Can We Know?

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 8, 1883

TEXT: "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5:4.

DEAR READER: We ask your candid attention to the following important scriptural propositions:—

1. The prophecies of the Bible can be understood. Is not the Holy Bible a revelation from God? Certainly. But if any part of it is not to be understood, that part cannot be a revelation. Why should God give to men a book which they cannot understand? This would be unwise and unjust. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." 2 Pet. 1: 19. Read also verses 20, 21; Deut. 29:29. But we are specially enjoined to hear and understand the book of Daniel. Jesus says, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand)." Matt. 24: 15. So of the prophecies of Revelation we read, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." Rev. 1: 3. These scriptures plainly declare that these prophecies are to be read and understood.

2. The second advent of Christ will be literal. It will not be spiritual, symbolical, figurative; or in any way mystical. He once came to this earth actually, personally, literally. He was born of a woman, he walked on our earth, breathed its air, ate of its fruit, drank of its water, died, arose, and ascended to Heaven. This same personal Jesus is really coming again. Listen to what the angels said to the apostles when Jesus ascended to 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: 11. Who is to return? This same Jesus. How? Just as he went into Heaven. Language could not be more plain or positive. John exclaims, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him." Rev. 1: 7. In harmony with this, Paul says, "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. Notice; the Lord himself is to come. It is not to be somebody else; it is not simply his Spirit, but the Lord himself. The words of Jesus upon this point are as plain as language can be expressed. "Wherefore, if they say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. 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." "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of

the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." Matt. 24:26, 27, 30. This is our faith and our hope.

3. The second advent of Christ was the constant theme of all the inspired writers. For this they looked, and watched, and hoped, and longed, and prayed. If they warned sinners, it was in view of this event; if they comforted saints, it was with this hope; if they consoled themselves, it was in view of this. "The coming of the Lord" was constantly on their lips. I have space to quote only a few scriptures. Please take your Bible and look out the rest. "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. "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 1: 7. "For our conversation is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." Phil. 3: 20. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. 3: 4. "And to wait for his Son from Heaven." 1 Thess. 1: 10. "Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Heb. 9: 28. "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." James 5: 7. See also John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Titus 2:13; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 22: 20. But what a sad change has come over the professed church of Christ! In these days, little or nothing is said about the second advent of our Lord, and those who do preach about it are despised and persecuted. Reader, why is this?

4. The apostles did not look for the coming of the Lord to take place in their day. Now we hear men everywhere say, "You can tell nothing about the coming of the Lord. He may come to-night or it may be ten thousand years hence." But this is not the way Bible writers talked. They did not teach that he would come in their day; but they did teach that after certain things had happened he would come. Thus Paul says, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." 2 Thess. 2: 1–3. By this we see that Paul knew the coming of the Lord was not near in his day. The great apostasy must first come. Peter knew that he would die before the Lord came. See 2 Pet. 1: 14. And Jesus warned them not to look for that event too soon. Matt. 24: 6. But all those things have come to pass of which Paul, and Jesus, and all the prophets spoke; hence we should now look for his coming.

5 No one knows the definite day or time of the second advent. This is so plainly declared in the Bible that it is strange that any person could believe otherwise; for thus Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only." Matt. 24: 36. Thus we believe and teach. We have no sympathy with those who set the day or year for the Lord to come. We always oppose those who do set the time. Many strive to give the impression that we are those fanatical people who are constantly setting the day for the Lord to come. But this is not so; Seventh-day Adventists have never set the time for it. We do no such thing.

6. We can know when it is near; can know when the last generation has come. To this statement we invite the careful attention of the reader. There are two extremes upon this question, both of which are entirely wrong and unscriptural. One extreme is to set the definite time for the Lord to come. This is in direct opposition to the plain word of God. The other extreme is to teach that nothing can be known about it; that it may come to-night, or that it may be ten thousand years in the future. This position is just as far from the truth as the other, and is just as squarely opposed to the Bible, as we will now show. In answer to the question, "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" Jesus said that there should be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Luke 21: 25, 26. Then he said, "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." Verses 27, 28. When they shall see these signs begin to come to pass, then they are to look up, watching for the Lord to come. After giving the parable of the fig-tree, he says, "So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Verse 31. How plain is this declaration! When they see these signs come to pass, they are to know that the kingdom is nigh at hand. Then we can know something about it, we can know when it is nigh. The next verse tells us how near we can know: "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled." Verse 32. What generation? The answer is given. That generation that sees these signs and is warned by them, shall not pass away. See verses 28–32. That is, when the last generation has come, to them the Lord will give the signs of the end. So when we see the signs, then we are to know certainly that that generation is not to pass till the Lord shall come. The same plain truth is stated in Mark 13: 29, 30; Matt. 24: 32–35.

That the righteous will not be in darkness concerning the coming of the Lord is plainly declared by the apostle. "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5: 4. And Jesus says, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Rev. 3: 3. Those who do not watch will be overtaken as by a thief; but if they do watch, will they also be thus overtaken? No, indeed; for having seen the sign of the advent near, they are expecting it and watching for it.

7. Whenever the Lord has purposed to bring judgments on the earth, he has given a warning to his people, and even to the wicked, of what is coming. This he declares in his invariable plan: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos, 3: 7. How was it in the days of the flood? The Lord did not bring the flood in a moment, without any warning; but long beforehand he revealed it to righteous Noah, in order that he might be prepared for it. Gen. 6. Then through him the Lord warned the ungodly world of what was coming, though they did not believe it. So at the overthrow of Sodom, the Lord first revealed to Abraham, his righteous servant, what he was about to do. See Gen. 18. Then he warned Lot of what was coming, that he might be prepared. Through Lot he warned the ungodly inhabitants of Sodom; but they mocked at him. Gen. 19: 14. So when the Lord determined to overthrow Nineveh, he sent his servant Jonah to warn them. Jonah 1. At the first advent of Christ, the Lord by a special providence raised up John the Baptist to go before him with a solemn message announcing his immediate coming. Matt. 3. The righteous in that generation were not only expecting him to come soon, but they knew that that generation would not pass till he did come. See the cases of Simeon and Anna. Luke 2: 25, 36. For many years, Anna had been waiting in the temple, watching for the coming of the Lord; and Simeon knew that he should not die till he saw the Lord. Numerous other similar cases might be mentioned, all teaching this one fact, that the Lord is a merciful being, not willing that any should perish; and that hence he always gives, not only his servants, but even the wicked, a fair warning of what is coming.

Is it reasonable to believe that the Lord would warn the world of such events as the flood, the fall of Sodom, the first advent, etc., and yet give no warning when the final close of all things is about to take place? Consider what a wonderful event that will be. It will be the Judgment of the great day; it will be the coming of Christ with all the glory of the Father, and the millions of angels. The dead who have slept for thousands of years will be raised. It will be the end of probation, the closing up of all human history. Everything on this earth will come to an end, and God's controversy with man will close.

Reader, do you think that such solemn and awful events as these will transpire without one breath of warning either to saint or sinner? No. The Lord declares that he will give a solemn warning to all the world when the Judgment is at hand. Rev. 14: 6–16. I beseech you to stop and think of this matter. If these things are so, it is all-important that you should not be deceived about it. If they are not so, it will not harm you to investigate the matter. Are you willing to learn the truth, or do you choose to remain in darkness?

When John the Baptist warned the Jews of the near coming of the Messiah, they fortified themselves with the thought that they, the children of Abraham, did not need so stern admonitions. But he replied: "Think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father." The ax was being laid to the root of the tree; everything must stand the test of the coming change. And thus we urge upon you now. Do not say we are Christians; we have made our peace with God; we need not be stirred in view of the Lord's coming. Noah was approved as righteous before the flood, but the event was extraordinary, and something more than ordinary was required to meet it. He was commanded to build an ark, and his righteousness would not have saved him if he had refused or neglected to do this. And God has revealed to us that we may know when the advent is near, not to gratify our curiosity, but because it brings the close of probation, the final decision of the destiny of all. His word points out special dangers in the last days, and a special work of preparation is required to meet all these things. Do not turn away from the warnings lest that day overtake you as a thief.