The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress

Chapter 5 — The Second Advent Message

“NOW learn a parable of the fig-tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [margin, he] is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” ¹ GSAM 93.1

In this scripture our attention is directed to the time when it is possible to learn that the coming of Christ is “at the doors” with the same assurance that we know that summer is near when we see the first tender young leaves putting forth. It may also be known that we have come to the generation which shall not pass off the stage of action until Christ himself shall come. When the time comes to learn the parable, it is emphatically true that it is the Lord’s time to raise up teachers to teach the parable. The inquiry of the apostle on another occasion is equally applicable here, “How shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?” ² GSAM 93.2