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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, March 3, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 12

IN GREAT WRATH.

The angel showed John that at a certain time the Devil was to come down in great wrath, knowing that he had but a short time. Rev. xii, 12. Our theory locates the fulfillment of this prophecy at the present time, and facts corroborate the application. As never before the enemy is leveling his batteries against the people of God; and the watchful ones have indications such as have never before been given, of the fearful and perilous times in which we live.

But the query arises, why Satan's wrath should increase because he knoweth that he hath but a short time; for this is the reason given by the prophet why he comes down in this manner. In answering this question, we must consider,

1. That the object of Satan in tempting man in the beginning was to gain power to his side, and thus strengthen his hands in his revolt against the King of Heaven.

2. That as soon as the plan of salvation was formed, he set himself to work the defeat of that plan, if such an event could possibly be accomplished.

3. That previous to the first advent of Christ to live a perfect life, in the habiliments of human nature and so provide an acceptable sacrifice for the fallen race, the Devil looked forward to that point as the time when he would make his mightiest effort to thwart the great scheme of redemption. For if by any means he could overcome Him into whose hands had been committed the work of redeeming the race, the whole plan would end in utter failure. The day at length arrived. The Lord of glory in mortal flesh undertook his mighty mission; and no sooner did he appear upon the stage of action, than Satan, with all his power, and with every device of temptation and danger, undertook to thwart his purposes. He even triumphed a little while, as he laid him in the tomb; but the bars of death were broken, and even the keys of the grave were borne away; and lo! as the conflict ended, Satan was the vanquished one, and Christ the victor. Christ then ascended to Heaven to plead thenceforth in behalf of those for whom he had shed his blood; and thenceforth it was beyond the power of Satan to mar that plan by destroying any of its provisions. Henceforth all that remained was for the truth to be proclaimed among the nations of the earth, and as large a number as possible be gathered out and made ready for the kingdom of Heaven; and thenceforth, all that Satan could do, was to exert his power upon the human race, and keep as many as possible from obeying the gospel. He might yet do some thing in this direction; and it would be some satisfaction to him, seeing he could not defeat the plan, to keep as many as possible from embracing its provisions, and securing its results. From this we may add another consideration,

4. That if all the world were hopelessly in the hands of Satan, there would be nothing to excite his wrath in the fact that he had but a short time. His fears, perhaps, as he viewed his impending doom, but not his wrath, would be aroused as he drew near the termination of his career.

We have now before us the grounds and motives of Satan's unwonted wrath in these last days. Every soul that breaks away from his power, and flees to Christ, the strong tower of his flock, adds poignancy to the chagrin of his defeat, in not being able to thwart the work of Christ, and stirs up all the accumulated malevolence of his nature. It is a fresh defeat, the bitter fruit of his failure in his personal conflict with the Saviour here upon earth, and his wrath is stirred. His wrath is not against those who are fighting under his banner, but against those who are ranging themselves under the standard of the truth. And what excites his wrath as he beholds the shortness of his time to work, is to see a company coming up who are taking hold in earnest for salvation, who are resolved in the strength of the Lord, in whom is everlasting strength, to break away from his cruel power, and as the fruits of that plan of salvation which he could not defeat, secure the glorious reward of everlasting life.

When John says, therefore, that Satan is come down in great wrath, he means that this wrath is against the remnant church. As his wrath is excited by the shortness of his time, it will increase more and more as the end approaches. He knows that if he would get those who have set their faces Heavenward into his clutches, and drag them down to perdition, he must do it soon, or it is too late. Would that all the people of God might realize with equal vividness, that what they do in the work of overcoming, they, too, must do soon, or they are lost forever.

We need no better evidence that we are drawing near the close of our work, than the manifestations we now have of the wrath of the enemy against us. He is a good student of prophecy. He doubtless has a better idea than we can have of this world's future history, especially the events that are immediately in store for it. He understands when his opportunities will cease, and he proportions his efforts to the exigencies of the case. He knows his time is short. Do we know equally well that our time is also short? and are we acting accordingly?

We are often reminded of the words of Horace Greeley in reference to the conflict between freedom and slavery, “The end of this long contest visibly approaches.” So the end of the longer contest between the powers of light and darkness, the forces of Heaven and hell, still more visibly approaches. The prophecies proclaim it, the nations of the earth proclaim it, the elements of nature proclaim it, the sun, moon and stars have proclaimed it, wicked men and last-day scoffers proclaim it, and now the Devil himself proclaims it, by his increased efforts to make the church of God his prey.

He is endeavoring to break in upon us on every hand. He has not come down for nothing. How can we resist him? The promise is, that when he comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Blessed promise! Can we claim it? Have we much of this Spirit? Without it, well may we shrink from the perils which even now appear in distinct outlines before us; with it, we can say, Let the conflict come; for all the legions of the wicked one cannot harm us. Oh, for more of this Holy Spirit!

“God of Israel pour thy Spirit On thy little flock. How shall we the promised land inherit, Unless thou go with us our Rock?”