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The Present Truth

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 10, 1873

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 41, No. 26.

Read the full edition

The Present Truth.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

(Continued.)
1. The Judgment, the Second Advent of Christ, the Resurrection, and the End of the World, are events which the Scriptures teach will come to pass at some Time.
We are not now concerned as to when they will come to pass, but simply with the fact that these events will transpire sometime. Nothing in the Bible, it seems to me, is more plainly revealed and emphatically stated, than these facts, and I presume that most of my readers will agree with us on this point. They believe in the literal second advent and resurrection of the dead the same as we do. There is no controversy, then, on this point. However, we will give a few texts out of the scores bearing upon these events.
The Judgment. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17: 31. “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the Judgment of the great day.” Jude 6. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20: 11, 12.
The Second Advent. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16: 27. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 27. “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 9–11. “For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thess. 4: 16.
The Resurrection. “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5: 28, 29.
The End of the World. “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13: 38–42.
Language could not be more explicit than this on these great and awful events. Yes, says our opponents, we agree that they will come sometime, but as to when they will come, we know nothing. Christ may come to-night, or next week, or it may be a thousand years before he comes; we cannot tell. If we are only prepared to die, that is all that it need concern us, let it come when it will.
No doubt the objector thinks that this is sound reasoning, and according to Scripture; but look a little farther. We often hear these men who declare that the Lord may come to-night, declare that the world must be converted, and that there must be a millennium of a thousand years before Christ comes. Then they go on to argue that the Jews must be converted and return to Palestine, first; that this, that, and the other, prophecy has not been fulfilled yet; and still the Lord may come to-night! How they can have the world converted, and a thousand years millennium, in one night, and the Lord come at the same time, I never could see! And yet they stoutly argue both. The Jews must be converted and return to Palestine, before the Lord comes, and yet he may come to-night! Many other prophecies have not been fulfilled, and yet the Lord may come to-night! They certainly cannot believe both positions. And farther: In saying this, they assume that the coming of the Lord will take place without any signs being given to mark his coming—without any warning to the world, and without his people knowing anything concerning it. They virtually assume that everything will go right on just as it always has, without any sign or warning, and the first that any one knows, either saint or sinner, the trumpet will sound like a peal of thunder out of a clear sky at noon-day. To show the unsoundness of this, I will make a second proposition:—
2. There will be signs given preceding these events, to mark their coming. I might give scores of texts on this point, naming the different signs which shall transpire shortly before the advent. I will content myself with quoting two or three which directly assert that there shall be signs. “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24: 3. The disciples inquire directly, What shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? If there were to be no signs, Christ would have simply said, Children, do not trouble yourselves on that point; there will be no signs given of these events. But instead of answering them thus, he does proceed to give them a whole chapter of signs on the very point they had asked. Luke briefly sums up his answer thus: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 25–28.
Here Jesus says that there shall be signs in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, in the earth, &c. So in verse 11, he says, “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” And thus Joel says: “And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.” Acts 2: 19, 20. We take it that these texts settle the fact that the Lord will give signs to mark his second coming. God has said that, at the proper time, he will hang out signs in very conspicuous places indeed, viz., in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, and upon the earth. And when God shall do this, what will it be for? Will it not be to call the attention of his people and the world to the very event which these signs indicate? Most certainly. This fact alone shows that God will have men know something with regard to it, else why give the signs? And when God shall do this, will it be immaterial whether men heed these signs, or disregard them? whether they believe them, or scoff at them? whether they note them, or pass them by as not worthy of their attention? whether they accept them as the fulfillment of God’s word, or deny them to be such? Think of this point a moment. Did not Christ rebuke the men of his time for not discerning the signs of the times? Matt. 16: 3. And if men should pay no more attention to the signs of the times now, than they did then, will they not receive just as severe a rebuke from the Lord as they did then? Certainly, they will. Be careful, my friend, there may be more importance to this subject than you have thought.
To show the importance of this, I will make a third proposition:—
3. A warning message will be given to the world, immediately preceding the coming of Christ. This is an important proposition, and if it be true, it shows the importance of engaging in such a proclamation. Here, again, we might give a great many texts on this point, but have room for only a few. Let us first reason a moment. God is merciful, long-suffering, not willing that any should perish; hence, he always warns the wicked of coming judgments, in sufficient time for them to repent and escape them, if they will. He loves his people, and does nothing without revealing it to them. Did God warn the world in the days of Noah? He did. So, then, he will here. Christ says, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 37. Did God warn the Sodomites? Did he warn the men of Nineveh? Did John the Baptist give a warning message before the first advent? Did Jesus warn them of the fall of Jerusalem? How much more reasonable, then, that there should be a warning here. Did the righteous know when the flood was to come? when Sodom was to fall? when the Jews were to come out of Egypt? when Nineveh was to be overthrown? when Christ was to come the first time? Then will they know with regard to his second advent. Nothing is more reasonable and just than this conclusion. But let us hear the word of the Lord.
“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.” Joel 2: 1. What is the day of the Lord? It is when the Lord comes, as will be seen by the following texts: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Pet. 3: 10. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1 Thess. 4: 16–18; 5: 1, 2. This shows that the day of the Lord is when he comes, the dead are raised, the living changed, &c. This is the time of which the prophet speaks. He says, “For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” This fact is further confirmed by the language of verses 10, 11. “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Having shown what the subject is, now look at the prophecy: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion.” This was always done to warn the people of some important event. “Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble.” This shows that it is some awful event that is just pending. What is it? When is this warning to be given, this alarm to be sounded? “For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Then when the day of the Lord is drawing near, is even nigh at hand, then is the time that this prophecy must be fulfilled. Will not God see that it is fulfilled? He certainly will, if he has to raise up men from the very stones to do it; and when it is thus fulfilled, what will the world hear? They will hear the blowing of the trumpet, and sounding of the alarm, here predicted.
Compare this with Isaiah 40: 3: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Here was a prophecy given 700 years before Christ. Age after age rolled on and no one came up to fulfill it. By-and-by, in the wilderness of Judea, is heard the voice of a humble man proclaiming this very message. The proper time had come.
God, who very jealously guards the fulfillment of his word, raised up a man to accomplish it. So it must be with regard to this prophecy relating to the end. When the day of the Lord is nigh at hand, God will lay the burden of his work upon some who will blow the trumpet and sound the alarm. All the powers of darkness cannot prevent it.
Take another text. “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Zeph. 1: 14. Thus he goes on describing the terrors of that day, and then says: “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.” Chap. 2: 1–3. This shows that in connection with that great day of God’s wrath there will be a gathering message to prepare the people to stand in that awful time of trouble. Once more: “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.” Rev. 14: 6, 7. Here is another prophecy. It is in your Bible the same as in mine. God put it there. He worded it just right. He will see that it is fulfilled at the proper time. God’s word cannot fail. This message will be accomplished. When it is fulfilled what will the world hear? Just the message here given, “Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come.” Thus, it will readily be seen, is an announcement that the time for God’s Judgment to set has arrived, and this announcement is made to every nation, tongue, and people; hence, it is a world-wide message. Now such a message as this could be true only in the last generation, because that is the time that the Judgment will occur. It would not have been true if given a thousand years ago, or five hundred years ago; for the hour of God’s Judgment did not come then. Hence, this is a last-day message. It is positive proof that, immediately preceding that event, God will cause a solemn warning to be given to the world concerning it. When the proper time shall come, and the signs shall appear, and God shall cause this message to be heralded to the world, will it be a matter of no account whether men heed that warning or not? Can men disregard it with impunity? Can they mock at it, and denounce it as the work of the devil, and still enjoy the blessing of God? Can they please God by simply passing it by unnoticed? How did it fare with the men who rejected Noah’s warning? with those who did not believe the words of John the Baptist, and other similar messages? And will not those fare the same who shall reject this when God shall cause it to be given?
We are not now arguing as to whether this message is now being given; that is not the point. But we are endeavoring to show that such a message must certainly be given, whenever the proper time comes, immediately preceding the second advent. Let me call attention again to that oft-repeated assertion, that if we are only prepared to die, we are prepared for the coming of the Lord; and, hence, even though the Lord is coming soon, and there are signs which show it, and the warning is being given concerning it, yet it does not matter if we do not heed them, provided our hearts are only right. This, I firmly believe, is a subterfuge gotten up to lull men to sleep and to close their eyes to the truth.
To show the fallacy of this statement, look at it in the light of other similar events. Suppose the men who heard Noah preach had reasoned that way. Perhaps the flood is coming, said they, and perhaps it is not, we do not know; and it don’t make any difference any way; if our hearts are only right, let it come. What would have been the consequences? They would have perished in the flood just as they did. Suppose that Noah himself had reasoned that way; who would have built the ark? who would have warned the world? Would not God have rejected him, and let him perish with the ungodly, while he raised up somebody else to do that work? Suppose Lot had reasoned thus when he heard of the threatened destruction of Sodom. Suppose, again, that the men who heard John the Baptist had argued thus: He says that the Messiah is soon to come and he is his forerunner; may be it is so, and may be it is not. We cannot tell. What matter is it to us? When we see him it will be time enough to believe on him. What good will it do us to simply have our bodies put under the water? if we only love God and obey him, we shall be safe enough, whether the Messiah comes or not. Could they thus reject God’s work and God’s message with impunity? No, the fact is, God never causes any warning to be given unless it is needed. And when he does this, it cannot be ignored, nor rejected with impunity. Those who reject it thereby give evidence that they do not really love God, nor his truth, and they are not walking in the light. If they were, they would discern the word of God, would hear the voice of the Master, and would gladly obey it.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
(To be Continued.)