Reading for Sunday, December 14
By Irwin H. Evans
The Day of God's Preparation
We are living in the time of the end. The prophet Daniel uses this phrase, “the time of the end,” several times, and always in connection with the last days. From a study of prophecy, we understand that the time of the end began at the termination of the 1260 years of papal supremacy, or in 1798. This being true, the people of earth have been living in the time of the end 115 years. This certainly brings us close to the period when our Lord will come. Not only Seventh-day Adventists, but many of the best thinkers of the day, are looking for a time of trouble to come upon all the world. Frequently they make mention of the great battle of Armageddon, the great world struggle which we understand will mark the close of human history. Others look forward to the millennium, hoping for a time when there will be a thousand years of peace on the earth, and a condition of security and happiness will prevail. Everywhere in the world today are men who, under one form of belief or another, are looking for the present state of things to change, and the kingdom of God to be established in this world. In addition to the specific signs in the heavens regarding the nearness of the coming of the Lord,—the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars,—which appeared long ago, there are many prophecies that point to the time of the end. Our Saviour said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness1097unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Notice that he does not say that the whole world will be converted, nor even that every one who hears the gospel will accept it, but that the gospel of the kingdom is to be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come. As we look over the map of the earth, and study the nations one by one, we are brought face to face with the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ is now being preached to every nation under heaven. If we go farther, and say that the preaching of this gospel must include the preaching of the third angel’s message, we are confronted with the fact that the third angel’s message is already being preached to nearly every nation under heaven. Scarcely a country of any size, scarcely a people of any international importance, but that has one or more living witnesses of the third angel’s message within its borders, and knows something of the truths which we as a people teach. The apostle Paul was chosen by the Lord Jesus himself to do a specific work,—to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. In fulfilment of this divine commission, Paul preached the gospel in Asia Minor, and gave the truth for his time to the people to the extent that he tells us, “All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” Yet it is clearly understood that Paul and his fellow disciples visited only a few of the greater cities in Asia, passing over of necessity the smaller villages and towns. To what extent the third angel’s message is to be preached in heathen lands, how many churches are to be organized in these various countries, and how many will receive Christ, we know not; but every indication, as far as the preaching of the third angel’s message is concerned, is that this work could be speedily closed. Our Saviour gave us as one of the signs of the end, that upon the earth there would be “distress of nations, with perplexity.” As we consider this prophecy, and its relation to the subject under consideration, what do we see? Was there ever a time when there was greater perplexity among the nations of the world than during the last decade? We have only to recall the Spanish-American war, the Boer war in Africa, the Russo-Japanese war, the Turko-Italian war, the Balkan situation of the last two years, the revolutions that have taken place in South America, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, Persia, Tibet, Mongolia, and China, to get a view of the international perplexities that confront the world today. So ominous are all the signs of war, deadly, hellish war, with all its miseries and woe, that the Paris Matin of Oct. 7, 1911, said: “Immediate destruction in the name of humanity of the half-completed Peace Palace in The Hague is demanded by the Matin today for the following reasons: When its construction was decided upon, the Anglo-Boer war broke out, and plans were laid for the Russo-Japanese war; when the first stone was laid, the kaiser made his first voyage to Tangier, which event was the beginning of the Morocco-European complications; when the first floor was finished, Austria seized Bosnia and Herzegovina; when the second floor was finished, the Franco-German controversy arose; when the roof was put on, the Turko-Italian war began. Only think! the painters, glaziers, and decorators have not yet begun their tasks. We have also heard rumors of statues symbolizing peace. Beware! Each time one is unveiled, it will rain shrapnel somewhere. When the temple is completed, look out for a grand scrimmage.” Lord Roseberry in 1909 said: “There never was in the history of the world so threatening and so overpowering a preparation for war. . . . Without any tangible reasons, we see the nations preparing new armaments. They cannot arm any more men on land, so they have to seek new armaments upon the sea, piling up these enormous preparations as if for some great Armageddon.” In the Literary Digest of April 23, 1910, Admiral Fournier is quoted as saying: “All the European powers will eventually become involved in what will practically prove to be the Armageddon of the Apocalypse.” For the year 1912-13, the eight leading nations of the world have voted to expend in war preparations nearly $800,000,000, which is to be assessed upon the peoples of the various nations. Each power seeks to rival the other in its preparation of life-destroying weapons on land and sea and in the air. Lord Salisbury, in speaking of the threatened war, says: “These wars come upon us absolutely unannounced and with terrible rapidity. A war-cloud arises on the horizon that overthrows all calculations, and, it may be a month or two months after the first warning you receive, you find you are engaged in, or in prospect of, a war upon which your very existence is staked.” Gen. Nelson A. Miles said: “I have seen all the great armies of Europe except the Spanish army. What I have seen does not indicate that the millennium is at hand, when swords shall be beaten into plowshares.” The late Bishop Newton gave his view of the situation in these words: “This is the most unsettled condition of the world since the crucifixion of Christ. The stability of government is no longer a fact.” A writer in the China Press of recent date says: “We are living in times that try men’s souls. We are living in days in which history is being made very rapidly. We are face to face with conditions upon which the real progress of nations, and of mankind in general, depends. We are in the midst of a turmoil, out of which may come peace or war. Wherever we look today, we see struggle, combat, obstacles, oppression, attempts at retrogression. In the world of political life, we are surrounded by the conditions that make or break a nation. In places [even among the so-called religious circles] where should be found justice, we behold iniquity; and where equity should be, behold iniquity. In short, everywhere we behold the forces of might trampling the forces of right. Here are enough conditions to try men’s souls, and to make us stop and think.” Another writer, speaking of present-day conditions, says: “Now we see the boiling rapids of a torrent plunging toward what abyss no one knows. War has followed war with swift succession. . . . What the next stroke will be, who shall say?” Nor is war the only question with which the nations of today have to grapple. Social conditions have developed during the last two decades such as have never confronted the nations before. The strife between capital and labor has reached such a condition that few dare to predict what a single year may bring forth. Destructive strikes, which have tied up the commerce of nations, have paralyzed manufactures, and have placed the lives of multitudes in jeopardy, have taken place in America, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and many other places. Sober-minded men look with grave fear upon the outcome of the social conditions of the world, and but few predict a bright future. The Accumulation of Wealth
The teachings of the apostle James indicate that preceding the coming of the Lord there will be a great accumulation of riches. In addressing the rich, he says: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” Surely we could hardly conceive a greater accumulation of wealth than has taken place in the last generation. The names of the princes of finance are more familiar than those of kings and emperors. The name of no ruler in the world is so frequently in the mouths of the people as the names of Rockefeller, Morgan, Rothschild, Astor, Gould, and men allied with them in the great realm of finance. Some of these men have amassed fortunes which are truly fabulous. Gladstone, in speaking of the accumulation of money in his day, said: “There are gentlemen before me who have witnessed a greater accumulation of wealth within the period of their lives than has been seen in all preceding times since the days of Julius Cæsar.” Rev. H. W. Bowman said: “Such colossal fortunes, such hoarding of treasures, such combinations of wealth, with such rapid increase in profits, were never witnessed before. Our age alone fits the prophetic mold.” Not only is there a remarkable increase in the accumulation of wealth, but1098perhaps the world has never seen such extravagance, such wasteful display, as in the last generation. A series of striking statistics made public through the American Federation of Hygiene, of which Dr. Charles W. Eliot is president, throws light from a new angle upon the methods employed by the American people in getting rid of their surplus capital. Read the following, and note the amount spent every year, not for food nor for education nor for clothing, but upon the gratification of appetite and physical desires:—
White slavery ............ $3,000,000,000
Intoxicating liquors ..... 2,000,000,000
Tobacco .................. 1,000,000,000
Jewelry .................. 800,000,000
Automobiles .............. 500,000,000
Confectionery ............ 200,000,000
Soft drinks .............. 120,000,000
Tea and coffee ........... 100,000,000
Millinery ................. 90,000,000
Patent medicines .......... 80,000,000
Chewing-gum ............... 13,000,000
As compared with these enormous sums spent in “luxuries,” which might be listed as shameful, wicked, and extravagant, these two items from the same list are given:—
Church work (at home) .. $250,000,000
Foreign missions ........ 12,000,000 For many years, Seventh-day Adventists have been looking at the situation in the East as one of the signs of the end. The prophet Daniel foretold events that were to take place leading down to the time of the standing up of Michael. In the latter part of the eleventh chapter and in the first part of the twelfth chapter of the book of Daniel we find these words: “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Seventh-day Adventists have held that this king represents the Turkish power, that this power would be compelled to leave Europe, and would establish its capital in Palestine; and that to dispossess the Turks of this country, and especially of the holy city, Jerusalem, the nations of the earth would gather their armies together, which ultimately would result in a world-wide conflict—the Armageddon of the Apocalypse. Let us for a moment look at the East, and study the present condition. The last few years have been tragic for the Turkish power. Scarcely had Abdul-Hamid been dethroned, and supplanted by one who was pledged to a constitutional government, when war with Italy over the Turkish provinces threatened the bombardment of Constantinople itself. The world looked on with amazement when Italy waged war with the Turks to drive them from their possessions in Africa. Many thought that England would say, “Hands off;” others believed that Germany would come to the help of the Turk. But England had already gained possession of Egypt; France had taken Morocco; Russia was endeavoring to secure Mongolia from China. An understanding had been entered into between Russia and Japan concerning Manchuria, looking toward its dismemberment from China. Of all the nations, what one was in a position to lend a helping hand to Turkey? While the controversy over Tripoli was still raging, the Balkan States again broke into war. While the war was going on it seemed as if the end of the Turkish power in Europe had come, judging from the success of the allied troops against Turkey. Everything seemed favorable to the plan of the Balkan States to expel Turkey from Europe. At the present time the Turkish power is confined to the vicinity of Constantinople, and no one can tell what day conditions may develop that will drive it from European soil. Many leading writers gave utterance to expressions that indicated their belief that the end of the Turkish power had come. The London Daily Telegraph said: “Over the whole of the Balkan imbroglio are written in letters of fire, ‘Too late!’” And the London Telegraph, speaking of the concert of certain European and Asiatic powers to preserve peace in the Mediterranean and Pacific countries, said: “The concert is cemented by selfish fear rather than by any lofty purpose. The powers are holding each other’s hands lest they should tear each other in pieces. They dread a greater tragedy than the Balkan war. They dread Armageddon.” No one can foretell the events of the future beyond what is revealed in the Word of God. The time when Turkey shall finally leave Europe is in the hand of God; but judging from the statements of men who speak from a wide range of experience, it would seem as if this event might take place at almost any time. The prophecies of Revelation 13 and 14 concerning the United States making an image to the beast, and enforcing the reception of the mark of the beast by the people, is a question that is now watched with great interest by Seventh-day Adventists. When our people took their stand upon this prophecy many years ago, there was not the slightest indication, judging from current events, that this country would ever reach its present condition in religious legislation. But as the years have passed, increasing interest has been taken by the professed Christian peoples of the land encouraging the enactment of laws regarding Sunday observance. Only a few years ago our people were greatly stirred by the introduction in Congress of a bill regarding the observance of the first day of the week, but at the present time there are so many bills in Congress and in the various State legislatures concerning this very thing that we almost lose sight of their significance. Could we have looked at the present situation twenty or thirty years ago as we see it today, could we have had the same evidence at that time that we see at the present, the end would have seemed very near. We are certainly rushing with tremendous rapidity to the climax of the fulfilment of Revelation 13, 14. The progress made toward church federation in America, the uniting on the leading doctrinal points of the great denominations of the day, with one intent and purpose,—to bring about religious legislation in this country,—is so manifest that students of prophecy cannot doubt that this is the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning the establishment of the image to the beast, and will result in the enforcement of the reception of the mark of the beast. Everything in nature, in heaven above and on the earth beneath, points to the end of human probation. The judgment work has now been going on in the heavenly sanctuary more than sixty-nine years, and, judging from all we know of the Word of God, this work cannot continue many years, but soon must close. The third angel’s message has encircled the world. There is scarcely a nation on earth that has not heard of this great truth, and in which there are not believers. Judging from the signs which have been given us concerning the end, and applying current events to prophecy, everything indicates that we are near the end. What God’s people need at the present time is a heart preparation for the coming of the Son of man. We are living in the last days. We have now passed the century mark in the time of the end. We are almost threescore years and ten, the allotted lifetime of man, in the investigative judgment work, and surely these things must show that we are living in the time when our Lord is about to return. The great question is, Should God’s work speedily close, are we ready for Christ’s coming? Are our hearts right with God? Are we prepared for the end? Is our personal work for God completed? As far as we are individually concerned, can God close up human history and we each say definitely, “I have finished my work”? This is what God would have us settle and settle now. This is the “time of the end.”