JULY, 1946 291 THE CHURCH THAT LEFT ITS FIRST LOVE
G. Coleman Luck
I N the opening chapters of Revela tion, a marvelous appearance of the glorified Lord Jesus to the exiled apostle John is described. First, the apostle heard the thrilling Voice behind him. In preparation for the revelation to follow, our Lord ad vised John to write what he would see, and send it to the seven churches of Asia—Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Then as John turned, he saw the Lord standing in the midst of sev en golden candlesticks. In His right hand were seven stars. The vision was so overpowering that John was strick en, but the Lord strengthened him with comforting words. rpHEN Christ commanded, “Write the -*•things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (1:19). This furnishes a convenient outline of the entire book. Chapter one covers “the things which thou hast seen;” chapters two and three, “the things which are” ; and chapters four through twenty-two, “the things which shall be hereafter.” Then our Lord explained the symbol ism of the stars and candlesticks rep resenting the churches themselves. "IMMEDIATELY, following t h e s e -*■words, we find, in the next two chap ters, personal letters dictated by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to the seven churches of Asia. These letters are of the utmost importance for a number of reasons, and well worth a careful study. There is a fourfold application of these seven letters: (1) The pri mary application was to the particular church at that special time, as in the case of other epistles in the New Testa ment. (2) There is also a direct appli cation to similar Circumstances in churches at any period. For instance, if the conditions exist in my own church which were present in the church at Ephesus, then the same in spired instruction which applied to that church would apply to my own. (3) The principles set forth in each letter may be applied to the individual Christian at any time. Churches are made up of individual Christians, and the condition of the church as a whole is simply the result of their combined state. So if the letter to Ephesus fits my condition, I am to apply it to my self, regardless of whether this is the general attitude of my church. (4) In addition, there is the prophetic appli
cation. This is to be expected from the Lord’s reference to a "mystery.” As we examinç the church at Ephesus, we find that it was representative of the Church as a whole during the pe riod just following the work of the apostles; Smyrna typified the next pe riod of church history, and so on. Since this key evidently fits the lock, We con clude that the seven letters as a whole cover the prophetic history of the Church. rpHERE are generally seven features -f- of similarity in the various letters, which it is helpful to note when mak ing a study of the book; (1) the ad dress; (2) description of the Lord; (3) commendation of good works; ,(4) complaint; (5) exhortation; (6) threat; (7) promise. Let us then consider the first letter—the communication to Ephesus—“The Church that left its first love,” under these headings. 1. The Address. "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write” (2:1a). Some have interpreted this term to mean that a special angel is assigned as the unseen helper of each church. Others hold that the seven churches had sent messengers to John, and that it is to them reference is made. To me, neither of these explanations is satis factory. “Angel” of course does mean “messenger.” The same word is em ployed in the passage in which Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” is mentioned; it is called “ the messenger of Satan.” The appointed messenger of God in a church is the pastor. If today I write a letter to a church, do I not address it to the pastor, knowing that he will read the message to the whole body? Thus, our Lord addresses His com munication to the “messenger,” or pas tor, to be passed on by him to his congregation. A LITTLE research with regard to the town of Ephesus, which may be obtained from a Bible encyclopedia, will be of interest. The name means “desirable,” and in many respects it is fitting as a description of the condition of the church. 2. Description of the Lord. “These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candle sticks” (2:1b). In each of these seven letters, the Lord Jesus is described, usually in accordance with the account
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