T. E. BOWEN by T. E. BOWEN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Aug 17, 1916

T. E. BOWEN

By T. E. BOWEN

Nearing the End — No. 1

T. E. BOWEN

“Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10: 37. This text of assurance is thrown in between others of earnest exhortation to those who shall be living at a time when the church is waiting for the return of her Master. Some will be giving up hope, for we read, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience.” “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Verses 35, 36, 38, 39.

To entertain doubt; to disbelieve that the coming of the Lord is really nigh at hand; to unite with worldlings in their pleasures, their ambitions, their follies, is to draw back unto perdition. To believe “to the saving of the soul” is life everlasting. The Lord intimates that patience will be needed by those who look for him; that the danger will be that the waiting ones will cast away their confidence; and he assures them that he will come in “a little while, . . . and will not tarry.”

As those looking for our Lord, we certainly do need often to assure our hearts by rehearsing the evidences of his coming, lest we become weary and faint in our minds.

The great signs hung out in the heavens have come to pass just as Jesus foretold. The sun has been darkened, the moon has failed to give her light, and the stars have fallen from heaven. Each passing week the conditions among nations tell us that it is to be only “a little while” that the saints are patiently to work and wait. Events in the Near East point unmistakably to the last event given us in the Word to take place among nations before Christ stands up for the deliverance of his people. In a general way, we all believe that the coming of the Lord is near.

The personal coming of Jesus on the cloud, attended by all the angels of glory, will be preceded by another event of very great importance to the world, for it is at this time that Christ will lay down his mediatorial work, and when he does that, every person’s destiny is sealed, sealed for life or death to all eternity. The time, therefore, between the present and this important future event, is weighty with possibilities for weal or woe. Eternal destinies hang upon the outcome of the choice men and women make now. After the passing of this period of time, whose limit is known only to the Father himself, there will be no further opportunity to obtain eternal life. Then the harvest will be past, the summer ended, and the work of the gospel finished.

Let us examine the events to take place at this particular time in question:—

1. Jesus’ priestly work ends. Rev. 22: 11, 12.

2. The Son of God is summoned by the Father to come near before him to receive his kingdom—the whole earth. Dan. 7: 13, 14, 27.

3. The time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation begins upon earth, involving the whole world (Dan. 12: 1), and the seven last plagues, described in Revelation 16, fall upon a lost world.

4. The third angel’s message, the last gospel message to the world, closes.

5. The terrible world famine for hearing the Word of God begins. Amos 8: 11, 12.

6. The door is closed, shutting the saved in and the lost out, as when the mighty angel from heaven descended and slowly closed the ponderous door of Noah’s ark. Matt. 25: 10.

7. This event comes suddenly upon all—the remnant church and a lost world. Mark 13: 32-37.

By these events here outlined, it is evident that the time thus spoken of in the Word should stand out prominently before the mind’s eye, especially to us who look for the coming of the Lord Jesus, and who entertain the blessed hope of becoming subjects of his kingdom. It is very important that we let no man deceive us, and that we have our eyes upon the right event, clearly discerning the signs of the times taking place all about us.

Takoma Park, D. C.