Evening star., 1916-12-09
EAiTHlUL UNTO DEATH.
[Rsvala&lona, ll-17.)
Golden Text-Be thou faithful
unto death. ana I will give thee
q crown Of life. (Revelations.
2.10.)
By Rev. Il. T. Steyensou.

Chrfst,s last word to His followers
forms the basis for this weeks study,
It was given to encourage the faith
9fur and strengthen the suffering disci-
pfesEso that they would stand fast in
the faith and endure without falterins
the bitter prosecutions that tested
their personal love and loyalty. and
enable them to reveal to the world the
character of the Christian life. Three
OF the MESA ges that were sent to the
seven churches have been selected for
the lesson. because their spiritual mes
sage with their practical social appli-
cation was meant for the churches of
every land and for all time.
On Caivary's cross the Lord revealed
His passion for the lost. On the Mount
Of Olivet. Christ brought His earthly
labor to close by giving His march
ing orders to His disciples to carry out
3. His program to win the world for their
departing Master. who promised to fit
them for His service by the gift Of the
Holy Spirit. At the close Of the cen
tury the patient Christ, who had full
filled His pledge at Pentecost, drew
near to John, the prisoner of the Lord.
upon Patmos that through His aged
servant He might send a final message
that would persuade the Indifferent,
decadent and drowsy churches to man
In carrying out His program to con-
quer the lost world for Christ and His
church.
Although each letter contained a
message adapted to the needs of that
particular church, there is a similarity
Of construction in all Of the epistles
Each letter commences by focusing the
thought of all upon the Lord Jesus.
n fn fhA OBJ 81
tfDna and Christianity will all be re-
moved when all shall recognize the
personal presence of the Christ with
every church and individual Christian
directing their service and securing
their success through the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit. The only
rational reason for the progress made
= by Christianity throughout the CEN
Lord who. through the Holy Spirit.
has made possible the success of def
-eient- preachers and defective churches.
Christ's message to the Ephesian
through the work of the Apostle Paul.
who had in his letter to them both
commanded their work and pointed out
their danger, calls for the careful con-
sideration Of the modern Christian
This church was founded in a section
that was surrounded by the depravity,
darkness and death of paganism. 1t
had developed into a large and infu-
entail community of professed believ-
ers, whose service. patience. rejection
of the evil ones and testing of the
orthodoxy of the teachers of the church
secured the hearty commendation of
the Lord in His message to their pastor.
Although the Ephesians were loyal to
the creed and church organization. the
risen Lord charged them with being
disloyal to Him because they lacked
personal love for Christ This was
-ersosal defect, for the essence of true
religion is in the heart The love test t
said the great Master, keep my COM
mandments.'' The members of the
Ephesian Church abandoned their first
love for their Savior. and. yielding to
the. spirit of worldliness. substituted
self for Christ. This defect opened the
door for the entrance of Satan and sin
into their heart until they became
spurious Christians. Their zeal for
their personal hobbies caused them to
overthrow the Divine order. which
places love for Christ Jesus as the
frst- requirement of the Christian life.
Every individual that puts self first in
their plans is doomed to fail as fol-