So we see, at the very beginning, that the Heaven which is here presented to our view is no solitary place. It is not peopled merely by a few. John says he saw "a great multitude whom no man could number." In the Old Testament a similar phrase is used to denote Israel, the representative of the Church of later times. The numberless stars of heaven, and the sands on the seashore are the parallels of the idea we find here. The Church on earth, sometimes not unfitly described as "a garden walled around," and as "a little flock," is not, in this sense, the representation of the Church in heaven. We see, further, that the heavenly territory embraces the representatives of every earthly human condition: they gather from all ages and all climes of the world--from all "nations and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues." In this great fact we have the basis of the theory of our mission work, and our hope of its ultimate success. We see, again, that the relation of the saints to Christ in heaven is essentially the same as that of the saints on earth. They stand before the throne and before the Lamb, and cry with a loud voice: "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." They sing the Lamb in hymns above, And we in hymns below. Self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-exaltation have no place _there_. All the glory of salvation, all the glory of heaven, is due to God and to the Lamb from first to last. Every step of the way, right on to its termination, has been arranged by His wisdom and accomplished by His grace.