EPHESIANS by F. D. Starr

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 11, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 15.

EPHESIANS.

By F. D. Starr

AMONG the most noted places where Paul and others preached the Gospel was Ephesus, a city in Asia Minor, near the coast of the Ægean Sea. It was at this place that John made his home in the latter part of his life, and from which, it seems, he was banished to the isle of Patmos, and to which place he returned after his exile.

At Ephesus, as is quite generally understood, John wrote the Gospel bearing his name, and also the book of the Revelation. This being his home, it is interesting to note that the first message of warning in the seven messages sent to the “seven churches,” as recorded in Revelation 2 and 3, is addressed to “the church of Ephesus.” While these messages are prophetic and symbolic, yet they no doubt had some application to the local churches named in the messages. The meaning of the name Ephesus is “desirable.”

Ephesus is the only church of the seven to which epistles now extant were sent by both Paul and John. We see from Col. 4:16, however, that Paul wrote an epistle to the church at Laodicea, the last named in the list of seven churches, but that epistle has not been handed down to us.

An interesting fact concerning the Gospel work at Ephesus, is that the first missionary effort made there was by Paul, as recorded in Acts 18:19. Not long after this, that eloquent Gospel orator, Apollos, came to Ephesus, and met with marked success in his work. This work was defective in a very vital point, however, the experience by the converts of the power of the Holy Spirit; and the apostle Paul had to supplement the labors of Apollos, instructing the believers more fully and then rebaptizing them.

It was at Ephesus that the vagabond Jews were defeated in their effort to cast out evil spirits, using the names of Jesus and of Paul. Here it was that many who used curious arts brought their books, to the value of several thousand dollars, and burned them. At this place also arose the great uproar about the silver shrines for Diana, and the cry of the populace, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” The mob spirit was finally quelled by the wholesome advice of the town clerk, “We ought to do nothing rashly,” advice that every Christian should diligently follow, tho it came from the mouth of a Gentile.

It was the elders of the church at Ephesus who were called to Miletus by Paul, to whom he gave the solemn warning concerning the apostasy that should originate with the bishops, or elders, of the church—a startling admonition indeed, “Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” How strikingly was this fulfilled in the subsequent history of an apostatizing church!

Significant was the position occupied by the Ephesus church, and equally significant is the apostolic epistle addressed to that church. As in all his epistles, so in this, we find the plain distinction between ceremonialism and spirituality. The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile is broken down by the same act that caused the veil of the temple to be rent in twain from top to bottom. “Ye who were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

The forlorn condition of Gentiles in the flesh is vividly described in chapter two. Think of it—“without Christ,” “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,” “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” The covenants were all made with Israel, as we find by referring to Rom. 9:4, 5. To enter into covenant relation with God, we must become members of the true house of Israel, being grafted into the true olive tree.

There are three words used in English that came from the Greek word translated “Gentile.” These are the terms, “Gentile,” “heathen,” “nations,” all coming from the Greek word ethne, from which comes our word “ethnology,” the science of nationality, or of nations. So these three terms—heathen, nations, Gentiles—are really the same in the original sense. They are used in contrast with the terms “Jew” and “Israelite,” which are applied to God’s chosen people. To obtain favor with God, and the benefits of covenant relation with Him, one must be changed from a heathen, or Gentile, to a true Jew. Rom. 2:29.

The superlative degree of Christian experience is found in Eph. 3:17-19. The apostle there states that we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fulness of God. To know the unknowable is a point of excellence that is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. The study of this book and the practise of its teachings will bring us to that higher plane of Christian life. F. D. STARR.