The Present by J. Clarke

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 1, 1866

The Present.

By J. Clarke

We all feel much interested to know just where we are, and what is our position upon the troubled sea of time. Often this anxiety to know what great event is next to take place, may be so great, as to take precedence of our individual responsibilities to God, to ourselves and others; but if our anxiety to understand our whereabouts in prophecy, does but prompt us to increased diligence and watchfulness, then may we hope that this desire to understand, is not mere curiosity, but the genuine work of the Spirit of God upon our hearts.

In the present emergency, we as practical common-sense people, often would like to know if we are soon to be precipitated into the horrors of civil war; if our government is to be revolutionized; our financial system overthrown, and general disorder reign supreme. I have not taken my pen at this time to decide dogmatically upon these points, but with the light we as a people profess at the present time, it seems that we may form something more than a mere speculative opinion.

With regard to the permanency of our government, we may infer that it is to stand till the close of time, from the fact that it is the same identical power spoken of in Rev. xix, 20, which is to be engulfed in the final ruin: also that is treated of as the "two-horned beast" of Rev. xii, 11, and the "false prophet" working miracles in the succeeding verses of the same chapter, evidently the same mentioned in the nineteenth chapter, without organic changes, which could not be if revolutionized.

From Rev. xiv, 9, we learn that this power is to enforce a mark upon the inhabitants of earth, (religious test) which could not be done by a weak, impoverished nation; but such a government must have a wide influence. We infer that such a nation must be in such a crisis highly influential: probably at the pinnacle of seeming prosperity; and from the warning Jesus gives to his followers in Matt. xxiv, 38, and in Luke xxi, 34, it would seem that great plenty and prosperity would immediately precede the day of final ruin. We may therefore look, it would seem, for financial and worldly prosperity; else how could the truth be spread abroad, if men were constantly agitated by revolution and financial disaster, or general war, or famine.

In Rev. vii, 1, 2, there is an account of the holding of the four winds, and the chapter speaks of the final sealing. No doubt the prayers of God's people availed in the subjugation of the rebel forces, and the angels upon the four corners of the earth, restrained the fury of man, and held back the desolating curse of war. If so, they have their charge; they will obey; they will restrain the wrath of the nations until the sealing time is over. Governments may seem to be about to be revolutionized, war may seem to be about to break out, systems of finance may seem to be on the verge of destruction, but they will not bring ruin yet. A mysterious agency is visible among men, and great wisdom is granted at particular crises, and the falling house does not come down. The winds are held; the angels have charge to hold the four winds "until the servants of God are sealed."

Faint not, then, oh troubled saint, as you hear the mutterings of the impending storm. That future storm is not to break until God's servants are sealed. Not now is that storm to discharge its burden of wrath; the angels have their charge; not a tree, nor the earth, nor the sea, is to be hurt till the servants of God are all sealed. Commerce will spread itself upon all waters, and upon the iron roads which belt the earth, and men will settle down in the idea of universal peace; but little will they dream of the mighty work of God in the earth.

Think you a great crisis is just at hand; that a fearful storm is soon to burst? You think correctly; but be assured that storm is not for thee, oh saint, but for the wicked. Those tumults will be silenced; those warlike armies will lie in their barracks; those formidable navies will lie listlessly in the harbors, or cruise leisurely in safest seas; the Papal power will have time and leisure to establish for itself a palace in old Jerusalem, and men of orthodox stamp will be surer than ever of a temporal millennium. Then, oh saint, will come the crisis for which you now so anxiously look; when the faithful angels let go the winds, and nations fly upon each other, and earth will be deluged with blood.

God is now testing and proving his people still, and quietly his work moves on. Soon will the work of sealing be over. Then no more apostasy, no more division. But who can stand the trial; who can be prepared; who can be ready? Thou canst prepare; thou canst be ready; thou canst receive the seal. Only heed the testimony as it comes from day to day. Live a holy life. Then thy life shall be a life of victory here, and of rapture hereafter. J. Clarke.