(REVELATION 2, 3)
On the island of Patmos, John was given the messages addressed to the seven churches. The structure of each message follows a certain pattern where God seems to communicate the following:
1. Appreciation (good qualities)
2. Correction (ungodly practices)
3. Warnings
4. God’s promises to those who obey Him
5. Punishment to those who disobey Him
Message to the Church in Ephesus
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. “(Revelation 2:1-7)
1. Good Qualities
Their work, labor and patience “I know your works, your labor” (NKJV)
The New Living Translation (NLT) version puts it thus: ‘I know all the things you do.’ And it was not simple but hard work. Surely here, we are not talking about the day to day work we do, but rather, the work towards the expansion of the Kingdom. It is not because the regular work we do in this world is not considered a spiritual thing. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to work the garden just as we work our ‘fields’ daily. But here God says “I know your hard work for the expansion of the kingdom”. Apostle Paul says about his hard work in the ministry field: “… I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked….” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27)
Bible speaks about the different kinds of crowns. “… And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:4). We will receive the reward without fail, even if it is for an act as simple as giving a glass of water.
But here comes the important part of it. A mature servant of God forgets to think of the crown and his other rewards, because he is always enjoying the life and the life in abundance. It is possible that in the initial days of our Christian walk or in the midst of the tiredness of ministry, we have thought or meditated or even sung about the rewards, and rightly so. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18). But as time passes on, our focus is and ought to be increasingly directed towards our Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, while not purposefully, but naturally we forget to think of the rewards.
The elder son, in the story of the ‘prodigal son’ (Luke15:28-30) was working for many years to receive a reward. In all his long years of hard work, his eyes were on the reward. When he served his father and worshipped him, sang and praised him, spent time with him and whatever else he did, he did it all for a reward.
His father was merely ‘an able source’ that could provide him all that his heart longed for. At first sight, his service appears to be for his father but in truth he worked not for his father, but for himself, to earn himself a reward. Since his attention was on the reward, he missed the father’s incomparable gift, which was the father’s very presence. What a pity that he valued as even greater, the reward of a lamb or a young goat to rejoice with his friends, and thought that would bring him joy.
Many missionaries in the mission field are like this foolish son. They trade the joy of the Master’s presence for a lamb. This lamb may be the appreciation they receive on sharing their bleeding testimonies from the mission fields, or an increase in the visible results of their work or any kind of reward which will soothe the carnal desires of their flesh. Many are sad simply for not having such spectacular stories to present. And as with them, we too experience the disappointment when the yield of our labor does not match the level of expectation of our mission leaders.
But in this lies the paradox of Christianity. Even though God will no doubt reward the hard workers, the Bible talks of a group of hard workers who, in place of a reward received harsh treatment from Jesus.” Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “(Matt 7:22-23). What went wrong? Did they not work hard? Yes, not only so, everything they did was done in the name of the Lord. But, in all their hard labor for the Lord they were unaware of how their attention slowly slipped from the Lord to their activities. They did not realize when the cord of love that bound them to the Master had loosened. They were no longer able to make time for their master. Not that they did not have time, but their priorities had changed. They could now work independent of Him, they no longer needed Him. Every aspect of their decision – where, when, how and how much – were now made on their own to suit their convenience.
It is helpful to understand the difference between the Lord’s servant and these people engrossed in serving the Lord. The Lord’s servant is called and anointed by the Lord and has the Holy Spirit working through him. He is a useful and fitted instrument in the hands of God. But it works differently in the case of the latter. They call the shots, but it is made to look as if it were from the Lord. Their priority is the ministry and not the master. They can afford to skip their prayer time but they cannot afford to skip the pulpit.
God will reward all His servants with regard to one and only one thing and that is faithfulness. We can never measure faithfulness with numbers. There are many faithful servants of the Lord who have been working for many years in the mountain regions of the Himalayas and in the tribal areas of Odisha, who would end up very low in our rating, if such criteria were valid.
Jesus explained two different parables regarding talents given to servants. One is found in Luke 19:11-26 and the other in Matthew 25:14-30. In the story in Luke, the servants received an equal share of ‘ten minas’ which is roughly the equivalent of thirty months’ wages. But the earnings they made using this money were different. For this reason, we also find that they were commented differently by the Master. As a result, they were put in charge of cities, the number of which varied according to their earnings.
But the parable in Matthew is entirely different. All the servants did not receive the same amount. One received five talents, and next received two and the last, one. The Master was not partial to any of his servants in his distribution. Rather he distributed them according to their abilities. It is written “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey” (Mat 25:15). The master gave them according to their ability. God has formed us with different abilities.
The Bible says “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). God is the Author of our gifts and bestows them to us in different capacities. One’s ministry, its scope, influence, time-span, areas, methods are all different, one from another.
God appoints some to plant, some others to water. But there are some that God sends for the harvest. We ought to bear in mind that unlike planting and watering, harvest is a festival. And not everyone is a part of it. Also, some are placed like a foundation which none can see, but some are in more visible positions that easily get the attention and even appreciation of others. And since these are all gifts, He chooses the one on whom He may bestow them. There have been occasions where He anointed even the ungodly.
Since God’s ways are so vast yet diverse, He measures how we use His gifts solely on the basis of faithfulness and not on numbers. In the parable we looked at in Matthew, the earnings of the servants were different, five and two. Humanly speaking, five and two are not the same. Two is less than five. Still the Master comments them in same manner: “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “(Mt 25:21,23).
The Bible mentions an old woman who in all probability was hardly well known like Paul and Peter or even like the Pharisees or the High priest. Her ministry was within the boundary of the temple. “Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:36-37). But she was among the blessed few who recognized the Messiah when He was born. In God’s eyes, the value of her ministry was not a matter of numbers, but of persevering in faithfulness until the Promise came though.
If this was not the case, two of the Bible’s greatest failures would have been John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Himself. John the Baptist carried on his ministry for a mere six months. His disciples left him to follow Another. ” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.” (John 1:35-37). He was poor and enjoyed no ‘prosperity’ or ‘blessings’. “When the messengers of John had gone, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “…What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces” (Luke 7:24-25).
But he was in no way a failure. He was sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. That was exactly what he did. He introduced Jesus to the world. His work finished, he left for where he belonged.
Next, our Lord Jesus Christ- He was not a good administrator and His choices seemed like utter failures. He chose Judah Iscariot who was the betrayer, choosing a thief for an accountant. He Himself said that His disciples would outdo His own miracles and ministry. Was He not a failure? The answer lies in the testimonies of people around the world, down through the centuries, who have been brought out of the darkness, purchased by the blood of the Lamb. Praise the Lord that includes you and me. Our resounding answer is “No, no… Jesus was not a failure. I am the evidence!”
The Ephesian church was faithful in the ministry. They worked hard for the expansion of the Kingdom. God tells them, ‘I know’. God knows our work for Him. So do not be discouraged, run faithfully till the end.
“Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their lives to the point of death, Naphtali also, on the heights of the battlefield” (Judges 5:18)