with everlasting destruction-even that day when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. But on this I need not particularly to insist, as the numerous false teachers who infested the church in Ephesus, when Paul wrote this Epistle, affords sufficient evidence of the prior date of the Apocalypse; since, at the time when it was published, this church was praised for having hitherto withstood all such evil men.

§ 4. Of allusions to the Apocalypse found in the Epistle to the Ephesians.

In the preceding Dissertation I had occasion to allude to Paul's Epistle to the Church at Ephesus, one of the seven named in the Apocalypse; but, though the object in view was connected with the general question under discussion, I did not there examine how far any of the expressions to be found in this Epistle might be considered as direct allusions to the Revelation, this being the proper place for such an inquiry.

In addressing the believers at Ephesus the Apostle says, he had heard of their faith in the LORD JESUS, and love to all the saints; and that, from that moment, he ceased not to pray for them, that GOD might make them know the exceeding greatness of his power towards believers—the mighty

power which he wrought in CHRIST, when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand IN THE HEAVENEY [i. e. in the attributes of sovereignty], far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but in that to come; and put all [these] under his feet, and gave him to be head over all, to the church which is his body (ch. 1. 15-23).

The description of the sovereignty and dominion ascribed to CHRIST, in this passage, appears to be drawn from such passages as the following in the Revelation:-"To him who... “hath made us kings and priests...... to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever," Rev. i. 6. "Thou art worthy to receive glory, and honor, yea POWER: for thou hast created all things," ch. iv. 11.-" Worthy is THE LAMB.... to re"ceive POWER; even riches and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, and every creature which is in heaven, and on the "earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the

sea, even all that are in them," ch. v. 12, 13. And it is also deserving of notice that the term "the heavenly" (Ephes. i. 20. ii. 6.), is used by the Apostle in the Apocalyptic sense, for all the attributes of Sovereignty, and therefore requires no such supplement to be added as the word

'places," exhibited in the common version, which tends to obscure the text.

In Ch. v. 3-6. of this Epistle, the Apostle thus addresses the Ephesians: " But fornication, "and all uncleanness, and covetousness, let them not t. even be named among you, as becometh saints: nor "filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which "are not becoming; but rather giving of thanks. "For this ye know, that no fornicator, nor unclean

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person, nor COVETOUS MAN, who is AN IDOLATEr, "hath any INHERITANCE in the kingdom of THE "MESSIAH and GOD." These verses are neither more nor less than an accommodated transcript of Rev. xxi. 8. "He that overcometh shall INHERIT ALL THINGS. ... but the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, "and fornicators, and sorcerers and idolaters, and "all liars, shall have their portion in the lake which "burneth with fire and brimstone." It deserves to be particularly noticed here; that Paul, in the passage before us, gives a comment on the word "idolater," employing "covetous man" as an equivalent term; meeting, as it were, the evasion by which some of those, not chargeable, perhaps, with the other crimes enumerated in the passage which he had in his eye, might have otherwise soothed themselves into a belief that the implied censure had no relation to them.

eye

Had he not, in this way, directed the term to their conscience, they might have said-" We "are neither fornicators nor idolaters:"-Are you COVETOUS MEN? If so you are excluded, as IDOLATERS, from the inheritance in the kingdom of CHRIST.-" Let no man deceive you (he adds) "with vain words: for because of these things cometh "opy THE WRATH of GOD upon the children of "disobedience,”-substituting "wrath" for destruction in the lake of fire; or, rather, having in his μéρa τns beyñs the day of wrath (Rev. vi. 17), when this destruction will come upon the wicked. He tells them that they knew already the things of which he was treating—that is, they had in their hands some record, to the effect which he states, namely one which did not merely denounce punishment to such characters, but which directly excluded them from the inheritance secured for the righteous. It is this association of ideas and his commentary on the word "idolaters" that determines the particular source of the Apostle's admonition in this passage.

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From this Epistle we learn also the same fact that is so plainly stated in the first Epistle to Timothy. The Ephesians had not only failed in Christian love, the only crime for which this church was censured in the Apocalypse [see the remarks on the character of this church in the preceding dissertation] but they were now suf

fering among them false teachers, as is directly stated in the first Epistle to Timothy. It would appear they had been led into this by the respect they paid to those calling themselves teachers (of some description or other); relaxing in that vigilance and circumspection which led them, at a prior period, when the Apocalyptic epistle was sent to them, to examine the pretensions of all who came in that character, even if they assumed the title of Apostles. Paul reminds them of the end for which the head of the Church had sent forth Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, in order to prepare the (other) saints for the work of the ministry, that the body of CHRIST (viz. the church) might be built up; and all attain to the unity of the faith-even of the knowlege of THE SON OF GOD, to a perfect manthe measure of the stature of the fulness of CHRIST, Ephes. iv. 11-13.-In the 14th verse we learn the cause of this address-" That we may no lon"ger be children tossed about with every wind of doc"trine by the sleight of men,-cunning craftiness 'whereby they lie in wait to deceive:"-plainly intimating that had they, as at first, tried the pretensions of these crafty deceivers, comparing their doctrine with that delivered by the Apostles, they would, as then, have found them liars (Rev. ii. 2). When the Apocalypse was written we are informed, by one who could not be mis