The promise of Christ’s second coming to complete the great work of redemption is the keynote of the Sacred Scriptures. From Eden, the children of faith have waited the coming of the Promised One to bring them again to the lost Paradise.
(GrH_c 38.1)
Enoch, the seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, who for three centuries walked with God, declared, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. Job in the night of affliction exclaimed, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:... in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27. The poets and prophets of the Bible have dwelt on the coming of Christ in words glowing with fire. “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad ... before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” Psalm 96:11-13.
(GrH_c 38.2)
Said Isaiah: “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, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:9.
(GrH_c 38.3)
The Saviour comforted His disciples with the assurance that He would come again: “In my father’s house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go,... I will come again, and receive you unto myself.”“The Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations.” John 14:2, 3; Matthew 25:31, 32.
(GrH_c 38.4)
Angels repeated to the disciples the promise of His return: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. And Paul testified: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Said the prophet of Patmos: “Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” Revelation 1:7.
(GrH_c 38.5)
Then the long-continued rule of evil shall be broken: “The kingdoms of this world” will become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15. “The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:11.
(GrH_c 38.6)
Then the peaceful kingdom of the Messiah shall be established: “The Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.” Isaiah 51:3.
(GrH_c 38.7)
The coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope of His true followers. Amid suffering and persecution, the “appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” was the “blessed hope.” Titus 2:13. Paul pointed to the resurrection to take place at the Saviour’s advent, when the dead in Christ should rise, and together with the living be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “And so,” he said, “shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17, 18.
(GrH_c 38.8)
On Patmos the beloved disciple heard the promise, “Surely I come quickly,” and his response voices the prayer of the church, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20.
(GrH_c 38.9)
From the dungeon, the stake, the scaffold, where saints and martyrs witnessed for the truth, comes down the centuries the utterance of their faith and hope. Being “assured of His personal resurrection, and consequently of their own at His coming, for this cause,” says one of these Christians, “they despised death, and were found to be above it.” The Waldenses cherished the same faith. Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Ridley, and Baxter* looked in faith for the Lord’s coming. Such was the hope of the apostolic church, of the “church in the wilderness,” and of the Reformers.
(GrH_c 38.10)
Prophecy not only foretells the manner and object of Christ’s second coming, but presents tokens by which men are to know when that day is near. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.” Luke 21:25. “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:24-26. The revelator thus describes the first of the signs to precede the second advent: “There was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” Revelation 6:12.
(GrH_c 39.1)
The Saviour foretold the state of backsliding that would exist just prior to His second advent. For those living at this time, Christ’s admonition is: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34, 36.
(GrH_c 39.2)
In view of that great day the Word of God calls upon His people to seek His face with repentance:
(GrH_c 39.3)
“The day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.”“Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children:... Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar.”“Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” Joel 2:1, 15-17, 12, 13.
(GrH_c 39.4)
To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of reform was to be accomplished. In His mercy He was about to send a message to arouse His professed people and lead them to make ready for the coming of the Lord.
(GrH_c 39.5)
This warning is brought to view in Revelation 14. Here is a threefold message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings and immediately followed by the coming of the Son of man to reap “the harvest of the earth.” The prophet saw an angel flying “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6, 7.
(GrH_c 39.6)
This message is a part of “the everlasting gospel.” The work of preaching has been entrusted to men. Holy angels direct, but the actual proclamation of the gospel is performed by the servants of Christ on earth.
(GrH_c 40.1)
The destruction of Jerusalem is a solemn warning to all who are resisting the pleadings of divine mercy. The Saviour’s prophecy concerning judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment. In the fate of the chosen city we behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law. Dark are the records of human misery that earth has witnessed. Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority of Heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revelations of the future. When the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly withdrawn, no longer to hold in check the outburst of human passion and satanic wrath, the world will behold, as never before, the results of Satan’s rule.
(GrH_c 40.2)
In that day, as in Jerusalem’s destruction, God’s people will be delivered. See Isaiah 4:3; Matthew 24:30, 31. Christ will come the second time to gather His faithful ones to Himself. “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30, 31.
(GrH_c 40.3)
Let men beware lest they neglect the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction that they might make their escape, so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction. All who will may flee from the wrath to come. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations.” Luke 21:25. See also Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17. “Watch ye therefore,” are Christ’s words of admonition. Mark 13:35. They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness.
(GrH_c 40.4)
The world is no more ready to credit the message for this time than were the Jews to receive the Saviour’s warning concerning Jerusalem. Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world’s progress, and people are lulled in a false security—then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, “and they shall not escape.” See 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.
(GrH_c 40.5)
Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome.
(GrH_c 40.6)
Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing diseases and presenting a new system of religious faith, but at the same time he leads multitudes to ruin. Intemperance dethrones reason; sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed follow. War excites the worst passions of the soul and sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is Satan’s object to incite the nations to war, for he can thus divert the people from preparation to stand in the day of God.
(GrH_c 40.7)
Satan has studied the secrets of nature, and he uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows. It is God that shields His creatures from the destroyer. But the Christian world has shown contempt for His law, and the Lord will do what He declared that He would—remove His protecting care from those who rebel against His law and force others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some, in order to further his own designs; and he will bring trouble upon others, and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them.
(GrH_c 41.1)
While appearing as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, Satan will bring disease and disaster until populous cities are reduced to ruin. In accidents by sea and land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish.
(GrH_c 41.2)
And then the great deceiver will persuade men to charge all their troubles on those whose obedience to God’s commandments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors. It will be declared that men offend God by the violation of Sunday, that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced. “Those who destroy reverence for Sunday are preventing restoration of divine favor and prosperity.” Thus the accusation urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated. “When Ahab saw Elijah,... Ahab said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel?” 1 Kings 18:17, 18.
(GrH_c 41.3)
Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God on the earth. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of obedience to civil authorities. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-keepers will be condemned. A false coloring will be given their words; the worst construction will be put on their motives.
(GrH_c 41.4)
Dignitaries of church and state will unite to persuade or compel all to honor Sunday. Even in free America rulers and legislators will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience which has cost so great a sacrifice will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet’s words, “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17.
(GrH_c 41.5)
Servants of God, their faces shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed. Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.
(GrH_c 41.6)
The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented, publications have exerted their influence, yet many have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth. Now the truth is seen in its clearness. Family connections, church relations are powerless to stay the honest children of God now. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord’s side.
(GrH_c 41.7)
Those who honor the law of God will be regarded as the cause of the fearful strife and bloodshed that fill the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked, and Satan will excite the spirit of hatred and persecution against all who have received the message.
(GrH_c 42.1)
The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger, a faith that will not faint though severely tried. Jacob’s victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, will succeed as he succeeded. Wrestling with God—how few know what it is! When waves of despair sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with faith to the promises of God.
(GrH_c 42.2)
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. Spirits of devils will go forth to the “kings of the earth” and to the whole world, to urge them to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself. They will perform miracles of healing and profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the Scriptures.
(GrH_c 42.3)
As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long looked to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. Satan will manifest himself as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15.
(GrH_c 42.4)
The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out, “Christ has come!” The people prostrate themselves before him. He lifts up his hands and blesses them. His voice is soft, yet full of melody. In compassionate tones he presents some of the same heavenly truths the Saviour uttered. He heals diseases, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday. He declares that those who keep holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Multitudes give heed to sorceries, saying, This is “the great power of God.” Acts 8:10.
(GrH_c 42.5)
But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class on whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out.
(GrH_c 42.6)
Furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception on this point. “There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.... Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:24-27. See also Matthew 25:31; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. This coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be witnessed by the whole world.
(GrH_c 42.7)
Only diligent students of the Scriptures who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His Word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible, and the Bible only?
(GrH_c 43.1)