EGW WritingsMatthew 24

The Signs of the Times

November 20, 1884

ST November 20, 1884, par. 1

A short time before Jesus entered Gethsemane to bear the sins of the world, he gave the memorable discourse recorded in the Matthew 24:1 and Matthew 25:1, including the parable of the talents, given in chap. 25: 14-30. He was a partaker of our human nature, and was wearied with the work of the day. The Pharisees had pressed him into speaking on various subjects, while they watched his words, hoping to seize upon something whereby they might condemn him and vindicate themselves in their cruel purpose toward him; and he had exhausted his strength by prolonging his words of prediction and warning. His own words were, “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work.”

Manuscript Releases, vol. 21 [Nos. 1501-1598]

MR No. 1515—God’s Judgments on the Cities

21MR 79.9

For years Jesus labored to convince the Jews that great calamities would come upon their nation unless they should repent. Christ pronounced the woes that would come upon Jerusalem. To the blind priests and unbelieving Pharisees He spoke words of entreaty, but denounced the wickedness of their course. [Matthew 23:34; 24:1, 2, quoted.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 170, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 170, 1897, par. 14

Matthew 24:1-13; James 5:7, 8. The Lord would have His people a sharp, discerning, spiritually sharp-minded people. The worldly policy is not in any sense to be the policy or principle of God’s commandment-keeping people. Deuteronomy 10:17, 18.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Lt 18a, 1906

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 13

“And Jesus went out and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him, for to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily, I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” [Matthew 23:37-39; 24:1, 2.]

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 16

Read this whole twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. The Lord, we know, is near, at the door, and we must move carefully in the Lord’s way. Christ has warned us of the judgments that will come upon cities, because their inhabitants have greatly dishonored God. Now is our opportunity to warn the world that the end of all things is at hand.

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 17

“Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and would 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.” [Verses 42-44.]

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 19

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” [Verses 45, 46.] Where are the faithful and wise servants in our cities today?

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 20

“Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.” [Verse 47.]

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 21

That servant who diligently searches the Word, speaking the words of truth in faithful warnings, calling attention to the dangers that beset the world, Christ calls a faithful and wise servant. Let those in each town and city who have read these warnings manifest a diligent concern for souls. Let them speak of the truths of the Word of God. “Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” [Verse 46.] May the Lord arouse His people from their condition of sleepy indifference!

21LtMs, Lt 18a, 1906, par. 22

“But, and if that evil servant shall say in his heart (and what he says in his heart his actions will manifest), My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken: the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Verses 48-51.]

The Desire of Ages

Chapter 69—On the Mount of Olives

DA 627.1

Christ’s words to the priests and rulers, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), had struck terror to their hearts. They affected indifference, but the question kept rising in their minds as to the import of these words. An unseen danger seemed to threaten them. Could it be that the magnificent temple, which was the nation’s glory, was soon to be a heap of ruins? The foreboding of evil was shared by the disciples, and they anxiously waited for some more definite statement from Jesus. As they passed with Him out of the temple, they called His attention to its strength and beauty. The stones of the temple were of the purest marble, of perfect whiteness, and some of them of almost fabulous size. A portion of the wall had withstood the siege by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. In its perfect masonry it appeared like one solid stone dug entire from the quarry. How those mighty walls could be overthrown the disciples could not comprehend.

DA 627.2

As Christ’s attention was attracted to the magnificence of the temple, what must have been the unuttered thoughts of that Rejected One! The view before Him was indeed beautiful, but He said with sadness, I see it all. The buildings are indeed wonderful. You point to these walls as apparently indestructible; but listen to My words: The day will come when “there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

DA 628.1

Christ’s words had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people; but when He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him as He sat upon the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they said, “when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration in that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth’s history.

DA 628.2

Turning to the disciples, Christ said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Many false messiahs will appear, claiming to work miracles, and declaring that the time of the deliverance of the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many. Christ’s words were fulfilled. Between His death and the siege of Jerusalem many false messiahs appeared. But this warning was given also to those who live in this age of the world. The same deceptions practiced prior to the destruction of Jerusalem have been practiced through the ages, and will be practiced again.

DA 628.3

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, men wrestled for the supremacy. Emperors were murdered. Those supposed to be standing next the throne were slain. There were wars and rumors of wars. “All these things must come to pass,” said Christ, “but the end [of the Jewish nation as a nation] is not yet. For 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.” Christ said, As the rabbis see these signs, they will declare them to be God’s judgments upon the nations for holding in bondage His chosen people. They will declare that these signs are the token of the advent of the Messiah. Be not deceived; they are the beginning of His judgments. The people have looked to themselves. They have not repented and been converted that I should heal them. The signs that they represent as tokens of their release from bondage are signs of their destruction.

DA 629.1

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” All this the Christians suffered. Fathers and mothers betrayed their children. Children betrayed their parents. Friends delivered their friends up to the Sanhedrin. The persecutors wrought out their purpose by killing Stephen, James, and other Christians.

DA 630.1

Through His servants, God gave the Jewish people a last opportunity to repent. He manifested Himself through His witnesses in their arrest, in their trial, and in their imprisonment. Yet their judges pronounced on them the death sentence. They were men of whom the world was not worthy, and by killing them the Jews crucified afresh the Son of God. So it will be again. The authorities will make laws to restrict religious liberty. They will assume the right that is God’s alone. They will think they can force the conscience, which God alone should control. Even now they are making a beginning; this work they will continue to carry forward till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose in behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people.

DA 630.2

On every occasion when persecution takes place, those who witness it make decisions either for Christ or against Him. Those who manifest sympathy for the ones wrongly condemned show their attachment for Christ. Others are offended because the principles of truth cut directly across their practice. Many stumble and fall, apostatizing from the faith they once advocated. Those who apostatize in time of trial will, to secure their own safety, bear false witness, and betray their brethren. Christ has warned us of this, that we may not be surprised at the unnatural, cruel course of those who reject the light.

DA 630.3

Christ gave His disciples a sign of the ruin to come on Jerusalem, and He told them how to escape: “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” This warning was given to be heeded forty years after, at the destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians obeyed the warning, and not a Christian perished in the fall of the city.

DA 630.4

“Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter; neither on the Sabbath day,” Christ said. He who made the Sabbath did not abolish it, nailing it to His cross. The Sabbath was not rendered null and void by His death. Forty years after His crucifixion it was still to be held sacred. For forty years the disciples were to pray that their flight might not be on the Sabbath day.

DA 630.5

From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on rapidly to the greater event, the last link in the chain of this earth’s history,—the coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. Between these two events, there lay open to Christ’s view long centuries of darkness, centuries for His church marked with blood and tears and agony. Upon these scenes His disciples could not then endure to look, and Jesus passed them by with a brief mention. “Then shall be great tribulation,” He said, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” For more than a thousand years such persecution as the world had never before known was to come upon Christ’s followers. Millions upon millions of His faithful witnesses were to be slain. Had not God’s hand been stretched out to preserve His people, all would have perished. “But for the elect’s sake,” He said, “those days shall be shortened.”

DA 631.1

Now, in unmistakable language, our Lord speaks of His second coming, and He gives warning of dangers to precede His advent to the world. “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For 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. Behold, I have told you before. 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.” As one of the signs of Jerusalem’s destruction, Christ had said, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” False prophets did rise, deceiving the people, and leading great numbers into the desert. Magicians and sorcerers, claiming miraculous power, drew the people after them into the mountain solitudes. But this prophecy was spoken also for the last days. This sign is given as a sign of the second advent. Even now false christs and false prophets are showing signs and wonders to seduce His disciples. Do we not hear the cry, “Behold, He is in the desert”? Have not thousands gone forth into the desert, hoping to find Christ? And from thousands of gatherings where men profess to hold communion with departed spirits is not the call now heard, “Behold, He is in the secret chambers”? This is the very claim that spiritism puts forth. But what says Christ? “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.”

DA 631.2

The Saviour gives signs of His coming, and more than this, He fixes the time when the first of these signs shall appear: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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.”

DA 632.1

At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the stars should fall from heaven. And He says, “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 He is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:32, 33, margin.

DA 632.2

Christ has given signs of His coming. He declares that we may know when He is near, even at the doors. He says of those who see these signs, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” These signs have appeared. Now we know of a surety that the Lord’s coming is at hand. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” He says, “but My words shall not pass away.”

DA 632.3

Christ is coming with clouds and with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend Him. He will come to raise the dead, and to change the living saints from glory to glory. He will come to honor those who have loved Him, and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. He has not forgotten them nor His promise. There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. A little longer, and we shall see the King in His beauty. A little longer, and He will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little longer, and He will present us “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 1:24. Wherefore, when He gave the signs of His coming He said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

DA 632.4

But the day and the hour of His coming Christ has not revealed. He stated plainly to His disciples that He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second appearing. Had He been at liberty to reveal this, why need He have exhorted them to maintain an attitude of constant expectancy? There are those who claim to know the very day and hour of our Lord’s appearing. Very earnest are they in mapping out the future. But the Lord has warned them off the ground they occupy. The exact time of the second coming of the Son of man is God’s mystery.

DA 633.1

Christ continues, pointing out the condition of the world at His coming: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 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.” Christ does not here bring to view a temporal millennium, a thousand years in which all are to prepare for eternity. He tells us that as it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of man comes again.

DA 633.2

How was it in Noah’s day? “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world turned from Jehovah, refusing to do His holy will. They followed their own unholy imagination and perverted ideas. It was because of their wickedness that they were destroyed; and today the world is following the same way. It presents no flattering signs of millennial glory. The transgressors of God’s law are filling the earth with wickedness. Their betting, their horse racing, their gambling, their dissipation, their lustful practices, their untamable passions, are fast filling the world with violence.

DA 633.3

In the prophecy of Jerusalem’s destruction Christ said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” This prophecy will again be fulfilled. The abounding iniquity of that day finds its counterpart in this generation. So with the prediction in regard to the preaching of the gospel. Before the fall of Jerusalem, Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, declared that the gospel was preached to “every creature which is under heaven.” Colossians 1:23. So now, before the coming of the Son of man, the everlasting gospel is to be preached “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Revelation 14:6, 14. God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.” Acts 17:31. Christ tells us when that day shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord’s return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God. 2 Peter 3:12, margin. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth in power and great glory.

DA 634.1

After He had given the signs of His coming, Christ said, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “Take ye heed, watch and pray.” God has always given men warning of coming judgments. Those who had faith in His message for their time, and who acted out their faith, in obedience to His commandments, escaped the judgments that fell upon the disobedient and unbelieving. The word came to Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me.” Noah obeyed and was saved. The message came to Lot, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.” Genesis 7:1; 19:14. Lot placed himself under the guardianship of the heavenly messengers, and was saved. So Christ’s disciples were given warning of the destruction of Jerusalem. Those who watched for the sign of the coming ruin, and fled from the city, escaped the destruction. So now we are given warning of Christ’s second coming and of the destruction to fall upon the world. Those who heed the warning will be saved.

DA 634.2

Because we know not the exact time of His coming, we are commanded to watch. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching.” Luke 12:37. Those who watch for the Lord’s coming are not waiting in idle expectancy. The expectation of Christ’s coming is to make men fear the Lord, and fear His judgments upon transgression. It is to awaken them to the great sin of rejecting His offers of mercy. Those who are watching for the Lord are purifying their souls by obedience to the truth. With vigilant watching they combine earnest working. Because they know that the Lord is at the door, their zeal is quickened to co-operate with the divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. These are the faithful and wise servants who give to the Lord’s household “their portion of meat in due season.” Luke 12:42. They are declaring the truth that is now specially applicable. As Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so will Christ’s servants now give the special warning for their generation.

DA 634.3

But Christ brings to view another class: “If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him.”

DA 635.1

The evil servant says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” He does not say that Christ will not come. He does not scoff at the idea of His second coming. But in his heart and by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay. They are confirmed in their worldliness and stupor. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant eats and drinks with the drunken, unites with the world in pleasure seeking. He smites his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. He mingles with the world. Like grows with like in transgression. It is a fearful assimilation. With the world he is taken in the snare. “The lord of that servant shall come ... in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.”

DA 635.2

“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.” Revelation 3:3. The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers. They are saying, “Peace and safety.” Like the priests and teachers before the fall of Jerusalem, they look for the church to enjoy earthly prosperity and glory. The signs of the times they interpret as foreshadowing this. But what saith the word of Inspiration? “Sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth, upon all who make this world their home, the day of God will come as a snare. It comes to them as a prowling thief.

DA 635.3

The world, full of rioting, full of godless pleasure, is asleep, asleep in carnal security. Men are putting afar off the coming of the Lord. They laugh at warnings. The proud boast is made, “All things continue as they were from the beginning.” “Tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” 2 Peter 3:4; Isaiah 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Revelation 16:15. At the very time when the world is asking in scorn, “Where is the promise of His coming?” the signs are fulfilling. While they cry, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction is coming. When the scorner, the rejecter of truth, has become presumptuous; when the routine of work in the various money-making lines is carried on without regard to principle; when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief.

DA 636.1

Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade. Who can read the future? Where is security? There is assurance in nothing that is human or earthly. Rapidly are men ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen. Restlessly are they waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are waiting and watching and working for our Lord’s appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. Few believe with heart and soul that we have a hell to shun and a heaven to win.

DA 636.2

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. Men are jostling one against another, contending for the highest place. 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 agencies at 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.

DA 636.3

Solemnly there come to us down through the centuries the warning words of our Lord from the Mount of Olives: “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.”

The Great Controversy

Chapter 22—Prophecies Fulfilled

GC 393.2

The parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 also illustrates the experience of the Adventist people. In Matthew 24, in answer to the question of His disciples concerning the sign of His coming and of the end of the world, Christ had pointed out some of the most important events in the history of the world and of the church from His first to His second advent; namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, the great tribulation of the church under the pagan and papal persecutions, the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars. After this He spoke of His coming in His kingdom, and related the parable describing the two classes of servants who look for His appearing. Chapter 25 opens with the words: “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” Here is brought to view the church living in the last days, the same that is pointed out in the close of chapter 24. In this parable their experience is illustrated by the incidents of an Eastern marriage.

GC 393.4

The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel’s message, was understood to be represented by the coming of the bridegroom. The widespread reformation under the proclamation of His soon coming, answered to the going forth of the virgins. In this parable, as in that of Matthew 24, two classes are represented. All had taken their lamps, the Bible, and by its light had gone forth to meet the Bridegroom. But while “they that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them,” “the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” The latter class had received the grace of God, the regenerating, enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, which renders His word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. In the fear of God they had studied the Scriptures to learn the truth, and had earnestly sought for purity of heart and life. These had a personal experience, a faith in God and in His word, which could not be overthrown by disappointment and delay. Others “took their lamps, and took no oil with them.” They had moved from impulse. Their fears had been excited by the solemn message, but they had depended upon the faith of their brethren, satisfied with the flickering light of good emotions, without a thorough understanding of the truth or a genuine work of grace in the heart. These had gone forth to meet the Lord, full of hope in the prospect of immediate reward; but they were not prepared for delay and disappointment. When trials came, their faith failed, and their lights burned dim.

The Great Controversy (1888 ed.)

Chapter 22—Prophecies Fulfilled

GC88 393.1

The parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25, also illustrates the experience of the Adventist people. In Matthew 24, in answer to the question of his disciples concerning the sign of his coming and of the end of the world, Christ had pointed out some of the most important events in the history of the world and of the church from his first to his second advent; namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, the great tribulation of the church under the pagan and papal persecutions, the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars. After this he spoke of his coming in his kingdom, and related the parable describing the two classes of servants who look for his appearing. Chapter 25 opens with the words, “Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” Here is brought to view the church living in the last days, the same that is pointed out in the close of chapter 24. In this parable their experience is illustrated by the incidents of an Eastern marriage.

GC88 393.3

The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel’s message, was understood to be represented by the coming of the bridegroom. The widespread reformation under the proclamation of his soon coming, answered to the going forth of the virgins. In this parable, as in that of Matthew 24, two classes are represented. All had taken their lamps, the Bible, and by its light had gone forth to meet the Bridegroom. But while “they that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them,” “the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” The latter class had received the grace of God, the regenerating, enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, which renders his Word a lamp to the feet and a light to the path. In the fear of God they had studied the Scriptures to learn the truth, and had earnestly sought for purity of heart and life. These had a personal experience, a faith in God and in his Word, which could not be overthrown by disappointment and delay. Others “took their lamps, and took no oil with them.” They had moved from impulse. Their fears had been excited by the solemn message, but they had depended upon the faith of their brethren, satisfied with the flickering light of good emotions, without a thorough understanding of the truth, or a genuine work of grace in the heart. These had gone forth to meet the Lord, full of hope in the prospect of immediate reward; but they were not prepared for delay and disappointment. When trials came, their faith failed, and their lights burned dim.

Ellen G. White: The Early Years: 1827-1862 (vol. 1)

Troubles in Europe and Their Supposed Significance

1BIO 153.2

Quite naturally, those expecting the near advent of Christ, being students of prophecy, kept a close eye on world events. This was particularly so through 1848 as troubles involving many nations suddenly broke out in Europe. The sweeping, prophetic review given by Jesus on the Mount of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, led to an interpretation of the troubles in Europe as an immediate precursor of the Second Advent. The words recorded in Matthew 24:29, 30, with reference to the shaking of the powers in heaven, seemed coercive:

1BIO 154.1

In the vision in Dorchester on November 18 there was a call for publishing the third angel’s message. Now three weeks later, on the evening of the Sabbath, at Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Ellen White was again in vision. This one clarified an interpretation of Matthew 24:29, 30.

From Heaven With Love

Chapter 69—Signs of the Second Coming of Christ

HLv 421.1

Christ’s words to the priests and rulers, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), had struck terror to their hearts. The question kept rising in their minds as to the import of these words. Could it be that the magnificent temple, the nation’s glory, was soon to be a heap of ruins?

HLv 421.2

The foreboding of evil was shared by the disciples. As they passed with Him out of the temple, they called His attention to its strength and beauty. The stones of the temple were of the purest marble, some of almost fabulous size. A portion of the wall had withstood the siege by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. In its perfect masonry it appeared like one solid stone dug entire from the quarry.

HLv 421.3

The view before Christ was indeed beautiful, but He said with sadness, I see it all. You point to these walls as apparently indestructible; but listen: The day will come when “there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

HLv 421.4

When He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him. “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus did not answer by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth’s history.

HLv 422.1

Christ said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Many false messiahs will appear, declaring that the time of the deliverance of the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many. Christ’s words were fulfilled. Between His death and the siege of Jerusalem many false messiahs appeared. The same deceptions will be practiced again.

HLv 422.2

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end [of the Jewish nation as a nation] is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” The rabbis will declare that these signs are the token of the advent of the Messiah. Be not deceived; the signs that they represent as tokens of their release from bondage are signs of their destruction.

HLv 422.3

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” All this the Christians suffered. Fathers and mothers betrayed their children, children their parents. Friends delivered friends up to the Sanhedrin. The persecutors killed Stephen, James, and other Christians.

HLv 422.4

Through His servants, God gave the Jewish people a last opportunity to repent. He manifested Himself in their arrest and trial, yet their judges pronounced on them the death sentence. By killing them, the Jews crucified afresh the Son of God. So it will be again. The authorities will make laws to restrict religious liberty. They will think they can force the conscience, which God alone should control. This work they will continue till they reach a boundary over which they cannot step. God will interpose in behalf of His loyal, commandment-keeping people.

HLv 423.1

When persecution takes place, many stumble and fall, apostatizing from the faith they once advocated. Those who apostatize in time of trial will, to secure their own safety, bear false witness and betray their brethren. Christ has warned us of this, that we may not be surprised at the unnatural, cruel course of those who reject the light.

HLv 423.2

Christ told His disciples how to escape the ruin to come on Jerusalem: “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.” This warning was given to be heeded forty years after, at the destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians obeyed the warning, and not one perished in the fall of the city.

HLv 423.3

“Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day,” Christ said. He who made the Sabbath did not abolish it. The Sabbath was not rendered null and void by His death. Forty years after His crucifixion it was still to be held sacred.

HLv 423.4

From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on rapidly to the last link in the chain of this earth’s history—the coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. Between these two events, there lay open to Christ’s view long centuries of darkness, centuries for His church marked with blood, tears, and agony. Jesus passed these scenes by with a brief mention. “Then shall be great tribulation,” He said, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

HLv 424.1

For more than a thousand years, persecution such as the world had never before known was to come upon Christ’s followers. Millions of His faithful witnesses were to be slain. Had not God’s hand been stretched out to preserve His people, all would have perished.

HLv 424.2

Now, in unmistakable language, our Lord speaks of His second coming: “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For 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... . 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.” From thousands of gatherings where men profess to hold communion with departed spirits is not the call now heard, “Behold, He is in the secret chambers”? This is the claim that spiritism puts forth. But what says Christ? “Believe it not.”

HLv 424.3

The Saviour gives signs of His coming and fixes the time when the first of these signs shall appear: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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.”

HLv 425.2

But Christ stated plainly that He Himself could not make known the day or the hour of His second appearing. The exact time of the second coming is God’s mystery.

HLv 425.3

Christ continues: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 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.”

HLv 425.4

How was it in Noah’s day? “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world followed their own unholy imagination and perverted ideas. Because of their wickedness they were destroyed. Today the world is following the same way. The transgressors of God’s law are filling the earth with wickedness. Their gambling, dissipation, lustful practices, and untamable passions are fast filling the world with violence.

HLv 426.1

Christ said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Before the fall of Jerusalem, Paul declared that the gospel was preached to “every creature which is under heaven.” Colossians 1:23. So now, the everlasting gospel is to be preached “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Revelation 14:6. Christ does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord’s return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God. See 2 Peter 3:12. Had the church done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and Jesus would have come.

HLv 426.2

Because we know not the exact time of His coming, we are commanded to watch. See Luke 12:37. Those who watch for the Lord’s coming are not waiting in idle expectancy. They are purifying their souls by obedience to the truth. With vigilant watching they combine earnest working. Their zeal is quickened to cooperate with divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. They are declaring the truth that is now specially applicable. As Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time, so will Christ’s servants now give the special warning for their generation.

HLv 427.1

But Christ brings to view another class: “If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him.”

HLv 427.2

The evil servant does not say that Christ will not come. But by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. His influence confirms men in their worldliness and stupor. Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. The evil servant smites his fellow servants, accusing and condemning those who are faithful to their Master. He mingles with the world, and with the world he is taken in the snare. “The lord of that servant shall come ... in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.”

HLv 427.3

The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers. Upon all who make this world their home, the day of God will come as a snare, as a prowling thief. Full of rioting, full of godless pleasure, the world is asleep in carnal security. Men laugh at warnings. “Tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.” Isaiah 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “I come as a thief.” Revelation 16:15. When the scorner has become presumptuous, when the routine of money-making is carried on without regard to principle, when the student is eagerly seeking knowledge of everything but his Bible, Christ comes as a thief.

HLv 427.4

The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity. Where is security? There is assurance in nothing human or earthly.

HLv 427.5

There are those who are waiting, watching, and working for our Lord’s appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building. Merchants are still buying and selling. Men are contending for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are 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 has set all his agencies at work that men may be deceived, occupied, and entranced until the door of mercy is forever shut.

HLv 428.1

“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.”

From Heaven With Love

Signs in the Heavens

HLv 424.4

At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the stars should fall from heaven. And He says, “When ye shall see all these things, know that He is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33, margin. Christ says of those who see these signs, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” These signs have appeared. Now we know of a surety that the Lord’s coming is at hand.

HLv 425.1

Christ is coming with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend Him. He will come to raise the dead and to change the living saints; to honor those who have loved Him and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. When we look on our dead, we may think of the morning when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. The King will wipe all tears from our eyes, and present us “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

Ms 6, 1849

Time of trouble, it will come right early. The signs shall be reacted over again;16

Some may see in this statement an assertion that certain biblical prophecies have dual fulfillments. Thus, for example, some may understand it to mean that the predictions of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 concerning a great earthquake, the sun becoming “black as sackcloth of hair,” the moon becoming as blood, and the stars falling were fulfilled a first time during the striking events of 1755, 1780, and 1833 but will receive a second fulfillment in the cataclysmic events just preceding the Second Coming. See, for example, Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 41. Another interpretation of this statement, however, is that the events of 1755, etc., were a unique fulfillment of Bible prophecy, but that similar catastrophic events will precede the Second Coming.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 9, 1891

7LtMs, Ms 9, 1891, par. 13

Why were five wise and five foolish? What does this parable teach? It follows another parable of our Saviour, recorded in the 24th chapter of Matthew, commencing with the 42nd verse. “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would 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. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?”

7LtMs, Ms 9, 1891, par. 15

Why was the caution given that “in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh”? [Matthew 24:44.] The people have been, in their finite minds, hunting up the reckoning that will bring the period of Christ’s coming almost to a certainty and a definite time set for that event. But did He come? No; and we did not expect that He would. No one knows the time, and therefore the caution is, “Watch.” [Verse 42.] What is the matter? You get your mind fixed on a definite point of time, and what are you doing? What influence does it have upon you? You are led to neglect the very duties of the day. It is the very little, small duties, that appear small to you at the present time, that you omit although they are of great importance. That is the reason the matter is left in uncertainty.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Lt 66, 1897

12LtMs, Lt 66, 1897, par. 3

I have been writing on Christ’s warnings to His disciples, found in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. The disciples asked Him, “Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” “Take heed that no man deceive you,” Christ answered. [Verses 3, 4.] Then, after giving them a list of events that were to happen, He said, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, shall be saved.” [Verses 9-13.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 40, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 40, 1897, par. 15

The four apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all bear record that Jew and Gentile, rulers, kings, and governors, priests and people, all classes and tongues, were represented in rejecting and crucifying Christ, the Son of God, a man who was innocent, and against whom they could find no proof. The synagogue of Satan, the prince of darkness and his evil agents, united in a desperate companionship with disloyal, evil men. They resolved to put the whole power of their corrupt energies to work to put out of the world the light of truth.

12LtMs, Ms 40, 1897, par. 20

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another, and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:3-14.]

12LtMs, Ms 40, 1897, par. 22

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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.” [Verses 23-31.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 79, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 79, 1897, par. 1

In the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew is described the second coming of Christ to our world: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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 the one end of heaven to the other.” “But of that day and that 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. 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.” [Matthew 24:30, 31, 36-39.]

12LtMs, Ms 79, 1897, par. 2

Then the warning is given: “Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ... Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily, I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Verses 42, 44-51.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 92a, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 92a, 1898, par. 36

These parables were spoken after the solemn lessons given in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters of Matthew, when Christ dwelt particularly upon His second coming, and revealed things which would transpire before His second appearing in the clouds of heaven. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” He said, “thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” [Matthew 23:37.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 77, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 77, 1899, par. 4

The ceremonial piety of the Jews was of no value with God, and calamity was permitted to come upon the nation, because they refused the only means which would bring them light and knowledge. Christ forewarned His disciples of the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs to take place prior to the coming of the Son of man. The whole of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is a prophecy concerning the events to precede this event, and the destruction of Jerusalem is used to typify the last great destruction of the world by fire. “This gospel of the kingdom,” He said, “shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee unto the mountains. ... But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” [Verses 14-16, 20.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 53, 1900

15LtMs, Lt 53, 1900, par. 4

In our Bible, we might ask, Why need Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Gospels, why need the Acts of the Apostles, and the variety of writers in the Epistles, go over the same thing?

15LtMs, Lt 53, 1900, par. 6

We are not to feel that we must speak the very same things, giving the same representation in the same words, and yet there is to be unity in the diversity. All the different testimonies unite to form one whole, as the books of the Bible are brought together, and bound under one cover. But should Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John go off on some tangent, contradicting each other’s testimony, then there would be confusion. In the presentation of truth by different minds, there is to be unity in diversity.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 49, 1902

17LtMs, Lt 49, 1902, par. 4

In the twenty-fourth of Matthew is recorded Christ’s prophecy in regard to the signs that precede His second coming. After mentioning some of them, 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. ... But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 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.” [Verses 32, 33, 36-39.]

17LtMs, Lt 49, 1902, par. 5

As the inhabitants of the antediluvian world “knew not” the time in which they were living, so the inhabitants of the world today know not, because they do not choose to know, that they are living in the last days. Christ has warned us to watch for His second coming. He says: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ... Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” Every one of us may well ask, Does this Scripture refer to me? Lord, is it I? “Blessed is that servant,” Christ says, “whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Verses 42, 45-51.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 90, 1902

17LtMs, Lt 90, 1902, par. 5

The twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew gives an outline of what is to come upon the world. We are living amid the perils of the last days. Those who are perishing in sin must be warned. The Lord calls upon every one to whom He has entrusted the talent of means to act as His helping hand by giving their money for the advancement of His work. Our money is a treasure lent us by the Lord, and it is to be invested in the work of giving to the world the last message of mercy. My brother, you can act a part in this work. You can help to sustain the Lord’s work in New York City. Remember that those who spend in self-gratification the money that should be used to open doors for gospel work suffer an eternal loss.

17LtMs, Lt 90, 1902, par. 7

“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 nigh, 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.” [Verses 32-35.]

17LtMs, Lt 90, 1902, par. 8

“Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would 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. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him in sunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Verses 42-51.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 91, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 91, 1903, par. 15

Why do we need a Matthew, a Mark, a Luke, a John, a Paul, and all these other writers who have borne their testimony in regard to the life of the Saviour during His earthly ministry? Why could not one of the disciples have written a complete record, and thus have given us a connected account of Christ’s life and work? The Gospels differ. One writer brings in points that another does not bring in. If these points are essential, why did not all these writers mention them? It is because the minds of men differ and do not comprehend all things in exactly the same way. Some Scripture truths appeal much more strongly to the minds of certain persons than to others; some points appear to be much more important to some than to others. The same principle applies to speakers. Some speakers dwell at considerable length on points that others would pass by quickly or not mention at all. Thus the whole truth is presented more clearly by several than by one. In the Gospels the records blend in one harmonious whole.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 62, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 62, 1903, par. 10

The twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is presented again and again by the great Teacher to be studied and brought to the attention of all. We are today living in the time when these predictions are being fulfilled.

18LtMs, Ms 62, 1903, par. 13

Jesus made plain statements of the conditions in the world in the last days. He said: “For 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. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.” [Verses 7-9.]

18LtMs, Ms 62, 1903, par. 14

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. 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.” [Verses 23-27.]

18LtMs, Ms 62, 1903, par. 16

Let no one turn away from another because he does not fully agree with him. The performance of God’s work is given to human agencies. God has given to every man his work. His servants are to carry the light to those who sit in darkness. Those who engage in dissension and strife are working against God. They show that they have left their first love. They are of those of whom Christ says, many shall “be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” [Matthew 24:10.] He does not here refer to the world. He pictures the conditions existing in the church. Is not this spirit now being revealed among us?

18LtMs, Ms 62, 1903, par. 17

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” [Verses 11, 12.] In our churches today, the love of many is waxing cold. Many are being worked by satanic agencies.

Last Day Events

Chapter 3—“When Shall These Things Be?”

LDE 32.1

Christ’s words [Matthew 24:2] had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people, but when He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him as He sat upon the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they said, “when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 87, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 87, 1897, par. 1

After hearing Christ’s words in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem, the disciples came to Him with the question, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” [Matthew 24:2, 3.] In answer, Christ gave them important lessons, interweaving with the destruction of Jerusalem a still greater destruction, the final destruction of [the] world. The warning here given the disciples as to what they would have to meet at the hands of their fellow men is a warning to us also.

12LtMs, Ms 87, 1897, par. 2

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,” Christ said, “and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” [Verses 9, 10.]

12LtMs, Ms 87, 1897, par. 3

Those who have been our companions in Christian association do not always maintain their fidelity. Envy and evil surmising, if cherished, will separate very friends. The words of Christ will be strictly fulfilled, “Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” [Verse 10.]

From Here to Forever

Magnificent Temple Doomed

HF 20.2

Jesus made the solemn and startling reply: “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2. The Lord had told the disciples that He would come the second time. Hence, at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted to that coming, and they asked: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3.

HF 20.4

Judgments were to fall upon Israel for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” Matthew 24:15, 16.

The Great Controversy

Chapter 1—The Destruction of Jerusalem

GC 25.1

To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply: “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2.

GC 25.2

With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the events of Christ’s personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of universal empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the nation the Roman yoke. The Lord had told them that He would come the second time. Hence at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted to that coming; and as they were gathered about the Saviour upon the Mount of Olives, they asked: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Verse 3.

GC 25.4

Jesus declared to the listening disciples the judgments that were to fall upon apostate Israel, and especially the retributive vengeance that would come upon them for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signs would precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would come suddenly and swiftly. And the Saviour warned His followers: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” Matthew 24:15, 16; Luke 21:20, 21. When the idolatrous standards of the Romans should be set up in the holy ground, which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When the warning sign should be seen, those who would escape must make no delay. Throughout the land of Judea, as well as in Jerusalem itself, the signal for flight must be immediately obeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must not go down into his house, even to save his most valued treasures. Those who were working in the fields or vineyards must not take time to return for the outer garment laid aside while they should be toiling in the heat of the day. They must not hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the general destruction.

GC 26.1

In the reign of Herod, Jerusalem had not only been greatly beautified, but by the erection of towers, walls, and fortresses, adding to the natural strength of its situation, it had been rendered apparently impregnable. He who would at this time have foretold publicly its destruction, would, like Noah in his day, have been called a crazed alarmist. But Christ had said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35. Because of her sins, wrath had been denounced against Jerusalem, and her stubborn unbelief rendered her doom certain.

GC 37.1

But in that day, as in the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, God’s people will be delivered, everyone that shall be found written among the living. Isaiah 4:3. Christ has declared that He 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. Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire.

GC 37.2

Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares: “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; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17. Those who behold these harbingers of His coming are to “know that it is near, even at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. “Watch ye therefore,” are His words of admonition. Mark 13:35. They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch, “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.

The Great Controversy (1888 ed.)

Chapter 1—Destruction of Jerusalem

GC88 25.2

To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” [Matthew 24:2.]

GC88 25.3

With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the events of Christ’s personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of universal empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the nation the Roman yoke. The Lord had told them that he would come the second time. Hence at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted to that coming, and as they were gathered about the Saviour upon the Mount of Olives, they asked, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” [Matthew 24:3.]

GC88 26.1

Jesus declared to the listening disciples the judgments that were to fall upon apostate Israel, and especially the retributive vengeance that would come upon them for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signs would precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would come suddenly and swiftly. And the Saviour warned his followers: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” [Matthew 24:15, 16; Luke 21:20.] When the idolatrous standards of the Romans should be set up in the holy ground, which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When the warning sign should be seen, those who would escape must make no delay. Throughout the land of Judea, as well as in Jerusalem itself, the signal for flight must be immediately obeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must not go down into his house, even to save his most valued treasures. Those who were working in the fields or vineyards must not take time to return for the outer garment laid aside while they should be toiling in the heat of the day. They must not hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the general destruction.

GC88 26.2

In the reign of Herod, Jerusalem had not only been greatly beautified, but by the erection of towers, walls, and fortresses, adding to the natural strength of its situation, it had been rendered apparently impregnable. He who would at this time have foretold publicly its destruction, would, like Noah in his day, have been called a crazed alarmist. But Christ had said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” [Matthew 24:35.] Because of her sins, wrath had been denounced against Jerusalem, and her stubborn unbelief rendered her doom certain.

GC88 37.2

But in that day, as in the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, God’s people will be delivered, “every one that shall be found written among the living.” Christ has declared that he 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.] Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and be destroyed with the brightness of his coming. [2 Thessalonians 2:8.] Like Israel of old, the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the manifestation of his glory is to them a consuming fire.

GC88 38.1

Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As he warned his disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape, so he has warned the world of the day of final destruction, and has given them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares, “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; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17.] Those who behold these harbingers of his coming are to “know that it is near, even at the doors.” [Matthew 24:33.] “Watch ye therefore,” [Mark 13:35.] are his words of admonition. They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch, “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” [1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.]

The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4

Chapter 1—Destruction of Jerusalem

4SP 25.2

To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” [Matthew 24:2.]

4SP 25.3

With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the events of Christ’s personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of universal empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the nation the Roman yoke. The Lord had told them that he would come the second time. Hence at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds revert to that coming, and as they are gathered about the Saviour upon the Mount of Olives, they ask, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” [Matthew 24:3.]

4SP 26.2

Jesus declared to the listening disciples the judgments that were to fall upon apostate Israel, and especially the retributive vengeance that would come upon them for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signs would precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would come suddenly and swiftly. And the Saviour warned his followers: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” [Matthew 24:15, 16.] When the idolatrous standards of the Romans should be set up in the holy ground, which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When the warning sign should be seen, judgment was to follow so quickly that those who would escape must make no delay. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must not go down through his house into the street; but he must speed his way from roof to roof until he reach the city wall, and be saved “so as by fire.” Those who were working in the fields or vineyards must not take time to return for the outer garment laid aside while they should be toiling in the heat of the day. They must not hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the general destruction.

4SP 27.1

In the reign of Herod, Jerusalem had not only been greatly beautified, but by the erection of towers, walls, and fortresses, added to the natural strength of its situation, it had been rendered apparently impregnable. He who would at this time have foretold publicly its destruction, would, like Noah in his day, have been called a crazed alarmist. But Christ had said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” [Matthew 24:35.] Because of her sins, wrath had been denounced against Jerusalem, and her stubborn unbelief rendered her doom certain.

4SP 37.1

The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible scene was but a faint shadow. The second advent of the Son of God is foretold by lips which make no mistake: “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.] Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed with the brightness of his coming. [2 Thessalonians 2:8.]

Christ Triumphant

“When Shall These Things Be?” December 12

CTr 353.1

The disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Matthew 24:3.

The Great Controversy

Chapter 20—A Great Religious Awakening

GC 359.2

Wolff believed the coming of the Lord to be at hand, his interpretation of the prophetic periods placing the great consummation within a very few years of the time pointed out by Miller. To those who urged from the scripture, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” that men are to know nothing concerning the nearness of the advent, Wolff replied: “Did our Lord say that that day and hour should never be known? Did He not give us signs of the times, in order that we may know at least the approach of His coming, as one knows the approach of the summer by the fig tree putting forth its leaves? Matthew 24:32. Are we never to know that period, whilst He Himself exhorteth us not only to read Daniel the prophet, but to understand it? and in that very Daniel, where it is said that the words were shut up to the time of the end (which was the case in his time), and that ‘many shall run to and fro’ (a Hebrew expression for observing and thinking upon the time), ‘and knowledge’ (regarding that time) ‘shall be increased.’ Daniel 12:4. Besides this, our Lord does not intend to say by this, that the approach of the time shall not be known, but that the exact ‘day and hour knoweth no man.’ Enough, He does say, shall be known by the signs of the times, to induce us to prepare for His coming, as Noah prepared the ark.”—Wolff, Researches and Missionary Labors, pages 404, 405.

GC 370.2

“No man knoweth the day nor the hour” was the argument most often brought forward by rejecters of the advent faith. The scripture is: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36. A clear and harmonious explanation of this text was given by those who were looking for the Lord, and the wrong use made of it by their opponents was clearly shown. The words were spoken by Christ in that memorable conversation with His disciples upon Olivet after He had for the last time departed from the temple. The disciples had asked the question: “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus gave them signs, and said: “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Verses 3, 33. One saying of the Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the day nor the hour of His coming, we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming. And the parable in the same chapter, contrasting the faithful and the unfaithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said in his heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” shows in what light Christ will regard and reward those whom He finds watching, and teaching His coming, and those denying it. “Watch therefore,” He says. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.” Verses 42, 46. “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.” Revelation 3:3.

The Three Angels’ Messages

Historical setting

3AM 46.2

“No man knoweth the day nor the hour” was the argument most often brought forward by rejecters of the advent faith. The scripture is: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36. A clear and harmonious explanation of this text was given by those who were looking for the Lord, and the wrong use made of it by their opponents was clearly shown. The words were spoken by Christ in that memorable conversation with His disciples upon Olivet after He had for the last time departed from the temple. The disciples had asked the question: “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus gave them signs, and said: “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Verses 3, 33. One saying of the Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the day nor the hour of His coming, we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming. And the parable in the same chapter, contrasting the faithful and the unfaithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said in his heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” shows in what light Christ will regard and reward those whom He finds watching, and teaching His coming, and those denying it. “Watch therefore,” He says. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.” Verses 42, 46. “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.” Revelation 3:3.

The Great Controversy (1888 ed.)

Chapter 20—A Great Religious Awakening

GC88 370.2

“No man knoweth the day nor the hour,” was the argument most often brought forward by rejecters of the Advent faith. The scripture is, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only.” [Matthew 24:36]. A clear and harmonious explanation of this text was given by those who were looking for the Lord, and the wrong use made of it by their opponents was clearly shown. The words were spoken by Christ in that memorable conversation with his disciples upon Olivet, after he had for the last time departed from the temple. The disciples had asked the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” [Matthew 24:3, 33, 42-51]. Jesus gave them signs, and said, “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” [Matthew 24:3, 33, 42-51]. One saying of the Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the day nor the hour of his coming, we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard his warning, and refuse or neglect to know when his advent is near, will be as fatal for us, as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming. And the parable in the same chapter contrasting the faithful and the unfaithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said in his heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” shows in what light Christ will regard and reward those whom he finds watching, and teaching his coming, and those denying it. “Watch therefore,” he says; “blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” [Matthew 24:3, 33, 42-51]. “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on these as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” [Revelation 3:3.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 78, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 34

Christ’s words had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people; but when He was again alone, Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to Him, saying, “Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” [Mark 13:3; Matthew 24:3.] Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem, and the last great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. When Christ referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration that will take place in that day when the Lord rises out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This entire chapter is a warning to those who shall live in the last scenes of this earth’s history.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 35

Turning to His disciples, Christ said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” [Verses 4, 5.] Many false Messiahs will appear, claiming to work miracles, and declaring that the time of the deliverance of the Jewish nation has come. These will mislead many. These words were fulfilled. Between the death of Christ and the siege of Jerusalem, many false Messiahs appeared. But this warning is given also to those who live in this age of the world. The same deceptions practiced prior to the destruction of Jerusalem will be practiced again. The same events that took place at the overthrow of Jerusalem will take place again.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 36

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass; but the end is not yet.” Prior to the destruction of Jerusalem men wrestled for the supremacy. Emperors were murdered. Those supposed to be standing in next to the throne were slain. There were rumors of wars, but no actual conflict. “All these things must come to pass,” said Christ, “but the end (of the Jewish nation as a nation) is not yet. For 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.” [Verses 6-8.]

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 38

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” [Verses 9, 10.] All this the Christians suffered. Mothers and fathers betrayed their children; children betrayed their parents. Friends delivered their friends up to the Sanhedrin. Saul of Tarsus was exceeding bitter against all who believed in Christ until he himself was converted. He then began to preach Christ and Him crucified, and the Jews caused him and Silas to be whipped, and thrown into prison. The persecutors wrought out their purposes by killing Stephen, Paul, Peter, and other Christians.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 44

“And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.” [Matthew 24:11.] False Christs did arise, deceiving the people, and leading great numbers into the desert. Magicians and sorcerers, claiming miraculous power, drew the people after them into the mountain solitudes. But this prophecy was spoken also for the last days. This sign is given as a sign of the second advent. Companies inspired by Satan will be formed to deceive and to delude.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 45

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Verses 12-14.]

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 46

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: (let there be no presumptuous dallying;) let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” [Verses 15-20.] This warning was given to be heeded forty years after, at the destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians obeyed this warning, and not a Christian perished in the destruction of the city.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 47

“Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.” [Verse 20.] Christ, who made the Sabbath, did not abolish it, nailing it to His cross. The Sabbath was not rendered null and void by the death of Christ. Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross is an unanswerable argument in favor of the changeless character of every precept of God’s holy law.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 52

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ or there; believe it not. For 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. Behold, I have told you before. 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 24:23-27.] Here again the warning regarding Jerusalem is blended with the warning of the second advent.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 54

Christ knew that the disciples could not take in the representation He had given them in answer to their question, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” [Verse 3.] Christ knew the terrible future of the once chosen people of God, but He knew also that His disciples could not fully understand His description of the fearful scenes to be enacted at the destruction of Jerusalem. In His answer, the two events—the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world—are merged into one. It was in mercy to His disciples that Christ thus blended these two events, leaving them to study out the meaning for themselves.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 58

From the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ passed on to a much greater event, the last link in the chain of this earth’s history—the coming of the Son of God in majesty and glory. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sin be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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.” [Verses 29-31.]

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 59

Christ gave special directions with regard to this event. “Now learn a parable of the fig tree,” He said. “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 (the generation that see the signs) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” [Verses 32-35.]

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 60

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” [Verse 36.] Christ stated plainly to His disciples that He Himself could not make known the day and hour of His second appearing. Had He been at liberty to make this time known, what need would there have been for Him to exhort them to maintain an attitude of constant expectancy, living and working and waiting as though each day was, not their own, but the Lord’s, cultivating fidelity, faith, and love, and purifying the soul through the truth?

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 62

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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.” [Matthew 24:37-39.] God does not here bring to view a temporal millennium, a thousand years in which all are to prepare for eternity. He tells us that as it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of man comes again.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 65

Remember the warning, “As the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.” [Matthew 24:37.] It was because of the wickedness of the inhabitants of the old world that they were destroyed; and today the world is following in the same way. It presents no flattering signs of millennial glory. Human law-makers open their law books and pronounce sentence against those who do not keep their laws. But those who frame and enforce these laws are themselves transgressors of God’s law, and their transgression is filling the earth with wickedness and moral pollution. Their betting, their horse racing, their gambling, their dissipation, their lustful practices, their untamable passions, are fast filling the world with violence. Bank failures ruin thousands of families. Widows are orphans are left to starve. And yet those in authority are making and enforcing laws to uphold the first day of the week, which God has given as a common working day.

12LtMs, Ms 78, 1897, par. 70

“Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise ruler, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matthew 24:44-51.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Lt 97, 1895

10LtMs, Lt 97, 1895, par. 13

History is being repeated. In our day we meet the same false reasoning among the rulers and the ministers as the people met when Christ was upon the earth. We need to consider the words of Christ, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” [Matthew 24:4.] The Jews were deceiving themselves. It was not because of a lack of light and reverence that Christ was not received, and believed and honored as the Messiah; it was the malignity and jealousy and prejudice that bound so large a number with its cruel power.

This Day With God

Let No Man Deceive You, June 4

TDG 164.4

Jesus, who gave His life to save men, has given us a warning as to what shall come to pass in the last days. The disciples came to Him privately to ask Him concerning the end of the world, and Jesus said: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4, 5).—Signs of the Times, June 4, 1894.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Lt 129, 1905

20LtMs, Lt 129, 1905, par. 15

I have a word to speak to our workers. Be true to God and to your Redeemer. Head the warning given by the Saviour. “Take heed that no man deceive you,” He said; “for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For 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. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:4-14.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 1, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 1, 1906, par. 3

Now comes the warning: “Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For 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. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:4-14.]

21LtMs, Ms 1, 1906, par. 4

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For 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. Behold, I have told you before. 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.” [Verses 23-27.]

The Faith I Live By

The Crowning Act of Deception, December 6

FLB 346.1

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:4, 5.

FLB 346.4

The Saviour has warned His people ..., and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming. “There shall arise false Christs.... 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. This coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally known—witnessed by the whole world....

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 33, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 33, 1897, par. 27

There is a special experience to be obtained, which men cannot understand, though it be oft repeated to them. Christ has warned us “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ... If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For 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.” [Matthew 24:4, 5, 23, 24.]

12LtMs, Ms 33, 1897, par. 28

After foretelling what will be the last days, Christ puts us on our guard. “Watch therefore;” He says, “for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ... Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looked not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall out him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Verses 42, 44-51.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Ms 27, 1886

4LtMs, Ms 27, 1886, par. 17

In the last days, Satan will work with great power, doing wonders and performing miracles in the sight of men. Why? because he knows his time is short. His agents will have power to deceive. The Word of God declares that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. Therefore, we must have a sanctified spirit and discernment. Our only safety is in doing just as Christ has told us. The Saviour has said, “Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:5. Those who are heeding the words of Christ will not be deceived. They have an infallible guide. Their house is built on the eternal rock, and the storms of trial and temptation cannot overthrow it.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 94, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 94, 1903, par. 40

Let us make no mistakes. The Word declares, “Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ.” “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.” [Matthew 24:5, 24.] Shall we receive these into our confidence? No, No! We are to receive only those who give the surest evidence that they are doing the work appointed them by God.

Education

Chapter 19—History and Prophecy

Ed 179.4

That time is at hand. Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:6, 7.

Lift Him Up

On the Edge of a Stupendous Crisis, December 16

LHU 364.2

Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Matthew 24:6, 7).

Prophets and Kings

Chapter 43—The Unseen Watcher

PK 536.4

Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:6, 7.

Testimony Treasures, vol. 2

Same Assurance to the Remnant Church

2TT 351.2

These lessons are for our benefit. 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.” “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 24:6, 7. While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application to the last days.

From Splendor to Shadow

Chapter 43—Belshazzar’s Feast: Babylon’s Last Night

SS 278.3

The signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. The Saviour prophesied of events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars ... . Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:6, 7. Rulers and statesmen recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Lt 382, 1908

23LtMs, Lt 382, 1908, par. 9

The Saviour declared that before His second coming there would be “wars, and rumors of wars,” and “earthquakes in divers places.” [Matthew 24:6, 7.] The reports that have recently reached us of the terrible earthquake in Italy and Sicily tell of another fulfilment of the signs of the end. The Chronicle, edited in San Francisco, has given startling accounts of this awful disaster which has caused such enormous damage and loss of life, and rendered so many thousands homeless.

Prayer

“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” Matthew 6:13.

Pr 302.2

The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named. The Saviour beheld the years that stretched out before His disciples, not, as they had dreamed, lying in the sunshine of worldly prosperity and honor, but dark with the tempests of human hatred and satanic wrath. Amid national strife and ruin, the steps of the disciples would be beset with perils, and often their hearts would be oppressed by fear. They were to see Jerusalem a desolation, the temple swept away, its worship forever ended, and Israel scattered to all lands, like wrecks on a desert shore. Jesus said, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” “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 24:6-8. Yet Christ’s followers were not to fear that their hope was lost or that God had forsaken the earth. The power and the glory belong unto Him whose great purposes would still move on unthwarted toward their consummation. In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the power and dominion of evil, unto the Lord their God, whose kingdom ruleth over all and who is their Father and everlasting Friend.

Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing

“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.”—Matthew 6:13.

MB 120.1

The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named. The Saviour beheld the years that stretched out before His disciples, not, as they had dreamed, lying in the sunshine of worldly prosperity and honor, but dark with the tempests of human hatred and satanic wrath. Amid national strife and ruin, the steps of the disciples would be beset with perils, and often their hearts would be oppressed by fear. They were to see Jerusalem a desolation, the temple swept away, its worship forever ended, and Israel scattered to all lands, like wrecks on a desert shore. Jesus said, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” “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 24:6-8. Yet Christ’s followers were not to fear that their hope was lost or that God had forsaken the earth. The power and the glory belong unto Him whose great purposes would still move on unthwarted toward their consummation. In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the power and dominion of evil, unto the Lord their God, whose kingdom ruleth over all and who is their Father and everlasting Friend.

Jesus, Name Above All Names

Divine Instructor, March 12

JNN 80.2

The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name that is named. The Saviour beheld the years that stretched out before His disciples, not, as they had dreamed, lying in the sunshine of worldly prosperity and honor, but dark with the tempests of human hatred and satanic wrath. Amid national strife and ruin, the steps of the disciples would be beset with perils, and often their hearts would be oppressed by fear. They were to see Jerusalem a desolation, the temple swept away, its worship forever ended, and Israel scattered to all lands, like wrecks on a desert shore. Jesus said, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” “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 24:6-8).

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Ms 100, 1893

8LtMs, Ms 100, 1893, par. 11

These lessons are for our benefit. 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: ... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earth quakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” [Matthew 24:6-8.] While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in the last days.

8LtMs, Ms 100, 1893, par. 18

In the time of trial just before us, God’s pledge of security will be placed upon those who 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, 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.]

Last Day Events

Chapter 2—Signs of Christ’s Soon Return

LDE 18.2

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: ... 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 24:6-8]. While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in the last days.—Testimonies for the Church 5:753 (1899).

LDE 19.1

At the close of the great papal persecution, Christ declared, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. Next, the stars should fall from heaven. And He says, “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 He is near, even at the doors” (Matthew 24:32, 33, margin).

LDE 19.3

Jesus declares: “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; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17). Those who behold these harbingers of His coming are to “know that it is near, even at the doors” (Matthew 24:33).—The Great Controversy, 37, 38 (1911).

LDE 20.2

As one of the signs of Jerusalem’s destruction, Christ had said, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” [Matthew 24:11]. False prophets did rise, deceiving the people and leading great numbers into the desert. Magicians and sorcerers, claiming miraculous power, drew the people after them into the mountain solitudes. But this prophecy was spoken also for the last days. This sign is given as a sign of the second advent.—The Desire of Ages, 631 (1898).

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 153, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 153, 1905, par. 3

“Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For 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. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:6-14.]

20LtMs, Ms 153, 1905, par. 4

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would 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. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” [Verses 42-46.]

Maranatha

The Sunday Law Is Invoked, June 27

Mar 186.1

Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. Matthew 24:9.

The Great Controversy

Chapter 2—Persecution in the First Centuries

GC 39.1

When Jesus revealed to His disciples the fate of Jerusalem and the scenes of the second advent, He foretold also the experience of His people from the time when He should be taken from them, to His return in power and glory for their deliverance. From Olivet the Saviour beheld the storms about to fall upon the apostolic church; and penetrating deeper into the future, His eye discerned the fierce, wasting tempests that were to beat upon His followers in the coming ages of darkness and persecution. In a few brief utterances of awful significance He foretold the portion which the rulers of this world would mete out to the church of God. Matthew 24:9, 21, 22. The followers of Christ must tread the same path of humiliation, reproach, and suffering which their Master trod. The enmity that burst forth against the world’s Redeemer would be manifested against all who should believe on His name.

The Great Controversy (1888 ed.)

Chapter 2—Persecution in the First Centuries

GC88 39.1

When Jesus revealed to his disciples the fate of Jerusalem and the scenes of the second advent, he foretold also the experience of his people from the time when he should be taken from them, to his return in power and glory for their deliverance. From Olivet the Saviour beheld the storms about to fall upon the apostolic church, and, penetrating deeper into the future, his eye discerned the fierce, wasting tempests that were to beat upon his followers in the coming ages of darkness and persecution. In a few brief utterances, of awful significance, he foretold the portion which the rulers of this world would mete out to the church of God. [Matthew 24:9, 21, 22.] The followers of Christ must tread the same path of humiliation, reproach, and suffering which their Master trod. The enmity that burst forth against the world’s Redeemer, would be manifested against all who should believe on his name.

From Here to Forever

Chapter 2—The First Christians—Loyal and True

HF 27.1

Jesus revealed to His disciples the experience of His people from the time when He should be taken from them, to His return in power and glory. Penetrating deep into the future, His eye discerned the fierce tempests that were to beat upon His followers in coming ages of persecution. See Matthew 24:9, 21, 22. The followers of Christ must tread the same path of reproach and suffering which their Master trod. The enmity against the world’s Redeemer would be manifested against all who should believe on His name.

Maranatha

Former Brethren Worst Persecutors, July 7

Mar 196.1

Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Matthew 24:10.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Ms 5, 1895

10LtMs, Ms 5, 1895, par. 12

He declared, “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. Behold I have told you before. Wherefore if they 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 lightening cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness, and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:24-27, 10-14.]

Selected Messages Book 2

Tested “By their Fruits”

2SM 99.1

In these days of peril we are not to accept everything that men bring to us as truth. As professed teachers from God come to us declaring that they have a message from God, it is proper to inquire carefully, How do we know that this is truth? Jesus has told us that “false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). But we need not be deceived; for the Word of God gives us a test whereby we may know what is truth. The prophet says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

Maranatha

The Shaking Time, July 11

Mar 200.1

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Matthew 24:12.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Ms 2, 1885

4LtMs, Ms 2, 1885, par. 4

If we have received all these promises and thoroughly believe them, we shall cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This presents before us work for each one to do. It gives us something to do, and there is a warfare that every one of us is engaged in. We are to put on the whole armor of God; we are to fight the good fight of faith. But we know that while we are in the world we are surrounded with temptations and iniquity abounds, and “the love of many waxes cold.” [Matthew 24:12.] It is not a necessity that their love should wax cold because iniquity abounds. The very fact that iniquity abounds should be an incentive to every soul that loves God to be intensely in earnest and interested as faithful soldiers of the cross of Christ.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Ms 48, 1886

4LtMs, Ms 48, 1886, par. 7

It is impossible for man to enter the gate of the city, trampling on God’s law. Yet how few there are who pay any regard to God’s requirements. This is in fulfilment of that which the apostle said, that in the last days iniquity would abound, and the love of many wax cold. [Matthew 24:12.] Is it not time that the law of God was vindicated? and shall we be swift to trample upon it because everybody else does? The message says, “Come out from among them;” and the God of heaven will accept us if we come to Him in obedience. [2 Corinthians 6:17.] We must not think that we are belittling ourselves in taking our position on the side of Christ, for this is the only way by which we can be elevated and refined and become members of the royal heavenly family. There must be a line of demarcation between those that keep the commandments of God and those that do not.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 48, 1891

7LtMs, Ms 48, 1891, par. 12

“Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” [Matthew 24:12.] The true witness says of the church, after enumerating many virtues, “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” [Revelation 2:4.] The prevailing idolatry and iniquity have had a paralyzing, deadening influence upon piety and godliness. There is distrust, selfishness, and suspicion. A few hold fast their profession of faith. Others are treading on the border land of skepticism, because they have been leaving the simplicity of the faith. They are spiritually beclouded; and as a result, many are holding serious errors.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 21, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 21, 1897, par. 31

In giving us the statement of the occurrences which would mark the approach of the second advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Christ says, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” [Matthew 24:12.] We see this fulfilled to the letter. The experience of many is becoming dwarfed and sickly, and wonderfully deformed. Everything that surrounds us creates an atmosphere that is saturated with unrighteousness. Even under the most favorable surroundings, it is difficult to hold fast unto the end the Christian profession of faith, to stand decidedly and earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 146, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 146, 1897, par. 18

There is a great deficiency in the religious experience and manners towards God. Self-complacency leads to this. Oh, for Christ’s sake do not deceive and cheat your own souls with a spurious, counterfeit righteousness. He who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins requireth truth in the inward parts. He who sets the Lord always before him will walk circumspectly and safely before the Lord. This will be his prayer, “Search me O God and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” [Psalm 139:23, 24.] “Come out of her my people” is a message that those who claim to believe the truth will do well to search, and see if the sins of which Babylon was guilty does not reach even unto them. [Revelation 18:4.] “Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxeth cold.” [Matthew 24:12.] This is the reason so many assimilate to the practices of the nominal churches called Babylon.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 3, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 3, 1897, par. 20

This is the final judgment. Let the senses of all be aroused; for many whose names now appear on the church books are not the children of God. In the books of heaven it is recorded of them, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting.” [Daniel 5:27.] Let every church in our land arouse to the importance of studying the Word of God, and with much earnest prayer, not stand afar off, but “draw nigh unto God.” The promise is, “He will draw nigh unto you.” [James 4:8.] Then you may keep life in your souls, and obtain a sound experience. Then you will not be of that class of whom it is written, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” [Matthew 24:12.]

12LtMs, Ms 3, 1897, par. 41

Not only the human, but the brute creation are made to suffer through Satan’s attributes wrought out through the human agent. One human being becomes Satan’s co-partner to tempt, allure, and deceive his fellow men to vicious practices. And the sure result is diseased bodies, because of the violation of moral law. “Because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” [Matthew 24:12.] It is Satan’s determined purpose to deceive the human family to such an extent that he can bring them as a mass on his side to work with him in making man believe that the law of God is no longer obligatory upon the human race. Then he will find agencies which will multiply his efficiency in leading men to ignore the law of God. When they do this, then he rules them with a rod of iron.

Our Father Cares

The Shaking Time, December 15

OFC 361.1

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Matthew 24:12.

Reflecting Christ

Paul Warns Against “Tradition” and “Philosophy,” November 26

RC 344.3

Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence “iniquity” should “abound,” and “the love of many” should “wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). He had warned the disciples that the church would be in more danger from this evil than from the persecution of her enemies. Again and again Paul warned the believers against these false teachers. This peril, above all others, they must guard against; for by receiving false teachers, they would open the door to errors by which the enemy would dim the spiritual perceptions and shake the confidence of those newly come to the faith of the gospel.

The Acts of the Apostles

Chapter 45—Written From Rome

AA 473.3

Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence “iniquity” should “abound,” and “the love of many” should “wax cold.” Matthew 24:12. He had warned the disciples that the church would be in more danger from this evil than from the persecution of her enemies. Again and again Paul warned the believers against these false teachers. This peril, above all others, they must guard against; for by receiving false teachers, they would open the door to errors by which the enemy would dim the spiritual perceptions and shake the confidence of those newly come to the faith of the gospel. Christ was the standard by which they were to test the doctrines presented. All that was not in harmony with His teachings they were to reject. Christ crucified for sin, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high—this was the science of salvation that they were to learn and teach.

Testimony Treasures, vol. 2

Prepare for the Day of Test

2TT 31.1

“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?

Testimony Treasures, vol. 2

Spirituality and Efficiency

2TT 210.1

The Lord Jesus, on the Mount of Olives, plainly stated that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12. He speaks of a class who have fallen from a high state of spirituality. Let such utterances as these come home with solemn, searching power to our hearts. Where is the fervor, the devotion to God, that corresponds to the greatness of the truth which we claim to believe? The love of the world, the love of some darling sin, has weaned the heart from the love of prayer and of meditation on sacred things. A formal round of religious services is kept up; but where is the love of Jesus? Spirituality is dying. Is this torpor, this mournful deterioration, to be perpetuated? Is the lamp of truth to flicker and go out in darkness because it is not replenished by the oil of grace?

Testimony Treasures, vol. 2

Seen in Redemption’s Plan

2TT 337.2

It is Satan’s constant study to keep the minds of men occupied with those things which will prevent them from obtaining the knowledge of God. He seeks to keep them dwelling upon what will darken the understanding and discourage the soul. We are in a world of sin and corruption, surrounded by influences that tend to allure or dishearten the followers of Christ. The Saviour said: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12.

From Trials to Triumph

Chapter 45—The Letters Paul Wrote From Rome

TT 250.1

Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence “iniquity” should “abound,” and “the love of many” should “wax cold.” Matthew 24:12. The church would be in more danger from this evil than from the persecution of her enemies. By receiving false teachers, they would open the door to errors by which the enemy would shake the confidence of those newly come to the faith. All that was not in harmony with Christ’s teachings they were to reject.

Homeward Bound

Warnings to the Church, August 26

HB 263.2

Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence “iniquity” should “abound,” and “the love of many” should “wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12.) He had warned the disciples that the church would be in more danger from this evil than from the persecution of her enemies. Again and again Paul warned the believers against these false teachers. This peril, above all others, they must guard against; for by receiving false teachers, they would open the door to errors by which the enemy would dim the spiritual perceptions and shake the confidence of those newly come to the faith of the gospel. Christ was the standard by which they were to test the doctrines presented. All that was not in harmony with His teachings they were to reject. Christ crucified for sin, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high—this was the science of salvation that they were to learn and teach.

Lift Him Up

Press Together! Press Together! October 23

LHU 310.1

Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:12, 13.

Sons and Daughters of God

Gather Courage From the Coldness of Others, July 13

SD 201.1

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:12, 13.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 45, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 45, 1894, par. 1

“Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Matthew 24:12, 13.] “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” [Micah 6:8.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 122, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 122, 1905, par. 21

When true conversion takes place, the soul is eagerly ready to have this work done. Self is no longer exalted. The judgment, sanctified, sees how impossible it would be for the spirit cherished in the past to be admitted into the inner court of the sanctuary of God. The soul is strongly drawn to choose what the judgment has been taught to approve. “I delight to do Thy will, O my God.” [Psalm 40:8.] The psalmist speaks thus of the godly man: “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” [Psalm 37:31.] Is not this a great promise? Shall we not appreciate it? Who will now watch and pray three times a day as did Daniel; for the enemy is watching constantly to find us off guard. Will you now earnestly consider the call from Christ to return to your first love? Let every one remember that the first work to be done each day is to surrender the will and way to God. The Lord will surely arouse His people who are watching and waiting and praying. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Matthew 24:12, 13.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Ms 165, 1902

17LtMs, Ms 165, 1902, par. 18

I spoke in the chapel at eleven o’clock, using as my text Matthew 24:14-31. All along the path of the many years that have passed since the Saviour foretold His second coming, waymarks are set to show the inhabitants of the world that the things prophesied in the twenty-fourth of Matthew will surely come to pass. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” [Verse 12.] This is the time when men and women should make determined efforts to keep wide awake spiritually because of the prevalence of iniquity. Those who preserve their first love will be saved. The promise is, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Verse 13.] Those who have genuine faith in God’s Word will, when tested, stand firm for principle. They have a definite message to proclaim in the time of the end. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Verse 14.]

Our Father Cares

No Patchwork Religion! April 28

OFC 130.1

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:13.

Our High Calling

No Patchwork Religion! December 2

OHC 342.1

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:13.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 258, 1899

14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, par. 11

This is a strange affair. The mother feels they have gone too far and is troubled in regard to the matter. But here we have to leave her. She was an excellent young woman—kind, loving, affectionate—but she was not satisfied with her religious experience. One week has passed and nothing has been heard from her, but the Lord can reach her wherever she is. We have lost all track of her, but the Lord can and will help her if she has not cast off her Lord through the great pressure brought to bear upon her. The Lord may work this matter out to His own name’s glory. The Lord Jesus is a compassionate Saviour. The Lord Jesus can speak to this dear soul: “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.” [Psalm 121:7.] “The just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” [Hebrews 10:38.] “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” [John 8:31.] “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Matthew 24:13.] “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” [1 Corinthians 16:13.] “Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown.” “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.” [Revelation 3:11, 5.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Ms 48, 1900

15LtMs, Ms 48, 1900, par. 18

But “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Matthew 24:13.] John sees “them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image, and over his mark and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” And he says, “They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” [Revelation 15:2, 3.] This is the same company mentioned by Isaiah, to whom it was promised that they should ride on the high places of the earth, and be fed with the heritage of Jacob their father.

Christ Triumphant

Give the Last Message of Warning to the World, December 17

CTr 358.1

He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world ... and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:13, 14.

A Call To Stand Apart

Chapter 16—Careers

CSA 64.6

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

Manuscript Releases, vol. 13 [Nos. 1000-1080]

MR No. 1078—“Go Forward”

13MR 395.1

The Lord has said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).

Maranatha

Why So Many Idlers? April 25

Mar 123.6

Long has God waited for the spirit of service to take possession of the whole church so that everyone shall be working for Him according to his ability. When the members of the church of God do their appointed work in the needy fields at home and abroad, in fulfillment of the gospel commission, the whole world will soon be warned, and the Lord Jesus will return to this earth with power and great glory. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.46The Acts of the Apostles, 109-111.

Maranatha

God’s Work Is Finished, September 10

Mar 261.1

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

Our Father Cares

While We Wait, August 29

OFC 253.3

Christ tells us when the day of His kingdom shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). By giving the gospel to the world, it is in our power to hasten the coming of the day of God. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to the earth in power and great glory.

Prayer

“Thy kingdom come.” Matthew 6:10.

Pr 294.2

But before that coming, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.” Matthew 24:14. His kingdom will not come until the good tidings of His grace have been carried to all the earth. Hence, as we give ourselves to God, and win other souls to Him, we hasten the coming of His kingdom. Only those who devote themselves to His service, saying, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8), to open blind eyes, to turn men “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 26:18)—they alone pray in sincerity, “Thy kingdom come.”

Sons and Daughters of God

When the Gospel Is Preached to All, September 30

SD 280.1

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8

Chapter 4—Our Responsibility

8T 29.2

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

The Acts of the Apostles

Chapter 11—The Gospel in Samaria

AA 111.1

Long has God waited for the spirit of service to take possession of the whole church so that everyone shall be working for Him according to his ability. When the members of the church of God do their appointed work in the needy fields at home and abroad, in fulfillment of the gospel commission, the whole world will soon be warned and the Lord Jesus will return to this earth with power and great glory. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

The Faith I Live By

The Gospel to All the World, October 29

FLB 308.1

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

This Day With God

Controlled by the Great Designer, August 21

TDG 242.1

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

Education

Chapter 31—The Lifework

Ed 263.2

His Spirit “maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” As the “whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together” (Romans 8:26, 22), the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy. Our world is a vast lazar house, a scene of misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, through co-operation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing

“Thy kingdom come.”—Matthew 6:10.

MB 108.3

But before that coming, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.” Matthew 24:14. His kingdom will not come until the good tidings of His grace have been carried to all the earth. Hence, as we give ourselves to God, and win other souls to Him, we hasten the coming of His kingdom. Only those who devote themselves to His service, saying, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8), to open blind eyes, to turn men “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 26:18)—they alone pray in sincerity, “Thy kingdom come.”

Ye Shall Receive Power

Global Mission: The Spirit Opens Doors, June 14

YRP 174.1

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

Selections from the Testimonies for the Church For the Study of Those Attending the General Conference in Oakland, Ca., March 27, 1903

Chapter 21—The Work at Home and Abroad

PH151 95.2

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

From Trials to Triumph

Chapter 11—The Gospel Reaches Samaria and Ethiopia

TT 59.4

Long has God waited for the spirit of service to take possession of the whole church. When the members do their appointed work in fulfillment of the gospel commission, the whole world will be warned and the Lord Jesus will return to this earth with power and great glory. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

Homeward Bound

The Gospel to the World, February 21

HB 68.1

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.—Matthew 24:14.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 51, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 51, 1894, par. 17

God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world. Christ tells us when that day will be ushered in and says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness ... and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:14.] Satan has worked in such a way as to blind the understanding of men and to cause all who profess to be followers of Christ to neglect their weighty responsibilities and to lose their first love. He has worked in such a way that a selfish, satanic spirit has taken possession of many who loved souls for whom Christ died. They might have worked in a variety of ways as God’s instrumentalities. They might have visited from house to house, and opened the Scriptures to those whose understanding is darkened.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Lt 13, 1894

9LtMs, Lt 13, 1894, par. 5

When asked when our Lord shall come, we may answer, “He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” [Acts 17:31.] “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:14.] The people of God who claim to believe the gospel are to work most earnestly, employing every entrusted talent of influence, means, or ability to advance the truth in all its lines, in order that a people may be prepared to stand to witness to the fact that Christ is their personal Saviour.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Lt 84, 1894

9LtMs, Lt 84, 1894, par. 22

God hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world. Christ tells us when that day will be ushered in, and says, “and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:14.] Satan has worked in such a way as to blind the understanding of men, and to cause those who profess to be followers of Christ to neglect their weighty responsibilities, and to lose their first love. He has worked in such a way that a hard, selfish, satanic spirit has taken possession of many who have loved souls for whom Christ has died. They might have worked in a variety of ways as God’s instrumentalities. They might have visited from house to house, and opened the Scriptures to those whose understanding is darkened. Angels of God would have been close beside them to impress the heart of those who were thirsting for the waters of life.

God’s Amazing Grace

Christ Is Waiting, November 27

AG 339.1

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 173, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 173, 1898, par. 1

The Lord has said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” [Matthew 24:14.]