Editorial by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Sep 17, 1903

Editorial

By Editor

Times of Testing

Those who have followed the course of God's providence and the history of this work during recent years ought to be able to recognize that the time of test and of trial, sometimes called the shaking time, is now here. Events are now shaping which will bring a separation between those who have either never been converted to this message or have lost their first love and those to whom this truth is a living reality. Unbelieving indifference is now changing to open opposition, and the quiet doubters are becoming the out-spoken scorners. At the same time those who really love this advent message are being stirred to new activity and a new consecration to its advancement. Here is the fulfilment of the statement that a new power would soon be revealed both for and against the truth. This experience indicates that the time is near for the final decision of character in the judgment of the living, and the final decree from the court of judgment, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: . . . and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: . . . And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” This is indeed a most solemn time. The daily decisions now have a strong influence upon the final decision. Only in the light which shines from the heavenly courts can we understand what these things mean. Only in the power of endless life can we be kept from being overcome by the enemy. Only in perfect submission to the will of God is there any safety for us. “Behold, the judge standeth before the doors.”