THE THIRD WOE

“And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in Heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.” Revelation 11:15.KPC 44.1

This is not the last trump which wakes the dead [1 Corinthians 15:52], as some have supposed. But it is like the two preceding it, a woe trumpet. It occupies days [years] in sounding. See Revelation 10:7. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants, the prophets.” What is this mystery? The gospel to the Gentiles. Ephesians 1:9; 3:3;6:19; Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2;4:3. What is its finishing? A glance at the closing work of our great High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary, is a sufficient answer. The commencement of this trumpet seems to be marked by the opening of the temple of God in Heaven [Revelation 11:19]; which took place at the end of the 2300 days, in 1844. See under Sanctuary. Solemn and fearful events are located under its sounding. It introduces the time, not when the world will be converted and the spiritual reign of Christ begin, but the time when the dead shall be judged, all God’s servants rewarded, and the destroyers [or corrupters] of the earth destroyed. Under the seventh trumpet the seven vials [Revelation 15, 16] are poured out. Read Revelation 11, from verse 15 to 19. Mark the events of verse 18:KPC 44.2

“And the nations were angry, and thy WRATH is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be JUDGED, and that thou shouldst give REWARD unto thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst DESTROY them which destroy the earth”.KPC 45.1

Thus have we briefly passed over the lines prophecy, and the symbols presented upon the Chart. How impressive are the great truths which they illustrate! and what a world of meaning is crowded into their minutest particulars! How clearly they show us our position on the stream of time! Seven distinct times are we brought down in these lines of prophecy to the end of all things; and in each instance we are shown to be on the very verge of the opening of the new dispensation, on the threshold of eternity. Everlasting life and eternal death are before us. The world is now receiving its final call to decide speedily which they will choose, and the result of their choice will soon be given them. Be it your aim, dear reader, from this time forward, to secure a citizenship in that fifth universal kingdom which shall soon succeed to all earthly governments; to be among the saints of the Most High who shall take the kingdom, when the Roman Papal beast shall be destroyed and given to the burning flame; to be on the side of the “Prince of princes” when the little horn of Daniel 8,is broken without hand; to be among those of whom it shall be said, “Let them be holy still,” Revelation 22:11, when our great High Priest leaves the Sanctuary, and the days probation are ended, and the work of atonement forever done; to be among those who shall with joy exclaim, when the Son of man appears upon the great white cloud, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us,“Isaiah 25:9; to be among the 144,000, who shall sing the song of victory upon mount Zion, when the two-horned beast of Revelation 13, and his accomplices, are cast alive into the lake of fire; and to be among the servants of God when the events which the seventh angel is announcing as now near at hand, shall come to pass, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, when he shall destroy those that corrupt the earth, and give reward to those that love and serve him. We can say no more. But if you choose to reject the counsel of God against yourself, and range yourself among the rebels against his government, when you are being swept away with the besom of destruction which will surely come upon such, and sinking into the dark region of despair and death, remember that now, ere probation had ceased, while the way of salvation was open, and mercy still lingered, the light was held up before you, and the invitation given you to come and live.KPC 45.2