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Review and Herald, Vol. 43, No. 6.

NOAH'S TIME AND OURS

Review and Herald

Jan 20, 1874

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 20, 1874

NOAH'S TIME AND OURS.

By James White

Christ’s Coming Near, Even at the Doors.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.
TEXT: “Now learn a parable of the fig-tree. When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 32-37.
No truth of inspiration can be more clearly stated than that God reveals his designs to his prophets, that men and nations may be warned before their accomplishment. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3: 7. Before visiting men and nations with judgments, God has sent forth warnings sufficient to enable the believing to escape his wrath, and to condemn those who have not heeded the warning. This was the case before the flood. “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world.” Heb. 11: 7.
At a later period, when the nations had become sunken in idolatry and crime, and the destruction of wicked Sodom was determined, the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” Gen. 18: 17, 18. And due notice was given to righteous Lot, who, with his daughters, was preserved; and none, even in that guilty city, perished without due warning. Lot evidently warned the people; and, in thus communing with them, was “vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” 2 Pet. 2: 7, 8. When he warned his sons-in-law, “he seemed as one that mocked.” Gen. 19: 14. And when “the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter,” Lot warned them, and entreated them to desist from their wickedness. And they at once did that which all sinners, since the days of righteous Lot, have been disposed to do to those who faithfully warn them of their sins; namely, they charged him with being a judge.
Before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, a forerunner was sent to prepare the way before the Lord. Those who did not receive Christ were rejected, “because,” as he said to Jerusalem, when warning the people of the destruction of their city and temple, “thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke 19: 44. We have on record the Lord’s prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem during the time of the generation that rejected him, which was fulfilled in less than forty years from the time of his crucifixion. And, that the Christians in Judea might escape its impending doom, they were told that when they should “see Jerusalem compassed with armies,” or, as recorded by Matthew, “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,” they were to “flee to the mountains.” Luke 21: 20; Matt. 24: 15. They heeded the admonition, and escaped in safety to Pella.
Such is the testimony of inspiration respecting the dealings of God with his people in past ages. And it cannot be supposed that he will change his course relative to the future, when that future is to realize the crowning consummation of all prophetic declarations.
We accept the Bible as a revelation from Heaven. What God has revealed in that book, let no man call a mystery, or a secret of the Almighty. “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever.” Deut. 29: 29. If the sacred Scriptures do not designate any period in particular for the second appearing of Christ, then men should at once abandon the search for proofs of his soon coming. But if prophecy, in a most harmonious manner, does point to the period of that great event, and if there is evidence that “it is near, even at the doors,” the subject at once assumes vast importance.
Can anything be learned from the Bible relative to the period of the second advent? It is a question unsettled in many minds. This is a grave inquiry; and, from the nature of the subject, is worthy of close investigation and a candid answer. It is a matter of painful regret that many, under the influence of popular prejudice, have decided that the period of the second advent is a secret, hidden with the Almighty. While these may scarcely be reached with this subject, as long as they remain under the influence of those religious teachers who denounce all investigation of it as prying into the secrets of the Almighty, there is still a larger class who wait for evidence before deciding. It is with ardent hope of benefiting these that we write.
When the disciples inquire, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus does not reprove them for inquiring into that which was purposely hidden from all men; but he answers that question in the most definite manner. He even states that there should be signs of that event, and adds, “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” The simple fact that the Lord mentions signs of his second advent is the best proof possible that his people were not to remain ignorant of the relative nearness of the event. Add to this evidence his declaration that when these signs should be seen, his people should know that it was near, even at the doors, and the case becomes an exceedingly strong one.
The prophecies, especially those of Daniel and John, clearly point to the period of the second coming of Christ, but do not give the definite time of that event. Some of the prophetic periods reach to the time of the end. Others extend still further down very near the end itself, to an event of which we shall speak when we consider the subject of the sanctuary of the eighth chapter of Daniel. But none of the periods of Daniel reach to the second appearing of Christ.
The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God for our instruction, faith, and practice. The prophetic numbers of Daniel and John are a part of that inspired word, and were especially designed to guide the people of God in the solemn warning to the people of the last generation to prepare for the coming of the Son of man. And having reached the period to which the prophecies distinctly point, as the time of expectation, preparation, waiting, and watching, we should feel the force of that class of admonitory declarations from Christ, especially applicable to our time, like these words in Mark 13: 33: “Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.”
The definite time of the second advent of Christ is purposely hidden from man. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven; but my Father only.” Many hastily conclude from this text that nothing whatever may be ascertained relative to the period of the second advent. But, in taking this position, they greatly err, in that they make this class of texts prove too much, even for their unbelief, and which at the same time arrays these declarations against others uttered by the Saviour, the most plain and pointed. We object to this position:
1. Because our Lord, after stating that the sun should be darkened, and that the moon should not give her light, and that the stars should fall from heaven, gives the following forcible parable, and makes the most distinct application of it to this subject. He says: “Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Verses 32, 33. No figure should exceed the fact illustrated in a single particular. This being the case in the parable of the fig-tree, the point becomes an exceedingly clear one. No language can be more direct. No proof can be more complete. With all that certainty with which we know that summer is nigh when we see the buds and the leaves shoot forth from the trees in spring, may we know that Christ is at the doors. The most daring unbelief will hardly venture to deny these words of the Son of God, and assert that nothing can be known of the period of his second coming.
2. Because our Lord declares that as the days of Noah were, so should also the coming of the Son of man be. Said God to Noah, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Gen. 6: 3. The period of the flood was given to the patriarch. And under the direct providence of God, he prepared the ark and warned the people. So the fulfilling prophecies and the signs distinctly declare that the second coming of Christ is at the doors, and the solemn message of warning has gone forth.
3. Those who claim that the text proves that nothing may be known of the period of the second advent make it prove too much. As recorded by Mark, the declaration reads: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” If the text proves that men will know nothing of the period of the second advent, it also proves that angels will know nothing of it, and also that the Son will know nothing of it, till the event takes place! This position proves too much, therefore, proves nothing to the point. Christ will know of the period of his second advent to this world. The holy angels, who wait around the throne of Heaven to receive messages relative to the part they act in the salvation of men, will know of the time of this closing event of salvation. And so will the waiting, watching people of God understand. An old English version of the passage reads, “But that day and hour no man maketh known, neither the angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” This is the correct reading, according to several of the ablest critics of the age. The word know is used in the same sense here that it is by Paul, in 1 Cor. 2: 2: “For I determined not to know [make known] anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Men will not make known the day and hour, angels will not make it known, neither will the Son; but the Father will make it known.
Says Campbell, “Macknight argues that the term know is here used as a causative, in the Hebrew sense of the conjugation hiphil, that is, to make known. His [Christ’s] answer is just equivalent to saying, The Father will make it known when it pleases him; but he has not authorized man, angel, or the Son, to make it known. Just in this sense Paul uses the term know: 1 Cor. 2: 2: ‘I came to you making known the testimony of God; for I determined to make known nothing among you but a crucified Christ.’”
Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Gospels, says, “Others have said that the verb rendered knoweth means sometimes to make known, or to reveal, and that the passage means, ‘that day and hour none maketh known, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father.’ It is true the word has sometimes that meaning, as 1 Cor. 2: 2.”
The Father will make known the time. He gave the period of the flood to Noah, which well represents the proclamation of the second advent, given in connection with the evidence of the termination of the periods of Daniel, during the great second advent movement. And when the patriarch’s work of warning and building was finished, God said to him, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”
So when the waiting, watching, toiling time shall be finished, and the saints shall all be sealed, and shut in with God, then will the voice of the Father from Heaven make known the definite time.
As we look back to the great movement upon the second advent question and its disappointment, and to the numerous efforts to adjust the prophetic periods by many of the first-day Adventists since that time, and the numerous disappointments which have followed, we can but feel the force of the words of the prophet: “Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged; for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.” Eze. 12: 22-25.
“I will speak,” saith the Lord, “and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass.” The voice of God will be heard from on high in the midst of the awful scenes just preceding the second advent. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.” Rev. 16: 17. See also Joel 3: 16; Jer. 25: 30.
The burden of the prophecy of Ezekiel, quoted above, evidently is time. “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” God will make this proverb to cease, by speaking himself. In this way the Father will make known the time, a work not given into the hands of men, angels, nor even the Son.
The present is emphatically the waiting, watching time. It is the especial period of the patience of the saints. Rev. 14: 12. In definite time we would find relief fromthe state of suspense to which our present position subjects us. The Lord appeals to us thus: “Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Mark 13: 35-37.
The time of Christ’s coming is near. The signs of his second advent, in the sun, moon, and stars, have been fulfilled. He is near, even at the doors. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.” Those who suppose that our Lord here speaks of the generation living who listened to his teachings, should consider the following facts:—
1. It is certainly true that what is embraced in the phrase, “all these things,” was not fulfilled in that generation.
2. It could not be the generation living in the days of his flesh, for he said to them (Luke 11: 29), “There shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonas, the prophet.”
It is evident that our Lord refers to the generation who were to see the signs fulfilled, and who were to be instructed by the parable of the fig-tree. In this prophetic discourse, he leads the minds of his disciples down over the events of the Christian age, mentions the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, which were to appear in the last generation, and then declares that this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.
In like manner, Paul carries his brethren forward to the resurrection, when he says, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52. Or, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” 1 Thess. 4: 17. The things here mentioned by the apostle did not take place in his day. They have not yet taken place. Notwithstanding, he speaks of them as though they would take place in his day, and he have a part in them.
Also, in like manner is the mind carried backward in Ps. 95: 10: “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation.” The generation here spoken of provoked the Lord in the wilderness, long before David lived. He goes back and speaks of it as though it were present. In this manner our Lord goes forward, and speaks of the last generation as though it were present.
We do not believe that the phrase, “this generation,” marks any definite number of years. Some suppose that our Lord designed to teach that some who were witnesses of the dark day in 1780 would live to witness the second coming of the Saviour. But it is our opinion that the Lord designed to teach that the people who should live at the time of the fulfillment of the last sign (the falling stars of 1833), and should hear the proclamation of the coming of Christ, based partly upon the fulfilled signs, should witness the scenes connected with his coming.
The proclamation of the coming and kingdom of Christ is given to the last generation. God did not send Noah to preach to the next to the last generation before the flood, but to the last. The very generation which was destroyed by the waters of the flood saw Noah build the ark, and heard his warning voice. So God has raised up men to give the solemn warning to the world at the right time to give force to the warning. And the very generation of men that live after the three great signs are fulfilled, and who hear and reject the warning message from Heaven, will drink the cup of the unmingled wrath of God. For such, the seven last plagues are reserved. And those of this very generation who receive the message, suffer disappointments, and endure the trials of the waiting position, will witness the coming of Christ, and exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us.” Isa. 25: 9.
With what emphasis our Lord gave utterance to this sentiment. It is a rebuke upon our unbelief. As we read it, God help us to believe it: “Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.” And as though this were not enough to lead us to unwavering faith, he adds these forcible words: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Then follows, in the same chapter, the usual, earnest exhortation of Christ, when speaking of his second coming, to watchfulness, and a readiness for the event. “Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
One of the fatal consequences of not watching is distinctly stated in Rev. 3: 3: “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” The consequence of not watching will be ignorance of the time. And the natural inference is unavoidable that the result of watching will be a knowledge of the time. In answer to the agonizing prayer of the Son of God, “Father, glorify thy name,” there came a voice from Heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
The disciples understood these words from Heaven, while the people that stood by said it thundered. John 12: 27-29.
So will the waiting, watching disciples of Christ understand the voice of God when he shall speak from on high. But the unbelieving world will not understand the voice. The prophet Daniel, overwhelmed with what the angel Gabriel had shown him of the closing events of this world’s history, inquires, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” Again he earnestly inquires, “O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” The angel answers in these emphatic words, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Dan. 12: 6-10.
In comparing Noah’s days and ours, the Lord continues: “For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” A picture of the present condition of the mass of mankind is here drawn. How dark the features! The people of the last generation will be like those before the flood, while the ark was preparing. Noah preached, and warned them of the coming flood, and they mocked. He built the ark, and they scoffed and jeered. He was a preacher of righteousness. His works were calculated to give edge to, and set home to the heart, what he preached. Every righteous sermon, and every blow struck in building the ark, condemned a careless, scoffing world.
As the time drew nearer, the people were more careless, more hardened, more bold and impudent, and their condemnation surer. Noah and his family were alone. And could one family know more than all the world? The ark is a matter of ridicule, and Noah is regarded as a willful bigot. But the Lord calls Noah into the ark. And by the hand of Providence the beasts are led into the ark; and the Lord shuts Noah in. This is regarded at first by the scoffing multitude as something wonderful; but it is soon explained away by the wiser ones so as to calm their fears, and they breathe easier.
The day of expectation finally arrives. The sun rises as usual, and the heavens are clear. “Now where is old Noah’s flood?” is heard from a thousand impious lips. The farmer is caring for his herds and lands, and the mechanic is pursuing his work of building. On this very day, some are being joined in marriage. With many, it is a day of unusual feasting and sports. And while all are looking to long years of future prosperity and happiness, suddenly the heavens gather blackness. Fear fills every heart. The windows of heaven open, and the rain in torrents descends. “The fountains of the great deep are broken up,” and here and there come gushing up rivers of waters. The valleys are fast filling up, and thousands are swept away in death. Some flee to the highest points of land; but the water fast follows them up. Men bear their wives and children to the mountains, but are obliged to part with them there to drown, while they climb the highest trees. But soon, they, too, are covered with water, so that there is not a resting-place for Noah’s dove. All are still in death. Horrid death! made still more horrible by being in consequence of slighted mercy! But where is Noah? Ah! safe in the ark, borne upon the billows. Safe from the flood; for God “shut him in.”
By most people, the evidences of the soon coming of Christ are considered insufficient to base faith upon. But the testimony and acts of one man condemned the people destroyed by the flood. The evidences then were sufficient, otherwise the world would not have been condemned. But a hundred times more convincing evidences come pouring in upon us that the day of the Lord is near, and hasteth greatly. We follow down the numerous prophetic chains of Daniel, and of the Revelation, and we find ourselves in every instance standing just before the day of wrath. We see the signs spoken of by prophets, by Christ, and in the epistles fulfilling, or fulfilled. And at the right time, and in the right manner, to fulfill certain prophecies, a solemn message arises in different parts of the world: “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.” Joel 2: 1. Wherever we look, we see prophecy fulfilling. While the knowledge of God and the spirit of holiness are departing, spiritual wickedness, like a flood, covers the land.
But these evidences are considered insufficient to rest faith upon. Well, what kind of evidence would the unbelieving have? “When the signs of the end,” says the skeptic, “are fulfilled, they will be so plain that no one can doubt.” But if the signs are of such a nature, and are fulfilled in such a manner as to compel all to believe in the coming of Christ, how can it be as it was in the days of Noah? Men were not then compelled to believe. But eight believing souls were saved, while all the world besides sank in their unbelief beneath the waters of the flood. God has never revealed his truth to man in a manner to compel him to believe. Those who have wished to doubt his word have found a wide field in which to doubt, and a broad road to perdition; while those who have wished to believe have ever found everlasting rock upon which to rest their faith.
Just before the end, the world will be hardened in sin, and indifferent to the claims of God. Men will be careless about hearing warning of danger, and blinded by cares, pleasures, and riches. An unbelieving and infidel generation will be eating, drinking, marrying, building, planting, and sowing. It is right to eat and drink to sustain nature; but the sin is in excess and gluttony. The marriage covenant is holy; but God’s glory is seldom thought of. Building, planting, and sowing, necessary for convenient shelter, food and clothing, are right; but the world has gone wholly after these things, so that men have no time nor disposition to think of God, Heaven, Christ’s coming, and the Judgment. This world is their god, and all their energies of body and mind are devoted to its service. And the evil day is put far away.
The faithful watchman who sounds the alarm as he sees destruction coming, is held up before the people from the pulpits of our land, and by the religious press, as a “fanatic,” a “teacher of dangerous heresies;” while in contrast is set forth a long period of peace and prosperity to the church. So the churches are quieted to sleep. The scoffer continues to scoff, and the mocker mocks on. But their day is coming. Thus saith the prophet of God: “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt. And they shall be afraid; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. . . . Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13: 6-9.
Most dreadful day! And is it near? Yes; it hasteth! It hasteth greatly! What a description given by the prophet! Read it; and as you read, try to feel how dreadful will be that day: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zeph. 1: 14-18.
Now we hear the “peace-and-safety” cry from the pulpit, and all the way along down to the grogshop. “Where is the promise of his coming?” is murmured from the impious lips of a thousand last-day scoffers. But the scene will speedily change. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape.” The scoffing of the haughty scoffer will soon be turned to wailing and howling. “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” Isa. 2: 11, 12. “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: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jer. 25: 33.
The last plagues, in which is filled up the wrath of God, now bottled up in Heaven, waiting for mercy to finish her last pleadings, will be poured out. Unmingled wrath of Jehovah! And not one drop of mercy? Not one! Jesus will lay off his priestly attire, leave the mercy-seat, and put on the garments of vengeance, never more to offer his blood to wash the sinner from his sins. The angels will wipe the last tear shed over sinners, while the mandate sounds through all Heaven, Let them alone. The groaning, weeping, praying church on earth, who in the last message employs every power to sound everywhere the last note of warning, lest the blood of souls be found in her garments, is now hushed in solemn silence. The Holy Spirit has written within them these prophetic words of their soon-expected Lord: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22: 11.
Now the ministers of truth have a message to the people, and gladly speak the words of life. They joyfully toil on, suffer on, and spend their energies in preaching to hearts as hard as steel, hoping that a few may be reached, gathered into the truth, and saved. But then they will have no message. Now their prayers and strong cries go up to Heaven in behalf of sinners. Then they will have no spirit of prayer for them. Now the church says to the sinner, Come; and Jesus stands ready to plead his blood in his behalf, that he may be washed from his sin, and live. But then salvation’s hour will be passed, and the sinner will be shut up in darkness and black despair.
It will be a day of mourning, and lamentation, and famine for hearing the words of the Lord. “I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8: 10-12.
Now, the word of the Lord may be heard; but sinners in and out of the churches, with few exceptions, do not prize it. Then, it will not be heard; for the watchmen, set to watch and sound the alarm of danger, will be called down from their high stations. Now, the word of the Lord is carried to the sinner, and offered without money or price; but he treats it carelessly, or, may be, drives the humble servant of Christ from his door. But then will he go in search for it. “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,” but they cannot hear it. “They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.” From city to city, from State to State, from one country to another, will they goto find a man commissioned of high Heaven to speak the word of the Lord; but such a one is not to be found. All such will then have finished their high commission. The word of the Lord! The word of the Lord! Where can we hear it? is heard in every land. One general wail—the word of the Lord! goes up to Heaven, but the heavens are brass. Then will the people turn and rend the false shepherds, who deceived them with the cry of “peace and safety.” Children will reproach parents for keeping them back from walking in the truth, and parents their children.
The miser now loves his money, and holds it with an iron grasp. But it will be said in that day, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5: 1-3. Now, silver and gold may be used to God’s glory, for the advancement of his cause. But in that day, “they shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.” Eze. 7: 19.

THE BELIEVER'S HOPE.

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to vail his face, I rest on his unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the vail. On Christ, the solid rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, his covenant, and blood, Support me in the ’whelming flood, When all around on earth gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On CHRIST, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.
—Sel.
Continue reading: Decline of Conscience and the Neglect of God's Law