We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. Titus 2:12.
We are exhorted to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, and to look for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Some have made an objection to my work, because I teach that it is our duty to be looking for Christ’s personal appearing in the clouds of heaven. They have said, “You would think that the day of the Lord was right upon us to hear Mrs. White speak in reference to the coming of Christ; and she has been preaching on that same subject for the last forty years, and the Lord has not yet come.” This very objection might have been brought against the words of Christ Himself. He said by the mouth of the beloved disciple, “Behold, I come quickly,” and John responds, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Jesus spoke these words as words of warning and encouragement to His people; and why should we not heed them? The Lord has said that it is the faithful who will be found watching and waiting for Him. It was the unfaithful servant who said, “My lord delayeth his coming,” and began to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken.
The exact time of Christ’s second coming is not revealed. Jesus said, “No man knoweth the day nor the hour.” But He also gave signs of His coming, and said, “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” He bade them, as the signs of His coming should appear, “Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” And in view of these things the apostle wrote, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day.” Since we know not the hour of Christ’s coming, we must live soberly and godly in this present world, “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. His people are to preserve their peculiar character as His representatives. There is work for every one of them to do…. Says the apostle, “We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”—Signs of the Times, June 24, 1889.
