Advent Preaching

The signs in the heavens and the great earthquake had given their testimony that the time of preparation for the second advent had come. But an even clearer sign of the approaching advent was the rise of a host of preachers and Bible expositors in all parts of the earth, who, as the result of individual study, began to teach the nearness of the advent.APAY 175.1

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14. The real prelude to the second advent is the preaching of the everlasting gospel “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Revelation 14:6. The signs themselves could not prepare the way for Christ’s coming. At best, they could do no more than impress men with the coming of some momentous event, and awaken inquiry as to what that might be. They could assure the student of the word of God that the long-awaited event was at hand. But during the time of the revelation of the various signs, when many minds would be most susceptible to their spiritual meaning, unusual emphasis was given to advent preaching. Interest in the prophecies was nothing new. L. E. Froom, in his four volumes, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, shows the perpetual fascination the prophecies have had for earnest students of the Scriptures. But when we enter our present period of study, we find something out of the ordinary—an increasing number of writers and preachers were emphasizing prophecy, and a desire for a deeper understanding of some predictions was rising in many hearts. We can show only a sampling of what took place on a large scale.APAY 175.2