p. 697 | The Loud Cry by Uriah Smith

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 19, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 44.

The Loud Cry.

By Uriah Smith

IN the prophecy of the message of the third angel, Rev. 14: 9-12, it is said that it is proclaimed with a loud voice. In accordance with this prediction, all believers in the present fulfillment of this message have looked forward with expectation to the time when the message would be given in this manner, or, as it is generally expressed, "Would go with a loud cry." We inquire what this loud cry is to be, or what will be a fulfillment of it.

The angel is not a literal angel, and we are not to suppose that we shall hear a literal voice sounding through the land, giving the warning of this proclamation. It is to be simply the truth making its way to all parts of the earth, affecting the hearts of men, calling attention to this subject, creating a demand for publications, and bringing many to take their stand upon the truth here uttered.

And all this may be done, and yet many people know scarcely anything about it; or, at least, not recognize in it the great work of the fulfillment of the last prophecy. The prophet speaks of a class of people who are like the heath in the desert, and do not know when good cometh. Paul speaks of a work which the Lord will accomplish in the earth, which men will behold with wonder, but will not believe, and so will perish; and Christ says of John the Baptist, that although he came in the spirit and power of Elias, the people knew him not. So have we need to be very careful lest we fail to appreciate the work of God, and this message be fulfilled before our eyes, and we know it not.

Thirty-five years ago this cause was in its infancy. Two rented office rooms and a hand press were about all the visible means then in existence for carrying on this work; yet the theory of what we denominate the "present truth" was defined with considerable distinctness, and the future loud cry of the message was frequently talked of.

The condition of the work at the present time, compared to what it was then, presents a very suggestive contrast. Suppose some one had then asked us, What will you think when the message has so far progressed that a central office occupying over 30,000 square feet of floor space, and fully equipped for binding, electrotyping, stereotyping, and every branch of the printing business, will be needed to carry on the work of publication, and will be owned by this people, with nine power presses striking off sheets by the hundreds of thousands; when Conferences will be organized in twenty-five different States of this Union, and three in foreign countries; when three flourishing institutions of learning will be established, with from five hundred to seven hundred students in attendance, a large proportion of them preparing for direct labor in the cause; when a Sanitarium with accommodations for some 500 guests, calling thousands of persons every year within the sound of present truth, will be in successful operation; when an office will be established on the Pacific Coast, as fully equipped as the central office; when an office will be established in Switzerland, another in Norway, and another in England, publishing the truth to the millions in Europe; when papers will be published in Danish, Swedish, and German in this country, and in English, Danish, German, French, Italian, and Roumanian in the Old World; when Sabbath-keepers will be found in every State of this Union, and most of the countries of Europe; when tract and missionary societies will be organized in all the above-named Conferences, and will circulate some ten millions of pages of books, pamphlets, and tracts yearly; and when from the central office alone publications will go forth to the amount sometimes of a ton a day, for days in succession—what will be your ideas then of the progress of this cause? How will that compare with your ideas of the loud cry of the message?

Any one then would have been ready to answer, That will never be. The message will never reach such a degree of strength as to accomplish all this. Yet we see all this accomplished before our eyes today. Do we appreciate it, and understand its significance?

As this work has grown upon our hands, we have been led to larger views, and we see a still greater work to be wrought by this message in the near future; but, as we have said, all this may be going on in the land, and people be comparatively ignorant of it, and fail to understand its meaning. If they do without the Review, if they fail to acquaint themselves from week to week with what is being done in the land, and do not learn what progress the truth is making, nor inform themselves in regard to the manifestations of the power of God, they will not realize the magnitude of the work,—they cannot enter into its spirit, their interest will wane away, and they will not be prepared for the refreshing which is to come upon the faithful laborers in the cause as the message closes. This is the thought to which we wish to call the especial attention of the reader.

There is no going backward to this work. There is no limitation to the power of God's Spirit. The first message went with a loud voice; and probably, so far as the issuing of publications is concerned, as much is already being done under this message as was done under the first. So while we look for a more mighty work yet to be done, its fulfillment may be nearer than we suppose. A short work will the Lord make upon the earth. He will cut it short in righteousness.

Let us understand what he is doing, and prepare for the glorious issue just before us.—U. S., in Review and Herald.