THE "AGE TO COME." by Editor

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 20, 1856

THE "AGE TO COME."

By Editor

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh; for it is nigh at hand." This is the message which Inspiration enjoins upon us; but for sounding this alarm the Advent people have been called by the careless of the world, and by temporal millennialists, Alarmists, or those who were exciting in the minds of the people needless fears of coming evil. But the time has come that a certain portion of professed Adventists themselves may call us such, if the theory which they have of late years drifted into, be correct. For if it be true that the day of the Lord is not "a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness;" [Joel ii, 2;] if it be true that the seven last plagues in which is filled up the wrath of God will not waste the inhabitants of earth with destruction; [Rev. xv, 16;] if it be true that the Man of Sin will not be consumed with the Spirit of the Lord's mouth, nor destroyed by the brightness of his coming; [2 Thess. ii, 8;] if it be true that there will be space yet left the sinner for repentance after the changeless fiat shall have gone forth, He which is filthy, let him be filthy still; [Rev. xxii, 11;] if all this, we say, be true, where is the cause for fear and trembling? There is none; and he who would raise an alarm among the people in view of the day of the Lord, is wasting his strength in a useless mission.

This is the teaching and the spirit of the doctrine called "Age to Come;" and if it be true, the scoffer and the infidel, and the careless professor, may for the present rest contented, as far as the day of the Lord is concerned, and the living Christian even may lay aside his armor and cease to run, for they can all say together, "Soul, thou hast no need to fear. The destruction from the Almighty will not come nigh thee; and even after the Lord has come, there will be time enough to repent: eat, drink and be merry." Such we say is the spirit of the Age to Come; and it is against this that we would lift up our voice like a trumpet: against this opiate to living religion we would cry aloud and spare not. Though I believed the Lord was coming in a few years, but yet was persuaded that it was to the land of Palestine only, attended with a moderate degree of glory, there to commence a gradual work of bringing the nations to his rule, no man could say but that I would be wise and prudent to wait and see if the event took place; and when I learned that it had, I would be acting understandingly, then to seek repentance, and become a subject of that kingdom; then I should not have to walk by faith wholly as Christians are now required to do, and which to some seems very difficult.

But the Prophet bids us sound an alarm. Why? Because the day of the Lord cometh! There is perhaps no point on which the Scriptures speak out more plainly than on the great destruction, and awful scenes attendant upon the coming of the Lord, and the utter hopelessness of all those who then are unprepared to meet him in his glory. Then let us not deceive ourselves with a vain hope, and imagine that there will be probation when all cases are forever decided. If we miss the mark once we miss it forever. If we lose eternal life once, we lose it forever. It is not as though, if we failed the first time, we could try again. Hence the importance of this subject. Hence the importance of being on the sure side now, and having safe views of the events of the future. Hence we would not be slow to denounce an error which has a tendency so fatal. It is with error as such that we have to do, and not with its advocates. We would not indulge in any severity or harshness against any individual, but when we see an error advanced which we can but

regard as pernicious to the salvation of souls, and by which some are liable to be deceived and lost forever, we feel no disposition to pass by it lightly.

We again call the attention of the brethren to the arguments which have appeared on this subject in the Review, among which we will mention, "The Second Advent; its manner and objects considered," "The Word," "Letters to H. V. Reed," and "When will the Nations be dashed in pieces?" Let none pass by this article on account of its length. Truth is worth studying for; and we must have a correct theory, in order to have a consistent hope.

One brother has suggested that we do not give both sides of this question; but it must be that he fails to distinguish between an objection and its refutation. When a writer presents the scripture evidence for a certain theory, and then takes up all the objections by which the other side is supported, and utterly demolishes them, what more can consistency require? They misapprehend the question entirely who think, because we do not present some long-winded effort from those who hold opposite views, that we are therefore presenting only one side of the question. The Review has not yet rejected any article on the "Age to Come."