OLD men who have lived with God through all the heat and burden of the day seem to have eyes that pierce the clouds of worldly glory and catch a sight of the, glory of the next.
So that old man in Patmos, John, despite the decay of natural perceptions (for tradition says that he was over 90), was chosen to see the things of eternity and to pass them on to us.
Let us listen a moment to some of his strangely appealing words. They seem to bring eternity near.
He saw a new heaven and a new earth. He saw the Holy City with her walls and gates; no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were the temple of it; no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof. He saw the twelve gates never shut at all by day (and there was no night there), and the twelve gates of the city were twelve pearls, every several gate of one pearl.
What a city, and what a vision for tired eyes!
We know that John’s eyes were looking away into the future, into eternity. God has not yet wiped away all tears and there is stilt with us the bitterness of death, and sorrow, and crying, and pain. They are still here. The former things have not yet passed away. But Christian hope watches, and waits with the dignity of certainty, for that day to come, and for the unveiling of that holy city.
Several times during the past months, as my mind has been engaged with the problems of defeat and victory in the Christian life, the vision of the city has occurred to me with growing meaning. Even though there can be no present fulfillment of the vision, it seems to stand as a kind of symbol of the life of victory—a refuge for sin-stricken hearts, a foretaste of the glory of a full deliverance and a triumphant entry into its eternal reality.
Scripture often seems to work like that. It gives us a present token for a future possession.
Are there tears now, and death and crying and pain? Do they mock us in our spiritual battles with sin, our experiences of defeat?
And yet they say (these saints of God who have trodden the road before us) that there is an experience of joy and peace where tears and death and crying and pain cannot intrude, though they may assail on every hand.
Perhaps if we think of the gateways into the Holy City we shall find a gateway out of our own experience of defeat into the long desired experience of victory.
As we have seen, there is no “secret of victory” to be found. Christ Himself is the only and all-sufficient secret, and having Him as our Saviour and Lord, there is nothing further to look for.
“The City” has twelve gates, always open —for God’s blessings are very accessible—and “every several gate of one pearl.” All the gates are Christ, but each of us may find in Him our own personal approach, a different gateway. All the gateways are equally precious, for each several gate is of one pearl; and my gate is no better than your gate, nor yours more sure or safe than mine.
Let us look at some of the very well-trodden gateways which other souls have found. The City is open to all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and God invites you to enter. Do not stop to argue as to which gate is your gate, and seek not (with the contrariety of human-kind) to find one of the gates on the other side of the City!
Take your courage in both hands, despite all fluctuating feelings, and despite the absence of feelings, and step through into the enjoyment of God’s liberty which is ours in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6 is a gate for many people, especially verse 11 to 13. “Don’t yield your members to unrighteous ways,” says Paul, “but yield yourselves to God.” That is the “yielding” way.
Romans 12:11I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) is the “consecration” gateway. “I beseech you,” he cries, pleading the mercies of God, to “present your bodies, a living sacrifice...” Give your body to God!
Galatians 5:1616This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16) is a wonderful gateway for the weary footsteps of defeated souls. Freely rendered, we may say, “This I say then, Walk step by step in the Spirit and ye shall by no manner of means fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”
All these and many more are gateways that lead the soul into the Holy City where tears are wiped away and sin is left outside, for “there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth.” Sin-stained feet can never tread those streets. What power there is in the blood of the slain Lamb of God, that our feet, once foul with the filth of sin, are free to venture there!
Corning into contact with many young people I have found one burning question with those who were frank enough to speak about it; and as it has been a problem of my own I suppose it must be a fairly general one.
Must we struggle to obtain victory? Most of the “victory secret books” say that we must cease from our struggling and look away to Christ, and it is in trying to carry out that advice that people get puzzled and disappointed.
May I tell you about my gateway—taken from the practical James. I often use it when my heart gets out of tone.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (ch. 4:7).
This is God’s order: ―
(a) Submit to God
(b) Resist the Devil
And then watch him flee!
In submission to God—which includes our books, friends, ambitions, dress, pleasures, bodies, tongues and the rest of life’s trappings—we find that struggling, at least the old hopeless, fearful, pathetic, always-failing, kind will cease, and God’s peace and strength are available, not just to be felt, because feelings are often so deceptive, but to be relied on.
Then comes the new struggling, the day by day fight of faith, resisting in the security of God’s strength, the devil and all his works. There must always be a struggle, sometimes worse, and sometimes easing oft for a bit, but never giving us time to take off our armor.
Sometimes he comes with such “harmless” suggestions, so solicitous of our welfare! Sometimes he comes as a roaring lion. Beware of him. He is a big foe, too big for our strength to meet, and too clever for our poor wits. But in God’s strength resist him!
And can I be sure of winning? “HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU,” says God, and you can rest your soul on His promise, and take courage.
A. F. S. Pollock.