| As It Was In The Days Of Noah |
The Days of Noah Then and NowGod’s Mercy Shown In His Warnings Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die,… The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 God who created man and gave him with an unsparing hand the bounties of His providence was slighted and despised by the recipients of His gifts. He was dishonored by the beings He had created. But notwithstanding sinful man forgot His benevolent Benefactor, God did not slight and turn away from him and leave him to perish in his violence and crime without setting before him his wickedness and the result of the transgression of his law. He sent him messages of warning and entreaty. He pointed out definitely his danger if he continued in his rebellion. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 God, whom men had slighted and dishonored and whose gracious love and benevolence they had abused, still pitied the race and in His love provided a refuge for all who would accept it. He directed Noah to build an ark and at the same time preach to the inhabitants of the world that God would bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy the wicked. If they would believe the message and prepare for that event by repentance and reformation they should find pardon and be saved. God did not remove His Spirit from man without warning him of the sure result of his course in transgressing His law. He gave the message to Noah to be given to the people. “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” A continual resistance and contempt of the entreaties and warnings from God through His servant Noah, would separate them from God, and the result would be infinite mercy and love would cease its pleadings. The Spirit of God continued to strive with rebellious man until the time God had specified had nearly expired, when Noah and his family entered the ark and the hand of God closed the door of the ark. Mercy had stepped from the golden throne no longer to intercede for man. Reflecting Christ, 321 Hatred of God’s law, and, as the sure result, hatred of all goodness, became universal. God, who had created man and given him with an unsparing hand the bounties of His providence, was dishonored by the beings He had created, slighted and despised by the recipients of His gifts. But though sinful man forgot His benevolent Benefactor, God did not forget the creature He had formed.… In the days of Noah, the wickedness of the world became so great that God could no longer bear with it.… But He pitied the race, and in His love provided a refuge for all who would accept it. He gave the message to Noah to be given to the people: “My spirit shall not always strive with man.”.… The Spirit of God continued to strive with rebellious man until the time specified had nearly expired, when Noah and his family entered the ark, and the hand of God closed its door. Mercy had stepped from the golden throne, no longer to intercede for the guilty sinner. The Signs of the Times, October 9, 1901 But though men were so wicked, God would not destroy them without warning. “My Spirit shall not always strive with man,” He said, “yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” During this period of probation the message of warning given to Noah was to sound in their ears. Noah’s Message The Signs of the Times, April 18, 1895 Noah did not mix the soft, pleasing deceptions of Satan with his message. He did not utter the sentiment of many of his day who declared that God was too merciful to do such a terrible work. Many asserted that God would grant the wicked another season of probation; but Noah did not indulge them in the faintest hope that those who neglected the present opportunity, who rejected the present message, would be favored with another opportunity of salvation.… He dared not suppress the words of God for fear of men, or withhold his message in dread of the consequences that might result because of the opposition and hate of the wicked and unbelieving about him. He knew the power of God, and realized that God would fulfill His word. His fear of God did not separate him from God, but served to draw him closer to Him, and to lead him to pour out his soul in earnest supplication. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Noah’s faith, combined with action, condemned the world; for he was a faithful preacher of righteousness, rebuking, warning, and exhorting the wicked. Their reproach and abuse was sometimes almost unendurable; yet the patriarch stayed his soul on God, and called upon Him for help in his great need. Through derision, insult, and mockery, he went to and fro as a man with a great mission to fulfill. Privileges had been neglected, precious souls degraded, and God insulted; and the day of retributive justice came slowly on; man’s unbelief did not hinder the event. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 Noah stood up nobly in the midst of a world who were disregarding God and were indulging in all manner of extravagant dissipation which led to crimes and violence of every kind. Noah the faithful preacher of righteousness unflinchingly and courageously preached to that generation that a flood of water was to deluge the world because of the unsurpassed wickedness of its inhabitants. He warned that generation to repent, to believe the warning message and find refuge in the ark. What a spectacle to the world as Noah stands forth connected with God, by his obedience in contrast to the world. Numbers was not on the side of right. The world was arrayed against God’s justice and His laws. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 How simple and childlike amid the unbelief of the world, was the faith of Noah. His faith was the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. His faith was perfected by his works. He gave to the world an example in believing just what God had said. He commenced under the directions of God to construct the ark, an immense boat, on dry ground. Multitudes came from every direction to see this strange sight, the ark, and to hear the earnest, fervent words of this singular man who seemed to believe every word he uttered. His message was to him a reality. A power attended the words of Noah, for it was the voice of God to man through His servant. Noah’s Character Manuscript Releases Volume, Ten, 371 Because of his holy integrity and unwavering adherence to God’s commands, Noah was counted singular indeed and made himself an object of contempt and derision by answering to the claims of God without a questioning doubt. What a contrast to the prevailing unbelief and universal disregard of His law! The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 More than one hundred years before the flood, the Lord sent an angel to Noah, to make known unto him His purpose in regard to the sinful race, that His Spirit would not always strive with man, but that He would send a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy man and beast. He would not leave the race ignorant of His design; but would, through Noah, warn the world of its coming destruction, that the inhabitants might be left without excuse. Noah was to preach to the people, and also to prepare an ark as God should direct him for the saving of himself and family. Not only was he to preach, but his example in building the ark was to be a continual testimony of warning to the world, showing that he believed what he preached. His simple, childlike faith, and his implicit obedience, notwithstanding the opposition he received, was an evidence to the world of his sincerity. He was firm as a rock to duty, directing the work of that singular building, under the guidance of the Divine Architect. Every blow struck upon the ark was a witness to the people. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Noah was bearing to the inhabitants of the earth an important message of warning, the reception or rejection of which would decide the destiny of their souls. He believed God, he believed that he had the truth, and he moved straight forward in the path of faith and obedience, gaining strength from God daily, by communion with Him. Noah was a man of prayer; and in this close connection with God he found all his courage and firmness. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Noah, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. He had that fear which should characterize the life of every Christian. The perfect faith of Noah intensified his fear. The threatened wrath of God, which was to fall upon man and beast, and upon the earth, led him to prepare the ark. His faith, and his fear of God’s anger, produced obedience. Noah did not hesitate to obey God. He urged no excuse, that the labor of building that ark was great and expensive. He believed God, and invested in the ark all that he possessed, while the wicked world scoffed and made themselves merry at the deluded old man. They had more opportunity for their unbelief and mockery, because God did not at once carry out His purpose. But the lapse of time did not cause the faith of Noah to waver; his trust in God was unfailing, and he accepted without a murmur the hardships and sacrifice involved. The Signs of the Times, April 18, 1895 Noah had faith in God. His position was a trying one; he had to fight the good fight of faith at every step. One hundred and twenty years of probation was granted to the inhabitants of the world, and Noah was to live through that generation. Everything around him was in confusion. On all sides was sin and wickedness, disregard of God and His holy law; but he was to live among men, and not be a partaker of their wicked works, but to be an example of righteousness, and faith, and entire obedience to God. Amid worldwide contempt of God, he was a faithful preacher of righteousness, exemplifying to the world what a man’s life could be by reposing confidence in the sure word of God, by rendering obedience to all His commandments. This Day With God, 235 It was through Noah’s consistent faith and works combined that condemned the world. He not only preached the present truth appropriate for that time, but he acted every sermon. Had he never lifted his voice in warning, his works, his holy character among the corrupt and ungodly would have been condemning sermons to the unbelieving and dissolute of that age. He bore himself with a Christlike patience and meekness under the provoking insults, taunts, and mockery. His voice was often heard in prayer to God for His power and help that he might do all the commandments of God. This was a condemning power to the unbelieving. Noah’s Perseverance—“The Patience Of The Saints” The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 This period was the testing time for Noah. He knew that he was the object of popular contempt and scorn with that corrupt generation. He met with unbelief and mockery everywhere. But the greater the iniquity surrounding him, the more earnest and firm and persevering was he in his obedience, showing that there was one man in the world who would be true to God. He was a faithful and unbending witness for God, kind and courteous to all, resenting no insult. He was as one who heard not the reviling and blasphemy that greeted him on every side. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Noah was laughed to scorn because of his warnings; he was regarded as a fanatic. Noah’s implicit trust in God annoyed while it condemned them; but they could not move this faithful reprover from his position. The Lord had given the warning, and that was enough for Noah. The arguments of the philosophers were nothing to him, when the message of God was sounding in his ears, “The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 Amid popular contempt and ridicule, amid universal wickedness and disobedience, Noah distinguishes himself by his holy integrity and unwavering obedience. He is singular indeed. He was one in the world, but not one of the world. Noah made himself the object of contempt and ridicule by his steadfast adherence to the words of God. He obeyed God without a questioning doubt. What a marked contrast to the prevailing unbelief and universal disregard of God’s law. While the voice of God, through Noah, is making itself heard in entreaties and warnings in condemnation of sin and iniquity, Satan was not asleep, he was mustering his forces. He engages his host with gigantic energies to make through his sophistry, cruelties and oppression the words of warning from the servant of God of none effect. Evil seems to gain the day. Noah was tested and proved, opposition met him from the great men of the world, from philosophers and men of science, so-called, who tried to show him that his message could not be true; but his voice was not silenced, one hundred and twenty years the words of warning continued to be heard in earnest tones, and were sustained by his energetic work upon the ark. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 While Noah was sounding the note of warning of the coming destruction of that generation it was their day of opportunity and privilege to become wise unto salvation. But they gave their minds to the control of Satan rather than God, and he deceived them as he did our first parents. He set before them darkness and falsehood in the place of light and truth. They accepted the sophistry and lies of Satan because the most acceptable to them, and the most in harmony with their corrupt lives, while truth, which would have saved them, was rejected as a delusion. Noah to them was regarded as a fanatic, and they did not humble their hearts before God, but continued their disobedience and wickedness the same as if God had not spoken to them through Noah. But Noah stood like a rock amidst the tempest. He was surrounded with every species of wickedness and moral corruption; yet his faith wavered not. Undaunted he stood, the faithful messenger of God amid the scoffs and jeers of the world, an unbending witness of God. His meekness and his righteousness was shining brightly in contrast to the revolting crimes, intrigue and violence continually practiced. Connection with God made him strong in the strength of infinite power, while his solemn warning voice for one hundred and twenty years fell upon the ears of the inhabitants of that generation in regard to events, which, as far as human wisdom was concerned, would be impossible to transpire. Spiritual Gifts, Volume 3, 65, 66 Noah’s efforts to reform his fellow men did not succeed. But for more than one hundred years he persevered in his efforts to turn men to repentance and to God. Every blow struck upon the ark was preaching to the people. Noah directed, he preached, he worked, while the people looked on in amazement, and regarded him as a fanatic. Manuscript Releases Volume Twenty-one, 65, 66 Finally the long period of probation was about to close. By the standard of God’s law, the obedient were distinguished from the disobedient. The time was a most critical one. Will Noah become tempted by the universal scorn which he sees thrown upon God’s law and upon himself and his helpers, and will he have less reverence and love for this law? No; for Noah, and those who died in the faith, preached all the more earnestly, in proportion to the ridicule and scorn heaped upon them for building that immense ark—a boat on dry land. Condition of Nature The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 A heavy, double curse was resting upon the earth in consequence, first, of Adam’s transgression, and, secondly, because of the murder committed by Cain; yet this did not at once change the face of nature. It was still rich and beautiful in the bounties of God’s providence. The quiet valleys and spreading plains, robed with verdure and adorned with shrubs and bright hued flowers colored by the Divine Artist, the lovely birds whose glad songs filled the groves with music, the graceful hills and winding streams, the trailing vines and stately trees, charming the eye with their beauty and supporting life with their fruit,—all seemed little less fair than Eden. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Gold and silver existed in abundance. The race of men then living was of very great stature, and possessed wonderful strength. The trees were vastly larger, and far surpassed in beauty and perfect proportions anything which mortals can now look upon. The wood of these trees was of fine grain and hard substance—in this respect more like stone. It required much more time and labor, even of that powerful race, to prepare the timber for building, than it requires in this degenerate age to prepare trees that are now growing upon the earth, even with the weaker strength which men now possess. These trees were of great durability, and would know nothing of decay for very many years. But notwithstanding the richness and beauty of the earth, when compared with its state before the curse was pronounced upon it, there was manifest evidence of certain decay. Man’s Condition The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Instead of doing justice to their neighbors, they carried out their own unlawful wishes. They had a plurality of wives, which was contrary to God’s wise arrangement at the beginning. God gave to Adam one wife—showing to all who should live upon the earth, His order and law in that respect. The transgression and fall of Adam and Eve brought sin and wretchedness upon the human race, and man followed his own carnal desires, and changed God’s order. The more men multiplied wives to themselves, the more they increased in crime and unhappiness. If any one chose to take the wives, or cattle, or anything belonging to his neighbor, he did not regard justice or right, but if he could prevail over his neighbor by reason of strength, or by putting him to death, he did so, and exulted in his deeds of violence. Men loved to destroy the lives of animals. They used the flesh for food, and this increased their ferocity and violence, and caused them to look upon the blood of human beings with astonishing indifference. The Signs of the Times, November 27, 1884 God bestowed upon these antediluvians many and rich gifts; but they used His bounties to glorify themselves, and turned them into a curse by fixing their thoughts and affections upon the gifts instead of the Giver. They had goodly trees of great variety and almost without limit; but of these they made temples, where they reveled in scenes of pleasure and wickedness. Gold, silver, and precious stones were in abundance, but they used these also to gratify the desires of their own proud hearts. These sinful men could not deny the existence of God; but they would have been glad to know that there was no God to witness their deeds, and call them to an account. They delighted to put Him out of their minds and hearts. The children were not taught to fear and reverence their Maker. They grew up unrestrained in their desires; and were without principle or conscience. Their minds were absorbed in devising means to rival one another in pleasure and vice. This world was all the Heaven these people wanted. They were slaves to appetite and passion, and the indulgence of every wish was their ambition. They were hasty and violent, and would bear no contradiction. Everything that interfered with their desires was bitterly hated, and quickly moved out of the way. Societies Condition The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Sin was spreading abroad in the earth like a deadly leprosy. The world was but in its infancy in the days of Noah, yet iniquity had become so deep and widespread, that God repented that He had made man. Goodness and purity seemed to be almost extinct; while hatred of the law of God, emulation, envy, sedition, strife, and the most cruel oppression and violence, were corrupting the earth under its inhabitants. The thoughts and imaginations of man’s heart were evil continually. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 The people used the gold, silver, precious stones, and choice wood, in building houses for themselves, each striving to excel the other. They beautified and adorned their houses and lands with the most ingenious works, and provoked God by their wicked deeds. They formed images to worship, and taught their children to regard these pieces of workmanship made with their own hands, as gods, and to worship them. They did not choose to think of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and rendered no grateful thanks to Him who had bestowed upon them all which they possessed. They even denied the existence of the God of Heaven, and gloried in, and worshipped, the works of their own hands. They corrupted themselves with those things which God had placed upon the earth for man’s benefit. They prepared beautiful walks, overhung with fruit trees of every description, and under these majestic and lovely trees, with their widespread branches, which were green from the commencement of the year to its close, they placed their idols. Whole groves, because of the shelter of their branches, were dedicated to these idol gods, and made attractive as a resort for the people in their idolatrous worship. The Signs of the Times, April 10, 1901 Instead of showing gratitude to God for His blessings, the antediluvians used His blessings as a means of separation from Him. They did not seek to honor and glorify their Creator. The gold and silver which He entrusted to them they used for self-gratification. Violence filled the land. Appetite and passion bore sway. Men spent their time in dissipation and amusement and in enriching themselves. Review and Herald, September 25, 1888 In the time of Noah, the people were intensely worldly. They were without the fear of God. God was not in all their thoughts. They had no care whether He approved their course or not. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, with no thought of their Creator, or of their responsibility to Him.… God has placed men in the world, and it is their privilege to eat, to drink, to trade, to marry, and to be given in marriage; but it is safe to do these things only in the fear of God. We should live in this world with reference to the eternal world. The great crime in the marriages of the days of Noah, was that the sons of God formed alliances with the daughters of men. Those who professed to acknowledge and revere God, associated with those who were corrupt of heart; and without discrimination, they married whom they would. The Arguments Against Noah’s Message Of A Coming Flood The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 As far as human wisdom could see, the event predicted by Noah was not likely to occur. Rain had never fallen; a mist or dew had watered the earth. The brooks and rivers had safely flowed along their channels, emptying into the sea. The bodies of water had been kept in their place by God’s decree, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.” Men then talked about the fixed laws of nature, that could not be set aside to bring about any such event as Noah had foretold. They wished to believe, and to have all others believe, that God could not change the order of the natural world; thus they sought to prescribe the limits of His power, making Him a slave to His own laws. The people in Noah’s day possessed sharp intellects, and they sought to show, on scientific grounds, that it was impossible for his prophecy to be fulfilled. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1879 As time passed on without any apparent change in nature men began to be reassured whose hearts had trembled at times with fear. They felt secure in their unbelief. They reasoned then as men reason now, as though nature was above the God of nature, and her ways were so fixed that God Himself could not change them, thus making in the minds of the world God’s messages of warning a delusion, a grand deception, reasoning that if the message of Noah was correct nature would be turned out of her course of order. The Signs of the Times, April 18, 1895 The opposition, however, was not entirely worldwide; for some believed the message of Noah, and zealously repeated the warning. But the men who were accounted wise were sought, and were urged to present arguments by which the message of Noah might be counteracted. And as the world was at peace and not at war with the prince of evil, they were glad of any excuse to set aside the “Thus saith the Lord” and to listen to the philosophers of the age, who presented the impossibility of such a change taking place in the forces of nature as Noah predicted. There is no enmity between fallen man and fallen angels; both are evil through apostasy, and evil, wherever it exists, is in league against God. Fallen men and fallen angels were united for the dethronement of God. Thus it was that the wise men of this world talked of science and the fixed laws of nature, and declared that there could be no variation in these laws, and that this message of Noah could not possibly be true. The talented men of Noah’s time set themselves in league against God’s will and purpose, and scorned the message and the messenger that He had sent. When they could not move Noah from his firm and implicit trust in the word of God, they pointed to him as a fanatic, as a ranting old man, full of superstition and madness. Thus they condemned him because he would not be turned from his purpose by reasonings and theories of men. Noah’s Response To The Science And Philosophical Arguments The Signs of the Times, April 18, 1895 1) It was true that Noah could not controvert their philosophies, or refute the claims of science so called; 2) but he could proclaim the word of God; 3) for he knew it contained the infinite wisdom of the Creator, and, 4) as he sounded it everywhere, it lost none of its force and reality because men of the world treated him with ridicule and contempt. Noah’s Response To Their Unbelief The Signs of the Times, April 10, 1901 To the people Noah’s course seemed inconsistent. Together they talked about the foolishness of building an ark on dry ground, and the unbelief of one was strengthened by the unbelief of another. 1) But Noah believed that God would do as He had said, and 2) he acted in accordance with his belief. While the people laughed and mocked and jeered, 3) he kept steadily on with his work, teaching and building. 4) He did not stop to listen to the false reports, to contradict the slander thrown at him. The Attitude Towards Noah’s Message The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 Noah was a man of prayer; and in this close connection with God he found all his courage and firmness. He preached, and warned, and entreated the people; but 1) they would not change their course. They bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, they married and were given in marriage, they indulged in feasting and gluttony, and debased their souls, 2) showing contempt for the message of Noah. 3) Their speeches and actions became more vile and corrupt as the period of their probation was closing. The whole world seemed to be against Noah; but he had the testimony from God, “Thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 They had more opportunity for their unbelief and mockery, because God did not at once carry out His purpose. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 Numbers was not on the side of right. The world was arrayed against God’s justice and His laws. 1) Men of science and of philosophy used their talents and abilities to oppose the message of God. Satan, when tempting Eve to disobey God, said to her, “Ye shall not surely die.” 2) Great men, worldly, honored, and wise men, repeat the same story. “Ye shall not surely die,” and that 3) God’s threatenings are for the purpose of intimidating and will never be verified. 4) You need not be alarmed, such an event as the world’s being destroyed by God who made it, and punishing the beings He has made will never take place 5) for this is not in accordance with science and philosophy. Be at peace, fear not, Noah is crazy, he is the wildest fanatic. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 The world might have believed if they would. Had they believed the message of warning, and repented of their evil deeds and submitted to be obedient to God, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath as He did from Nineveh. God’s Spirit was striving with the people to lead them to accept and believe the truth, but Satan’s suggestions were also heeded, their own wicked hearts were more inclined to harmonize with the sophistry of the father of lies than with the pleadings of infinite love. They manifested their indifference and contempt of the solemn warnings of God in doing the same as they had done before the warning had been given. They continued their gluttonous feasts, their festivities, eating and drinking, planting and building, in reference to the advantage to be gained by them in the far future and they went to greater lengths in wickedness and defiant disregard of God’s requirements to testify to one another that they had no fear of God and His commands. Men Concluded Noah Was Wrong, And Placed Their Trust In The Great Men Instead Of God Manuscript Releases Volume Ten, 374 But the days before the Flood steal silently on as a thief in the night. Noah is now making his last effort in warnings, entreaty, and appeal to the rejecters of God’s message. With tearful eye, trembling lip, and quivering voice he makes his last entreaty for them to believe and secure a refuge in the ark. But they turn from him with impatience and contempt that he should be so egotistical as to suppose his family are the only ones right in the vast population of the earth. 1) They have no patience with his warnings, with his strange work of building an immense boat on dry ground. 2) Noah, they said, was insane. 3) Reason, science, and philosophy assured them Noah was a fanatic. 4) None of the wise men and honored of the earth believed the testimony of Noah. If these great men were at ease and had no fears, why should they be troubled? Manuscript Releases Volume Three, 90 In the time of the Flood nearly all the inhabitants of the world thought that they were right and that Noah was wrong. They claimed that they knew more than that faithful servant of God, and thus closed their ears to words of truth, and darkness came upon them. There were those then, as today who explain away the truth by false science. They branded Noah as a fanatic. They explained to the people the foolishness of Noah’s statement that a rain would come upon the earth when no signs of such had ever existed. Professed Believers In God The Greatest Hindrance To Noah’s Message The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 In Noah’s day all men were not in the fullest sense heathen idolaters. Many had a knowledge of God and of His law, but in their grand works of sculpture, in their works of art, they professed to be honoring God by representing Him in the works of their own hands in the similitudes which they had made of God. These works of art were worshiped as God and the Creator was forgotten. The class who professed a knowledge of God were the ones who had the greatest influence and took the lead in making of none effect His word spoken to them by Noah. They not only rejected the message of the faithful preacher of righteousness themselves, but like their master the devil they sought every means in their power to prevent others from believing and being obedient to God. To every one comes their day of trial and of trust. Reflecting Christ, 321 All the men of that generation were not in the fullest sense of the term heathen idolaters. 1) Many had a knowledge of God and His law; 2) but they not only rejected the message of the faithful preacher of righteousness themselves, 3) but used all their influence to prevent others from being obedient to God. Professed Believers Failed The Time Of Test And Trial Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 1) A multitude at first apparently received the warning of Noah, 2) yet they did not fully turn to God with true repentance. There was some time given them before the flood was to come, in which they were placed upon probation—to be proved and tried. They failed to endure the trial. The prevailing degeneracy overcame them, and they finally joined others who were corrupt, in deriding and scoffing at faithful Noah. They would not leave off their sins, but continued in polygamy, and in the indulgence of their base passions. The Signs of the Times, April 18, 1895 1) There were many who at first received Noah’s message, 2) but the fear of men was greater than the fear of God, and 3) they turned away from the truth of God to believe a lie. 4) As time passed on, and reproach and ridicule were heaped upon them, their hearts failed them, and they did not bear the test. It is the testing time that will measure professed faith and assurance in God. Courage and integrity cannot be estimated rightly by men until the day of trial puts them to the test. S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 1, 1088 Those who believed when Noah began to build the ark, lost their faith through association with unbelievers who aroused all the old passion for amusement and display. People Convicted, But Evil Of The World Turned Them Away Matthew 24:12, 13 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. The Signs of the Times, November 27, 1884 1) Many, even of the worshipers of God, were beguiled into sin by the bewitching allurements which were constantly before them, and 2) lost their peculiar, holy character. 3) They had not sufficient moral power to stand against the corrupting influences of the age. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 1) Some were deeply convicted and would have heeded the words of warning, 2) but there were so many to jest and ridicule the message of entreaty and warning to repentance that 3) they partook of the same spirit, resisted the invitations of mercy, refused to reform, and were soon among the boldest and most defiant scoffers; for none are as reckless, and will go to such lengths in sin as those who have once had light, who have been convicted and resisted the Spirit of God. The Signs of the Times, October 9, 1901 At first many were startled by this message. Some believed it, and some died in the faith. 1) But as time went by, the message lost its power over the careless, world-loving people. 2) They forgot all thought of peril, and laughed at Noah for building an ark on dry land. 3) But still the work of building went on. Noah showed his faith by his works, and by his faith and works condemned the world. The Signs of the Times, February 16, 1882 The Scriptures briefly state the reason for the prevailing iniquity in Noah’s day. The sons of God married the daughters of men. Those who still cherished the knowledge of God united themselves with the ungodly and corrupt, and as a result became assimilated to them in character. The message of warning would have been received by a larger number, had it not been for their connection and association with those who despised and derided the word of God. S.D.A. Bible Commentary Volume 1, 1088 For one hundred and twenty years Noah proclaimed the message of warning to the antediluvian world; but only a few repented. Some of the carpenters he employed in building the ark believed the message, but died before the Flood; others of Noah’s converts backslid. Many of the believing ones kept the faith, and died triumphant. Some Who Associated With The Work Yet Were Lost Pamphlet 068, Rolling Back the Reproach, 19 Many helped Noah build the ark who 1) did not believe the startling message, 2) who did not cleanse themselves from all wrong principles, 3) who did not overcome the temptation to do and say things which were entirely contrary to the mind and will of God. The Work Of Building And Design Of The Ark Was God’s The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ark, and explicit directions in regard to its construction in every particular. It was three stories high, but there were no windows in the sides, all the light being received from one in the top. The different apartments were so arranged that the window in the top gave light to all. The door was in the side. The ark was made of the cypress, or gopher wood, which would know nothing of decay for hundreds of years. It was a building of great durability, which no wisdom of man could invent. God was the designer and Noah His master-builder. The work of completing the building was a slow process. Every piece of timber was closely fitted, and every seam covered with pitch. All that men could do was done to make the work perfect; yet, after all, it was impossible that it could of itself withstand the violence of the storm which the Lord in His fierce anger was to bring upon the earth. God alone by His miraculous power, could preserve the building upon the angry, heaving billows. God’s Final Miracle And Call Rejected Isaiah 26:10, 11 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD. LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. The Signs of the Times, February 27, 1879 With heart filled with sorrow that his warnings had been slighted and neglected, Noah makes, with quivering lips and trembling voice, his last appeal to the people. And while their voices are raised, in jest and scoffing, suddenly they see the beasts, the most ferocious as well as the most gentle, of their own accord coming, from mountain and forest, and marching quietly into the ark. A noise like a rushing wind is heard; and lo, birds of every description come from all directions, clouding the heavens with their numbers, and file, in perfect order, into that ark. Philosophers were appealed to in vain to explain from natural laws the singular phenomenon. Here was a mystery beyond their depth. The world looked on with wonder—some with fear, but they had become so hardened by rebellion that this most signal manifestation of God’s power had but a momentary effect upon them. For seven days these animals were coming into the ark, and Noah was arranging them in the places prepared for them. And as the doomed race beheld the sun shining in its glory, and the earth clad in almost Eden beauty, they drove away their rising fears by boisterous merriment; and by their deeds of violence seemed to be encouraging upon themselves the visitation of the already awakened wrath of God. The Signs of the Times, April 10, 1901 The ark is finished, and the people see animals coming from the forest, and of their own accord entering the ark. Soon they see that the heavens are black with birds, and the inquiry is made, “Where can they be going?” Lo, they are flying toward the ark, and two by two they pass into it. With curious interest the people watch the strange sight. They can not understand what it means. They are alarmed; but they try to find some reason for the occurrence, and soon make light of it. 1) Could not the people see from this that the building of the ark was the work of God? 2) Did they not know that animals and birds would not enter the ark in perfect order and of their own accord without the guidance of a divine hand? 3) They might have known; 4) but for a hundred and twenty years they had been hardening their hearts. 5) For a hundred and twenty years they had been training themselves to reject the message of truth. 6) Now, when unmistakable evidence was given them, their hearts were so hard that they laughed it away. Manuscript Releases Volume Nineteen, 387 Noah’s faith and works were united. The building of the ark went on amid the jeers and the ridicule and the scoffing of old and young. When they saw the last sign given— the provisions for man and beast taken into the ark—then mirth and revelry and mocking increased. When they saw the beasts come from the forests to the door of the ark, and Noah take them in, they had so long resisted, so long denied the message that God had given them, that 1) they had educated themselves to resist; 2) reason was perverted by gratification of appetite and low, carnal amusements; 3) they denied the Lord God that bought them, and conscience had become unimpressible. They saw the heavens darkened, and they had to wonder what it meant. The air was filled with birds of all kinds presenting themselves by sevens to be taken into the ark. The animal creation was obedient to the drawing of God, while man, possessing reasoning power, was closing every avenue of the soul so that the Spirit of God might not be entertained and break up their life of carnal pleasures—their eating and drinking, and their practicing of all kinds of iniquity in order to testify to their unbelief and to their determination to carry out their ambitious projects. Spiritual Gifts, Volume 3, 69 Notwithstanding the solemn exhibition they had witnessed of God’s power—of the unnatural occurrence of the beasts’ leaving the forests and fields, and going into the ark, and the angel of God clothed with brightness, and terrible in majesty, descending from Heaven and closing the door; yet they hardened their hearts, and continued to revel and sport over the signal manifestations of divine power. God’s Purpose To Save Was Frustrated By Continued Rebellion Until The Cup Of Iniquity Was Filled Patriarchs and Prophets, 97 Had the antediluvians believed the warning, and repented of their evil deeds, the Lord would have turned aside His wrath, as He afterward did from Nineveh. But by their obstinate resistance to the reproofs of conscience and the warnings of God’s prophet, that generation filled up the measure of their iniquity, and became ripe for destruction. The Signs of the Times, December 20, 1877 The Spirit of God continued to strive with rebellious man until the time of God had specified had nearly expired, when Noah and his family entered the ark and the hand of God closed the door of the ark. Mercy had stepped from the golden throne no longer to intercede for man. 1) Notwithstanding God was working to draw man to Himself by the conviction of His Holy Spirit, 2) man in his rebellion was drawing away from God, 3) and continually resisting the pleadings of infinite love. The Shutting Of The Door Of The Ark—The Shutting Of The Door Of Mercy The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879 Everything was now ready for the closing of the ark, which could not be done by Noah from within. The scoffing multitude behold an angel descending from heaven, clothed with brightness like the lightning. He closes that massive outer door, and then takes his course upward to heaven again. Seven days were the family of Noah in the ark before the rain began to descend. During this time they were arranging for their long stay while the waters should be upon the earth. And these were days of blasphemous merriment by the unbelieving masses. Because the prophecy of Noah was not fulfilled immediately after he entered the ark, they thought that he was deceived, and that it was impossible for the world to be destroyed by a flood. Notwithstanding the solemn scenes which they had witnessed, the beasts leaving the mountains and forests and going into the ark, and the angel of God, clothed with brightness and terrible in majesty, descending from Heaven and closing the door, they hardened their hearts and continued to revel and sport over the signal manifestations of divine power. The Wrath Of God And The Flood The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879 But the same power that called the world into existence, and that created man, has shut Noah into his temporary refuge. The last golden opportunity is past. All have heard the warning, God’s forbearance with that vile race is exhausted, and the swift bolts of His wrath are to be hurled upon the impenitent. Upon the eighth day the heavens gathered blackness. The muttering thunders and vivid lightning flashes began to terrify man and beast. The rain descended from the clouds above them. This was something they had never witnessed, and their hearts were faint with fear. The beasts were roving about in the wildest terror, and their discordant voices seemed to moan out their own destiny and the fate of man. The storm increased in violence until water appeared to come from heaven in mighty cataracts. The boundaries of rivers broke away, and the waters rushed to the valleys. The foundations of the great deep also were broken up. Jets of water would burst up from the earth with indescribable force, throwing massive rocks hundreds of feet into the air, and these, in falling, would bury themselves deep in the ground. The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879 The people first beheld the destruction of the works of their own hands. Their splendid buildings, the beautifully arranged gardens and groves where they had placed their idols, were destroyed by lightning from heaven. The ruins were scattered everywhere. They had erected and consecrated to their idols altars whereon they offered human sacrifices. These which God detested were torn down in His wrath before them, and they were made to tremble at the power of the living God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, and to know that it was their abominations and horrible, idolatrous sacrifices, which had called for their destruction. The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879 The violence of the storm increased, and there were mingled with the warring of the elements, the wailings of the people who had despised the authority of God. Trees, buildings, rocks, and earth were hurled in every direction. The terror of man and beast was beyond description. And even Satan himself, who was compelled to be amid the warring elements, feared for his own existence. He had delighted to control so powerful a race, and wished them to live to practice their abominations, and increase their rebellion against the God of Heaven. He now uttered imprecations against God, charging Him with injustice and cruelty. Many of the people, like Satan, blasphemed God, and if they could have carried out their rebellion, would have torn Him from the throne of justice. Others were frantic with fear, stretching their hands toward the ark, and pleading for admittance. But this was impossible. God had closed the door, the only entrance, and shut Noah in, and the ungodly out. He alone could open the door. Their fear and repentance came too late. Conscience was at last awake to know that there was a God who ruled in the heavens. They called upon Him earnestly, but His ear was not open to their cry. Some in their desperation sought to break into the ark, but that firm-made structure resisted all their efforts. Some clung to the ark until they were borne away with the furious surging of the waters, or their hold was broken off by rocks and trees that were swept here and there by the angry billows. The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879 The animals exposed to the tempest rushed toward man, choosing the society of human beings, as though expecting help from them. Some of the people bound their children and themselves upon powerful beasts, knowing that they would be tenacious of life, and would climb the highest points to escape the rising water. The storm does not abate its fury—the waters increase faster than at first. Some fasten themselves to lofty trees, but these trees are torn up by the roots, and carried with violence through the air, and angrily hurled, with stones and earth, into the foaming billows. As the black, seething waters rise higher and higher, the wicked flee for safety to the loftiest mountains. The solemn denunciations of Noah did not then seem to be so laughable a matter. One spot after another that promised safety was abandoned for one still higher. Men looked abroad upon a shoreless ocean. How they longed then for the opportunities, which they had slighted. How they pleaded for one hour’s probation, one more privilege of mercy, one more call from the lips of Noah. But mercy’s sweet voice was no more to be heard by them. She had stepped down from her golden throne, and stern, imperative justice had taken her place. The pitiless waves finally sweep over the last retreat, and man and beast alike perish in the black depths. The Ark Sustained By God’s Hand The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879 The ark was severely rocked and tossed about. With the noise of the tempest was mingled the roaring of the terrified beasts; yet amid all the warring of the elements, the ark rode safely. Angels that excel in strength guided and preserved it from harm. Every moment during that frightful storm of forty days and forty nights the preservation of the ark was a miracle of almighty power.… Fifteen cubits above the highest mountains did the waters prevail; but Noah and his family were safe in the ark, under the protecting care of God. The Lord had shut out all His foes, and He was never more to hear their taunts and sneers. Often it seemed to this family of God’s providence that they must go to destruction as their boat was swept hither and thither. It was a trying ordeal; but Noah believed God. He had the assurance that God was caring for them. A Divine Hand was upon the helm. AS IT WAS—SO SHALL IT BE PART TWO Matthew 24:37–39 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. The Signs of the Times, April 1, 1886 The time of Noah prefigures the present age. Christ tells us that as it was in the time of Noah, so shall it be in the days that immediately precede His appearing in the clouds of heaven. Human nature in our day, uninfluenced by the Spirit of God, is the same as in the age of Noah. And Satan is not asleep; he is as active and vigilant now as he was then. While the voice of God is making itself heard through His servants in warning and entreaties, he is mustering his forces. He engages his host with gigantic energies to make, through his sophistry, cruelties, and oppression, the words of warning of none effect. The people are tested, and the great mass will be found on the side of the great deceiver, and will be overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable destruction. But those that heed the warnings of God, and in their lives bring forth fruits meet for repentance, shall “dwell in the secret place of the Most High;” they “shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” For them is the promise: “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Notebook Leaflets from the Elmshaven Library Volume 1, 32 1) The world is no more favorable today for the development of Christian character than in Noah’s day.… 2) We are living in the last days of this earth’s history, in an age of sin and corruption, and 3) like Noah we are to so live that we shall be a pleasure to God, showing forth the praises of Him “who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” In the prayer which Christ offered to His Father just before His crucifixion, He said, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” The Character Of The Faithful The Youth’s Instructor, July 19, 1894 The great aim and purpose of this life is to form characters so that we shall be accounted worthy of eternal life. We shall act as rational beings, and make religion a practical matter. We need to keep our Saviour ever before us, and educate ourselves in such a way that our desires shall continually flow out toward Him, that we shall meditate upon His promises, and address Him in confiding faith. Before you engage in any important work, remember that Jesus is your counselor, and that it is your privilege to cast all your care upon Him; for He invites you to do so, and is at your right hand, that you shall not be moved. Each day be determined that you will keep nigh to God, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Pamphlet 167, 5 God has a work for His faithful ones to do, to stand in defense of the truth like faithful Noah. They will warn and entreat, and show by their works their faith. They stand as God’s agents, as Noah stood, in noble, whole-souled fidelity, the moral character untarnished. They are saviours of men like their Master. They will be exposed to hatred and reproach as was their Master. Enmity will be aroused, hatred and false accusations will pour like a torrent around them to wrench them from their high moral position, but they have their foundation on the Rock, and remain unmoved at their chosen post of duty, warning, entreating, rebuking sin and pleasure-lovers by their moral rectitude and circumspect conversation. God’s servants who will hear the “Well done” from His divine lips, will be heroic ministers of righteousness, although they may not preach in the desk. They are constantly ministering, loyal to their sense of God’s claims upon them, jealous of their own selves, lest they shall dishonor the Lord that taught them to stand in defense of right and duty at any loss to themselves. This is the work of the Christian soldier. That which will stand under the pressure of temptation is heart religion. The whole heart must be given to God; if any portion of it be withheld, we have no right to claim the promise of being the favored sons and daughters of God. Review and Herald, November 29, 1881 We profess to be pilgrims and strangers on earth, journeying to a better country, even an heavenly. If we are indeed but sojourners here, traveling to a land where none but the holy can dwell, we shall make it our first business to become acquainted with that country; we shall make diligent inquiry as to the preparation needed, the manners and character which we must have, in order to become citizens there. Jesus, the King of that land, is pure and holy. He has commanded His followers, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” If we are hereafter to associate with Christ and sinless angels, we must here obtain a fitness for such society. This is our work,—our all-important work. Every other consideration is of minor consequence. Our conversation, our deportment, our every act, should be such as to convince our family, our neighbors, and the world, that we expect soon to remove to a better country. More than this, our godly example should keep ever before their minds the preparation needed by all who would enter that blessed home. Our acts must correspond with our faith, and faith will then be made perfect. We should not engage in the work of preparation merely as a duty, a necessity, but as a privilege which we are happy in accepting. Those whose faith is daily confirmed and strengthened by their works, will become acquainted with self-denial in restricting appetite, controlling ambitious desires, bringing every thought and feeling into harmony with the divine will. They will beware lest they be brought into the bondage of sin by conforming to a worldly standard, and thus, before many witnesses, denying their faith.… The true Christian will cling to the promises of God more firmly now than ever before. His heart is where he has laid up his treasure—in Heaven. When right principles are despised and forsaken, then the true and loyal will show their warmest zeal and deepest love; then they will stand most firmly for truth, unpopular though it be. The true soldier will be ready to fight the battles of the Lord when his enemies appear strongest; and it is then that the victory will be most complete and triumphant. Societies Condition Manuscript Releases Volume Nineteen, 247 In the days of Noah the overwhelming majority was opposed to the truth, and enamored with a tissue of falsehoods. The land was filled with violence. War, crime, murder, was the order of the day. Just so will it be before Christ’s second coming. The great multitude will be without Christ and without hope. The Signs of the Times, February 11, 1897 “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Now, as then, the servers of mammon, careless, indifferent, and disobedient, go on and on, neglecting the great salvation so freely offered to them, failing to recognize God, or to offer Him thanksgiving and praise. The Lord has manifested Himself in His works, which the eye can see and the senses discern; in terms too plain to be misunderstood, He has declared His will in His word. But the disobedient do not see God in the manifold works of creation; they do not hear His voice speaking to them out of His word. The light of truth is offered to them, but they choose sin. They follow their own imaginations, as did the inhabitants of the Noetic world, placing their desires and ambitions above all else. The Desire of Ages, 636 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; Isa. 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Rev. 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. 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. The Signs of the Times, February 11, 1897 One marked feature of Noah’s day was the intense worldliness of the inhabitants. They were eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage, not that these things were of themselves sins, but they were, although lawful in themselves, carried to a high degree of intemperance. The appetite was indulged at the expense of health and reason. This constant indulgence of their sinful desires corrupted them and defiled the earth under them. The same evils intensified exist in our world today. Men are blind to reason and the result of indulging perverted appetite. The world is the god of nine-tenths of professed Christians. The indulgence of appetite is carried to the greatest excess. Tobacco, wine, liquor and opium are added to the list of a feverish stimulating diet. The Signs of the Times, October 9, 1901 Troublous times are right upon us. The signs of the times give evidence that the judgments of heaven are being poured out, that the day of the Lord is at hand. The daily papers are full of indications of an intense conflict in the future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed by demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. All these things testify that the Lord’s coming is near. The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, disasters by sea and by land, follow one another in quick succession. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. Men can not discern the sentinel angel restraining the four winds, that they shall not blow until the servants of God are sealed; but when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture. The Signs of the Times, November 27, 1884 “God saw that the wickedness of man was great,” and that the “earth was filled with violence.”… The same characteristics prevail in our day. Crimes as grievous, as black and terrible, are perpetrated. How many men in high positions, who have been honored as men of talent and integrity, have proved themselves unworthy to be trusted. How many such persons have been detected in fraud, bribery, theft, and even murder. Take up the secular papers, and read the accounts of murder. Many of these crimes are so cold-blooded and causeless that it seems as though men kill one another merely from impulse or for amusement. And these atrocities have become of such common occurrence that they hardly elicit a comment or awaken surprise. They are looked upon as a matter of course, as evils that must be endured. Fundamentals of Christian Education, 421, 422 Society at the present time is corrupt, as it was in the days of Noah. To the long-lived, antediluvian race, only a step from paradise, God gave rich gifts, and they possessed a strength of body and mind of which men now have but a faint idea; but they 1) used His bounties, and the strength and skill He gave them, for selfish purposes, 2) to minister to unlawful appetites, 3) and to gratify pride. 4) They expelled God from their thoughts; 5) they despised His law; trampled His standard of character in the dust. 6) They reveled in sinful pleasure, corrupting their ways before God, and corrupting one another. 7) Violence and crime filled the earth. 8) Neither the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected; and the cries of the oppressed entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 9) By beholding evil, men became changed into its image, until God could bear with their wickedness no longer, and they were swept away by the flood. Societies Preoccupation With Indulgence Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, 153 The same sins that brought judgments upon the world in the days of Noah, exist in our day. Men and women now carry their eating and drinking so far that it ends in gluttony and drunkenness. This prevailing sin, the indulgence of perverted appetite, inflamed the passions of men in the days of Noah, and led to widespread corruption. Violence and sin reached to heaven. This moral pollution was finally swept from the earth by means of the flood. Christ has here left us a most important lesson. He would lay before us the danger of making our eating and drinking paramount. He presents the result of unrestrained indulgence of appetite. The moral powers are enfeebled, so that sin does not appear sinful. Crime is lightly regarded, and passion controls the mind, until good principles and impulses are rooted out, and God is blasphemed. All this is the result of eating and drinking to excess. This is the very condition of things which Christ declares will exist at His second coming. The Saviour presents to us something higher to toil for than merely what we shall eat and drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed. Eating, drinking, and dressing are carried to such excess that they become crimes. They are among the marked sins of the last days, and constitute a sign of Christ’s soon coming. Time, money, and strength, which belong to the Lord, but which He has intrusted to us, are wasted in superfluities of dress and luxuries for the perverted appetite, which lessen vitality, and bring suffering and decay. It is impossible to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God when we continually fill them with corruption and disease by our own sinful indulgence. The Signs of the Times, October 8, 1902 These words of Christ should sink into the hearts of all who believe in Christ’s soon coming. “And 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.” Our danger is presented before us by Christ Himself. He knew the perils we should meet in these last days, and would have us prepare for them. “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.” They were eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and swept them all away. The day of God will find men absorbed in like manner in the business and pleasures of the world, in feasting and gluttony, and indulging perverted appetite in the defiling use of liquor, and the narcotic, tobacco. This is already the condition of our world, and these indulgences are found even among God’s professed people. Lawyers, mechanics, farmers, traders, and even ministers from the pulpit, are crying “Peace and safety,” when destruction is fast coming upon them. Conflict and Courage, 41 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Luke 17:26, 27.… A similar condition of things exists now. 1) That which is lawful in itself is carried to excess. 2) Appetite is indulged without restraint.… 3) Multitudes feel under no moral obligation to curb their sensual desires, and they become the slaves of lust. 4) Men are living for the pleasures of sense; for this world and this life alone.…The picture which Inspiration has given of the antediluvian world represents too truly the condition to which modern society is fast hastening. Marrying And Giving In Marriage Review and Herald, September 9, 1888 God has placed men in the world, and it is their privilege to eat, to drink, to trade, to marry, and to be given in marriage; but it is safe to do these things only in the fear of God. We should live in this world with reference to the eternal world. The great crime in the marriages of the days of Noah, was that the sons of God formed alliances with the daughters of men. Those who professed to acknowledge and revere God, associated with those who were corrupt of heart; and without discrimination, they married whom they would. There are many in this day who have no depth of religious experience, who will do exactly the same things as were done in the days of Noah. They will enter into marriage without careful and prayerful consideration. Many take upon themselves the sacred vows as thoughtlessly as they would enter into a business transaction; true love is not the motive for the alliance. Testimonies for the Church, Volume Five, 365 The spirit of intense worldliness that now exists, the disposition to acknowledge no higher claim than that of self-gratification, constitutes one of the signs of the last days. “As it was in the days of Noah,” said Christ, “so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came, and destroyed them all.” The people of this generation are marrying and giving in marriage with the same reckless disregard of God’s requirements as was manifested in the days of Noah. There is in the Christian world an astonishing, alarming indifference to the teaching of God’s word in regard to the marriage of Christians with unbelievers. Many who profess to love and fear God choose to follow the bent of their own minds rather than take counsel of Infinite Wisdom. In a matter which vitally concerns the happiness and well-being of both parties for this world and the next, reason, judgment, and the fear of God are set aside, and blind impulse, stubborn determination, is allowed to control. Men and women who are otherwise sensible and conscientious close their ears to counsel; they are deaf to the appeals and entreaties of friends and kindred and of the servants of God. The expression of a caution or warning is regarded as impertinent meddling, and the friend who is faithful enough to utter a remonstrance is treated as an enemy. All this is as Satan would have it. He weaves his spell about the soul, and it becomes bewitched, infatuated. Reason lets fall the reins of self-control upon the neck of lust, unsanctified passion bears sway, until, too late, the victim awakens to a life of misery and bondage. This is not a picture drawn by the imagination, but a recital of facts. God’s sanction is not given to unions which He has expressly forbidden. For years I have been receiving letters from different persons who have formed unhappy marriages, and the revolting histories opened before me are enough to make the heart ache. It is no easy thing to decide what advice can be given to these unfortunate ones, or how their hard lot can be lightened; but their sad experience should be a warning to others. Our Message At The End Revelation 14:6-12 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 As the time of Christ’s second appearing draws near, the Lord sends His servants with a warning message to the world to prepare for that great event. As the world have been living in transgression of the law of God, in mercy He sends a message of warning to arouse their attention and hold before them the law of God as a mirror into which they can look and discover the defects in their moral character. If they will at once make earnest efforts to remedy these defects, by repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, they will be pardoned through the merits of His blood, for this is the only hope of the transgressor of the law of God. But as in the days of Noah, there is with the majority a total disbelief of the testimony God has in mercy sent to warn the world of her coming destruction. The Signs of the Times, October 10, 1901 We are living in a time that calls for decided action. The world is more bitterly opposed than ever to Gospel reform. But notwithstanding this, God’s work is to go forward. The words of Christ come down to us who are living at the close of the earth’s history: “When these things shall begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” The nations are in unrest. Times of perplexity are upon us. Men’s hearts are failing them for fear of the things that are coming upon the earth. But those who believe in God will hear His voice amid the storm, saying, “It is I; be not afraid.” The world is lying in wickedness and apostasy. Rebellion to God’s law seems almost universal. But amid the tumult of excitement, with confusion in every place, there is a work to be done for God in the world. As Noah Warned The World So Are We To Do The Same The Signs of the Times, October 10, 1901 As Noah warned the world, so the people of God today are to warn the world. By their faith and works they are to condemn transgressors. They will meet the same wicked resistance that Noah met in his day. But they are not to fail or become discouraged. God calls for men who will deal prudently and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Manuscript Releases Volume Nineteen, 388 The warning message is to be given to the world in these last days, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many waxeth cold. The question is asked, When the Lord cometh, will He find faith on the earth? The warning is given, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come”.… They must have truth, present truth, appropriate for the times in which they are living. The message of warning must be given to the world, as Noah gave the message of warning to the antediluvians. PH068, Rolling Back the Reproach, 19 God is looking upon the world today as he looked upon it in Noah’s time. He is sending His messages to people today as He sent them in the days of Noah. There is in this age of the world a repetition of the wickedness of the world before the flood. Maranatha, 36 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 cooperate 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. Testimonies for the Church Volume Three, 207 As the preaching of Noah warned, tested, and proved, the inhabitants of the world before the flood of waters destroyed them from off the face of the earth, so is the truth of God for these last days doing a similar work of warning, testing, and proving the world. Review and Herald, November 28, 1899 God has a work for His faithful sentinels to do in standing in defense of the truth. They are to warn and entreat, showing their faith by their works. They are to stand as did Noah, in noble, whole-souled fidelity, their characters untarnished by the evil around them. They are to be saviors of men, as Christ was. The worker who thus stands true to his trust will be exposed to hatred and reproach. False accusations will be brought against him to drag him from his high position. But this soul has his foundation upon the Rock, and he remains unmoved, warning, entreating, rebuking sin and pleasure-loving by his own moral rectitude and circumspect life. As In Noah’s Day The Majority Will Reject God’s Call To Repentance The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 The nature of man unrenewed by grace is not changed in our day from what it was in Noah’s time. Christ has said a similar state of things would be prior to His second coming as existed before the flood. In the days of Noah men followed the imagination of their own hearts, and the result was unrestrained crime and wickedness. The same state of things will exist in this age of the world. But will not some of the learned, the honored of the world, accept the message of warning in these last days? Will the world as a majority perish in the general impending ruin? How was it in Noah’s day? As it was then Christ has said it should be. Of that vast population there was only eight persons who believed the message of Noah and obeyed God’s word. In the world today the majority choose the broad road to death because the way of life is too narrow for them to walk in with their dishonesty, avarice, pride and iniquity. Now, as in the days of Noah, the overwhelming majority are opposed to the saving truth and are fascinated with lying fables. The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 When Noah proclaimed the solemn message, yet an hundred and twenty years the judgments of God in a flood of water should destroy the world and its inhabitants, men would not receive it, so it is at the present time. Those who warn the transgressors of law to repent and turn to their allegiance for the Lawgiver is coming to punish the disobedient, will plead and entreat and warn the majority in vain. Peter describes the attitude of the world in reference to the last message: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Review and Herald, January 7, 1902 Noah was given a message to give to the antediluvians. But they scorned his warning. So today the message that God has sent to be given to the world will be rejected. But this message must be given. The people of God are to make every other interest secondary to its proclamation. Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 233 Many who hear the message—by far the greatest number—will not credit the solemn warning. Many will be found disloyal to the commandments of God, which are a test of character. The Lord’s servants will be called enthusiasts. Ministers will warn the people not to listen to them. Noah received the same treatment while the Spirit of God was urging him to give the message, whether men would hear or whether they would forbear. As In Noah’s Day The World Will Be Looking Forward To Peace And Prosperity And Thus Reject The Warning Of Judgment The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 The voice of warning is now being heard inviting the people to escape and find refuge, not in the ark but in Jesus Christ. How will the warning be treated? Christ tells us just as it was received in the days of Noah. Thousands will deride the message of mercy and salvation, and turn aside, one to his merchandise, another to his farm, and give little or no attention to these things. They will be occupied with eating, drinking, and dressing, planting and building as in the days of Noah, as though no sound of alarm had ever saluted their ears. The same reasoning will be heard today from worldly-wise men, from the unfaithful watchmen in the pulpits, “My Lord delayeth His coming, all things remain as they were from the beginning. You have no need to be alarmed, there is to be a thousand years of temporal millennium before Christ will come. All the world will be converted. Peace, peace; you should pay no regard to these fanatics, who are only alarmists.” The Great Controversy, 338 Christ declares that there will exist similar unbelief concerning His second coming. As the people of Noah’s day “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away;” so, in the words of our Saviour, “shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:39. When the professed people of God are uniting with the world, living as they live, and joining with them in forbidden pleasure; when the luxury of the world becomes the luxury of the church; when the marriage bells are chiming, and all are looking forward to many years of worldly prosperity,—then, suddenly as the lightning flashes from the heavens, will come the end of their bright visions and delusive hopes. As In Noah’s Day We Must Preach And Live The Truth The Signs of the Times, October 8, 1902 Men will reject the solemn message of warning in our day as they did in Noah’s time. They will refer to those false teachers who have predicted the event and set the definite time, and will say that they have no more faith in our warning than in theirs. This is the attitude of the world today. Unbelief is wide spread, and the preaching of Christ’s coming is mocked at and derided. This makes it all the more essential that those who believe present truth should show their faith by their works. They should be sanctified through the truth which they profess to believe; for they are savors of life unto life, or of death unto death. The Desire of Ages, 634 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 cooperate 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. As In Noah’s Day Perserverance Will Be Needed The Signs of the Times, October 10, 1901 As Noah warned the world, so the people of God today are to warn the world. By their faith and works they are to condemn transgressors. They will meet the same wicked resistance that Noah met in his day. But they are not to fail or become discouraged. God calls for men who will deal prudently and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. The Signs of the Times, April 17, 1901 Those who serve God will meet with trials and temptations. They will have burdens to bear, and difficulties to encounter. Noah was ridiculed and scorned. His work was made a laughing-stock. But none of these things moved him from his purpose, and God’s people must not allow the trials they meet to lead them away from Him. All the difficulties we meet, all the burdens laid upon us, we are to take to the Lord in prayer, asking Him for help. Those who do this will surely gain the victory. As In Noah’s Day Few Will Be Saved Manuscript Releases Volume Ten, 371 Noah was tested and tried thoroughly and yet he preserved his integrity in the face of the world—all, all against him. Thus will it be when the Son of man shall be revealed. The saved will be few, as is represented by Noah and his family. Review and Herald, November 5, 1889 Through the warning that God has sent to the world, an opportunity is given to all to escape the general ruin that is threatened to fallen Babylon. The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of this message, and hearts and minds will be prepared by its reception, for the coming of the King of kings. But this gracious message will be as generally rejected by the professed Christian world, as was the message of the Messiah by the Jewish nation. Only a few will receive the testimony of truth, for every influence that Satan can bring to bear against the reception of the truth of God will be employed. In these last days the agency of the evil one will be hidden under a cloak of godliness, so that if it were possible even the very elect would be deceived. The word of God declares that Satan will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” His miracle-working power will be displayed to its utmost. But none who wish to know the truth need be deceived. God has promised to give to His people the Spirit of truth, to guide them into all truth. As In Noah’s Day Men Center Their Attention On The World The Signs of the Times, April 17, 1901 Now is our time to prepare to meet Christ. God has given us this time, and if we use it in self-gratification instead of in crucifying self by sacrifice, we shall come up to the Judgment unprepared. In that day many will plead as an excuse, that they did not know that Christ’s coming was near. But this excuse will not be accepted. They did not know simply because they did not want to know. God gave them abundant opportunity for knowing, but they closed their eyes that they might not see, and stopped their ears that they might not hear. Their one thought was to enjoy the things of this world. Like the people of Noah’s day, they spent their lives in self-gratification. Review and Herald, September 25, 1888 “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Then, the world was destroyed by a flood; in our day, it is to be destroyed by fire. The message of warning is going forth to the world, to prepare a people who will be saved out of the general ruin of earthly things. We are living in a very solemn time, and solemn thoughts should occupy the mind; the earnest inquiry should be made by every soul, “What shall I do to be saved?” The message that the coming of Christ is at hand, is not received. The thought that He is at the door, is not a welcome thought. As the message of the coming deluge was rejected, in the time of Noah, so the announcement of the final destruction of this world, is disbelieved. Thousands will reason after the same manner as did the people in the days prior to the flood. The message of truth is refused; and one turns away to his merchandise, another to his farm, another to his cattle, and another to the pleasures of life. While one is absorbed in business, and in the cares of this world, another is taken up with thoughts and plans for marriage, and he has no disposition to heed the warning of truth. He responds to the invitation of God to come, for the feast is now ready, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” Review and Herald, September 25, 1888 The fact that all the relations of life are of a transitory nature, should have a modifying influence on all we do and say. In Noah’s day it was the inordinate, excessive love of that which in itself was lawful, when properly used, that made marriage sinful before God. 1) There are many who are losing their souls in this age of the world, by becoming absorbed in the thoughts of marriage, and in the marriage relation itself. 2) In the days of Noah the people indulged the appetite and the baser passions, until they were an abhorrence in the sight of the holy God. 3) They became the slaves of that which was vile, and they made a god of this world. The inhabitants of the earth are doing the same thing today. Eating, drinking, and amusement are the supreme order of the time. Men do not manifest an interest in the things that pertain to their eternal welfare. Review and Herald, February 28, 1882 In the days of Noah, men found their highest enjoyment in the gratification of sensual desires. This world was their all. “Eat, drink, and be merry,” was the cry echoed from lip to lip. The same insane love of pleasure, the same all-absorbing spirit of worldliness, characterize the people of this age. How little do they consider that their deeds and words are passing into judgment, and that every sin must have its retribution in the future! Christ’s Object Lessons, 228 The Bible declares that in the last days men will be 1) absorbed in worldly pursuits, 2) in pleasure and 3) money-getting. 4) They will be blind to eternal realities. As In Noah’s Day Professed Believers Love Pleasure More Than God The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 Professed followers of Christ are today eating and drinking with the drunken while their names stand in honored church records. The gratification of perverted appetite leads directly to the indulgence of unholy passions. 1) Many feel under no moral obligation to curb the appetite or the base passions. 2) They are slaves to perverted appetite. 3) They are not living for the future life. 4) They are rushing on as did the inhabitants of the world in Noah’s day, living for this present existing world regardless that their deeds of the present every day life casts its shadow forward in the future, and the retribution will be in accordance with their works. 5) They are as disobedient today in reference to God’s laws as they were in Noah’s time. 6) While in the world they will not keep separate from its pollutions but will be of the world, notwithstanding God has expressly forbidden this union with the world. Maranatha, 51 The warning that the Son of man is soon to come in the clouds of heaven has become to many a familiar tale. They have left the waiting, watching position. The selfish, worldly spirit manifested in the life reveals the sentiment of the heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” ... The same spirit of selfishness, of conformity to the practices of the world, exists in our day as in Noah’s. Many who profess to be children of God follow their worldly pursuits with an intensity that gives the lie to their profession. They will be planting and building, buying and selling, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the last moment of their probation. This is the condition of a large number of our own people…. The Signs of the Times, May 26, 1881 In the days before the flood, the people were so engrossed in worldly things, and so corrupted by iniquity, that the Spirit of God ceased to strive with men. When God’s word loses its power upon the people, a Satanic infatuation leads them in direct opposition to His revealed will. Christians are absorbed in the questions, What shall we eat, and what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed? When the energies are employed in buying and selling, planting and building, to the neglect of eternal interests; when the truth of God addressed to the ear ceases to impress the mind or affect the heart, the preaching is in vain; the hearing is in vain. Then indeed will the condition of the world become as it was in the days of Noah.… Concerning the last days, our Saviour asks the significant question: “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” The Scriptures declare that as it was in the days of Noah, before the judgments of God fell upon the corrupt inhabitants, so shall it be in the last days, just prior to the pouring out of God’s unmingled wrath upon the earth. Men will be living a godless life, professing to be Christians, but by their acts contradicting their profession. They will be heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Is not this idolatry? and is not the guilt of God’s professed people as much greater than was that of ancient Israel, as the light which we enjoy is greater than theirs? As In Noah’s Day Professed Believers Hindered God’s Message The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 The same reasoning will be heard today from worldly-wise men, from the unfaithful watchmen in the pulpits, “My Lord delayeth His coming, all things remain as they were from the beginning. You have no need to be alarmed, there is to be a thousand years of temporal millennium before Christ will come. All the world will be converted. Peace, peace; you should pay no regard to these fanatics, who are only alarmists.” The world generally will despise prophecy and abuse those who speak to them the words of God, rebuking their sins and calling them to repentance. Timothy writes: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. What a picture is here drawn by the apostle in regard to the days, just prior to the coming of the Son of man.” The millennial glory that is predicted by the false shepherds of today does not harmonize with the words of the inspired apostle. The question is asked, When the Son of man cometh shall He find faith on the earth? The Desire of Ages, 635 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. 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.” The evil servant says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.” 1) He does not say that Christ will not come. 2) He does not scoff at the idea of His second coming. 3) But in his heart and by his actions and words he declares that the Lord’s coming is delayed. 4) He banishes from the minds of others the conviction that the Lord is coming quickly. 5) His influence leads men to presumptuous, careless delay. 6) They are confirmed in their worldliness and stupor. 7) Earthly passions, corrupt thoughts, take possession of the mind. 8) 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. 9) 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.” The Kress Collection, 49 Who will prepare to hold up a light amid the moral darkness that exists in our world. The wretchedness that has been accumulating for ages and that is degrading humanity, is not sensed as it should be. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is the command of God. Idolatry exists in the church-goers today as verily as in the days of Noah. The Youth’s Instructor, September 22, 1903 There will be a sharp conflict between those who are loyal to God and those who cast scorn upon His law. The church has joined hands with the world. Reverence for God’s law has been subverted. The religious leaders have taught for doctrine the commandments of men. As it was in the days of Noah, so it is in this age. But shall the prevalence of disloyalty and transgression cause those who have reverenced God’s law to have less respect for it, or to unite with the powers of earth in attempting to make it void? Review and Herald, March 16, 1897 Christ sees the wickedness on the earth today. He sees that the sins of Noah’s and Lot’s time are being repeated. What terrible revelations of crime are being made! Everything seems to be stirred with an intense activity from beneath. Excitement is continually kept up. Feasting, buying, and selling, are brought into the churches. The watchman cries, “The morning cometh, and also the night.” 1) The night symbolizes prevalence of error, misinterpretation and misapplication of Scripture. 2) Every species of delusion is now being brought in. 3) The plainest truths of God’s word are covered with a mass of man-made theories. 4) Deadly errors are presented as the truth to which all must bow. 5) The simplicity of true godliness is buried beneath tradition. As In Noah’s Day Religious Leaders Cry Peace And Safety The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 The deceived shepherds, deceiving their flocks in their turn, are the ones whose voices are heard prophesying the conversion of the world crying peace, and safety. The inspired apostle assures us we may look for wickedness to be continually increasing as the end approaches. The description given by Timothy of the sins to be found among those who have a form of godliness is sufficient to place the students of the Bible on their guard that they be not deceived in regard to the true state of things in our world by the siren songs of the sleepy shepherds crying peace and safety when destruction is just ready to burst upon the world. While Satan is working to quiet the fears and consciences of men, he is making his last master stroke to retain his power over a world which he sees is about to pass from his grasp—He has come down in great power working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. His lying wonders will deceive many. Special Testimonies Series B, 24 At this time, when wickedness is at its height, ministers of the gospel are crying, “Peace and safety.” Upon those whose minds are thus set at rest, sudden destruction cometh. Unprepared, they shall not escape. As In Noah’s Day The Great Men Of Science And Philosophy Disregard God’s Message The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 As in Noah’s day, philosophers and men of science see nature’s laws but cannot carry their wisdom higher and see beyond these laws nature’s Lawgiver. Wise worldly men seek to practically reason out or theorize in regard to nature without taking the God of nature into the account. Many will resist God’s warnings and array themselves against His law because their sinful life cannot harmonize with the pure principles of God’s moral government. They consider it too hard work to reform their lives, therefore they endeavor to make the law of God meet their low standard of morals. It was God’s purpose in sending Noah to warn the world that the people should see their sins and awaken to a sense of their crimes and great wickedness and be alarmed and fear and repent that God might pardon and save them. As In Noah’s Day Science And Philosophy Tell Us The World Cannot Be Destroyed By God The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878 Philosophers and men of science will endeavor by their reasoning to show that the world cannot be destroyed by fire. They will plead that it is inconsistent with the laws of nature. But the God of nature, the maker and controller of nature, can use the works of His own hands to serve His purpose. Those who would be loyal to the God of heaven will not allow that interpretation of prophecy which will do away the force of the lesson God designed the prophecy should convey. As the contemporaries of Noah laughed to scorn that which they termed fear and superstition in the preacher of righteousness, so will the solemn messages of warning be ridiculed in our day. As In Noah’s Day The Spirit Ceases To Strive With Man Signs of the Times February 24, 1887, Vol 2, p. 91 In the days of Noah the Spirit of God was so long and stubbornly rejected that it ceased to strive with men. Thus will it be prior to the end of the world. When the gospel falls on closed ears, when the Holy Spirit ceases to imprint the truth upon the heart, preaching and hearing will alike be in vain. Are we not fast approaching this state of things? As In Noah’s Day The Door Of Mercy Will Shut Suddenly Conflict and Courage, 39 Mercy had ceased its pleadings for the guilty race. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air had entered the place of refuge. Noah and his household were within the ark, “and the Lord shut him in.”.… The massive door, which it was impossible for those within to close, was slowly swung to its place by unseen hands. Noah was shut in, and the rejecters of God’s mercy were shut out. The seal of Heaven was on that door; God had shut it, and God alone could open it. So when Christ shall cease His intercession for guilty men, before His coming in the clouds of heaven, the door of mercy will be shut. Then divine grace will no longer restrain the wicked, and Satan will have full control of those who have rejected mercy. They will endeavor to destroy God’s people; but as Noah was shut into the ark, so the righteous will be shielded by divine power. As The Rains And Wrath Of God Came Suddenly Unexpectedly So To Will Be The Coming Of The Son Of Man The Desire of Ages, 635 “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.” Rev. 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 Thess. 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. 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; Isa. 56:12. We will go deeper into pleasure loving. But Christ says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” Rev. 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. As In Noah’s Day The Lost Will Mourn Their Punishments Not Their Evil Doings Revelation 9:20, 21 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Conflict and Courage, 40 Above the roar of the tempest was heard the wailing of a people that had despised the authority of God.… In that terrible hour they saw that the transgression of God’s law had caused their ruin. Yet while, through fear of punishment, they acknowledged their sin, they felt no true contrition, no abhorrence of evil. They would have returned to their defiance of Heaven, had the judgment been removed. So when God’s judgments shall fall upon the earth before its deluge by fire, the impenitent will know just where and what their sin is—the despising of His holy law. Yet they will have no more true repentance than did the old-world sinners. As Noah Was Sustained By God After The Door Of Mercy Had Shut, So Will God Sustain Us At The End When Probation’s Door Closes Psalm 91:9, 10, Psalm 27:5 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee.. In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me. Early Writings, 284 I was pointed back to faithful Noah. When the rain descended and the flood came, Noah and his family had entered the ark, and God had shut them in. Noah had faithfully warned the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, while they had mocked and derided him. And as the waters descended upon the earth, and one after another was drowning, they beheld that ark, of which they had made so much sport, riding safely upon the waters, preserving the faithful Noah and His family. So I saw that the people of God, who had faithfully warned the world of His coming wrath, would be delivered. God would not suffer the wicked to destroy those who were expecting translation and who would not bow to the decree of the beast or receive his mark. I saw that if the wicked were permitted to slay the saints, Satan and all his evil host, and all who hate God, would be gratified. And oh, what a triumph it would be for his satanic majesty to have power, in the last closing struggle, over those who had so long waited to behold Him whom they loved! Those who have mocked at the idea of the saints’ going up will witness the care of God for His people and behold their glorious deliverance. The Signs of the Times, November 27, 1884 Reader, another storm is coming. The earth will again be swept by the desolating wrath of God; and again sin and sinners will be destroyed. Do you feel that it is an event of little importance? Read some of the utterances of the prophets in reference to the day of God: “Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.” But though this is a day of trouble and distress to the wicked, the righteous will be able to say, “Lo, this is our God;” “we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” The truth will be their shield and buckler. God will be their refuge, and under His wings shall they trust. Says the psalmist: “Because thou hast made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” The Signs of the Times, March 13, 1879 In the day of the Lord, just before the coming of Christ, God will send lightnings from heaven in His wrath, which will unite with fire in the earth. The mountains will burn like a furnace, and will pour forth terrible streams of lava, destroying gardens and fields, villages and cities; and as they pour their melted ore, rocks and heated mud, into the rivers, will cause them to boil like a pot, and send forth massive rocks, and scatter their broken fragments upon the land with indescribable violence. Whole rivers will be dried up. The earth will be convulsed, and there will be dreadful eruptions and earthquakes everywhere. God will plague the wicked inhabitants until they are destroyed from off the earth. But the saints will be preserved in the midst of these dreadful commotions, as Noah was preserved in the ark at the time of the flood. |
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