A Warning Rejected
In preaching
the doctrine of the second advent, William Miller and his associates
had labored with the sole purpose of arousing men to a preparation for
the judgment. They had sought to awaken professors of religion to the
true hope of the church and to their need of a deeper Christian
experience, and they labored also to awaken the unconverted to the duty
of immediate repentance and conversion to God. "They made no attempt to
convert men to a sect or party in religion. Hence they labored among all
parties and sects, without interfering with their organization or
discipline."
"In
all my labors," said Miller, "I never had the desire or thought to
establish any separate interest from that of existing denominations, or
to benefit one at the expense of another. I thought to benefit all.
Supposing that all Christians would rejoice in the prospect of Christ's
coming, and that those who could not see as I did would not love any the
less those who should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceive there
would ever be any necessity for separate meetings. My whole object was a
desire to convert souls to God, to notify the world of a coming
judgment, and to induce my fellow men to make that preparation of heart
which will enable them to meet their God in peace. The great majority of
those who were converted under my labors united with the various
existing churches."--Bliss, page 328.
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As his work tended
to build up the churches, it was for a time regarded with favor. But
as ministers and religious leaders decided against the advent doctrine
and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject, they not only
opposed it from the pulpit, but denied their members the privilege of
attending preaching upon the second advent, or even of speaking of their
hope in the social meetings of the church. Thus the believers found
themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity. They loved their
churches and were loath to separate from them; but as they saw the
testimony of God's word suppressed and their right to investigate the
prophecies denied they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to submit.
Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God's
word they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, "the
pillar and ground of the truth." Hence they felt themselves justified in
separating from their former connection.
In the summer of 1844 about fifty thousand withdrew from the
churches.
About this time a
marked change was apparent in most of the churches throughout the
United States. There had been for many years a gradual but steadily
increasing conformity to worldly practices and customs, and a
corresponding decline in real spiritual life; but in that year there
were evidences of a sudden and marked declension in nearly all the
churches of the land. While none seemed able to suggest the cause, the
fact itself was widely noted and commented upon by both the press and
the pulpit.
At a meeting of the presbytery of Philadelphia, Mr. Barnes, author of a
commentary widely used and pastor of one of the leading churches in that
city, "stated that he had been in the ministry for twenty years, and
never, till the last Communion, had he administered the ordinance
without receiving more or less into the church. But now there are no
awakenings, no conversions, not much apparent growth in grace in
professors, and none come to his study to converse about the salvation
of their souls. With the increase of
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business, and the brightening prospects of commerce
and manufacture, there is an increase of worldly-mindedness. Thus it is
with all the denominations."--Congregational Journal, May 23,
1844.
In
the month of February of the same year, Professor Finney of Oberlin
College said: "We have had the fact before our minds, that, in general,
the Protestant churches of our country, as such, were either apathetic
or hostile to nearly all the moral reforms of the age. There are partial
exceptions, yet not enough to render the fact otherwise than general. We
have also another corroborated fact: the almost universal absence of
revival influence in the churches. The spiritual apathy is almost
all-pervading, and is fearfully deep; so the religious press of the
whole land testifies. . . . Very extensively, church members are
becoming devotees of fashion, --join hands with the ungodly in parties
of pleasure, in dancing, in festivities, etc. . . . But we need not
expand this painful subject. Suffice it that the evidence thickens and
rolls heavily upon us, to show that the churches generally are becoming
sadly degenerate. They have gone very far from the Lord, and He has
withdrawn Himself from them."
And a writer in the Religious Telescope testified: "We have never
witnessed such a general declension of religion as at the present.
Truly, the church should awake, and search into the cause of this
affliction; for as an affliction everyone that loves Zion must view it.
When we call to mind how 'few and far between' cases of true conversion
are, and the almost unparalleled impertinence and hardness of sinners,
we almost involuntarily exclaim, 'Has God forgotten to be gracious? or,
Is the door of mercy closed?'"
Such a condition never exists without cause in the church itself.
The spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon churches and
individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the succors of
divine grace on the part of God, but to neglect or rejection of divine
light on the part of men. A
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striking illustration of this truth is presented in the history of the
Jewish people in the time of Christ. By their devotion to the world and
forgetfulness of God and His word, their understanding had become
darkened, their hearts earthly and sensual. Thus they were in ignorance
concerning Messiah's advent, and in their pride and unbelief they
rejected the Redeemer. God did not even then cut off the Jewish nation
from a knowledge of, or a participation in, the blessings of salvation.
But those who rejected the truth lost all desire for the gift of Heaven.
They had "put darkness for light, and light for darkness," until the
light which was in them became darkness; and how great was that
darkness!
It
suits the policy of Satan that men should retain the forms of religion
if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After their rejection
of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their ancient
rites, they rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness, while
they themselves could not but admit that the presence of God was no
longer manifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed so
unmistakably to the time of Messiah's coming, and so directly foretold
His death, that they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis
pronounced a curse on all who should attempt a computation of the time.
In blindness and impenitence the people of Israel during succeeding
centuries have stood, indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation,
unmindful of the blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning
of the danger of rejecting light from heaven.
Wherever the cause exists, the same results will follow. He who
deliberately stifles his convictions of duty because it interferes with
his inclinations will finally lose the power to distinguish between
truth and error. The understanding becomes darkened, the conscience
callous, the heart hardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where
the message of divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the church
will be enshrouded in darkness; faith and love grow cold,
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and
estrangement and dissension enter. Church members center their interests
and energies in worldly pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their
impenitence.
The
first angel's message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God's
judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to
separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of
the world and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness
and backsliding. In this message, God has sent to the church a warning,
which, had it been accepted, would have corrected the evils that were
shutting them away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven,
humbling their hearts before the Lord and seeking in sincerity a
preparation to stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God would
have been manifested among them. The church would again have reached
that blessed state of unity, faith, and love which existed in apostolic
days, when the believers "were of one heart and of one soul," and "spake
the word of God with boldness," when "the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved." Acts 4:32, 31; 2:47.
If
God's professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them
from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that
which the apostle describes, "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace." "There is," he says, "one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism."
Ephesians 4:3-5.
Such
were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted the advent
message. They came from different denominations, and their
denominational barriers were hurled to the ground; conflicting creeds
were shivered to atoms; the unscriptural hope of a temporal millennium
was abandoned, false views of the second advent were corrected, pride
and conformity to the world were swept away; wrongs were made right;
hearts were united in the sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned
supreme. If this doctrine did this
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for
the few who did receive it, it would have done the same for all if all
had received it.
But
the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their ministers, who,
as watchmen "unto the house of Israel," should have been the first to
discern the tokens of Jesus' coming, had failed to learn the truth
either from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of the
times. As worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and
faith in His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was
presented, it only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The fact that
the message was, to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as an
instrument against it. As of old, the plain testimony of God's word was
met with the inquiry: "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees
believed?" And finding how difficult a task it was to refute the
arguments drawn from the prophetic periods, many discouraged the study
of the prophecies, teaching that the prophetic books were sealed and
were not to be understood. Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their
pastors, refused to listen to the warning; and others, though convinced
of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they should be "put out of the
synagogue." The message which God had sent for the testing and
purification of the church revealed all too surely how great was the
number who had set their affections on this world rather than upon
Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than the
attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly
wisdom and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.
In
refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means which
Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the gracious
messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them from
God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of
the world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness,
backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.
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In
Revelation 14 the first angel is followed by a second proclaiming:
"Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation
14:8. The term "Babylon" is derived from "Babel," and signifies
confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of
false or apostate religion. In Revelation 17 Babylon is represented as a
woman --a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a
virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman an apostate
church.
In
the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists
between Christ and His church is represented by the union of marriage.
The Lord has joined His people to Himself by a solemn covenant, He
promising to be their God, and they pledging themselves to be His and
His alone. He declares: "I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I
will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in
loving-kindness, and in mercies." Hosea 2:19. And, again: "I am married
unto you." Jeremiah 3:14. And Paul employs the same figure in the New
Testament when he says: "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:2.
The
unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence and
affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly things
to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of the marriage vow. The
sin of Israel in departing from the Lord is presented under this figure;
and the wonderful love of God which they thus despised is touchingly
portrayed: "I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,
saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine." "And thou wast exceeding
beautiful and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went
forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My
comeliness, which I had put upon thee. . . . But thou didst trust in
thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown." "As a
wife treacherously departeth from her
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husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,
saith the Lord;" "as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh
strangers instead of her husband!" Ezekiel 16:8, 13-15, 32; Jeremiah
3:20.
In
the New Testament, language very similar is addressed to professed
Christians who seek the friendship of the world above the favor of God.
Says the apostle James: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
The
woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17 is described as "arrayed in purple and
scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness:...and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon
the Great, the mother of harlots." Says the prophet: "I saw the woman
drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus." Babylon is further declared to be "that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth." Revelation 17:4-6, 18. The power
that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of
Christendom is Rome. The purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious
stones and pearls, vividly picture the magnificence and more than kingly
pomp affected by the haughty see of Rome. And no other power could be so
truly declared "drunken with the blood of the saints" as that church
which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon is also
charged with the sin of unlawful connection with "the kings of the
earth." It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the
heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting
herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers,
receives a like condemnation.
Babylon is said to be "the mother of harlots." By her daughters must be
symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and
follow her example of sacrificing
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the
truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance
with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of
Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have
become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the judgment,
it must be given in the last days; therefore it cannot refer to the
Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition for
many centuries. Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation
the people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to
this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in
what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ
now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the
Protestant faith. At the time of their rise these churches took a noble
stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them. Even the
unbelieving world was constrained to acknowledge the beneficent results
that followed an acceptance of the principles of the gospel. In the
words of the prophet to Israel: "Thy renown went forth among the heathen
for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had
put upon thee, saith the Lord God." But they fell by the same desire
which was the curse and ruin of Israel--the desire of imitating the
practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly. "Thou didst trust
in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown."
Ezekiel 16:14, 15.
Many
of the Protestant churches are following Rome's example of iniquitous
connection with "the kings of the earth"--the state churches, by their
relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the
favor of the world. And the term "Babylon"--confusion--may be
appropriately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their
doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects,
with widely conflicting creeds and theories.
Besides a sinful union with the world, the churches that separated from
Rome present other of her characteristics.
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A
Roman Catholic work argues that "if the Church of Rome were ever guilty
of idolatry in relation to the saints, her daughter, the Church of
England, stands guilty of the same, which has ten churches dedicated to
Mary for one dedicated to Christ."--Richard Challoner, The Catholic
Christian Instructed, Preface, pages 21, 22.
And
Dr. Hopkins, in "A Treatise on the Millennium," declares: "There is no
reason to consider the antichristian spirit and practices to be confined
to that which is now called the Church of Rome. The Protestant churches
have much of antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed
from . . . corruptions and wickedness."--Samuel Hopkins, Works, vol. 2,
p. 328.
Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church from Rome, Dr.
Guthrie writes: "Three hundred years ago, our church, with an open Bible
on her banner, and this motto, 'Search the Scriptures,' on her scroll,
marched out from the gates of Rome." Then he asks the significant
question: "Did they come clean out of Babylon?"--Thomas Guthrie, The
Gospel in Ezekiel, page 237.
"The
Church of England," says Spurgeon, "seems to be eaten through and
through with sacramentarianism; but nonconformity appears to be almost
as badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought
better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the
faith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is
honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into the
pulpit and call itself Christian."
What
was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart
from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of
paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen.
The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, "The mystery of iniquity
doth already work." 2 Thessalonians 2:7. During the lives of the
apostles the church remained comparatively pure.
But "toward the latter
end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form; the
first simplicity
385
disappeared, and insensibly, as the old disciples
retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, . . .
came forward and new-modeled the cause."--Robert Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches, ch.
6, par. 17, p. 51. To secure converts, the exalted standard of the
Christian faith was lowered, and as the result "a pagan flood, flowing
into the church, carried with it its customs, practices, and idols."
--Gavazzi, Lectures, page 278. As the Christian religion secured the
favor and support of secular rulers, it was nominally accepted by
multitudes; but while in appearance Christians, many "remained in
substance pagans, especially worshiping in secret their idols."--Ibid.,
page 278.
Has
not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself
Protestant? As the founders, those who possessed the true spirit of
reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and "new-model the
cause." While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and
refusing to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children
of the reformers depart widely from their example of humility,
self-denial, and renunciation of the world. Thus "the first simplicity
disappears." A worldly flood, flowing into the church, carries "with it
its customs, practices, and idols."
Alas,
to what a fearful extent is that friendship of the world which is
"enmity with God," now cherished among the professed followers of
Christ! How widely have the popular churches throughout Christendom
departed from the Bible standard of humility, self-denial, simplicity,
and godliness! Said John Wesley, in speaking of the right use of money:
"Do not waste any part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying the
desire of the eye, by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless
ornaments. Waste no part of it in curiously adorning your houses; in
superfluous or expensive furniture; in costly pictures, painting,
gilding. . . . Lay out nothing to gratify the pride of life, to gain the
admiration or praise of men. . . . 'So long as thou doest well unto
thyself, men will speak good of thee.' So long as thou art 'clothed in
purple and fine linen,' and farest 'sumptuously
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every
day,' no doubt many will applaud thy elegance of taste, thy generosity
and hospitality. But do not buy their applause so dear. Rather be
content with the honor that cometh from God."--Wesley, Works, Sermon 50,
"The Use of Money." But in many churches of our time such teaching is
disregarded.
A
profession of religion has become popular with the world. Rulers,
politicians, lawyers, doctors, merchants, join the church as a means of
securing the respect and confidence of society, and advancing their own
worldly interests. Thus they seek to cover all their unrighteous
transactions under a profession of Christianity. The various religious
bodies, re-enforced by the wealth and influence of these baptized
worldlings, make a still higher bid for popularity and patronage.
Splendid churches, embellished in the most extravagant manner, are
erected on popular avenues. The worshipers array themselves in costly
and fashionable attire. A high salary is paid for a talented minister to
entertain and attract the people. His sermons must not touch popular
sins, but be made smooth and pleasing for fashionable ears. Thus
fashionable sinners are enrolled on the church records, and fashionable
sins are concealed under a pretense of godliness.
Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward the
world, a leading secular journal says: "Insensibly the church has
yielded to the spirit of the age, and adapted its forms of worship to
modern wants." "All things, indeed, that help to make religion
attractive, the church now employs as its instruments." And a writer in
the New York Independent speaks thus concerning Methodism as it is: "The
line of separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into
a kind of penumbra, and zealous men on both sides are toiling to
obliterate all difference between their modes of action and enjoyment."
"The popularity of religion tends vastly to increase the number of those
who would secure its benefits without squarely meeting its duties."
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Says
Howard Crosby: "It is a matter of deep concern that we find Christ's
church so little fulfilling the designs of its Lord. Just as the ancient
Jews let a familiar intercourse with the idolatrous nations steal away
their hearts from God, . . . so the church of Jesus now is, by its false
partnerships with an unbelieving world, giving up the divine methods of
its true life, and yielding itself to the pernicious, though often
plausible, habits of a Christless society, using the arguments and
reaching the conclusions which are foreign to the revelation of God, and
directly antagonistic to all growth in grace."--The Healthy Christian:
An Appeal to the Church, pages 141, 142.
In
this tide of worldliness and pleasure seeking, self-denial and
self-sacrifice for Christ's sake are almost wholly lost. "Some of the
men and women now in active life in our churches were educated, when
children, to make sacrifices in order to be able to give or do something
for Christ." But "if funds are wanted now, . . . nobody must be called
on to give. Oh, no! have a fair, tableau, mock trial, antiquarian
supper, or something to eat--anything to amuse the people."
Governor Washburn of Wisconsin in his annual message, January 9, 1873,
declared: "Some law seems to be required to break up the schools where
gamblers are made. These are everywhere. Even the church (unwittingly,
no doubt) is sometimes found doing the work of the devil. Gift concerts,
gift enterprises and raffles, sometimes in aid of religious or
charitable objects, but often for less worthy purposes, lotteries, prize
packages, etc., are all devices to obtain money without value received.
Nothing is so demoralizing or intoxicating, particularly to the young,
as the acquisition of money or property without labor. Respectable
people engaging in these chance enterprises, and easing their
consciences with the reflection that the money is to go to a good
object, it is not strange that the youth of the state should so often
fall into the habits which the excitement of games of hazard is almost
certain to engender."
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The
spirit of worldly conformity is invading the churches throughout
Christendom. Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in London, draws a dark
picture of the spiritual declension that prevails in England: "The truly
righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart.
The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are
lovers of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature
comfort, and aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer
with Christ, but they shrink from even reproach.... Apostasy, apostasy,
apostasy, is engraven on the very front of every church; and did they
know it, and did they feel it, there might be hope; but, alas! they cry,
'We are rich, and increased in goods, and stand in need of nothing.'"
--Second Advent Library, tract No. 39.
The
great sin charged against Babylon is that she "made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication." This cup of intoxication
which she presents to the world represents the false doctrines that she
has accepted as the result of her unlawful connection with the great
ones of the earth. Friendship with the world corrupts her faith, and in
her turn she exerts a corrupting influence upon the world by teaching
doctrines which are opposed to the plainest statements of Holy Writ.
Rome
withheld the Bible from the people and required all men to accept her
teachings in its place. It was the work of the Reformation to restore to
men the word of God; but is it not too true that in the churches of our
time men are taught to rest their faith upon their creed and the
teachings of their church rather than on the Scriptures? Said Charles
Beecher, speaking of the Protestant churches: "They shrink from any rude
word against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which those holy
fathers would have shrunk from a rude word against the rising veneration
of saints and martyrs which they were fostering. . . . The Protestant
evangelical denominations have so tied up one another's hands, and their
own, that, between them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all,
anywhere, without accepting some book besides the
389
Bible.... There is nothing imaginary in the statement that the creed
power is now beginning to prohibit the Bible as really as Rome did,
though in a subtler way."--Sermon on "The Bible a Sufficient Creed,"
delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Feb. 22, 1846.
When
faithful teachers expound the word of God, there arise men of learning,
ministers professing to understand the Scriptures, who denounce sound
doctrine as heresy, and thus turn away inquirers after truth. Were it
not that the world is hopelessly intoxicated with the wine of Babylon,
multitudes would be convicted and converted by the plain, cutting truths
of the word of God. But religious faith appears so confused and
discordant that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of
the world's impenitence lies at the door of the church.
The
second angel's message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer
of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of
the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most
widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension
in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel
did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then
experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light
of the advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have
continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen
lower and lower. Not yet, however, can it be said that "Babylon is
fallen,... because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication." She has not yet made all nations do this. The
spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing truths for
our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the
Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom; and these churches
are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second
angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination.
The
Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work "with
all power and signs and lying wonders,
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and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;" and they that "received not
the love of the truth, that they might be saved," will be left to
receive "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." 2
Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not until this condition shall be reached, and the
union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished
throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change
is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is
yet future.
Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that
exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of
Christ's true followers are still to be found in their communion. There
are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time.
Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition and are longing
for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the
churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart further
and further from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the
world, the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will
finally result in separation. The time will come when those who love God
supremely can no longer remain in connection with such as are "lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof."
Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the
threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12, the church will have fully
reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of
God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion.
This message is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it
will accomplish its work. When those that "believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left
to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth
will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the
children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: "Come
out of her, My people" (Revelation 18:4).
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