Troublous Times Right Upon Us
After
these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the
earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Rev. 7:1.
Four mighty
angels are still holding the four winds of the earth. Terrible destruction
is forbidden to come in full. The ... winds will be the stirring up of the
nations to one deadly combat, while the angels hold the four winds, forbidding
the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants
of God are sealed in their foreheads.
The signs of the times give evidence that the judgments
of heaven are being poured out, that the day of the Lord is at hand. The daily
papers are full of indications of an intense conflict in the future. Bold
robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders
are committed on every hand. Men possessed by demons are taking the lives
of men, women, and little children. All these things testify that the Lord's
coming is near.
The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn
from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, disasters by sea and by land,
follow one another in quick succession. The signs thickening around us, telling
of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the
true cause. . . .
The time is right upon us when there will be sorrow
in the world that no human balm can heal. Even before the last great destruction
comes upon the world, the flattering monuments of man's greatness will be
crumbled in the dust. God's retributive judgments will fall on those who in
the face of great light have continued in sin. Costly buildings, supposed
to be fireproof, are erected. But as Sodom perished in the flames of God's
vengeance, so will these proud structures become ashes. I have seen vessels
which cost immense sums of money wrestling with the mighty ocean, seeking
to breast the angry billows. But with all their treasures of gold and silver,
and with all their human freight, they sank into a watery grave.... But amid
the tumult of excitement, with confusion in every place, there is a work to
be done for God in the world.
