[See appendix.]
As the churches refused to receive the first angel's
message, they rejected the light from heaven and fell from the favor of God.
They trusted to their own strength, and by opposing the first message placed
themselves where they could not see the light of the second angel's message.
But the beloved of God, who were oppressed, accepted the message, "Babylon
is fallen," and left the churches.
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Near the close of the second angel's message, [See
appendix.] I saw a great light from heaven shining upon the people of God. The
rays of this light seemed bright as the sun. And I heard the voices of angels
crying, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!"
This was the midnight cry, which was to give power to the
second angel's message. Angels were sent from heaven to arouse the discouraged
saints and prepare them for the great work before them. The most talented men
were not the first to receive this message. Angels were sent to the humble,
devoted ones, and constrained them to raise the cry, "Behold, the
Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!" Those entrusted with the cry
made haste, and in the power of the Holy Spirit sounded the message, and aroused
their discouraged brethren. This work did not stand in the wisdom and learning
of men, but in the power of God, and His saints who heard the cry could not
resist it. The most spiritual received this message first, and those who had
formerly led in the work were the last to receive and help swell the cry,
"Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!"
In every part of the land, light was given upon the second
angel's message, and the cry melted the hearts of thousands. It went from city
to city, and from village to village, until the waiting people of God were
fully aroused. In many churches the message was not permitted to be given, and
a large company who had the living testimony left these fallen churches. A
mighty work was accomplished by the midnight cry. The message was
heart-searching, leading the believers to seek a living experience for
themselves. They knew that they could not lean upon one another.
The saints anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting,
watching, and almost constant prayer. Even some sinners looked forward to the
time with terror;
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but the great mass manifested the spirit of Satan in their
opposition to the message. They mocked and scoffed, repeating everywhere,
"No man knoweth the day nor the hour." Evil angels urged them on to
harden their hearts and to reject every ray of light from heaven, that they
might be fastened in the snare of Satan. Many who professed to be looking for
Christ had no part in the work of the message. The glory of God which they had
witnessed, the humility and deep devotion of the waiting ones, and the
overwhelming weight of evidence, caused them to profess to receive the truth;
but they had not been converted; they were not ready for the coming of their
Lord.
A spirit of solemn and earnest prayer was everywhere felt by
the saints. A holy solemnity was resting upon them. Angels were watching with
the deepest interest the effect of the message, and were elevating those who
received it, and drawing them from earthly things to obtain large supplies from
salvation's fountain. God's people were then accepted of Him. Jesus looked upon
them with pleasure, for His image was reflected in them. They had made a full
sacrifice, an entire consecration, and expected to be changed to immortality.
But they were destined again to be sadly disappointed. The time to which they
looked, expecting deliverance, passed; they were still upon the earth, and the
effects of the curse never seemed more visible. They had placed their
affections on heaven, and in sweet anticipation had tasted immortal
deliverance; but their hopes were not realized.
The fear that had rested upon many of the people did not at
once disappear; they did not immediately triumph over the disappointed ones.
But as no visible tokens of God's wrath appeared, they recovered from the fear
which they had felt and commenced their ridicule and scoffing. The people of
God were again
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proved and tested. The world laughed and mocked and
reproached them; and those who had believed without a doubt that Jesus would
ere then have come to raise the dead, and change the living saints, and take
the kingdom, to possess it forever, felt as did the disciples at the sepulcher
of Christ, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid Him."