From Trials to Triumph

Chapter 57—John Sees the Visions of the Revelation

So untiringly did the Christians in the days of the apostles labor that notwithstanding fierce opposition, in a short time the gospel was sounded to all the inhabited earth. Their zeal has been recorded for the encouragement of believers in every age. The Lord Jesus used the church at Ephesus as a symbol of the church in the apostolic age: TT 303.1

“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear evil men but have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and found them to be false; I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for My name's sake, and you have not grown weary.” Revelation 2:2, 3, RSV. TT 303.2

At first the believers sought to obey every word of God. Filled with love for their Redeemer, their highest aim was to win souls. They did not think of hoarding the precious treasure of the grace of Christ. Weighted with the message, “Peace on earth, good will toward men,” they burned with desire to carry the glad tidings to earth's remotest bounds. Sinful men, repentant, pardoned, cleansed and sanctified, were brought into partnership with God. In every city the work was carried forward. Souls were converted who, in their turn, felt they could not rest till the light was shining on others. Inspired personal appeals were made to the erring, to the outcast. TT 303.3

But after a time the believers’ zeal and love for God and for one another grew less. One by one the old standard-bearers fell at their post. Some of the younger workers who might have shared the burdens of these pioneers, and thus have been prepared for wise leadership, became weary of oft-repeated truths. In their desire for something novel and startling, they attempted to introduce doctrine not in harmony with the fundamental principles of the gospel. In their spiritual blindness they failed to discern that these sophistries would cause many to question the experiences of the past, and thus would lead to confusion and unbelief. TT 303.4