The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

Christendom of ours which says, 'I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing'? And is it not equally the fact that this selfsame Christendom of ours is 'the
wretched, and the pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked'? (Verse 17.) Did the 'Mene,
Mene, tekel upharsin' of Belshazzar's palace better fit the ancient heathen, than this modern
Christian Babylon? Men talk of it as destined to glorious triumph. They proclaim it
commissioned of God to convert the world. They point to its onward march as about to
take possession of the race for Christ and heaven. But the 'Amen' hath spoken, 'the faithful
and true Witness' hath given His word; 'I am about to spue it out of My mouth.'"
Another, writing a half century after these words were spoken, in 1916, said in this
connection:
"The message to the Laodicean stage of the Church pictures the nominal Church of today
as our Lord sees her. . . . Unknown to the Laodicean Church, our Lord has returned. He
has stood at the door and knocked. Had they been awake, they would have heard. Our
Lord clearly foretold that He would come as a thief; but He did not tell at what hour."
The fact that our Lord would be really although invisibly present at some time during the
Laodicean period, was plainly stated by messengers of the Philadelphian period, amongst
whom was Mr. Seiss, as we read:
"To the Philadelphians it is announced, as a subject of comfort and hope, that Christ shall
quickly come. And to the Laodiceans He is represented as already present, knocking at the
door, prepared to bless those ready to receive Him, but to eject with loathing the
lukewarm masses who fail in fervency and timely repentance. Laodicea thinks itself all it
ought to be, and appropriates to itself all Divine favor and blessedness; and yet, the very
Lord in whom it professes to trust is denied a place in it and is represented as barred out,
where He stands and knocks as His last gracious appeal before giving over the infamous
Babylon to judgments which are ready to sweep it from the earth. And with reference to
the loathsome Laodiceans, He represents Himself as already present, appealing to them
for the last time, and ready to spue them out of His mouth."
It was in full harmony with the foregoing that Mr. Russell expressed as his conviction that
the Second Presence of Christ began near the close of the nineteenth century. Referring to
this, he says that since that time . . .
". . . we have been living in the Parousia of the Son of Man. Is there anything to corroborate
this? Yes. In the first place, we look for the Lord's dealing with His people, the Church. We
should expect that at the time of our Lord's coming His people would hear His 'knock'
[Rev. 3:20]--the knock of the prophecies, and whoever would open his heart and receive
the things in a consecrated attitude of mind the Lord would gird Himself as a Servant and
would come forth and serve him."
A second decline in Christianity