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Chapter 20—Love for Christ’s Coming
A great religious awakening is foretold in the first angel’s mes-
sage of
Revelation 14
. An angel is seen 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 peo-
ple.” “With a loud voice” he proclaims: “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
.
An angel represents the exalted character of the work to be
accomplished by the message and the power and glory that were
to attend it. The angel’s flight “in the midst of heaven,” the “loud
voice,” and its promulgation “to every nation, and kindred, and
tongue, and people” give evidence of the rapid, worldwide extent of
the movement. As to the time when it is to take place, it announces
the opening of the judgment.
This message is a part of the gospel which could be proclaimed
only in the last days, for only then would it be true that the hour of
judgment had come. That part of his prophecy which related to the
last days, Daniel was bidden to close up and seal “to the time of the
end.”
Daniel 12:4
. Not till this time could a message concerning the
judgment be proclaimed, based on a fulfillment of these prophecies.
Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in his
day. Not till after the great apostasy and the long reign of the “man
of sin” can we look for the advent of our Lord. See
2 Thessalonians
[222]
2:3
. The “man of sin”—also “the mystery of iniquity,” “the son of
perdition,” and “that wicked,”—represents the papacy, which was
to maintain its supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in
1798. The coming of Christ could not take place before that time.
Paul covers with his caution the whole of the Christian dispensation
down to the year 1798. This side of that time the message of Christ’s
second coming is to be proclaimed.
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