The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

This symbolic angel-movement is a proclamation of the glorious times of restitution which
are described by all God's holy prophets. It is one of the last messages given to the Church
in the flesh to declare before her change to glory. This proclamation is going on. It is being
given when the world is experiencing trouble, disaster, and threatened collapse on every
hand.
The visions that succeed this one, which we next consider, show that other proclamations,
messages that meet their fulfillment before these blessings can come to the world, are to be
given by the same class. Indeed, the events of the present time all point to the fact that we
are near the crisis in human affairs that will fulfill succeeding visions of judgment, which,
however, will be followed quickly by the ushering in of the new order of things. These
startling events that are now transpiring, so descriptive of judgment investigations, are to
the faithful Watchers sure premonitions, harbingers of the dawn of the Millennial
Morning. In this connection the following words are found to be fraught with solemn
instruction and significance:
"Many even who are not of the Watchers are noting the signs of our times and are startled,
and led to exclaim, What do these things mean?--This remarkable latter-day advance in
science, art, and mechanical invention?--This latter-day discontent in the midst of plenty
and luxury?--This latter-day growth of millionaires and paupers?--This growth of giant
corporations of world-wide power and influence?--Why are national policies and public
men and their utterances and doings criticized (judged) by the masses as never before?--
And what means it that with an apparent growth in wealth and numbers in all
denominations of Christians there is a growing dissatisfaction, discontent in them all: a
growing tendency to criticize the creeds and the preaching and everything? . . .
"The Scriptural answer is, The hour of God's judgment is come; the time when
'Christendom,' political, financial, social, and ecclesiastical, is being judged--being tried in
the Divine balances. And the Scriptures declare that she will be found wanting, and will be
adjudged unworthy to further administer the affairs of earth, which will be turned over to
the elect 'little flock,' according to the Divine promise.--Luke 12:32.
"The secret of the matter now is the same as in the Jewish 'harvest,' when John explained,
saying, 'There standeth One among you whom you know not.'--John 1:26."
It will have been noted that in our expositions of these two visions recorded in chapter
14:1-5,6,7, we do not find that the fulfillment of the one succeeds the other in point of time,
but rather that they occur contemporaneously; that is, we find that the voice St. John
heard, "as the voice of many waters," and "as the voice of harpers harping with their
harps," together with the "new song" sung by the hundred and forty-four thousand, refers
to the glorious revelations of present Truth given to God's saints, while the angel flying in
mid-heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach, etc., refers to a general proclamation
of the true Gospel throughout Christendom by the Lord's saints; and we understand that
both of these have been having their fulfillment contemporaneously for some years past. It
will be necessary to call attention to this point further as we consider succeeding visions.