Second Part.—" The things which are."
GENERAL GLANCE AT THE SEVEN EPISTLES.
THE Revelation contains a testimony, necessary both to the Church and to the world, until the return of the Lord. That which concerns the Church is found in the second and third chapters, in the form of epistles.
Jesus dictates; John writes to each angel what the Spirit says to the Churches. The more I read these epistles, the more I see that the angels represent the intelligent and responsible part of the redeemed, during our dispensation. What each assembly does is attributed to its angel; what is said to an angel is said to his whole Church; and I think it is necessary to take clearly into account the common bond (solidarity)which exists for the whole seven churches, from beginning to end.
First, there is a candlestick, which represents the collection of the whole class of the redeemed to whom an epistle is addressed; then one single person, an angel, represents this collection morally. Thus, the assembly in question is typified by a candlestick, and identified with an angel, and the whole is judged as one single thing.
As to the common bond of the seven churches, it is seen in this: what is said to each angel is said to "the Churches." That which happens in the midst of one assembly takes place in order that all the churches "may know that Jesus is he who tries the reins and the hearts." Moreover, there is a chain of events which shows a successive, continual, prolonged, and gradual state of progress in evil, and diminution in good. Finally, the common bond of the seven churches is proved, as the unity of the seven candlesticks, by the completeness of the number seven, applied to the stars, the angels, the candlestick and the churches, Jesus being the center and Lord of all.
The seven-fold warning: "Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches!" leads us to resolve, in the first place, the following question: Who are they who are to hearken to this?
The seven churches of Asia, mentioned in the eleventh verse, were doubtless first in the order of heaven, so long as they existed. But this first point of view has no further application from the time these churches disappeared, and if any of them did now exist, they would be included in the following class.
A second point of view is the whole local assembly, wheresoever or whensoever it may exist, whether in times past, present, or future, from the year A.D. 96 till the return of Jesus for the Church.
The third point of view is altogether individual and precious, particularly in that it applies to the era of the greatest dispersion of the children of God; as, for example, to our own.
No one will doubt that all the faithful who composed the seven churches of Asia were responsible for the manner in which they heard and observed the things that the Spirit said to these churches. It is no less evident that every individual, in every time, is bound to hear, provided he have ears to hear. Whatever be the state of the body of Christ on earth, even though there might be nothing here below that should correspond to the seven candlesticks seen by John, each believer will find in these epistles the light necessary for him to learn his way and guide his steps amid the chaos of the numberless sects which HOW scatter the redeemed of Jesus.
It will be the same, in rather a different sense, for every faithful soul that shall keep the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus, after the present dispensation.
Fourthly and lastly, the things which the Spirit says to the Churches being a prophecy, which looks at the life of the Church as at that of a single individual, the various periods of vicissitudes thereof are presented from the commencement of the narration to the end of its earthly career. We will confine ours to this last point of view, because it touches on all that can affect our conscience, whether as individual members of the body of Christ, or as being in relation with one or more local assemblies, or as being interested in the move of every institution containing redeemed ones of Jesus.
The Lord cannot have attested the things contained in the second and third chapters, merely as referring to the seven churches of Asia It is impossible not to recognize, in these chapters, the prophetical character of this Book, which itself is purely prophetical; and it is also impossible that the prophecy should be confined to the seven churches of Asia Minor, which so speedily disappeared.
The coming of the Lord is presented to us in a manner always nearer and more pressing in the seven epistles; now, the promise of His return does not specially pertain to the seven churches of Asia, but to the complete body of the redeemed living on the earth, from the moment the narrative begins.
The fourth point of view that we have adopted for this study, can only be rejected by persons who do not consider the Church as one body living on earth, responsible and bonded together from the beginning to the end, as regards its walk and its testimony, as was Israel, for example. I believe that I ought, on account of their souls, to say some words on the Church.
The Church has been defined to be "an assembly of the faithful in one body, by the presence of the Holy Spirit here below, come down from heaven, in union with the Head who is in heaven." Indeed the Word ever presents to us the Church as one body on earth during the time of its formation and trial, but united on high to Him who accomplishes all things and in all: in a word, as the fullness of Christ.
The Church is in the kingdom, or rather is of the kingdom, as joint-heir, one with the king her Bridegroom. She is, on the earth, the first-fruits and the earnest of the kingdom which has not yet begun.
This only united body has but one Governor, who is the Lord, whose Spirit continually carries the desires, thoughts, and affections of the Bride, towards her Bridegroom in heaven. The Spirit of Christ alone directs and conducts her, and He never does this outside the ways traced by the word of Christ. Such a notion of the Church and its government is quite opposed to the carnal pretension that the Church has the right to give herself rules or constitutions, more or less ingenious, as she conceives, according to circumstances and her own thoughts.
That is pure idolatry which puts man in the place of Christ, human thoughts in the place of God's thoughts, human strength in the place of the might of the Holy Ghost.
Finally, the understanding of the general point of view to which we cling is a matter of spiritual discernment. What the Church ought to be in the world must be understood, in order to see aright what she has become there. One must needs possess, in communion with the faithful and true Witness, the love of God's glory, and the spirit of intercession, in order to speak of the Church before God, as Daniel spake of his city and people in his supplications.
Geography of the Seven Churches.
The seven cities, named in verse 11, existed in preconsular Asia, or Asia Minor.
These seven cities form on the map an irregular enclosure, in following their scriptural order. Ephesus was the most neighboring town to Patmos. Pergamos is at the northern extremity of the enclosure which closes up at Laodicea. The distance from Ephesus to Laodicea, is about seventy-two leagues, or seven days.
Ephesus,. Sardis,. Thyatira,. Laodicea, are either totally destroyed, or reduced to the state of miserable villages.
Pergamos,. Philadelphia,.are small towns; Smyrna only is rich and flourishing.
But in none of these localities should we find anything resembling a scriptural assembly.
The Church of Ephesus is the only one of those here mentioned, to which Paul has written an epistle. The Church of Laodicea, very near to that of Colosse, kept up an intimate connection with this latter.
I do not pretend to know all the motives for which the Lord chose these seven Churches; it would be pretending to an almost perfect knowledge of so deep a subject. But sure I am, that every assembly, even of two or three believers gathered around Jesus, is as dear to Him as each of these seven Churches here named. If the Lord had had respect to appearances, would He not have chosen for the purpose of addressing these epistles, Rome, Corinth, or Antioch which for a moment was as a center of light for the Gentiles, or so many other Churches of Greece and Asia mentioned in the Scriptures, not to speak of the no less important unmentioned ones? I think that the geographical position of these Churches may have been one motive for which they were chosen, both as occupying passage-country and a link between the east and the west, and also as presenting a significant picture of unity, union and reunion around Jesus. The names of these Churches, which we will consider in their place, appear to me all-important, as depicting the external and general circumstances, which most frequently are not indicated but by this name, and which must be in harmony with the moral state, whether of the Church named or of the general period represented by it.
Again, I suppose that the moral and varied state of each of these Churches must have been then in harmony with a great part of the things that Jesus had to say to His Bride during the whole time of her education upon earth.
These various considerations are very well suited to engage us to study the seven epistles, under the eye and in communion with Him who dictated them. The subject is concerning the glory of God, the witness of Jesus Christ, and the fidelity of His Bride.
Examination of the Walk of the Churches As a Whole.
Only two Churches have no works, Smyrna and Pergamos. Smyrna is already too far fallen for the Lord to seek fruit there, but He places it in the furnace to reanimate and purify it.
The word works, in these epistles, has not the meaning of particular actions, but is taken in sense of the word ways, indicating the general walk of the witness. This is what we see in the second chapter, verse 26, where the Lord recompenses him who keepeth His works to the end, that is to say, who remains faithful in the ways, or in the pure and separate walk of the faithful Witness, whose feet are like fine brass.
The examination of the whole will at the same time present to us the picture of the progression of evil and the diminution of good. It offers a movement similar to the oscillation of the flame of a lamp, which falls, rises, casts forth fresh glimmerings, then dies, leaving behind but a noxious smoke.
Diminution of Good.
1.—Ephesus. Labor, perseverance, discernment, and discipline.
2.—Smyrna. In God are riches; they must be sought there; but the angel knows not how to enjoy. Jesus knows that.
3.—Pergamos. There is no more than faith.
4.—Thyatira. The crucible has produced new fruits: love, service, perseverance. But the crucible was needful.
5.—Sardis. A little remnant is preserved from the general defilement. It is scarcely an active and positive good.
6—Philadelphia. A residue of faith. A little light by a great display of the power of Jesus. The waiting for Jesus.
7.—Laodicea. Nothing real. Jesus searches or raises up new witnesses.
Progress of Evil,
1.—Ephesus. Abandonment of first love. State of fall. It is the point of departure.
2.—Smyrna. Without the life of Jesus, without the grace which distinguishes the good coming from God, one could only see immense evil in the absence of good fruits.
3.—Pergamos. They dwell where Satan's throne and dwelling are. Want of the fear of God. A seeking after high things. Traffic of the gifts of God, and consequently fail of the sheep. Discipline has failed.
4.—Thyatira. Seducing doctrines of confusion. Prostitution favored from high places. Intimacy with Satan.
5.—Sardis. Deaths; bad walk.
6.—Philadelphia. Excessively feeble. But God has designs of love and deliverance.
7.—Laodicea. Abominable by its lukewarmness; recovery of pretensions to Warmth. Cold smoke. Forms. Pride. Death. They say, All goes on well! Spiritual pride of blind professors. It is the end. Spewed out!
Finally, we may still remark, that the principle of the evil exists, as well as the fallen state, from the beginning, and that the prophecy of Jesus, and his testimony in that respect, agree with the history of the Church till our days, since every unbiased reader will only find in this last the history of the declension of the Church, in spite of all the efforts of authors and their evident intention to justify their delusive expectations in favor of a pretended reign of the Gospel and of grace.