ener brought to perfection.

[Illustration: RUINS OF LAODICEA _Old Engraving_ Page 233]

In history John stands and must ever stand alone. He was one of the
two who first accepted the call of Christ to come to Him: he was the
last of the Apostles to repeat, in another and yet as true a sense, that
invitation to multitudes of men. He was one of those two who first saw
what may be called the beginning of the Christian Church, in the little
booth by the Jordan: and the last one of the Twelve to remember its
fuller establishments in the Upper Chamber of Jerusalem. He was the last
man who had seen the last prophet who told of the coming Messiah; and
was the last Evangelist to tell that He had come. He was one of the
three who were the last to behold the Shechinah, and to whom came the
voice of God the Father.

John was the lone disciple in the palace of the high priest, witnessing
the injustice, mockery, and cruelty before Pilate; the last one with
whom the Lord spoke and on whom His eye rested before His death. He was
the lone disciple to gaze upon the cross and witness the dying agonies;
the first to look into the deserted tomb; the first of whom we are told
that he believed the Lord had risen therefrom. The last survivor of the
Apostolic band, he had the fullest opportunity to witness the fulfilment
of prophecies of which he was a careful student and clear interpreter.
He saw the sad close of the Jewish dispensation, and the glorious
beginning of Christianity. He saw the Holy City overthrown, as Christ
declared to Him on Olivet that it would be, and had a vision of the New
Jerusalem of which the old was a consecrated type, at last profaned.

Of the golden Apostolic chain he was the last link binding the Church to
its Lord. He was the last known human kindred of the Son of Man. The
last words of inspiration were spoken to and recorded by him. He was the
latest prophet, historian, and Evangelist. One of the first to say, "I
have seen the Messiah," he was the last to say, "I have seen the Lord."

We have caught glimpses of St. John in the early days of Christianity,
as a light and a pillar, a teacher and a guide. Sometimes for years
together he has been hidden from our view, and then has emerged with a
yet brighter halo around his head. We have watched him on a lonely isle
gazing into heaven, beholding glories of which he gives us hints, but
which he tells us he cannot fully describe.

Because of his relation to the Lor