Chapter 6: A Historical Sketch
“O Lord, why hast Thou made us to err from Thy ways, and hardened our heart from Thy fear? Return for Thy servants’ sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance. The people of Thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down Thy sanctuary.” Isaiah 63:17,18
Have you ever heard the saying, “The job isn’t finished until the paperwork is complete?” Or that a law passed by Congress isn’t in effect until it is ratified? The Father’s vindication was complete in Christ’s life and death.; but the work of applying the salvation to humanity was yet to be realized. Some things just take a while. But if they are a good thing, we are willing to wait for them. And, isn’t it true that often the best things are the ones we must wait for most patiently? This is the way the Godhead has worked out a thorough extermination of sin. Throughout this waiting period, God’s purposes have known no haste nor delay. At the cross Satan heard his death knell, now the end of his government on earth would be only a matter of time.
The redemption of a world requires a long, protracted process. Not only was Lucifer not ready to concede the victory, but convincing the weakened soul of man to trust God and His laws as beneficial must necessarily take time; and yet God will not hold us unaccountable. One generation of departing from heaven’s greatest gift to this world, in the revelation of God to man, would take many centuries to return again. The Lamb removed the first seal locking God up, as the gospel went forth overcoming every obstacle. In the sacrifice seen in Jesus, a true knowledge of God was carried to the known world in one generation. The Saviour removed the second seal, and by the second and third centuries A.D., tribulation threatened to terminate the church.
Persecution, rather, helped the gospel mission and caused it to spread by some to the furthest reaches of the planet. But the main body of the church continued to ride upon the works of the apostles and to deny that the first love had been lost. Persecution could not make up for the lack of relationship and they slipped further away from a knowledge of Jesus and His atoning intercession. The work of revealing the Father suffered, whose character Christ was laboring to vindicate. For all this Christ’s zeal was not turned away, and His grace He continued to extend toward His church.
The Great Shepherd opened the third seal and, by the fourth century, John sees the church grown void of all spirituality. Battle-scarred by persecution, yet opinionated and contentious, the church leaders so hated one another, that Emperor Constantine himself became arbitrator in order to unite them. The church was being weighed in the balances and was found wanting. John heard a voice from among the four beasts, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Those who know living faith are in short supply because the church is falling under satanic siege. Satan cannot touch the precious experience of grace and truth given to the faithful in these dark hours, but to the rest of the careless church, no more is heard weeping for repentance, nor rejoicing in salvation from sin. Instead, appetite is indulged in order to appease the wants of the soul. Interests are attracted to the world, and to business, and to pride; and the church hungrily accepts Constantine’s invitation for them to administer the Roman empire. The Saviour opened the fourth seal, and John sees that, by the sixth century, God’s people were completely dead in trespasses and sins. The fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies had taken place, the way to forgiveness was trampled upon and the faith of the saints lay desolate. Satan had stolen away their hearts and they had refused to return to that first love requirement, so God took away His gospel and left Christian Europe in darkness. The church of Christ was now no longer the object of tribulation. Now it stood proudly and cold as stone. For all this His chastisement was not turned away, yet His hand would be graciously stretched out for His wayward church.
Jesus removed the fifth seal locking up the mystery of the great controversy. Rather than the prey, the church became the predator. John saw the church, given to satanic power and closely resembling the pagan Roman Empire it had once helped to destroy. The apostle was sickened to see the tribulation continuing into a lengthy time of trouble. In a figure he saw the suffering of Heaven’s chosen ones, crying out to God to move and save them from danger and death but being told to wait a little longer.
God’s providence authorized this tribulation period. It would demonstrate Satan’s purposes to a degree far beyond the questions of future generations when it would be brought out in the open before the world. All times of trouble are necessary as part of the formula to prevent affliction from ever rising up the second time. For all this His anger was not turned away, but His hand of mercy was yet stretched out still.
Our Heavenly Intercessor opens the sixth seal and the earth begins to feel definite signs of the end of the great controversy: the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Dark Day and bloody moon of 1780, the Great Meteor Shower of 1833, a shower which has never remotely been repeated, perfectly described by John and Isaiah as a fig tree casting her unripe figs to the ground. See Is. 34:4. Then the preaching of Baptist William Miller and the proud church running for cover from the returning King.
Have you ever heard the saying, “The job isn’t finished until the paperwork is complete?” Or that a law passed by Congress isn’t in effect until it is ratified? The Father’s vindication was complete in Christ’s life and death.; but the work of applying the salvation to humanity was yet to be realized. Some things just take a while. But if they are a good thing, we are willing to wait for them. And, isn’t it true that often the best things are the ones we must wait for most patiently? This is the way the Godhead has worked out a thorough extermination of sin. Throughout this waiting period, God’s purposes have known no haste nor delay. At the cross Satan heard his death knell, now the end of his government on earth would be only a matter of time.
The redemption of a world requires a long, protracted process. Not only was Lucifer not ready to concede the victory, but convincing the weakened soul of man to trust God and His laws as beneficial must necessarily take time; and yet God will not hold us unaccountable. One generation of departing from heaven’s greatest gift to this world, in the revelation of God to man, would take many centuries to return again. The Lamb removed the first seal locking God up, as the gospel went forth overcoming every obstacle. In the sacrifice seen in Jesus, a true knowledge of God was carried to the known world in one generation. The Saviour removed the second seal, and by the second and third centuries A.D., tribulation threatened to terminate the church.
Persecution, rather, helped the gospel mission and caused it to spread by some to the furthest reaches of the planet. But the main body of the church continued to ride upon the works of the apostles and to deny that the first love had been lost. Persecution could not make up for the lack of relationship and they slipped further away from a knowledge of Jesus and His atoning intercession. The work of revealing the Father suffered, whose character Christ was laboring to vindicate. For all this Christ’s zeal was not turned away, and His grace He continued to extend toward His church.
The Great Shepherd opened the third seal and, by the fourth century, John sees the church grown void of all spirituality. Battle-scarred by persecution, yet opinionated and contentious, the church leaders so hated one another, that Emperor Constantine himself became arbitrator in order to unite them. The church was being weighed in the balances and was found wanting. John heard a voice from among the four beasts, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Those who know living faith are in short supply because the church is falling under satanic siege. Satan cannot touch the precious experience of grace and truth given to the faithful in these dark hours, but to the rest of the careless church, no more is heard weeping for repentance, nor rejoicing in salvation from sin. Instead, appetite is indulged in order to appease the wants of the soul. Interests are attracted to the world, and to business, and to pride; and the church hungrily accepts Constantine’s invitation for them to administer the Roman empire. The Saviour opened the fourth seal, and John sees that, by the sixth century, God’s people were completely dead in trespasses and sins. The fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies had taken place, the way to forgiveness was trampled upon and the faith of the saints lay desolate. Satan had stolen away their hearts and they had refused to return to that first love requirement, so God took away His gospel and left Christian Europe in darkness. The church of Christ was now no longer the object of tribulation. Now it stood proudly and cold as stone. For all this His chastisement was not turned away, yet His hand would be graciously stretched out for His wayward church.
Jesus removed the fifth seal locking up the mystery of the great controversy. Rather than the prey, the church became the predator. John saw the church, given to satanic power and closely resembling the pagan Roman Empire it had once helped to destroy. The apostle was sickened to see the tribulation continuing into a lengthy time of trouble. In a figure he saw the suffering of Heaven’s chosen ones, crying out to God to move and save them from danger and death but being told to wait a little longer.
God’s providence authorized this tribulation period. It would demonstrate Satan’s purposes to a degree far beyond the questions of future generations when it would be brought out in the open before the world. All times of trouble are necessary as part of the formula to prevent affliction from ever rising up the second time. For all this His anger was not turned away, but His hand of mercy was yet stretched out still.
Our Heavenly Intercessor opens the sixth seal and the earth begins to feel definite signs of the end of the great controversy: the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Dark Day and bloody moon of 1780, the Great Meteor Shower of 1833, a shower which has never remotely been repeated, perfectly described by John and Isaiah as a fig tree casting her unripe figs to the ground. See Is. 34:4. Then the preaching of Baptist William Miller and the proud church running for cover from the returning King.
posted by David | 10:17 AM
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