With the passing of the old year it is natural, and perhaps profitable, to review the record of [last year]. Although we cannot change the past, we may be able to draw from it encouragement and warning for the future. It ought to be clear to the observing and thoughtful that history is being made very fast in these days. Events of great significance follow each other in rapid succession, and the sensation of yesterday is overshadowed by the greater sensation of today. This has been true in almost every line of human experience. In this time of great light the minds of men have been stimulated to wonderful achievement, and the fruits of the intense life have been seen in the whole intellectual field. That which casts a dark shadow over the whole picture is the fact that the Bible and the God of the Bible have, with such increasing emphasis, been refused their place as the inspiration and the power for good; and as an inevitable consequence evil has become more and more rampant. That control in human affairs which is often called self-control, but which is really the restraining influence of the Spirit of God, has been in a large degree, rejected, and rapid progress has been made in that experience which will finally demonstrate to the universe the true nature of sin,—unrestrained sin,—sin in its real hideousness. . . . The backward view reveals mistakes and failures, but there are also victories and progress. Let us profit by these experiences, as we face the conflicts which are yet to come.
We are not prophets, but we have the words of the prophets. We are not stargazers and prognosticators, but we are expected to discern the signs of the times. We should not attempt to be wise above what is written, but “the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children.” [Deuteronomy 29:29.] In the light, therefore, which is cast upon our situation by the sure word of prophecy, and by attending to the voice of current events, we may be sure of some things in our forecast of the experiences of the coming year. We have no ground to expect an improvement in the general situation. On the contrary, we have every reason to expect that “evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse.” [11 Timothy 3:13.] There are no indications that there will be a genuine revival of true religion among the great denominations of the day. The time of false revivals is at hand, and they may appear at any time; but there can be no true repentance and turning to God without a radical change in the whole attitude of Christendom toward the fundamentals in Christianity,—the Bible and the Lord’s Christ. And the day of their visitation seems not to have been perceived. Those who do not wish to be partakers of her sins must now come out from a fallen church. The current in the social and political world has gained too much headway in the wrong direction to make it easy to reverse it, and the array of facts and figures concerning the increase of lawlessness, . . . constitutes a terrible indictment against public morality. There is no power in the ethics and the philosophy of “the new evangelism” to cope with this situation, and peace congresses held by nations which are steadily increasing their fighting power are not likely to convert the world. The whole drift is toward the battle of the great day. The only hope for the world is in the third angel’s message. This message, we are confident, will make rapid progress during the coming year. If all the believers will heartily cooperate with God’s purpose concerning his people and work at this time, the next twelve months may witness such a revelation of the power and glory of God as has not been seen since apostolic times. For this the preparation has already been made. Only our own unfaithfulness will defer or dim the glory. The time demands whole-hearted service. Let the coming year be filled with it.
“Editorial,” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Washington, D. C., December 29, 1904, 3.