“In such an hour as you think not the Son of Man will come.” Matthew 24:44
“We are now to make diligent work for eternity. Only for a very short time longer will the Lord bear with the gross wickedness that fills the world. Oh, how suddenly will the end come, surprising the world in their increasing iniquity.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 20, 65
“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.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 336
“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.
“The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. … 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. …
“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 Desire of Ages, 636
“Men are now passing the boundary line, and the Lord is permitting the enemy to do his will. … God is now about to repress iniquity. He will soon, very soon, vindicate the claims of His law.” The Review and Herald, November 23, 1905
“Now is the time to prepare for the coming of our Lord. Readiness to meet Him cannot be attained in a moment. Preparatory to that solemn scene there must be vigilant waiting and watching, combined with earnest work.” Ibid., November 12, 1914