The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

the ultimate victory they experience, their great joy because of their deliverance from the
destructive elements of the great "whirlwind" of trouble, which came after the sealing of
the elect was completed. They ascribe all the glory and honor of their salvation to God and
to the Lamb, thus showing that their salvation is fully realized at last, and that their days
of trouble and trial are over. Their conflict with sin and the powers of darkness is ended-they
have entered into the bliss of the Haven of Rest.
That their salvation is finished is shown by their having been assigned stations before the
throne, thus entering into the joys of the service of God in His temple. Whatever may have
been the depth of their sorrow or the extent of their bitter disappointment and anguish, as
they found themselves in the midst of the terrible scenes of the great trouble, their trials,
afflictions, and sorrows are now all in the past, and the remembrance of them will only
serve to increase their gratitude to their Deliverer, and add to their happiness. Their robes
have been made spotless in the blood of the Lamb. Their forgiveness is complete; they will
never need forgiveness again, as they will never more be stained with sin. Their full
reconciliation to the One who sits upon the throne is shown by the fact that He takes up
His abode in their midst. Nevermore are they to experience want, for the Lamb that is in
the midst of the throne is to feed them and lead them beside the fountains of living waters
of truth.
Some one has most eloquently portrayed the bliss of this innumerable company of saved
ones:
"How glorious their change! How vast and majestic a change from the weaknesses, the
sins, the conflicts, the miseries that before marked their existence, the agonies of death and
the darkness and ruin of the grave, to which they were doomed because of their offenses!
And in what harmony with this is the homage of the angelic hosts who witness their
acceptance. They bend in prostrate homage and ascribe to Him the blessing and the glory
and the wisdom and the thanks and the honor and the dominion and the might forever
and ever, which implies that the redemption of this innumerable multitude is finished,
and indicates their understanding of its nature, their sense of its greatness and beauty."
The angelic host, the elders, and the living ones, who witness their acceptance, know the
honor and dignity of the service they perform in the temple in which God Himself is to
take up His abode.
As we carefully note the description of this great multitude, their blessedness, their joys, as
they stand before the throne, and the welcome they receive from all the actors of the
vision, there cannot help but arise in our mind the inquiry, What more could possibly be
added to their bliss and happiness? If it were a question simply of their own satisfaction
with their blissful state, there would seem to be nothing that could be added to their
enjoyment. However, we are not having described in this picture the "little flock," the
"joint-heirs," who inherit the glory that excelleth and who will be kings and priests unto
God and the Lamb. The description of the future happiness and of the station the latter