Have you ever sat down to eat a very thick steak? Or maybe you're a vegetarian so you need to alter that a bit, have you ever sat down to a thick, very dense piece of lentil loaf? You need to take your time, you need to chew the food good or you can choke on it. Also, you know that you aren't going to finish that steak/lentil loaf in just a few minutes. Food like that takes time to eat. When we get the meat of God's word we have to chew slowly and thoroughly, we have to take our time with it. We have to or else we risk dying don't we? With the food most assuredly. Many have died choking on their food, and I'm not saying they are at fault because I don't know if they were wolfing it down or being careless or not. You are more likely to choke when you don't chew your food good though and try to swallow chunks that are too big. We have to consider this as we feast on God's word, taking in the meat of it, not the milk. The milk will go down easy, no chewing necessary at all. The meat however will take a lot more effort.
I'm talking about this because I've been feeding you meat these last few days and I'm going to continue to feed you meat and I don't want you to get frustrated by it. If you want God's truth, if you TRULY want God's word you will study this as you need to and none of my words matter, just God's truth!
May the HOLY SPIRIT bless us as we dig into the Word of God and try to wrest the truths we need for the times we are living in.
Please, Lord, please bless us.
*******
Chapter 2 - The Proclamations Of The First Angel
Identity of the Angels of Rev. 14:6 and 10:1
The Open Book of Chapter 10
Nature of this Proclamation
Time when it is heard
Extent of the Warning
Evidences of which it is based
Reference to John the Baptist
The Disappointment.
"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. " Rev. 14:6, 7.
WE call this the first angel, because it is the first of the series.
See verse 9.
(((Rev 14:9 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))))
John calls it "another angel, " from the fact that he had previously seen an angel flying through the midst of heaven, after the fourth angel had sounded, announcing the last three trumpets as woe trumpets. See Chap. 8:13.
(((Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! ))))
This was about the close of the sixth century, and this fact shows that the first angel of Rev. 14 does not belong to the apostolic age.
We understand that this angel is the same as the one brought to view in Rev. 10.
We shall therefore briefly refer to that chapter as explanatory of chap. 14:6, 7, and as furnishing an important argument respecting the time of its fulfillment. Chap. 9 of Revelation, presents the first and second woes. The prophetic period connected with the second woe terminated with the political power of the Ottoman Empire, Aug. 11, 1840. *
Thus ends the ninth chapter, and the tenth opens with the descent of a mighty angel from heaven with a little book in his hand, who cries with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth, and then lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears that time shall be no longer.
This oath cannot mean duration as measured by days and years, for in chap. 20 we have 1000
years measured off between the two resurrections; and, for aught that appears to the contrary, duration will ever be measured thus. Nor can it mean probationary time, for two reasons:
1. It is certain, from verse 7, that this announcement precedes the voice of the seventh angel,
(seventh trumpet) and it is in the days of the commencement of his voice that the mystery of
God is finished;
2. After this oath of the angel, it is said to John, who doubtless personates the church, that he
must prophesy again.
These reasons furnish conclusive proof that probation has not closed when this oath is uttered. Hence we understand that this oath has reference to the prophetic periods, and that this angel with the little book open in his hand is the same as the angel of Chap. 14, announcing that the hour of God's Judgment has come.
The little book which was open in his hand, we understand to be the prophecy of Daniel,
which was to be sealed up until the time of the end. The angel of Chap. 10 preached from this little book, and it is this prophecy of Daniel that contains the prophetic time on which the
angel of Chap. 14:6 bases his proclamation that the hour of God's Judgment is come.
This proclamation is one of pre-eminent importance.
It is not a mere local judgment, but one that concerns all the inhabitants of the earth. Hence it has reference to the final Judgment scene. It is the same gospel that Paul preached that is here styled the "everlasting gospel. " But the great truth uttered by this angel would not have been a truth if uttered by Paul; for he lived at the commencement of the gospel dispensation, and this proclamation relates to its closing scenes. It seems to be the same as "this gospel of the kingdom" that our Lord presents in Matt. 24:14 as the sign of the end of this dispensation.
The truth on this point is well expressed in the following language of the late Sylvester Bliss:
" As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, however, to be seen another angel
flying through 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. Rev. 14:6.
The burden of this angel was to be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; but
connected with it was the additional motive of the proximity of the kingdom - `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 seas, and the fountains of waters. ' Verse 7.
No mere preaching of the gospel, without announcing its proximity, could fulfill this message.
We firmly believe that this proclamation has been made, and that the preaching of the
immediate advent of our Lord has been in fulfillment in this prophecy. Prior to the fall of the
Ottoman Empire in 1840, it had been shown by those who were preaching the immediate
advent of Christ, that the hour, day, month, and year of Ottoman supremacy would expire the 11th of August, 1840. When the event verified the truthfulness of this calculation, the way was prepared for the advent message to go with mighty power. The prophecies were not only unsealed, but, in the providence of God, a demonstration of the truthfulness of the mode of calculation respecting the prophetic times was given to the world. Thus, at the very time when the mighty angel of God was to come down with the little book open in his hand, and to cry with a loud voice, the advent message began to be proclaimed with great power. It was the good news of the everlasting kingdom, and of the advent of our glorious King.
Hence it is evident that the advent proclamation comes in at the right time in this prophecy.
The declaration of this angel, 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:
1. That the angel bases his preaching upon the authority of the prophets;
2. 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 sixth angels of chap. 9; 3. 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, has told
how the mystery of God should be finished at the end of the 2300 days; viz. , the Sanctuary
should be cleansed, which event accomplishes the work of our great High Priest.
The extent of this proclamation is worthy of notice. An English writer, Mourant Brock, thus
remarks:-
"It is not merely in great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is
entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent
of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching `this
gospel of the kingdom;' while in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of England
are raising the same cry. "
Dr. Joseph Wolfe traveled in Arabia Felix, through the region inhabited by the descendants of
Hobab, Moses' father-in-law. In Yemen, he saw a book which he mentions thus:-
" The Arabs of this place have a book called SEERA. which treats of the second coming of
Christ, and his reign in glory! In Yemen, he spent six days with the Rechabites. `They drink
no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no seed, live in tents, and remember the words of Jonadab,
the son of Rechab. ' With them were children of Israel, of the tribe of Dan, who reside near
Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, in common with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival
of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven. "
The "Voice of the Church, " by D. T. Taylor, speaks as follows concerning the wide diffusion
of the advent sentiment:-
" In Wirtemberg there is a Christian colony numbering hundreds, who look for the speedy
advent of Christ; also another of like belief on the shores of the Caspian; the Molokaners, a
large body of dissenters from the Russian Greek Church, residing on the shores of the Baltic, -
a very pious people of whom it is said, `Taking the Bible alone for their creed, the norm of
their faith is simply the Holy Scriptures, ' - are characterized by the `expectation of Christ's
immediate and visible reign upon earth. ' In Russia, the doctrine of Christ's coming and reign
is preached to some extent and received by many of the lower class.
It has been extensively agitated in Germany, particularly in the south part among the
Moravians. In Norway, charts and books on the advent have been circulated extensively, and
the doctrine has been received by many. Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an
expectation of Christ's advent about this time. English and American publications on this
doctrine have been sent to Holland, Germany, India, Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to
nearly every missionary station on the globe. At the Turks Islands, it has been received to
some extent among the Wesleyans.
"Mr. Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people, was a believer in Christ's soon
coming. James MacGregor Bertram, a Scottish missionary of the Baptist order at St. Helena,
has sounded the cry extensively on that island, making many converts and pre-millennialists;
he has also preached it at South Africa at the missionary stations there.
David N. Lord informs us that a large proportion of the missionaries who have gone from
Great Britain to make known the gospel to the heathen, and who are now laboring in Asia and Africa, are millennarians; and Joseph Wolfe, D. D. , according to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845 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, Turkistan, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindoostan, Thibet, in
Holland, Scotland, and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St. Helena, also on shipboard in
the Mediterranean, and at New York City to all denominations. He declares he has preached
among Jews, Turks, Mohammedans, Parsees, Hindoos, Chaldeans, Yescedes, Syrians,
Sabeans, to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece,
etc; and of his extraordinary labors the Investigator says, `No individual has, perhaps, given
greater publicity to the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than has this
well-known missionary to the 20 world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the approaching
advent of the Messiah in glory. ' "
None can deny that this world-wide warning of impending judgment has been given. The
nature of the evidence adduced in its support now claims our attention, as furnishing the most conclusive testimony that it was a message from Heaven.
All the great outlines of the world's prophetic history were shown to be complete in the
present generation. The great prophetic chain of Dan. 2, also the chains of chaps. 7, 8 and 11,
12, were shown to be just accomplished.
(((I can deny this… we know from our studying, and we know from the fact we are still here 137 years later that all of the chains had not yet been fully accomplished. The Times of the Gentiles had not yet been fulfilled- not until 1980. The prophecy in Daniel 11:45 has yet to be fulfilled. There is more, but so much had been fulfilled before at the time of this writing in 1877 the rest perhaps could have been fulfilled quickly- with GOD nothing is impossible, had God's spiritually chosen NOT apostatized in 1888, something J.N. Andrews couldn't have known would happen in 1877. Let's continue with this in mind, keeping time and place in our thoughts and taking from this what we need, all by the grace of God.))))
The same was true of our Lord's prophetic description of the gospel dispensation. Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21.
The prophetic periods of Dan. 7, 8, 9, 12 and Rev. 11, 12, 13, were shown to harmonize with,
and to unitedly sustain, this great proclamation.
The signs in the heavens and upon the earth and sea, in the church and among the nations,
with one voice bore witness to the warning which God addressed to the human family. Joel
2:30, 31; Matt. 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-36; 2 Tim. 3:1-7, Rev. 6:12, 13.
(((Joe 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mar 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
Mar 13:25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
Mar 13:26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Luk 21:25 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;
Luk 21:26 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.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. ))))
And besides the mighty array of evidence on which this warning was based, the great
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in connection with this proclamation set the seal of Heaven to
its truth.
The warning of John the Baptist, which was to prepare the way for the first advent of our
Lord, was of short duration, and limited in its extent. For each prophetic testimony which
sustained the work of John, we have several which support the proclamation of Christ's near
advent. John had not the aid of the press to disseminate his proclamation, nor the facility of
modern methods of travel; he was a humble man, dressed in camel's hair, and he performed
no miracles. If the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, in
not being baptized of John, how great must be the guilt of those who reject the warning sent
by God to prepare the way of the second advent!
(((The following is a VERY important message, something we cannot, we dare not forget!))))
But those were disappointed who expected the Lord in 1843 and `44. This fact is with many a
sufficient reason for rejecting all the testimony in this case. We acknowledge the
disappointment, but cannot acknowledge that this furnishes a just reason for denying the hand of God in this work. The Jewish Church were disappointed when at the close of the work of John the Baptist, Jesus presented himself as the promised Messiah; and the trusting disciples were most sadly disappointed when He whom they expected to deliver Israel was by wicked hands taken and slain.
And after his resurrection, when they expected him to restore again the kingdom to Israel,
they could not but be disappointed when they understood that he was going away to his
Father, and that they were to be left for a long season to tribulation and anguish. But
disappointment does not prove that God has no hand in the guidance of his people. It should
lead them to correct their errors, but it should not lead them to cast away their confidence in
God. It was because the children of Israel were disappointed in the wilderness that they so
often denied their guidance as divine. They are set forth as an admonition to us, that we
should not fall after the same example of unbelief.
But it must be apparent to every student of the Scriptures, that the angel who proclaims the
hour of God's Judgment does not give the latest message of mercy. Rev. 14 presents two others and later proclamations, before the close of human probation. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that the coming of the Lord does not take place until the second and third proclamations have been added to the first.
The same thing may also be seen in the fact that after the angel of chap. 10 has sworn that
time shall be no longer another work of prophesying before many people and nations is
announced. Hence we understand that the first angel preaches the hour of God's Judgment
come; that is, he preaches the termination of the prophetic periods, and that this is the time
which he swears shall be no longer.
The Judgment does, of necessity, commence before the advent of Christ; for he comes to
execute the Judgment (Jude 14, 15; Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:27); and at the sound of the last
trumpet, he confers immortality upon every one of the righteous, and passes by all the wicked.
(((Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, Jud 1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.))))
The investigative Judgment does, therefore, precede the execution of the same by the Saviour. It is the province of the Father to preside in this investigative work, as set forth in Dan. 7. At this tribunal, the Son closes up his work as high priest, and is crowned king. Thence he comes to earth to execute the decisions of his Father. It is this work of judgment by the Father which the first angel introduces.
The great period of 2300 days, which was the most important period in marking the definite
time in that proclamation, extends to the cleansing of the Sanctuary. That the cleansing of the Sanctuary is not the cleansing of any part of the earth, but that it is the last work of our great High Priest in the heavenly Tabernacle, before his advent to the earth, has been clearly shown. And we understand that it is while the work of cleansing the Sanctuary takes place that the latest message of mercy is proclaimed. Thus it will be seen that the prophetic periods, and the proclamation which is based upon them, do not extend to the coming of the Lord.
*******
2300 year prophecy had to be finished before the cleansing work in 1844 could begin. What makes us think that 137 years is a long time when we consider a prophecy 2300 years long?!
I know that there is no more time framed prophecy for us. We are living in a time of opportunity and God is giving and has given us an opportunity to be HIS. As with Israel of old His spiritual Israel abandoned Him, they didn't HAVE to! They were told to repent, and warned if they didn't then they would NOT be God's! Now those of us who witness the apostasy and come out of it are in the position of opportunity to be truly God's spiritual Israel, those who will see our Savior return! We have the opportunity, will we take it? Will we? Or will we apostatize too? Will we get to the end and turn our back on God? Will it be too much for us? We have to pray it won't be, that we will be known of our Savior, known of Him and be submitted to His will wholly, to allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us keeping us in Christ through the time after Christ stands up and says it is finished and we know longer have an advocate with our Father pleading for us, an Advocate who shed His blood, who gave His life for us. At that time we have to be sealed as His and ONLY He can have us sealed. Please Savior, please we would be Yours!
By YOUR LOVE!
I'm talking about this because I've been feeding you meat these last few days and I'm going to continue to feed you meat and I don't want you to get frustrated by it. If you want God's truth, if you TRULY want God's word you will study this as you need to and none of my words matter, just God's truth!
May the HOLY SPIRIT bless us as we dig into the Word of God and try to wrest the truths we need for the times we are living in.
Please, Lord, please bless us.
*******
Chapter 2 - The Proclamations Of The First Angel
Identity of the Angels of Rev. 14:6 and 10:1
The Open Book of Chapter 10
Nature of this Proclamation
Time when it is heard
Extent of the Warning
Evidences of which it is based
Reference to John the Baptist
The Disappointment.
"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. " Rev. 14:6, 7.
WE call this the first angel, because it is the first of the series.
See verse 9.
(((Rev 14:9 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))))
John calls it "another angel, " from the fact that he had previously seen an angel flying through the midst of heaven, after the fourth angel had sounded, announcing the last three trumpets as woe trumpets. See Chap. 8:13.
(((Rev 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! ))))
This was about the close of the sixth century, and this fact shows that the first angel of Rev. 14 does not belong to the apostolic age.
We understand that this angel is the same as the one brought to view in Rev. 10.
We shall therefore briefly refer to that chapter as explanatory of chap. 14:6, 7, and as furnishing an important argument respecting the time of its fulfillment. Chap. 9 of Revelation, presents the first and second woes. The prophetic period connected with the second woe terminated with the political power of the Ottoman Empire, Aug. 11, 1840. *
Thus ends the ninth chapter, and the tenth opens with the descent of a mighty angel from heaven with a little book in his hand, who cries with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth, and then lifts up his hand to heaven, and swears that time shall be no longer.
This oath cannot mean duration as measured by days and years, for in chap. 20 we have 1000
years measured off between the two resurrections; and, for aught that appears to the contrary, duration will ever be measured thus. Nor can it mean probationary time, for two reasons:
1. It is certain, from verse 7, that this announcement precedes the voice of the seventh angel,
(seventh trumpet) and it is in the days of the commencement of his voice that the mystery of
God is finished;
2. After this oath of the angel, it is said to John, who doubtless personates the church, that he
must prophesy again.
These reasons furnish conclusive proof that probation has not closed when this oath is uttered. Hence we understand that this oath has reference to the prophetic periods, and that this angel with the little book open in his hand is the same as the angel of Chap. 14, announcing that the hour of God's Judgment has come.
The little book which was open in his hand, we understand to be the prophecy of Daniel,
which was to be sealed up until the time of the end. The angel of Chap. 10 preached from this little book, and it is this prophecy of Daniel that contains the prophetic time on which the
angel of Chap. 14:6 bases his proclamation that the hour of God's Judgment is come.
This proclamation is one of pre-eminent importance.
It is not a mere local judgment, but one that concerns all the inhabitants of the earth. Hence it has reference to the final Judgment scene. It is the same gospel that Paul preached that is here styled the "everlasting gospel. " But the great truth uttered by this angel would not have been a truth if uttered by Paul; for he lived at the commencement of the gospel dispensation, and this proclamation relates to its closing scenes. It seems to be the same as "this gospel of the kingdom" that our Lord presents in Matt. 24:14 as the sign of the end of this dispensation.
The truth on this point is well expressed in the following language of the late Sylvester Bliss:
" As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, however, to be seen another angel
flying through 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. Rev. 14:6.
The burden of this angel was to be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; but
connected with it was the additional motive of the proximity of the kingdom - `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 seas, and the fountains of waters. ' Verse 7.
No mere preaching of the gospel, without announcing its proximity, could fulfill this message.
We firmly believe that this proclamation has been made, and that the preaching of the
immediate advent of our Lord has been in fulfillment in this prophecy. Prior to the fall of the
Ottoman Empire in 1840, it had been shown by those who were preaching the immediate
advent of Christ, that the hour, day, month, and year of Ottoman supremacy would expire the 11th of August, 1840. When the event verified the truthfulness of this calculation, the way was prepared for the advent message to go with mighty power. The prophecies were not only unsealed, but, in the providence of God, a demonstration of the truthfulness of the mode of calculation respecting the prophetic times was given to the world. Thus, at the very time when the mighty angel of God was to come down with the little book open in his hand, and to cry with a loud voice, the advent message began to be proclaimed with great power. It was the good news of the everlasting kingdom, and of the advent of our glorious King.
Hence it is evident that the advent proclamation comes in at the right time in this prophecy.
The declaration of this angel, 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:
1. That the angel bases his preaching upon the authority of the prophets;
2. 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 sixth angels of chap. 9; 3. 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, has told
how the mystery of God should be finished at the end of the 2300 days; viz. , the Sanctuary
should be cleansed, which event accomplishes the work of our great High Priest.
The extent of this proclamation is worthy of notice. An English writer, Mourant Brock, thus
remarks:-
"It is not merely in great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is
entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent
of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching `this
gospel of the kingdom;' while in this country, about seven hundred of the Church of England
are raising the same cry. "
Dr. Joseph Wolfe traveled in Arabia Felix, through the region inhabited by the descendants of
Hobab, Moses' father-in-law. In Yemen, he saw a book which he mentions thus:-
" The Arabs of this place have a book called SEERA. which treats of the second coming of
Christ, and his reign in glory! In Yemen, he spent six days with the Rechabites. `They drink
no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no seed, live in tents, and remember the words of Jonadab,
the son of Rechab. ' With them were children of Israel, of the tribe of Dan, who reside near
Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, in common with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival
of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven. "
The "Voice of the Church, " by D. T. Taylor, speaks as follows concerning the wide diffusion
of the advent sentiment:-
" In Wirtemberg there is a Christian colony numbering hundreds, who look for the speedy
advent of Christ; also another of like belief on the shores of the Caspian; the Molokaners, a
large body of dissenters from the Russian Greek Church, residing on the shores of the Baltic, -
a very pious people of whom it is said, `Taking the Bible alone for their creed, the norm of
their faith is simply the Holy Scriptures, ' - are characterized by the `expectation of Christ's
immediate and visible reign upon earth. ' In Russia, the doctrine of Christ's coming and reign
is preached to some extent and received by many of the lower class.
It has been extensively agitated in Germany, particularly in the south part among the
Moravians. In Norway, charts and books on the advent have been circulated extensively, and
the doctrine has been received by many. Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an
expectation of Christ's advent about this time. English and American publications on this
doctrine have been sent to Holland, Germany, India, Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to
nearly every missionary station on the globe. At the Turks Islands, it has been received to
some extent among the Wesleyans.
"Mr. Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people, was a believer in Christ's soon
coming. James MacGregor Bertram, a Scottish missionary of the Baptist order at St. Helena,
has sounded the cry extensively on that island, making many converts and pre-millennialists;
he has also preached it at South Africa at the missionary stations there.
David N. Lord informs us that a large proportion of the missionaries who have gone from
Great Britain to make known the gospel to the heathen, and who are now laboring in Asia and Africa, are millennarians; and Joseph Wolfe, D. D. , according to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845 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, Turkistan, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindoostan, Thibet, in
Holland, Scotland, and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St. Helena, also on shipboard in
the Mediterranean, and at New York City to all denominations. He declares he has preached
among Jews, Turks, Mohammedans, Parsees, Hindoos, Chaldeans, Yescedes, Syrians,
Sabeans, to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece,
etc; and of his extraordinary labors the Investigator says, `No individual has, perhaps, given
greater publicity to the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than has this
well-known missionary to the 20 world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the approaching
advent of the Messiah in glory. ' "
None can deny that this world-wide warning of impending judgment has been given. The
nature of the evidence adduced in its support now claims our attention, as furnishing the most conclusive testimony that it was a message from Heaven.
All the great outlines of the world's prophetic history were shown to be complete in the
present generation. The great prophetic chain of Dan. 2, also the chains of chaps. 7, 8 and 11,
12, were shown to be just accomplished.
(((I can deny this… we know from our studying, and we know from the fact we are still here 137 years later that all of the chains had not yet been fully accomplished. The Times of the Gentiles had not yet been fulfilled- not until 1980. The prophecy in Daniel 11:45 has yet to be fulfilled. There is more, but so much had been fulfilled before at the time of this writing in 1877 the rest perhaps could have been fulfilled quickly- with GOD nothing is impossible, had God's spiritually chosen NOT apostatized in 1888, something J.N. Andrews couldn't have known would happen in 1877. Let's continue with this in mind, keeping time and place in our thoughts and taking from this what we need, all by the grace of God.))))
The same was true of our Lord's prophetic description of the gospel dispensation. Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21.
The prophetic periods of Dan. 7, 8, 9, 12 and Rev. 11, 12, 13, were shown to harmonize with,
and to unitedly sustain, this great proclamation.
The signs in the heavens and upon the earth and sea, in the church and among the nations,
with one voice bore witness to the warning which God addressed to the human family. Joel
2:30, 31; Matt. 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-36; 2 Tim. 3:1-7, Rev. 6:12, 13.
(((Joe 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mar 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
Mar 13:25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
Mar 13:26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Luk 21:25 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;
Luk 21:26 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.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. ))))
And besides the mighty array of evidence on which this warning was based, the great
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in connection with this proclamation set the seal of Heaven to
its truth.
The warning of John the Baptist, which was to prepare the way for the first advent of our
Lord, was of short duration, and limited in its extent. For each prophetic testimony which
sustained the work of John, we have several which support the proclamation of Christ's near
advent. John had not the aid of the press to disseminate his proclamation, nor the facility of
modern methods of travel; he was a humble man, dressed in camel's hair, and he performed
no miracles. If the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, in
not being baptized of John, how great must be the guilt of those who reject the warning sent
by God to prepare the way of the second advent!
(((The following is a VERY important message, something we cannot, we dare not forget!))))
But those were disappointed who expected the Lord in 1843 and `44. This fact is with many a
sufficient reason for rejecting all the testimony in this case. We acknowledge the
disappointment, but cannot acknowledge that this furnishes a just reason for denying the hand of God in this work. The Jewish Church were disappointed when at the close of the work of John the Baptist, Jesus presented himself as the promised Messiah; and the trusting disciples were most sadly disappointed when He whom they expected to deliver Israel was by wicked hands taken and slain.
And after his resurrection, when they expected him to restore again the kingdom to Israel,
they could not but be disappointed when they understood that he was going away to his
Father, and that they were to be left for a long season to tribulation and anguish. But
disappointment does not prove that God has no hand in the guidance of his people. It should
lead them to correct their errors, but it should not lead them to cast away their confidence in
God. It was because the children of Israel were disappointed in the wilderness that they so
often denied their guidance as divine. They are set forth as an admonition to us, that we
should not fall after the same example of unbelief.
But it must be apparent to every student of the Scriptures, that the angel who proclaims the
hour of God's Judgment does not give the latest message of mercy. Rev. 14 presents two others and later proclamations, before the close of human probation. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that the coming of the Lord does not take place until the second and third proclamations have been added to the first.
The same thing may also be seen in the fact that after the angel of chap. 10 has sworn that
time shall be no longer another work of prophesying before many people and nations is
announced. Hence we understand that the first angel preaches the hour of God's Judgment
come; that is, he preaches the termination of the prophetic periods, and that this is the time
which he swears shall be no longer.
The Judgment does, of necessity, commence before the advent of Christ; for he comes to
execute the Judgment (Jude 14, 15; Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:27); and at the sound of the last
trumpet, he confers immortality upon every one of the righteous, and passes by all the wicked.
(((Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, Jud 1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.))))
The investigative Judgment does, therefore, precede the execution of the same by the Saviour. It is the province of the Father to preside in this investigative work, as set forth in Dan. 7. At this tribunal, the Son closes up his work as high priest, and is crowned king. Thence he comes to earth to execute the decisions of his Father. It is this work of judgment by the Father which the first angel introduces.
The great period of 2300 days, which was the most important period in marking the definite
time in that proclamation, extends to the cleansing of the Sanctuary. That the cleansing of the Sanctuary is not the cleansing of any part of the earth, but that it is the last work of our great High Priest in the heavenly Tabernacle, before his advent to the earth, has been clearly shown. And we understand that it is while the work of cleansing the Sanctuary takes place that the latest message of mercy is proclaimed. Thus it will be seen that the prophetic periods, and the proclamation which is based upon them, do not extend to the coming of the Lord.
*******
2300 year prophecy had to be finished before the cleansing work in 1844 could begin. What makes us think that 137 years is a long time when we consider a prophecy 2300 years long?!
I know that there is no more time framed prophecy for us. We are living in a time of opportunity and God is giving and has given us an opportunity to be HIS. As with Israel of old His spiritual Israel abandoned Him, they didn't HAVE to! They were told to repent, and warned if they didn't then they would NOT be God's! Now those of us who witness the apostasy and come out of it are in the position of opportunity to be truly God's spiritual Israel, those who will see our Savior return! We have the opportunity, will we take it? Will we? Or will we apostatize too? Will we get to the end and turn our back on God? Will it be too much for us? We have to pray it won't be, that we will be known of our Savior, known of Him and be submitted to His will wholly, to allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us keeping us in Christ through the time after Christ stands up and says it is finished and we know longer have an advocate with our Father pleading for us, an Advocate who shed His blood, who gave His life for us. At that time we have to be sealed as His and ONLY He can have us sealed. Please Savior, please we would be Yours!
By YOUR LOVE!
No comments:
Post a Comment