The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 39

at the doors.” Matthew 24:33. “Watch ye therefore,” are His words of
admonition. Mark 13:35. They that heed the warning shall not be left in
darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that
will not watch, “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1
Thessalonians 5:2-5.
The world is no more ready to credit the message for this time than
were the Jews to receive the Saviour’s warning concerning Jerusalem.
Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly.
When life is going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in
pleasure, in business, in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders
are magnifying the world’s progress and enlightenment, and the people
are lulled in a false security—then, as the midnight thief steals within the
unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless
and ungodly, “and they shall not escape.” Verse 3.

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