The apostle John seems to have set open the doors of the heavenly temple, that the sights within might beam upon our eyes, and the sounds just undulate on our ears:
After this I beheld, and lo! a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb (Rev. 7:9-10).
And who are they that send forth such strains? They that had come “out of great tribulation, and had washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). They were once upon earth; once men of like passions with yourself; once beginning their religious course as you now are. “Once they were mourning here below, And wet their couch with tears; They wrestled hard, as we do now, With sins, and doubts, and fears.”
There is not a burden that oppresses your heart, but what oppressed theirs; there is not a fear that agitates your mind, but what agitated theirs; there is not a temptation that assails you, but what assailed them; there is not an obstacle that terrifies you, but what terrified them; they were once as ignorant, as weak, as sinful, as timid, as discouraged, as you; there is not a sorrow, a perplexity, or a danger with which you are painfully familiar, but they passed through before you. But there they are in heaven, more than conquerors over all these things through him that loved them. He that saved them has engaged to save you; nor is his ear heavy, nor his arm shortened.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).
John Angell James. The Anxious Inquirer.
