The World Expectant

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 5, 1865

The World Expectant.

Archdeacon Brown, of England, in 1835, said that he "was strongly impressed with the conviction that our lot has fallen under the solemn period emphatically designated in Daniel as 'the time of the end.'"

Dr. Duff, of Scotland, recently said: "Surely the present crisis is constraining us to arise, and that with our whole heart. Surely it looks as if—in response to the sighing of the whole creation groaning in uneasiness and pain through long by-gone ages for the times of the restitution of all things; surely, in answer to the plaintive cry of the myriad martyrs from under the altar, who age after age have been uttering their longing cry, 'How long, O Lord, how long?' He who is seated on the throne on high, is now indicating by no ordinary signs that he is ready to arise and assume his great power, and to manifest himself as really King and Governor among the nations. Surely, in the language of one of old, the great Messiah is about to come forth from his royal chamber—about to put on the invisible robes of his imperial majesty, and to take up the unlimited scepter which his Father hath bequeathed to him. Even now, in the ear of faith, and almost in the ear of sense, we may hear the distant noise of the chariot-wheels of the mighty Saviour King, coming forth conquering and to conquer, amid the shaking of the nations from pole to pole. Every nation has of late been upheaving from its ancient settled foundations; and there will be mightier upheavings still, and that right speedily—all preparing the way for the new heavens and the new earth, in which righteousness will forever dwell!"

Macaulay, the essayist, wrote, in 1831: "Many Christians believe that the Messiah will shortly establish a kingdom on the earth, and reign visibly over all its inhabitants. Whether this doctrine be orthodox or not, we shall not inquire. The number of people who hold it, is very much greater than the number of Jews residing in England. Many of those who hold it, are distinguished by rank, wealth and ability; it is preached from the pulpits, both of the Scottish and of the English church. Noblemen and members of Parliament have written in defense of it,—who expect 'that before this generation shall pass away, all the kingdoms of the earth will be swallowed up in one Divine Empire.'"

Dr. N. L. Rice says: "The world is now rapidly approaching another great epoch, the most important in the history of our world." "We live in an eventful day." "The time cannot be far distant, when great changes are to take place amongst the nations. It is our wisdom, therefore, both to examine carefully and prayerfully the prophecies whose fulfillment is yet future, and to watch passing events which throw light upon these prophecies. It is a great misfortune to mistake the character of the age in which we live, and to fail to understand the signs which God gives, that his people may act with him their part."

Rev. Hollis Read, author of "God in History," says: "We are living in a very remarkable period of the world's history. A very general impression obtains in all reflecting minds, that we are on the confines of another of those signal crises which mark the history of our race. The signs of the times are strangely significant." "There is a feeling in the human breast, that despotism, bloodshed, fraud, oppression, and unbridled lust, have, in defiance of Heaven, rioted long enough, and that a righteous God will soon rise in his wrath and make a short work. This prophetic yearning for deliverance—this instinctive prophecy of the human heart—is not peculiar to the Christian. The Hindoo, the Mohammedan, the Papist, feels it. The world waits the coming change."

Dr. Baird, in Rochester, 1852, remarked that "No well-informed man can look upon the world as it is, without coming to the conclusion that some great consummation is about to take place."

Dr. Hitchcock, of Amherst, says: "In a very short time, far shorter than we imagine, all the scenes of futurity will be to us a thrilling reality."

Dr. G. B. Cheever, writes: "It is impossible to look upon a more sublime spectacle than that which rises to the mind of the spiritual observer at the present crisis. A voice like the archangel's trumpet is crying, 'Cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard to the people!' Event rolls on after event. As the purposes of God are advancing nearer to their completion, ten thousand significant events sweep onward in its train. The convergence of all things to the point, becomes more and more rapid. Meaning begins to appear in events before shrouded in mystery. An omnipotent plan, it is manifest, is in operation, and the trains laid with divine wisdom are fast completing."

Professor George Bush says: "If we take the ground of right reason, we must believe that the present age is one expressly foretold in prophecy, and that it is just opening upon the crowning consummation of all prophetic declarations."

The Jewish mind has been brought to like convictions and anticipations. Rabbi Carillon, of Jamaica Island, affirms that "There is every reason to believe that the latter days are not far off; let us, therefore, be on the watch, and in continual prayer." It is said by a European writer, that "Jews who never before thought of a Messiah, begin now to say, 'These are the days of travail which precede his coming.'" Solomon Herschel, rabbi of the chief synagogue of the Jews in London, is represented as saying that his people, after close investigation of the subject, think, with him, that the Messiah's advent cannot be delayed beyond 1863. And it was announced in the public journals in 1852 that there were then thousands of Jews in Jerusalem, all anxiously expecting the Messiah.

And what divines have uttered as their learning of the Scriptures, statesmen and philosophers have also declared as their reading of the indications of events.

Sir Robert Peel said in Parliament, in 1842, "Every aspect of the present times, viewed in the light of the past, warrants the belief that we are on the eve of a universal change."

Louis Kossuth, not long ago said: "I say this prophetically. I have already read it in the book of Providence, which is made to be a revelation to mankind. The destiny of mankind has come to the turning-point of centuries. There is a cry of alarm upon the ostensible approach of universal danger. The despotic governments of Europe feel their approaching death. The decisive struggle is near. It will be the last in mankind's history."

Dr. Arnold observes: "Modern history appears to be only a step in advance of ancient history, but the last step; it seems to bear marks of the fullness of time, as if there would be no future history beyond it."

"My sense of the evils of the times that are coming, and of the prospects to which I am bringing up my poor children, is overwhelming."

The Living Age says: "We stand at a great starting-point in the history of the world. Old things are about to pass away, and we know not what shall be the new. The continent of Europe, startled by the warning trumpet of 1848, has cowered into silence; all faces gather blackness, and men's hearts fail them for fear of what is coming on the earth."

And the spirit of the press generally is to the same effect.

The Presbyterian Expositor says: "We live in a day of unprecedented excitement and agitation, and the minds of all intelligent men are looking for great events. No wonder that some are expecting the second coming of the Son of God to subdue to himself all kingdoms, and reign on earth a thousand years. Beyond a question, we are on the eve of great events."

The New York Evangelist, in 1848, remarked, "Had

the present state of Europe been prophesied fifty years ago, would any have credited the prophecy? We believe that in this year we have seen the beginning of the end."

The Christian Luminary says: "This truly is an age of wonders, changes, and revolutions. No thinking man can open his eyes upon the great events that are passing before us, without being impressed with the signs of the times, and constrained to admit that important scenes are about to be opened to the view of an astonished world. The seals are opening, the trumpets are sounding, the nations are shaking; signs are seen in the heavens and on earth."

A writer in the Christian Review says: "I am strongly persuaded that the present generation of men stand upon the very eve of the mightiest revolution that the annals of time record." "A silent, rapid, irresistible preparation has been making—making, perhaps, for a sudden, subversive, and universal change; what will it be?"

Rev. Dr. Schauffer, for the last twenty-five years, missionary at Constantinople, said in an address in Brooklyn a few years since, "That the general belief which prevails among the Turks is, that their religion has closed its mission, and stated the fact that the green coat of Mahomet, which is the sacred banner of Mohammedanism, had disappeared from Constantinople. It is said, however, that some prophecies in the Mohammedan sacred books have pointed to the present time as closing the reign of their religion, and this disappearance of the sacred banner, adds to the popular impression."

President Wayland, in a sermon he preached in Rochester, N. Y., in 1853, said: "Within the lifetime of men who hear me, the question will probably be decided, whether the kingdom of Christ is now to proceed to universal victory, or ages of intellectual and moral darkness are again to overspread the earth. It is for such a crisis as this, that the disciples of Christ are now called upon to prepare."