he would have given offence had he not also favoured the
Christian communities in its neighbourhood with his presence; and as he
could not afford to spend so much time in Asia as would thus have been
required, he adopted the expedient of inviting all the elders of the
district to repair to him in the place where he now sojourned. [258:3]
From Ephesus, the capital, his invitation could be readily transmitted
to other provincial cities. The address which he delivered to the
assembled elders certainly conveys the impression that they did not all
belong to the metropolis, and its very first sentence suggests such an
inference. "When they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from
the first day that I came _into Asia_ after what manner I have been
_with you_ at all seasons." [259:1] The evangelist informs us that he
had spent only two years and three months at Ephesus, [259:2] and yet he
here tells his audience that "by the space of _three years_" he had not
ceased to warn every one night and day with tears. [259:3] He says also
"I know that _ye all among whom I have gone_ preaching the kingdom of
God, shall see my face no more," [259:4]--thereby intimating that his
auditors were not resident in one locality. We have also distinct
evidence that when Paul formerly ministered at Ephesus, there were
Christian societies throughout the province, for in his First Epistle to
the Corinthians written from that city, [259:5] he sends his
correspondents the salutations of "the Churches of Asia." [259:6] These
Churches must obviously have been united by the ties of Christian
fellowship; and the apostle must have been in close communication with
them when he was thus employed as the medium of conveyance for the
expression of their evangelical attachment.

In other parts of the New Testament we may discern traces of
consociation among the primitive Churches. Thus, Paul, their founder,
sends to "the Churches of Galatia" [259:7] a common letter in which he
requires them to "serve one another," [259:8] and to "bear one another's
burdens." [259:9] Without some species of united action, the Galatians
could not well have obeyed such admonitions. Peter also, when writing to
the disciples "scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia," [259:10] represents them as an associated body. "The
elders," says he, "which are among you I exhort, who am also an
elder....feed _the flock of God_ which is among you taking the ove