MORE THAN ANSWERED

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 2, 1901

MORE THAN ANSWERED.

The disciples of the divine teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ, had been seeking instruction from Him concerning the kingdom of God. They had learned that the Father had appointed to Him a kingdom, in which they were to share. Luke 22:29. They understood that His kingdom was to succeed all earthly kingdoms, and be established upon the ruins of such kingdoms. Dan. 2:34, 35, and Ps. 2:8, 9, were familiar pictures in their eyes. They thus learned that when Christ’s kingdom should be set up, this earth, so far as its present material condition is concerned, or at least so far as the present organization of its social and political condition is concerned, would come to an end. And they knew that this change would be marked by the appearing of Christ in glory, when the judgment would fix the succeeding condition and destiny of every man. Matt. 16:27.

The disciples naturally became intensely interested in these announcements, and wished to know the time when, and the manner in which, they would occur. They accordingly, on the first convenient opportunity, addressed to the Lord this question: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Thy coming and the end of the world! What themes to engage the attention of men! Christ, in the sense of the expression here used, has not yet come; and the world has not yet ended. These events are still before us. We have as much occasion as had those early disciples still to raise the question, What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? The question has a world-wide and age-lasting application, and should stir our minds to an interest no less intense and absorbing now than that with which it stirred the minds of the disciples then.

But such an event could not be expected to occur unheralded: it would not be expected that Christ would suddenly reveal himself to the world, considering the pomp and circumstance to attend that event, and the all-sweeping and irrevocable results to flow from it, without manifesting some token, or sending forth some precursor, to jog the memory of mankind when the event was drawing nigh. It should therefore cause no surprise to hear the question raised, When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? What will lift the veil before the eyes of an astonished world, and show when the solemn event is impending? This must be the significance of the word “sign,” in this connection.

But is it not a little singular that, on such a theme, the minds of the disciples should narrow down to such an extent as to lead them to suppose that it reached no wider extent than one question would suffice to cover, or that a single sign would answer all the requirements of the case? for their question seemed to indicate that they had in mind only a single one: “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

But Christ is broader in His answer. He not only does not reprove them for their curiosity and repress their desires to know about these things, but enters into the spirit of their investigation, and gives them a long array of evidences and instruction on points of which they did not before have any conception. Thus He encouraged them in their search for truth, and more than answered the inquiry they offered. But first He throws out a broad caution: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Then He predicts the false prophets and false Christs that would arise and mislead many. That sign will never cease, and it grows more marked as we come nearer to the end. Witness the recent manifestation of Dowieism in Chicago,—a man before multitudes of people, brazenly claiming that he is the prophet Elijah returned to this earth; and witness the foolish crowd, every one of whom is a fit subject for an asylum for imbeciles or for the insane, hailing Dowie’s announcement with acclaim, and by a formal vote of about three thousand, with only one dissenter, voting that his preposterous assumption is true. When such moves as this can be carried in this manner, it is enough to confound and daze even the disciples of Enoch, who prophesied of these raging waves of the sea, and said, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints.” Jude 13, 14.

The Saviour then refers to how the political relations of the people would be strained, resulting in wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. This, too, continues to the end, and becomes more and more aggravated as the end approaches, so that John points out, as one of the characteristics of the period when the seventh trumpet begins to sound, that the “nations were angry.” Rev. 11:18. What national jealousies, and widespread social, political, industrial, and commercial plottings are this very hour racking the nations of the earth! Nature herself sympathizes with the general condition, and plagues and pestilences break out on every hand. Even the elements feel the shuddering apprehension of coming calamity, and earthquakes in divers places record, with trembling fingers, their increasing presence. Individuals do not escape what permeates whole nations; so the apostle describes in the last days a time of peril on account of the selfishness, covetousness, blasphemy, treacherousness, fierceness, and hate among men. 2 Tim. 3:1–5. Tidal waves assault the land, cyclones seek to level the works of men, and overflowing rivers to sweep men and their dwellings into the sea. The sun and moon have been darkened; the stars have withdrawn their shining, and fallen from heaven, as waymarks on the path to the kingdom. Thus the very powers of heaven—the sun, moon, and stars—are shaken, as if shrinking at the footfalls of approaching Deity. “Take heed that no man deceive you.” “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” 2 Tim. 3:13. What is a seducer but a deceiver? Finally, says Christ, “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.

In this brief paper, we have spoken only of things which are specifically mentioned in the Scriptures as signs of the second coming of Christ, and of only a few of such events; and we have spoken of such things as are in the strong current of present history,—things appealing to our eyes and ears to-day. Have we any sign of Christ’s coming? Rather, let us ask, Is there any line of evidence where such a sign does not appear? If we look to the heaven above or to the earth beneath, the signs are there. If we look to the heavenly bodies, they are there. If we look to the movements among men, and inquire if there is any sign there, a bitter cry of distress and perplexity among the nations makes answer. Luke 21:25, 26. Do we look to the political world? Wars and rumors of wars are there, as the prophet said there would be. Do we look to the religious world? The ghostly form of godliness, without the power, greets our eyes. Do we look to the social world? Pride, extravagance, display, on the one hand, and grinding poverty on the other, checker the scene. Do we look to the industrial and commercial world? There we see men feverishly heaping treasures together for the last days (James 5:3), oppressing the laborer in his hire, and bringing about that state of things which James says shows that the Judge is standing before the door. Verses 7–9. Do we look to the prophetical world? This gospel of the kingdom has already encircled the earth, and will very soon swell to that volume which will constitute it a witness to all nations; and then the end shall come. The infallible Christ has said it.

“What shall be the sign of thy coming?” timidly asked the disciples. Did they expect such an array as He laid out before them? Evidently not; but He more than answered their question, and gave them multiplied signs and abundant instruction. Is His coming at hand? Is the end of the world near? “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:4.