p. 117 | The End at Hand by G. W. A.

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 26, 1872

The End at Hand.

By G. W. A.

IN a stirring little tract, “The End at Hand,” based upon these words of Christ, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come,” are the following paragraphs, relating to the wide diffusion of the advent sentiment. G. W. A.

“Surely God has surrounded this last message of gospel truth with many divinely appointed tests, and scriptural proofs of its heavenly origin and final triumphant fulfillment. It has made its circuit around the earth, witnessing to all nations, by incontrovertible proof, that their time to rule this world is nearly ended, and that a Prince of heavenly birth is about to take the universal throne and reign in righteousness forever.

“The people of Europe, Africa, and America, have heard the assuring utterances that the end is at hand. The Orientals, far toward the sun-rising, Chinamen, and Japanese, have heard the startling sound of coming judgment.

“Its Heaven-commissioned messengers, pale with a sense of awful responsibility, have tremblingly gone forth from the shepherd’s fold, the blacksmith’s anvil, the statesman’s hall, and the theologian’s sanctum, unitedly to proclaim, in the name of the carpenter’s son, a speedy change of earth and earthly scenes. Then Armageddon’s battling legions shall sink beneath war’s last reddened wave, and death’s charnel-house open, as the sainted hosts come forth, clad in royal robes of heavenly splendor.

“Its sweet tones of promise, and thundering notes of warning, have mingled, as they rolled through palace and temple, over snow-capped mountains and sunny plains, amid palm branches and olive groves, warning alike kings and slaves, thrilling the heart of this generation with glorious hope and terrible fear. It bears the seal of Heaven’s court, stamping the impress of divine assurance upon every righteous forehead.

“O swift-winged angel, carrying the last message of mercy ‘to every nation and kindred,’ still mercifully hover over us, and send forth the mighty truth, ‘The hour of his Judgment is come!’”