“Awake,” the angel cries; and from the hands Of wondering Peter fall the iron bands; The gates fly open of their own accord, And Peter is to liberty restor’d. His guide he follows through the gloom of night (Where angels are there needs no other light); The angel’s gone, and Peter, left alone, Sees and admires the love his God has shown. At yonder gate he knocks; thence prayer ascends, On this sad night, from Peter’s sorrowing friends: With glad surprise the maiden hears his voice; All round him flock and with one heart rejoice. CHILD. So, when my body dies, shall angels guide My happy soul to my dear Father’s side: To meet me at the gate shall angels throng, With joy shall tune their harps and raise their song. LESSON LI. JOHN. REV. i. 9-19; iv. 1-5; xxii. ALMOST all the twelve disciples were killed by wicked men at last. When Peter was old, some wicked men crucified him, because he loved Jesus. Now he is in heaven with Jesus, clothed in a white robe, and all his tears wiped away. His dear Lord Jesus is always near him, and this makes him happy. John lived till he was very, very old, indeed. A wicked king caught him, and put him into a country far away from his friends: there was water all round, so that he could not get away. Was John unhappy there? No; God was with him, and John loved to think of the Father, and of his Son Jesus. It was Sunday, and John was thinking of God, when he heard a voice behind him, like the noise of a trumpet, very loud indeed. He turned round to see who it was; and whom do you think he saw? The Lord Jesus come down from heaven, all glorious and shining! When John saw him, he could not speak or stand; he was afraid, and he fell down on the ground, as if he were dead. But Jesus touched him with his hand and said, Fear not; I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore. Then Jesus took John up into heaven, and an angel showed him most beautiful things. John saw a throne on which God sat. There was a rainbow round the throne. There were a great many seats, and men sitting on them, clothed in white, with crowns of gold on their heads. The men took off their crowns, and threw them down before the throne and praised Jesus, the Lamb of God. John saw a great many angels, more than he could count, standing round the throne, singing praises to the Lamb. But of all the things John saw in heaven, there was nothing so glorious as God himself. In heaven there is no sun, nor moon, nor candle, nor lamp. Yet it is always light, because God shines more brightly than the sun. The music of harps and sweet singing are always to be heard; for all the angels can sing the praises of God. John wondered at the things he saw and heard; and he fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown them to him. But the angel said, You must not worship me; I am only a servant of God: you must worship God.