The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

given. The true character of the Divine Plan of human salvation became so perverted and
distorted by the fallen Church systems that it could not be fully understood until the
errors of the systems became separated from the Truth, and a clear understanding of the
same was restored to the Church. This we believe has recently taken place, and is now a
matter of history; indeed, this is the subject of several of the closing visions of the book.
The fulfillment of these latter visions is of itself, as we shall endeavor to prove, evidence
that "the days of the presence of the Son of Man" are here. The words of Christ, "And now
I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye might believe," are
very significant in this connection.
It should be kept in mind in studying the book of Revelation that it was not designed to
foretell especially the history of the world powers; for as it has been truly said,
"The Church exists in the world, and its outward history is, to a very large extent, affected
by it; and just as it would be impossible to write the story of one's life without taking into
consideration his environment, so it would be impossible to write the history of the [true]
Church without giving some of the history of the world in which the Church is giving its
witness and testimony. Wars, revolutions, etc., have to a remarkable degree affected or
been affected by the Church's testimony, and for this cause we have those occurrences in
the past depicted under various strange and startling symbols. On the other hand, the
Church's inward or spiritual history is affected by unseen agencies, both Heavenly and
Satanic; and so, as in some of the visions, we behold her sustained, cheered, revived, and
her influence enlarged; we know Christ, her great Head, is acting in her behalf, as
portrayed in the symbolic visions of His walking in the midst of the candlesticks
[Churches]."
It is very evident that these marvelous, prophetic visions were given for the guidance,
assistance, and protection of the whole Church through the long, dark centuries of her
witnessing to the Gospel. As we read of the experiences of God's consecrated ones of the
past, we learn that these visions have proved to be a mighty power in their history, and
that they have served to preserve the faith of the Church in times of peril and general
apostasy. We have found that the knowledge of some of them, and the testimony thereto
have had the effect of giving birth to great reformation movements, particularly that of the
sixteenth century; that they have inspired confessors and supported martyrs in the cause
of Christ, some of whom sealed their faithfulness at the stake, while others suffered
terrible deaths in other ways. A knowledge of some of these prophetic visions has been
largely instrumental in breaking the chains of priestcraft, superstition, and tyranny, and
has brought multitudes out of bondage. The book of Revelation is Christ's last message to
the Church--"I Jesus, have sent mine angel [messenger] to testify unto you these things in
the Churches." --Rev. 22:16.
"He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches."
The Glory of the Gospel