The conditions which gave Occasion for this sole Apocalyptic book of the New Testament have left their impress on its form and thought, viz. persecution from without, and trial and distress within the church. These conditions which are subsumed throughout must be clearly recognized in order to interpret the message aright, and to estimate its proper value for the age which first received it. For, whether we accept the earlier or later date of writing, the deadly power of the Roman Empire was being put forth to repress and destroy the church. At the later date the worship of the Emperor was being made the test of obedience to law, and at either time many Christians in the face of persecution were weak and wavering. The immediate outlook was increasingly dark, and the future prospect full of gloom. The failure of the Messiah to reappear and of the church to triumph; the [pg 042] bitter experience of persecution already endured, and the certainty of greater suffering yet to follow; in a word, the apparent reversal of the brightest hopes of early Christianity, all of these called for some divine message of cheer that would inspirit the discouraged, throw light upon the path of sorrow and shame, and make their lot endurable because of the assuredly glorious outcome of the future. And there was no kind of message so well suited to meet such a crisis as the form of Apocalyptic, which grew out of similar conditions, and had a tone and temper peculiarly adapted to infuse a triumphant hope in the midst of growing religious despair.49 But let us not fail to perceive that though the Apocalypse was specially designed to meet a great crisis in the life of the early church, its effectiveness does not end there. Its lessons are for us and for all time; it has the course and end of world-history in view, and this is an ever-living theme for the church of Christ in every age.