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Time of Trouble
341
Companies of Angels Watch
Angels are stationed about those who have kept the word of
Christ’s patience. They have witnessed their distress and heard their
prayers. They wait the word of their Commander to snatch them
from their peril. But they must wait a little longer. The people
of God must drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism.
Matthew 20:20-23
. Yet for the elect’s sake the time of trouble will
be shortened. The end will come more quickly than men expect.
Though a general decree has fixed the time when commandment-
keepers may be put to death, their enemies will in some cases antici-
pate the decree and endeavor to take their lives. But none can pass
the guardians stationed about every faithful soul. Some are assailed
in their flight from the cities, but the swords raised against them
break as a straw. Others are defended by angels in the form of men
of war.
In all ages celestial beings have taken an active part in the affairs
of men. They have accepted the hospitalities of human homes, acted
as guides to benighted travelers, opened prison doors and set free
the servants of the Lord. They came to roll away the stone from the
Saviour’s tomb.
Angels visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to Sodom,
to determine whether they have passed the boundary of God’s for-
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bearance. The Lord, for the sake of a few who really serve Him,
restrains calamities and prolongs the tranquillity of multitudes. Little
do sinners realize that they are indebted for their lives to the faithful
few whom they delight to oppress.
Often in the councils of this world, angels have been spokesmen.
Human ears have listened to their appeals, human lips have ridiculed
their counsels. These heavenly messengers have proved themselves
better able to plead the cause of the oppressed than their most elo-
quent defenders. They have defeated and arrested evils that would
have caused great suffering to God’s people.
With earnest longing, God’s people await the tokens of their
coming King. As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God,
the heavens glow with the dawn of eternal day. Like the melody of
angel songs the words fall upon the ear: “Help is coming.” Christ’s
voice comes from the gates ajar: “Lo, I am with you. Be not afraid.