The Inadequacy of Mere Surroundings

“There was war in heaven; the dragon fought, and his angels.” — Revelation xii. 7.

AND SO an environment is not sufficient to make one good or to make one happy! We hear a great deal in our days about environment being everything. The man vho wrote the Apocalypse had a different idea, and he expresses it very forcibly. He takes the finest environment that ever was conceived — heaven. He pictures it in all its beauty — with its pearly streets and golden gates — with its rivers clear as crystal, and its fountains of living water, and its trees of luscious fruit, and its population of hoiy angels. Into this paradise he introduces a second company — a band of nnloly angels. One would think this new band had every chance, with such fine scenery and such godly companions. But it is all in vain. In a brief space they have made a hell of heaven! They have found their surroundings quite intolerable! It is a striking picture! They have actually got into heaven! They have seen the environment of the redeemed! They have gazed on the white robes! They have caught the spray of the fountains! They have basked in the light that has no setting! And yet they are in misery, in unrest; in the land of peace they are at war!

Art thou sure, my brother, that heaven would to thee be a state of peace? It is not enough for thee that there be a crystal river and a sparkling fountain. It is no guarantee for thy peace that there be green leaves and rich fruits. There are states of mind in which beauty itself is a thing on which we make war. If heaven were promised thee to-day, wouldst thou write down thy name among the saved? To do so might be premature. The dragon and his bad angels had more than a promise of heaven; they had actually got in. But they were not happy in. They brought their misery in with them. All the powers of nature had combined to make them glad; all the powers of mind were already theirs; but their hearts were not at rest. And because their hearts were not at rest, their heaven was not at rest; the sea of glass looked stormy. So would it look to thee if thou hadst not rest within. In vain the glassy sea would meet thine eye! In vain the golden harps would greet thine ear! In vain the luscious fruits would touch thy lips! In vain the smile of Christ would seek thy soul! If that soul were in unrest, it would see in heaven nothing but war; the trees would whisper it, the streams would murmur it, the birds would warble it. The scene through which thou travellest is half-painted by thyself; it takes the colours of thine own heart. If thou bringst lurid colours into God’s dwelling place, the sacred courts will catch the lurid glow. Come not without the wedding garment! Come not without the antecedent joy! Come not without a song learned from the lessons of earth! Come not without an olive branch from the waters of the flood! If there be peace on earth, there will be no war in heaven!