Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-08-07

IT, IT, +bopsand years ago there was pl
- hrild;nr nor inhabitart, bnt al
-bis desolate little heap OF eartn anu W
-.,,l, 4. memorable in sacred history q
r. was the place OF exile many ecu G
- sgo of a most remarkable man. C
- .,os the scene of the most entran- h
ding revelation ever granUeo "
,,nr,an vision this side of the gate OF {
porad,se. The island was Pstmos ana
the man was John the evangelist 'ne
disciple whom Jesus loved.
The sea beat upon every size Oh
that gloomy place of banisnmen'-
tl,o son,e sea that had in the distant
nast horne upon it's bosom the gor-
toons feet of Xerxes and the ponder
onsv vessels of the Greeks and Romans
tho same sea that had but yesterday
taken Paul upon his last voyage 0ow
- Jerusalem. From the mountain
tons in every direction could be seen
its rolling crests. Every morning 0uo
man of God awoke to the SOUND oi i'7
.-,rl+itudinous waters and every eve
,,i,,c ba was soothed to rest oy the
ropsi, of its lullaby, or, it may nave
beeu. kept from rest by the tumulVu-
enc snrgipg of it's heavy breakers.
The eun at mid day looked down upon
that patch of rugged earth ana us
Ioooues Of encompassing waters,
mere handful of clay and rock. me
g+ors at midnight could scarcely
discern the little speck of Patmos as
itlav in the midst of the far rolling sea,
How we'll the RomBn Emperor had
obosen1 No isolation could be more
complete. no exile could be more DIS
NAL John wasshut in by thirty miles
of biuow. He could almost look upon
the mainland and see the inhabitants
butcould notcommunicate with tnem
and the tEhrty miles made an exile
more uubearable than a Thousand
could I've made. The sea roilee
betweeA him and every n
that was dearest in life, be
tween him and Ephesus, his nom
andknlace of loving labor, betWee
hin and a hundred sacred assoc1a
ons. The sea-that is so dellghtft
when one rocks in his pleasure boa
mon its gentle fluctuations or look
ont from his comfortable home upo
its rising and falling billows-the sc
had become to the exiled saint an en-
emv implacabl6. Wherever he turne
his face. there it rolled in forbidden
resistance.
But man does nothing withor
working into Gods hands. Some
times he has thought by his oppos
tion to Illustrate Gods designs, but
has only furthered them. Sometime
a king or emperor has sought to clo'
the mouth of Gods servant by Pa
mos exile but the fruit of persecutit
has always been a wider dissemin
ton of the truth.
The island Punishment of John t
APOSTLE gave US the Book of Reve
ton with its magnificent panorama
heavenly scenery and its thrilling p
turings of heavenly life. One day
his awful loneliness, John was M
than usually disconsolate. The ma
ship and privations of his cruel lsC
ton depressed his spirit. He
heavy hearted, in sheltered gre
and looked out upon the mist ris
from the sea and the clouds hang
low upon the mountains. The
was hidden, the day was dark.
denly a flash of light from hea
seemed to fill the grotto end to spl
its Illumination to mountain and
and sky. Moving pictures Y
thrown upon the invisible canvas
fore him, as if some heavenly b
had focused the great kinetoscop
the skies upon the dark surround
of his exile home. He saw a
heaven and a new earth. He saw
Holy City coming down out OF hes
from God. o the beauty OF, cele
architecture! o the lustre of ad
ment which heavenly handiwork
put upon the walls and gates
towers and palacesi % the spa
and reflection of sapphire and
and emerald and pearl! Sple
everywhere and 5he ineffable !
ance of divine glory! Beaut
Beautiful! Beautiful! He saw
people of the Holy City, Gods pc
Ctrist's redeemed, their happy
their satisfying employment, thei
v;ronment of perennial de
There was the tree of life. Their
the water OF life. There was
took up his pento put upon his p
ment something of what he saw
the vision might not tarry ar
wrote. There shall be no
there ssThere shall be no
curse.n ssThere shall be no
-