Editorial – The Overwhelming Surprise, Part II

“Transgression has almost reached its limit.  Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings.  The end is very near.  We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.”  Testimonies, vol. 8, 28.

“Last Friday morning, just before I awoke, a very impressive scene was presented before me.  I seemed to awake from sleep but was not in my home.  From the windows I could behold a terrible conflagration.  Great balls of fire were falling upon houses, and from these balls fiery arrows were flying in every direction.  It was impossible to check the fires that were kindled, and many places were being destroyed.  The terror of the people was indescribable.”  Evangelism, 29.

“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, theaters, 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 Judgment day had come.

“The angel that stood at 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 refused to render obedience to the King of kings.  Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course.”  Testimonies, vol. 9, 92, 93.

Our Responsibility:

 “The inhabitants of the ungodly cities so soon to be visited by calamities have been cruelly neglected.  The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments.  But who is giving to the accomplishment of this work the wholehearted service that God requires? . . . Manuscript 53, 1910.”  Evangelism, 29.

“More and more, as the days go by, it is becoming apparent that God’s judgments are in the world. Yet God is not executing His wrath without mercy.  His hand is stretched out still.  And in this time, when the cities of the nations are being visited with judgments, God’s people have a special opportunity to give the last warning message to the inhabitants of these cities.  Long have we neglected these centers, and now we must labor earnestly to redeem the time.  The people must be shown how it is possible for God, by a touch of His hand, to destroy the property they have gathered against the last great day.”  Review and Herald, February 21, 1907.

“Transgression has almost reached its limit.  Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings.  The end is very near.  God’s people should be preparing for what is to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.”  Youth’s Instructor, April 28, 1908.