Danger of Resisting the Gospel Call

The destruction of Jerusalem is a solemn warning to everyone who is resisting the pleadings of God’s mercy. The Savior’s prophecy of judgments on Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment. In the fate of that chosen city we can see the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled on His law. Dark are the records of human misery that the earth has witnessed. Terrible have been the results of rejecting Heaven’s authority. But a scene still darker is presented in the revelations of the future. When the restraining Spirit of God will be completely withdrawn, no longer holding back the outburst of human passion and satanic anger, the world will see the results of Satan’s rule like it has never seen them before.GrH_a 40.2

In that day, as when Jerusalem was destroyed, God’s people will be delivered. Christ will come the second time to gather His faithful ones to Himself. “Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30, 31).GrH_a 40.3

People should be careful not to neglect the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction so that they could escape, so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction. All who choose may flee from the wrath to come. “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations” (Luke 21:25; see also Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17). “Watch therefore,” are Christ’s words of counsel (Mark 13:35). Those who obey the warning will not be left in darkness.GrH_a 40.4

The world is no more ready to believe the message for this time than the Jews were to receive the Savior’s warning about Jerusalem. No matter when it comes, the day of God will come as a surprise to the ungodly. When life is going on in its usual way, when people are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in money-making, when religious leaders are praising the world’s progress, and people are lulled in a false security—then, as the midnight thief slips into the unguarded home, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, “and they shall not escape” (see 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5).GrH_a 40.5