p. 774 | The End Approaching by W.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 23, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 49.

The End Approaching.

By W.

"AND this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14. This language occurs in the discourse which the Saviour delivered in answer to the question: "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" The entire chapter in which these words occur is an answer to this question. The question as to whether or not the Lord will come again is not mooted. There was no uncertainty in the minds of the disciples on this point. They very well knew that the Lord would come to reign over his people; all that troubled them was to know the signs which should precede his coming. These the Saviour proceeded to give. Besides the physical signs in the sun, moon, and stars, which have all been fulfilled, he gave the one which heads this paragraph, and which is now in process of fulfillment.

What is "this gospel of the kingdom"? It is that which our Saviour preached in all his earthly ministry. Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:14. "Gospel" means "good news." The gospel which is to be preached "in all the world," "to all people," is the good news of a Saviour, "which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10, 11. A Saviour must save people from something, and so we find that Jesus saves his people from their sins. Matt. 1:21. But the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:5, 6), resulting in death (Rom. 6:23), is visited upon all sin; so that the salvation of people from sin must also be salvation from the wrath of God, and so it is. Rom. 5:9. Being saved from sin may be equivalent to being justified by faith, but being saved from wrath is the final and complete salvation from sin and all its consequences. And this is the salvation of which Isaiah speaks when he says that "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation." Isa. 45:17. It is that salvation which the apostle Peter says shall be brought unto us "at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:9-13.

This final salvation is the end or object of our faith. 1 Peter 1:9. People may talk as much as they please about doing right for its own sake, but the fact remains that if there were to be no future life there would be no incentive to right living. Paul says that "if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19), and in harmony with this he continues that if there is no resurrection we would do well to eat and drink, and get all the enjoyment we can from this life while it is passing. 1 Cor. 15:32. What comfort would it be to a sinner to assure him that his sins are all forgiven, but that there is nothing for him beyond this present life? None at all. In such a case forgiveness of sins would profit him nothing. So then the preaching of the gospel comprehends not alone the announcement that Christ died for sinners, but that through his death he has brought immortality to light. We believe that no one who has ever professed to preach the gospel has omitted the fact that an eternal inheritance awaits the overcomers.

But this eternal inheritance is "reserved in Heaven," and is to be revealed only "in the last time." 1 Peter 1:4, 5. It is only when Christ comes "the second time" that salvation is brought to them that look for him. Christ himself told his disciples (John 14:1-3) that he would come again to receive them unto himself so that they might be with him, plainly indicating that they could be with him in no other way except by his second coming. Even though they should die they could not be with him unless he should return. Compare John 8:21 and 13:33. And in harmony with this Paul says, "by the word of the Lord," that "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; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so [that is, by this means] shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

Now what have we found? Just this: that the gospel brings to view eternal redemption, and that any preaching of the gospel which should omit the future inheritance of the saints would be very incomplete; and that there is no future inheritance for the saints unless the Lord comes again. Therefore we are justified in saying that the preaching of the gospel necessarily includes the preaching of the second coming of Christ, and that those who ignore or deny the second coming of Christ, do not preach the whole gospel. Still further: in the fourteenth of Revelation we read of three messages that immediately precede the second coming of Christ. Verses 6-14. The first of these messages announces the hour of God's Judgment come, and it and the two which follow give instruction how to prepare for that event. The Third Angel's Message includes both the others, and contains the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,—the sum of all the instruction necessary to make "the remnant of Israel" a pure people, prepared for the coming of the Lord. It is the gospel in its simplicity and purity, and is therefore the gospel just as it was preached by Christ and his apostles. It announces the second coming of Christ, and tells how to be ready for that event. Therefore we confidently affirm that our Saviour's words in Matt. 24:14 may justly be paraphrased thus: "And the Third Angel's Message shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." We think that no one who has carefully followed this brief exposition can dissent from this conclusion.

This thing,—the preaching of the Third Angel's Message in all the world, to all nations,—is all that remains to be done before the coming of the Lord; and this work will be cut short in righteousness; "because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." Rom. 9:28. And short indeed it must be, for we know from our Saviour's own words, that his coming is now so near that he is "even at the doors." Matt. 24:33. The generation now living upon the earth will witness the coming of the Lord with all his holy angels. There is no conjecture about this, no assumption. It is just as true as that Christ is the Son of God.

"But," some one will say, "it is impossible that Christ should come for many years if every nation must first hear the Third Angel's Message; because there are vast multitudes who have not even heard that there is such a thing." We have known many to stumble over this, even of those who believe in the soon coming of our Lord. Let us see what force there is in this objection.

1. It is not necessary to the fulfillment of our Saviour's words, that the Third Angel's Message should be preached to every individual in the world. Then will there not be partiality shown? No; and for this reason: There are thousands who have had, besides the light which comes from nature, a partial knowledge of the gospel, and have rejected it. They have deliberately rejected the light which they had, and have steeled their hearts to the influences of God's Spirit. Now of what use would it be to carry the Third Angel's Message to such?

None at all. It would be casting pearls before swine. If they have refused a little light because it condemned their evil deeds, they would certainly reject greater light for the same reason. We may not know who are and who are not worthy to receive the full light of the gospel, but God knows, and will direct the truth to all who are not already reprobate.

2. There are, no doubt, thousands of whom we have no knowledge, who are living out the truth of the Third Angel's Message. When Elijah thought that he alone of all the inhabitants of Israel worshiped the true God, the Lord said to him, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." 1 Kings 19:18. We are too apt to think that nothing is being done except what we do, forgetting that God has infinite resources at his command.

3. It is not necessary that all who believe shall have heard the voice of a living preacher. The Bible contains everything necessary to make a man "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," and for years Bible societies have been scattering Bibles broadcast over the world. The Spirit of God can guide the reader of the Bible into all truth, even though he have no human preceptor. Add to this the reception of a tract or a paper which may start a new train of thought, and the reader can readily see how there may be thousands living out the Third Angel's Message, who are entirely unknown to the great body of believers.

4. Lastly we want to consider what progress is being made in the preaching of "this gospel of the kingdom,"—the Third Angel's Message,—in all the world. Here we must caution the reader against jumping at conclusions. He must not base his calculations simply on the comparatively few who are now known to be professing the truth. Some will reason thus: "This message has been preached for forty years, and there are only about thirty thousand who are known to be Seventh-day Adventists; therefore it will take perhaps as many years more to warn the whole world." This is very defective reasoning. We should consider, not simply the number who have been warned, but the improved facilities for warning the world.

(1) As a matter of fact every civilized nation has already received to a greater or less extent the knowledge of the Third Angel's Message. There is not a nation under heaven that is not known to contain Sabbath-keepers; and by the thoroughly-organized system of missionary work which has been adopted, every one of these Seventh-day Adventists is a center from which the truth may radiate. True, there are few of these as compared to the great mass of professed Christians; but the Bible does not say that the gospel shall be preached as a converter of all nations, but only as a witness either for or against them.

(2) Through the agency of the press it is easier to reach a million people now than it was to reach a hundred in the days of Paul. Let us note the progress that has been made in this branch of the message. About thirty-five years ago Elder James White published the first paper devoted to the dissemination of the last gospel message. It was a very small sheet, containing about one-eighth as much matter as the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, having no subscription list, and no prospect of support or of regular publication. The whole of the first issue was carried to the post-office in a small carpet sack. From that day the work has not taken a retrograde step. Now the Seventh-day Adventists have fully equipped houses of publication in Battle Creek, Mich.; Oakland, Cal.; Basel, Switzerland; Christiana, Norway; Great Grimsby, England, and Melbourne, Australia. These are all devoted to the spread of the Third Angel's Message. In these offices the truth is published in the following languages: English, German,

French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Holland, and Romanian. We have not the facts at hand concerning all these offices of publication, and will therefore take as a specimen the central publishing house at Battle Creek, Mich., which we have just visited. The items which we have gathered are as follows:—

The amount of floor space occupied in the buildings is about 40,000 square feet. The number of hands employed is about 130. The institution issues the following periodicals: Review and Herald, a 16-page weekly; Gospel Sickle, an 8-page semi-monthly; Youth's Instructor, a 4-page weekly; Stimme der Warheit (German), an 8-page semi-monthly; Advent Tidende (Danish), a 16-page semi-monthly magazine; the Harold (Swedish), a 16-page semi-monthly. The circulation of these periodicals aggregates about one hundred and forty thousand copies a month. Besides this, there are sent out from this office books, pamphlets, and tracts to the amount of a ton for each day in the year.

These are simple, unvarnished facts concerning the central office of publication. Let the reader weigh them well, considering that other offices are putting out a proportionate amount, and that in every part of the world men and women are industriously circulating this reading matter, and then let him ask how long it will be before all people will have been warned of the speedy coming of Christ. Truly this thing is not being done in a corner. In a future article we shall show that within a space of time that may be reckoned by months, "this gospel of the kingdom," despised and hated though it may be, will be the all-absorbing topic of the day. The great newspapers of the land will herald it, and its bitterest enemies will assist in lifting it up as a witness to the people.

May the Lord help all to awake to the importance of the present time; may we not delay action until the prophecy is fulfilled, when it will be too late for action; but may we do our part in fulfilling the prophecy, thus saying by our actions as well as by our words, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." W.