PREPARATION FOR THE LOUD CRY.
By Stephen N. Haskell
Much has been said and written upon that phase of our work called “the loud cry.” Those who will have a part in the loud cry of the Third Angel’s Message are learning to humble their hearts and search the word of God, in order to ascertain their duty; and their anchor is both sure and steadfast within the veil, where our High Priest pleads his own blood in the heavenly sanctuary. I saw that Satan was at work . . . to distract, deceive, and draw away God’s people, just now in this sealing time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet sliding, because they were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling.—“Early Writings,” page 36. Many are looking forward for the outpouring of the Spirit of God to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord. In “Early Writings,” page 60, is the following:— I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful, and were looking to the time of “refreshing” and the “latter rain” to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord, and to live in his sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation, therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets, and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole11truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it, and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time, the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” I saw that none could share the “refreshing” unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord, and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy, and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in his presence. Again, on page 49, we read:— What leisure time we have should be spent in searching the Bible, which is to judge us in the last day. . . . When you lie down, and when you rise up, let it be your meditation. Live and act wholly in reference to the coming of the Son of man. The sealing time is very short, and soon will be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure. We should never be content with a superficial knowledge of God’s word. We should search as for hid treasure, studying the whole Bible. The plan of salvation is revealed as much in the writings of Moses as in the writings of the apostles. Christ said, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” John 5:46, 47. Again, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:31. When the Saviour appeared to his disciples, in the evening of the day of the resurrection, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” and then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. The Holy Ghost has the same power to-day: when he comes to any of us, the first thing he will do will be to open our understanding that we may understand the Scriptures. The following appeared in the first-page article of the REVIEW a few years ago, and shows that when the loud cry of the loud cry comes, and the Spirit of God is poured out in a special manner, God’s people will not run with a few favorite texts, but that they will preach Christ from every portion of the revealed word, as Jesus did when he instructed his disciples in what was “written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning himself:” — Let every one who claims to believe the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind minds to the perils of the times in which we are now living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened as to what is truth, by the Holy Spirit, that he may know more of God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Search for truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel is already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. For it is the work of every one to whom the warning of the message has come, to lift up Jesus, to present him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples, and in the wondrous miracles wrought for the sons of men. “Search the Scriptures,” for “they are they which testify of me.” The loud cry is not simply a state of the mind, a happy flight of feeling: it is the power that attends God’s people everywhere, as they go forth to proclaim the message. In the quotation just given, we are told that in order to engage in this work, we must be thoroughly grounded in God’s word, that not simply the ministers, but “every one to whom the warning of the message has come,” is to be able to “lift up Jesus” in the five ways mentioned, — “in types,” “symbols,” “revelations of the prophets,” — as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples, and in the wondrous miracles wrought for the sons of men.” The Holy Spirit will not impart to us the knowledge of the Scriptures which God has been urging us for years to gain for ourselves; but the Spirit will bring to our remembrance what we have acquired, and give us wisdom to use this knowledge of God’s word mightily to the salvation of souls. The Spirit works through the word, and if we neglect to shape our lives in harmony with the word, and expect mighty miracles as a sign of power, we shall be deceived, and find too late that we have neglected to obtain the needed preparation. The glory of God will rest upon the patient, waiting ones, and they will fearlessly give the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon. The Third Angel’s Message will do its work. The loud cry is this message given in its fullness. It is a clear-cut message, and will separate the precious from the vile. Miracles will attend the message, but mighty miracles will not be the greatest evidence that we are in the loud cry. The greatest burden will be to proclaim the WORD with all boldness, and the signs and wonders will confirm the same. The giving of the Third Angel’s Message by God’s people will be the greatest evidence. Many will be expecting great manifestations; and as the Jews of old had their minds so set upon a Saviour after their own ideas that they did not recognize the Saviour in the humble Nazarene, but crucified him, while they were anxiously looking for the Messiah; so, many at the present day will fail to hear the multitude of voices everywhere saying, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” and will awaken to find the work has closed, while they were waiting for a display of mighty miracles.