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without burning. Knowledge and testimony avail notthey are but half the character of a christian church hearts must be filled with the love of Jesus, and all our conversation sanctified and zealous for the good of souls, to meet the approbation of the Lord.

It is worthy of remark, that these seven charges of the great Bishop of souls to his gospel ministry, are all con, ceived and arranged after one uniform method and disposition. A few slight deviations excepted, where the state and situation of the ministry is so very different, and the time peculiarly eventful; the contents of every charge are adjusted in the following order of the charge unto the angel at Ephesus.

A PASTORAL CHARGE

TO THE ANGEL AT EPHESUS.

It contains from verse 1 to 7.

I. A command to write, what the Lord Jesus Christ was about to dictate.

II. A declaration of part of his glorious title. These

things saith he, that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. The Lord here declares himself the great presiding Shepherd of souls, from whom the whole body of the gospel ministry derive their office and authority in the church. He upholds them in his hand, and protects them by his power, against all attempts of their enemies towards their destruction; and employs the light they emit, according to his own pleasure. In the midst of the churches, he is every where present, omniscient to discern all their wants-all powerful and willing to help.

III. The pastoral charge itself, to the gospel ministry, in which

1. The Lord bears testimony to their official character. a. I know thy works, and thy labours.

These two words, works and labour, are no tautology; they would be as they stand, but the first is not properly translated, gyov, not only signifies work, it also denotes office. See 1 Tim. iii. 1.

Tim. iv. 5. John xvii. 4. Acts xiii. 2. Et apud Xenoph. Lib. ii. pæd. sóv žgyov, tuum est officium. It should be here rendered: I have inspected thy offices, in every department of the church, [as established at the time, to which this charge refers,] bishops, chorepiscopi, presbyters, deacons and deaconesses, in all their functions; and am perfectly sensible of the toil and diligence, you severally undertake for the good of souls among Jews and Gentiles, and for the prosperity of my Church.

b. And thy patience. Thy continuance in performing thy duties against all disappointments, obstacles and crosses, and in bearing thy enemies with meekness of heart.

c. Thou canst not bear them, which are evil.

This

refers to the strict church-discipline of the first christians, in requiring experimental religion, pure morals and christian practice of all their members, in which they have never afterwards been equalled, even to the present day. d. Tried them which say, they are apostles. About that time and after the death of the apostle, the church was much infested by false apostles, and teachers of heresy. But the ministry watched to preserve the christian doctrine pure. No doubt, they have often been cried down in consequence of their faithfulness in this respect, as uncharitable and severe by these pretenders, and their deluded adherents; but they followed the example of their Saviour, and here obtained his approbation.

e. Thou hast borne, and hast laboured for my name's sake. The acts of the apostles, their epistles to the churches, and the accounts of the apostolic fathers are a comment on these words. It is

impossible to read them and not to be filled with reverence for the ministry of those days. Their labours for the good, of souls, their patience, sufferings and indefatigable zeal for the cause of their Lord, will remain a standing example to the end of time. Thou hast not fainted says the Lord, till towards the close of this period,

2. When he censures them thus: Nevertheless I have

somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Pure love to God and men is the soul of christianity, the distinguishing characteristic of all true disciples of Christ, the main spring to all good works, and an indispensable part in the character of a useful evangelic pastor. He yet had love, but it now began be mingled with self-love, and worldly interest; where at first his whole body and soul had been a living sacrifice to the Lord in his vineyard, because he had loved him first, and called him to that great and distinguished honour, of being a servant in his church.

3. An exhortation. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works. Only recollect how bright and brilliant your star once shone in the knowledge of divine things; how your heart was warmed with the love of Jesus in the preaching of the gospel, and instructing the penitent sinner; how all your actions spoke faith, zeal and charity; how your labours were blessed to the conversion of thousands; and compare it with your present state of mind and usefulness in the church. Repent, Oh let your mind be changed to what it was at first, and do the first works!

4. Motives to repentance. 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. The Nicolaitanes were a sort of Gnostic philosophers, who according to church history, combined sensual enjoyments with the pure doctrines of christianity. This temptation seems to have been most subtle and spacious; the Lord found it necessary to signify his entire abhorrence of their deeds. The ministry after St. John's days, though fallen, were not yet sunk so deep, as to adopt such principles; and the Lord told them so, in order to encourage them to repentance. Yea, to excite a prompt compliance, he threatens to remove their candlestick and bring his people away to another place; which also was afterwards done. For the light of christian knowledge has since been almost entirely extinguished in all those places in the East, where the first churches flourished,

5. A glorious promise.

a. A word to excite the attention of all christians. He that hath an ear, let him hear, what the Spirit saith [in] unto the churches. Whoever has a sufficient acquaintance with the spirit of prophecy, and a cultivated mind to discern spiritual matters, let him attend to what is here said by the Lord, in the churches of the ministry and their spiritual warfare and glorious reward. b. The promise. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. It is selfconceit, when the unconverted man imagines himself belonging to the number of these spiritual combatants, and presume to comfort himself with these promises.

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