Holiness Triumphant; or, Pearls From Patmos

Revelation has long been considered a sealed book. It doubtless is one of the books of the Bible the meaning of which has been largely sealed "unto the time of the end." As that time nears, the clouds which have obscured it are clearing away, and it appears shining with dazzling brightness. The fact that it is the final message of Jesus Christ to the Church, that God gave it to Him expressly to show unto His "servants", that He declares that the things therein recorded must "shortly come to pass", that a mighty angel was commissioned to reveal it to the beloved disciple, and that a blessing is promised to all who read, hear, and keep its sayings, makes the reading of it of great interest. That it should be neglected by believers, as it has been, may be accounted for through Satanic influence. The fact that it magnifies the universal triumph of holiness; the coming inauguration and reign of our Lord; the destruction of the evil agencies that have cursed and blighted this world; the eternal banishment of the beast and the false prophet; the capture and incarceration of the devil for a thousand years, and his final and eternal exile; the purification of the earth by fire, its restoration to more than Edenic beauty and splendor, and its reunion with the mighty system of God's shining, shouting worlds-all make it of interest to the devil to blind people's eyes to its revealments. On the other hand, these great events conspire to make its reading and the unfolding of its secrets a source of inspiration, comfort, and rejoicing to the believer. The disagreements of many commentators in their interpretations of its prophecies and symbols have also doubtless been used of the devil to weaken the confidence of some in the book itself, and thus blind them to its great revealments of the triumph of holiness. The aim of the writer in the following chapters is not so much to deal with its "times and seasons" as to magnify the great central truth, "holiness triumphant", which gleams from every chapter. In reading it from this standpoint, we believe that its meaning can best be mastered.