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The Sanctified Life
reasoning or match the power which attended the utterance of truth,
and he determined to silence its faithful advocate.
God’s Witness Not Silenced
Here we see how hard the heart may become when obstinately set
against the purposes of God. The foes of the church were determined
to maintain their pride and power before the people. By the emperor’s
decree, John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, condemned, as he
tells us, “for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ”
(
Revelation 1:9
). But the enemies of Christ utterly failed in their
purpose to silence His faithful witness. From his place of exile comes
the apostle’s voice, reaching even to the end of time, proclaiming the
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most thrilling truths ever presented to mortals.
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 proved to be the gate of
heaven. He was shut away from the busy scenes of life and from active
labor as an evangelist, but he was not excluded from the presence
of God. In his desolate home he could commune with the King of
kings and study more closely the manifestations of divine power in the
book of nature and the pages of inspiration. He delighted to meditate
upon the great work of creation and to adore the power of the Divine
Architect. In former years his eyes had been greeted with the sight of
wood-covered hills, green valleys, and fruitful plains; and in all the
beauties of nature he had delighted to trace the wisdom and skill of
the Creator. He was now surrounded with scenes that to many would
appear gloomy and uninteresting. But to John it was otherwise. He
could read the most important lessons in the wild, desolate rocks, the
mysteries of the great deep, and the glories of the firmament. To him
all bore the impress of God’s power and declared His glory.
The Voice of Nature
The apostle beheld around him the witnesses of the Flood, which
deluged the earth because the inhabitants ventured to transgress the
law of God. The rocks, thrown up from the great deep and from the
earth by the breaking forth of the waters, brought vividly to his mind
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