He knows nothing of this warfare, and as yet, is himself an enemy to God. Rom. viii. 7. This great conflict must first commence within our own hearts, before we can rally around the banners of Christ, for the defence of his church. And that only begins, when in the day of God's power, the sinner's eyes are opened, and he turned from darkness to light, and from the power [Ts Essias armour] of Satan unto God, that he may by spiritual arms and divine assistance, combat his own corruptions, and fight the good fight of faith in the presence of the Lord. Only those pastors then, truly and experimentally acquainted with Christ, can take an effectual share in this conflict of the church, under her great Captain. And all those who do, and endure manfully to the end, overcoming the enemies of Christ in their desperate attempts against his church in their time, shall eat of the tree of life; of which the tree in Eden was only the type, from which Adam was prevented to eat after the fall, by being banished out of paradise. It was customary with the ancient Hebrews and many Eastern nations, to term every thing very beautiful, salutary or glorious a tree of life; but here it seems to convey the peculiar promise of immortality, in a state of innocence and fruition of God, of which the happiness of our first parents is only a figure. According to the Zend Avesta, or scriptures of the Persians, the tree of life grows in the midst of the fountain of immortality, upon the holy mount, right in the centre of the world. Here is the mother of rivers, from whence this heavenly element extends itself, pregnant with germs of life for plants, trees, animals and men,

over all the nature of Ormuzd. This king of all trees, the tree of life, is nourished by the vital parts of this fountain, and its sap endows with immortality, and produces the resurrection of the dead. See Herders Erlauterungen. II. P. p. 102. This tree of life is, no doubt, a symbol of Jesus Christ, and of the blessed effects of his redemption. John vi. 53-55. Who endows his people with immortality and eternal life in heaven.

This charge next to its general use, seems particularly intended for the first evangelic ministry immediately in, and after the apostolic age. That has been the time, according to church history, when their first love had much abated, when the church was infested by false apostles, the Nicolaitanes and other teachers of heresy, of which however we now know little more, than barely their names. See Mosheims Eccl. History.

A PASTORAL CHARGE

TO THE ANGEL AT SMYRNA.

8. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; these things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, [but thou art rich] and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

10. Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried: and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches; he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The exhortation in the former charge seems to have had its desired effect on the gospel ministry of those days, since this pastoral letter contains all praise, comfort and promise, without the least censure or blame. They had returned again to their first love, and were now doing their first works with renewed zeal, for the glory of Christ and his church. Such a revival was also highly neces sary. The Lord wanted a host of Martyrs, for some divine purposes unknown to us, and therefore permitted the Roman emperors to turn their whole empire into a fiery furnace of affliction, for all who adored the name of Christ; in which the hottest place was always appointed for the pastors of the church.

Verse 8. Was dead and is alive. He first died for us, and it is therefore no more than reasonable and just, we also should die for him and for his cause. He is now alive, by his own power, and having the keys of hell and of death, is able to raise us to glory. He is sole proprietor of our life as our creator, preserver, and since he has given himself a ransome for us, when we, by sin, had forfeited all right and title among the living; and may therefore demand it when, and in what manner he may judge expedient.

Verse 9. Iknow thy works. Inter dw, igaw, BREW, Jeαoμai, Jewgew, hoc videtur interresse, quod ida, sit perspicio. See Pasor. old therefore may be rendered: I have well observed, understood, [Mark iv. 12.] or minutely inspected all your different offices, with what sort of persons they are filled, and how they are administered.

Tribulation. Here the Lord foretells those sanguinary and barbarous persecutions, which the christians suffered during the first centuries under the Roman emperors. The followers of Christ, and more especially the ministers, suffered all kinds of punishments and tortures, both capital and corrective, to the amount of some millions of souls. It is by no means improbable, that the Lord may here allude to ten such calamitous times, as the word suga, day, often signifies time, particularly in the New Testament. Math. xxiii. 30. Luke iv. 25. Math. ii. 1. vii. 22. John ix. 4. Rom. xiii. 12. But the first two under Nero and Domitian cannot be taken into this account, as they were already past.

Poverty, but thou art rich. The Pagan magistracy at that time throughout the whole Roman empire, rapacious and insatiable, were perpetually gaping after the confiscation of property in order to enrich themselves. When the multitude craved the blood of the christians, they readily consented, and transferred the greatest part of the forfeitures to their own pockets. Where the father of a

family suffered martyrdom, or became a public confessor, the magistracy stripped the whole family of their estate; and hence the extreme poverty and indigence of the ministers. The Lord himself comforts them here in their distresses, by reminding and assuring them a-new, of their great reward on the day of retribution. Math. xix. 29. Mark. x. 29.

Blasphemy of the Jews. The Jews persecuted the christians with great hatred and malignity from the time of Christ's death to their total defeat under Adrian. Even after they had lost the power to execute their cruel purposes themselves, they turned inveterate and public accusers against them, so long as they could obtain a hearing. In Palestine and all the Roman provinces, they seized every occasion to load them with injuries and reproach. In order to stir up both the magistracy and people to their destruction, they accused them of being enemies to the Roman emperors, and state; the same as the Roman Catholics have lately done in France against the Protestants. The Church of Christ at no time had more perfidious and bitter enemies, than the Jews, wherefore the Lord here calls them a synagogue of Satan; which word signifies, an accuser in judgment. They were false Jews, and instruments of Satan. Rom. ii. 28.

Verse 10. Fear none of those things. This comfort and assurance, no doubt, was very necessary. It is likely that many of the ministry were much discouraged by the vio'lent opposition of the Jews, and the bloody persecution of the Heathens, and some may have entertained serious thoughts of ceasing to preach. They were every moment in danger of their lives, since the Heathens and Jews sought them in particular, and tried every manner of torture to induce them to apostatize. Their flesh had no rest, but was troubled on every side; without were fightings and death, within were fears, 2. Cor. vii. 5. The Lord therefore answers beforehand to their awful state of mind: