CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Revelation 2:8. Was dead and lived again (R.V.).—Both the death and the return to life are assigned to a past time. The appropriateness of this presentation of Christ lies in the fact that the epistle was addressed to a persecuted Church, exposed even to the peril of martyrdom. They, even as their Lord, might have to go “through death to life.”
Revelation 2:9. Works.—Omitted in R.V. Tribulation.—Trench explains the origin of this word (“Study of Words,” p. 8). Poverty.—Attendant on the persecution. When turned out of the synagogue, on becoming Christians, Jews were often deprived of their property. Rich.—In character, and Divine approval. Blasphemy.—A term usually and properly applied to God; here meaning “reviling,” “insult,” “calumny.” Synagogue of Satan.—With simple meaning of congregation of deceivers. “A company of people bearing the image of Satan, copying his example, doing his work, and supporters of his rule.” Here Satan is treated as the ideal deceiver, who represents these deceivers. No argument in relation to his personality can safely be drawn from such figurative expressions as these.
Revelation 2:10. Devil.—Representing the informers against, accusers of, the Christians, and persecuting magistrates. Prison.—The first degree of punishment. Tried.—In the sense of tempted to apostatise. Ten days.—Not literal ten days; the expression is figurative, and means a strictly limited and relatively short time. Faithful.—Constant, persistent. Death.—θανάτου suggests here a violent death. Crown of life.—I.e., eternal life as a crown, or sealing of the faithfulness. See 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Timothy 4:8.
Revelation 2:11. Second death—Compare Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14, Revelation 21:8. It points to a death other than the death of the body. It is used in the Chaldee paraphrase. Carpenter says: “The life of the spirit is the knowledge of God (John 17:3); the death of the spirit, or the second death, is the decay or paralysis of the powers by which such a knowledge was possible, and the experience of the awfulness of a life which is without God.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Revelation 2:8-11
Cheer for the Faithful.—He who spake in parables, as the human Christ, speaks in figures and symbols as the Living Christ. Smyrna, now “Ismir” is still an important commercial city of Ionia, with a population of some hundred and twenty thousand. It claims to be the birthplace of Homer. The vine was much cultivated; Dionysos, the God of wine, was worshipped, and intemperance was the characteristic sin of the inhabitants. Dionysos represents the productive, overflowing, intoxicating power of nature, and of this, wine is the natural and appropriate symbol. The association of Polycarp with this epistle is very uncertain, but his martyrdom may be used as illustration. Perhaps he was ordained by St. John; he succeeded Bucolus as bishop of Smyrna, and was martyred A.D. 156, or 157, in the reign of Marcus Antoninus. Evidently the one thing specially noticed by the Living Christ, when inspecting this Church, is its heroic endurance of outward persecution. It was severely subject to the strain of circumstances, and bore it nobly and well. Smyrna suffers for the sake of its culture (as Job did); other Churches suffer as discipline for correction. It is important to face the fact, that a godly individual may be called to suffer simply as an agency to secure his higher culture; and it is equally true that a Christian Church may be put into circumstances of grave anxiety and distress, with a view to securing its spiritual culture.
I. The figure in which the Living Christ appears to this Church.—“The first and the last, which was dead and lived again.” The key-note of the epistle is this: Christ died to live again—to live truly. You die, and you too shall live again—shall live indeed. (Some think the figure may be suggested by the legend of the violent death, and the resurrection, of Dionyses; but see Revelation 1:17-18.)
II. The things noticed in this Church by the Living Christ.—The word “works” is best understood, not as active, energetic, enterprising works, but as suggested by the two following and explanatory terms, “labour,” or strain, bearing, and “patience,” the virtue of the sufferer. The “works” of Smyrna were passive-bearing rather than active-doing. The Living Christ finds no ground of open complaint; and yet, the very fact that there was need for disciplinary and culturing trouble to do a gracious work in the Church, implies some imperfection. The Living Christ saw three things.
1. The tribulation the Church had to endure.
2. The poverty of circumstances which the tribulation involved; and
3. The insults offered by the bigoted Jewish party. Each of these troubles would be hard to bear; the three together made a hard lot indeed. The question of supreme interest to Him who inspected the Church was this: “Would they live—as they might live—by getting from under the pressure of these evils? Or were they willing to die—die to self, as they might die—by nobly yielding to bear them? If they would live by denying Christ, then they would die to the eternal life. If they would die, by suffering for Christ, then they should live to the eternal life. Illustrate by the familiar picture, “Diana or Christ?” Matamoros, the Spanish martyr, is reported to have said, “I purpose, to be steadfast to the end, be that what it may.”
III. The message sent to the Church by the Living Christ.—It was the anticipation of further strain, to which the Church would be subject, and a gracious warning in relation to it. “Prison and death;” not relief, but more trial. “Ten days;” the figure of completeness as a test, but implying a limited time. But the warning blends with encouragement and assurance. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” It seems that the priests of Dionysos were presented with a crown; but the crown that Jesus gives is a crown of life. The story of the martyrdom of Bishop Polycarp closes with the words, “By his patience he overcame the unrighteous ruler, and received the crown of immortality.”
IV. The provision which the Living Christ makes for those who overcome.—“Not be hurt of the second death.” That expression, “second death,” is not to be found in either the gospels or the epistles. Here is a strange thing: they were to conquer by yielding, to overcome by dying. “Death”—the consummation of persecution and suffering, is the prominent figure of this message. Christ suffered unto death, and gained His victory through death. They were to be “faithful unto death,” and so they were to be secured from the “second death.” The first death is death unto self. The second death is death unto God. Suffer the first, and you are saved from the second. In this we find but a repetition of our Lord’s earthly teachings, for He said, “He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” See the principle illustrated in the Church at Smyrna, regarding Bishop Polycarp as its type. He was aged when arrested. He was offered his life if he would sacrifice to the Emperor. And though he was aged, life was precious. He died unto self, and lives unto God. See the principle illustrated in a Church of to-day. A Church may have to pass through times of outward trouble as correction, but it is also true that the purpose of the trouble may only be culture. Can it bear? Can it suffer? Can it even be crushed, and, as it were, die? If it can, what shall it win? Show what features of the higher Church-life can be won only through the experience of well-borne suffering. There are martyrs who do not die—who are just heroic endurers. And, both as individuals and as Churches, we need to think of ourselves as those who serve Him who died to self, and lived, and lives, to God.
Note on Dionysos.—The tutelary deity of Smyrna was the god of wine, who represented the productive, overflowing, and intoxicating power of nature. The story of the violent death and subsequent resurrection of this god was particularly celebrated by the people of Smyrna, and there may be a reference to this in the figure chosen to represent Christ. “Was dead, and is alive again.” The priests who annually presided at the celebration of the resurrection of Dionysos were persons of distinction, and at the end of their year of office they were presented with a crown.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Revelation 2:9. Poverty in the Early Churches.—Persecution has its heroic side, and under its stimulus men may do and dare much; but when, in addition to this, there is the daily pressure of ignoble cares, the living as from hand to mouth, the insufficient food and the scanty, squalid clothing of the beggar, the trial becomes more wearying, and calls for greater fortitude and faith. We do not sufficiently estimate, I believe, this element in the sufferings of the first believers. Taken for the most part from the humbler class of artizans; often thrown out of employment by the very fact of their conversion, with new claims upon them from the afflicted members of the great family of Christ close at hand or afar off, and a new energy of sacrifice prompting them to admit those claims; subjected, not unfrequently, to the “spoiling of their goods” (Hebrews 10:34);—we cannot wonder that they should have had little earthly store, and that their reserve of capital should have been rapidly exhausted. Poverty brought with it some trials to which those who had been devout Jews (Israelites) before their conversion, and who had not ceased to claim their position as such, would be peculiarly sensitive. In the synagogue which they had been in the habit of attending, and which there was no reason for their at once forsaking—perhaps even in the assemblies of Jewish disciples, which still retained the old name and many of the old usages—they would find themselves scorned and scoffed at, thrust into the background, below the footstool of the opulent traders in whom a city like Smyrna was sure to abound (James 2:2-3). The hatred which the unbelieving Jews felt for the name of Christ would connect itself with their purse-proud scorn of the poor and needy, and “those beggars of Christians “would become a byword of reproach.—Dean Plumptre.
Revelation 2:10. Faithful. Christian Faithfulness.—Bishop Polycarp was martyred A.D. 168, long years after the book of Revelation was written, but his story glorifies the place (see “Illustrations”). In most of the other messages, complaint and commendation are blended. In this to Smyrna there is no complaint. The point of the message is, that this Church must expect unusual trouble. And that is God’s frequently allotted experience for the unusually devout: the better souls are the very ones that respond best to the holy, refining fires; fine gold is most worth refining. Their trouble was to take three forms: the despoiling of their goods, peril of life, and calumny, or slander. Some would be cast into prison. The great “tribulum,” the mighty threshing roller of persecution, would go over their heap of wheat, to and fro, back and again, through the ten long years of Marcus Antoninus’ reign. Man would say, It is overwhelming, crushing. Christ says, the tribulum of God never crushes; it only, with strong hand, separates the chaff from the wheat, that the wheat may be gathered into the garner.
I. Our Lord’s call to an afflicted Church.—“Be faithful,” even to death-limits. In all His dealings with His people, our Lord is ever more anxious about them than about their circumstances. We are worried and anxious about our circumstances, but Christ is not. His anxiety concerns our moral and spiritual state. Nothing relieves us, in times of distress and pain, like this thought: my Lord wants me to be right; and that explains why persecution abides, why misunderstandings will not get corrected, why pain cannot be taken away, why the “thorn” stays, and we are thrown wholly on the “strengthening grace.” The Living Christ does not send to Smyrna saying, “I foresaw persecution and slander threatening you, and I warded it off.” He does not even, when it comes upon them, put forth miraculous power for its removal. He leaves the great providential workings alone, but calls upon His people to be noble in the very midst of suffering. “Be thou faithfull.” “Faithful” is a familiar Scripture term used concerning men, and even used of God. Abraham was faithful. Moses is “faithful in Mine house.” Samuel was faithful to be a prophet of the Lord. “Who is so faithful as Daniel?” “Hananiah was a faithful man.” “Judah is faithful with the saints.” “Timothy is faithful in the Lord.” “Tychicus is a beloved brother and faithful minister.” “Antipas was My faithful martyr.” God is spoken of as “the faithful God who keepeth covenant”; and “we are to commit our souls to Him as unto a faithful Creator.” Christ is “the Faithful Witness,” and His people are “saints and faithful brethren in Christ Jesus.” The figure in the word is that of “keeping covenant.” Those who are in covenant take mutual pledges and come under mutual responsibilities. To meet those responsibilities and fulfil those pledges is to be faithful, and so the word applies to all positions of service or ministry, since all such are really covenant-positions. And we have entered into solemn and everlasting covenant with Christ. He has entrusted to us His truth, His rights, His work in the world. Every one of us lies under this holy burden, unless we be reprobates. Then, being faithful means:
1. Faithful in keeping the truth entrusted to us. It does not matter how few or how simple you make the great primary truths and principles of Christianity to be, there certainly are some truths which are characteristically Christian—that is, which have been brought to light and set forth in the world of human thought by Jesus Christ as the essential first principles of what is called the Christian system. If men do not accept these, they may call themselves by what name they please, they are not Christians. The fundamental revelation of Christ is the Fatherhood of God. This discovers the helpless, prodigal condition of man. And it prepares the way for a redemption of love, wrought by God Himself, operating, in the sphere of the senses, by the manifestation of the Son in our world, and, in the spheres of mind and soul, by the grace and power of the Holy Ghost. And the test of the acceptance of this revelation, this whole circle of truth, is the view that is taken of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Early Ages, again in the Middle Ages, and yet again now in our day, our faithfulness to the Christian truth is tested by our answer to this question concerning Christ, “Whose Son is He?” And the answer must ring out clear as the midnight hour from cathedral chimes: He is “God manifest in the flesh.” “The Word was God.” “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” We may yield a large and generous liberty to men in relation to the forms and terms in which they set the truth in Christ. But we have a trust: in regard to it we must be found faithful. We would “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints,” the faith of Christ, who is God; of Christ, who is Man; of Christ, who has atoned; of Christ, who does redeem; of Christ, who ever lives; of Christ, who is “Head over all things to His Church”; of Christ, who will one day “judge the world in righteousness.”
2. Faithful in manifesting the spirit that is becoming to Christ’s servants. For there is a spirit, a tone, an atmosphere of mind and feeling, which is peculiarly becoming to Christianity; a spirit which times of trouble, and especially times of calumny, misunderstanding, and slander, such as Smyrna passed through, seriously affect. In this, too, the Living Christ bids us “Be faithful.” The spirit becoming to us is comprehensively called love. Jesus bade His disciples “Love one another.” And St. Paul elaborates the great Christian grace in writing to the Corinthians (chap. 13). How readily those Christians at Smyrna might lose love and brotherhood when conflict of opinion and persecution arose and “a man’s foes were they of his own household”! How difficult to keep calm, gentle, loving, when their very good was evil spoken of, and malignant Judaisers blasphemed them for their liberty in Christ! They might hold fast by the Christian truth and yet lose the Christian spirit, and so prove themselves unworthy followers of Him who, “though He was reviled, reviled not again, though He suffered, threatened not”; of Him who, dying on a cruel cross, prayed for His murderers, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” passing out of life full of heavenly, Divine charity. Perhaps it is the very hardest thing we have to do in life, to be firm to the truth, manly in stating settled convictions, brave to point out public wrongs, and yet not lose love, or fail from the Christian spirit when our work is misunderstood, our purpose maligned, and slanders abound which must not be followed and fought through. Happy indeed is he who at such times may “in patience possess his soul;” unto whom God gives the grace of patience and gentleness, that he may be found faithful, “hoping all things, enduring all things.”
3. Faithful in doing that work of grace in the world which Christ wants carried through. For a Church has no right to exist, save as it is an active, working Church. A Christian man has no right to his Christian comfortings and hopes, save as he is an active, working Christian. There are spheres for every one of us. We must find for ourselves what ours is. Nobody can tell us. Having found our sphere, the text has its message for us: “Be thou faithful.” Our work may be witness, prayer, influence, giving, teaching, writing, ministry, or other form of service. But faithful is by no means to be confused with successful; and yet, so full of business ideas, that is very much how we read His meaning. It is not the grandest thing in life to be successful. Success is the false idol-god of this age, and strives hard to take the place of the Lord Jesus. No man ever sees the nobility of human life until he learns to put success second, and faithfulness first. Very often that very thing on which men have pityingly gazed, and called it a failure, God has regarded as among the noblest achievements of the sons of men.
II. For the faithful ones Christ keeps the holy reward, the crown of life.—Bound four together at the stake, the nobles of Madagascar glorified God in the fires, “faithful unto death”; and as they died a lovely rainbow spanned the scene, and crowned those heroic souls. Forth from the conflict in Olympic and Isthmian games conquerors went, with circlets of ivy, or of parsley, twined about their brows; crowned, men called it, and they meant, sealed as conquerors, recognised as conquerors, stamped as kingly among their fellows, attested as heroes Worthless enough in itself, the parsley wreath expressed so much; and the city of him who wore it woke to feel its exceeding honour, and when he returned from the games, flung wide open its gates, nay, even sometimes made a new way through its walls, for him who seemed to them too noble to enter as might commoner men. And Christ gives no crown that may arrest attention for its own value. He gives one which shall be for earth and heaven, the sign of conflict maintained and victory won. The life of faithfulness shall be crowned with acceptance and permanency. The struggle for righteousness shall be crowned with the eternal seal of righteousness. The work for the glory of a completed obedience shall be sealed with the seal of sonship, and the welcome for the “blessed of the Father.” This is Christian life in its progress: being faithful. This is Christian life in its ending: being faithful unto death. And this is Christian life passed through into the unknown: crowned with the crown of life.
The Reward of Faithfulness.—Learn that the religion of Christ—
I. Requires faithfulness.—To be faithful in religion means that the believer should make use of all his powers on behalf of—
1. Religion.
2. Religion in the circle in which God has placed him.
3. Religion according to God’s will.
II. Requires personal faithfulness.—Because every Christian—
1. Has a personal work to accomplish.
2. Is endowed with power to accomplish his own work.
3. Is under a personal obligation to be faithful.
III. Requires continual faithfulness.—Because—
1. The work is great.
2. The time is short.
IV. The religion of Christ rewards this personal and continual faithfulness.—The reward is—
1. Precious—“a crown.”
2. Glorious—“a crown of life.
3. Durable—“life.”
4. Personal—“I will give thee.”—J. O. Griffiths.
Revelation 2:11. Second Death.—(See Revelation 20:14-15).—The imagery of the fiery lake, like that of the worm and the flame of the Valley of Hinnom, may be but imagery, but it points, at least, to some dread reality which is veiled beneath those awful symbols. What that reality is we may infer from St. John’s conceptions of the higher life. If the first death is the loss of the first or earthly life, then the second death must be the loss of that knowledge of God which makes the blessedness of eternal life—and that loss is, at least, compatible with the thought of continuous existence. What possibilities in the far-off future were shadowed forth by the mysterious words that “Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire”! As though they were to be robbed of their power to destroy, and were punished as the great enemies of God and man. How far those who were cast in with them might even there be not shut out from hope, it was not given to the seer of the Apocalypse to know, nor did he care to ask. It was enough for the faithful sufferers under persecution, who overcame in that conflict with the plurima mortis imago, to which they were exposed, to know that this was all that their enemies could inflict on them, and that the “second death” should have no power over them.—Dean Plumptre.
Revelation 2:11. The Three Deaths of Scripture.—In the New Testament, death is spoken of in three different senses. For it is regarded as simply a separation from some form of life; which modern science acknowledges to be a strictly accurate view to take of death. In scientific language, it is the cessation of a correspondence with some special environment. There is, first, physical or temporal death, which is simply separation from this present outward world, the end of our correspondence with our physical environment. There is, next, spiritual death. Here the environment is God, and death means separation from the light of His love. “To be carnally minded is death” (Romans 8:6); “You, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). And, lastly, there is the death to sin, the exact converse of the latter—separation from the devil and his works, through the life that is in Christ Jesus. “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11). “He that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6:7).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Revelation 2:8. Smyrna.—This celebrated city is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, about forty miles north of Ephesus. It has a population of nearly 130,000, of whom 25,000 are Greeks, 10,000 Jews, 8000 Armenians, and the remainder chiefly Turks. It has twenty mosques, but the Turkish power is declining. The poppy and convolvulus are much cultivated, the latter yielding a valuable drug known as “scammony.”
The Beauty of Smyrna.—“The first sight of Smyrna, especially when approached by sea, must produce a strong impression. It presents a picture of indescribable beauty. The heights of Mount Pagus and the plain beneath, covered with innumerable houses; the tiled roofs and painted balconies, the domes and minarets of mosques glowing and glittering with the setting sun; the dark walls of the old fortress crowning the top of the mountain, and the still darker cypress groves below; shipping of every form and country covering the bay beneath; flags of every nation waving on the ships of war and over the houses of the consuls; mountains on both side of stupendous height and extraordinary outline … tinted with so strong a purple, that neither these nor the golden streaks on the water could safely be attempted to be represented by the artist; at the margin of the water on the right, meadows of the richest pasture, the velvet turf contrasted with the silvery olive, and covered with cattle and tents without number;—all this will at once tell the traveller that he sees before him the city extolled by the ancients under the title of the lovely, the crown of Ionia, the ornament of Asia. It will remind the Christian that he is arrived at Smyrna, the Church favoured so much beyond all the other Churches of the Apocalypse; the only city retaining any comparison with its original magnificence. Ephesus the mart of all nations, the boast of Ionia, has long dwelt in darkness, as though she had not been; the streams of her commerce, like her own numerous ports, are all dried up. Where once pro-consuls sat at Laodicea, now sit the vulture and the jackal. At Sardis, where once a Solon reminded Crœsus of his mortality, the solitary cucuvaia awakens the same reflection; and if Philadelphia, Thyatira, and Pergamos continue to exist, it is in a state of being infinitely degraded from that which they once enjoyed. Smyrna alone flourishes still. Her temples and public edifices are no more; but her opulence, extent, and population, are certainly increased.”—Arundel.
Revelation 2:10. Faithful unto Death: Polycarp. When Polycarp, an ancient Bishop of the Church at Smyrna, was brought to the tribunal, the pro-consul asked him if he was Polycarp, to which he assented. The proconsul then began to exhort him, saying, “Have pity on thine own great age. Swear by the fortune of Cæsar. Repent: say, ‘Take away the atheists’ ”—meaning the Christians. Polycarp, casting his eyes solemnly over the multitude, waving his hand to them, and looking up to heaven, said, “Take away these atheists,” meaning the idolaters around him. The pro-consul, still urging him, and saying, “Swear, and I will release thee: reproach Christ,” Polycarp said, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He hath never wronged me; and how can I blaspheme my King who hath saved me?” “I have wild beasts,” said the pro-consul, “and will expose you to them unless you repent.” “Call them,” said the martyr. “I will tame your spirit by fire,” said the Roman. “You threaten me,” said Polycarp, “with the fire which burns only for a moment, but are yourself ignorant of the fire of eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.” Soon after this, being about to be put to death, he exclaimed, “O Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ! O God of all principalities and of all creation! I bless Thee that Thou hast counted me worthy of this day and this hour, to receive my portion in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of Christ. I praise Thee for all these things. I bless Thee, I glorify Thee by the eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son; through whom, and with whom, in the Holy Spirit, be glory to Thee, both now and for ever. Amen.”
Ignatius.—Having been sent, bound, to Rome, the Roman prefect caused it to be announced that on a given day Ignatius would fight with wild beasts in the Colosseum. Into the building, which would accommodate eighty-seven thousand spectators, we are told “the whole city” gathered to witness the bloody spectacle. When he was in the amphitheatre, turning to the people, as one who gloried in the ignominy which was before him, Ignatius cried out, “Romans, spectators of this present scene, I am here, not because of any crime, nor to absolve myself from any charge of wickedness, but to follow God, by the love of whom I am impelled, and whom I long for irrepressibly. For I am His wheat, and must be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become His pure bread.” When he had uttered these words, the lions, being let loose, instantly flew upon him and devoured him altogether, with the exception of his larger bones; thus fulfilling his prayer that the beasts might be his sepulchre, and that nothing might be left of his body; Christ receiving greater glory from the sufferings of His servant than would have followed from his escape from the wild beasts. Thus perished one who, a short time previously, feared that he was wanting in love to Christ, seeing that he had not then been thought worthy of the crown of martydom.
Hooper.—Bishop Hooper was condemned to be burned at Gloucester, in Queen Mary’s reign. A gentleman, with the view of inducing him to recant, said to him, “Life is sweet and death is bitter.” Hooper replied, “The death to come is more bitter, and the life to come more sweet. I am come hither to end this life, and suffer death, because I will not gainsay the truth I have here formerly taught you.” When brought to the stake, a box, with a pardon from the queen in it, was set before him. The determined martyr cried out, “If you love my soul, away with it! if you love my soul, away with it!”
A Greek Christian.—“A Turk had prevailed by artifice upon a Greek Christian, twenty-four years of age, to enter his service, abandon his faith, and embrace the tenets of Mohammed when he assumed the costume of a Mussulman. On the expiration of his engagement the Greek departed for Mount Athos, in Macedonia, and was absent about twelve months, when he returned to Smyrna; but, his conscience having reproached him for the act of apostasy of which he had been guilty, he proceeded to the Turkish judge, threw down his turban, declared he had been deceived, and would still live and die a Christian. Every effort was made to prevail on him to continue in the principles of Mohammedanism, by offering him great rewards if he did, and threatening him with the severest penalties if he did not. The Greek, having rejected every bribe, was thrust into a dungeon and tortured, which be bore most heroically, and was then led forth in public to be beheaded, with his hands tied behind his back. The place of execution was a platform opposite to one of the principal mosques, where a blacksmith, armed with a scimitar, stood ready to perform the dreadful operation. To the astonishment of the surrounding multitude, this did not shake his fortitude; and although he was told that it would be quite sufficient if he merely declared he was not a Christian, rather than do so, he chose to die. Still entertaining a hope that the young man might retract, especially when the instrument of death was exhibited, these offers were again and again pressed upon him, but without effect. The executioner was then ordered to peel off with his sword part of the skin of his neck. The fortitude and strong faith of this Christian, who expressed the most perfect willingness to suffer, enabled him to reach that highest elevation of apostolic triumph evinced by rejoicing in tribulation; when, looking steadfastly up to heaven, like the martyr Stephen, he loudly exclaimed, ‘I was born with Jesus, and shall die with Jesus’; and, bringing to recollection the exclamation of that illustrious martyr in the cause of his Divine Master, Polycarp, in this very place, he added, ‘I have served Christ, and how can I revile my King who has kept me?’ On pronouncing these words, his head was struck off at once.… The head was then placed under the left arm (after the Mohammedan is beheaded, the head is placed under the right arm, and in this manner he is interred) and, with the body, remained on the scaffold three days exposed to public view, after which the Greeks were permitted to bury it.”
A Brave Boy.—A company of boys in Chicago once endeavoured to force a boy to go with them into a garden to steal fruit. He persisted in his refusal to go with them. They threatened to duck him in the river unless he consented, but he remained firm His tormentors then forced him into the water, and wickedly drowned him, because he would not steal. There was the true hero, and the genuine spirit of a martyr. One of the local printers furnishes the following paragraph in relation to him:—“His father is one of our most worthy and estimable Norwegian citizens. He is a member of the Evangelican Lutheran Church, His little son, though but ten years of age, had given such true evidences of piety, and he was so intelligent and consistent in every respect, that he had also been admitted as a member of the same church. His seat in the Sabbath school was never vacant, and his lessons were always learned.” It is proposed to erect a monument to his memory. Who will say that children are too young to love and obey the truth? Honour to the noble boy who was willing to die rather than sin against God.
The Young Drummer.—In one of the late wars a little drummer boy, after describing the hardships of the winter campaign, the cold, the biting, the pitiless wind, the hunger and the nakedness, which they had to endure, concluded his letter to his mother with the simple and touching words, “But, mother, it is our duty, and for our duty we will die.”
Crowns for Conquerors.—Among the Romans, with other military honours and recompenses, rich and splendid crowns were publicly bestowed upon the illustrious conqueror, and upon every man who, acting worthy of the Roman name, had distinguished himself by his valour and his virtue. In the triumph of Paulus Æmilius, after taking king Perseus prisoner, and putting an end to the Macedonian empire, there were carried before the conqueror four hundred crowns, all made of gold, and sent from the cities by their respective ambassadors to Æmilius, as a reward due to his valour. How beautiful and striking, then, are those promises which assure us that the Saviour shall confer crowns of immortal glory upon His persevering saints, and that before the host of angels and an assembled world!—Kennett.