The Great Threefold Message
By Roderick S. Owen
As was shown in the previous article, the everlasting Gospel of this message is the Gospel of the kingdom, which must be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations before the end can come. As the angel preaches this Gospel, he says: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” Rev. 14:7. There is no lack of fear in the world to-day, but it is not the fear of God, hence the need of this admonition, Fear God. The Saviour in speaking of the days just before His second coming, said: “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21:25, 26. To-day is this scripture fulfilled before our eyes. May 19, 1780, God gave the great sign in the sun. This sign was given in such a remarkable manner that it not only fulfilled the Scripture, but has passed into history as “The Dark Day.” On that day the sun was indeed darkened and became black as sackcloth of hair in fulfilment of God’s word. Rev. 6:12. The night following, God gave the sign in the moon, for it became as blood and did not give its light. Rev. 6:12. On Nov. 13, 1833, was witnessed the great meteoric shower, when the stars fell to the earth “even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” Rev. 6:13. These are in the past, but following these was to be upon earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth. Are these things present to-day? “Distress of nations.” Where is the nation to-day that is not facing perplexing questions, both internal and external? Anarchy, socialism, unions, strikes, and such like, within; envy, jealousy, and suspicion, with constantly changing combinations of nations without. To the eye of the observer the slightest move on the part of any nation produces marvelous changes in the national kaleidoscope of Europe and the world. Old perplexities are intensified, new ones produced, and the hearts of nations are filled with fear. Where is the king or potentate to-day upon whose head the crown does not rest uneasily? Where is the ruler who does not realize that the red-handed assassin may any day cross his pathway and lay him low? Anarchy, surcharged with hatred, fired with zeal, and rendered reckless by indifference to life, is thirsting for the life-blood of the head of every government of earth to-day. So kings’ hearts are failing them for fear. Well may they double their guards and increase their precautions, for in hidden form and oft in friendly guise, the foe is ever seeking them. Cyclones, devastating storms, and destructive fires are marking out their trails of ruin upon the earth. Furious gales and tidal waves are doing their work of destruction upon the sea. Murder, theft, and robbery are abroad in all lands. Graft sits enthroned and admired. Fraudulent speculation, inflated values, and stock gambling abound. To-day gold is god; and avarice its prime minister. Ambition is the shrine at which many worship, horror the victim, and the masses the devotees. In the face of all these things men’s hearts are failing them for fear and for looking after the things that are coming upon the earth. This fear is finding expression in various ways. Fear of the elements builds cyclone cellars, and earthquake and fireproof structures. In the financial world it demands the best securities for money values, places heavy insurance upon property, and questions the honesty of all. In the social world it organizes societies, forms combines, unions, and federations. Why do capitalists combine against labor? Why are trade unions formed among the toilers? Why is it that almost every branch of business and every line of work have their local organizations, while these in turn are federated with kindred lines of pursuit? The primary reason for all this is found in the fact that men are afraid of what is coming on the earth. In the midst of all this prevailing fear, the message of God is to be heard declaring: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” The prophet Isaiah, in chapter 8:9-14, after speaking of the confederacies of these last days, says to God’s people: “Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be a sanctuary.” And if we are the children of God, why should we fear what they fear? For stormy wind, raging seas, and crumbling earth, are but fulfilling His word. And thieves, robbers, murderers, angry mobs, or even armies of earth, can go only so far as our heavenly Father permits, and surely that is no farther than is for our good. For all things work together for good to them that love God. The prophet Malachi in speaking of these days said, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name.” Here we see that those who fear God will talk often to each other. But of what will they talk? Surely of that of which they think. And the text says they think upon His name. So they will talk of His name. But what is His name? His name is Creator, “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance,” with whom “the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” He calleth all the stars by their names, and bringeth out their hosts by number, so that not one5of them faileth; He made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters; and He rested on the seventh day, and blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, and constituted it the memorial of His creative power. Yes, they will talk of His power in creation, of His love in redemption, of His goodness in their daily experiences in His word, of His truth as it is revealed to them. They will think and talk of His character, for His name is His character; and as they thus think and talk, the Lord harkens and hears, for it pleases Him, because by thus beholding they become changed “into the same image from glory to glory.” For “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” As God’s children thus form their characters after His own, He has it written down in His book of remembrance to their credit; “and they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Yes, when the cities of earth shall fall, when the mountains shall be cast into the midst of the sea, when the earth shall be moved out of her place, and the heavens shall depart as a scroll when it is rolled together, not one of God’s children shall be lost, for He shall gather them as jewels, and set them in the crown of His love, where they shall shine as stars in the brightness of the firmament forever.