[Blank Page] has revealed it to us in plain terms, and by it we shall be judged, whether we have paid any attention to it or not. So it is our duty to know when the coming of the Lord is near, because our Saviour has given us the means whereby we may know, and has commanded us to know, so that we may be prepared for it. Just so surely as the swelling buds in spring indicate the near approach of summer, so surely do the signs in the heavens, the fulfillment of which we have just noted, indicate that our Saviour’s second coming, in power and great glory, is near at hand, — so near that he may be said to be on the threshold; and it only needs the parting of the heavens as a scroll, to reveal him in all his kingly majesty.PROLI 126.8

Our Saviour defines what he means by “at the door,” by saying, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” What generation? and what things? Why, the generation in which the signs appeared, shall not pass till all the wonders of the second advent shall have been accomplished. It is very evident that by the words “this generation,” Jesus did not refer to the generation when he was on earth; for (1) he had expressly shown that his coming would not take place in that generation, and not until after the great period of persecution for the church; and (2) because he had, in a manner common in prophecy, carried himself and his hearers down the stream of time, making them eye-witnesses of each great event, until he had come to the generation when those great signs in the heavens should occur, and stopping there, he said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” And then he clinched the words, by saying, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Verse 35.PROLI 127.1

Yes; “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise.” 2 Peter 3:10. “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3:16. At the giving of the law upon Sinai, the voice of the Lord shook the earth; “but now hath he promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” Hebrews 12:26. This is the shaking of the powers of the heavens, that will occur in immediate connection with the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. The apostle John thus describes it:—PROLI 127.2

“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 6:14-17.PROLI 127.3

Yet in the midst of all this general desolation, — “the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds,” — “the Lord will be the hope of his people,” and, looking up to the opening heavens, where the king in his glory will be revealed, sitting upon the throne of his glory, they will exclaim with rapture, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:9.PROLI 128.1

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS

PERILOUS TIMES