260
The Great Controversy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of
the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” “Sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the
elders, gather the children: ... let the bridegroom go forth of his cham-
ber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the
Lord, weep between the porch and the altar.” “Turn ye even to Me with
all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord
your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness.”
Joel 2:1, 15-17, 12, 13
.
To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of
reform was to be accomplished. God saw that many of His professed
people were not building for eternity, and in His mercy He was about
to send a message of warning to arouse them from their stupor and
lead them to make ready for the coming of the Lord.
This warning is brought to view in
Revelation 14
. Here is a three-
fold message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings and imme-
diately followed by the coming of the Son of man to reap “the harvest
of the earth.” The first of these warnings announces the approaching
judgment. The prophet beheld an angel flying “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.”
Revelation 14:6, 7
.
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This message is declared to be a part of “the everlasting gospel.”
The work of preaching the gospel has not been committed to angels,
but has been entrusted to men. Holy angels have been employed
in directing this work, they have in charge the great movements for
the salvation of men; but the actual proclamation of the gospel is
performed by the servants of Christ upon the earth.
Faithful men, who were obedient to the promptings of God’s Spirit
and the teachings of His word, were to proclaim this warning to
the world. They were those who had taken heed to the “sure word
of prophecy,” the “light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the daystar arise.”
2 Peter 1:19
. They had been seeking
the knowledge of God more than all hid treasures, counting it “better
than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.”