God’s Judgment | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 11, 1873

God’s Judgment.

Rev. John S. Davenport preached in St. James Hall on “The Judgment of God, coming upon Christian Nations.” His text was Luke 17: 26, 27, 28:—

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot:” &c.

These words were spoken by our Saviour Jesus Christ in reference to events that would occur at the time of his second advent. The reference to Noah and to Lot implies that that great event will be preceded by severe and terrible judgments coming upon the world. The days of Noah were the days of the flood, which destroyed the world of the ungodly. The days of Lot were the time of the destruction of Sodom, and the cities of the plain, by an overflowing of fire and brimstone. These instances indicate the approach of a great catastrophe coming upon human society. This catastrophe is in the nature of a judgment, but it also shows that men will no more be prepared for it than they were for those destructive events.

These predictions of evil become more exact in the words of the Lord himself in the 24th chapter of Matthew, and they are still more fully exhibited in the book of Revelation, the visions of which are a foreshadowing of what is to occur at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Special reference may be made to chapters 8 and 9; also to chapters 16 and 18, in the latter of which the fall of Babylon is set forth.

It is very certain that these prophecies relate to events which are to occur in the course of human history, and which are yet future, and that they are destined to have a practical effect upon us. Although it is a painful fact that the majority of men, even those who profess and call themselves Christians, will not receive the heart and literal truth of these sayings.

The coming of the Son of man is an event attended both with salvation and judgment. It is the introduction of a number of things, and must, of necessity, involve great and important changes and the removal of all things that hinder its progress.

But why should Christendom be visited with judgment? Because she has departed from God. The Christian nations have hitherto stood in very close relations to God and to his church, but they have long since ceased to recognize their obligations, and the laws the world over are not such as God approves, and a new state of things has grown up which stand in the way of the fulfillment of God’s purposes to bring in the kingdom of his Son, and it must be done away.

Christendom is in revolt against God and his authority. In the matter of legislation, in intellectual pursuits, and in all these ways, the opposition of man to God is apparent. Ample illustrations of these facts are found in the corruptions that prevail among ourselves. There is no remedy for this. The salt has lost its savor, and the evil must go on till it issues in judgment.

We already see signs and tokens of what is to come, in what is now going forward, especially seen in the present condition of the church; the fall of the papacy from its position as a temporal power, the confusion that exists among all the nations of Europe, and the calamities by fire in our own land, should be regarded as directing our thoughts in the same direction. The speaker referred especially to the wide-spread influence of materialism and the doctrine of annihilation as a strong delusion, which was the most effective of any delusion to destroy piety and render religion impossible. As in former ages there has always been a remnant who have not been involved in the corruption of the times, so it is now, and God says to such, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” And our Lord says, “Pray always, that ye may be counted worthy to escape the things that are coming on the earth, and to stand before the Son of man.”—Buffalo Express.