building. It will be
remembered that the British and French allied themselves with Turkey and
Sardinia in an attempt to restrain the encroachments of Russia on
Turkish territory. The famous charge of Balaklava, immortalized by
Tennyson, is remembered as the most stirring event of that war. Its
chief event was the siege of Sebastopol on the Crimea peninsula, in the
Black Sea.

At the panorama we stood as though on a high central point in the city
of Sebastopol, with the view spreading out in all directions. To the
north lay the harbour with the Russian ships securely bottled in by the
attacking fleets. To the west a body of French soldiers were retreating,
hotly pursued by Russian troops, while in the distance British troops
are hurrying to the relief of the French.

Then we looked east, where the fighting was going on at close range, the
wounded being carried away and the reserves hastening up to take their
places. And again we turned to the south, where the battle raged
fiercest. The face of the commanding officer stood out so vividly. And
we almost shrank from the fierceness of the fire. And the smell of
powder almost seemed stifling.

And as I stood brooding afresh on the horrors of inhuman war, I was
tremendously impressed that only by such successive views could I get
such a grasp of that memorable siege. I had a more intelligent and
vivid understanding of it than ever before.

And so it is that we may get a simple, clear, and real grasp of the
tremendous tribulation time that is coming, that it is presented to us
in this fashion, first one distinct view, then another, and another,
till some understanding of the whole begins to get hold of us.

We have seen the Lord Jesus, in the vision in chapters four and five, as
He comes forward to take an advance step. We have seen the tremendous
outburst of praise in heaven as He steps forward. This step and scene
are in heaven. The earth is wholly unaware of it _at that moment_.

Now all that follows is connected directly with that advance step. This
is the significant thing to get clearly fixed in mind. At the present
time our Lord Jesus is still walking among the candlestick Churches
watching and waiting. We are still in that waiting time. The Holy Spirit
still dwells in the Church on earth.

At some time in the future, no one knows, nor can know, just when, the
Lord Jesus will rise up in readiness for an advance move. He will
withdraw the Holy Spirit from the Chu