Ephesus

THE mention of Ephesus brings up thoughts of some of the most interesting and affect­ing facts of early Christianity.
When the truth of God had so prevailed in Ephesus that it injured the trade of the shrine-makers, they created an uproar, and gathered a crowd, which shouted for some two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians." The wise town clerk, having reminded the tumultuous assembly that all men knew their city wor­shipped the, great goddess Diana and the image which fell down from Jupiter, adroitly added that, if the silversmiths had any cause of complaint against the Christians, the law was open to them, and so he dismissed the crowd. Here lie potent arguments in favor of the goddess and her image, and similar arguments hold for the images and relics of our own days. The voice of the people was in favor of the goddess; popular belief was in the image, and, behind all this, this religion brought much money into the city.
Now in idolatrous Ephesus the word of God grew mightily, and prevailed. There the Apostle Paul labored for some three years, going from house to house, and also publicly testifying of Christ. We have but to read his Epistle to the Ephesians to discover how the great truths of the Christian faith had entered the hearts of the church there. Moreover, from our Lord's address to that church, we find how remarkably powerful the Ephesians were in spiritual wisdom, and not only so, but how zealous they were in works for God. At the close of St. Paul's Epistle Christians are presented as soldiers for God, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, fighting for the truth in the midst of the forces of Satan—and that Satanic force was no light energy in Ephesus, the early part of the nineteenth chapter of the Acts testifies. Indeed, the Epistle to the Ephesians gives to us the highest of Christian privileges, and the greatest of Christian responsibilities, and ends with the array of Christian soldiers engaged in the most vigorous Christian warfare. In the presence of such things we might suppose that the last that would be foretold of Ephesus would be victory.
But as we read St. Paul's leave-taking of the elders of the church what do we discover? Among the sheep of Ephesus grievous wolves—men, apparently servants of Christ, but really ministers of Satan, were about to enter, not sparing the flock ; and, more sad still, St. Paul told the elders—the guides and leaders of the church—"of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them " (chap. 20:30). Havoc and division were to fall upon the church of Ephesus. Our Lord's own solemn rebuke, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love " (Rev. 2:4), and His warning that the candlestick of Ephesus should be removed is sadder still, showing the state of the hearts of the church to have been cold towards Christ personally. If the heart be cold towards Him every­thing else that is good will in time lose its goodness, and so the light will becomes darkness.
The candlestick of Ephesus has long since been removed by Christ Himself; and now we have but the ruins of the old city to remind us of the past. But the Spirit of God, who spoke through St. Paul, gives not only to that old Christian church, but to us this day, the only sure guiding star in the time of difficulty and darkness—He gives us unchangeable faith­fulness, unchangeable light on which to rely "I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace." Ever does our God present the way of deliverance and of power before the soul, and we trust that we may all begin a New Year with this text upon our hearts, " I com­mend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." (Acts 20:32.)
And as we look back upon our lifetime may we have eyes to see and hearts to discern, lest our first love to Jesus wane, or, if it has waned, to " repent, and do the first works " (Rev. 2:5), for our individual Christianity will be weak and our little light will grow dim unless our first love to Christ remain.