The Important Doctrine.
By Chas. A. Russell
WHILE reading the article from Bro. Butler, in REVIEW No. 21, entitled “Importance of the Advent Doctrine,” I was impressed with the truth of the positions taken. It is commonly remarked that a person will show by his actions what his faith is, and of course he will not act in accordance with what he does not believe. Now if the Lord is coming in our day, it seems to me that those who do not believe or realize it, give Satan great advantage over them, as he is well aware of the facts in the case, and is working with increased power to prevent as many as possible from overcoming, that he may not suffer for their sins. And it seems to me that in this time of moral darkness, the only thing that will stimulate us to sufficient action to overcome, is a realizing sense of the shortness of time and of our true condition. I believe that if the positions of our people are worthy of any confidence; they are worthy of all confidence, especially must this be true in regard to the manifestation of the Spirit of prophecy. It is certain that the Testimonies are what they purport to be, or else from the enemy; and if they are not from the Lord, then we are truly the most deluded, and most to be pitied, class of people that ever existed. I must take one position or the other; for I do not believe the Lord will carry forward a certain work and claim it as his, while part of it is from another source. The evidence of our whereabouts in the history of this world is clearly marked out in the word of God. As Bro. Butler has shown, we know that the coming of the Son of Man is near, even at the door; and those who receive the Testimonies as dictated by the same Spirit, have additional evidence of the nearness of that glorious event. I feel like taking a decided position; for it has been my past experience, that just in proportion as I have realized the nearness of these things, I have made advancement in the work of getting ready to meet them, and have found that my faith and hope were proportionally increasing. While bending over the dying couch of my only child on the ninth of September last, a bright lovely little boy, four years and a half old, the consolation afforded by the hope of the soon coming of Jesus, was worth more to me than all the wealth of earth. I feel that my main business shall be to get ready for that glorious day.