A Disillusioned World Needs Support of True Faith

By WILLIAM T. ELLIS and EARL L. DOUGLASS

Nothing reveals the audacity of the Bible better than its picture of heaven. Jasper columns and streets of gold! How far removed these concepts are from the ordinary thoughts of men. But we must always bear in mind that the apostle John was in these latter verses of Revelation trying to describe infinite reality in finite terms. The best he could do was to describe his vision in terms of a brilliant and shining glory far surpassing anything man had ever before looked upon.

New Lesson From Old Book

There are a thousand beautiful reflections to be drawn incidentally from the study of Revelation: the possibility of making a Patmos of every prison experience of the soul; the visions that come to one who is "in the spirit on the Lord's day;" the fellowship of suffering which all Christians may share with the saints, living and dead, and with the Saviour Himself. "Lessons," however, must wait on the facts. Unless we get a grasp upon the main purposes of the book and the conditions attendant upon its writing, we shall miss the real significance of the teaching. So the first truth to be borne in mind is that this Christian leader, the apostle John, the beloved, was in prison on the Isle of Patmos for his faith in Jesus. His churches were suffering worse than he. The fires of persecution were raging fiercely. Nero had bared his cruel sword to the Christians, and now Domitian, in turn, had interdicted the new faith. All the horrors of Roman martyrdom were being undergone by the friends of Christ. It seemed as if heathen hate might really wipe out the Church of Christ.

John was giving them comfort in their darkest hour. In the Book of Revelation he wrote to buoy their sinking hearts. For the encouragement of their faith, John drew aside the veil that shut off the near and distant future. He invited men to look upon the vision he hid beheld — Christ triumphant, the Church victorious, her enemies cast down.

Heaven A Reality

This is a significant passage of Scripture to study on the last Sunday of the year. The modern Christian thinks all too little of heaven. Often the Biblical promises have been caricatured and John's celestial vision spoken of in such jocular terms that many believers know but little of what the Bible teaches about heaven and care less. Many of them shrug their shoulders and say, "Heaven is not a place but a state." But Jesus declared, "I go to prepare a place for you." This glorious description by John of what he saw on the Isle of Patmos is not the description of a state of mind but of supernatural realities, so far above human experience that human language cannot adequately describe it nor the human mind comprehend it. But we can realize what it means utterly to be free of pain, to have our tears dried forever, our wounds healed.

The hope of an eternal life with Christ inspired the early Christian believer and strengthened him to endure persecution fantastic in its horrors. The hope of a heaven which will give full development of all our latent powers and eternal rescue from life's ravages is meant to be our support today.

As the world shakes about us; as Communism with its atheistic teachings and its cruel tyranny so like Nero's pushes itself impudently into the foreground; as high wages, full employment, and lush dividends send our population tripping gaily along the pathways of pleasure with small regard for moral standards, let us ponder the Biblical assurance that there will someday be an end of all these things. Spiritual values are destined to triumph. The joy and security of heaven will be the precious possession of those who have been faithful.

As if delighting to set at naught all common conceptions, the Revelation's final portrayal of the triumph and bliss of the kingdom of Christ is a city, and a city without a church. To our way of thinking, the Church is the saving salt of the city, the best thing about a bad case. Nevertheless, in heaven there will be no Church as we know the Church. But all that the Church typifies and seeks will be there. The spiritual values which here are sporadic and local will there be continuous and general.

The purpose of the Book of Revelation is to portray the final triumph of the Gospel of Christ. All the wealth of oriental imagery is here employed to depict the surpassing excellence of the glory that is in store for the friends of Christ. The Book of Revelation is an illustration of the truth that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."

—Logansport Press, Logansport, IN, Dec. 27, 1947, p. 4.