GOD has had a message for every age, for every generation, for every world crisis. He reads lightly, indeed, superficially, or blindly, the lessons of history, who can not see in them the marvelous working of the invisible hand of God, molding, shaping, retarding, advancing the destinies of nations, so far as it could be done without compelling or coercing the human will. He does not know the true principles of reform who can not trace the true reformations among men back to the principles of the living Word of God among men.
A crisis came into this world when sin entered. God gave then His everlasting Gospel, and those who embraced it entered into His everlasting covenant of grace. A crisis came sixteen centuries later. The world became so full of wickedness that, in mercy to untold generations, the earth must be cleansed. Therefore the Deluge, and therefore the mighty message to that generation, which was preached by Methuselah and Noah for 120 years. When the fulness of time came, God called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, a missionary to Palestine, that he might preach God's message there before the cup of the Amorites was full for judgment. When the four hundred years of pilgrimage and bondage of Abraham's seed had ended in Egypt, God sent Moses and Aaron with a mighty message of deliverance, deliverance from sin for Egypt also, if Egypt accepted the message.
"When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4: 4, 5. He preceded that advent by the mighty voice of one crying in the wilderness, in the person of John the Baptist. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the Gospel." Mark 1: 15.
The above are examples of how God has sent His saving message for every age, always the everlasting Gospel, always adapted to the very generation in which it was given, always demanding personal faith to grasp that present truth. These days are days of evil, days of opportunity, days pregnant with possibilities, days of doubt and stress and trial and crisis. Well did the old prophet express it as he was given a vision of our time, "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3: 14.
In such a time as this, a time when every basis for human hope is under attack, when every wind of doctrine is blowing, when every creed of man is questioned, will God leave the world without a message? Nay, it is unbelievable, it is contrary to God's character, contrary to the analogy of all His past dealings with men, contrary to the revelation of His Word, which discloses just such a message for this time. That message, reader, we now proceed to study as recorded in Revelation 14, — a study necessarily brief, as in its fullest development the comprehensive passage includes much of God's revelation. First let us learn the —
Answer of the Text
[The answers to the questions are from the American Revised Version. Omitting questions, and disregarding sometimes the capital at the beginning and the period at the close of an answer, the text may be read continuously. In notes and comments both versions are used without designation.]
1. What did the prophet see in his vision?
And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven.
2. What did the angel have?
Having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
3. What special fourfold burden is expressed in the message?
Fear God, and give Him glory; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.
4. What followed with this message?
And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
5. What followed with both these messages?
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshipeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger.
6. What doom awaits the worshiper of the beast and his image?
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 goeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name.
7. What class of people are developed for God under this message?
Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Note and Comment
1. ANOTHER ANGEL.— Different from the angel of chapter 10, the last mentioned by John, who came DOWN TO THE EARTH with his mighty message of power. Angels are spiritual beings, as we have learned — the good, messengers of God; the evil, acting in the same capacity, as much as their selfishness can be controlled, for the devil. God's angels lead out and coöperate with man in bearing to the lost God's messages of mercy. In the beginning of the Christian dispensation they heralded the truth of our Lord. Luke 2: 10-12. They are also connected with His closing work. The "great voice," the "flying," the appearance in "mid-heaven," all indicate a work which will go with wonderful rapidity, which will be heard and witnessed afar. It will meet its purpose to reach every nation and tongue and tribe and people.
The work of the angel of chapter 10 culminated, as we have learned, in the great Advent Movement of 1840 to 1844. It was characterized by special power as affecting men. The angel came down to the earth. The angel of our lesson represents a work the great power of which will be witnessed in its marvelous going to the world.
2. THE ETERNAL GOOD TIDINGS.— It is a good term. We use "Gospel" more as a technical, doctrinal term, not appreciating its meaning; but it means "good tidings;" and as it is the message which God has sent to the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, by angels, and by men, ever since sin blighted mankind and left them without hope, it is the everlasting Gospel, the good tidings of a Saviour from sin and sinning and death for this age. It is still "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1: 16, 17. It still proclaims a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, born in our behalf in Bethlehem, living in our behalf in this world, meeting its every temptation, dying in our behalf on Calvary, rising in our behalf for justification, pleading in our behalf, Priest upon the Father's throne, coming again in our behalf to give His people life and joy forevermore.
3. FEAR, GLORY, JUDGMENT, WORSHIP.— This Gospel message emphasizes for this generation four great and important things — one great fact, three great duties. We note them out of order:
a. THE GREAT FACT: "The hour of His judgment IS come." It is pending. Paul preached before Felix of "the judgment TO come." Acts 24: 25. He declared to the Athenians that God had "appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness." Acts 17: 31. It was in the far future then, tho sure; but when the message of Rev. 14: 7 is due, "The hour of His judgment IS come," it is upon the world.
The last phase of every probationary work is examination, decision, judgment. Thus the Gospel closes. When Christ comes, He will not raise the dead, call them with the living before Him, and then judge them. All the work of examination and decision will have been accomplished before He comes. Those then saved will have been "accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead," literally, "out from among the dead," the first resurrection. Luke 20: 35; Rev. 20: 5, 6; Phil. 3: 11. Those thus accounted worthy have been judged, and will7if
sleeping in the grave be raised immortal; if living, will be changed at the sound of the trumpet, when Christ comes. 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52. This examination of cases comes in connection with our Lord's last phase of priestly work, as we learn in our study of chapter 10, and began in 1844, at the close of the great prophetic period of Dan. 8: 14. Then began the movement symbolized by this angel, who declares the everlasting Gospel in its last phase, "The hour of His judgment is come." How long it will linger we know not, but it behooves every soul to heed the duties of the message.
b. DUTY 1: "FEAR GOD." It is important; it has always been important. That "the fear of man bringeth a snare" has ever been true, as is the rest of the proverb, "but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." Prov. 29: 25. Many denied the Christ Himself because of the fear of man. John 12: 42. Many have gone to destruction because they trusted in "the multitude of their mighty men." It is pre-eminently true now, men noted for learning, but deficient in humility, presume to sit in judgment upon the Bible and its clear, distinct teaching. Uncertain science is exalted above it. The great Decalogue, the atonement, the virgin birth of our Lord, His resurrection, His second coming, are all, in the wisdom of men, set aside; and many, not knowing God by experience, fear to accept the clear, plain statements of the Bible. They do not wish to meet the sneers of the learned; yet the eternal message sounds out, "FEAR GOD." All shall meet Him in the judgment; all must stand before the great white throne. The wisdom of the world will then be seen in all its fulness. Then it will be seen, as it is true now, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 1 Cor. 1: 25.
"Fear God"—not slavishly, cringingly, but with loving reverence, as a noble and dutiful son does a great, wise, and loving father. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." "The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil."
c. DUTY 2: "GIVE HIM GLORY." Glory is now given to men. Men call themselves religiously by the names of men. They listen to men. Like Israel of old, they do not wish to hear God speak, they would hear men. They cling to the creed of a dead hand, whatever the Bible may say. The Very Right Reverend Learned Ph.D., D.D., S.T.D. speaks, and men shout his praises, criticize the Word, sneer at Moses and Paul. The glory and praise due to God are lavished upon men. We all know it, we all see it, and thousands of devoted souls are ashamed of it.
Give God glory. He can not give His glory to a rival, can not glorify sin or error, and still be God. Acknowledge His wisdom, His power, His goodness, His constant love; listen to His Word. Let puny man stand aside. Give Him glory. He is worthy.
d. DUTY 3: "WORSHIP HIM." Worship is religious service in honor of Deity. It is adoration, honor, devotion. It is more: it is devoted heart-service; it is obedience. Listen to our Lord's thought of its meaning: the devil said, "Fall down and worship me." Jesus said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Matt. 4: 9, 10. All forms of worship apart from true service are nothing. Said Jesus again, "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6: 46. The men who profess worship, but do not the will, the law, of God, are by the word of the Master shut out of the kingdom. Not he that saith Lord, Lord, but he that doeth the will of the Father. Matt. 7: 21. Those who do not do God's will are guilty of "iniquity," or law breaking. To worship God, therefore, is to serve Him; and to serve Him acceptably is to do, not what we may think acceptable, nor what man or nation or church may command, but what He says. "Ye are My friends," says
Jesus, "if ye do whatsoever I command you."
"If ye love Me, keep My commandments."
Then worship Him. Whom?—The Maker of the heaven and the earth, all that we have, all that gives life and sustains life. All blessings and joys are from Him. Worship, serve, obey Him. Evolution has left us an abstraction for God; it has so filled men's hearts that the Creator is forgotten. It has led them to look to an ape for a father, and to their own efforts for a savior. It has opened the way for all the vain philosophies of the East which have degraded and cursed untold millions. God is Creator and Maker of the world. He has left us His memorial in His Sabbath day, by which His "wonderful works" are to be remembered. Ex. 20: 8-11; Ps. 111: 4.
Being the Creator, He is also the Re-Creator. Having power to speak worlds into existence, He has also power to speak into existence in our heart righteousness in the place of sin. The very hope of the good tidings of God is based on His creative power. Eph. 2: 10; 2 Cor. 5: 17. Departing from God, trampling down His Sabbath, men have forgotten the Maker of heaven and earth; yet needing just what His wisdom and fulness furnish, in their blindness they have substituted a counterfeit, and are seeking the power of the State instead of the power of the Spirit.
The Second Phase of the Message
4. FALLEN, FALLEN IS BABYLON. The origin and meaning of "Babylon" was set forth in our issue of June 20; what the builders of the tower of Babel called Bab-il, the "gate of God," and so stamped it upon the bricks with which they built the tower, the Lord called "Babel," confusion. See Gen. 11: 1-9. And the name well applies to every false system which has sought some other way of salvation than that devised of God, either by the perversion of God's plan or by the substitution of some human way. That beginning gave rise to the Babylonian system of government, which Satan has perpetuated throughout the ages; to the Babylonian system of education found in our institutions of learning to the present time; to the Babylonian religions of earth, in which confusion reigns and souls go astray.
The great Babylon of this age is, first of all, the Papacy, which has brought confusion into the entire Christian system by her adoption of pagan traditions handed down from Babylon of old. It applies, secondly, to those Protestant churches which have persistently held to some of the errors of the Papacy and have erected human creed standards instead of the one standard of the Word of God. These multiple standards, like various military ensigns on a battle-field, have wrought confusion in the world. True, many souls have been saved through the various sects which have erected the various standards, but not because of the confusion or by the principles which caused the confusion, but in spite of them all.
God has recognized this condition in Christendom. Many of His children deplore it. Jesus prayed that they might be one in truth, in object, in purpose, in Him. See John 17. But they are many, and the world scoffs. Yet in Babylon were His children; and the term "Babylon" is not used to condemn, but to state a condition. God loved these churches composing Babylon, for the fathers' sakes; and He therefore sent a message, the message of the first angel, to heal all divisions, sweep away all confusion, to turn from the fear and worship of men; and to fear God, to give Him glory, to worship Him as Maker of heaven and earth, would have brought oneness to God's children, dissipated human creeds, and exalted God's Word. It would have brought all His children onto the solid platform of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
When Babylon rejected the healing message, there was but one alternative; she must go down. When the Papacy rejected God's messages of reform culminating in the Reformation, it brought a moral fall. As the Protestant churches have turned from the last message of the Word, it has brought moral fall to them, for which we could give numerous testimonies from worthy men among them. "We would have healed Babylon," said our great Physician prophetically, "but she is not healed."
What will be the next step? The inevitable always, union with the world and the State — fornication. The church is the lawful spouse of Christ. 2 Cor. 11: 2. God calls Himself her husband. Jer. 31: 32. From God she receives her righteousness, her holiness, her life, all that makes her beautiful. As expressed by the prophet, "I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck, . . . and a beautiful crown upon thy head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper unto royal estate. And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, through My majesty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah." Eze. 16: 11-14.
All these expressions regarding the beauty of dress are used to express the spiritual character which God placed upon His church. But as of old His church turned to Babylon and Assyria, so in these days His church turns to the world. Having no power in herself to enforce her cherished traditions, she turns to the world, joins with the world, and thus commits spiritual fornication; and the sad lament of the second angel is that Babylon is fallen because of it.
The Third Phase of the Message
5. THE THIRD ANGEL FOLLOWED.— Another important step in the development of the Gospel message. The first part of the message states the great positive truths of the Gospel, the second part of the message the sad result which comes from rejecting that truth.
The third part of the message is God's great final protest against the retention of the error and the union with the world which follows the rejection of His message. And this phase of the message also goes with a great voice, "IF ANY MAN WORSHIP THE BEAST." We learned in our studies on Revelation 13 what the beast was, the great beast-system which had set itself against God, and the beast worship which had set itself in opposition to the worship of God. The grand climax of the beast power in its opposition to the Word of God has been developed under the Papacy, and the demand of the beast power is the worship of the creed of the Papacy rather than the worship of God. And this, again, is narrowed down to one commandment in the great Moral Code. What the Papacy demands in moral character is the same as that which God commands, with the one exception of the Sabbath. God asks that men shall acknowledge His power as Creator and Re-Creator by the observance of the seventh day; but the Papacy has substituted for that the first day of the week, and demands that the first day of the week shall be observed. In fact, it takes that first day of the week and elevates it as the symbol of its power. God presents as the symbol of His power the seventh day. (See the study on the sealing work of Revelation 7.) Creative power is the distinguishing characteristic of the true and living God. If that be taken from His law, we have nothing to distinguish Him from any of the false gods which may adopt its principles. In the place of the mark of His power, comes the mark of tradition.
Butler's Catechism, a work of authority used in Catholic schools, declares that the Sabbath commandment means "to spend the Sunday in prayer and other religious duties."8"The Doctrinal Catechism," another Catholic work of authority, has this question and answer:
Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
Answer: Had she not such power she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
The same work declares that Protestants "have only the authority of tradition" for the observance of Sunday.
Another Catholic work, called "The Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," has the following question and answer:
Question: How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath to Sunday, which Protestants allow of.
And the same work declares that "by keeping Sunday they [Protestants] acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts and to command them under sin."
Such testimonies as these might be greatly multiplied. The question lies with us as to whether we will adopt the mark of the Papacy or the mark of God's power. The sad thing is that Protestants, who profess to stand by the Bible and the Bible alone, have turned from the Word of God in this respect, and are themselves contending that the counterfeit Sabbath is, and ought to be, considered a mark of Christendom. For instance, Dr. W. W. Evarts, in a Sunday convention held in Elgin, Illinois, some years ago, stated:
This day (Sunday) is set apart for divine worship and preparation for another life. It is the test of all religion.
A sermon in "The Christian Oracle" of January 12, 1893, declared the day to be "THE SIGN OF THE CHRISTIAN NATION;" and the Rev. J. G. Lorimer, in "The Christian Treasury," declares that "it is A MARK OF AMERICAN RELIGION."
A large national reform assembly at Saratoga Springs in 1894 had the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Sabbath (Sunday) is a sign between God and man, and its reverent observance a mark of the nation whose God is Jehovah.
And yet the simple Word of God declares that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord." Apostasy in the old world and apostate Protestantism in the new world will unite in one great, world-wide apostasy in the elevation of this mark of apostasy, legally, in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord. And when that is done, men must take their choice. They may receive God's mark or seal voluntarily, impressed upon heart and soul and character by the Spirit of God, or they may yield to this world-wide power, acknowledge the beast dominancy, and receive in their forehead or in their hand the mark of apostasy. In the forehead would indicate assent and agreement; in the hand would indicate that whether with assent or agreement, or not, they yield themselves to that power. Against this God warns every soul, and tells them that those who thus turn from Him in the fullest light and with the clearest evidence, make themselves worthy to receive the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger.
We read in Ps. 75: 8, "For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine foameth; it is FULL OF MIXTURE, and He poureth out of the same: surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall drain them, and drink them." Through all the past, God's judgments have been mixed with mercy. The mixture of mercy has been in every judgment poured out upon the earth; but when the time comes that men decide against God in the face of the fullest, clearest evidence, when all mercy, every manifestation and appeal to the heart, will have been rejected, then nothing will be left in that cup but the dregs, in which there is no mixture. God's wrath, His just wrath, against sin will be poured out upon those who have identified themselves with sin, and the great beast-system will pass into oblivion forever.
6. We can comment but briefly on the expression "TORMENTED WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE," referring the reader to the little tract "Tormented Forever and Ever," Bible