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Spiritual Gifts. Volume 1
his life, and they led him safely away from the angry mob. His work
was not yet finished.
The most devoted gladly received the message. They knew it was
from God, and that it was delivered at the right time. Angels were
watching with the deepest interest the result of the heavenly message,
and when the churches turned from and rejected it, they in sadness
consulted with Jesus. He turned his face from the churches, and bid
his angels to faithfully watch over the precious ones who did not reject
the testimony, for another light was yet to shine upon them.
I saw that if professed Christians had loved their Saviour’s appear-
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ing, if their affections were placed on him, if they felt that there was
none upon earth to be compared with him, they would have hailed with
joy the first intimation of his coming. But the dislike they manifested,
as they heard of their Lord’s coming, was a decided proof that they
did not love him. Satan and his angels triumphed, and cast it in the
face of Jesus Christ and his holy angels, that his professed people had
so little love for Jesus that they did not desire his second appearing.
I saw the people of God, joyful in expectation, looking for their
Lord. But God designed to prove them. His hand covered a mistake in
the reckoning of the prophetic periods. Those who were looking for
their Lord did not discover it, and the most learned men who opposed
the time also failed to see the mistake. God designed that his people
should meet with a disappointment. The time passed, and those who
had looked with joyful expectation for their Saviour were sad and
disheartened, while those who had not loved the appearing of Jesus,
but embraced the message through fear, were pleased that he did not
come at the time of expectation. Their profession had not affected
their hearts, and purified their lives. The passing of the time was well
calculated to reveal such hearts. They were the first to turn and ridicule
the sorrowful, disappointed ones, who really loved the appearing of
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their Saviour. I saw the wisdom of God in proving his people, and
giving them a searching test to discover those who would shrink and
turn back in the hour of trial.
Jesus and all the heavenly host looked with sympathy and love upon
those who had with sweet expectation longed to see him whom their
souls loved. Angels were hovering around them, to sustain them in the
hour of their trial. Those who had neglected to receive the heavenly
message were left in darkness, and God’s anger was kindled against