Section
One - For the Coming
of
the King
“Yet
a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
Hebrews
10:37.
The
Last Crisis
We are living in
the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times
declare that the
coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are
solemn and
important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn
from the earth.
Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers
of the grace of
God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of
society, the
alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events
of the greatest
magnitude.
The agencies of
evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are
strengthening
for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in
our world, and
the final movements will be rapid ones.
The condition of
things in the world shows that troublous times are right
upon us. The
daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near
future. Bold
robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts
and murders are
committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking
the lives of
men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with
vice, and every
species of evil prevails.
The enemy has
succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men’s hearts
with the desire
for selfish gain.
11
“Justice
standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot
enter.” Isaiah
59:14. In the great cities there are multitudes living in poverty
and
wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; while in the
same cities are
those who have more than heart could wish, who live luxuriously,
spending their
money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or
worse still,
upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and
other things that
destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase
the soul. The
cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by
every species of
oppression and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes.
On one occasion,
when in New York City, I was in the night season called
upon to behold
buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings
were warranted
to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners
and builders.
Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most
costly material
was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not
asking
themselves: “How can we best glorify God?” The Lord was not in their
thoughts.
I thought: “Oh,
that those who are thus investing their means could see their
course as God
sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish
in the sight of
the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are
not studying
with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God.
They have lost
sight of this, the first duty of man.”
As these lofty
buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride
that they had
money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their
neighbors. Much
of the money that they thus invested had
12
been obtained
through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot
that in heaven
an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal,
every fraudulent
act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud
and insolence men
will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass,
and they will
learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.
The scene that
next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked
at the lofty and
supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: “They are perfectly
safe.” But these
buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines
could do nothing
to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the
engines.
I am instructed
that when the Lord’s time comes, should no change have
taken place in
the hearts of proud, ambitious human beings, men will find that
the hand that
had been strong to save will be strong to destroy. No earthly
power can stay
the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of
buildings that
will preserve them from destruction when God’s appointed time
comes to send
retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their
selfish
ambition.
There are not
many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend
the causes that
underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins
of government
are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty,
pauperism, and
increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business
operations on a
more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching
of God’s word,
they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.
The Scriptures
describe the condition of the world just before Christ’s second
coming. Of the men
who
13
by robbery and
extortion are amassing great riches, it is written: “Ye have heaped
treasure
together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have
reaped down your
fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the
cries of them
which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
Ye have lived in
pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your
hearts, as in a
day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he
doth not resist
you.” James 5:3-6.
But who reads
the warnings given by the fast-fulfilling signs of the times?
What impression
is made upon worldlings? What change is seen in their
attitude? No
more than was seen in the attitude of the inhabitants of the Noachian
world. Absorbed
in worldly business and pleasure, the antediluvians “knew
not until the
Flood came, and took them all away.” Matthew 24:39. They had
heaven-sent
warnings, but they refused to listen. And today the world, utterly
regardless of
the warning voice of God, is hurrying on to eternal ruin.
The world is
stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh
chapter of
Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Soon the scenes
of trouble
spoken of in the prophecies will take place.
“Behold, the
Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth
it upside down,
and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.... Because they
have
transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting
covenant.
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell
therein are
desolate.... The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice
endeth, the joy
of the harp ceaseth.” Isaiah 24:1-8.
14
“Alas for the
day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction
from the
Almighty shall it come.... The seed is rotten under their clods, the
garners are laid
desolate, the barns are broken down, for the corn is withered.
How do the
beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no
pasture; yea,
the flocks of sheep are made desolate.” “The vine is dried up, and
the fig tree
languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple
tree, even all
the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away
from the sons of
men.” Joel 1:15-18, 12.
“I am pained at
my very heart; ... I cannot hold my peace, because thou has
heard, O my
soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon
destruction is
cried; for the whole land is spoiled.” Jeremiah 4:19, 20.
“I beheld the
earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens,
and they had no
light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the
hills moved
lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the
heavens were fled.
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all
the cities
thereof were broken down.” Verses 23-26.
“Alas! for that
day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of
Jacob’s trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7.
Not all in this
world have taken sides with the enemy against God. Not all
have become
disloyal. There are a faithful few who are true to God; for John
writes: “Here
are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus.”
Revelation 14:12. Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those
who serve God
and those who serve Him not. Soon everything that can be
shaken will be
shaken,
15
that those
things that cannot be shaken may remain.
Satan is a
diligent Bible student. He knows that his time is short, and he
seeks at every
point to counterwork the work of the Lord upon this earth. It is
impossible to
give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall
be alive upon
the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions
of the past are
blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne
of God. By means
of the angels there will be constant communication between
heaven and
earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God,
will work
miracles of all kinds, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. God’s
people will not
find their safety in working miracles, for Satan will counterfeit
the miracles
that will be wrought. God’s tried and tested people will find their
power in the
sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on
the living word:
“It is written.” This is the only foundation upon which they can
stand securely.
Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day
be without God
and without hope.
The worshipers
of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for
the fourth
commandment, since this is the sign of God’s creative power and the
witness to His
claim upon man’s reverence and homage. The wicked will be
distinguished by
their efforts to tear down the Creator’s memorial and to exalt
the institution
of Rome. In the issue of the conflict all Christendom will be
divided into two
great classes, those who keep the commandments of God and
the faith of
Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image, and receive
his mark.
Although church and state will unite their power to compel all, “both
small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive
16
the mark of the
beast, yet the people of God will not receive it. Revelation 13:16.
The prophet of
Patmos beholds “them that had gotten the victory over the beast,
and over his
image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand
on the sea of
glass, having the harps of God,” and singing the song of Moses and
the Lamb.
Revelation 15:2.
Fearful tests
and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring
the nations from
one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of
trouble that is
coming,—a time of trouble such as has not been since there was
a nation,—God’s
chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot
destroy them,
for angels that excel in strength will protect them.
*****
God’s word to
His people is: “Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, ...
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will
be a Father unto
you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.” “Ye are a chosen
generation, a
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
show forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light.”
2 Corinthians 6:17, 18; 1 Peter 2:9. God’s people are to
be distinguished
as a people who serve Him fully, wholeheartedly, taking no
honor to
themselves, and remembering that by a most solemn covenant they
have bound
themselves to serve the Lord and Him only.
“The Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of
Israel, saying,
Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and
you throughout
your generations; that ye may know
17
that I am the
Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore;
for it is holy
unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death:
for whosoever
doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among
his people. Six
days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of
rest, holy to
the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall
surely be put to
death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath,
to observe the
Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It
is a sign
between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord
made heaven and
earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.”
Exodus 31:12-17.
Do not these
words point us out as God’s denominated people? and do
they not declare
to us that so long as time shall last, we are to cherish the
sacred,
denominational distinction placed upon us? The children of Israel were
to observe the
Sabbath throughout their generations “for a perpetual covenant.”
The Sabbath has
lost none of its meaning. It is still the sign between God and
His people, and
it will be so forever.
Testimonies
for the Church
Volume
Nine
Ellen
G. White
1909
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