rth the blessings of
civilisation and of happiness.

CHAPTER IV.

THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES.

The Apocalypse is a book of symbols. The light which we obtain from it
may well remind us of the instruction communicated to the Israelites by
the ceremonies of the law. The Mosaic institutions imparted to a Jew the
knowledge of an atonement and a Saviour; but he could scarcely have
undertaken to explain, with accuracy and precision, their individual
significance, as their meaning was not fully developed until the times
of the Messiah. So is it with "the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God
gave unto him to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass," and which "he sent and signified by his angel unto his servant
John." [263:1] The Church here sees, as "through a glass darkly," the
transactions of her future history; and she can here distinctly discern
the ultimate triumph of her principles, so that, in days of adversity,
she is encouraged and sustained; but she cannot speak with confidence of
the import of much of this mysterious record; and it would seem as if
the actual occurrence of the events foretold were to supply the only
safe key for the interpretation of some of its strange imagery.

In the beginning of this book we have an account of a glorious vision
presented to the beloved disciple. He was instructed to write down what
he saw, and to send it to the Seven Churches in Asia, "unto Ephesus, and
unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and
unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." [264:1] A vision so extraordinary
as that which he describes, must have left upon his mind a permanent and
most vivid impression. "I saw," says he, "_seven golden candlesticks_,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as
snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine
brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of
many waters--and _he had in his rigid hand seven stars_, and out of his
mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun
shineth in his strength." [264:2]

In the foreground of this picture the Son of God stands conspicuous. His
dress corresponds to that of the Jewish high priest, and the whole
description of His person has obviously