The universalism of the Apocalypse is from the first apparent. 2. A second characteristic of the epistles addressed to the seven churches demands our notice, for these epistles are clearly divisible into two portions, the first consisting of the first three, the second of the other four. Every inquirer admits the fact, the proof resting upon the difference of place assigned in the two portions to the call, _He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches_. In the first three this call comes in as a central part of the epistle, immediately before the promise to _him that overcometh_[50]; in the last four it closes the epistle.[51] There is a still more interesting difference, though the Authorised English Version conceals it from view. According to the best attested readings of the original, the second and third epistles--those to Smyrna and Pergamum--omit the words, found in all the others, _I know thy works_. The circumstance is at least remarkable, and it seems to admit of only one explanation. In the mind of the writer the first three epistles were so closely associated together--more closely perhaps than even the seven or the last four--that these words occurring in the first epistle were thought by him to extend their influence over the second and third, much in the same way as the description of the exalted Lord in the same epistle sent its voice forward, and that in the last epistle its voice backward, through the rest. At all events, it is impossible not to see that the first three epistles and likewise the last four, to whatever extent they form parts of one whole, constitute in each case a special unity. What, we have now to ask, is the ground of the distinction? In what light is the Church viewed in each of the two portions spoken of? There are two aspects of the Church which may be said to pervade the whole Apocalypse: first, as she is in herself, in her own true nature; and secondly, as she is engaged in, and affected by, a struggle with the world. The distinction between the two may be traced in the grouping of which we speak. The first three epistles lead us to the thought of the Church in the former, the remaining four to the thought of her in the latter, aspect. In the first three she is the pure bride of Christ; in the last four she has yielded to the influences of the world, and the faithful remnant within her is separated from her professing but unfaithful members. The numbers into which the two portions of the seven epistles are distributed illustrate this. Three is the number of the Divine; four, as appears from many passages of this book, is the number of the world. The simple fact that we have a group of three as distinguished from one of four epistles is sufficient to lead to the impression that, in one way or another the thought of the Divine is more closely associated with the former, and the thought of the world with the latter.