REMEMBER!
‘Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent … or else I will … remove thy candlestick.’
These are the words before us. It is an honour to be privileged to appropriate words addressed to one of the most honoured Churches of antiquity. We would reverently take to heart the Voice from the upper sanctuary, which resounds now in the community of the Lord. Note—
I. The kindly admonition.
II. The earnest call to repentance.
III. The fearful threatening.
Illustration
‘At Ephesus, one of the seven golden candlesticks, set up in the midst of the heathen world, was once the most distinguished Church in Eastern Christendom. St. Paul had founded it, and loved it before all others, as his touching farewell to its presbyters at Miletus proves, as well as the glorious letter he wrote to it. St. John fostered it to the end of his days. It was privileged to harbour the loving disciple of Jesus long after the Lord came, at the destruction of Jerusalem, and to preserve in its bosom his honoured bones. Even in the circular letter of the Revelation, it still gets that praise from the mouth of the Lord, “I know thy works, thy labour, and thy patience.” And yet there follows upon it the admonition, “Think from what thou hast fallen. Thy star is on the wane. It grows pale.” ’