Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from October 25, 1999

God Will Prevail The apocalyptic vision is meant to give us the hope that, despite considerable evidence to the contrary, in the end it is good that will prevail. At the end of the Revelation to John we find justice restored, and a God who comes to be with those who have suffered the most in a cruel, unjust, and violent world. A God who does not roar and strut like the ultimate dictator but who gently “wipes away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4).

—Kathleen Norris in
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith

A Different Bottom Line At bottom, everything depends upon the presence or absence of one single element in the soul—hope. All the activity of man, all his efforts and all his enterprises, presuppose a hope in him of attaining an end. Once kill this hope and his movements become senseless, spasmodic and convulsive, like those of someone falling from a height.

—Henri Frederic Amielin
Amiel’s Journal

A Better Hope The Christian hope is the hope which has seen everything and endured everything, and has still not despaired, because it believes in God. The Christian hope is not hope in the human spirit, in human goodness, in human endurance, in human achievement; the Christian hope is hope in the power of God.

—William Barclay,
The Letter to the Romans

Gripping Fact We must never cease being shocked at the revelation that the only figure in history who is worthy to unveil the workings of history is a slaughtered lamb—the slaughtered Lamb. We should not only be shocked by this revelation, but also gripped by its power and the hope such a revelation gives.

—Loren L. Johns,
“Facing Revelation’s Beasts”

Get Militant—Peacefully According to the Apocalypse, Christ desires a militant church that will absorb suffering rather than accommodate the powers that be. Indeed, to preach Christ by employing the same tactics as the Beast would give Rome the victory. … None of the seven letters [to the churches in Revelation] ever suggests revenge or violence as an appropriate response to the situation in which Christians find themselves. Christianity is an alternative way of life.

—Ellen T. Charry in
Interpretation

The War of the Lamb Christ judges and makes war in a totally different way than the beast and the kings of the earth do. The Lion of Judah has become the sacrificed Lamb. The blood soaking his cloak is his own and not that of his enemies. He has taken God’s judgment upon himself. The sword issuing from his mouth is his testimony which confounds the demonic powers.

—Hans-Ruedi Weber,
The Way of the Lamb: Christ in the Apocalypse

Meanwhile … The passing beauty and joys of the world point us towards another world, a New Jerusalem in which “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). In the meantime, we must live and work in the world. Yet we do so as people who know that they are on their way home, and anticipate the joy of return and arrival.

—Alister McGrath in
The Unknown God

Get Real Real life is always misrepresented by those who wish to make it lead up to a conclusion. God alone may do that.

—Gustave Flaubert, quoted in P. T. Forsyth,
The Justification of God

And Then, the End Ultimately, when we have fought a good fight and finished our course, and even if need be suffered death for the name of Christ, we shall emerge from the great tribulation and suffer no more. The King of the universe will grant us refuge in the shelter of His throne, where we may see Him and worship Him day and night in His temple, and the lamb turned Shepherd will lead us with the rest of His sheep to fountains of living water, where we make slake our thirst for ever at the eternal springs.

—John R. W. Stott in
What Christ Thinks of the Church

Copyright © 1999 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

Revelation NOW: What happens when you treat Revelation like other books of the Bible—looking at its historical context before applying its message to our day? Instead of an end-of-the-world preview, you'll find wisdom to help churches stay faithful in a hostile environment.

Cover Story

Apocalypse Now

New President Promises Reforms

Stop the Dating Game

What Hal Lindsey Taught Me About the Second Coming

Is Revelation Prophecy or History?

Called to Hate?

Church Leader Worships Whites

Time Out

A Quaker at War with Himself

A Nation That Sang Itself Free

Getting to Know Me

To the Church That Endures Persecution by Steve Haas

Business Funnels Profits to Churches

Church Shooting Creates New Martyrs

In Brief: October 25, 1999

Porn Store Reborn As Church

Virtue Folds

Church Aids Refugees Despite Violence

Lutherans and Catholics Sign Declaration on Justification

Christian Journalists Ponder Calling

Religious Freedom Report Released

Editorial

Moms Without Marriage

Wire Story

Pro-Life Pharmacist Sues Kmart

Wire Story

Priest Killed for Illegal Conversions

The Millenial Book Awards

Extending the Dream

Letters

Baptist Foundation Faces Fraud Charges

Interview: George W. Bush on Faith-Based Plans

Christian Filmmakers Flock to End-times Features

Editorial

Make Disciples, Not Just Converts

Wire Story

Africa: Can Christianity and Islam Coexist and Prosper?

Apocalyptic Palette

You've Got Mail

To the Suburban Churches of North America

To the Pentecostal & Charismatic Churches by Todd Hunter

To the Church Called Mainline by William H. Willimon

To the Inner-City Pastor & Church by Gardner Taylor

To the Rural Church by Susan Wise Bauer

To the Church Which Seeks Seekers by John Ortberg

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