The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

These two visions will not be completely fulfilled until all the elect class have been sealed,
which we believe will be indicated by the ushering in of the dark night that precedes the
full dawning of the Millennial Day. (John 9:4.) The "loud voice" of the flying angel will
doubtless decrease in volume; indeed, the Lord has permitted the development of
conditions and circumstances that have lessened the volume of tone to a very large extent.
These incidents are doubtless providential, and are having only the designed effect of
proving who have and who have not learned the "new song"--who appreciate and who do
not appreciate the glorious message of present Truth so as to cause them to "hope perfectly
for the gift that is to be given them at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 1:13, Diaglott.)
Let us learn to distinguish the grand and perfect harmony of this new song from the many
confusing and discordant voices that are being heard throughout Christendom today!
It will be of interest to the reader in this connection to note the comment of Mr. Barnes
given in 1850 on this vision. Though not possessing a clear knowledge of all the features of
the Divine Plan (the full Truth not then being due), his exposition shows remarkable
spiritual discernment:
"The Gospel is here called everlasting or eternal, (a) because its great truths have always
existed, or it is conformed to eternal truth; (b) because it will for ever remain unchanged-not
being liable to fluctuation like the opinions held by men; (c) because its effects will be
everlasting--in the redemption of the soul and the joys of heaven. In all the glorious
eternity before the redeemed, they will be but developing the effects of that Gospel on
their own hearts, and enjoying the results of it in the presence of God. . . .
"When that time will be, the writer [St. John] does not intimate farther than that it would
be after the beast and his adherents had attempted to stay its progress; and for the
fulfillment of this, therefore, we are to look to a period subsequent to the rise and fall
[from favor] of that great anti-Christian power symbolized by the beast and his image.
"The main idea is, that when God shall be about to cause His Gospel to spread through the
world, there will be, as it were, a solemn judgment on that anti-Christian power which had
so long resisted His Truth and persecuted His saints, and that on the fall of that power His
own Kingdom will be set up on the earth; that is, in the language of Daniel, 'the Kingdom,
and the dominion, and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High.'"--Dan. 7.
The second angel's message
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."--Ver. 8.
This second angel and his message we understand refer to another movement of the saints
of the "harvest" period, beginning a little later, but continuing contemporaneously with the
one just considered. It is, therefore, like the preceding one, largely a matter of history, but
its fulfillment is not yet complete; and like the other, it will continue in a measure until the