THE END DRAWETH NEAR by Clarence Santee

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 19, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 38.

THE END DRAWETH NEAR.

By Clarence Santee

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS have no faith in setting times, such as days, months, or years, for the Lord to come. In fact, a person can not be a real Seventh-day Adventist and do this. There is a class of persons who have set various times for the Lord to come the second time, and they are correctly known as "Adventists," as the name simply means one who believes in the coming of the Lord, and especially it is applied to those who believe that His coming is near. But the class who have been calling attention to certain times, stating that the Lord would come at those times, while being Adventists, are not Seventh-day Adventists, and have few points of faith in common with them. Yet, while disclaiming emphatically all knowledge of the day, month, or year when the Lord will come in glory—believing that this is not revealed—we do believe that the generation who will be living when this shall take place, will know that His coming is near, so near that it is "even at the door," so that the next great event will be the ushering in of that solemn and momentous day.

Some one will be looking for Him and expecting Him. We do not look for an event that we have no evidence will come. In Titus 2:12, 13 God says, "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Again He says, "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28.

They will not only be looking for that event, but they will be ready and waiting for it. "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him." Isa. 25:9. So then some one will be expecting, looking for, and waiting for the coming of the Saviour when He does appear. And their action will be based upon the evidence of the inspired Word.

After speaking of the glory of the coming of the Saviour "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God" (1 Thess. 4:16, 17), the apostle adds: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them. . . . But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. . . . Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." Chapter 5:1-6. In this it is stated that the signs about us will be a sure index of the "times and seasons" when "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven." Then our duty is to watch "when they shall say, Peace and safety."

From this we learn that we are not only to "look for Him," but to watch the doings of men and nations in this world as signs when we should look for Him. There will be the two classes, those who "watch" and those who "sleep." We will all be found in one class or the other when He appears. Has there been the "Peace and safety" cry heard? Let me quote another text: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains; . . . and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways. . . . And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people." Isa. 2:2-4. Who are the "many people" whom it is claimed will be rebuked? In quoting the same prophecy in Micah 4:1-3, he states that they are the "strong nations afar off."

To-day there is almost a religious war against China, in which, strange as it may seem, professed Christians are clamoring the most loudly for unsparing vengeance. One minister, speaking of the East, says that "every bullet sent, every cannon shot, and every flag waved, means righteousness." It is anticipated that, as a result of war and bloodshed, we shall have a world's peace.

The prophet has also recorded, in the same scripture, following the alleged rebuke of God, these words of many people: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." It must be remembered that the Lord says the people will be making these statements "in the last days," not that the Lord says it. The people will say, "The mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." Verse 4.

Do these things greet our ears to-day? Are they a sign of the end, given as such by the Lord Himself? Is there aught said of "Peace Congresses" and "National Arbitration Committees" to attain these ends? The "people" have spoken as the Lord said they would, and we will yet hear more from them.

Now listen to the words of God as He sees the same nations, at the same time: "Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth." Jer. 25:32, 33. The people will say, "Peace and safety," and, "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation." But God says, "Evil shall go forth from nation to nation." He also says: "Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; . . . let the weak say, I am strong. . . . Let the heathen be wakened." Joel 3:9-12. Then "when they [the people] shall say, Peace and safety," at that time God wants us to know that "sudden destruction cometh upon them." Where, then, are we? We are in the time when we can say with confidence, "The end draweth near." Soon Jesus will come to this sin-burdened, war-shaken world. There is safety to every one who will put all into the hands of God, by implicit obedience, and let His truth be his "shield and buckler." Ps. 91:4.