hard facts, endured sufferings to which the false prophet, optimistically predicting smooth things, was an utter stranger. ‘The persecutions, the apostasies, the judgments of the Church and people of the Lord saddened the spirit of the Seer and dashed his joy at the first reception of the mystery of God’ (Alford on Rev 10:10). The alternation of spiritual joy and sorrow—the μέλι and the πικρία of evangelism—has been the lot of every true prophet, ancient and modern. ‘Laughter was in this Luther,