actions of our apostle, after his sailing for to him: and when he was come, and had Cyprus. This, however, seems to be certain, given him an account of the churches of that he did not spend the whole remainder Macedonia, St. Paul sent him back to Thesof his life in that island, but visited different salonica, whence he afterward returned with parts of the world, preaching the glad tid- Silas, and came to St. Paul at Corinth. ings of the gospel, healing the sick, and There he continued with him for some time, working other miracles among the Gentiles. and the apostle mentions him with Silas, at After long and painful travels, attended with the beginning of the two Epistles which he different degrees of success in different then wrote to the Thessalonians. places, he returned to Cyprus, his native country, where he suffered martyrdom in the following manner: certain Jews coming from Syria and Salamis, where Barnabas was then preaching the gospel, being highly exasperated at his extraordinary success, fell upon him as he was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out, and after the most inhuman tortures, stoned him to death. His kinsman, John Mark, who was a spectator of this barbarous action, privately interred his body in a cave; where it remained till the time of the emperor Zeno, in the year of Christ 485, when it was discovered, with St. Matthew's Gospel, in Hebrew, written with his own hand, lying on his breast.

TIMOTHY.

This great asserter of the cause of Christ was a disciple of St. Paul, and born at Lystra in Lycaonia. His father was a Gentile, but his mother was a Jewess. Her name was Eunice, and that of his grandmother Lois. These particulars are taken notice of, because St. Paul commends their piety, and the good education which they had given Timothy.

Some years after this, St. Paul sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia; and gave Timothy orders to call at Corinth, to refresh the minds of the Corinthians with regard to the truths which he had inculcated in them. Some time after, writing to the same Corinthians, he recommends them to take care of peace; after Timothy, and send him back in which Timothy returned to St. Paul into Asia, who there staid for him. They went together into Macedonia; and the apostle puts Timothy's name with his own before the second Epistle to the Corinthians, which he wrote to them from Macedonia, about the middle of the year of Christ 57. And he sends his recommendations to the Romans in the letter which he wrote from Corinth the same year.

When St. Paul returned from Rome, in 64, he left Timothy at Ephesus to take care of that church, of which he was the first bishop, as he is recognized by the council of Chalcedon.

St. Paul wrote to him from Macedonia the first of the two letters which are addressed to him. He recommends him to be more moderate in his austerities, and to drink a little wine, because of the weakWhen St. Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, ness of his stomach, and his frequent infirmiAfter the apostle came to Rome in the about the year of Christ 51 or 52, the breth- ties. ren gave such an advantageous testimony of year 65, being then very near his death, he the merit and good disposition of Timothy, wrote to him his second letter, which is full that the apostle took him with him, in order of marks of kindness and tenderness for this to assist him in propagating the doctrine of his dear disciple; and which is justly looked his great Lord and Master. Timothy applied upon as the last will of St. Paul. He desires himself to labor with St. Paul in the busi-him to come to Rome to him before winter, ness of the gospel, and did him very impor- and bring with him several things which he tant services, through the whole course of had left at Troas. If Timothy went to Rome, his preaching, St. Paul calls him not only as it is probable he did, he must have been his dearly beloved son, but also his brother, the companion of his labors, and a man of God.

This holy disciple accompanied St. Paul to Macedonia, to Philippi, to Thessalonica, to Berea; and when the apostle went from Beræa, he left Timothy and Silas there, to confirm the converts. When he came to Athens, he sent for Timothy to come thither

an eyewitness of the martyrdom of Paul, which happened in the year of Christ 68.

After Timothy had visited Paul at Rome, he returned to Ephesus, where he continued to govern the church as its bishop, without the least interruption, for a considerable time, till at length he fell a victim to the malice of the pagans, who were his most inveterate enemies. These heathen made a great

feast, in the celebration of which they carried | inform Paul of the state of the church in in procession the images of their idols, being that city. Paul was well pleased with the all masked, and armed with clubs and other account he gave, and the success of his emoffensive weapons. Timothy, seeing the bassy; and intending himself to go to Corprocession, was so irritated at their idolatry inth, desired Titus to return thither, to make and superstition, that he rushed in among some necessary preparations previous to his them in order to stop their proceedings; departure for that city. Titus readily unupon which they immediately fell upon him, dertook the journey, and immediately set and, with their clubs, beat him in so unmer-off, carrying with him St. Paul's second ciful a manner that he soon expired. They Epistle to the Corinthians. left the body on the spot where they had Titus was made bishop of the island of murdered him, which was removed thence by Crete, about the sixty-third year after Christ, some of his disciples, and decently interred when St. Paul was obliged to quit that on the top of a mountain at a small island, in order to take care of the other distance from the city. The Greeks com-churches. The following year, Paul wrote memorate his martyrdom on the 22d of him to desire, that as soon as he should have January, the day on which it is supposed he gave up his life in defence of the doctrine he had long labored to propagate; and during which time he had brought over great numbers of people to embrace the truth of the Christian religion.

TITUS.

Titus was a native of Greece, and a Gentile by birth; but was converted to the Christian faith by the apostle Paul, who, in consequence of his strict adherence to the doctrine of Christ, calls him his son. St. Jerome tells us that he was St. Paul's interpreter; and that, probably, because he might write what Paul dictated, or translate into Greek what he had written in Latin.

Soon after the conversion of Titus, the apostle Paul took him with him to Jerusalem; which was at the time when he went thither about deciding the dispute then in agitation relative to the converted Gentiles being made subject to the ceremonies of the Mosaic law. On their arrival there, some of the people were desirous that Titus should be circumcised; but this was not only refused by Titus, but totally objected to by Paul.

After this controversy was ended at Jerusalem, Paul sent Titus thence to Corinth, in order to adjust some disputes which had taken place in the church of that city. Titus was received by the people with the greatest marks of respect; and, from the various discourses he preached on the occasion, was so successful as effectually to discharge the business on which he was

sent.

After staying some time at Corinth, Titus went thence into Macedonia, in order to

sent Tychicus to him for supplying his place in Crete, he would come to him at Nicopolis, in Epirus, where the apostle intended to pass his winter.

The subject of this epistle is to represent to Titus what are the qualities that a bishop should be endued with. As the principal function which Titus was to exercise in the isle of Crete was to ordain priests and bishops, it was highly incumbent on him to make a discreet choice. The apostle also gives him a sketch of the advice and instructions which he was to propound to all sorts of persons: to the aged, both men and women; to young people of each sex; to slaves or servants. He exhorts him to keep a strict eye over the Cretans; and to reprove them with severity, as being a people addicted to lying, wickedness, idleness, and gluttony. And, as many Jews were in the churches of Crete, he exhorts Titus to oppose their vain traditions and Jewish fables; and at the same time to show them that the observation of the law ceremonies is no longer necessary; that the distinction of meat is abolished; and that every thing is pure and clean to those that are so themselves. He puts him in mind of exhorting the faithful to be obedient to temporal power; to avoid disputes, quarrels, and slander; to apply themselves to honest callings, and to shun the company of a heretic, after the first and second admonition.

Titus was deputed to preach the gospel in Dalmatia, where he was situated when the apostle wrote his second Epistle to Timothy. He afterward returned into Crete, from which it is said he propagated the gospel into the neighboring islands. He died at the age of ninety-four, and was buried in Crete. The Greeks keep his festival on the

25th of August, and the Latins on the 4th | the sick were cured by his shadow only. It of January.

JOHN MARK.

John Mark, cousin to St. Barnabas, and a disciple of his, was the son of a Christian woman named Mary, who had a house in Jerusalem, where the apostles and the Here they faithful generally used to meet. were at prayers in the night, when St. Peter, who was delivered out of prison by the angel, came and knocked at the door; and in this house the celebrated church of Sion was said to have been afterward established.

John Mark, whom some very improperly confound with the Evangelist St. Mark, adhered to St. Paul and St. Barnabas, and followed them in their return to Antioch. He continued in their company and service till they came to Perga, in Pamphylia; but then, seeing that they were undertaking a longer journey, he left them and returned to Jerusalem. This happened in 45 of the common era.

the

year

Some years after, that is to say in the year 51, Paul and Barnabas preparing to return into Asia, in order to visit the churches which they had formed there, the latter was of opinion that John should accompany them in this journey: but Paul would not consent to it; upon which occasion these two apostles separated. Paul went to Asia, and Barnabas with John Mark to the Isle of Cyprus. What John Mark did after this journey we do not know, till we find him at Rome in the year 63, performing signal services for St. Paul during his imprisonment.

is very probable that he died at Ephesus, where his tomb was very much celebrated and resorted to. He is sometimes called simply John, or Mark. The year of his death we are strangers to, and shall not collect all that is said of him in apocryphal and uncertain authors.

CLEMENT.

Clement is mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, where the apostle says that Clement's name is written in the book of life. The generality of the fathers and other interpreters make no question but that this is the same Clement who succeeded St. Paul, after Linus and Anaclet, in the government of the church of Rome; and this seems to be intimated when, in the office for St. Clement's day, that church appoints this part of the Epistle to the Philippians to be read.

We find several things relating to Clement's life in the recognitions and constitutions called apostolic; but as those works are not all looked upon as authentic, though there may be truths in some of them derived from the tradition of the first ages, little stress is to be laid upon their testimony. St. Chrysostom thinks that Clement, mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, was one of the apostle's constant fellowtravellers. Irenæus, Origin, Clemens of Alexandria, and others of the ancients, assert that Clement was a disciple of the apostles; that he had seen them and heard their instructions. St. Epiphanius, Jerome, Rufinus, Bede, and some others, were of opinion, that as the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul could not be continually at Rome, by reason of the frequent journeys which they were obliged to make to other places, and it was not proper that the city of Rome should be without a bishop, there was a necessity to supply the want of them by establishing Linus, Anaclet, and Clement, there. The constitutions inform us that Linus was ordained by St. Paul; Tertullian and Epiphanius say that St. Peter ordained Clement. Rufinus tells us that this apostle chose St. Clement for his successor. But Epiphanius In the Greek and Latin churches, the believes, that after he had been made bishop festival of John Mark is kept on the 27th of Rome by St. Peter, he refused to exercise of September. Some say that he was his office till, after the death of Linus and bishop of Biblis, in Phoenicia. The Greeks Anaclet, he was obliged to take upon him give him the title of apostle, and say that the care of the church; and this is the

The apostle speaks advantageously of him in his epistle to the Colossians: "Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, saluteth you. If he cometh unto you, receive him." He makes mention of him again in his Epistle to Philemon, written in the year 63, at which time he was with St. Paul at Rome; but in the year 65 he was with Timothy in Asia. And St. Paul, writing to Timothy, desires him to bring Marcus to Rome, adding that he was useful to him for the ministry of the gospel.

most generally-received opinion. St. Peter's immediate successor was Linus: Linus was succeeded by Anaclet, and Anaclet by Clement, in the year of Christ 91, which was the tenth of the reign of Domitian.

During his government over the church of Rome, that of Corinth was disturbed by a spirit of division, upon which Clement wrote a letter to the Corinthians, which is still extant, and was so much esteemed by the ancients that they read it publicly in many churches, and some have been inclined to range it among the canonical writings.

of the same month. Rufinus and Pope Zozimus give him the title of martyr; and the Roman church, in its canon, places him among the saints who have sacrificed their lives in the cause of Christ.

Thus have we given the most ample account of the followers of the blessed Jesus; the persons who spread, and caused to be spread, the light of the gospel over the whole world, removed the veil of ignorance and superstition drawn over the kingdoms of the earth, and taught us the method of attaining eternal happiness in the courts of the New Jerusalem.

In what manner Clement conducted himself, and how he escaped the general persecu- May we all follow their glorious examples! tion under the emperor Domitian, we have May we imitate their faith, their piety, their not any certain accounts; but we are very charity, and their love! Then shall we well assured that he lived to the third year" pass through things temporal in such a of the emperor Trajan, which is the hun- manner that we shall finally gain the things dredth of the Christian era. His festival eternal," and, through the merits of an is set down by Bede, and all the Latin all-perfect Redeemer, be admitted as wormartyrologists, on the 23d of November, and thy guests at the marriage-supper of the the Greeks honor him on the 24th and 25th Lamb.

CHAPTER XIII.

NOTICE OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA.

THE sure word of prophecy has unfolded many a desolation which has come upon the earth; but while it thus reveals the operation, in some of its bearings, of the "mystery of iniquity," it forms itself a part of the " mystery of godliness:" and it is no less the testimony of Jesus, because it shows, as far as earthly ruins can reveal, the progress and the issue of the dominion of "other lords over the hearts of the children of men. The sins of men have caused, and the cruelty of men has effected, the dire desolations which the word of God foretold. Signs and tokens" the testimony" was kept? of his judgments there indeed have been, yet they are never to be found but where iniquity first prevailed. And though all other warnings were to fail, the sight of his past judgments and the sounding of those that are to come, might teach the unrepenting and unconverted sinner to give heed to the threatenings of his word, and to the terrors of the Lord, and to try his ways and turn

unto God while space for repentance may be found, ere, as death leaves him, judgment shall find him. And may not the desolations which God has wrought upon the earth, and that accredit his word, wherein life and immortality are brought to light, teach the man whose God is the world, to cease to account it worthy of his worship and of his love, and to abjure that "covetousness which is. idolatry," till the idol of mammon in the temple within shall fall, as fell the image of Dagon before the ark of the Lord in which

But naming, as millions do, the name of Christ without departing from iniquity, there is another warning voice that may come more closely to them all. And it is not only from the desolate regions where heathen dwelt, which show how holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; but also from the ruins of some of the cities where churches were formed

by apostles, and where the religion of Jesus of as "rich," and no judgment was deonce existed in its purity, that all may learn nounced against it. They were warned of to know that God is no respecter of persons, a tribulation of ten days (the ten years' and that he will by no means clear the persecution by Diocletian), and were enjoined guilty. He that hath an ear let him hear to be faithful unto death, and they would what the Spirit saith unto the churches." receive a crown of life. (Ch. ii. 8-11.) And, unlike to the fate of the more famous city of Ephesus, Smyrna is still a large city, containing nearly one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, with several Greek churches, and an English and other Christian ministers have resided in it. The light has indeed become dim, but the candlestick has not been wholly removed out of its place.

What church could rightfully claim or ever seek a higher title than that which is given in Scripture to the seven churches of Asia, the angels of which were the seven stars in the right hand of Him who is the first and the last of Him that liveth and was dead, and is alive forevermore, and that hath the keys of hell and of death; and which themselves were the seven golden candlesticks in the midst of which he walked ? And who that hath an ear to hear may not humbly hear and greatly profit by what the Spirit said unto them? (Rev. ii. and iii.)

The CHURCH OF EPHESUS, after a commendation of their first works, to which they were commanded to return, were accused of having left their first love, and threatened with the removal of their candlestick out of its place, except they should repent. (Ch. ii. 5.) Ephesus is situated nearly fifty miles south of Smyrna. It was the metropolis of Lydia, and a great and opulent city, and (according to Strabo) the greatest emporium of Asia Minor. It was chiefly famous for the temple of Diana, "whom all Asia worshipped," which was adorned with 127 columns of Parian marble, each of a single shaft, and sixty feet high, and which formed one of the seven wonders of the world. The remains of its magnificent theatre, in which it is said that twenty thousand people could easily have been seated, are yet to be seen. (Acts xix. 29.) But а few heaps of stones, and some miserable mud cottages, occasionally tenanted by Turks, without one Christian residing there, * are all the remains of ancient Ephesus. It is, as described by different travellers, a solemn and most forlorn spot. The Epistle to the Ephesians is read throughout the world; but there is none in Ephesus to read it now. They left their first love, they returned not to their first works. Their candlestick has been removed out of its place, and the great city of Ephesus is no

more.

The CHURCH OF SMYRNA was approved

The CHURCH OF PERGAMOs is commended for holding fast the name of the Lord, and not denying his faith, during a time of persecution, and in the midst of a wicked city. But there were some in it who held doctrines and did deeds which the Lord hated Against them he was to fight with the sword of his mouth; and all were called to repent. But it is not said, as of Ephesus, that their candlestick would be removed out of its place. (Ch. ii. 12-16.) This city, the capital of Hellespontic Mysia, was situated on the right bank of the river Caicus, nearly sixty-four miles to the north of Smyrna. Its ancient consideration may be inferred from its possessing a library of two hundred thousand volumes, which Anthony and CleIt is opatra transferred to Alexandria. also noted as the birthplace of the physician Galen. It still, in its decline, retains some part of its ancient importance; and, under the name of Bergamo, contains a population which Mr. Macfarlane estimates at fourteen thousand, of which there are about three thousand Greeks, three hundred Armenians, and not quite three hundred Jews; the rest are Turks. The town consists of small and mean wooden houses, among which appear the remains of early Christian churches, showing, "like vast fortresses amid barracks of wood."

In the CHURCH OF THYATIRA, like that of Pergamos, some tares were soon mingled with the wheat. He who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire discerneth both. Yet, happily for the souls of the people, more than for the safety of the city, the general character of that church, as it then existed, is

* Arundel's Visit to the Seven Churches of Churches, as recorded in Bond's Memoir of this Asia, p. 27. Rev. Pliny Fisk's Visit to the Seven American Missionary.