THE letters to the Seven Churches in Asia have messages that will never lose their interest for the Church of Christ in the world. Each message concludes with the words: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.” And each message begins with the words: “I know thy works.” “The meaning is,” says Durham, “I know all thy works, inward and outward, thy form and way of administration of all things in the Church, all thy outward carriage in things, the things themselves, and thy frame in going about them, the matter and manner of doing them and the end thou hadst before thee in them; and I know them perfectly, exactly, and thoroughly; a thing that in the entry to His service, and every other thing, we would look to and bear in mind, that Christ is acquainted with all our carriage, and every thing that escapeth us. And this being oft repeated, it saith, that Christ counts this a main part of His message, to have souls convinced of His perfect and thorough knowledge of their works.” The condition of the Churches is very different in each case—some are very faithful in discipline like that of Ephesus—others are seriously lacking in this as that of Smyrna and Thyatira. Some like Philadelphia are living witnesses for Christ; while others, like Sardis, though having a name of living, are dead. The Faithful and True Witness commends what is right and
condemns what is wrong in the various Churches and it is evident that the standard by which they are measured is not such as men use. Philadelphia is the only one that escapes condemnation for some matter or other while the Church of Ephesus receives high commendation for her faithfulness and loyalty to Christ but is condemned for falling away from her first love; a matter which would not be considered very serious in the eyes of men but which called forth a very solemn warning and threat from her Lord. The message to the Church at Ephesus, as given in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation, may be quoted here: “These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are Apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Rev. ii. 1-7).
The commendation is of no ordinary kind and has respect to (1) the labour of the Church of Ephesus; (2) her patience; (3) her hatred of evil doers. These points are enlarged on in the succeeding verses beginning with the hatred of evil doers and going backwards. The Church of Ephesus could not bear them who were evil. Hers was no mere passive attitude to evil doers for it is said that she tried “them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” She
also hated the “deeds of the Nicolaitanes” and was one with her Lord in this. She differed from the Church of Smyrna which also had those who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes within her borders undealt with and unapproved. Discipline, therefore, was not a mere name in the Church of Ephesus; it was an actual reality. The Churches of Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Pergamos, and Laodicea had all fallen asleep as far as discipline was concerned. And one can vaguely picture the amazement with which the dead Church of Sardis and the cold Church of Laodicea would hear of discipline being exercised in the Church of Ephesus. But whatever their verdict was and that of the world lying in wickedness the Church of Ephesus was commended by her Lord for her fidelity and loyalty and that more than counter-balanced all the criticism levelled at her by men who might bear the Christian name but who were like Captain Anything and Mr. Facing-both-ways, anything but single-minded, where the claims of Christ were at stake.
The patience of the Church of Ephesus for which she was commended may have arisen from the difficulties she had to face in carrying out discipline. We may be sure the offenders would have much to say in defence of themselves and on the injustice meted out to them. This is an experience that did not end with the Church of Ephesus and the true Church of Christ must ever regard this as part of the price she has to pay in being true to her Master. It is the rarest thing imaginable that a disciplined person has nothing to say in defence of himself and it is also most uncommon if he gives no trouble in being dealt with. So patience such as the Church of Ephesus exercised is a grace that called for her Lord’s high commendation.
The labour of the Church of Ephesus is also singled out. The word is the same as that used by the Apostle in I. Tim. v. 17; “Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honour, especially these who labour in the word and doctrine.” And, again, in I. Thess. v. 12: “Know them which labour
among you, and are over you in the Lord.” The labour therefore referred to is the carefulness with which the gospel was preached in the Church of Ephesus. It is specially pointed out that all this was for His name’s sake and in the face of much opposition from without the Church had not fainted. So that as far as diligence in labouring in the Word, exercising discipline against those who claimed to be what they were not and the patience with which she used the power given to her the Church of Ephesus was highly commended by her Lord.
But there was one very serious lack in the Christian life of the Church of Ephesus—she had forsaken her first love. In all her activities, highly commendable in themselves and highly commended by her Lord, she had not noticed that love was dead or at anyrate dying. Though the absence of love ought to be easily discovered yet, strange to say, it may be dead for some time without being noticed. For it is no sooner gone than unity, harmony, and everything that makes for true fellowship vanishes and in their place spring up suspicions, evil speaking and evil-surmisings, these sure destroyers of peace and unity among God’s people.
It is possible the Church of Ephesus may not have known the terrible calamity that had befallen her but He who had the seven stars in His right hand knew what had happened and He called the Church to repent and go back and do the first works when the warmth of the day of her espousals was felt and when her zeal had behind it the love from which she was now fallen. If she would not, He threatened to remove His candlestick out of her midst. Her activities might go on but the light would not be there. He did not say He would destroy the candlestick but He would remove it out of its place. The world would never know what ailed the Church of Ephesus for it had never known this love. It might be ready to attribute the decline of the Church of Ephesus to its overstrictness in discipline, its want of foresight in falling in with the great body of public opinion; be that as it may it is quite evident
that the Head of the Church found no fault with the Church of Ephesus for her vigilance in exercising the disciplinary power He entrusted to His Church but He did charge her with the lack of love that was once there. The Church of Ephesus was a highly favoured Church enjoying the ministry of the Apostle Paul for the space of three years. He had declared to the believers there all the counsel of God. The love and fervour of the early days when the Ephesians, like the Thessalonians, turned from idols to serve the living and true God was now a memory of the past and the Church of Ephesus is called upon to repent and go back and do the works that were done in those happy and joyous days when love reigned and when heavenly harmony and peace pervaded the Church. The letter to the Church of Ephesus by her Lord has a solemn message to the Churches of our own day and especially to our own beloved Church. Some of us remember the happy days when she came out of Egypt and our prayer is that such days may still be in store for her.
It is not to be forgotten, however, that a very precious promise is given to every one that overcometh. The difficulties may be great, the circumstances most discouraging and the whole outlook may be dark but to him that overcometh there is the promise that His Lord will give him to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. This, surely, shall be sufficient recompense for all that they passed through in this world. He points them forward to a future, a future full of the brightest prospects.