destroy the unity and the purity of the church. It is said “a controversy was inevitable when the Gentiles entered the church of Christ” in that city. The Revelator commends the church at Ephesus by saying: “Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.” It is written of this church that their words were brave and their deeds evil. The orgies of their idolatrous feasts and their impurities were part of a system supported by their doctrine and their so-called prophetic illumination. Their distinctive feature the apostle justly regards as heathen, and so he denounces the Nicolaitan church.
Alexander the Great founded the city of Smyrna, and after a series of wars it was taken and sacked. The Revelator writes of this church of Smyrna: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” A glad promise to such as wait and weep.
The city of Pergamos was devoted to a sensual worship. There Æsculapius, the god of medicine, acquired fame; and a serpent was the emblem of Æsculapius. Its medical practice included charms and incantations. The Revelator refers to the church in this city as dwelling “where Satan's seat is.” The Pergamene church consisted of the school of Balaam and Æsculapius, idolatry and medicine.
The principal deity in the city of Thyatira was Apollo. Smith writes: “In this city the amalgamation of different pagan religions seems not to have been wholly discountenanced by the authorities of the Judæo-Christian church.”
The Revelator speaks of the angel of the church in Philadelphia as being bidden to write the approval of this
