OUR FAITH AND HOPE; by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 19, 1870

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

By James White

Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We Do.

NUMBER TWENTY.—THE THREE MESSAGES.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.

Whoever will read attentively the proclamations embraced in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, cannot fail to notice their vast importance. At whatever period in the history of the church these proclamations are made, from their very nature they must constitute the great theme of interest for that generation. Whenever the angels of this chapter are commissioned by God to announce to the nations of the earth that the hour of his Judgment is come, or to proclaim the fall of Babylon, or to utter against the worshippers of the beast the most dreadful threatening which the Bible contains, no man can disregard their work, or treat their warnings as non-essential, except at the peril of his soul. If it were merely possible that these warnings were addressed to ourselves, it would become us to examine this subject with serious attention. But if this point can be proved by decisive testimony, it is certain that we cannot too carefully attend to the warnings here uttered.

THE FIRST MESSAGE.

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14: 6, 7.

This is called the first message because it is the first of the series. See verse 9. John calls it “another angel,” from the fact that he had previously seen an angel flying in the midst of heaven. See chap. 8: 13.

This proclamation is one of pre-eminent importance. It is not a mere local judgment, but one that concerns all the inhabitants of the earth. Hence it has reference to the final Judgment scene. It is the same gospel that Paul preached that is here styled the “everlasting gospel.” But the great truth uttered by this angel would not have been a truth if uttered by Paul; for he lived at the commencement of the gospel dispensation, and this proclamation relates to its closing scenes. It seems to be the same as “this gospel of the kingdom,” that our Lord presents in Matt. 24: 14, as the sign of the end of this dispensation, and which was to be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations before the end should come.

The truth on this point is well expressed in the following language of the late Mr. Bliss, editor of the Advent Herald, Dec. 14, 1850:

“As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, however, to be seen another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Rev. 14: 6. The burden of this angel was to be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; but connected with it was the additional motive of the proximity of the kingdom, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Verse 7. No mere preaching of the gospel without announcing its proximity could fulfill this message.”

In harmony with this testimony from the editor of the Herald, I will here give another from a tract on prophecy, published by J. V. Himes about the same time, which also speaks of the character of the message and the time of its application. The title of the tract is “Our Specific Work:”

“The proclamation of an everlasting gospel, ‘The hour of his Judgment is come,’ Rev. 14: 6, 7, is the leading Advent proclamation.

“The facts summed up are these: John, looking into the distant future, gazing upon the theater of the final conflict, sees a messenger, a minister of an everlasting gospel, fly through mid-heaven, with a special, elevated, joyous, public, proclamation, requiring haste and extraordinary energy in its delivery. The proclamation contains a fact, and a command founded upon that fact. 1. The fact: ‘The hour of his Judgment is come.’ 2. The command: ‘Fear God,’ &c. These are the elements of this special commission. The work of this symbol agent is thus clearly defined; no terms more specific.

“Does this messenger symbolize a class of teachers? Such has been the general understanding of expositors. Mr. Wesley and Dr. Benson so interpret the passage. On this point there is great unanimity. It is plain from the fact that it is said to preach. That class of people is modern. Mr. Wesley and Dr. Benson make this messenger symbolize the Protestant reformers in the days of Luther. With their view agree a mass of expositors. This commission, however, cannot be Luther’s.

“That body must exist somewhere, and, in its character and in the nature of its work, it must agree with the symbol messenger. They must agree as face to face in a mirror. Can such a body be found? The proclamation above stated has been heard. The world can bear testimony to this. The cry, ‘The hour of his Judgment is come,’ sounded through all Christendom. The multitudes heard, and scoffed, or trembled. By what body of believers was this proclamation made? Not by those who taught that that Judgment was a thousand years in the future. No church which holds to the doctrine of a spiritual reign can be that body, as the elements of their proclamation flatly contradict those elements above stated. Such a body now existing can alone be found among those who constitute the Advent believers in Europe and America.”

In proof that this message has not been fulfilled in the history of the church in ages past, I offer the following reasons:

1. No proclamation of the hour of God’s Judgment come, has ever been made in any past age.

2. If such a proclamation had been made many centuries in the past, as some contend, it would have been a false one.

3. The prophecies on which such a proclamation to men in a state of probation must be based, were closed up and sealed to the time of the end.

4. The Scriptures plainly locate the message of warning respecting the Judgment in a brief space immediately preceding the advent of our Lord; thus

directly contradicting the view that locates these messages in past ages.

We now offer proof in support of the foregoing propositions. If they are sustained, they establish the fact that the present generation is that one to which the angels’ messages are addressed. We earnestly invite all who wish the truth, to weigh this part of the argument with especial care.

1. Has the proclamation of the hour of God’s Judgment come, been made in any past age? If such a proclamation has never been made in past centuries, there is an end to controversy on this part of the subject. No persons have ever been able to show any such proclamation in the past. The apostles did not make such a proclamation. On the contrary, they plainly inform us that the day of the Lord was not then at hand. Martin Luther did not make this proclamation; for he thought the Judgment about three hundred years in the future. And finally, the history of the church presents no such proclamation in the past. Had the first angel preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, that the hour of God’s Judgment had come, the publicity of such a proclamation would be a sufficient guaranty that the history of the world would contain some record of the fact. Its total silence respecting such a proclamation is ample proof that it never was made, and should put to silence those who make such an affirmation.

2. We are on firm ground, also, when we say that had such a proclamation been made to the world in past ages, it would have been a false proclamation. Four reasons sustain this statement: (1) There is no part of the Bible on which such a message, centuries in the past, could have been based. Hence had such a proclamation been made, it would have been without scriptural foundation, and consequently not from Heaven. (2) It would have been in direct opposition to those scriptures which locate the Judgment, and the warning respecting its approach, in the period of the last generation. The scriptures which sustain these two reasons we shall presently cite. (3) The history of the world amply evinces that the hour of God’s Judgment had not come ages in the past. (4) Nor would it be true of past ages, if limited to Babylon. For Rev. 18: 8–10, clearly shows that the hour of Babylon’s Judgment is yet in the future. It is certain, therefore, that the angel with the proclamation respecting the hour of God’s Judgment, has not given it at a time when it would be not only destitute of scriptural support, but would absolutely contradict their plain testimony.