implies an endurance of suffering, and the Greek term 2óyos may also be rendered doctrine. The word or doctrine of Christ's endurance of suffering, may thus express all that relates to his suffering for the sins of others. Speaking of a system of faith, therefore, to keep the word of Christ's endurance of suffering is equivalent to an adherence to what is commonly called the doctrine of the atonement-the word of vicarious propitiation. The advance made by this angel in matters of faith was small but it held to the revealed word as a standard, and especially to the portion of it setting forth the sufferings of the Redeemer as an atonement for the sins of the disciple. On this account the angel or the system of faith will be kept, or preserved in the season of trial in contemplation. This, perhaps, must be virtually the case. As with the disciple, whose views of the plan of salvation are imperfect, he is yet far from knowing the length, and the breadth, and the depth, of the love of Christ; but he is steadfast in his belief that the sufferings and death of Christ are the efficient means of his salvation. On this doctrine he relies, and with this reliance he is supported, when tried by a contemplation of the terrors of the law, and of an approaching judgment. So a system of faith, deficient in many respects, may be said to be preserved by the soundness of its views in this particular.

§ 94. The hour of temptation,' or more properly, the hour of trial, which is to come on all the world, to try the dwellers upon the earth. Literally, the hour of death is such a season of trial; it comes proverbially upon every one, and the faith and hopes of every human being are tried by it, either in anticipation, or at the moment of its arrival. We suppose, however, the trial in view here, to be one of doctrinal systems and principles; as we suppose the earth to be a figurative expression for some general basis of such systems. The world, an order of things, in a spiritual sense, corresponding with this basis, and the dwellers upon the earth, (elsewhere styled the kindreds or tribes of the earth, and the inhabitants of the earth,) principles and doctrinal elements peculiar to such an order of things, or such an arrangement or economy.

There are three different Greek words rendered world in our common version, αἰών, κόσμος, and οἰκουμενή; the two last appear to be in some cases interchangeable terms: as, by comparing Matt. iv. 8 with Luke iv. 5, and Matt. xxiv. 14 with Mark xiv. 9, we find the xóoμos of one evangelist to be the oixovμerý of another.

The term oixovuɛvý is not met with in any of the other writings of John, and it is used but in two other places of the Apocalypse, viz., Rev. xii. 9, where the old serpent is said to deceive the whole world; and xvi. 14, where the unclean spirits, like frogs, go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to battle. In reference to a matter

of taxation, (Luke ii. 1,) and to a certain dearth, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar, (Acts xi. 28,) and in the oration of Tertullus, Acts xxiv. 5, the signification of the term appears to be confined to the Roman empire. In Acts xix. 27, it is applied to the heathen world generally, as worshippers of the great goddess Diana; while, on the other hand, Rom. x. 18, it is applied to the people of Israel, wherever they may have been in the times of the prophets; but in Acts xvii. 31, it has evidently a universal signification, "Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness." So Heb. i. 6, "When he bringeth his first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him ;" and ii. 5, For unto the angels hath he not put into subjection the world to come; this last being apparently an opposite of the world, or order of things, that now is; as the Jerusalem from above, Gal. iv. 25, is an opposite of the Jerusalem in bondage under the Roman power.

The term xóouos occurs but three times in the Apocalypse-twice where the foundations of the world are spoken of in reference to a certain. epoch, Rev. xiii. 8 and xvii. 8; in which the use of the word corresponds with that of oixovμɛrý, Heb. i. 6; and once Rev. xi. 15, where the kingdoms of the world are said to become the kingdoms of our Lord. The term alov αιών is employed in this book of Revelation only in the plural, expressive of eternal duration; and probably where it is elsewhere used, it is rather applicable to the period of an order of things, than to the order of things itself: as, và vến tôv aiovor. "The ends of the world," 1 Cor. x. 11, is supposed to express the point of time when the old dispensation ends, and the new dispensation commences, (Rob. Lex. 17,) or, perhaps, simply the point where the legal and gospel economies meet each other.

95. The expression, all the world, amongst the Greeks, may have commonly signified, every body, every one; corresponding with the use of the words tout le monde amongst the French at the present day. But as a figure, we may suppose the Roman empire to be an opposite of the kingdom of Judea, and the term world, in allusion to this figure, to be put for an order of things the opposite of that economy of grace, supposed to be represented by the spiritual Jerusalem; and a perverted view of which may be symbolized by Jerusalem, or Judea, in her state of subjection to the Roman power. The trial, accordingly, which is to come upon "all the world," in this apocalyptic sense, is a trial of the principles, doctrines, and elements of doctrine, belonging to this worldly economy, or arrangement, (of legal and self-righteous principles,) represented by the Roman world or empire ;— an order of things, or principles, involving the supposition of man's dependence upon his own merits, of his continuance under the law, and of his ability to fulfil the law for himself; while the trial, or test to be administered, with its results, corresponds with the apostolic predictions, 1 Cor. iii. 13–15, and of 2 Peter iii. 10.

We may notice in addition, that by the tenor of the verse under consideration, the dwellers upon the earth, and all the world, are nearly equivalent terms; and, as we shall find hereafter, these dwellers, or inhabiters of the earth, are the peculiar subjects of the woes and plagues, denounced and depicted in the subsequent portion of this revelation.

Behold, I come quickly,' or suddenly.-This coming, and the hour of trial adverted to, we suppose to be in effect the same thing-an exhibition of Christ in his true character, operating the trial of all human pretensions to merit, trying them as silver is tried; that is, by a certain test resulting in the exposure of all false means of salvation.

Hold fast that which thou hast.'-Continue, in contending for the truth, to wield those elements of faith, for which thou art distinguished; to wit, an adherence to the name of Christ, to the doctrine of his suffering, and to his revealed word, as a standard of belief, (§ 91.)

Let no one take thy crown.'-That is, the crown allotted thee; the crown, not of thine own righteousness, but that of the righteousness of Christ, such as is declared to be laid up for all who love his appearing, (2 Tim. iv. 8.) This crown (oréqasos) being of the kind granted to victors at the games, as distinguished from the diadem or symbol of sovereignty, ($55.) To the angel of the church in Smyrna, it was said, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.-Here, the angel is supposed apparently to be in possession of the same crown—perhaps virtually so, in the peculiar attainments of faith pointed out. The crown, as we suppose, not being the reward itself, but the evidence of the claim to reward: as in the case of a condemned criminal to whom a pardon has been promised, on condition of his success in a certain gladiatorial combat-he comes off victorious-the judges allot to him the crown, or garland, as the token of his success this token is to him the crown of life, with which he appeals to his sovereign for the promised remission of his punishment. So we may suppose the angel (system) of this church, in the contest of faith, to obtain a knowledge of, and a firm belief in, the atonement of his Saviour. This is his crown of life, which he is exhorted not to part with, and to which he is to appeal, in the great day of account, for the blotting out of all his transgressions, or as respects a system of faith something analogous to this.

̔Ο νικῶν, ποιήσω αὐτὸν στύλον ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, καὶ ἔξω οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ἔτι· καὶ γράψω ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ μου καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς πόλεως τοῦ θεοῦ μου, τῆς καινῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ, ἡ καταβαίνουσα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, καὶ τὸ ὄνομά μου τὸ καινόν. ̔Ο ἔχων οὖς, κ.τ.λ.

$96. Him that,' &c.-The words in brackets are supplied in our common version rather officiously and unnecessarily,—the reading being better

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without them. The overcoming I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and out he or it shall no more go, and I will write upon it, (that is, the pillar,) the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, of the new Jerusalem,-the coming down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.'

upon

The overcoming principle of faith, as we have supposed it to be, is represented as something of which a pillar may be made, in a temple-not a worshipper in the temple, but one of the columns, or supports of the edifice-something which, being once fixed in its place, is to be no more removed;-something, also, upon which the name or names of what is most important in the character of the edifice are fixed; the edifice itself, being one appropriated peculiarly to the offering of sacrifices.

It is said of James, Peter and John, (Gal. ii. 9,) that they seemed to be pillars—that is, they seemed to be authorities;—their opinions were taken as good authority. As in civil matters, we speak of the opinions or decisions of those high in office;-so we say of a sound doctrine, in spiritual matters, that it is a pillar, or unquestionable authority. Accordingly the word orulos, rendered pillar, (1 Tim. iii. 15,) is supposed to signify a most important doctrine, (Rob. Lex. 709;) although, in this passage, the term is evidently used in apposition to that rendered church, (ixx2ŋoía,) which is also put in apposition to the house of God, elsewhere, said to express "the whole body of the worshippers of God," Rob. Lex. 496. But we can hardly suppose this body of worshippers to be spoken of as the support and basis of the truth. We are more inclined to believe, even in this passage of the Epistle to Timothy, that the house, or temple, of God, the church of the living God, and the pillar and ground of the truth, are but different expressions of the same doctrine, or system of doctrine;-the house of God being put, not for the worshippers, but for that in which they worship; and the term church, not for the human beings collected together, but for that which constitutes them a "Church of the living God." That is the doctrinal system, or arrangement of principles, corresponding with the new covenant denominated by Paul, (Gal. iv. 26,) "the mother of us all." As we sometimes speak of the platform of a church; with this difference, however, that "the church of the living God" is God's platform of doctrine, and not man's. So the Apostle, immediately after having used the terms, "the house of God," "the church of the living God," and "the pillar and ground of the truth," as equivalents, appears to apply to that which it signified by these three terms, the further appellation of "the mystery of godliness' rò rñs evo‹ßɛías uvorýgior-the mystery of right veneration—a mystery, showing the way in which only God can be truly worshipped; something involving, as it appears, the whole doctrine of Christ, as "God manifest

in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

This mystery we may suppose to be the pillar and ground of the truth -the authoritative doctrine; and such we may also suppose the overcoming principle to be made; and we may say, in Revelation, " He that overcometh shall be made the pillar," with as much propriety as it is said in Timothy that the Church is the pillar; there being, according to the original, no article, either definite or indefinite, in either of these passages.

97. There are two Greek words, ozíky and orúλos, rendered in our common version by the term pillar. The first is said to be Doric,* and is found only in the Septuagint, where it seems to be applied to columns, or pillars, as memorials, statues, or images; while the other is applied to pillars as supports, or in an ordinary sense. As or is not to be found at all in the New Testament, it seems probable that, in the time of the apostles, the term orulos was used indiscriminately for both these objects, as we use the term pillar. Admitting this to be the case, the pillar in the house of God, instead of signifying a stay, or support, or foundation, may represent, in the Apocalypse, an instrument of commemoration-something bearing testimony, or witness, or a memorial; the pillar in the house of God corresponding, perhaps, with the ark of the testimony in the literal temple.

Jacob took the stone, upon which his head had rested in the wilderness, and set it up for a pillar; not only as a witness to what might be called his covenant; but he even adds, "And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house;" or, as it is in the Septuagint," shall be to me the house of God," korai poi oixos Oɛov, (Gen. xxviii. 22.)

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The people of Israel were forbidden to raise up a pillar, (ozi,) apparently, as an object of trust, a representation of Deity, (Lev. xxvi. 1.)— Absalom reared up a pillar and called it by his own name, 2 Sam. xviii. 18, to perpetuate the remembrance of himself. Solomon erected two pillars of brass in the temple at Jerusalem, to which he gave names-not to sustain the edifice, but apparently to bear testimony to some peculiar attribute of the temple, 1 Kings vii. 15.

So we may suppose ó vizor, the overcoming, to be made an everlasting, unceasing memorial of that to which it bears testimony; of which we may judge better by considering the names to be inscribed upon this pillar, or column.

In the temple of my God.'-We suppose "the temple of my God,"

* Et, Dor. lapis e terra exstans, qui vel munitionis gratiâ, vel in signum erectus. Plerumque accipitur pro cippo, seu columna, quæ in sepulchris statuebatur, aut in qua fœdera inscribebatur, aut alia quæ posteritati mandare cuperent.—(Suiceri Lex.)