RH JANUARY 11, 1887; or 2RH 105-106.
MRS. E. G. WHITE.
ccc
ccc“‘And because iniquity shall abound, the
love of many shall wax cold.’ [Matthew 24:12.] The very
atmosphere is polluted with sin. Soon God's people will be tested
by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear
to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal. Instead of
being strengthened and confirmed by opposition, threats, and
abuse, they will cowardly take the side of the opposers. The
promise is, ‘Them that honor Me I will honor.’ [1
Samuel 2:30.] Shall we be less firmly attached to God's law
because the world at large have attempted to make it void?
cccAlready the Judgments of God are abroad in the land,
as seen in storms, in floods, in tempests, in earthquakes, in
perils by land and by sea. The great I am is speaking to those
who make void His law. When God's wrath is poured out upon the
earth, who will then be able to stand? Now is the time for God's
people to show themselves true to principle. When the religion of
Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised,
then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage the most
unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when
the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when
champions are few,--this will be our test. At this time we must
gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their
cowardice, and loyalty from their treason. The nation will be on
the side of the great rebel leader.
cccThe days of purification of the church are hastening
on space. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty
sifting soon to take place, we shall be better able to measure
the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near
when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and that
He soon will thoroughly purge His floor.
cccThe days are fast approaching when there will be
great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes,
will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods
many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing.
cccWith unerring accuracy, the Infinite One keeps an
account with all nations. While His mercy is tendered with calls
to repentance, this account will remain open; but when a certain
limit which God has fixed is reached, the ministry of His wrath
commences. The account is closed. Divine patience ceases. These
is no more pleading for mercy in their behalf.
cccThe prophet, looking down the ages, had this time
presented before his vision. The nations of this age have been
the recipients of unprecedented mercies. The choicest of Heaven's
blessings have been given them; but increased pride,
covetousness, idolatry, contempt of God, and base ingratitude,
are written against them. They are fast closing up their account
with God.
cccBut that which causes me to tremble, is the fact
that those who have had the greatest light and privileges have
become contaminated by the prevailing iniquity. Influenced by the
unrighteous around them, many, even of those who profess the
truth, have grown cold, and are borne down by the strong current
of evil. The universal scorn thrown upon true piety and holiness,
leads those who do not connect closely with God to lose their
reverence for His law. If they were following the light, and
obeying the truth from the heart, this holy law would seem even
more precious to them when despised and set aside. As the
disrespect for God's law becomes more manifest, the line of
demarkation between its observers and the world becomes more
distinct. Love for the divine precepts increases with one class,
according as contempt for them increases with the other class.
cccThe crisis is fast approaching. The rapidly swelling
figures show that the time for God's visitations has nearly come.
Although loth to punish, nevertheless He will punish, and that
speedily. Those who walk in the light will see signs of the
approaching peril; but they are not to sit in quiet, unconcerned
expectancy of the ruin, comforting themselves with the belief
that God will shelter His people in the day of visitation. Far
from it. They should realize that it is their duty to labor
diligently to save others, looking with strong faith to God for
help.
cccThe command is, ‘Go through the midst of the
city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the
foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the
abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’ [Ezekiel
9:4]. These sighing, crying ones had been holding forth the Words
of life; they had reproved, counseled, and entreated. Some who
had been dishonoring God repented and humbled their hearts before
Him. But the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel. Although
many still continued the forms of religion, its power and
presence were lacking.
cccIn the time when His wrath shall go forth in
Judgments, the humble, devoted followers of Christ will be
distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish,
which will be expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and
warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing
evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those
who have a zeal for God's honor and a love for souls will not
hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls
will be vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation
of the unrighteous. They will be powerless to stop the rushing
torrent of iniquity, and hence they will be filled with grief and
alarm. They will mourn before God to see religion despised in the
very homes of those who have had great light. They will lament
and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and
deception of almost every kind are in the church.
cccThe class who do not feel grieved over their own
spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be
left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions his
messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hands:
‘Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your
eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both
maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man
upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began
at the ancient men which were before the house.’ [Ezekiel
9:5, 6.]
cccHere we see that the church--the Lord's
sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God.
The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light, and who
had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people,
had betrayed their trust. This shows us that we must not look to
men for example. We need to stay our faith upon God; for there is
just before us a time that will try men's souls. Christ upon the
Mount of Olives rehearsed the fearful Judgments that were to
precede His second coming: ‘Ye shall hear of wars and rumors
of wars.’ [Matthew 24:6.] ‘Nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines,
and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are
the beginning of sorrows.’ [Matthew 24:7, 8.] While these
prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of
Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in the last days.
cccJohn also was a witness of the terrible scenes that
will take place as signs of Christ's coming. He saw armies
mustering for battle, and men's hearts failing them for fear. He
saw the earth moved out of its place, the mountains carried into
the midst of the sea, the waves thereof roaring and troubled, and
the mountains shaking with the swelling thereof. He saw the vials
of God's wrath opened, and pestilence, famine, and death come
upon the inhabitants of the earth.
cccAlready the restraining Spirit of God is being
withdrawn from the earth. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and
flood, disasters by sea and land, follow each other in quick
succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs
thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of
God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. Men cannot
discern the sentinel angels restraining the four winds that they
may not blow until the servants of God are sealed; but when God
shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene
of His avenging wrath as no pen can picture.
cccWe are standing on the threshold of great and solemn
events. Prophecy is fast fulfilling. The Lord is at the door.
There is soon to open before us a period of overwhelming interest
to all living. The controversies of the past are to be revived.
New controversies will arise. The scenes to be enacted in our
world are not even dreamed of . Satan is at work through human
agencies. Those who are making so great efforts to change the
Constitution and secure a law enforcing the first day of the week
little realize what will be the result. A crisis is just upon us.
cccBut God's servants are not to trust to themselves in
this great emergency. In the visions given to Isaiah, to Ezekiel,
and to John, we see how closely Heaven is connected with the
events transpiring upon the earth. We see the care of God for
those who are loyal to Him. The program of coming events is in
the hands of the Lord; the world is not without a ruler. The
Majesty of Heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the
concerns of His church, in His own hands.
cccBrethren, it is no time now for mourning and
despair, no time to yield to doubt and unbelief. Christ is to us
not a Saviour in Joseph's new tomb, closed with a great stone,
and sealed with the Roman seal. We have a risen Saviour. He is
the King, the Lord of hosts; He sitteth between the cherubim, and
amid the strife and tumult of nations He guards His people still.
He who rules in the heavens is our Saviour. He measures every
trial. He watches the furnace fire that must test every soul.
When the strongholds of kings shall be overthrown, when the
arrows of God's wrath shall strike through the hearts of His
enemies, His people have the assurance that they are safe in His
hands. In patience they are to possess their souls.
cccThose whom God employs as His messengers are not to
feel that His work is dependent upon them. Finite men are not
left to carry this burden of responsibility. In Ezekiel's vision,
God had His hand beneath the wings of the cherubim. This is to
teach His servants that it is divine power that gives them
success. He will work with them if they will put away iniquity,
and become pure in heart and life. The Heavenly messengers seen
by Ezekiel, like a bright light going among the living creatures
with the swiftness of lightning, represent the speed with which
this work will finally go forward to completion. He who slumbers
not, who is continually at work for the accomplishment of His
designs, can carry forward His great work harmoniously. That
which appears to finite minds entangled and complicated, the
Lord's hand can keep in perfect order. He can devise ways and
means to thwart the purposes of wicked counselors, and those who
plot out mischief.
cccThose who are called to responsible positions in the
work of God often feel that they are carrying heavy burdens, when
they may have the satisfaction of knowing that Jesus carries them
all. We permit ourselves to feel altogether too much care,
trouble, and perplexity in the Lord's work. We need to trust Him,
believe in Him, and go forward. The tireless vigilance of the
Heavenly messengers, their unceasing employment in their ministry
in connection with the beings of earth, show us how God's hand is
guiding the wheel within a wheel. The divine Instructor is saying
to every actor in His work, as he said to Cyrus of old, ‘I
girded thee, though thou hast not known Me.’ [Isaiah 45:5.]
cccMen are not to take credit to themselves for the
success of their labors. The clear, sharp thought, the wisdom to
plan and execute, are of the ability that God giveth. God is the
Master-worker; men are only the instruments in His hand. It is
His mind that is working through all who yield themselves to His
control. While we are to act our part by improving to the utmost
every talent committed to us, we have nothing which we have not
received of God, and we should give Him all the glory.
cccThe important future is before us. To meet its
trials and temptations, and to perform its duties, will require
great faith, energy, and perseverance. But we may triumph
gloriously; for not one watching, praying, believing soul will be
ensnared by the devices of the enemy. All Heaven is interested in
our welfare, and waits our demand upon its wisdom and strength.
Neither wicked men nor evil spirits can hinder the work of God or
shut out His presence from His people, if they will, with
subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in
faith claim His promises. Every opposing influence, whether open
or secret, may be successfully resisted, ‘not by might, not
by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.’
[Zechariah 4:6.] If the Lord had a company of workers who would
rely wholly upon Him, He would accomplish a great work through
them. One could chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to
flight. God is just as willing now as anciently to work through
human efforts, and to accomplish great things through weak
instrumentalities. We shall not gain the victory through numbers,
but through full surrender of the soul to Jesus. We are to go
forward in His strength, trusting in the mighty God of Israel.
cccIn the time of trial just before us, God's pledge of
security will be placed upon those that have kept the Word of His
patience. If you have complied with the conditions of God's Word,
Christ will be to you a refuge from the storm. He will say to His
faithful ones, ‘Come, My people, enter thou into thy
chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were
for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.’
[Isaiah 26:20.] The Lion of Judah, whose wrath will be so
terrible to the rejecters of His grace, will be the Lamb of God
to the obedient and faithful. The pillar of cloud will speak
terror and wrath to the transgressor of God's law, but light and
mercy and deliverance to those who have kept His commandments.
The Arm strong to smite the rebellious, will be strong to deliver
the loyal. Every faithful one will surely be gathered. ‘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 24:31.]
cccBrethren you to whom the truths of God's Word have
been opened, what part will you act in this momentous time of the
closing scenes of earth's history? Are you awake to these solemn
realities? Do you realize the grand work of preparation that is
going on in Heaven and earth? Let all who have received the
light, who have had the opportunity of reading and hearing the
prophecy, take heed to keep those things that are written
therein; ‘for the time is at hand.’ [Revelation 1:3.]
Let none now venture to tamper with sin, or remain in a state of
lethargy and stupid indifference. Let not the destiny of your
soul hang upon an uncertainty. Know for yourselves that you are
fully on the Lord's side. Let the inquiry go forth form sincere
hearts and trembling lips, Who shall be able to stand? Have you,
in the precious hours of probation mercifully granted you, been
putting the very best material into you character-building? Have
you been purifying your souls from every stain? Have you followed
the light? Have your works corresponded with your profession of
faith?
cccIt is possible to be a formal, partial believer, and
yet be found wanting, and lose eternal life. It is possible to
practice some of the Bible injunctions, and be regarded as a
Christian, and yet perish because you are lacking in essential
qualifications that constitute Christian character. The
destroying angels have the commission from the Lord, ‘Begin
at My sanctuary.’ [Ezekiel 9:6.] And ‘they began at the
ancient men which were before the house.’ [Ezekiel 9:6.] If
the warnings which God has given are neglected or regarded with
indifference, if you suffer sin to be cherished, you are sealing
your soul's destiny; you will be weighed in the balances and
found wanting. Grace, peace, and pardon will be withdrawn
forever; Jesus will have passed by, never again to come within
the reach of your prayers and entreaties. While mercy still
lingers, while Jesus is making intercession for us, let us make
thorough work for eternity. Torre Pellice, Italy.” — RH
January 11, 1887; or 2RH 105-106.
Pastor Michael O. Hodges
Copyright 2003.
Permission is hereby given to reprint any
of these studies and articles provided that they are duplicated
in their entirety without any change or comment.