p. 3 | The Time and the Work

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 21, 1903

The Time and the Work

(Concluded)

ONE special prophecy which I wish to emphasize is the oath of the angel who stood with hand uplifted, with one foot upon the sea, and one foot upon the earth, and swore by him that liveth forever and ever, that “there shall be delay no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets.”

Two years ago, when this General Conference opened its sessions, that message came to us with great distinctness, and with a power witnessed of God, “There shall be delay no longer.” And there was a response to that message;

there was a stirring of the hearts; there went forth from that an inspiration which has been with us during these two years; and over and over again, as we rehearsed the prophecies, as we noted the time where we stand, we have said within our hearts, and we have said to the people, “The hour is come; there shall be delay no longer.” And the people’s hearts have been made glad when they have heard that word; and the people’s hearts have responded to that idea, and there has been a revival of the advent faith, a revival of the advent hope, in the hearts of many where the hope was almost dead, and where the faith seemed to be flickering.

Now we have compassed another two years, and I invite this Conference to listen to the remainder of that prophecy, and put the two together, and make them one, as the cry of this message: “There shall be delay no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, THEN IS FINISHED the mystery of God.”

And I invite this Conference to face very clearly and very distinctly the issue that presses itself upon us at this time. These prophecies all emphasize to us that this is the last generation; but how long shall this generation continue? Shall those who are mere children now take up the cry, and expect to come upon the stage of action, and say, “In this generation;” and their children come on, and say, “In this generation”? Where shall we draw the line that shall mark any sort of a limit to this time? Let us see.

When our Saviour gave his prophecy, in the course of which he used this expression, “This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished,” he told them very definitely of the overthrow that was to come upon their nation and their city; and he marked the experiences that were to follow immediately after his crucifixion; and he told them of a turning away; he told them that after they had rejected him, false messiahs would come in their very day; and then he closed his statement to them concerning the limit of their own national existence, when he said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” And the end that was to come then was the end of their national life, the end of their existence as a separate people. The prophecy was definitely fulfilled; the false christs came forward when the true Christ had been rejected. There was a turning aside from the message that had been given; and, on the other hand, there was the complete, definite fulfillment of that prophecy of our Lord, that that very gospel, that very gospel whose basis was a Messiah crucified, risen, ascended into heaven, the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary,—that definite gospel should be preached in all the world for a witness in that generation in which it was uttered.

That generation in which it was uttered witnessed its fulfillment. Those who lived and were the active leaders at the time when John the Baptist gave his message, turned from it, and raised the cry, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Their children came upon the stage of action, heard the gospel message of that Messiah, and were given their opportunity to accept or reject it from an intelligent hearing of that gospel message, and then the end came. But the end came before those who were strong in middle life, and who crucified the Messiah, passed off the stage of action. That generation witnessed the fulfillment of that prophecy, and Jerusalem was in ruins.

Now, all that was a true picture, and a typical picture. All that had its definite fulfillment in relation to Jerusalem. It has also its definite fulfillment over again. And this generation is, as it were, the second edition of the first generation. And the prophecy of that generation belongs to the prophecy of this generation. In that time those in active life rejected the message from God, crucified the Messiah, and then their sons and daughters came to middle life, years of responsibility, were given an opportunity to accept or reject the Messiah, the gospel of the kingdom was preached in all the world for a testimony, and that generation saw the end. Just so, in this time. Those who heard the message when it was first preached, calling upon them to fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment was come,—those who were told of the coming of the Lord, near at hand, and who treated the message and the messengers just as the people of God anciently treated John the Baptist and his message, and who just as really crucified the message in that time, in the same spirit also as did the professed people of God in that first generation crucify the Messiah and reject the message,—their children have lived to come upon the stage of action as the responsible workers in this day, and they are given the opportunity to hear this threefold message, and to decide intelligently whether they will accept it or whether they will crucify it. But before that generation shall pass off the stage of action, which both preached and heard that first preaching of the message,—before that generation passes off the stage of action, the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of the judgment hour, the gospel of the soon coming of the Son of man, will be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and the end will come.

Now, see where we stand. I appeal to these men with gray hairs, who have known this message from its beginning, and who are becoming few among us, who at times, perhaps, have almost wavered in their hope that they should see the end of this work. I ask, How much longer can we of middle life so conduct this work as to delay, and delay, and delay, and yet bring the end in this generation? I ask you to face it, not as a theory to teach, but as a fact which you and I ought to face this very first meeting of this Conference. And I want every one to examine himself, whether he is in the faith, and to know whether he has, at this hour, that courage which is born of a faith in God’s divine Word, in prophecies fulfilled for all these centuries. Who will be willing to take his stand anew upon this definite platform, that this generation shall see the end? I say we do not face any theory about this matter. I say it is a terrible, in one sense a terrible, situation that faces us. And I ask you to face it. I ask you to look at the facts of the prophecies; I ask you to look at the whole situation, set forth in God’s Word; then I ask you to reckon up with me, that for ten, and twenty, and thirty, and forty, and fifty, and sixty years, and more, this work has been going on, and where do we stand in this generation? Every one who faces that truth, with confidence in God’s Word, has got to say to himself, “It is the last hour.”

All Bands Must Be Broken

I do not see how any true Advent believer can face this situation without being most deeply impressed with the call that is in the very situation itself. And the call that is in the situation certainly emphasizes two things: First, all the hindrances must be removed; all bands must be broken; this message must go free. Second, No human power or human wisdom is sufficient to grapple with the situation now, and there must for this service come upon the servants of God in this generation what came upon the servants of God in that first generation, that they might do the work in their day, and that is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Two things are emphasized by the very situation itself that we face: First, hindrances must be removed; bands must be broken; this message must go free; and, second, there must come upon those who hope to see the end before this generation passes from the stage of action, the enduement of the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is utterly useless for us to repeat phrases, to reiterate sermons, to speak again those same words, as we have spoken them over and over again. There must be the dawning of a new day in this message. There must be a new experience. There must be a vitalizing power of the Spirit of God upon the servants of God, or it is hopeless. Now, what is the responsibility that rests upon those who profess to be the servants of God, called to do God’s work in

this generation? If anything ought to bring us down before God, that we may be endued with power from on high, it is the very situation that faces us this very night. I am not conjuring up things for a scare. I am speaking words of truth and soberness. But I want this Conference to be willing like men of God to face that situation, and know what it means to each one individually.

Now, further: I must tell you that to-day there are being urged upon this people interpretations of this message that will throw it beyond the limits of this generation. I must tell you that there are plans, methods of operation, policies, being urged upon this people now, that, if accepted, throw it beyond any possibility of finishing the work in this generation. And I say to every one that we stand now facing a situation where we must do one of two things: We must take our stand in a clear and definite manner upon a definite message to be finished in this generation, or we must back off from the ground we have been attempting to occupy for these years. It is too late in the day now to occupy any longer an inconsistent position concerning this message and its work. And I urgently ask this General Conference to face this matter in all its deliberations, in all its plans, in everything which is brought before it. I ask them to keep in mind this one idea,—the hour of his judgment is come. This is the last generation, and this is the last end of the last generation. Anything that tends to delay longer, anything that tends to confuse the mind, anything that tends to wreck faith in this message, anything that will interfere with a clear-cut, definite work in a clear way, must be set aside at this Conference.

This is our only hope, and I plead for it, not in order to deliver a sermon, but in order to deliver my soul.

Turning Back the Hands

There is a scene that is often acted in the Senate of the United States. When the closing day of the session comes, and the hands of the clock begin to approach twelve o’clock, one watching might see the ancient doorkeeper of the Senate noting how the business is progressing, noting whether important measures that must be passed before that Senate adjourns have been passed, and, as he sees that the hands of the clock are getting up toward twelve, one might see that man turn back the hands; and they will go on with their business, and he will watch again to see if important measures that must be passed before the Senate adjourns at twelve o’clock have been passed; if not, he will go again and turn back the hands, and it never gets to be twelve o’clock in the Senate until they have passed those measures.

Now, I want to say to this General Conference that time and again have policies come in, have interpretations come in, have methods come in, which have turned back the hands of the clock, and we are to-day living on fictitious time, just as they do in the Senate; it is past twelve o’clock, but the clock does not say it. The hands have been turned back. We are living and acting on fictitious time. The clock of this message ought to have struck twelve long ago, and might have struck twelve long ago, if methods had not been allowed to come in, interpretations adopted, policies followed, that set the hands back, and I want to tell you that to-day we are facing a choice between interpretations, methods, plans, policies, that shall finish this important work, and let the clock strike twelve, or that shall put it back again. And I say, Let nothing interfere with the clock again. Let no methods or plans or principles or interpretations again be fastened upon this message that shall prolong our fictitious time. Let the clock strike, and let the end come.

But before the end comes, this gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world for a witness. Our work is not simply negative; it is not simply to keep free from something that hinders; it is to lay hold of something that helps, forgetting the things that are behind, and pressing forward, and it is in the very light of these facts that I urge this Conference to keep in mind the time, the hour, and the situation that we face.

There is only one message to be given in this generation. There are not several messages; there is only one complete whole, which includes all the parts of this message. There are no separate parts, each one equal to the other. That one message is the message that will prepare a people, body, soul, and spirit, for the coming King; a message that will gather out a people, and prepare a people completely, that they shall be ready for the coming of the Lord, and that work prepares the way for his coming. That is the message, and it is all summed up in this. It is not necessary to carve it off and dissect it, and label it. There is one living message when it is not dissected, and that message finds its keynote, that shall sound through every part of it, in the truth that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The day of the Lord is near; it is near, and hasteth greatly; prepare to meet thy God. And that is the message which the watchmen are to take up with one voice, so that, going out from this Conference, scattering to all parts of the world, there will yet be heard in every land, and in every nation, one voice sounding, one voice rising higher and higher, one voice speaking louder and louder, one voice thrilling the hearts of the people who hear it, one voice bringing conviction upon hearts. The coming of the Lord is near; the hour of his judgment is come; prepare to meet thy God. That is the inspiration that ought to take hold upon this people at this time, and this Conference should mark the turning-point; this Conference should mark in a special way a stepping forward, a definite move, that shall show to fifty or sixty thousand Advent believers in this country, and to the thousands in other countries, that this advent message still lives with power in the hearts of believers, and that there is a solid platform upon which some are willing to take their stand, and call to others, and raise the cry, that they, too, shall join us, and not get down off the platform to look to see if it is the true platform.

Eyes from all parts of the world are turned toward this Conference, and thousands of hearts are waiting to see how this Conference faces this very problem which I have put before you.

Let us be hopeful and of good cheer. In all this that I have said, there is nothing that need discourage the faith of the believer in God. The hour is late; but little time remains; but our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, and only waits for human instrumentalities, and only waits for human channels through which he may pour the abundant tide of his power, that his work may be cut short in righteousness.