Smyrna, and then successively to Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, so round to Ephesus again, which is the order that St John has observed in addressing them, and which probably was the circuit which he took in his visitation."

The Seven Churches of Asia were under St John's immediate inspection; he constituted bishops over them, and became, as it were, their metropolitan. Ephesus, at that time in its splendour, and the metropolis of Proconsular Asia, was the residence of the Apostle, the angel of which he first addresses. Some controversy has been maintained respecting the ecclesiastical rank or order of those angels or bishops, each party explaining and interpreting it according to his own views of church government and discipline. It is certain that the term "ANGEL" (angelos in Greek, and maleac in Hebrew, signifying a messenger) was a title very early given to the bishops of several churches, who presided over the clergy of a district or province, which in modern times is termed a diocese. In this sense some commentators explain the words of St Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 10, when he says that women ought to be covered in the church, because of the angels or bishops who would be present during the service. Dr Prideaux observes, that the minister of the synagogue, who officiated in offering up the public prayers, being the mouth of the persons assembled, and delegated by them as their representative, messenger, or angel, to address God in public worship, was therefore called in the Hebrew language the angel of the church. Hence the bishops of the Seven Churches of Asia are designated by a name borrowed from the synagogue, the angels of those Churches. Although there were literally seven of those Churches and seven bishops, to whom St John, their metropolitan or chief primate, wrote, the reader will observe that the number seven is frequently used in the Scriptures not to signify merely a definite, but a large and sufficient quantity. The Hebrew etymology of this number signifies

fulness and perfection; and Philo and St Cyprian term it the completing number.

Hannah, the mother of Samuel, exclaims in her song of thankfulness, "The barren hath borne seven," 1 Sam. ii. 5, which means a great number. The victims under the Jewish law bled by sevens; the golden candlestick had seven branches, bearing seven golden lamps; the mercy-seat was sprinkled seven times with the blood of the atonement; and to sacrifice by sevens was a characteristic of great solemnity in the Patriarchal times. The key to this custom, Bishop Horsley says, is the institution of the Sabbath, the observance of the seventh day being the sacrament of the ancient church. It moreover became a Jewish tradition after the Captivity, that the throne of God was attended by seven superior ministering angels, derived from the seven ministers who attended the throne of the Persian kings. Jonathan Ben Uzziel, in his Targum on Gen. ix. 7, tells us, that God commissioned the “seven angels which stand before him" to frustrate the building of the tower of Babel, by confusing the language of men. In the Apocryphal Book of Tobit we have another expression of the sentiment:—“I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One," Tob. xii. 15. Turning, however, from these Jewish traditions, we have the number seven magnificently illustrated by St John in the Apocalypse. Inthe glorious representation of the Deity, St John says that from the throne which he saw in his vision "proceeded lightnings, and thunders, and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God." When St John was first mysteriously commissioned to address the Seven Churches, he turned round, and saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man," who had in his right hand seven stars." The wondering Apostle, lost in amazement at the sight, received an explanation from

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his Divine Master:-"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter, the mystery which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the Seven Churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the Seven Churches." The Apostle in discharging his high commission, when thus again brought into converse with the Saviour of the world, who had regarded him with peculiar affection while he was on earth-for St John was "the disciple whom Jesus loved"-thus commences in the usual apostolic manner: "John, to the Seven Churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." Again the Apostle introduces these mysterious numbers, expressive of universality, fulness, and perfection, along with seven horns, the horn being a symbol of power among Eastern nations, and with a book, or skin of parchments, sealed with seven seals, to show that the decrees of God are inscrutable, and also sealed with those seven seals, as referring to so many signal periods of prophecy. "And I saw," says the Apostle, "in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?—And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." Such is this mysterious number so often mentioned in this peculiar manner. "What," says Dr Woodhouse, "can we account this universal Holy Spirit of God, proceeding from the Father and the Son, to be, but that which in the plainer

language of the Sacred Scriptures is called the Holy Ghost? The comment of the Venerable Bede on this passage appears just and forcible. Unum Spiritum dicit septiformum quæ est perfectio et plenitudo-The one Holy Spirit is here described as seven-fold, by which is intimated, in prophetic language, fulness and perfection."

The Seven Churches were undoubtedly among the first fruits of the Apostolic labours, and one of them, the Ephesians, is honoured with a special epistle from St Paul, who first preached the gospel in Ephesus, and founded the church there. Of the apostolic labours in Proconsular Asia, it may be thus observed in a summary manner, that St Paul planted the gospel in Cilicia, Galatia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, Mysia, lonia, Pisidia, and Pamphylia; he also visited Caria and Lysia. That indefatigable Apostle commenced his illustrious career in Asia, namely, at Tarsus in Cilicia, his native place, it is conjectured about A.D. 39, and the last time he was in the country was when at Myra in Lydia, on his way to Rome, about A.D. 59. Six of his Epistles were sent into the Lesser Asiaone to Ephesus, one to Colosse, one to Galatia, two to Timothy in Ephesus, and one to Philemon in Colosse. St Luke was in Mysia, Caria, and Lycia, accompanying St Paul. St John was in Ionia, a country in which he generally resided. St Peter planted the gospel in Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Pontus, to the "strangers" scattered throughout which, and also in Galatia and Asia, he addresses his two Epistles. St Mark, St Barnabas, and Silas, made Pamphylia, Galatia, Cilicia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Mysia, the scenes of their apostolic labours.

The apostolic and primitive Fathers connected with Lesser Asia are Timothy, who was bishop of Ephesus, and who was also connected with the provinces of Lycaonia, Phrygia, Galatia, and Mysia; Aquila, Apollos, Tychicus, and Trophimus, bishops of Ephesus; Epaphras, successively bishop of Laodicea, Colosse, and Hierapolis. Ignatius

at Smyrna and Troas, A.D. 107; Poly carp, the chosen friend and disciple of St John, bishop of Smyrna, before A.D. 108; Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, A.D. 116; Justin Martyr at Ephesus, about A.D. 140; Melito, bishop of Sardis, A.D. 177; Irenæus, probably born at Smyrna, A.D. 140; Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, A.D. 196; Palinas, bishop of Amastris in Pontus, A.D. 170; Claudius Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, A.D. 176. From this short detail it will be seen that the gospel made rapid progress in Asia Minor, and that the" angels" or bishops of the Seven Churches exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction over extensive districts, abounding in that early age with flourish ing churches, some of which enjoyed the inspired ministry of the Apostles themselves.

The Epistles to the Seven Churches, and indeed the whole Apocalypse, was written, it is well known, by St John in Patmos the barren and rocky island, now called Palmosa, south of Samos in the Archipelago. In this island, immortalized as being the place where "the things which are, and which shall be hereafter," were mysteriously revealed to the Apostle, the Roman Emperors frequently confined offenders, a practice which they also adopted in other parts of the world. The associations connected with the Apocalyptic visions render the volcanic and almost tenantless rock of Patmos interesting to the Christian, as the place where inspiration completed the sum of its important and momentous announcements, and ceased its visible intercourse with the world which had been cheered for ages with its "still small voice." The venerable metropolitan of the Seven Churches, the last surviving member of Christ's first company of followers, whose companions in the Apostleship had by this time suffered martyrdom in various parts of the world, was dragged from his residence at Ephesus, and banished to this rugged volcanic rock, for bearing testimony to the cause of that Master by whom while on earth he was tenderly beloved. The

manner in which this last surviving member of the Apostolic college speaks of his exile and situation is simple and affecting. “I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." We have no information respecting the Apostle's situation in Patmos on which we can depend; antiquity, sacred or ecclesiastical, is almost silent on the subject; but, judging from the present deserted and miserable appearance of the island, we may safely place the "disciple whom Jesus loved" among those who dwelt in "dens and caves of the earth-of whom the world was not worthy, being destitute, afflicted, tormented." Here was the beloved disciple doomed to perpetual confinement, and we may easily conceive the feelings of the venerable overseer of the Seven Churches when he reflected on his own solitude, and the several churches under his jurisdiction. There can be no doubt they were the objects of his intense and harrowing thoughts on that memorable day when those stupendous revelations were made known to him, many of which are yet to be accomplished. "I was in the Spirit," he says, "on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; and, What thou seest write in a book, and send it unto the Seven Churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and Laodicea."

We shall follow the venerable Apostle in the order in which he addresses his Epistles to the Seven Churches. Under the article EPHESUS the reader will find a complete account of the introduction of Christianity, the past history and present state of Ephesus, now called Aiasaluk by the Turks. It is our intention here to commence at the period when the Apocalypse was published to this and the other six Churches, which forms, as it were, an episode in their history, but an

65, and the Second Epistle, A. D. 66; now, if we take either the date of Michaelis when the Epistle to the Ephesians was written, A. D. 61, or that of the Bible chronology, A. D. 64, when the Ephesian Church was so sound in doctrine that it was highly complimented by St Paul, we find from the First Epistle to Timothy, written in A. D. 65, that false judaising teachers soon appeared, spreading abroad their dangerous heresies, whom Timothy was directed to oppose, and to which the Apostle wrote an Epistle instructing him in his momentous duties. The disturbers of the Ephesian Church are mentioned by name Hymeneus, Alexander, and Philetus. Of these individuals nothing is known. Dr Doddridge conjectures that the Alexander here mentioned is the same person so named in Acts xix. 33, "who might become worse and worse after St Paul's departure from Ephesus, being emboldened by his departure."

Con

cerning the two former, however, the Apostle informs Timothy that he had delivered them unto Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme. It is unnecessary to mention here the false doctrines which these early disturbers of the Church maintained, for every one can infer what they were with tolerable accuracy by a perusal of the two Epistles to Timothy. It may be observed that their notions are described as "fables,” probably invented to promote the observance of the Mosaic law as essential to salvation; "endless genealogies," or an endeavour to trace a lineal descent from Abraham as a sufficient title to every spiritual blessing; "vain janglings" about the letter of the law, to the neglect of the spiritual part; "and oppositions of science falsely so called," or the propagation of doctrines subversive of the purity of the gospel. But those disturbers do not appear to have been restrained by the punishment inflicted on them by St Paul. In A. D. 66, a second Epistle was sent to Timothy by the Apostle, which is regarded by the whole Church as the last Epistle he wrote; for we are told in the note at the end of

it, that "the Second Epistle unto Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of the Church of the Ephesians, was written from Rome when Paul was brought before Nero the second time." In this Epistle these disturbers are still mentioned as seeking to dim the lustre of sacred truth with the shades of error and schism. That Timothy was still at Ephesus when he received this Epistle is evident from the following circumstances :- 1. He is directed to avoid the vain babbling of Hymeneus, and to be on his guard against Alexander, the heretical teachers men→ tioned in the first Epistle, 2 Tim. ii. 16, 17, 18; iv. 15;—and, 2. The apostle salutes the family of Onesiphorus, who appear to have generally resided at Ephesus, 2 Tim. i. 18. In addition to the errors already mentioned, another heresy was propagated by Philetus, who, wishing to conciliate the Greek philoso phers, maintained that the resurrection had already happened. "Study to shew thyself," says St Paul to Timothy, "approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a canker (gangrene, in the margin of our Bibles); of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some,” 2 Tim. ii. 1518. This is the only place in the New Testament where Philetus is mentioned; but it is evident that the dogmas of this innovator were embraced by a large number of converts, and became afterwards a prominent feature of Gnosticism. "The doctrine of the resurrection of the body," says Milner, "as taught by Christ and his disciples, received a figurative interpretation, and was affirmed to mean only a spiritual deliverance from ignorance and error by the influence of the gospel. There was no article of the Christian faith so offensive to the sophists of antiquity as that of the resurrection, because it at once subverted their favourite