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The Acts of the Apostles
False witnesses accused him of teaching seditious heresies. By these
accusations his enemies hoped to bring about the disciple’s death.
John answered for himself in a clear and convincing manner, and
with such simplicity and candor that his words had a powerful ef-
fect. His hearers were astonished at his wisdom and eloquence. But
the more convincing his testimony, the deeper was the hatred of his
opposers. The emperor Domitian was filled with rage. He could nei-
ther dispute the reasoning of Christ’s faithful advocate, nor match the
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power that attended his utterance of truth; yet he determined that he
would silence his voice.
John was cast into a caldron of boiling oil; but the Lord preserved
the life of His faithful servant, even as He preserved the three Hebrews
in the fiery furnace. As the words were spoken, Thus perish all who
believe in that deceiver, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, John declared, My
Master patiently submitted to all that Satan and his angels could devise
to humiliate and torture Him. He gave His life to save the world. I am
honored in being permitted to suffer for His sake. I am a weak, sinful
man. Christ was holy, harmless, undefiled. He did no sin, neither was
guile found in His mouth.
These words had their influence, and John was removed from the
caldron by the very men who had cast him in.
Again the hand of persecution fell heavily upon the apostle. By the
emperor’s decree John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, condemned
“for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation
1:9
. Here, his enemies thought, his influence would no longer be felt,
and he must finally die of hardship and distress.
Patmos, a barren, rocky island in the Aegean Sea, had been chosen
by the Roman government as a place of banishment for criminals; but
to the servant of God this gloomy abode became the gate of heaven.
Here, shut away from the busy scenes of life, and from the active
labors of former years, he had the companionship of God and Christ
and the heavenly angels, and from them he received instruction for
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the church for all future time. The events that would take place in
the closing scenes of this earth’s history were outlined before him;
and there he wrote out the visions he received from God. When his
voice could no longer testify to the One whom he loved and served,
the messages given him on that barren coast were to go forth as a lamp