“But of that day and hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only”
(Matthew 24 : 36)

Shortly before the end of His mission accomplished here on earth in 31, Jesus was then for the last time to spent His time to visit the buildings of the temple of Jerusalem. During the tour He was followed by some of His disciples, namely Peter, John, James, and Andrew. 

In the temple He was speaking to the priests and rulers, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matt. 23 : 38), had struck terror to their hearts. They affected indifference, but the question kept rising in their minds as to the import of these words. An unseen danger seemed to threaten them. Could it be that the magnificent temple, which was the nation’s glory, was soon to be a heap of ruins ?  The foreboding of evil was shared by the disciples, and they anxiously waited for some definite statement from Jesus. As they passed with Him out of the temple, they called His attention to its strength and beauty. The stones of the temple were of the purest marble, of perfect whiteness, and some of them of almost fabulous size. A portion of the wall had withstood the siege by Nebuchadnezzar’s army. In its perfect masonry it appeared like one solid stone dug entire from the quarry. How those mighty walls could be overthrown the disciples could not comprehend. ………….

“Christ’s words had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people ; but when He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him as He sat upon the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they said, “when shall these things be ? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world ?” Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration in that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. THIS ENTIRE DISCOURSE WAS GIVEN NOT FOR THE DISCIPLES ONLY, BUT FOR THOSE WHO SHOULD LIVE IN THE LAST SCENES OF THIS EARTH’S HISTORY.” — The Desire of Ages, pp. 627, 628. 

Let us, therefore, understand that Christ’s words spoken to His disciples above are mainly referred to His second advent at the close of this earth’s history. It was maybe taken place sometime in the year 31.

Due to the fact that in that time all the prophecies of the old Testament, the book of Revelation, and even the parables of Jesus in the New Testament, were not as yet interpreted for us in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, then let us not mingle the subject of the second advent of Jesus at the end of the world with subjects of His other comings to take place before the end of time as those presented to us in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

Let it be understood that the first and the Second Advent of Jesus are the official comings especially for the sake of the salvation of all the inhabitants of the earth, whereas the unofficial comings to take place before the second advent of Jesus are specifically for the sake of purifying His own people.

And then, since only “the d a y and the h o u r” of the second advent that are still concealed, and due to the fact that Jesus Himself was not authorized to reveal them for us, then let it be understood that the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY as testimony of Jesus Christ now available in our midst would not be able to reveal them. Thus will the Father Himself reveal the day and the hour at the end, a short time before Jesus appears from a far off in the sky.

The servant of the Lord Mrs. White said : 

“The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest thunder His words rolls through the earth. The Israel of God stands listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of victory. 

“Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Savior and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man.“ — The Great Controversy, p. 640.

Thus may it be clearly understood that since Jesus Himself does not know the day and the hour of His second advent in the future, it would be futile indeed when there is yet people who want to find the day and the hour through His own testimony which is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. To this end Bro. Houteff as author of the Rod message of Revelation 18 : 1 has this to say :

“The Rod is in no respect setting time for Christ’s return. Though it concludes from the Flood Study that He may come for His own on some mid-week night, it does not even intimate on which Wednesday night that may be. The Rod does not pretend to know that day or hour.” — Answerer, Book 2, Question No. 15.  

Due to the fact that the Shepherd’s Rod message itself is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, then the knowledge of “the day and the hour” of the second advent of Jesus could never be found therein.

After the scroll of prophetic words being unrolled up to now, we are now to have two more great events of Jesus’ comings ahead of His second advent when He is to return to our world at the end of this world history. Those two great events are as follows :  

(1) The coming of Jesus to the heavenly sanctuary as prophesied by Prophet Daniel in the following words: “And he said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” – Daniel 8 : 14. 

We must understand that the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven is to be accomplished through the so-called the investigative judgment.  The Lord God the Father and Jesus the Son should have attended the court of justice from the beginning up to the end. The Lord God will act as a Judge to be assisted by some 24 elders who are to act as Juries. And the Lord Jesus will act as an advocate to stand for all the convicts, who are the whole people of God ever since the beginning of creation of whom were Adam and Eve as our ancestors. And the angels of heaven would have attended to act as witnesses. The prophecy of cleansing of the sanctuary through the process of  investigative judgment was first to be fulfilled in October 22, 1844, which is at the end of the 2300 prophetic days or years of the prophecy of Daniel 8 : 14.

It is the prophecy which has become the basic doctrinal point of view of Bro. William Miller, the reformer, and his people ever since the beginning of his movement in 1931. And the same message is the message of the first angel of Revelation 14. You are kindly requested to read from our website the article subject entitled, “UNTO 2300 DAYS, THEN SHALL THE SANCTUARY BE CLEANSED.”

Bro. William Miller and his fellow workers have discovered October 22, 1844 as the day, the month, and the year of the coming of Jesus to the heavenly court of justice in the heavenly sanctuary. The time of the discovery was not wrong, because Mrs. White herself has confirmed the time of the discovery as follows :

“Jesus did not come to the earth as the waiting, joyful company expected, to cleanse the sanctuary by purifying the earth by fire. I saw that they were correct in their reckoning of the prophetic periods; prophetic time closed in 1844, and Jesus entered the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary at the ending of the days. Their mistake consisted in not understanding what the sanctuary was and the nature of its cleansing. ” — Early Writings, p. 243.

(2) The coming of Jesus as prophesied in Malachi 3 : 1 as follows :

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me : and THE LORD, WHOM YE SEEK, SHALL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in : behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” 

This same coming was also prophesied by John in the Revelation 14 : 1 as follows :

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” – Revelation 14 : 1. 

This same coming was also prophesied by Ezekiel in his book Ezekiel chapter 9, and also through the prophecy of Isaiah 66 : 15, 16, and through the parable of Jesus regarding the ten virgins of Matthew chapter 25.

The fact today is that the coming of Jesus prophesied in Malachi  3 : 1, Revelation 14 : 1, Ezekiel 9, and Isaiah 66 : 15, 16 and through the parable of Jesus in Matthew 25, have been the focus of investigation of  many of our people. And since the truth of the coming could no more be denied, the problem now is moved to the definite time of their fulfillment, which has been the subject of contention with the Organization even up to this day.

The great event of this specific coming of the Lord Jesus in the near future is for the purification of our people who are now living. And the motive behind it is that when Jesus returns for His own at His second advent in the air, the deadly flash of His glorious appearance in the sky shall not hurt nor ruin any of us.

Since all the prophecies and the parables of Jesus related specifically to the coming of the Lord to His temple have been interpreted fully in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, then the subject of contention up to this very day is only about “the definite time” set for the coming in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. To this the servant of the Lord have ever warned :

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matt. 25 : 13) This has reference to the time of the judgment, and not of His coming to earth; for, the saint shall know the day and the hour of Christ’s coming in the clouds to receive the redeemed, as it shall be announced by the Father shortly before His coming.” (See “The Great Controversy, p. 640).” – The Shepherd’s Rod, Vol. 2, pp. 184, 185.

In short, let it be known that the coming of Jesus mentioned in Matthew 25 : 13 is the sudden coming of the Lord to His heavenly sanctuary that was prophesied in Malachi 3 : 1, and Revelation 14 : 1, Ezekiel 9, and Isaiah 66 : 15, 16. whereas the coming of the Lord mentioned in Matthew 24 : 36 is the second advent of Jesus in the sky, which is also promised to us by apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonian 4 : 16, 17.

Christians in the world today no more have the capacity to distinguish between these two comings of the Lord Jesus, because they no more know the importance of the so-called the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. His coming mentioned by the apostle Matthew 25 : 13 ever since was perfectly known by Jesus, so that the day, the month and the year of that great event could be found in His testimony which is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. But on the contrary regarding His second advent mentioned in Mathew 24 : 36, only the Father knows the day and the hour of than coming. And that is the reason why the day and the hour of that coming could not be found in the testimony of Jesus, which is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

Those who are against the “definite time set” in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY for the sudden coming of Jesus to His temple in the near future are none other than the present truth believers of the Shepherd’s Rod message themselves.   

As Laodiceans of this time of the end, we all believe that at October 22, 1844 our Lord Jesus has come to the heavenly sanctuary, and the heavenly court of justice has begun ever since to investigate all cases of the dead, beginning with those who first lived on earth.

As we know the Shepherd’ Rod as the message of the angel of Revelation 18 : 1 has united with the third angel message of Revelation 14 in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY to enlighten the earth. And as to the fact that this sudden coming of the Lord to His temple is no more deniable, that most of our Laodicean brethren inevitably have to admit  the truth of His coming  as those predicted in Revelation 14 : 1, Malachi 3 : 1 – 3, Ezekiel chapter 9, Isaiah 66 : 15, 16 etc.

However, as well as in the time of William Miller, the same sin of unbelief was again repeated up to this very moment. To this end the servant of the Lord Mrs. White has us reminded as follows :

“ …………….they merely objected to the definite time. But God’s all-seeing eye read their hearts. They did not wish to hear of Christ’s coming to judge the world in righteousness.” — The Great Controversy, p. 370.

Christians in the time of Miller were actually very much against hearing his message of the coming of Jesus to judge the world in righteousness. Though they did not openly reveal their feeling of dislike against the coming that only was they against the definite time set of the coming.  The Lord Jesus has already come to the sanctuary in heaven. And the definite time of the coming has been found by the servant of the Lord Bro. Miller, and that is October 22, 1844.

And not very long hence will Jesus return suddenly to the same heavenly court of justice to settle our cases, who are now living in this time of the end. To this end our good readers might possibly ask the following question. Why was the establishment of the heavenly court of justice needed ?

Every law abiding citizen of his country should have understood that the kingdom of heaven is a law state. This kingdom will include all the inhabitants of the planets in the universe, and the planets both inhabited and not inhabited are included. Our planet was the last created in the universe in about 6000 years ago with Adam and Eve as the first citizens of the Kingdom. At the beginning they were also known as the law abiding citizens of the Kingdom before their fall in sin some 35 years later.

Sin is the transgression of the Law of the Kingdom, and the wage of sin is eternal death. Though Jesus as the only begotten Son of God has borne the death penalty for us, and has made us free from the death penalty, it does not mean that we are now free and no more bound to the Law of the Kingdom. As subjects of the state we have to be law abiding citizens for good and forever. And just for the same reason as citizens of the Kingdom all our cases must be investigated openly in the heavenly court of justice.

As sinner, every one of us unavoidably has to be brought to the judgment. And when the judgment is to begin us as convicts should have been informed of it at least of where and when it is to convene. This is the reason why the servant of the Lord Bro. Houteff said :

“Is there any way whereby we can determine the time of the opening of the seal, and the commencement of the judgment for the living ? If God so faithfully revealed to the living the commencement of the judgment for the dead, it cannot be possible that He would keep secret the time of the judgment for the living. If He did, we would have no present truth in the time of the last seal; neither could there be justice in such secrecy, nor could such judgment be legal. Therefore, a revelation of the judgment for the living, is of as great importance as the revelation of the gospel itself. For the judgment (blotting out the sins) is the crowning act in the gospel of Christ. Thus we conclude that when the seal is opened, and the judgment for the living begins, we must know it. The day of the atonement in its type proves the same, for the Israelites were well informed of the event, their duty, and the consequence.” – The Shepherd’s Rod, Vol. 2, p. 220. 

If God so faithfully revealed to us October 22, 1844 as the day, the month, and the year of the commencement of the judgment of the dead, it cannot be possible that He would keep secret the time of the judgment for us the living.

As the servant of the Lord Bro. Houteff positively knows, that only “the day and the hour” of Jesus’ Second Advent that would be kept secret from us, because God the Father will announce them Himself at the end of time. However, he would have ever been aware that “the day, the month, and the year” of the sudden coming of Jesus to His temple of the heavenly sanctuary should have been known in advance, because that is the last session of the investigative judgment for the living before the close of probation in the heavenly sanctuary. That is the reason why he said :

“I am, however, certain that God will not keep us ignorant of the things we ought to know. If it becomes necessary for us to know ahead of time the day and hour of the purification of the church, the antitypical Passover, we will be told. Yes we shall know at least as much in advance as Moses knew about the Passover in his day. He did not know months ahead the day and hour of the events that were then to take place, but he was instructed of his and of the people’s duties and of what to expect from day to day.”  The Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 41, p. 3.

“Up to a certain time God’s people do not know the day and the hour, but if they continue to receive meat in due season a day will come when this servant is going to be made aware of that hour, of that day.

“This illustration was not given to us alone, but to all God’s people ever since it was written and they were warned to be ready all the time because no one knew the day and the hour of His coming. But as Truth progresses and the Word of God unroll, God’s servant in the end is to be aware of the day and the hour. Does it not say that ? That is just what it does say.” — The Symbolic Code Vol. 11, No. 12, p. 8.

Here it is which is meant by “the day and hour” of the sudden coming of Jesus to His temple to accomplish His work of purification for us the living. “The day and hour” of such coming would unavoidably be made known to us if we continue to receive meat in due season as those provided us in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, which is the combination of the message of the third angel of Revelation 14 and the message of the angel of Revelation 18 : 1. However, long beforehand we have been warned in regard to the sudden coming of Jesus to His temple in the following words :

“One saying of the Savior must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the day nor the hour of His coming, we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect  to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the Flood was coming.” — The Great Controversy, pp. 370, 371.   

The servant of the Lord, Mrs. White said :

“The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest thunder His words rolls through the earth. The Israel of God stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of victory.“— The Great Controversy, p. 640.

The 144.000 Israel of God stand listening with their eyes fixed upward. The question is : When will they begin to stand listening with their eyes fixed upward ?

Since the announcement is only to mention “the day and the hour” of that coming of Jesus, it would not be possible for the 144.000 Israel of God to continue standing from day to day, and from week to week, and from month to month, etc. without first getting a definite time set beforehand of the day, and of the month and of the year of the second advent of Jesus. That is indeed impossible, as well as illogical, isn’t it ?
We are, therefore, instructed and required to know when the sudden coming of Jesus to His temple is near as well as when the second advent of Jesus is near. Refuse or reject to know when the comings are near will be fatal indeed at the end.

After having the knowledge of how close is the time of Jesus sudden coming to His temple in terms of the day, the month, and the year, we would have been informed also of when the whole process of investigative judgment in the heavenly sanctuary and the probation are to close.  And after the close of probation for all the inhabitants of this earth in the heavenly sanctuary, then come the seven last plagues to be poured out upon the wicked for a period of 15 months.

At the end of the fifteen months, the 144.000 Israelites of God should have to go out, and they would have begun to look upward to the sky. ”Their countenances are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of victory.” – The Great Controversy, p. 640.

When this article could be carefully studied, then let it be always remembered that as long as there still exist in our midst those categorized wise virgins with guile in their mouths, they would have always made use of the following statements from the same servants of the Lord in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY to sustain their position against the definite time set in the message for the sudden coming of Jesus to His temple. Let us read the statements here as follows : 

1. “Again and again have I been warned in regard to time setting. There will never   again be a message for the people of God that will be based on time. We are not to know the definite time either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ.” – 1 Selected Messages, p. 188.

2. “Let all our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would set a time for the Lord to fulfill His word in regard to His coming, or in regard to any other promise He has made of special significance.” – TM. p. 55.

5. “We are not to know the definite time either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ …..You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not be for ten  or twenty years.” — Review and Herald, March 22, 1892.

Due to the fact that the scroll of prophetic truths are still unrolling, even are to become as the light of the sun, which are  to be increased sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. Isaiah 30 : 26. Read Timely Greetings, vol. 1, No. 32, p. 21. And due to the fact that Bro. Houteff himself was certain the Lord would not keep us ignorant of the things to come. Then let the statement of the servant of the Lord here below be kept always in mind,

“I am, however, certain that God will not keep us ignorant of the things we ought to know. If it becomes necessary for us to know ahead of time the day and hour of the purification of the church, the antitypical Passover, we will be told. Yes we shall know at least as much in advance as Moses knew about the Passover in his day. He did not know months ahead the day and hour of the events that were then to take place, but he was instructed of his and of the people’s duties and of what to expect from day to day.” The Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 41, p. 3.

“Up to a certain time God’s people do not know the day and the hour, but if they continue to receive meat in due season a day will come when this servant is going to be made aware of that hour, of that day.  

“This illustration was not given to us alone, but to all God’s people ever since it was written and they were warned to be ready all the time because no one knew the day and the hour of His coming. But as Truth progresses and the Word of God unroll, God’s servant in the end are to be aware of the day and the hour. Does it not say that ? That is just what it does say.” — The Symbolic Code Vol. 11, No. 12, p. 8. 

In the end may we again redirect you to the warning of the Lord through His servant Mrs. E. G. White : “ONE SAYING OF THE SAVIOUR MUST NOT BE MADE TO DESTROY ANOTHER. THOUGH NO MAN KNOWETH THE DAY NOR THE HOUR OF HIS COMING, WE ARE INSTRUCTED AND REQUIRED TO KNOW WHEN IT IS NEAR. WE ARE FURTHER TAUGHT THAT TO DISREGARD HIS WARNING, AND REFUSE OR NEGLECT TO KNOW WHEN HIS ADVENT IS NEAR, WILL BE AS FATAL FOR US AS IT WAS FOR THOSE WHO LIVED IN THE DAYS OF NOAH NOT TO KNOW  WHEN THE FLOOD WAS COMING.” – THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, PP. 370, 371.