Heavenly Visions

APOSTLES OF THE SECOND ADVENT

>J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

THE Lord not only marked in prophecy when the light should be revealed concerning the termination of the prophetic periods; but he also marked the time when, in his providence, the heralds, apostles, of the second advent should go forth to the world with their stirring message. This time is brought to view in our Saviour’s discourse in answer to the question. “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” as recorded in Matthew 24. HEVI 23.5

Having spoken of the “great tribulation” that was to come upon the church, he says: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [“he,” margin] is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you. This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:29-35. HEVI 23.6

The all things to be seen, by which we may know that Christ’s coming is near, even at the doors, and that we have reached the generation which shall not pass till he comes, can not surely include his actual coming, and the gathering of his saints, nor yet the sign of “the Son of man in heaven.” It must, then, refer to the signs in the sun, moon, and stars. May 19, 1780, the signs in the sun and moon were fulfilled, in that great supernatural darkness of twelve hours’ length-from 11 A. M. till 11 P. M. The falling of the stars as here predicted was on Nov.13, 1833, a display which covered all North America. On November 25, of the same year, there was a similar shower of stars on the continent of Europe. HEVI 23.7

In the light of these facts, we see that the year 1833 brings us to the “now” of the fore-going scripture, when we are told to “learn a parable of the fig-tree, “and to know that it [Christ’s coming] is near, even at the doors.” When the Lord tells us to learn a thing, it is then in the order of his providence to raise up his teachers to teach that which he tells us to learn. As the apostle Paul says, “How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Romans 10:14, 15. The Lord’s appointed time for the people to learn the parable of the fig-tree seems, then, to date this side of 1833. Then came his time for the people to be taught that his coming is at the door. HEVI 23.8

In fulfilment of this prediction, we find that at that time the Lord was raising up his ministers in various parts of the world, without knowledge of one another, to teach that his coming was near. These were burdened with that message, as a cart pressed under sheaves. In each quarter of the globe where leaders in this movement were thus raised up, they were impressed by the power of the Holy Spirit to push forward the message to the ends of the earth, not knowing what was going on in other parts, until near the closing years of their “time message,-1843 and 1844,-when the whole blended into that great second advent movement.” which stirred the world as it had not been stirred since the days of Luther. HEVI 24.1

Persons unacquainted with the facts respecting that advent proclamation have looked upon the movement as limited to a certain locality, supposing it a work connected with William Miller and a few hundred ministers associated with him in the northern portion of the United States. To such we would say. The movement in America was but one part of a message that was world-wide. The Review and Herald, June 13, 1899. HEVI 24.2

Since God’s transcendent love is more,
Far more, than man’s can be.
And all his promises are sure.
I’ll trust entirely. HEVI 24.3

Contentment, grandeur, nobleness.
If we his burdens bear,
The humblest life will surely bless,
And age seem doubly fair. George Bancroft Griffith. HEVI 24.4