Chapter 16—Preparing for Last-Day Crises and
Disasters
These Last-Day Conditions Press Us to Prepare—We are living
in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that
the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are
solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being
withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling
upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and
sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous.
They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.
The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating.
They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon
to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.
The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times
are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible
conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence.
Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every
hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women,
and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every
species of evil prevails.—
Testimonies for the Church 9:11
.
Something Decisive About to Take Place—The present is a time
of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who
occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all
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classes, have their attention fixed upon the events, taking place about
us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among
the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of
every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and
decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a
stupendous crisis.
Angels are now restraining the winds of strife, that they may not
blow until the world shall be warned of its coming doom; but a storm
is gathering, ready to burst upon the earth; and when God shall bid
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