-BC- Mar

-TI- Maranatha

-CN- 17

-CT- God's Judgments in the Land

                               <SI 25 <EI

 

                  <SB God's Judgments in the Land <EB

 

-PR- 01

-PG- 25

-TEXT-

<SB Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those

things which are coming on the earth. Luke 21:26. <EB

 

     O that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction

of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry! . . .

Not long ago a very impressive scene passed before me. I

saw an immense ball of fire falling among some beautiful mansions,

causing their instant destruction. I heard someone say,

"We knew that the judgments of God were coming upon the

earth, but we did not know that they would come so soon." Others

said, "You knew? Why then did you not tell us? We did not

know." On every side I heard such words spoken. . . .

  Soon grievous troubles will arise among the nations--trouble

that will not cease until Jesus comes. As never before we

need to press together, serving Him who has prepared His

throne in the heavens and whose kingdom ruleth over all. God

has not forsaken His people, and our strength lies in not

forsaking Him.

     The judgments of God are in the land. The wars and rumors

of wars, the destruction by fire and flood, say clearly that the

time of trouble, which is to increase until the end, is very near at

hand. We have no time to lose. The world is stirred with the

spirit of war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have

almost reached their final fulfillment. . . .

Last Friday morning, just before I awoke, a very impressive

scene was presented before me. I seemed to awake from sleep

but was not in my home. From the windows I could behold a

terrible conflagration. Great balls of fire were falling upon

houses, and from these balls fiery arrows were flying in every

direction. It was impossible to check the fires that were kindled,

and many places were being destroyed. The terror of the people

was indescribable.

Strictly will the cities of the nations be dealt with, and yet they

will not be visited in the extreme of God's indignation, because

some souls will yet break away from the delusions of the enemy,

and will repent and be converted, while the mass will be treasuring

up wrath against the day of wrath.

-BC- Mar

-TI- Maranatha

-CN- 18

-CT- A Better and Nobler Way

                                <SI 26 <EI

 

                     <SB A Better and Nobler Way <EB

 

-PR- 01

-PG- 26

-TEXT-

<SB Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings

from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well. Isa.

1:16, 17. <EB

 

     Ignorance, pleasure loving, and sinful habits, corrupting

soul, body, and spirit, make the world full of moral leprosy; a

deadly moral malaria is destroying thousands and tens of thousands.

Many are sunken in sin. Many are in distress. They are

pressed with suffering, want, unbelief, despondency. Disease of

every type afflicts them, both in body and in soul. They long to

find a solace for their troubles, and Satan tempts them to seek

it in lusts and pleasures that lead to ruin and death. He is offering

them the apples of Sodom, that will turn to ashes upon their

lips.

     A terrible picture of the condition of the world has been

presented before me. Immorality abounds everywhere. Licentiousness

is the special sin of this age. Never did vice lift its deformed

head with such boldness as now. . . . The iniquity which abounds

is not merely confined to the unbeliever and the scoffer. Would

that this were the case, but it is not. Many men and women who

profess the religion of Christ are guilty. Even some who profess

to be looking for His appearing are no more prepared for that

event than Satan himself. They are not cleansing themselves

from all pollution. They have so long served their lust that it is

natural for their thoughts to be impure and their imaginations

corrupt. It is as impossible to cause their minds to dwell upon

pure and holy things as it would be to turn the course of Niagara

and send its waters pouring up the falls. . . . Every Christian will

have to learn to restrain his passions and be controlled by

principle. . . .

  If lasciviousness, pollution, adultery, crime, and murder are

the order of the day among those who know not the truth, and

who refuse to be controlled by the principles of God's word,

how important that the class professing to be followers of Christ,

closely allied to God and angels, should show them a better and

nobler way! How important that by their chastity and virtue they

stand in marked contrast to that class who are controlled by

-BC- LDE

-TI- Last Day Events

-CN- 8.

-CT- The Cities

 

-PR- 05

-PG- 110

-TEXT-

                      <SB Judgments Coming on the Cities <EB

 

     Terrible shocks will come upon the earth, and the

lordly palaces erected at great expense will certainly

become heaps of ruins.--3MR 312 (1891).

When God's restraining hand is removed, the

destroyer begins his work. Then in our cities the greatest

calamities will come.--3MR 314 (1897).

The Lord gives warnings to the inhabitants of the

earth, as in the Chicago fire and the fires in Melbourne,

London, and the city of New York.--Ms 127, 1897.

   The end is near and every city is to be turned upside

down every way. There will be confusion in every city.

Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken and we

do not know what will come next. The judgments will

be according to the wickedness of the people and the

light of truth that they have had.--1MR 248 (1902).

  O that God's people had a sense of the impending

destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given

to idolatry.--Ev 29 (1903).

  The time is near when large cities will be swept

away, and all should be warned of these coming

judgments.--Ev 29 (1910).

-BC- LDE

-TI- Last Day Events

-CN- 8.

-CT- The Cities

 

-PR- 06

-PG- 111

-TEXT-

                            <SB Catastrophe-proof

                           Buildings Will Become Ashes <EB

 

     I have seen the most costly structures in buildings

erected and supposed to be fireproof, and just as

Sodom perished in the flames of God's vengeance so

will these proud structures become ashes. . . . The

flattering monuments of men's greatness will be

crumbled in the dust even before the last great

destruction comes upon the world.--3SM 418 (1901).

  God is withdrawing His Spirit from the wicked

cities, which have become as the cities of the

antediluvian world and as Sodom and Gomorrah. . . . Costly

mansions, marvels of architectural skill, will be

destroyed without a moment's notice when the Lord sees

that the owners have passed the boundaries of forgiveness.

The destruction by fire of the stately buildings,

supposed to be fireproof, is an illustration of

how in a short time earth's architecture will lie in

ruins.--TDG 152 (1902).

   Men will continue to erect expensive buildings,

costing millions of money. Special attention will be

called to their architectural beauty and the firmness

and solidity with which they are constructed, but the

Lord has instructed me that despite the unusual firmness

and expensive display, these buildings will share

the fate of the temple in Jerusalem.--5BC 1098 (1906).

    God has not executed His wrath without mercy. His

hand is stretched out still. His message must be given

in Greater New York. The people must be shown how

it is possible for God, by a touch of His hand, to destroy

the property they have gathered together against the

last great day.--3MR 310, 311 (1902).

   I have no light in particular in regard to what is

coming on New York, only that I know that one day

the great buildings there will be thrown down by the

turning and overturning of God's power. . . . Death

 

                                                                          113

 

will come in all places. <SI This is why I am so anxious for

our cities to be warned <EI.--RH July 5, 1906.

    On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in

the night season called upon to behold buildings rising

story after story toward heaven. These buildings were

warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to

glorify their owners and builders. . . .

   The scene that next passed before me was an alarm

of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly

fireproof buildings and said: "They are perfectly safe."

But these buildings were consumed as if made of

pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the

destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the

engines.--9T 12, 13 (1909).

    <SB Chicago and Los Angeles <EB

 

     Scenes that would soon take place in Chicago and

other large cities also passed before me. As wickedness

increased and the protecting power of God was

withdrawn there were destructive winds and tempests.

Buildings were destroyed by fire and shaken

down by earthquakes. . . .

    Some time after this I was shown that the vision of

buildings in Chicago and the draft upon the means of

our people to erect them, and their destruction, was

an object lesson for our people, warning them not to

invest largely of their means in property in Chicago,

or any other city, unless the providence of God should

positively open the way and plainly point out duty to

build or buy as necessary in giving the note of warning.

 

114

 

A similar caution was given in regard to building

in Los Angeles. Repeatedly I have been instructed

that we must not invest means in the erection of

expensive buildings in cities.--PC 50 (1906).

  <SB San Francisco and Oakland <EB

 

     San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom

and Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them. Not far

hence they will suffer under His judgments.--Ms 30,

1903.

   The terrible earthquake that has visited San

Francisco[1. THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE

OF APRIL 18-19, 1906, LEFT 503 DEAD AND RESULTED

IN AN ESTIMATED $350 MILLION IN PROPERTY DAMAGE.]

will be followed by other manifestations of the

power of God. His law has been transgressed. Cities

have become polluted with sin. Study the history of

Nineveh. God sent a special message by Jonah to that

wicked city. . . . Many such messages as his would be

given in our age, if the wicked cities would repent as

did Nineveh.--Ms 61a, June 3, 1906.

   Even in the cities where the judgments of God have

fallen in consequence of such transgression there is no

sign of repentance. The saloons are still open, and

many temptations are kept before the people.--Letter

268, Aug. 20, 1906.

  <SB Other Wicked Cities <EB

 

      As we near the close of this earth's history, we shall

have the scenes of the San Francisco calamity repeated

 

                                                                          115

 

in other places. . . . These things make me feel

very solemn because I know that the judgment day is

right upon us. The judgments that have already come

are a warning, but not the finishing, of the punishment

that will come on wicked cities. . . .

  [Hab. 2:1-20; Zeph. 1:1-3:20; Zech. 1:1-4:14; Mal.

1:1-4, quoted.] These scenes will soon be witnessed,

just as they are clearly described. I present these

wonderful statements from the Scriptures for the

consideration of everyone. The prophecies recorded in

the Old Testament are the word of the Lord for the last

days, and will be fulfilled as surely as we have seen the

desolation of San Francisco.--Letter 154, May 26,

1906.

   I am bidden to declare the message that cities full

of transgression, and sinful in the extreme, will be

destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood.--Ev 27

(April 27, 1906).

   All the warnings of Christ regarding the events

that will occur near the close of this earth's history are

now being fulfilled in our large cities. God is permitting

these things to be brought to light that he who

runs may read. The city of San Francisco is a sample

of what the whole world is becoming. The wicked

bribery, the misappropriation of means, the fraudulent

transactions among men who have power to

release the guilty and condemn the innocent--all this

iniquity is filling other large cities of the earth and is

making the world as it was in the days that were

-BC- GC11

-TI- The Great Controversy

-CN- 39

-CT- The Time of Trouble

-PR- 04

-PG- 622

-TEXT-

     The "time of trouble, such as never was," is soon to open

upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not

now possess and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is

often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in

reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most

vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal.

In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before

God. "Though Noah, Daniel, and Job" were in the land, "as

I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son

 

                                                         623

 

nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their

righteousness." Ezekiel 14:20.

   Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement

for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not

even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to

the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some

point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is

cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their

power. But Christ declared of Himself: "The prince of this

world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." John 14:30. Satan

could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him

to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments,

and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use

to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must

be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.

  It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through

faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Saviour

invites us to join ourselves to Him, to unite our weakness to

His strength, our ignorance to His wisdom, our unworthiness

to His merits. God's providence is the school in which we

are to learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus. The Lord

is ever setting before us, not the way we would choose, which

seems easier and pleasanter to us, but the true aims of life. It

rests with us to co-operate with the agencies which Heaven

employs in the work of conforming our characters to the

divine model. None can neglect or defer this work but at

the most fearful peril to their souls.

     The apostle John in vision heard a loud voice in heaven

exclaiming: "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the

sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,

because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Revelation

12:12. Fearful are the scenes which call forth this

exclamation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan

increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and

destruction will reach its culmination in the time of trouble.

 

624

   Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be

revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working

demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the

kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them

in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his

last struggle against the government of heaven. By these

agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons

will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming the

title and worship which belong to the world's Redeemer.

They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will

profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the

testimony of the Scriptures.

   As the crowning act in the great drama of deception,

Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long

professed to look to the Saviour's advent as the consummation

of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear

that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan

will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of

dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son

of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15.

The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything

that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings

out upon the air: "Christ has come! Christ has come!" The

people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while

he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as

Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth.

His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle,

compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious,

heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the

diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of

Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and

commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He

declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh

day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his

angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong,

almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who

 

                                                              625

 

were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the

least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This

is "the great power of God." Acts 8:10.

   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 upon whom the Bible declares

that God's unmingled wrath shall be poured out.

   And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the

manner of Christ's advent. The Saviour has warned His

people against deception upon this point, and has clearly

foretold the manner of His second coming. "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, 31; 25:31; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

This coming there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will

be universally known--witnessed by the whole world.

Only those who have been diligent students of the

Scriptures and 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. To all the testing time will come. By the

sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed.

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? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining

a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs

as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures,

cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that

 

626

 

their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life

and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief.

   As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom

against commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection

of government and abandon them to those who desire

their destruction, the people of God will flee from the cities

and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in

the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge

in the strongholds of the mountains. Like the Christians of

the Piedmont valleys, they will make the high places of the

earth their sanctuaries and will thank God for "the munitions

of rocks." Isaiah 33:16. But many of all nations and of

all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will

be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved

of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison

bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of

starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear

is open to hear their moans; no human hand is ready to lend

them help.

  Will the Lord forget His people in this trying hour? Did

He forget faithful Noah when judgments were visited upon

the antediluvian world? Did He forget Lot when the fire

came down from heaven to consume the cities of the plain?

Did He forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt?

Did He forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threatened

him with the fate of the prophets of Baal? Did He forget

Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison house?

Did He forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or

Daniel in the den of lions?

  "Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath

forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that

she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I

have graven thee upon the palms of My hands." Isaiah

49:14-16. The Lord hosts has said: "He that toucheth

you toucheth the apple of His eye." Zechariah 2:8.

 

                                                          627

   Though enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dungeon

walls cannot cut off the communication between their

souls and Christ. One who sees their every weakness, who is

acquainted with every trial, is above all earthly powers; and

angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringing light and

peace from heaven. The prison will be as a palace; for the

rich in faith dwell there, and the gloomy walls will be lighted

up with heavenly light as when Paul and Silas prayed and

sang praises at midnight in the Philippian dungeon.

  God's judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking

to oppress and destroy His people. His long forbearance

with the wicked emboldens men in transgression, but their

punishment is nonetheless certain and terrible because it is

long delayed. "The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim,

He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do

His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His

strange act." Isaiah 28:21. To our merciful God the act of

punishment is a strange act. "As I live, saith the Lord God,

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Ezekiel 33:11.

The Lord is "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and

abundant in goodness and truth, . . . forgiving iniquity

and transgression and sin." Yet He will "by no means clear

the guilty." The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power,

and will not at all acquit the wicked." Exodus 34:6, 7; Nahum

1:3. By terrible things in righteousness He will vindicate

the authority of His downtrodden law. The severity of

the retribution awaiting the transgressor may be judged by

the Lord's reluctance to execute justice. The nation with

which He bears long, and which He will not smite until it

has filled up the measure of its iniquity in God's account,

will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed with mercy.

   When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the

unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the

beast and his image and receive his mark (Revelation 14:9,

10), will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God

was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to those

 

628

 

more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon

the world just before the final deliverance of God's people.

Says the revelator, in describing those terrific scourges:

"There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which

had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped

his image." The sea "became as the blood of a dead man:

and every living soul died in the sea." And "the rivers and

fountains of waters . . . became blood." Terrible as these

inflictions are, God's justice stands fully vindicated. The

angel of God declares: "Thou art righteous, O Lord, . . .

because Thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood

of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to

drink; for they are worthy." Revelation 16:2-6. By

condemning the people of God to death, they have as truly

incurred the guilt of their blood as if it had been shed by their

hands. In like manner Christ declared the Jews of His time

guilty of all the blood of holy men which had been shed since

the days of Abel; for they possessed the same spirit and were

seeking to do the same work with these murderers of the

prophets.

  In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun "to

scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great

heat." Verses 8, 9. The prophets thus describe the condition

of the earth at this fearful time: "The land mourneth; . . .

because the harvest of the field is perished. . . . All the trees

of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from

the sons of men." "The seed is rotten under their clods, the

garners are laid desolate. . . . How do the beasts groan!

the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no

pasture. . . . The rivers of water are dried up, and the fire

hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." "The songs of the

temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God:

there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast

them forth with silence." Joel 1:10-12, 17-20; Amos 8:3.

  These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the

earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most

 

                                                     629

 

awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All

the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation,

have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of

Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure

of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured

out unmixed with mercy.

In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God's

mercy which they have so long despised. "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 8:11, 12.

 

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