Signs of the Second Coming
by Ellen White
When Christ shall come the second time, the whole world will be represented by two
classes, the just and the unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous. Preceding the great
sign of the coming of the Son of man, there will be signs and wonders in the heavens. . .
.
Already sprinklings from the vials of God's wrath have been let fall upon land and sea,
affecting the elements of the air. The causes of these unusual conditions are being
searched for, but in vain.
God has not restrained the powers of darkness from carrying forward their deadly work
of vitiating the air, one of the sources of life and nutrition, with a deadly miasma. Not
only is vegetable life affected, but man suffers from pestilence. . . .
These things are the result of drops from the vials of God's wrath being sprinkled on
the earth, and are but faint representations of what will be in the near future. 3SM 391
Before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, everything in nature will be
convulsed. Lightning from heaven uniting with the fire in the earth, will cause the
mountains to burn like a furnace, and pour out their floods of lava over villages and
cities. Molten masses of rock, thrown into the water by the upheaval of things hidden in
the earth, will cause the water to boil and send forth rocks and earth. There will be
mighty earthquakes and great destruction of human life. But as in the days of the great
Deluge Noah was preserved in the ark that God had prepared for him, so in these days of
destruction and calamity, God will be the refuge of His believing ones . . . [Ps. 91:9,
10; 27:5 quoted] (Letter 258, 1907). 7BC 946
We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare
that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and
important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth.
Plagues and judgements are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The
calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are
portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.
The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are
strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our
world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.
The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The
daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold
robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed
on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little
children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.
The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men's hearts with the
desire for selfish gain. "Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the
street, and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are
multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and
clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live
luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or
worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other
things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The
cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression
and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes. 9T 11
Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the
nations from one end of the earth to the other. 9T 17
While at Loma Linda, California, April 16, 1906, there passed before me a most
wonderful representation. During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which
I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were
falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theatres, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy
were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was
filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.
The destroying angels of God were at work. One touch, and buildings so thoroughly
constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of
rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any special
peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to
describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted, and that the judgement day
had come.
The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of
the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large
cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in
wrath for persistent disregard of His law.
Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which impressed itself
most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given in connection with it. The angel that
stood by my side declared that God's supreme rulership, and the sacredness of His law,
must be revealed to those who persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of
kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgements, in
order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realisation of the sinfulness of their
course. 9T 92
It is as truly a sin to violate the laws of our being as it is to break the ten
commandments. To do either is to break God's laws. Those who transgress the law of God in
their physical organism, will be inclined to violate the law of God spoken from Sinai.
Our Saviour warned His disciples that just prior to His second coming a state of things
would exist very similar to that which preceded the flood. Eating and drinking would be
carried to excess, and the world would be given up to pleasure. This state of things does
exist at the present time. The world is largely given up to the indulgence of appetite;
and the disposition to follow worldly customs will bring us into bondage to perverted
habits,--habits that will make us more and more like the doomed inhabitants of Sodom. I
have wondered that the inhabitants of the earth were not destroyed, like the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah. I see reason enough for the present state of degeneracy and mortality
in the world. Blind passion controls reason, and every high consideration is, with many,
sacrificed to lust.
To keep the body in a healthy condition, in order that all parts of the living
machinery may act harmoniously, should be a study of our life. The children of God cannot
glorify Him with sickly bodies or dwarfed minds. Those who indulge in any species of
intemperance, either in eating or drinking, waste their physical energies and weaken moral
power. CTBH 53
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in
token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the
kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on
to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these
agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be
Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world's Redeemer.
They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have revelations from
heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.
As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate
Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour's advent as the consummation
of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In
different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of
dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the
Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything
that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air:
"Christ has come! Christ has come!" The people prostrate themselves in adoration
before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ
blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full
of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly
truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his
assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands
all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping
holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to
them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the
Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the
greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is "the great power of
God." Acts 8:10. GC11 624
Satan and his angels will appear on this earth as men, and will mingle with those of
whom God's word declares, "Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils." The world is full of men and women whom Satan uses
as his agencies. Christ has bought them with a price,--even His life-blood. But they have
given themselves into Satan's control. They are blind, and have forgotten that they were
purged from their sins. PH058 2
The time is at hand when there will be sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal.
The Spirit of God is being withdrawn. Disasters by sea and by land follow one another in
quick succession. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by
fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are
capricious outbreaks of disorganised, unregulated forces of nature, wholly beyond the
control of man; but in them all, God's purpose may be read. They are among the agencies by
which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger. PK 277
The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men
who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have
their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the
relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking
possession of every earthly element, and they recognise that something great and decisive
is about to take place--that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis. PK 537
We are far behind in our missionary work, both at home and in foreign countries. We
have in our keeping the most sacred truth ever committed to mortals, and our work should
correspond to our profession of faith. The world is becoming more and more lawless. Soon
great trouble will arise among the nations,--trouble that will not cease until Jesus
comes. RH FEB.11,1904
The signs of the times are plain and startling. Look into the papers that flood our
world, filled with recitals of daily crimes, committed not only in the lower walks of
life, but also among the higher classes. Those who occupy positions of trust, who are
placed as guardians of the peoples' interest, are untrue to their responsibility. There is
embezzlement and fraud. Public money is stolen, and not one tithe of these corrupt
transactions come to the light of day, and we do not see to what extent the wickedness of
the world exists. The youth of our time are receiving their education from the evil doings
of these wicked, but honoured men of the world. Theft, murder, adultery, corruption, every
sin that has a name, prevails to an awful extent. Does the wickedness of the world exist
because men have kept the commandments of God?--No. It is the result of the working of the
enemy of God and man, who has had the world under his training for many ages. He has
taught them to trample under foot God's great moral standard, and lawlessness, corruption,
and crime are the result. Jesus spoke to his people Israel from the pillar of cloud and
fire. He said, "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." The
same voice that gave directions to the children of Israel from the pillar of cloud and
fire has given lessons to his people of to-day. When he stood upon the earth clothed in
the habiliments of humanity, he gave this same command. He said, "Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." The instruction of Christ was not
to be passed by indifferently, but transmitted from parents to children, from one
generation to another. "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the
posts of thy house, and on thy gates." RH MAY 02,1893
But there is a day that God hath appointed for the close of this world's history:
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come." Prophecy is fast fulfilling. More, much more,
should be said about these tremendously important subjects. The day is at hand when the
destiny of every soul will be fixed forever. This day of the Lord hastens on apace. The
false watchmen are raising the cry, "All is well;" but the day of God is rapidly
approaching. Its footsteps are so muffled that it does not arouse the world from the
death-like slumber into which it has fallen. While the watchmen cry, "Peace and
safety," "sudden destruction" cometh upon them, and they shall not escape;
"for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole
earth." It overtakes the pleasure-lover and the sinful man as a thief in the night.
When all is apparently secure, and men retire to contented rest, then the prowling,
stealthy, midnight thief steals upon his prey. When it is too late to prevent the evil, it
is discovered that some door or window was not secured. "Be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." People are now settling to rest,
imagining themselves secure under the popular churches; but let all beware, lest there is
a place left open for the enemy to gain an entrance. Great pains should be taken to keep
this subject before the people. The solemn fact is to be kept not only before the people
of the world, but before our own churches also, that the day of the Lord will come
suddenly, unexpectedly. The fearful warning of the prophecy is addressed to every soul.
Let no one feel that he is secure from the danger of being surprised. Let no one's
interpretation of prophecy rob you of the conviction of the knowledge of events which show
that this great event is near at hand. SPTED 107
The Christian's hope is as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entereth
into that which is within the veil, whither Christ the forerunner is for us entered. We
have an individual work to do to prepare for the great events that are before us. The
youth should seek God more earnestly. The tempest is coming, and we must get ready for its
fury, by having repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
will arise to shake terribly the earth. We shall see troubles on all sides. Thousands of
ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will
be sacrificed by millions. Fires will break out unexpectedly, and no human effort will be
able to quench them. The palaces of earth will be swept away in the fury of the flames.
Disasters by rail will become more and more frequent; confusion, collision, and death
without a moment's warning will occur on the great lines of travel. The end is near,
probation is closing. Oh, let us seek God while he may be found, call upon him while he is
near! The prophet says: "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have
wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the
day of the Lord's anger." ST APR.21,1890
Jacob and Esau represent two classes. Jacob, the righteous; and Esau, the wicked.
Jacob's night of wrestling and anguish represents the time of trouble through which the
people of God must pass just prior to the second coming of Christ. Jeremiah refers to this
time: "Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in
travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great so that none
is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
Daniel, in prophetic vision looking down to this point, says: "And at that time shall
Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and
there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that
same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book." Isaiah speaks of the same time: "Come, my people, enter
thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door about thee, hide thyself for a little moment,
until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish
the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood,
and shall no more cover her slain." ST NOV.27,1879
No scientific theory can explain the steady march of evil workers under the generalship
of Satan. In every mob wicked angels are at work, rousing men to commit deeds of violence.
. . . The perversity and cruelty of men will reach such a height that God will reveal
Himself in His majesty. Very soon the wickedness of the world will have reached its limit,
and as in the days of Noah, God will pour out His judgements.
But even when wickedness is at its height, we may know that our Helper is close by our
side.--Letter 250, Nov. 16, 1903. UL 334
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