The Best Specification We Can Have, December 17

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13.

We are Adventists. We are looking for the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we love to think about it. We know in whom we have believed, and are not afraid to commit the keeping of our souls unto Him against that day. We are not at all humiliated by confessing ourselves to be Adventists….

We believe the Sabbath of the fourth commandment because it is written plainly and is the foundation of our religious faith. Let none of us be ashamed of this…. We accept not the authority of men's councils, but we go further back, even to the councils of heaven. “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89). We take a “Thus saith the Lord.” Here we stand. A doctrine that has not a “Thus saith the Lord” may be accepted by the whole world, but that does not make it truth…. If we want to know the way to heaven we must study the Bible, not man-made theories or man's suppositions…. We are not at all ashamed of our faith, Seventh-day Adventism, for it is the very best specification we can have. We are waiting for the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Men may scoff and ridicule our faith, but this should not provoke or surprise us. All these demonstrations do not make the truth error, neither do they make error truth. We take our stand firmly and unmovably upon the platform of the Word of God….

Eternal realities must be kept before the mind's eye, and the attractions of the world will appear as they are—altogether profitless…. We are pilgrims and strangers who are waiting, hoping, and praying for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If we believe this and bring it into our practical life, what vigorous action would this faith and hope inspire; what fervent love one for another; what careful holy living for the glory of God; and … what distinct lines of demarcation would be evidenced between us and the world! ^{20Manuscript 39, 1893.}

It Will Not Be Long, December 16

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.

It will not be long until the gathering storm will burst upon the world that is so asleep in sin…. When the earth is reeling to and fro like a drunkard, when the heavens are shaking, and the great day of the Lord has come, who shall be able to stand? One object they behold in trembling agony from which they will try in vain to escape. “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him” (Revelation 1:7). The unsaved utter wild imprecations to dumb nature—their god: “Mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne’” (Revelation 6:16).

Creation is loyal to her God, and deaf to the frenzied call. That unrequited love is now turned to wrath. Sinners who would not let Jesus take away their sins are rushing from place to place in search of a hiding place, crying, The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and our souls are not saved! …

That Lamb whose wrath will be so terrible to the scorners of His grace will be grace and righteousness and love and blessing to all who have received Him. The pillar of cloud that was dark with terror and avenging wrath to the Egyptians, was to the people of God a pillar of fire for brightness. So will it be to the Lord's people in these last days. The light and glory of God to His commandment-keeping people are darkness to the unbelieving. They see that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The arm, long stretched, strong to save all who come unto Him, is strong to execute His judgment upon all who would not come unto Him that they might have life. God grant that while mercy still lingers, while the voice of invitation is still heard, there will be a turning unto the Lord. The sure provision has been made to shelter every soul and shield those who have kept His commandments until the indignation be overpast.^{19Letter 137, 1896.}

A Safe Hiding Place, December 15

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10.

God keeps a reckoning with the nations…. In this age a more than common contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full…. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. When the angel of mercy folds her wings and departs, Satan will do the evil deeds he has long wished to do. Storm and tempest, war and bloodshed—in these things he delights, and thus he gathers in his harvest. And so completely will men be deceived by him that they will declare that these calamities are the result of the desecration of the first day of the week. From the pulpits of the popular churches will be heard the statement that the world is being punished because Sunday is not honored as it should be….

Satan will bring in pleasing fables to meet the minds of all who love not the truth. With angry zeal he will accuse commandment keepers…. Satan claims the world, but there is a little company who withstand his devices and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Satan sets himself to destroy this commandment-keeping company. But God is their tower of defense. He will raise up for them a standard against the enemy. He will be to them “as an hiding place from the wind,” and “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2). He will say to them, “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. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:20, 21). “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10).^{18The Review and Herald, September 17, 1901.}

Crisis of the Ages, December 14

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. Jeremiah 30:7.

The fulfilling of the signs of the times gives evidence that the day of the Lord is near at hand…. The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling…. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation's hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agents to work, that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced until the day of probation shall be ended and the door of mercy be forever shut….

The “time of trouble, such as never was” (Daniel 12:1) is soon to open upon us, and we shall need an experience which many are too indolent to obtain…. 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.

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: … He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (Psalm 50:3-5).^{17The Review and Herald, March 14, 1912.}

Qualifications of Heavenly Citizenship, December 13

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14.

“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). I want to sow for time and eternity. My heart hungers and thirsts after righteousness. I want my life hid in Christ Jesus, that my sowing shall bring me the right kind of a harvest. I feel deeply in regard to my own self, for every day, in words or in actions, I am sowing either tares or wheat. I want to sow for time or eternity. I have lived nearly the period of my allotted time, and what shall the harvest be? I want a quiet and unwavering trust in the Most High. I have experienced His protecting care in a remarkable manner when following the path of duty. I want to go down to the grave as a shock of corn fully ripe. I want no complaining in my heart; only gratitude should abide there. God's mercy and His loving-kindness are to be kept, not as a thing out of mind, but as something so precious as never to be forgotten. As eyewitnesses of His majesty we may exalt and praise His holy name. We are with Him in the holy mount.

Every moment of time is precious and weighty with eternal consequences. We are in a world of appearances which mock and deceive like the apples of Sodom. O how the Lord looks upon the double-dealing and the duplicity which is in our world! If we could not get a glimpse above and beyond the clouds to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness we might well be downcast, but Jesus lives….

The discipline in the school of Christ will cause the church to lean upon the arm of her Beloved. The redeemed of the Lord shall at last come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, in victorious triumph. All the angelic hosts will rejoice over them with singing. But what are the qualifications of our citizenship? “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” ^{16Manuscript 7a, 1896.}