LAST week we attempted to show, with how much success our readers will judge, that the confusion and division existing in the professed Christian church throughout its various denominations and sects demanded another reformation. It certainly is not in harmony with the Lord's revealed will that this division and confusion should continue to exist. His plan demands union, such union as exists between Father and Son,—Christ in his church as the Father is in Christ.
God has given to this generation a great threefold message, to meet the need, to effect the reformation, to prepare a people to stand before God "without spot or blemish or any such thing." That message is found in Rev. 14: 6-12, as follows:—
"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.
"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 for ever 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. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
There are only two points which space will allow of consideration in this article: (1) The chronology of the message, or the time when it has its application; and (2) whether we are living in that period of this world's history when the message shall be given.
1. The time of its application.—This is clearly shown not only by the message itself and its context, but by many other scriptures, where the same truths are set forth. We will here consider but the former. There are four facts in the message and its context which clearly show that it is God's closing message, the last message of mercy to a dying world, the rejection of which leaves even High Heaven no other means of reaching lost souls.
a. The proximity of the judgment.—The message of the first angel is the same gospel message which God has ever given to the world, proclaiming not only the great facts of "the common salvation" through Jesus Christ, but the special truths of the gospel which are appropriate to the last days of probation. To illustrate: Noah preached the gospel message of righteousness by faith, but he preached as an essential part of his message truths which were applicable to that generation alone, namely, that the world would be destroyed by a deluge; that it had rejected God's mercy, and only his justice was left them.690The apostles preached the same blessed gospel of peace and righteousness as Noah preached, as Abraham and Moses and the prophets preached, but with it the essential truth that the Christ had come, had died, and was risen.
Connected with the preaching of the gospel message through all the past has been the solemn announcement that God would judge the world. The apostle Paul declared that God has "appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness." Again we read that he reasoned before Felix of "righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." He expressly declared that the day of the Lord, in the which God judges the world, would not come in his day, nor till after the great apostasy had been manifested and "the man of sin" revealed. But when the message of the first angel is due, as recorded above, the judgment of God is not a future event, but "the hour of his judgment is come."
There are two points worthy of notice in connection with this. The first is that any work of probation or trial must necessarily end with a judgment. In all school work, in all service which closes with rewards of merit, the examination of work, the rewards or punishments, come last. The world has passed through six thousand years of man's trial, during which the gospel has been preached in order to save man. When Infinite Love has done all that could be done, has saved the last one that will be saved, the work ends, the judgment comes.
The second point is that the first work in the judgment is the examination of the cases of those who are amenable to the judgment. This is not only true in the very nature of the case, but it is so declared in the Scriptures. For instance, Jesus speaks of those who are "accounted worthy" to obtain that better world and the resurrection (literally) out from among the dead, the first resurrection. Their being accounted worthy shows that an examination of their cases has taken place. The apostle Paul incidentally bears testimony to the same fact. He says that the righteous dead "shall be raised incorruptible;" that is, the dead are not raised, then judged, and then made immortal, but they are raised immortal from the dead, showing that judgment has been passed upon their cases previous to their resurrection, which takes place at Christ's second coming. The time during which these cases come in examination before the great tribunal, when from the records kept by angelic scribes all shall be judged according to their works, may be called the investigative stage of the judgment. In other scriptures this is more fully set forth.
The judgment, therefore, of Rev. 14:6, 7 is the investigative judgment, beginning, doubtless, with the righteous dead of the first generation, and proceeding till the judgment ends upon the living. This is the closing work of the gospel, and this message, therefore, is a message for the last days, when the investigative judgment is going on, when the messengers of God can say, "The hour of his judgment is come."
b. The wrath of God without mercy.—The third angel declares that upon those who reject this threefold message the wine of God's wrath shall be poured out "without mixture." Such has not been the case throughout the past centuries. This is well symbolized by the following illustration:—
"For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them."
God's wrath, or justice, through all the past has been mixed with his mercy, but when that time comes when all mercy has been rejected there is nothing left for the wicked but "the dregs thereof," the wine of wrath "without mixture," that which the wicked have themselves chosen. This is the close of God's work, when mercy, in which God "delighteth," shall be offered no longer. This is referred to by the prophet in the following words:—
"For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth."
Never in all the past has the Lord wrought for sinful man without an exercise of mercy; but now that man has rejected all mercy, has refused to know the Holy One, but determinedly given God that character which was "strange" to the God of love, he gives man his final choice, and pours out upon him unmixed justice. But as this is the end of God's work for sinful and rebellious man, this message which gives solemn warning against its penalties must be the final message to the world.
c. The beast and his image.—The powers against which the message warns us are those which stand in the forefront of the last great apostasy, and are destroyed at the second coming of Christ. This also shows that the message under consideration is the gospel of Jesus Christ to the last generation of men.
d. The second coming of Christ.—Immediately after recording the messages of these angels, the prophet presents the class of people developed by it,—the completed work of the message. The characteristics of this people are patient endurance under persecution, and the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The next event is the coming of Christ to reap the harvest of the earth and usher in the end of the age.
All these evidences—and more might be given—demonstrate that this threefold message of Revelation 14 is God's last message of mercy to a dying world.
2. Are we living in that period of this world's history when this message shall have its fulfillment?—Space will not permit the examination of a tithe of the proofs which might be presented showing that we are living in the last days. But we need not enter into such an examination. The proofs are too obvious to him who truly desires to know. We note two general proofs:—
a. The Prophecies.—God has given his prophetic word, "whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day-star arise in your hearts." There are recorded in his word not less than twelve lines of prophecy, symbolic and literal, the concurrent agreement and fulfillment of which demonstrate, with more or less detail, that we are in the closing years of this dispensation, and that the next great event is the second coming of Christ. These prophecies are found in the book of Daniel, chapters 2, 7, 8 and 9, and 11; the Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, 5 and 6, 8 and 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17; and in Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; and 2 Thess. 2. All these prophetic histories, like the converging rays of a body of light, show to us unmistakably that we are nearing the bursting forth of the ineffable glory of the coming Son of God.
b. Special signs of the last days.—We not only have the long scrolls of prophetic history, the constant unrolling of which in everyday events demonstrate that we are nearing the end, but we have another class of evidences in the literal signs which the Lord has declared he would hang out in the heavens, the physical, political, social, and religious world, that his people might not be deceived. Jesus declares concerning his coming:—
"And 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; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
These signs are many. Among the principal ones note the cry of coming peace (1 Thess. 5:3); the preparation for war (Joel 3:9-12); the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars (Matt. 24:29; Joel 2:31); the increase of knowledge (Dan. 12:4, 10); the increase of wickedness among the professed disciples of Christ (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Matt. 24:12, 13); last-day scoffers (2 Peter 3:3); the spread of Spiritualism, or doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1, 2; Rev. 16:13); the social troubles between poor and rich (James 5:1-8). All these, and more might be given, have already been fulfilled or are in process of fulfillment. They show to everyone who will see, that we have reached the last generation, that the coming of Christ draweth nigh. Therefore, says our Lord, while referring to these very signs, "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [his coming] is near, even at the doors." We see them all fulfilled in the recent past, or fulfilling before our eyes. May we not—more, is it not our duty—to know that Christ's coming is near? Then the great threefold message of Rev. 14:6-12 is a message for our691time, for our generation, sent in mercy by a loving heavenly Father.
The design and scope of the message will be considered in our next.