1287* number are but two Christians, who live together in a small mill: unhappily, neither could read at all; the copy, therefore, of the New Testament, which I intended for this church, I left with that of Denizli, the offspring and poor remains of Laodicea and Colosse. The prayers of the mosque are the only prayers which are heard near the ruins of Laodicea; on which the threat seems to have been fully executed, in its utter rejection as a church.

"4. Philadelphia, now Alah-shehr. It was gratifying to find at last some surviving fruits of early zeal; and here, at least, whatever may be the loss of the spirit of Christianity, there is still the form of a Christian church: this has been kept from the hour of temptation, which came upon all the Christian world. There are here about one thousand Christians, chiefly Greeks, who for the most part speak only Turkish: there are twenty-five places of public worship, five of which are large regular churches; to these there is a resident bishop, with twenty inferior clergy.

"5. Sardis.......The few Christians who dwell around modern Sart were anxious to settle there, and erect a church, as they were in the habit of meeting at each other's houses for the exercise of religion. From this design they were prohibited by Kar 'Osman Oglu, the Turkish governor of the district: and, in consequence, about five years ago, they built a church upon the plain, within view of ancient Sardis; and there they maintain a priest. The place has gradually risen into a little village, now called Tatar-keny; thither the few Christians of Sart, who amount to seven, and those in its immediate vicinity, resort for public worship, and form together a congregation of about forty. There appears then still a remnant, 'a few names even in Sardis,' which have been preserved. I cannot repeat the expressions of gratitude with which they received a copy of the New Testament, in a language with which they were familiar. Several crowded about the priest to hear it on the spot, and I left them thus engaged.

"6. Ak-hisar, the ancient Thyatira, is said to contain about thirty thousand inhabitants, of whom three thousand are Christians, all Greeks, except about two hundred Armenians. There is, however, but one Greek

church, and one Armenian. The superior of the Greek church, to whom I presented the Romaic Testament, esteemed it so great a treasure that he earnestly pressed me, if possible, to spare another, that one might be secured to the church, and free from accidents, while the other went round among the people for their private reading.

"7. The church of Pergamos, in respect to numbers, may be said to flourish still in Bergamo. The town is less than Ak-hisar ; but the number of Christians is about as great, the proportion of Armenians to Greeks nearly the same, and each nation also has one church."

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS,

FROM THE VISION OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES.

FROM this vision, upon which we have spent so much sweet labour, and brought forth so much of what hath been to our own soul profitable discourse, we have several conclusions, which we would express with all brevity and comprehensiveness.

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First. Concerning the church, which is the main subject of the vision, we conclude, that it is an infinite promotion above our standing as creatures, yea even as redeemed creatures, to be made members thereof. The whole world is redeemed, and every man who dwelleth thereon; all the children of Adam are redeemed out of death, and in virtue of this redemption shall stand up out of death again. But they are not therefore all made members of the church, which is purely and solely of the election of God, who alone hath a right to adopt whom he would into the name and degree of sons. For to be a churchman is to be a son of God, born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. This church is to be for ever, in all ages and in all places, the activity of God, his abode, his manifestation, by which he doeth every thing, and without which he will not do any thing; his fulness, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. It is the last pre-eminence of creature being, compared with which the highest name in heaven among the creatures is but as a servant's humble place. To set forth the glory and excellency, the privileges and prerogatives of the church, is the subject of this vision.

Secondly. The church consisteth of an election made by God from the common mass of redeemed men. And because redemption out of death's hand is first necessary, in order to obtain from God this body of living activity, wherein he may express all the riches of his glory, fulfil

all the purposes of his goodness, and put forth all the actings of his power unto all men and other creatures for ever; he amongst men who is able to remove the let of death and corruption out of the way, and the antecedent let of sin, is the Man under whose headship it must all be constituted, because without such an one there cannot be a church without his victory over death, and the devil who hath the power over death, God's purpose to have a church, and to work in and by a church, must utterly fail. The Person who wrought this work of redemption for the whole creation of God fallen under sin was Jesus of Nazareth, who in virtue of this work is exalted both Christ and Lord, above every name that is named, whether in this world or in that which is to come; is given to be Head over all to the church, which is his body. And besides him there is not nor can be any other Head, because no one but he had any hand in the work of redemption; by which he procured for himself this solitary and sublime height of place, to be the Head of the body in which God makes all his delights to be felt, and by which he expresseth all his actions of power and goodness unto all men, and other creatures, for ever and ever. If there be a right inalienable and indefeasible, it is Christ's right to be the Head of the church; and if there be a name which should not have been appropriated by angel or man, or by any creature, it is that name; and though it was a good thing for our king to negative the pope's pretensions, I do solemnly protest against it as an evil thing to have done so by appropriating this name, however the evil signification may be explained away.

Thirdly. Because Jesus, the Son of Man, who ensured to himself the title Son of God by his resurrection from the dead, though he had it also by inheritance as the only-begotten of the Father, is the Christ and Lord, and only Head of the church; it is necessary that the election of the Father should proceed upon the admission of this prerogative of Christ. For, seeing that to become a member of the church presupposeth redemption out of death, and Christ as the only Redeemer of every man, the Father will surely acknowledge, and cause to be acknowledged, the other Persons without whom his purpose of a church must have stood unaccomplished. And so it is, that only

as many as receive Christ for their Redeemer, both acknowledging that they need such a Redeemer, and receiving him as such, receive power to become the sons of God; only those whose sins for his sake are remitted, receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. And there is no other condition towards becoming a child of God but faith in the love of God, who hath sent his Son to redeem us, faith in the righteousness of Christ by which we are redeemed. But this is a condition which cannot be departed from, and never was in the case of any member of the church, who have all acknowledged their privilege to be due, not only to the free grace of God, but also to the finished work of redemption. The church, therefore, is founded on the basis, and ariseth sublime from the floor of redemption, as the cherubim stood upon the propitiatory or mercy seat, and were indeed beaten out of the same piece of gold. In one word, it is impossible that there can be a churchman who doth not first believe in his redemption by Christ.

Fourthly. God brings his own right of electing from among the redeemed, and Christ's prerequisite of redemption, to meet together in the one act of baptism, which seals us members of the church: forasmuch as the actor of baptism is Jesus Christ, whose twofold function, as pointed out by his witness, was: (1) The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world; (2) He who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost: the former, the act of redemption to the whole world; the latter, the act of bringing the redeemed into the infinitely higher standing of members of his church. And as Christ is the actor of baptism, surely the Holy Ghost alone is He through whom he accomplisheth the work of bringing a redeemed man into the membership of the church. The workmanship of the Holy Ghost standeth in three things; the destruction of the sense of guilt, and the introduction of the sense of grace, which ever crieth Abba, Father; the purification of the inward man, his perfection in the image of God, and complete mastery over the members of the body; the manifestation of the supernatural gifts for an earnest of that government which we shall hold, that influence which we shall exert over all men, and all other creatures whatsoever. And thus it is that the three per