HAVING seen by the preceding article that these messages must necessarily be considered one, consisting of three parts, we now look for their application and fulfillment. The first angel by his positive announcement indicates the time when the work symbolized by these three messages should be accomplished. He says with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." These messages then constitute the proclamation of the judgment. The harmonious teaching of Scripture is to the effect that the judgment is related to the second coming of Christ, and takes place in connection with it. See Matt. 25:31-34; 2 Tim. 4:1. Therefore, the proclamation of the judgment and the second advent is necessarily connected with, and embraced in, these messages. Christ's second coming takes place at the end of this world, or age. Matt. 24:3; 2 Peter 3:3, 4, 10, 13. Then these messages, embracing as they do both the judgment and second advent proclamations, must be, and can only properly be, given to the last generation of men. That this is the time of their application is apparent from the context; for the very next event presented to John after his view of the three angels, is recorded in verse 14: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." This is evidently the scene of his second advent. Compare description in Matt. 24:3 and 1 Thess. 4:16, 17 with Christ's parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13.
We are not to suppose, as is erroneously done by some, that the judgment occupies but a brief interval in immediate connection with the appearing of Christ, but rather that, taken as a whole, a considerable period of time is occupied, described by various expressions, as, "the day of judgment," "the day of the Lord," "the judgment of the great day," etc. This period begins before the appearing of Christ, continues beyond it, and is filled with various features of the judgment work.
There must of necessity take place before Christ comes an examination of the record kept in the books of heaven of every man's life, to determine who of the dead shall have part in the first resurrection (the resurrection of the righteous), and who of the living shall be changed to immortality without seeing death (see 1 Cor. 15:51-53). The scene of this feature of the judgment is described in Dan. 7:9, 10, where the Ancient of Days is said to sit upon the throne of judgment and "thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him [angels who had kept the records in the books]; the judgment was set, and the books were opened." The result to the dead of this part of the judgment is the determining of who shall be raised when Christ comes, for "the dead in Christ shall rise first" at his coming (1 Thess. 4:13-17), and the wicked dead in the second resurrection, one thousand
years later, for "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Rev. 20:5. Its result to the living is expressed in these words: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still." And we see that this takes place just before the appearing of Christ, for the next words are: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:11, 12. It brings us to the close of human probation.
There must of necessity certain features of the judgment follow Christ's second coming, for "do ye not know that the saints shall
NOTES UPON THE ILLUSTRATION.
1. THE first message begins previous to 1844, announcing the hour of judgment, but continues to the coming of Christ, proclaiming the gospel and the worship of the true God (the commandments) as the basis of the following messages. 2. Simultaneously with the opening of the first message, and as a special feature of its introduction, it is joined by the message of the angel of chapter 10, which continues to 1844 and ceases. 3. Subsequent to 1844 the truths of the first message became more fully understood and preached, though generally rejected, and as a consequence it is joined by the second message, proclaiming the fall of Babylon, which also continues to the end. 4. Later the two are joined by the third, warning against the worship of "the beast" and his image and the reception of his mark, and also continues to the end. 5. Just before the end of gospel work the three are joined by the message of chapter 18, announcing the complete fall of Babylon, and calling upon God's people to come out of her because of her sins. This in effect produces a loud, earnest, and extended giving of all three messages combined, resulting in the lighting of the earth with all truth, and the development of a company keeping all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and fully prepared to meet Christ when he appears in the clouds of heaven.
judge the world?" 1 Cor. 6:2. When? Surely not in this life; but "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived [were resurrected] and reigned with Christ a thousand years." "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." Rev. 20:4. From this we learn that the saints unite with Christ in the judgment of the wicked, after the resurrection, which takes place when Christ comes. The scene of the final judgment of the wicked is described in Rev. 20:11-15.
It is the first part of this whole work of judgment, evidently—that which takes place before Christ comes—which is announced by the first angel. And as a preparation for it, on the part of those living upon the earth, he, to the end of probation, calls upon all to accept the "everlasting gospel," and the worship of the true God, "him that made heaven and earth."
Looking with assurance for a fulfillment of this message, we recall the promise of the Lord by the prophet Amos. The question is first asked: "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" Then the promise: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. With such a promise we may confidently expect, by careful study, to know the time of the fulfillment of so important a message as the one under consideration.
From Daniel's prophecy we learn that the Lord has fulfilled his promise in this instance, and revealed through his prophet the time when this message should be given. We read in Dan. 8:14: "And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." By a careful examination of this prophetic statement in connection with the explanation given by the angel to Daniel in chapter 9, verses 24-27, it becomes clear to the candid mind that the work of "cleansing the sanctuary" is precisely the same as that feature of the judgment announced in this message—the Investigative Judgment. It is also demonstrated that the prophetic period, "two thousand three hundred days," which was to begin, according to the angel's explanation (Dan. 9:25), with the "going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem" (B. C. 457, see Ezra 7:11-26 with chronological date) reaches (the prophetic day taken as a year) to the year 1844 A. D., at which time the work of cleansing the sanctuary was to begin, or, as the message states, "the hour of God's judgment is come." See articles in the present volume of the SIGNS, entitled "Man, Sin, and Saviour."
With the mind thus directed to this date (1844) for the beginning of the judgment period, one naturally inquires whether such an announcement was made to the world at that time. The query is not difficult to answer. A few years previous to this date William Miller, and others associated with him, began preaching the doctrine of the second advent of Christ, and the hour of God's judgment come, basing their teaching principally upon the prophecies of Daniel and the message. Ministers of various denominations and of other countries joined in the work, by preaching and publishing, until, as is stated upon reliable authority, before 1844 had come, the sound of the message had reached every civilized part of the earth. Of the widespread character of this movement we have sufficient evidence in the almost universal familiarity with terms of reproach used concerning it, such as "Millerism," "Millerites," "Second Adventist," etc. However, this movement was but the introduction of the great work symbolized by the first angel, which, from the very nature of the everlasting gospel and the worship of the true God, constituting the burden of his message, must continue with ever increasing breadth and ultimately increasing148power to the end of man's probation.
Here an objection may arise in some minds: Did not William Miller preach that Christ was coming, and consequently the end of the world, in 1844, both of which proved mistakes? How, then, can you regard his work as fulfilling prophecy? We answer: Mr. Miller preached and demonstrated beyond successful controversy that the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14 began, as stated above, 457 B. C., bringing their close, and, consequently, the cleansing of the sanctuary, 2300 years later, or in 1844. He was mistaken in this, however: he assumed (without Scripture proof) that the earth was the sanctuary, and reasoned that its cleansing must be by fire at the coming of Christ, instead of seeing that the sanctuary of this dispensation is in heaven (Heb. 8:1, 2), and that its cleansing was a work of judgment to take place in the heavenly sanctuary preparatory to the coming of Christ. He was mistaken in regard to the nature of the event, but not in regard to the event itself, or in that 1844 was the time for it to occur. The hour of God's judgment had come, and this was the burden of his preaching, though he misapprehended the real significance of the message.
But a misapprehension on the part of the messenger, or a mistake in the work, by no means invalidates the message or the work as a fulfillment of prophecy, as is forcibly illustrated by the circumstance of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The disciples were as seriously mistaken in regard to that event as was Mr. Miller and his associates; for they supposed he was about to establish again the throne of David and reign a temporal king. In this they were sadly disappointed; they were fulfilling prophecy. That event must take place; for Christ said to the Pharisees who desired him to rebuke his disciples for their noisy demonstrations, "If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:40. So with Mr. Miller and his associates; though not fully understanding the nature of the work they were introducing, they were fulfilling prophecy and giving the message due for that time. That even the mistake itself was a subject of prophecy will appear from the next article.
