The Signs of the Times [1853]

SIGNS OF THE FIRST ADVENT

1. The star that appeared, to guide the wise men to the place of the infant Saviour, [Matthew 2:2, 9,] prophesied of in Numbers 24:17. ST1853 3.4

2. He was born of a virgin, [Matthew 1:18-25,] spoken of in Isaiah 7:14. ST1853 3.5

3. Bethlehem was his birth-place, [Matthew 2:1,] mentioned in Micah 5:2. ST1853 4.1

4. Herod slaying all the children in Bethlehem, from two years old and under, [Matthew 2:16-18,] prophesied of in Jeremiah 31:15. ST1853 4.2

5. His forerunner, John. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, etc. Isaiah 40:3. All Judea and Jerusalem saw this sign when they went out to be baptized of John. Matthew 3:1-6. ST1853 4.3

6. The gospel preached. When Jesus stood up in the synagogue to read, he opened the book and read where it is written, [Isaiah 61:1,] “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel,” etc. The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened upon him. And he said unto them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Luke 4:16-21. ST1853 4.4

7. His humility when on trial. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7. ST1853 4.5

8. The manner and circumstances of his death. “They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.... They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Psalm 22:13-18. This prophecy had an exact and literal accomplishment at the crucifixion of Christ, and the Jews saw it. Read Matthew 27:35. ST1853 4.6

9. The fulfillment of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24-27. ST1853 4.7

The Jews understood this, or might have understood it. Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied [or taught the prophecies,] that Jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” John 11:49-52. We might add to these signs the miracles of Christ, his resurrection, the pouring out of the Holy Ghost on the day of pentecost, and still others which were distinctly spoken of by the prophets. ST1853 5.1

But notwithstanding all this scripture was fulfilling before the faces of the rulers of the Jews, and all these signs were actually accomplished in a little more than thirty years, and they themselves had to acknowledge that notable miracles had been done, yet they believed not. ST1853 5.2

Well may it be said by this generation, that the Jews deserved wrath, and God was just in destroying their nation and place. But how is it with the professed people of God at this day? Do they believe in that Word which they blame the Jews for rejecting? The Jews were looking for a temporal kingdom, and overlooked the signs of Christ’s first advent. The nominal church, as a body, is looking for a temporal millennium, and overlook the signs of his second advent, which are, as we shall show, more numerous and forcible than those of his first advent. Then if the signs of Christ’s second coming are doubtful and rejected by the professed people of God of this generation, the sin of unbelief will rest upon them heavier than it did upon the Jews, in proportion as they reject greater light. ST1853 5.3