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IS THE END NEAR?

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 20, 1876

FromThe Review and Herald, Review and Herald, Vol. 47, No. 16.

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IS THE END NEAR?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
TEXT: “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matt. 24: 33.
The end will come sometime; the Judgment will set; probation will close; Christ will return. God has promised it. We believe it. Do you? Why may it not be now? Somebody will live to see it. Why not we? Do you say that you see no signs of its coming? Have you watched for them? Have you thought upon this subject? Do you know what the signs are to be? If they should come to pass, would you recognize them? Have you studied the Bible upon this point? or have you been so intent upon other matters that you have given this subject no thought? Or, if you have thought of it, has it been with anxiety and effort to ascertain the truth? God does not force men to see and believe his truth. His promise is to those who are watching, and searching, and praying.
The popular churches can give you no light upon this subject, for they are in the dark themselves. The advent of Jesus is ignored and scoffed at by them. We warn you to be careful that that day does not come upon you unawares. In Daniel 2, God has given a prophetic outline of the history of the world under the image of a man. Commencing with Babylon, there were to be four great kingdoms, the last divided into ten parts. Then the end of the world should come. Please read that chapter. This prophecy is now all fulfilled, excepting the end, as you must know if you have examined the subject at all. The great prophecy of the 2300 years of Daniel 8:14, pointing to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, which is the work of the Judgment, also ends about this time. See Scott, Fletcher, and others upon this question.
There are ten distinct chains of prophecies in the Bible, each one pointing to the end of time and the setting up of God’s kingdom. A slight examination of these must convince any one that we are in the last link of each of them. Now notice some of the New Testament prophecies. In answer to the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24: 3, Jesus says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” Matt. 24: 14.
He does not say that all nations shall believe the gospel, be converted by it, and have a thousand years millennium before the end. No; it is simply to be preached to all nations for a witness against them. Then, not a thousand years after, shall the end come. Is this prophecy reliable? Do you believe the words of Jesus? Well, have they not been fulfilled? Do you not know that the whole world has the gospel preached to them to-day? There is not a nation who has it not. Listen to the following testimonies upon this point. The editor of the Christian Union says, “The whole world has been ransacked and explored; there is not a corner on the globe where Christianity is unknown.” The Bible has been translated into about three hundred languages. Every nation has now heard the gospel. The prophecy of Jesus is fulfilled. Will his promise now fail? No, never. Then the end is at hand.
Another fact has a strong bearing on this question. The light of God’s truth commenced in Eastern Asia, as far back as the days of Abraham. Steadily it has been making its course westward, till, like the sun, it has gone around the world. Asia had it first; next Africa stretched out her hands to God; then Greece and Italy were lighted up by the labors of Paul and his successors; soon the heart of Europe was warmed by the great Reformation, in the days of Luther and his successors; next the pure gospel under Wesley came West, not only to England, but it shone across the waters of the Atlantic, and lightened up all America. And now, quite across this continent, yea, among all the islands of the Pacific, this light is shining clearly. The end has been reached, the globe has been girdled, all nations have heard, God’s appointed time has come,—the harvest of the Lord. Come to Judgment, ye nations of earth. Your allotted race is run.
Another fact has a strong bearing upon this question. It has been the faith of the church that at the end of the six thousand years the end would come. This faith has been well founded. There is something peculiar in the number seven in the Bible. Six days of creation; the seventh, the Sabbath of rest. Six years the Jews were to till their land; the seventh it had to rest; and so in many other instances. Just so we believe that after six thousand years, the seventh will be a thousand years of rest to the earth: Jesus will come, take his saints to Heaven, destroy the wicked from the face of the earth, and then it will be entirely desolate a thousand years, and thus enjoy its Sabbath. That the six thousand years are now just closing is agreed by all. Of course no one can tell just the year of the end, but that it is not far from this time is evident. This strongly indicates that the end of the world is at hand.
As a definite sign of the end, and that the last generation has come, the Lord has foretold that the sun and moon should be darkened, and that the stars should fall. This sign is made very prominent in the Bible, every time in the same order, with the same events following. See Joel 2:10, 11, 30, 32; Joel 3:13–16; Matt. 24:29–34; Mark 13:24–30; Luke 21:25–32; Rev. 6:12–17. Please read these scriptures, as I have not space to quote them. You will find them very plain. All three of these signs have been remarkably fulfilled.
May 19, 1780, the sun was darkened according to the prophecy. Beginning to grow dark about the middle of the forenoon, it became so dark at noon that persons could not see to read without lighting their lamps. The legislature of Connecticut, being in session, had to adjourn. It was so dark that the fowls went to roost; cattle came lowing to the barn-yard; frogs began to peep, the night hawks came out, and everything bore the appearance of gloom and night. The uncommon darkness lasted fourteen hours, or till after midnight. It could not have been an eclipse of the sun, as a total eclipse lasts only about five minutes. Scientific men have never been able to give a reason for it. So remarkable was this day that Noah Webster has noticed it in his dictionary, as the “Dark Day.” See Explanatory and Pronouncing Vocabulary of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary. That night, though the moon had fulled the day before, was so dark that white paper could not be distinguished from the blackest velvet a few inches from the eyes. One writer says it was so dark that the darkness could be felt. The general impression was that it was a sign of the day of God, and that the Judgment was at hand.
Nov. 14, 1833, the stars fell. Thousands are now living who witnessed that remarkable shower. Prof. Olmstead, the celebrated astronomer of Yale College, says, “Those who were so fortunate as to witness the exhibition of shooting stars on the morning of Nov. 13, 1833, probably saw the greatest display of celestial fireworks that has ever been since the creation of the world.”
So remarkable was the falling of the stars that it is put down in books on physical geography, natural philosophy, and astronomy, as the most wonderful ever known. They fell thick and fast like snow-flakes in a heavy storm. It looked as though the very heavens were raining balls of fire. This is just what the prophecy foretold. The Lord says when you see these things, know that the end is near at hand.
Modern spiritualism is another marked sign of the end. If I had space I could quote many scriptures plainly foretelling spiritualism, as the last sign just before the end. Here is one: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief.” Rev. 16:13–15.
When is this to be? When Jesus is just about to come as a thief in the night, and when the battle of that great day of God Almighty is at hand. Then the prophet says the spirits of devils will go every where over the world, working miracles to deceive the people. To the same effect see Matt. 24:23, 27; 1 Tim. 4:1–3; 2 Thess. 2:8–12.
Spiritualism arose in 1848. In about a quarter of a century it has made 10,000,000 converts and it is spreading with wonderful rapidity. It does do miracles. It performs wonders. It claims to be the work of spirits. The Bible says it is the spirits of devils, and that it is a sign of the end at hand.
Wonderful storms by sea and land, and earthquakes, are to be another sign of the end. See Luke 21:25; Rev. 11:18, 19; Rev. 16:17–21. Every observer must be aware that the last few years have been remarkable in this very respect.
Of the frequency of earthquakes the Christian Statesman, of July 17, 1875, says, “The continued occurrence and great severity of earthquakes has distinguished the period in which we are now living above all others since the records of such phenomena began to be generally preserved.”
The New York Observer says, “There has been a perfect epidemic of sad disasters by storm and flood during the present summer.”
Look at the terrible fires, destructive floods, fearful storms of thunder and lightning, which have occurred in the last few years. These are only precursors of the wrath of God which is soon to destroy a guilty world.
Just before the end the earth was to be morally corrupt, as in the days of the flood. See Matt. 24:37; Gen. 6:5, 12. That the world is becoming fearfully corrupt is testified to on all hands.
Says the Scientific American, “It is admitted by all parties that crimes of the most outrageous and unprecedented character abound throughout the country, and probably throughout the world, to a degree wholly unparalleled.”
Testimonies like these may be read from almost any paper. Lying, cheating, forgery, stealing, adultery, murder,—these are the order of the day, and rapidly increasing. Look at the corruption of our great cities. If God overthrew Sodom for its crimes how much longer can he spare these cities?
A spirit of war, and great preparations for war was to be another sign of the end. See Rev. 11:18; Joel 3:9–15. Now look over the world. See the vast military camps. Not less than five millions of soldiers are in arms. See the wonderful preparations for war everywhere, the terrible weapons of destruction which are being formed. They are preparing for the battle of the great day.
Religiously, the professed church of Christ is in just the condition foretold in the Bible, as another sign of the end near. See 2 Tim. 3:1–5. Particularly love of money, love of pleasure, formality, etc., were to be prevalent sins among those professing godliness. This was to be the condition of things. Alas, the picture is but too truly filled up. The old simplicity and the power of God has died out of the churches. They are asleep, dreaming of a temporal millennium. Their pastors are fattening on high salaries, and feasting with the ungodly, while they are mocking at the coming of the Lord. But hark! what do I hear? All over this land, in every city, through the villages, out in the country, everywhere, is heard the solemn message of warning, “The Lord is coming; the Judgment is at hand; the day of wrath is near.” For nearly forty years this solemn cry has been sounding through the land, though hated and disbelieved by the great mass, just as Jesus said it would be. See Matt. 24:37. I repeat my text again, “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” “Can you not discern the signs of the times?”
Reader, stop; open your eyes, and give attention. Look at this subject. We warn you, if you do not, you will soon repent of it. Are you ready? Are you reconciled to God? Are you prepared to meet your Judge? In the words of the apostle we warn you, “Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” Acts 13:40, 41.