the supply of vital power shall be so rich and constant that all inward tendency to decline shall cease forever. What a motive power is this! Earthly cities, with their witchery and glare, may be before us and around us today. But beyond, beyond is the Paradise of God, with its halcyon rest, its genial clime, its steadfast life. And oh! let us not lose sight of the words, " I will give." The communion with Christ will be close and intimate; we shall see face to face. Here the provisions of God's love and grace are often marred through coming to us by such imperfect channels. But there the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to the fountains of the water of life! How large the promise! how attractive the vision! how glorious the reward! Surely it is worth while to struggle for a little here, that we may pass forever to a realm where we shall struggle no more. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."