THE GOSPEL, THE JUDGMENT, AND HIS COMING
By R. C. P.
The “Mystery of God” to Be Finished—A Message and a Disappointment—The Disappointment Foretold This is the second of two articles by Mr. Porter in which he presents the theme of the messages that announce the near approach of the Judgment. Last week he gave the Bible text of the Judgment messages (Rev. 14:6-12); showed from the divine Book that the work of the Judgment precedes the second coming of Christ; told of the predicted opening of the sealed prophetic book; and gave a few of the facts concerning the universal character of the Judgment announcement that is sounding. THE declaration of the angel (see Rev. 10:7) that “the mystery of God” should be finished “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,” as He had declared to His servants the prophets, presents several important facts: - That the angel bases his preaching upon the authority of the prophets.
- That the finishing of the mystery of God occupies days at the commencement of the voice of the seventh angel; and we understand the days of this angel to be years, as were those of the fifth and the sixth angel of chapter 9.
- That it shall be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel in the manner that the prophets have declared. One of them, Daniel, as shown last week, has told how the mystery of God should be finished at the end of the 2,300 days; that is, the sanctuary should be cleansed, which event accomplishes the work of our great High Priest.
THE GOSPEL, THE JUDGMENT, AND HIS COMING
“The mystery of God,” which is to be finished under the sounding of the seventh angel, is the gospel offered to sinful men. When the seventh angel begins to sound, the gospel will have finished its mission, the Judgment will have completed its work, and the Lord will come. The movement that fulfills this prophecy must deal with all these questions. The advent movement of 1840-44 did deal in a very definite manner with all these questions. Neither was that work done in a corner. In America, William Miller and about three hundred associate ministers traveled and proclaimed the message; while in England, Dr. Joseph Wolff and about seven hundred ministers of the Church of England proclaimed the same message. According to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845 Joseph Wolff had proclaimed “the Lord’s speedy advent in Palestine, Egypt, on the shores of the Red Sea, Mesopotamia, the Crimea, Persia, Georgia, throughout the Ottoman empire, in Greece, Arabia, Turkestan, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindustan, Tibet, in Holland, Scotland, Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St. Helena, also on shipboard in the Mediterranean, at New York City, to all denominations.” “He declares he has preached among Jews, Turks, Mohammedans, Parsis, Hindus, Chaldeans, Yescedes, Syrians, Sabeans, to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece, etc.” This movement was therefore world-wide. It proclaimed the very message given in the prophecies. It came at the right time, and did its work in the right manner. No other movement has ever arisen that has fulfilled the specifications of these prophecies. The men engaged in the advent movement of 1840-44 announced fearlessly that their work was in fulfilment of these prophecies. It is therefore very evident that the advent movement of 1840-44 was in fulfilment of the mighty Judgment message that is here called the first angel’s announcement. The fact that in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, beginning in 1844 A. D., the work of the Investigative Judgment was begun, confirms this view. Since that work began at that time, at no earlier or later period would the proclamation that “the hour of His Judgment is come” be due to the world. In the type, the day of atonement, which was the day of judgment, and the day of cleansing the earthly sanctuary, was preceded ten days before by a day of blowing of trumpets announcing the coming of the typical day of judgment or atonement. The great advent movement of 1840-44 was the antitype of that day of blowing of trumpets. It sounded the warning that in 1844, on the tenth day of the seventh month, Christ would enter upon the work of cleansing the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary by the work of judgment and atonement. Here very explicitly the type met its antitype, both in the advent movement of 1840-44 and in the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary at the close of the 2,300 days, which ended in 1844. THE DISAPPOINTMENT FORETOLD
Is it not a fact that those who gave this advent proclamation were disappointed in 1844?—Yes. Is that sufficient reason for rejecting that movement, as not being of God?—No. The Jewish people were disappointed when, at the close of the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ did not appear in glory and majesty as King of kings and Lord of lords. Was that sufficient reason for rejecting the work of John the Baptist, as being not of God? The disciples of Christ were disappointed when, after they had joined the Messiah in proclaiming the kingdom of God at hand, Christ did not at that time restore the kingdom to Israel. See Acts 1. Was that sufficient reason for rejecting the Messiahship of Christ? If bitter disappointment had not followed the proclamation of the advent movement of 1840-44, that movement would not have fulfilled the prophecy. “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in the mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.” Rev. 10:8-10. To eat a book means mentally to feed upon its contents. See Eze. 3:1-3. The very fact that those who proclaimed that the hour of God’s Judgment had come, and that “there shall be time no longer,” were bitterly disappointed in 1844, is the climax of the evidence given in the prophecy, that that movement was of God. Their bitter disappointment, like that of the disciples in the days of Christ, lay in their expecting all to be fulfilled too soon. The time period ended, as they declared it did, in 1844. The longest prophetic period given in the little book of Daniel, upon which they based their utterance, ended there. In that they were correct. The work of cleansing the sanctuary there began by Christ’s entering upon the work of judgment and atonement. In all these essential features of the message they were correct. But they were in error in supposing that the work of investigative judgment would be performed in so short a time, and that the coming of Christ would take place on that day. This arose from their belief in the popular view that the earth was the sanctuary, and that its cleansing would be by fire on that day. ANOTHER MESSAGE PREDICTED
A more thorough study of the sanctuary and its cleansing soon brought to light their error, and started another message, explaining the sanctuary and its cleansing, and proclaiming the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, as given in the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:9-12. This was fully predicted in the very chapter upon which they based their proclamation, but they did not see it then. “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.395Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:8-12. “THOU MUST PROPHESY AGAIN”
This disappointment was therefore a part of the prophetic announcement that was to apply to the movement that should fulfill the prophecy, and it further announced another message to follow it. “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Rev. 10:11. Thus the Lord, knowing the disappointment that would result from the proclamation that the hour of His Judgment was to begin in 1844, so ordered the prophecy that the very disappointment should be a strong evidence that the great advent movement of 1840-44 fulfilled the prophecy in declaring that definite prophetic time ceased in 1844, and that then the hour of God’s Judgment began in heaven. The prophetic period presented under the first angel’s message was not to reach to the coming of the Lord, but to the Judgment. The Judgment began at that time. The first angel’s message was fulfilled in the great advent movement that gave the announcement to the world. “The hour of His Judgment is come” in the courts above. Reader, are you ready for the decision of your case? Soon all will be decided. “Prepare to meet thy God.” R. C. P.