(Arranged in chronological order)
(1868) “The long night of gloom is trying; but the morning is deferred
in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready.
God's unwillingness to have His people perish has been the reason for so long
delay” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 194).
(1883) “The angels of God in their messages to men represent time as
very short. Thus it has always been presented to me. It is true that time has
continued longer than we expected in the early days of this message. Our Saviour
did not appear as soon as we hoped. But has the word of the Lord failed? Never!
It should be remembered that the promises and threatenings of God are alike
conditional.
“God had committed to His people a work to be accomplished on earth.
The third angel's message was to be given, the minds of believers were to be
directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ had entered to make atonement
for His people. The Sabbath reform was to be carried forward. The breach in the
law of God must be made up. The message must be proclaimed with a loud voice,
that all the inhabitants of earth might receive the warning. The people of God
must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand
without fault before Him at His coming.
“Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast
their faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God,
receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit
proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord
would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been
completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their
reward.
“But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the
disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. Dissensions
and divisions came in. The majority opposed with voice and pen the few who,
following in the providence of God, received the Sabbath reform and began to
proclaim the third angel's message. Many who should have devoted their time and
talents to the one purpose of sounding warning to the world, were absorbed in
opposing the Sabbath truth, and in turn, the labor of its advocates was
necessarily spent in answering these opponents and defending the truth. Thus the
work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist
body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely
different would have been our history!
“It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus
delayed. God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander forty years
in the wilderness. He promised to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and
establish them there a holy, healthy, happy people. But those to whom it was
first preached, went not in because of unbelief’ (Heb. 3:19). Their hearts
were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfill His
covenant with them.
“For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out
ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance
of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of
God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife
among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and
sorrow so many years” (Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 67-69).
(1884) “If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844 had
received the third angel's message, and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy
Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of
light would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the
earth would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would have
come for the redemption of His people.
“It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in
the wilderness; He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and
establish them there, a holy, happy people. But they could not enter in because
of unbelief’ (Heb. 3:19). Because of their backsliding and apostasy, they
perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the promised land. In
like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so
long delayed, and His people should remain so many years in this world of sin
and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to do the work
which He had appointed them, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In
mercy to the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may have an
opportunity to hear the warning, and find in Him a shelter before the wrath of
God shall be poured out” (The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, pp. 291,
292).
(1896) “If those who claimed to have a living experience in the things
of God had done their appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would
have been warned ere this, and the Lord Jesus would have come in power and great
glory. For God has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world. He
tells us when that day shall come,This gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come’” (Review and Herald, October 6, 1896).
(1898) “By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten
our Lord's return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the
day of God. 2 Peter 3:12, margin. Had the church of Christ done her appointed
work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned,
and the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth in power and great glory” (The
Desire of Ages, p. 633, 634).
(1900) “Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving
to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the
earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God”
(Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 449).
(1900) “Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of
Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly
reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own” (Christ’s
Object Lessons, p. 69).
(1901) “It [the coming of the Lord] will not tarry past the time that
the message is borne to all nations, tongues, and peoples. Shall we who claim to
be students of prophecy forget that God's forbearance to the wicked is a part of
the vast and merciful plan by which He is seeking to compass the salvation of
souls?” (Review and Herald, June 18, 1901).
(1901) “We may have to remain here in this world because of
insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ's
sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence
of their own wrong course of action” (Evangelism, p. 696).
(1903) “I know that if the people of God had preserved a living
connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the
heavenly Canaan” (General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903).
(1904) “If all who had labored unitedly in the work of 1844 had
received the third angel's message and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy
Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of
light would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the
earth would have been warned, the closing work would have been completed, and
Christ would have come for the redemption of His people” (Testimonies
for the Church, vol. 8, p. 115).
(1909) “If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman
on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere
this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. While men
have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us” (Testimonies for the
Church, vol. 9, p. 29).