Page 15 - Our God of Love, Mercy, and Justice

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing

then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness. 2 Peter 3:9-11.
Before the Flood God sent Noah to warn the world, that the people might be led to
repentance, and thus escape the threatened destruction. As the time of Christ's second
appearing draws near, the Lord sends His servants with a warning to the world to
prepare for that great event. Multitudes have been living in transgression of God's

law, and now He in mercy calls them to obey its sacred precepts. All who will put
away their sins by repentance toward God and faith in Christ are offered pardon. But
many feel that it requires too great a sacrifice to put away sin. Because their life does
not harmonize with the pure principles of God's moral government, they reject His
warnings and deny the authority of His law. . . .
In Noah's day philosophers declared that it was impossible for the world to be
destroyed by water; so now there are men of science who endeavor to show that the

world cannot be destroyed by fire--that this would be inconsistent with the laws of
nature. But the God of nature, the Maker and Controller of her laws, can use the
works of His hands to serve His own purpose. PP 102, 103.
The Lawgiver is greater than the laws of nature. The hand of omnipotence is at
no loss for ways and means to accomplish his purposes. He could reach into the
bowels of the earth and call forth his weapons, waters there concealed, to aid in the

destruction of the corrupt inhabitants of the old world. But let us all bear in mind that
those who perished in that awful judgment had an offer of escape. . . . Water will
never destroy the earth again, but the weapons of God are concealed in the bowels
of the earth which he will draw forth to unite with the fire from heaven to
accomplish his purpose in the destruction of all those who would not receive the
message of warning and purify their souls in obeying the truth and being obedient to
the laws of God. The voice of warning is now being heard inviting the people to

escape and find refuge, not in the ark but in Jesus Christ. ST 1-3-1878.
The entire surface of the earth was changed at the Flood. A third dreadful curse
rested upon it in consequence of sin. As the water began to subside, the hills and
mountains were surrounded by a vast, turbid sea. Everywhere were strewn the dead
bodies of men and beasts. The Lord would not permit these to remain to decompose

and pollute the air, therefore He made of the earth a vast burial ground. A violent
wind which was caused to blow for the purpose of drying up the waters, moved them
with great force, in some instances even carrying away the tops of the mountains and
heaping up trees, rocks, and earth above the bodies of the dead. . . .

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