The Day of the Lord will not Come without a Warning by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 25, 1870

The Day of the Lord will not Come without a Warning.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

WHEN we go out and preach that the Lord is coming soon, and give signs that indicate it, we are often met with the declaration that no man can know anything about it; that the Lord may come to-morrow, or next year, or it may be a hundred, or a thousand years. Ministers often make this declaration. Let us look at this idea. They say the Lord may come to-morrow. Very well. Will they acknowledge that the people of God, or the world, has been warned of that event? Oh, no! They have not given such a warning, and that which the Adventists have given they do not believe is of the Lord, so that no one has been warned with regard to it. Yet they say, “The Lord may come to-morrow.” This position, then, assumes that the day of the Lord will come without any warning to the righteous or wicked. Such a position is both unreasonable and unscriptural. God is long-suffering. He, not willing that any should perish. He always gives a fair warning to every one with regard to any danger, that the righteous may be prepared for it and be saved, and that the wicked may be without excuse.

Take a few examples of the past. When the world in the days of Noah had become so corrupt that God could not endure it any longer, he might have opened the windows of heaven, and the foundations of the great deep, and deluged the earth with water in a day's time. But God did not wish thus to do. He chose a righteous man, told him what he purposed to do, and how he might be prepared for it. Him he made a preacher of righteousness to warn the whole world. One hundred and twenty years he preached, and all had an opportunity to hear and prepare if they would, but they did not. Then the Lord did what he had so thoroughly warned all that he was about to do. So it was in the days of Lot; and so with the Ninevites. In the time of Christ, the Jews had become so corrupt that the Lord proposed to destroy their city and their nation. But he did not do this without first warning them of the danger, giving them a chance to repent if they would, and giving the righteous an opportunity to escape that time of trouble. Forty years before it happened, Christ warned them that it would soon come, and gave them signs by which they might know when it was at hand.

These examples show that the Lord always warns the world of any great calamity that he proposes to bring upon it. At such times, his people are always informed with regard to it, and are taught what steps to take in order to save themselves. How much more then may we expect such a warning when that great day shall come for which all other days were made, the final consummation of all things, when time shall close and every man come to judgment. It is both reasonable and easy to be inferred from God's dealings with man in the past. Not only so, but there is abundance of scripture to show that this will be the case. Turn to Joel 2: 1, and we read, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” This is not only a prophecy, but a direct command which must be obeyed when the time comes.

This shows that God designs that a warning shall be given when that day comes. Some one will be raised up by the Spirit of God to deliver this message, even though they have to be raised up from the very stones of the earth.

Take another prophecy. Rev. 14: 6, 7. “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Here an angel has the gospel to preach to every nation under heaven, but angels do not preach the gospel—God's chosen men do this, hence this angel represents a class of men who shall preach such a message as this. And what is it? It is a mighty proclamation to all people that the hour of God's judgment is come. This prophecy will not fail. It must be fulfilled. When the time comes, the world must hear this message; and if they do, then it is plain to be seen that the warning must be given with regard to the judgment hour. Paul reasoned with Felix of the judgment to come.

He told the Athenians that God had appointed a day in the which he would judge the world. But this message says the hour of God's judgment is come, not is coming, or shall come; but it announces the fact to all the world that it is present. Most certainly this message relates to the last days, and cannot be proclaimed with truthfulness, only when the hour of judgment actually arrives.

This, then, settles the fact that there will be a warning in the last days to all the world with regard to the great day of God's judgment. Another fact is clearly stated many times in the Bible; viz., that there will be two classes in the last days,—one class will be watching, and waiting, and looking, for the Lord when he

comes. That day will not come on them as a thief. They will be saved. Then there will be a second class who have heard the warning, yet will be overtaken as a thief by the coming of the Lord. To them it will come unexpectedly, and they will be destroyed. Dan. 12: 9, 10. This relates to the last days, and says “the wise shall understand, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand.” To the same effect is 1 Thess. 5: 1-5. Here we find that the day of the Lord comes suddenly as a thief in the night upon the world, and they are all destroyed, while the righteous are not in darkness, and that day does not overtake them as a thief. So the same truth is taught in Matt. 24: 37: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” How was it in the days of Noah? God gave a warning to the world, faithful Noah believed it, knew when the flood was coming, and was prepared for it. The wicked world heard the warning, disbelieved it, and knew not when the flood would come till it burst upon them unexpectedly, and destroyed them all. So, says Christ, shall it be at his second coming. These scriptures all plainly teach that there will be a proclamation in the last days with regard to the coming of the Lord, and the end of the world. Such a proclamation is now going to the world, which is based on Bible evidence, as we believe.

D. M. CANRIGHT.