PRESENT TRUTH AND PRESENT CONFLICTS:
By James White
Or, the Duties and Dangers of Our Time. SEVENTH-DAY Adventists are not timeists, in the sense of looking forward to some definite period for the second advent of Christ. They hold that all Scripture is profitable, and that the great periods of Daniel and John have served an important purpose in the plan of God. These periods constitute an important link in the harmonious chain. They are a part of that beautiful system of truth which has an especial bearing upon our time. These great periods have terminated, and we are brought to the waiting, watching time. There is, probably, no other text in all the Bible that so well expresses our position and duty in few words as Mark 13: 33: “Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.” But the position of suspense is an unhappy one. Those who wait the return of their Lord in uncertainty as to the definite period of his second advent, are in great danger of becoming restless and impatient. Hence the application of certain texts to this time, and to the people who are waiting for their Lord. “Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Heb. 10: 36. “Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5: 8. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. In such a position, how natural the oft-repeated inquiry, “How long before the Lord will come?” But no definite answer can be given to the inquiry. And it is best that this question cannot be definitely answered. Throughout this entire period of the patience of the saints, the only safe position is to keep the coming of Christ ever before us, and regulate all our acts in full view of the terrible realities of the Judgment. To put off the coming of the Lord, and view that event in the distance, and enter into the spirit of the world, would be dangerous in the extreme. It is true that there are prophecies to be fulfilled just prior to the coming of the Lord; but their fulfillment is of such a nature that it can be realized in a short time. Unbelief may suggest that as the time has continued longer than the waiting ones expected, it may still continue many years. But saving faith takes the safe position, and views the event at the door. This fact should ever be borne in mind, that while we have no means of showing that the Lord will come at an immediate, definite point, no one can prove that he may not very soon come. And while it cannot be proved that the Lord will not very soon come, attention is called to the following facts which show that the second advent cannot be a distant event: 1. The three messages of Rev. 14 constitute a solemn warning to the world to prepare for the coming of Christ. The closing division of this great warning is a test to the world, and ripens the harvest of the earth. Those who receive the warning and prepare for the coming of the Lord, are ripened by it for immortality. Those who reject it, are ripened for the day of slaughter. 2. The warning given by Noah, the manner his message was treated, and the wrath of God in a flood of waters, illustrate the closing events of the present state of things. “As the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” God did not call this preacher of righteousness to warn next to the last generation before the flood, but the very last. The very generation which drank the waters of the flood, saw Noah build the ark, and heard his warning voice. How absurd the supposition that Noah built the ark and gave his warning message in the time of next to the last generation, so that those who heard his message, and saw his work, passed into the grave, and the ark went to decay, and their children came upon the stage of action to witness, unwarned, the terrors of the flood! 3. The last great warning was to be given to the last generation of men. The very ones who hear it, receive it, obey it, and are waiting for the Lord, will exclaim, as the Son of Man shall return with his angels down the blazing vault of heaven, “Lo! this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us.” And the very men who reject the warning, and justly merit the wrath of God, will also witness the second advent in flaming fire, with terror and anguish. This warning is not given to next to the last generation, but to the very last. Then, as certain as the great warning, illustrated by the three messages of Rev. 14, has been and is being given in our day, just so certain the generation that has heard the warning will witness the day of wrath, and the revelation of the Son of God from Heaven. One of two things is certain; either Seventh-day Adventists are wrong in the application of the messages, or Christ is very soon coming. If they are correct in their application of the great warning, then the very men who hear it will witness its terrible realities. “Verily I say unto you,” says Christ, “this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matt. 24: 34, 35. We do not believe that the word generation marks any definite number of years. The Lord designed to teach that the people who should live after the fulfillment of the last sign mentioned, (falling stars of 1833,) and should hear the proclamation of the coming of Christ, based upon the open prophecies of Daniel and John, and the fulfilled signs, should witness the scenes connected with his coming. God has raised up men to give the solemn warning to the world at the right time. The signs were fulfilled at the right time to give force to the warning. And the very generation of men that live after the three great signs are fulfilled, and who hear and reject the warning message, will drink the unmingled cup of the wrath of God. And those of this very generation who receive the message, suffer disappointment and endure the trials of the waiting position, will witness the coming of Christ, and exclaim, “Lo! this is our God, we have waited for him.” If watchful, and faithful to duty, we shall very soon enter the harbor of eternal rest. We should keep a good look-out, and not be deceived and overcome by the world, the flesh, and the devil. True faith forbids our looking into the future, and laying plans for the benefit of the next generation. It shuts us up to the present. But it is to be feared that those who are employing their physical and mental forces to accumulate wealth for their children, while they are neglecting their duty to the cause of present truth, and do not give themselves and families time to seek and serve God, are making a terrible mistake. They not only fail to help the cause, fail to walk with God, and fail to exert the best influence in their own families; but their influence, in professing so solemn and definite a position as that the present is the period for the third and last solemn warning, while in works they deny their faith, is decidedly against the cause. The world exhibits madness in grasping for wealth. A spirit of insanity has taken hold of men upon the subject of worldly gain. And many who profess present truth are more or less imbued with the same spirit. With those who do not fear God and keep his commandments, and are not looking for the soon coming of his Son, this is what might be expected. But with Seventh-day Adventists there is no excuse. With them it is insanity and madness. Why should they accumulate wealth for their children? Should the Lord remain away a thousand years, wealth handed down to them would be their almost-certain ruin. Look to the history of truly good and great men. Have they sprung up amid wealth? or have they come from families trained in the school of poverty and want? Read the history of the early life of Martin Luther, the great theologian and reformer, and that of Abraham Lincoln, the worthy statesman. Both were poor boys. But they both became great men, by facing want, grappling with poverty, and overcoming those obstacles ever lying in the path of want. Such a struggle in early life gave them experience, and was the safeguard of their purity. While the names of these good men are embalmed in the memory and affection of the people, those of hundreds, who received riches from their parents, have been forgotten, because money was in the way of their doing what they should have done, and being what they might have been. Setting aside the coming of the Lord, there is no more certain ruin to the children than for them to look to, and lean upon, their parents’ wealth. But what can be said of the influence of those parents who profess to believe that the last great warning to the world is being given, yet devote their entire energies to the accumulation of wealth for their children? What can be the influence upon their children? Is it not to lead them to love this world? to put off the coming of the Lord? to neglect the necessary preparation? Are not these parents taking a course directly to shut their children out of the kingdom of Heaven? And is there any hope of the salvation of either parents or children while pursuing such an inconsistent course? Without the faith of the soon coming of the Lord, they are pursuing a course to secure their ruin; with this faith, while taking a course to deny it in works, they are making that ruin certain. Our preachers should set the example in these things, or cease to preach the message. What an example to the flock, for a preacher of the last message, who has lost the strength of his manhood, to divide his property among his children, and then look to the treasury of the church to sustain him, they receiving in return the feeble labors of his time-worn energies! The aged minister who will do this, goes far, to say the least, in disqualifying himself to labor for others. If his children are able to earn a livelihood, how much more in harmony with the spirit of sacrifice which should be in the hearts of all the people of the Lord, for him to use his means for his own support, while he gives the feeble remnant of his life to the cause of God. Those ministers among us whose labors at best are feeble, and who divide their property largely with their worldly children, should touch the general treasury very lightly. They set a poor example to wealthy brethren, when they divide their property to their children, and then, for their labors in the cause, which apparently amount to next to nothing, are ready to receive a support from the general treasury. When all our preachers take a proper course in these things, then we can better appeal to wealthy brethren upon the subject. Of course we do not claim the right to dictate in these matters. But we feel it our duty to warn our people against making mistakes in the appropriation of their means. And we hope to touch this sensitive subject in a manner that will not give offense to any. We have two sons that are very dear to us. We have means to put into the cause, simply because we do not give it to our children. It will be the best for them in the end, to learn the value of property by earning it, rather than to receive it from their parents. During the past two years we have put fifteen-hundred dollars into the different branches of the cause, while at the same time we have not given our married son, who has gone from us, two hundred dollars. But we often meet with aged brethren, who in the division of their property, by will, or otherwise, give a thousand dollars, more or less, to each of their children, who already own a handsome property, and give only a very few hundreds, if anything, to the cause of God. This appears to us most inconsistent. We cannot view it otherwise than an unfaithful appropriation of their Lord’s money. In regard to wills, we would here state that we have two legally organized institutions, the Seventh-day Adventist189Publishing Association, and the Health Reform Institute, which should receive the benefits of legacies from our people. These are both charitable institutions, and in their very nature and work, calculated to accomplish great good. We have space for only the following brief statements: 1. The law in reference to wills, differs somewhat in the different States, so that those who make wills had better obtain legal advice. Many wills are in some respects illegal and worthless. 2. Those who will property to our institutions, should will it direct, so that on the death of the testator the legacy may fall into the hands of our institutions. For example, a man who has five thousand dollars, wishes to make his wife secure, and still wishes to help our institutions. What shall he do? Shall he will this amount to his wife for her use during her lifetime, and, at her decease, to go to our institutions? No; not unless he thinks her support should be secured by that amount. But if a certain portion of the five thousand be sufficient, then let her have that portion in the will, as long as she may live, and let our institutions have the balance come direct to them, if that be the deliberate wish of the testator. 3. It may be highly proper that aged and feeble persons, who have but a limited amount of property, should make wills, and hold a certain amount of property in their hands as security of their support as long as they may live, and then, at their decease, to pass to charitable and religious objects. But we recommend to all those who really believe the positions of Seventh-day Adventists, who have means that they can spare without embarrassment, to appropriate that means now when it is needed, and while they are alive to see to the appropriation of it. One hundred dollars, ten years since, when friends were few, and means limited, were worth as much to the cause as one thousand dollars now. And if we may judge of the future by the past, should the work continue five years, one hundred dollars now, would then be worth only twenty dollars to the cause. If we are correct in this calculation, it is a sad mistake to hold on to surplus property now, with the idea of using it by-and-by for the cause. Brethren and sisters, beware of this device of Satan to keep means from the cause of truth.