The Time of Trouble, such as never Was.
By W. H. Blaisdell
EARTH has long groaned beneath the curse. Individuals, communities, and nations, have felt its effects. All have witnessed, to some degree, the terrible result of sin; but how little do we realize that the grand climax and consummation of all earth's sorrows and woes are yet future! In all the past can be found no parallel to that which the future has in store, and which must be witnessed by this present generation. We have experienced feelings of deepest sorrow. We have witnessed scenes of sadness, sickness, and death; we have heard of the cholera plague sweeping through the land, and cutting down its victims by thousands; we have heard of the terrible fevers and diseases peculiar to the tropical countries; we have heard of diseases and pestilences of different forms, and in different localities, such as to call forth our deepest sympathies for the sufferers; we have heard of the famine causing such an immense amount of suffering; we have read of wars with all their horrors, sufferings, and heart-rending cruelties; and of the tornado, the tidal wave, the mighty earthquake, all carrying death, destruction, and suffering in their course; we have learned of the terrible judgments God has visited upon nations and cities for their wickedness; but the time of trouble which awaits this generation far exceeds them all. It is to be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. During the past, God has looked on with a pitying eye, and regarded the sufferers with some degree of mercy; but those who reject the timely warnings of the last message of mercy, must drink of the wine of God's wrath poured out without mixture. What are the troubles of the past compared with those of the future! There will then be none to stand between a just God and a guilty race of rebels. The Saviour, who has done so much to redeem fallen man will have ceased his intercessions; and the travail of the church for its perishing fellow-men will be ended, and the voice of mercy hushed forever. The seven last plagues will be poured on the unsheltered heads of the wicked; and the haughty ones, the parents and children, the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, and the mighty men, who have disregarded the last call of mercy, shall reap the reward of their own folly. Every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place; and the slain of the Lord will be from one end of the earth even unto the other, and will not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried. How precious the promise to those who have heeded the warning: “No plague shall come nigh thy dwelling.” May the Lord help us to more fully realize the close proximity of this time of trouble and to make the necessary preparation, that we may be sheltered in that day.