p. 66 | THE PRESENT TRUTH by Dudley Marvin Canright

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Feb 22, 1877

THE PRESENT TRUTH.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

(Concluded.)

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.” Zeph. 2:1, 2. 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.” This, it will readily be seen, is an 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 when 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 had not come then. Hence, this is a last-day message. It is a 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 the men who rejected Noah’s warning fare? and 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, they said, 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 that 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 simply to have our bodies put under 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 work of God, would hear the voice of the Master, and would gladly obey it.

IV. The Scriptures teach that when Jesus appears, there will be two classes upon the earth.

One class, the saints, will be brought out by this proclamation, and will not be in darkness with regard to that event, but will be looking and waiting for him; the other class will be those who do not believe the signs, nor regard the warning, but are scoffing at these things; and upon them that day will come as a thief in the night. These facts are clearly stated by Paul, in 1 Thess. 5:1, 2: “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.”

“Yes,” replies one, “that is just what I believe. That day will come as a thief in the night. This shows that the Adventists are mistaken, thinking that they can know something about it.” Not too fast, my friend. The next verse shows that all who are overtaken by his coming as by a thief, will be destroyed: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” Verse 3. This verse gives us the class who will thus be surprised by that event, viz., those who are crying, Peace and safety. But the next verse brings to view the other class—the saints. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Verse 4.

Nothing could be plainer than this statement. One class will be overtaken as of a thief; the other class will not. Those who are thus surprised by his coming are found crying, “Peace and safety;” but what are the other class doing? This class are found in the light and watching. Watching what? The signs of the times. Here is one class preaching that the world is growing better, and will so continue to do until the whole world will be converted. They have no idea that the Lord is coming; they see no signs of it. They do not believe he is. Now, suppose that the Lord should come to-day; would it not come upon them as a thief in the night? It most certainly would; for they do not even dream that such an event is at hand. Hence they would certainly be destroyed; for this is the very class spoken of. Christ says it shall come upon them as a snare. Luke 21:35. They have got their attention on something away in the future, and are utterly blind with regard to the great and terrible events of the end of all things. The first they will know of it they will find themselves overtaken by it, and utterly unprepared for it.

2 Pet. 3:3, 4, brings out additional facts touching these two classes in the last days. “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” The time mentioned is the last days. What will come then? Scoffers. A scoffer is one who ridicules and makes sport of what somebody else is saying. But what is the subject about which they are scoffing? Their words show plainly what it is, viz., the coming of the Lord; for they sneeringly ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” This shows that another class is preaching with regard to the promise of his coming. These scoffers proceed to argue the case. Why, say they, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. This language lets us into the subject of their scoffing. They are scoffing at those who are calling attention to the signs showing the advent near, opposing them in their work and trying to meet their arguments.

This shows, 1. That in the last days one class will be found opposing and making sport of the coming of Christ. 2. That another class will be doing exactly the opposite of that, viz., preaching it and proving it. This, again, shows that there will be two opposite classes, the same as our proposition asserts. Daniel gives us some information on this. Speaking of the time of the end, the angel said to Daniel, “Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Dan. 12:9, 10. This is in harmony with the other texts showing that the wicked will not understand with regard to the end, but the wise will understand. The same fact is brought out in Matt. 24:44-51. “Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.” Verses 44-47.

This is the position of the faithful and wise servant. When the Lord comes he finds him giving the household meat in due season. We have already shown what that means, viz., to be teaching truths which are applicable at that time. Now, what would be present truth just before the Lord comes? Would it not be the signs of the times, the fulfilment of the prophecies, and a warning to the people of the approaching Judgment? Most certainly it would. The context shows that this is just what the wise servant is doing; for that is the very subject that is under consideration. This fact is further proved by what the evil servant says, whose work is just the opposite of that of the wise servant. Listen, therefore, to what the evil servant is saying. “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming;” and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Verses 48-51. By this we see that the evil servant is saying that his Lord delays his coming; that is, that the coming of Christ is not near at hand, as the other servant affirms. Now, while the evil servant is thus preaching against the coming of the Lord, and is feasting and making merry with the ungodly, the Lord suddenly comes upon him and he is destroyed. This text certainly confirms what we affirm in our proposition, viz., that there will be two classes when the Lord comes—one class faithfully teaching the people with regard to the signs of the times and the coming of the Lord; the other class opposing this work, and arguing that the Lord is not coming.

V. This warning message will last through one generation—then the Lord will come.

God does not give his warnings to those who do not need them; hence, when a warning is given, it is always to that generation which will live to see the event of which they are warned. It was so in the days of Noah, and in other cases.

God does not give his warning to one generation and let them pass off from the stage of action, and then bring his judgments on another generation. But the very generation who hear the warning will live to see the consummation of it. The signs will be given, then will come the proclamation based upon those signs. In Matt. 24, after giving the signs which should mark his second coming, Christ says, “Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” Verse 32. Yes; when we see the leaves putting forth, we all know that summer is at hand. “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Verse 33. When are we to learn this parable of the fig-tree? Answer. When we shall see all these things. This locates the time of which he is speaking, viz., when these signs have appeared. Luke gives it thus: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Chap. 21:28. When are they to look up and know their redemption is nigh? When these things begin to come to pass. Nothing could be plainer than that. See verse 31. “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Now of what time is he speaking? It seems as though the blindest might see that it is the time when these signs shall appear. He says that when these signs do appear, then we may know that his coming is near, even at the door.

The next verse tells how near. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matt. 24:34.

What generation? Not the generation he was talking to, as some have foolishly argued; but the generation he was speaking of, viz., that generation which shall see these signs come to pass. Because he says “this” generation, it does not necessarily follow that he meant the generation then living. Ps. 95:10, furnishes a similar use of the phrase, this generation. “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” The psalmist says, “This generation,” and yet he was speaking of the generation which came out of Egypt five hundred years before. See Ps. 2:7: “I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” “This day have I begotten thee,” says the psalmist. Was Christ begotten upon the day that the psalmist penned that? Certainly not. This language was quoted by Paul, and applied to Christ’s resurrection a thousand years afterward. Yet the psalmist says, “This day.” How could he properly say, “This day”? Because his mind was carried forward to the time when that event should occur, and, speaking of that time, he says, “This day,” that is, the time under consideration. So Christ, when he says, “This generation,” means the generation of which he was speaking, the one that should see the signs. In all the prophecies it is the general style of speaking to use the present tense for the future.

Now we inquire, for a moment, What has come to pass in our days? This thing has not been done in a corner. Everybody knows that for the last thirty-five years or more, there has been a class of people preaching that the Lord is coming in this generation. They have met with bitter opposition, with scoffing and ridicule, with persecution and slander, yet they have steadily gone forward and faithfully warned the world of the coming events. During the last thirty-five years, books and tracts upon these subjects have been scattered by the million, like the leaves of the forest, in every part of the world, till there is scarcely a school-district where they have not reached, or a school-boy who has not heard the proclamation; and there are to-day, scattered all through the land, not less than one hundred thousand souls who are expecting the immediate advent of Christ.

I appeal to the reader, whether this proclamation has not been extensive enough and long enough to fulfil the prophecies and condemn the world? Paul says that Noah, by his preaching, condemned the world, Heb. 11:7. But compare that a moment with this. He had no one to aid him in that work; but here are thousands engaged in this. He had no printing-presses to publish his message; now we have a score of them constantly aiding in this. He had not a tract; now, we have them by the thousands. He had not even a Bible; now, there is one in every house. He had no railroads or steamboats to facilitate his traveling; now, we can go to the ends of the world in a few days’ time. If, then, one man, without a single colporteur, without a paper, without a tract, without a Bible, by his single voice alone, condemned the millions of that generation, even the whole world, how much more will the proclamation here given condemn this generation. Suppose, for a moment, that the Lord should come in this generation; would they not be without excuse? Could they say that they had not been warned? They might say that they did not believe that the warning which they heard was from God, and that would be all that they could say. The antediluvians might have said the same, and all others who have been warned and rejected the warning.

Dear reader, we pray you to lay these things to heart, and not pass them by lightly. It may be that God is in this work after all. If you have not seen signs and evidences of the near coming of the Lord, is it because none such have appeared? or is it because you have not been watching for them? If not, give your attention to them. Do you know what are the signs of the last days? The Bible has given scores of them. Could you name a dozen? Might not many of them take place right before your eyes and you not know that they were signs of the last days, simply because you have not studied your Bible sufficiently on this point? May the Lord help you to wake up before it is too late to embrace present truth.

Look at it from our stand-point for a moment. The Lord is coming; signs are everywhere appearing; the warning is sounding through the world; a people is being gathered out, waiting for his coming; the awful events of the Judgment and the plagues of the last days are about to burst upon us; the mass of the world are asleep; a worldly church and ministry are telling them of the golden age soon to come. If these things are so, what is your duty? Is it not to regard the signs, heed the warning, and join the little band who are trying to arouse the world concerning their impending doom?

Do you say that, if we believe in Christ, we shall be saved whether we believe these things or not, granting that they are true? Do not deceive yourself so. Faith that God accepts is that which accepts the special work which God causes to be done in our day. Look at the past and learn from that. God sent Noah with a warning to that generation. Then that was their present truth. No one before that had ever been required to hear or believe that truth. Hence they thought it was of no consequence, and so rejected it. Noah was left alone to struggle on and bear the whole burden and reproach of that work. But they all perished and the event proved that Noah’s message was of God. Now all are ready to praise Noah and have great faith in his work.

But by-and-by God sends another special message and additional truth through Moses. He, too, meets most determined unbelief and bitter opposition even from the chosen people of God. They murmured at him, threatened to kill him, rebelled against his authority, etc. See Num. 16. Now ask those very men if they believed Noah’s message, and they would profess the strongest faith in Noah and his work. The reason is this: After a work is all done, the sacrifices all made, the opposers put down, the victory won, and the event has demonstrated that it was God’s work, then it is an easy matter to shout for the victorious party. It requires no sacrifice, no risk, no faith, to accept that.

So when the Lord sent Elijah, Jeremiah, or any of the prophets, the people held them in doubt, or opposed and persecuted them. Yet these same people had unbounded faith in, and devotion to, Noah, Moses, and all the prophets who had lived before their own day. And so again after these holy prophets had delivered their message and sealed it with their blood, the following generations would awake to the fact that they were God’s servants. Then they could not do enough to praise and honor them. Says Jesus: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” Matt. 23:29, 30. These prophets had been put to death by their fathers; but now when the event had proved beyond doubt that they were sent of God, these hypocritical time-servers were loud in their praises and eager to honor them. But notice, there was now no risk, no sacrifice, in doing this. They flatter themselves that if they had lived in the days of these martyrs they would have believed them and suffered with them. But see! these very men turned right around and killed God’s own Son! They had strong faith in all God’s servants and their work in the past; but when it came to their own time, they did just as all had done before them; they took the popular side, the easy side, where there was no sacrifice, no persecution. Their faith was wholly in things of the past for which others had suffered and died.

But they were blind to the all-important work of God in their own time. This they did not and would not see. They thought that their faith in the work of God in the past would save them. As to this Jesus, they did not know whence he was; and the baptism of John, they could not tell whether it was from Heaven or of men. But Moses, the prophets, etc., they believed them and that was enough. It had saved their fathers, and it was good enough for them. Here is where men deceive themselves. A man may believe all the work of God in the past, but if he rejects the special work for his own time, he will be rejected by God. Faith in the present truth, a faith which will lead a man to obey it, to give his life for it and to aid it with his means and his influence; that is a live faith, a faith that will save a man and gain him a great reward in the kingdom.

D. M. CANRIGHT.