I will trust his love, for it e’er will last; It is rich and warm and free; Through the years of life it will hold me fast, And my help and comfort be. To my waiting heart all its treasures rare, As a sparkling stream shall flow; In the joy of God I shall ever share, Just because he loves me so. TALK THIRTY-FOUR. IN CHRIST AND IN EPHESUS Paul addressed his Ephesian epistle, “To the saints which are at _Ephesus_, and to the faithful _in Christ Jesus_.” The people addressed were in Ephesus, and they were likewise in Christ. What did it mean to be in Ephesus? Ephesus was one of the great centers of paganism. It was adorned with costly and magnificent temples. It was rich and voluptuous. Both private and public life were utterly corrupt. Even the religious practises of the Ephesians were unspeakably vile. This city was a moral bog, a sink of pollution, filled with all corruption, and reeking with vileness. It was a second Sodom. Vice stalked abroad everywhere and was honored and worshiped. We might therefore well say, “Can any good thing come out of Ephesus? Can Christianity flourish in such surroundings?” But there were saints in Ephesus, and faithful ones, too. They were such in their lives and characters as to win the commendation of that great apostle to the Gentiles. Out of that obnoxious mud of iniquity were growing the pure white lilies of Christian character. That is the glory of Christianity and of Christ. Those who were now Christians were not superior to the other Ephesians; they were not by nature different. In fact, Paul tells them that they had been the children of wrath, even as others, and that they had been such by nature. What a triumph of divine grace that raised these people up out of such unspeakable filth and made them faithful saints! And yet that is the power of our great Christ. Some persons look around at the present condition of things in this world, at sin abounding on every hand, and say, “There is no use for me to try to be a Christian or to be different from the others.” There are many who look at things in this way. They think it useless to try to be righteous under present conditions. Once while walking down the street of a certain city, I came upon a policeman standing on the street-corner. I engaged him in conversation, which I quickly turned into religious channels, and began inquiring about his own standing. He said to me in a hopeless voice, “Oh, there is no use talking; there is no chance for a policeman.” I tried to tell him of the power of God and of what salvation would do for him. But it seemed as an idle tale to him, and he could only reply, “There is no hope for a policeman.”