as given by eyewitnesses , is but an echo of the words of the Lord , recorded by the prophet Joel , twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment : " The sun shall be turned into darkness , and the moon into blood , before the great and terrible day of the Lord come ." Joel 2:31 . Christ had bidden His people watch for the signs of His advent and rejoice as they should behold the tokens of their coming King . " When these things begin to come to pass ," He said , " then look up , and lift up your heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh ." He pointed His followers to the budding trees of spring , and said : " When they now shoot forth , ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand . So likewise ye , when ye see these things come to pass , know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand ." Luke 21:28 , 30 , 31 .
But as the spirit of humility and devotion in the church had given place to pride and formalism , love for Christ and faith in His coming had grown cold . Absorbed in worldliness and pleasure seeking , the professed people of God were blinded to the Saviour ' s instructions concerning the signs of His appearing . The doctrine of the second advent had been neglected ; the scriptures relating to it were obscured by misinterpretation , until it was , to a great extent , ignored and forgotten . Especially was this the case in the churches of America . The freedom and comfort enjoyed by all classes of society , the ambitious desire for wealth and luxury , begetting an absorbing devotion to moneymaking , the eager rush for popularity and power , which seemed to be within the reach of all , led men to centre their interests and hopes on the things of this life , and to put far in the future that solemn day when the present order of things should pass away .
When the Saviour pointed out to His followers the signs of His return , He foretold the state of backsliding that would exist just prior to His second advent . There would be , as in the days of Noah , the activity and stir of worldly business and pleasure seeking--buying , selling , planting , building , marrying , and giving in marriage--with forgetfulness of God and the future life . For those living at this time , Christ ' s admonition is : " Take heed to yourselves , lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting , and drunkenness , and cares of this life , and so that day come upon you unawares ." " Watch ye therefore , and pray always , that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass , and to stand before the Son of man ." Luke 21:34 , 36 .
The condition of the church at this time is pointed out in the Saviour ' s words in the Revelation : " Thou hast a name that thou livest , and art dead ." And to those who refuse to arouse from their careless security , the solemn warning is addressed : " If therefore thou shalt not watch , I will come on thee as a thief , and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee ." Revelation 3:1 , 3 .
It was needful that men should be awakened to their danger ; that they should be roused to prepare for the solemn events connected with the close of probation . The prophet of God declares : " The day of the Lord is great and very terrible ; and who can abide it ?" Who shall stand when He appeareth who is " of purer eyes than to behold evil ," and cannot " look on iniquity "? Joel 2:11 ; Habakkuk 1:13 . To them that cry , " My God , we know Thee ," yet have transgressed His covenant ,
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