Visitants
From Other Worlds?
“Here
is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other
worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none
remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the
work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole
delight.” {Mar 307.3}
There is much discussion today about aliens
from other worlds making contact with this world, and the possibility of having
to war against such aliens. This is preposterous. This notion is one of Satan’s
false flags to instill fear in the peoples of the earth. But yet a more
sinister of plan of Satan’s agents is to ignite a false flag war with “supposed”
aliens in order to kill 2/3 of the worlds
population.
There are other worlds, but it is preposterous
to think that God would permit non-sinning peoples of other worlds to come in
contact with this sinful world. Based on the Spirit of Prophesy statements in
this document, it may be deduced that God would not permit non-sinning worlds
to come in contact with this sinful earth. There would be no point in that. It
would not serve any purpose of God, from a Biblical perspective.
It is clear to this writer from other
statements from the Spirit of Prophecy that the so-called aliens being spoken
of by Satan’s agents in the earth today, are the spirits of devils who are in
league with Satan to bring woes upon this earth.
“John, upon the Isle of Patmos, saw the things
which should come upon the earth in the last days. Revelation 13:13; Revelation
16:14: “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” “For they are
the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of
God Almighty.” {Con 89.2}
“I saw that the saints must have a thorough
understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the
Scriptures. They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits
of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved relatives or
friends, who will declare to them unscriptural doctrines. They will do
all in their power to excite sympathy and will work miracles before them to
confirm what they declare. The people of God must be prepared to withstand
these spirits with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything, and that
they who thus appear are the spirits of devils.”
{EW 262.2}
“Spiritualism is about to take the world
captive. There are many who think that Spiritualism is upheld through trickery
and imposture; but this is far from the truth. Superhuman power is working in a
variety of ways, and few have any idea as to what will be the manifestations of
Spiritualism in the future. The foundation for the success of Spiritualism has
been laid in the assertions that have been made from the pulpits of our land. The
ministers have proclaimed, as Bible doctrines, falsehoods that have originated
from the arch-deceiver. The doctrine of consciousness after death, of the spirits of the
dead being in communion with the living, has no foundation in the Scriptures,
and yet this theory is affirmed as truth. Through this false doctrine the way
has been opened for the spirits of devils to deceive the people in representing
themselves as the dead. Satanic agencies personate the dead, and thus bring souls into
captivity. Satan has a religion, he has a synagogue
and devout worshipers. To swell the ranks of his devotees he uses all manner of
deception. {ST May 28,
1894, par. 3}
“Here
is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other
worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none
remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the
work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole
delight.” {Mar 307.3}
Hbr 1:2 Hath in
these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all
things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Hbr 11:3 Through faith we understand
that the
worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear.
"If men could see for a moment beyond the
range of finite vision, if they could catch a glimpse of the Eternal, every
mouth would be stopped in its boasting. Men living in this little atom of a
world are finite; God has unnumbered worlds that are
obedient to His laws and are conducted with reference to His glory. When men
have gone as far in scientific research as their limited powers will permit,
there is still an infinity beyond what they can
apprehend." {CT 66.2}
“From light to
light God is leading His people. He liveth in light unapproachable, but
surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of
holy, happy beings, every one of them waiting to do His bidding.
They are not
inactive, but in communication with other worlds, in all God’s vast dominion.
This little world is but an atom of the Lord’s dominion.
Through various agencies, divine and human, He is seeking to save. He
is actually stooping from His throne and observing the movements of every
living being, and in His books are recorded every transaction; and through
heavenly agencies He is lifting up the oppressed and pointing the way before
every soul,—the way to reach the mansions above. {MR311 41.1}
Description of the Inhabitants of Other Worlds
Wings were given me, and an angel attended me
from the city to a place that was bright and glorious. The grass of the place
was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song. {1BIO 156.4}
The inhabitants of the place were of all
sizes; they were noble, majestic, and lovely. They bore the express image of Jesus, and
their countenances beamed with holy joy, expressive of the freedom and
happiness of the place. I asked one of them why they were so much more lovely
than those on the earth. The reply was, “We have lived in strict obedience to
the commandments of God, and have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the
earth.”—Ibid., 39, 40. {1BIO
156.5}
“Then I saw two trees, one looked much like
the tree of life in the city. The fruit of both looked beautiful, but of one
they could not eat. They had power to eat of both, but were forbidden to eat of
one. Then my attending angel said to me, “None in this place have tasted of the
forbidden tree; but if they should eat, they would fall.”—Ibid., 40. {1BIO
156.7}
There she met “good old Enoch.” In
conversation with him she asked if this was the place to which he was taken
from the earth. He replied, “It is not; the city is my home, and I have come to
visit this place.” Ellen observed that he moved about as if perfectly at home.
Entranced with the planet she was visiting, she made a most natural request of
her accompanying angel: {1BIO
157.1}
I begged of my attending angel to let me
remain in that place. I could not bear the thought of coming back to this dark
world again. Then the angel said, “You must go back, and if you are faithful,
you, with the 144,000, [Note: the wording is “you with the 144,000,” not “you as one of the 144,000.”] shall have the
privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handiwork of God.”— Ibid. {1BIO 157.2}
Note: If the 144,000 have the privilege of
visiting all the worlds after glorification, they surely won’t be visited by
those of all the worlds until that time! There is absolutely no Biblical or
Spirit of Prophecy record that the sinful world will be visited by any beings
from other, non-sinning worlds. End note.
“Now
sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all
created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the
selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself. No bird
that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the ground, but ministers to
some other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly blade of grass, but
has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of
life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in
turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf. The flowers breathe
fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds
its light to gladden a thousand worlds.
The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and fountains, receives the
streams from every land, but takes to give. The mists ascending from its bosom
fall in showers to water the earth, that it may bring forth and bud.” {DA 20.2}
“With
intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see Jehovah arise, and
sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should do this, Satan was
ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the allegiance of heavenly
beings. He had declared that the principles of God’s government make
forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have claimed
that his accusations were proved true. He
was ready to cast blame
upon God, and to spread his rebellion
to the worlds above. But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save
it. Though corruption and defiance might be seen in every part of the alien province,
a way for its recovery was provided. At the very crisis, when Satan seemed
about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage
of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had
been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men,
the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fullness of
the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of
healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of
salvation should be fulfilled.” {DA
37.2}
The Mastermind of Deception
The
prince of darkness, who has so long bent the powers of his mastermind to the
work of deception, skillfully adapts his temptations to men of all classes and
conditions. To persons of culture and refinement he presents spiritualism in its more refined and intellectual aspects, and thus succeeds
in drawing many into his snare. The wisdom which spiritualism imparts is that described by the
apostle James, which “descendeth not from above, but
is earthly, sensual, devilish.” James 3:15. This, however, the great
deceiver conceals when concealment will best suit his purpose. He who could appear clothed with
the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in the wilderness of
temptation, comes to men in the most attractive manner as an angel of light. He appeals to the reason by
the presentation of elevating themes; he delights the fancy with enrapturing
scenes; and he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love and
charity. He excites the imagination to lofty flights, leading men to take so
great pride in their own wisdom that in their hearts they despise the Eternal
One. That mighty being who could take the world’s Redeemer to an exceedingly
high mountain and bring before Him all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory
of them, will present his temptations to men in a manner to pervert the senses
of all who are not shielded by divine power....
{DD 20.1}
But none need be deceived by the lying claims of spiritualism. God has given the world sufficient light to enable them to discover the snare. As already shown, the theory which forms the very foundation of spiritualism is at war with the plainest statements of Scripture. The Bible declares that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have perished; they have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth. {DD 20.2}
Furthermore,
God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews
there was a class of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to
hold communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as
these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be “the spirits of devils.”
(Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14.) The work of dealing with
familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly
forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27.
The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can
hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But
spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by
millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded
churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of
kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new disguise, of the
witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old. {DD 20.3}
The Character of Evil Spirits
If
there were no other evidence of the real character of spiritualism, it should
be enough for the Christian that the spirits make no difference between righteousness and sin, between the noblest and purest
of the apostles of Christ and the most corrupt of the servants of Satan. By
representing the basest of men as in heaven, and highly exalted there, Satan
says to the world: “No matter how wicked you are; no matter whether you believe
or disbelieve God and the Bible. Live as you please; heaven is your home.” The spiritualist teachers
virtually declare: “Everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord,
and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of
judgment?” Malachi 2:17. Saith the word of God: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light
for darkness.” Isaiah 5:20. {DD
21.1}
Note:
In all actuality, all who do not believe we can overcome sin by the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit, are modern-day spiritualists led by Satan. End note. rb
The apostles, as
personated by these lying spirits, are made to contradict what they wrote
at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. They deny the divine origin
of the Bible, and thus tear away the foundation of the Christian’s hope and put
out the light that reveals the way to heaven. Satan is making the world believe that the Bible is a
mere fiction, or at least a book suited to the infancy of the race, but now to
be lightly regarded, or cast aside as obsolete. And to take the place of the word of God he holds out
spiritual manifestations. Here is a channel wholly under his control; by this
means he can make the world believe what he will. The Book that is to judge him
and his followers he puts in the shade, just where he wants it; the Saviour of
the world he makes to be no more than a common man.... {DD 21.2}
The Changing Image of Spiritism
It
is true that spiritualism is now changing its form and, veiling some of its
more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. But its utterances
from the platform and the press have been before the public for many years, and
in these its real character stands revealed. These teachings cannot be denied
or hidden. {DD 22.1}
Even
in its present form, so far from being more worthy of toleration than formerly,
it is really a more dangerous, because a more subtle, deception. While it formerly denounced
Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept both. But the Bible is interpreted
in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart,
while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as
the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism, making
little distinction between good and evil. God’s justice, His
denunciations of sin, the requirements of His holy law, are all kept out
of sight. The people are taught to regard the Decalogue as a dead letter.
Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses and lead men to reject the
Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily denied as before;
but Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people that the deception is not
discerned. {DD 22.2}
There
are few who have any just conception of the deceptive power of spiritualism and
the danger of coming under its influence. Many tamper with it merely to gratify
their curiosity. They have no real faith in it and would be filled with horror
at the thought of yielding themselves to the spirits’ control. But they venture upon the
forbidden ground, and the mighty destroyer exercises his power upon them
against their will. Let them once be induced to submit their minds to his
direction, and he holds them captive. It is impossible, in their own strength,
to break away from the bewitching, alluring spell. Nothing but the power of
God, granted in answer to the earnest prayer of faith, can deliver these
ensnared souls. {DD 22.3}
The Pitfalls in Spirit
Deception
All
who indulge sinful traits of character, or willfully cherish a known sin, are
inviting the temptations of Satan. They
separate themselves from God and from the watchcare
of His angels; as the evil one presents his deceptions, they are without
defense and fall an easy prey. Those who thus place themselves in his power little realize
where their course will end. Having achieved their overthrow, the tempter will
employ them as his agents to lure others to ruin. {DD 22.4}
Says
the prophet Isaiah: “When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have
familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a
people seek unto their God? for the living to the
dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19, 20. If men had been willing to
receive the truth so plainly stated in the Scriptures concerning the nature of
man and the state of the dead, they would see in the claims and manifestations
of spiritualism the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders.
But rather than yield the liberty so agreeable to the carnal heart, and
renounce the sins which they love, multitudes close their eyes to the light and
walk straight on, regardless of warnings, while Satan weaves his snares about
them, and they become his prey. “Because they received not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved,” therefore “God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10,
11. {DD 22.5}
Those
who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not men alone, but Satan
and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against principalities and
powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one inch of
ground except as he is driven back by the power of heavenly messengers. The
people of God should be able to meet him, as did our Saviour, with the words:
“It is written.” Satan can quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he
will pervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand in
this time of peril must understand for themselves the testimony of the
Scriptures.... {DD 23.1}
The Blindness of the Age
Marvelous
beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation. Thousands
reject the word of God as unworthy of belief and with eager confidence receive
the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics and scoffers denounce the bigotry of those
who contend for the faith of prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves
by holding up to ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning
Christ and the plan of salvation....
{DD 23.2}
Satan
has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The
foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden: “Ye
shall not surely die.” “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis
3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of
deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full
accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of
time. Says the prophet: “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs; ... they are
the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of
God Almighty.” Revelation 16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of
God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks of
this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be
awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God. {DD 23.3}
Saith
the Lord God: “Judgment also will I lay to the line,
and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with
death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by
it.” Isaiah 28:17, 18.
{DD 23.4}
Various Forms of Spiritualism
About
to Take World Captive—Spiritualism is about to take the world captive. There
are many who think that Spiritualism is upheld through trickery and imposture,
but this is far from the truth. Superhuman power is working in a variety of
ways, and few have any idea as to what will be the manifestations of
Spiritualism in the future. The foundation for the success of Spiritualism has
been laid in the assertions that have been made from the pulpits of our land.
The ministers have proclaimed as Bible doctrines falsehoods that have originated
with the arch deceiver. {Ev 602.4}
The
doctrine of consciousness after death, of the spirits of the dead being in
communion with the living, has no foundation in the Scriptures, and yet these
theories are affirmed as truth. Through this false doctrine the way has been
opened for the
spirits of devils
to deceive the people in representing themselves as the dead. Satanic agencies
personate the dead and thus bring souls into captivity. Satan has a religion, he has a synagogue and devout worshipers. To swell
the ranks of his devotees, he uses all manner of deception.—Undated Manuscript
66. {Ev
603.1}
A
Deception Aimed at the Bereaved—The deification of the
dead has held a prominent place in nearly every system of heathenism, as has
also the supposed communion with the dead. The gods were believed to
communicate their will to men, and also, when consulted, to give them counsel. Of this character were the famous oracles of
Greece and Rome. {Ev
603.2}
The
belief in communion with the dead is still held, even in professedly Christian
lands. Under the name of Spiritualism, the practice of communicating with
beings claiming to be the spirits of the departed, has
become widespread. It is calculated to take hold of the sympathies of those who
have laid their loved ones in the grave.—The Signs of the Times, June 23, 1890. {Ev 603.3}
Laying
the Foundation for Spiritism—He [Satan] sometimes
comes in the form of a lovely young person, or of a beautiful shadow. He works
cures, and is worshiped by deceived mortals as a benefactor of our race....
Thousands are conversing with, and receiving instructions from, this demon-god,
and acting according to his teachings. The world, which is supposed to be
benefited so much by phrenology and animal magnetism, never was so corrupt. Satan
uses these very things to destroy virtue and lay the foundation of
Spiritualism.—Testimonies For The Church 1:296, 297
(1862). {Ev
604.1}
More
Frequent and Startling Manifestations—Spiritualists are increasing in numbers.
They will come to men who have the truth as Satan came to Christ, tempting them
to manifest their power and work miracles, and give evidence of their being
favored of God, and of their being the people who have the truth.... The only
safety for the people of God is to be thoroughly conversant with their Bibles,
and be intelligent upon the reasons of our faith in regard to the sleep of the
dead. {Ev
604.2}
Satan
is a cunning foe. And it is not difficult for the evil angels to represent both
saints and sinners who have died, and make these representations visible to
human eyes. These manifestations will be more frequent, and developments of a
more startling character will appear as we near the close of time.—The Review
and Herald, April 1, 1875. {Ev 604.3}
Ministers
Dress It Up—Ministers inspired of Satan can eloquently dress up this hideous
monster, hide its deformity, and make it appear beautiful to many. But it comes
so direct from his satanic majesty, that all who have to do with it, he claims
as his to control, for they have ventured upon forbidden ground, and have
forfeited the protection of their Maker.—The Review and Herald, May 13, 1862. {Ev 604.4}
Spiritism and Cultism Debase Minds—Thousands, I was shown, have
been spoiled through the philosophy of phrenology and animal magnetism, and
have been driven into infidelity. If the mind commences to run in this channel,
it is almost sure to lose its balance and be controlled by a demon. {Ev 605.1}
“Vain
deceit” fills the minds of poor mortals. They think there is such power in
themselves to accomplish great works, that they realize no necessity of a
higher power. Their principles and faith are “after the traditions of men,
after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Jesus has not taught
them this philosophy. Nothing of the kind can be found in His teachings. He did
not direct the minds of poor mortals to themselves, to a power which they
possessed. He was ever directing their minds to God, the Creator of the
universe, as the source of their strength and wisdom.... {Ev 605.2}
The
teachers of Spiritualism come in a pleasing, bewitching manner to deceive you,
and if you listen to their fables you are beguiled by the enemy of
righteousness, and will surely lose your reward. When once the fascinating
influence of the arch-deceiver overcomes you, you are poisoned, and its deadly
influence adulterates and destroys your faith in Christ’s being the Son of God,
and you cease to rely on the merits of His blood. Those deceived by this
philosophy are beguiled of their reward through the deceptions of Satan. They
rely upon their own merits, exercise voluntary humility, are even willing to
make sacrifices, and debase themselves, and yield their minds to the belief of
supreme nonsense, receiving the most absurd ideas through those whom they believe
to be their dead friends. Satan has so blinded their eyes and perverted their
judgment that they perceive not the evil; and they follow out the instructions
purporting to be from their dead friends, now angels in a higher
sphere.—Testimonies For The Church 1:297, 298 (1862). {Ev
605.3}
Christian
Science, Oriental and Healing Cults—There are many who shrink with horror from
the thought of consulting spirit mediums, but who are attracted by more
pleasing forms of spiritism, such as the Emmanuel
movement. Still others are led astray by the teachings of Christian Science,
and by the mysticism of theosophy and other Oriental religions. {Ev 606.1}
The
apostles of nearly all forms of spiritism claim to
have the power to cure the diseased. They attribute
their power to electricity, magnetism, the so-called “sympathetic remedies,” or
to latent forces within the mind of man. And there are not a few, even in this
Christian age, who go to these healers, instead of
trusting in the power of the living God and the skill of well-qualified
Christian physicians. {Ev 606.2}
The
mother, watching by the sickbed of her child, exclaims, “I can do no more! Is
there no physician who has power to restore my child!”
She is told of the wonderful cures performed by some clairvoyant or magnetic
healer, and she trusts her dear one to his charge, placing it as verily in the
hand of Satan as if he were standing by her side. In many instances the future
life of the child is controlled by a satanic power, which it seems impossible
to break.—The Review and Herald, January 15, 1914. {Ev 606.3}
Deceptive
Benefits—Those who give themselves up to the sorcery
of Satan, may boast of great benefit received, but does this prove their course
to be wise or safe? What if life should be prolonged? What if temporal gain
should be secured? Will it pay in the end to have disregarded the will of God?
All such apparent gain will prove at last an irrecoverable loss. We cannot with
impunity break down a single barrier which God has erected to guard His people
from Satan’s power.—The Review and Herald, January 15, 1914. {Ev 606.4}
Danger
in Consulting Cultist Physicians—There is danger in departing in the least from
the Lord’s instruction. When we deviate from the plain path of duty, a train of
circumstances will arise that seem irresistibly to draw us farther and farther
from the right. Needless intimacies with those who have no respect for God will
seduce us, ere we are aware. Fear to offend worldly
friends will deter us from expressing our gratitude to God or acknowledging our
dependence upon Him.... {Ev 607.1}
Angels
of God will preserve His people while they walk in the path of duty; but there
is no assurance of such protection for those who deliberately venture upon
Satan’s ground. An agent of the great deceiver will say and do anything to gain
his object. It matters little whether he calls himself a spiritualist, an
“electric physician,” or a “magnetic healer.” By specious pretenses he wins the
confidence of the unwary. He pretends to read the life-history and to
understand all the difficulties and afflictions of those who resort to him.
Disguising himself as an angel of light, while the blackness of the pit is in
his heart, he manifests great interest in women who seek his counsel. He tells
them that all their troubles are due to an unhappy marriage. This may be too
true, but such a counselor does not better their condition. He tells them that
they need love and sympathy. Pretending great interest in their welfare, he
casts a spell over his unsuspecting victims, charming them as the serpent
charms the trembling bird. Soon they are completely in his power, and sin,
disgrace, and ruin are the terrible sequel.—The Review and Herald, June 27,
1882. {Ev 607.2}
Vilest
License, Despair, and Ruin—The demon’s message to Saul, although it was a
denunciation of sin and a prophecy of retribution, was not meant to reform him,
but to goad him to despair and ruin. Oftener, however, it serves the tempter’s
purpose best to lure men to destruction by flattery. The teaching of the
demon-gods, in ancient times, fostered the vilest license. The divine precepts
condemning sin and enforcing righteousness, were set
aside; truth was lightly regarded, and impurity was not only permitted, but
enjoined. Spiritualism declares that there is no death, no sin, no judgment, no
retribution; that “men are unfallen demigods”; that desire is the highest law;
and that man is accountable only to himself. The barriers that God has erected
to guard truth, purity, and reverence, are broken down, and many are thus
emboldened in sin. Does not such teaching suggest an origin similar to that of
demon worship?—The Signs of the Times, June 30, 1890. {Ev 608.1}
Mystic
Voices, Mediums, Clairvoyants, and Fortune-tellers—The
mystic voices that spoke at Ekron and Endor are still, by their lying words, misleading the
children of men. The prince of darkness has but appeared under a new guise. The
heathen oracles of ages long past have their counterpart in the spiritualistic
mediums, the clairvoyants and fortune tellers of today. The mysteries of
heathen worship are replaced by the secret associations and seances,
the obscurities and wonders, of the sorcerers of our time. And their
disclosures are eagerly received by thousands who refuse to accept light from
the Word or the Spirit of God. They speak with scorn of the magicians of old,
while the great deceiver laughs in triumph as they yield to his arts under a
different form. {Ev 608.2}
These
Satanic agents claim to cure disease. They attribute their power to electricity,
magnetism, or the so-called “sympathetic remedies,” while in truth they are but
channels for Satan’s electric currents. By this means he casts his spell over
the bodies and souls of men.—The Signs of the Times, March 24, 1887. {Ev 609.1}
The
Path to Hell—Vain philosophy is employed in
representing the path to hell as a path of safety. With the imagination highly
wrought, and voices musically tuned, they picture the broad road as one of
happiness and glory. Ambition holds before deluded souls, as Satan presented to
Eve, a freedom and bliss for them to enjoy which they never conceived was
possible. Men are praised who have traveled the broad path to hell, and after
they die are exalted to the highest positions in the eternal world. Satan,
clothed in robes of brightness, appearing like an exalted angel, tempted the
world’s Redeemer without success. But as he comes to man robed as an angel of
light, he has better success. He covers his hideous purposes, and succeeds too
well in deluding the unwary who are not firmly anchored upon eternal truth.—The
Review and Herald, April 1, 1875. {Ev 609.2}
The
Power of Prayer in Meeting Satan—The prayer of faith
is the great strength of the Christian, and will assuredly prevail against
Satan. This is why he insinuates that we have no need of prayer. The name of
Jesus, our Advocate, he detests; and when we earnestly come to Him for help,
Satan’s host is alarmed. It serves his purpose well if we neglect the exercise
of prayer, for then his lying wonders are more readily received.—Testimonies For The Church 1:296 (1862).
{Ev 609.3}
Chapter 39—“The Time of Trouble”
“At
that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people
shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” [Daniel
12:1.] {GC88 613.1}
When
the third angel’s message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the guilty
inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their work. They
have received “the latter rain,” “the refreshing from the presence of the
Lord,” and they are prepared for the trying hour before them. Angels are
hastening to and fro in Heaven. An angel returning from the earth announces
that his work is done; the final test has been brought upon the world, and all
who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts have received “the seal
of the living God.” [See appendix, note 13.] Then Jesus ceases his intercession
in the sanctuary above. He lifts his hands, and with a loud voice says, “It is
done;” and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as he makes the solemn
announcement: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is
filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous
still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” [Revelation 22:11.] Every
case has been decided for life or death. Christ has made the atonement for his
people, and blotted out their sins. The number of his subjects is made up; “the
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,”
is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King
of kings, and Lord of lords. {GC88 613.2}
When
he leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that
fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an
intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan
has entire control of the finally impenitent. God’s long-suffering has ended.
The world has rejected his mercy, despised his love, and trampled upon his law.
The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God,
persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace,
they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the
inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God
cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of
strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible
than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.
{GC88 614.1}
A
single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians, and filled the land
with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one
angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same
destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised
by evil angels when he permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting
the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere. {GC88 614.2}
Those
who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the
world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of
nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with
woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked; their anger
is kindled against all who have received the message, and Satan will excite to
still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution. {GC88 614.3}
When
God’s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests and people
knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by the most horrible
and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the chosen of God.
The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices were offered upon its
polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty
of the blood of God’s dear Son, and seeking to slay his ministers and apostles.
So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced, and the
destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will
know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the
Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the Satanic zeal with which the
prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant
designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God. {GC88 614.4}
As
the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom,
and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance
of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the
popular demand, will make them objects of universal execration. It will be
urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and
a law of the State, ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to
suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The
same argument eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the
“rulers of the people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wily Caiaphas, “that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” [John
11:50.] This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be
issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment,
denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment, and giving the people
liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World,
and apostate Protestantism in the New, will pursue a similar course toward
those who honor all the divine precepts.
{GC88 615.1}
The
people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress
described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble. “Thus saith the Lord:
We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.” “All faces are
turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so
that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be
saved out of it.” [Jeremiah 30:5-7.]
{GC88 616.1}
Jacob’s
night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from the hand of
Esau, [Genesis 32:24-30.] represents the experience of God’s people in the time
of trouble. Because of the deception practiced to secure his father’s blessing,
intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed by his brother’s deadly
threats. After remaining for many years an exile, he had set out, at God’s
command, to return with his wives and children, his flocks and herds, to his
native country. On reaching the borders of the land, he was filled with terror
by the tidings of Esau’s approach at the head of a band of warriors, doubtless
bent upon revenge. Jacob’s company, unarmed and defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of
violence and slaughter. And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added
the crushing weight of self-reproach; for it was his own sin that had brought
this danger. His only hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must be
prayer. Yet he leaves nothing undone on his own part to atone for the wrong to
his brother, and to avert the threatened danger. So should the followers of
Christ, as they approach the time of trouble, make every exertion to place
themselves in a proper light before the people, to disarm prejudice, and to
avert the danger which threatens liberty of conscience. {GC88 616.2}
Having
sent his family away, that they may not witness his distress, Jacob remains
alone to intercede with God. He confesses his sin, and gratefully acknowledges
the mercy of God toward him, while with deep humiliation he pleads the covenant
made with his fathers, and the promises to himself in the night vision at
Bethel and in the land of his exile. The crisis in his life has come;
everything is at stake. In the darkness and solitude he continues praying and
humbling himself before God. Suddenly a hand is laid upon his shoulder. He
thinks that an enemy is seeking his life, and with all the energy of despair he
wrestles with his assailant. As the day begins to break, the stranger puts
forth his superhuman power; at his touch the strong man seems paralyzed, and he
falls, a helpless, weeping suppliant, upon the neck of his mysterious
antagonist. Jacob knows now that it is the Angel of the covenant with whom he has been in conflict. Though disabled, and suffering
the keenest pain, he does not relinquish his purpose. Long has he endured
perplexity, remorse, and trouble for his sin; now he must have the assurance
that it is pardoned. The divine visitant seems about to depart; but Jacob
clings to him, pleading for a blessing. The Angel urges,“Let me go; for the day breaketh;” but the patriarch
exclaims, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” What confidence, what
firmness and perseverance, are here displayed! Had this been a boastful,
presumptuous claim, Jacob would have been instantly destroyed; but his was the
assurance of one who confesses his weakness and unworthiness, yet trusts the
mercy of a covenant-keeping God. {GC88 616.3}
“He
had power over the Angel, and prevailed.” [Hosea 12:4.] Through humiliation,
repentance, and self-surrender, this sinful, erring mortal prevailed with the
Majesty of Heaven. He had fastened his trembling grasp upon the promises of
God, and the heart of Infinite Love could not turn away the sinner’s plea. As
an evidence of his triumph, and an encouragement to others to imitate his
example, his name was changed from one which was a reminder of his sin, to one
that commemorated his victory. And the fact that Jacob had prevailed with God
was an assurance that he would prevail with men. He no longer feared to
encounter his brother’s anger; for the Lord was his defense. {GC88 617.1}
Satan
had accused Jacob before the angels of God, claiming the right to destroy him
because of his sin; he had moved upon Esau to march against him; and during the
patriarch’s long night of wrestling, Satan endeavored to force upon him a sense
of his guilt, in order to discourage him, and break his hold upon God. Jacob
was driven almost to despair; but he knew that without help from Heaven he must
perish. He had sincerely repented of his great sin, and he appealed to the
mercy of God. He would not be turned from his purpose, but held fast the Angel,
and urged his petition with earnest, agonizing cries, until he prevailed. {GC88 618.1}
As
Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will stir up the wicked to
destroy God’s people in the time of trouble. And as he accused Jacob, he will
urge his accusations against the people of God. He numbers the world as his
subjects; but the little company who keep the commandments of God are resisting
his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be
complete. He sees that holy angels are guarding them, and he infers that their
sins have been pardoned; but he does not know that their cases have been decided
in the sanctuary above. He has an accurate knowledge of the sins which he has
tempted them to commit, and he presents these before God in the most
exaggerated light, representing this people to be just as deserving as himself
of exclusion from the favor of God. He declares that the Lord cannot in justice
forgive their sins, and yet destroy him and his angels. He claims them as his
prey, and demands that they be given into his hands to destroy. {GC88 618.2}
As
Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord permits him
to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their faith and
firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past, their hopes sink;
for in their whole lives they can see little good.
They are fully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satan endeavors to
terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless, that the stain of
their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes to so destroy their faith
that they will yield to his temptations, and turn from their allegiance to God.
{GC88 618.3}
Though
God’s people will be surrounded by enemies who are bent upon their destruction,
yet the anguish which they suffer is not a dread of persecution for the truth’s
sake; they fear that every sin has not been repented of, and that through some
fault in themselves they shall fail to realize the fulfillment of the Saviour’s
promise, “I will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon
all the world.” [Revelation 3:10.] If they could have the assurance of pardon,
they would not shrink from torture or death; but should they prove unworthy,
and lose their lives because of their own defects of character, then God’s holy
name would be reproached. {GC88 619.1}
On
every hand they hear the plottings of treason, and
see the active working of rebellion; and there is aroused within them an
intense desire, an earnest yearning of soul, that this great apostasy may be
terminated, and the wickedness of the wicked may come to an end. But while they
plead with God to stay the work of rebellion, it is with a keen sense of
self-reproach that they themselves have no more power to resist and urge back
the mighty tide of evil. They feel that had they always employed all their
ability in the service of Christ, going forward from strength to strength,
Satan’s forces would have less power to prevail against them. {GC88 619.2}
They
afflict their souls before God, pointing to their past repentance of their many
sins, and pleading the Saviour’s promise, “Let him take hold of my strength,
that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah
27:5.] Their faith does not fail because their prayers are not immediately
answered. Though suffering the keenest anxiety, terror, and distress, they do
not cease their intercessions. They lay hold of the strength of God as Jacob
laid hold of the Angel; and the language of their souls is, “I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me.” {GC88 619.3}
Had
not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud,
God would not have heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life. So, in
the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed
sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be
overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have
confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense
of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have
gone beforehand to Judgment, and have been blotted out; and they cannot bring
them to remembrance. {GC88 620.1}
Satan
leads many to believe that God will overlook their unfaithfulness in the minor
affairs of life; but the Lord shows in his dealings with Jacob that he will in
nowise sanction or tolerate evil. All who endeavor to excuse or conceal their
sins, and permit them to remain upon the books of Heaven, unconfessed
and unforgiven, will be overcome by Satan. The more
exalted their profession, and the more honorable the position which they hold,
the more grievous is their course in the sight of God, and the more sure the
triumph of their great adversary. Those who delay a preparation for the day of
God cannot obtain it in the time of trouble, or at any subsequent time. The
case of all such is hopeless. {GC88 620.2}
Those
professed Christians who come up to that last fearful conflict unprepared,
will, in their despair, confess their sins in words of burning, anguish, while
the wicked exult over their distress. These confessions are of the same
character as was that of Esau or of Judas. Those who make them lament the
result of transgression, but not its guilt. They feel no true contrition, no
abhorrence of evil. They acknowledge their sin, through fear of punishment;
but, like Pharaoh of old, they would return to their defiance of Heaven, should
the judgments be removed. {GC88
620.3}
Jacob’s
history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been
deceived, and tempted, and betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto him
with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send
his angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The assaults of
Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but the Lord’s eye
is upon his people, and his ear listens to their cries. Their affliction is
great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but the Refiner
will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. God’s love for his children
during the period of their severest trial is as strong and tender as in the
days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in
the furnace fire; their earthliness must be consumed that the image of Christ
may be perfectly reflected. {GC88
621.1}
The
season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure
weariness, delay, and hunger,—a faith that will not faint, though severely
tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time.
Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an
evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s
promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed
as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before God,
to pray long and earnestly for his blessing, will not obtain it. Wrestling with
God—how few know what it is! How few have ever had their souls drawn out after
God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch. When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the
suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God. {GC88 621.2}
Those
who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest danger of falling under
the power of Satanic delusions and the decree to
compel the conscience. And even if they endure the test, they will be plunged
into deeper distress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they have
never made it a habit to trust in God. The lessons of faith which they have
neglected, they will be forced to learn under a terrible pressure of
discouragement. {GC88 621.3}
We
should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving his promises. Angels record
every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with
selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty,
the greatest self-denial, with his approval, is better than riches, honors,
ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray. If we allow our
minds to be absorbed by worldly interests, the Lord may give us time by removing
from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of fertile lands. {GC88 622.1}
The
young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse to enter any path,
save that upon which they could ask God’s blessing. If the messengers who bear
the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the blessing of God, not in
a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and in faith, as did Jacob, they
would find many places where they could say, “I have seen God face to face, and
my life is preserved.” [Genesis 32:30.] They would be accounted of Heaven as
princes, having power to prevail with God and with men. {GC88 622.2}
The
“time of trouble such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we shall need
an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are too indolent to
obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in
reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid
presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial,
every soul must stand for himself before God. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were
in the land, “as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor
daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”
[Ezekiel 14:20.] {GC88 622.3}
Now,
while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to
become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to
yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where
he can gain a foot-hold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his
temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of himself, “The prince of
this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” [John 14:30.] Satan could find
nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had
kept his Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in him that Satan could
use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who
shall stand in the time of trouble. {GC88 622.4}
It
is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in the
atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Saviour invites us to join ourselves to
him, to unite our weakness to his strength, our ignorance to his wisdom, our
unworthiness to his merits. God’s providence is the school in which we are to
learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus. The Lord is ever setting before us,
not the way we would choose, which seems easier and pleasanter to us, but the
true aims of life. It rests with us to co-operate with the agencies which
Heaven employs, in the work of conforming our characters to the divine model.
None can neglect or defer this work but at the most fearful peril to their
souls. {GC88 623.1}
The
apostle John in vision heard a loud voice in Heaven exclaiming, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for
the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he
hath but a short time.” [Revelation 12:12.] Fearful are the scenes which call
forth this exclamation from the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increases as
his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its
culmination in the time of trouble.
{GC88 623.2}
Fearful
sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in
token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go
forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in
deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against
the government of Heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike
deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ himself, and claiming the
title and worship which belong to the world’s Redeemer. They will perform
wonderful miracles of healing, and will profess to have revelations from Heaven
contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures. {GC88 623.3}
As
the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate
Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the
consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that
Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself
among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the
description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. [Revelation
1:13-15.] The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal
eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air., “Christ has come! Christ has come!” The people
prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands, and
pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed his disciples when he was
upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle,
compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths
which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in
his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to
Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares
that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name
by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is
the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were
deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give
heed to these sorceries, saying, This is “the great power of God.” [Acts 8:10.] {GC88
624.1}
But
the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false Christ are
not in accordance with the Scriptures His blessing is pronounced upon the
worshipers of the beast and his image,—the very class upon whom the Bible
declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out. {GC88 624.2}
And,
furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s
advent. The Saviour has warned his people against deception upon this point,
and has clearly foretold the manner of his second coming. “There shall arise false Christs, and false
prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.... Wherefore if they shall say
unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the
secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be.” [Matthew
24:24-27, 31; 25:31; Revelation 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.] This
coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally
known—witnessed by the whole world.
{GC88 625.1}
Only
those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have received
the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes
the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his
disguise. To all, the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation, the
genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly
established upon his Word that they would not yield to the evidence of their
senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible,
and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a
preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up
their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy,
wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this
life, and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief. {GC88 625.2}
As
the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against
commandment-keepers shall withdraw the protection of government, and abandon
them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God will flee from
the cities and villages, and associate together in companies, dwelling in the
most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds of
the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they will make the
high places of the earth their sanctuaries, and will thank God for the
“munitions of rocks.” [Isaiah 33:16.] But many of all nations, and all classes,
high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust
and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in
by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of
starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their
moans; no human hand is ready to lend them help. {GC88 625.3}
Will
the Lord forget his people in this trying hour? Did he forget faithful Noah
when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian world? Did he forget Lot when
the fire came down from Heaven to consume the cities of the plain? Did he
forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt? Did he forget Elijah when the
oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the prophets of Baal? Did he
forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison-house? Did he forget
the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or Daniel in
the den of lions.? {GC88 626.1}
“Zion
said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” [Isaiah
49:14-16.] The Lord of hosts has said, “He that toucheth you, toucheth the
apple of his eye.” [Zechariah 2:8.] {GC88 626.2}
Though
enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dungeon walls cannot cut off the
communication between their souls and Christ. One who sees their every
weakness, who is acquainted with every trial, is above all earthly powers; and
angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringing light and peace from Heaven.
The prison will be as a palace; for the rich in faith dwell there, and the
gloomy walls will be lighted up with heavenly light, as when Paul and Silas
prayed and sung praises at midnight in the Philippian
dungeon. {GC88 626.3}
God’s
judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking to oppress and destroy his
people. His long forbearance with the wicked emboldens men in transgression,
but their punishment is none the less certain and terrible because it is long
delayed. “The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim,
he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he
may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.”
[Isaiah 28:21.] To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. “As
I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,”
[Ezekiel 33:11.] The Lord is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and
abundant in goodness and truth,” “forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin.” Yet he will “by no means clear the guilty.” “The Lord is slow to anger,
and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.” [Exodus 34:6, 7;
Nahum 1:3.] By terrible things in righteousness he will vindicate the authority
of his downtrodden law. The severity of the retribution awaiting the
transgressor may be judged by the Lord’s reluctance to execute justice. The
nation with which he bears long, and which he will not smite until it has
filled up the measure of its iniquity in God’s account, will finally drink the
cup of wrath unmixed with mercy. {GC88
627.1}
When
Christ ceases his intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath threatened
against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark,
[Revelation 14:9, 10.] will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God was
about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to those more terrible and
extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final
deliverance of God’s people. Says the Revelator, in
describing these terrific scourges, “There fell a noisome and grievous sore
upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon
them which worshiped his image.” The sea “became as the blood of a dead man,
and every living soul died in the sea.” And “the rivers and fountains of waters
became blood.” [Revelation 16:2-6, 8, 9.] Terrible as these inflictions are,
God’s justice stands fully vindicated. The angel of God declares, “Thou art
righteous, O Lord, ... because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast
given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. [Revelation 16:2-6, 8,
9.] By condemning the people of God to death they have as truly incurred the
guilt of their blood, as if it had been shed by their hands. In like manner
Christ declared the Jews of his time guilty of all the blood of holy men which
had been shed since the days of Abel; for they possessed the same spirit, and were
seeking to do the same work, with these murderers of the prophets. {GC88 627.2}
In
the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch men with fire.
And men were scorched with great heat.” [Revelation 16:2-6, 8, 9.] The prophets
thus describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time: “The land mourneth;... because the harvest
of the field is perished.” “All the trees of the field are withered; because
joy is withered away from the sons of men.” “The seed is rotten under their
clods, the garners are laid desolate.” “How do the beasts groan!
the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have
no pasture.... The rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.” “The songs of the temple shall be howlings in
that day, saith the Lord God; there shall be many dead bodies in every place;
they shall cast them forth with silence.” [Joel 1:10-12, 17-20; Amos 8:3.] {GC88 628.1}
These
plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut
off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to
mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been
mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from
receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final Judgment, wrath is
poured out unmixed with mercy. {GC88 628.2}
In
that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God’s mercy which they have so
long despised. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a
famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of
hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from
the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the
Lord, and shall not find it.” [Amos 8:11, 12.]
{GC88 629.1}
The
people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and
distressed, while they endure privation, and suffer for want of food, they will
not be left to perish. That God who cared for Elijah will not pass by one of
his self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of their head will care
for them, and in time of famine they shall be satisfied. While the wicked are
dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous, and supply
their wants. To him that “walketh righteously” is the
promise, “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” “When the poor
and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I
the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” [Isaiah
33:16; 41:17.] {GC88 629.2}
“Although
the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be
cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls;” yet shall
they that fear him “rejoice in the Lord,” and joy in the God of their
salvation. [Habakkuk 3:17, 18.]
{GC88 629.3}
“The
Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall
not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord
shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.” “He shall
deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He
shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his
truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror
by night; nor for the arrow that flieth
by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in
darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at
noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see
the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,
even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither
shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” [Psalm 121:5-7; 91:3-10.] {GC88
629.4}
Yet
to human sight it will appear that the people of God must soon seal their
testimony with their blood, as did the martyrs before them. They themselves
begin to fear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand of their enemies.
It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cry unto God for deliverance.
The wicked exult, and the jeering cry is heard. “Where now is your faith? Why
does not God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeed his people?” But
the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon Calvary’s cross, and the chief
priests and rulers shouting in mockery, “He saved others; himself he cannot
save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we
will believe him.” [Matthew 27:42.] Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God.
Their countenances express their internal struggle. Paleness sits upon every
face. Yet they cease not their earnest intercession. {GC88 630.1}
Could
men see with heavenly vision, they would behold companies of angels that excel
in strength stationed about those who have kept the word of Christ’s patience.
With sympathizing tenderness, angels have witnessed their distress, and have
heard their prayers. They are waiting the word of their Commander to snatch
them from their peril. But they must wait yet a little longer. The people of
God must drink of the cup, and be baptized with the baptism. The very delay, so
painful to them, is the best answer to their petitions. As they endeavor to
wait trustingly for the Lord to work, they are led to exercise faith, hope, and
patience, which have been too little exercised during their religious
experience. Yet for the elect’s sake, the time of trouble will be shortened.
“Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? ... I
tell you that he will avenge them speedily.” [Luke 18:7, 8.]
The end will come more quickly than men expect. The wheat will be gathered and
bound in sheaves for the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots for
the fires of destruction. {GC88 630.2}
The
heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue their watch. Though a
general decree has fixed the time when commandment-keepers may be put to death,
their enemies will in some cases anticipate the decree, and, before the time
specified, will endeavor to take their lives. But none can pass the mighty
guardians stationed about every faithful soul. Some are assailed in their
flight from the cities and villages; but the swords raised against them break
and fall as powerless as a straw. Others are defended by angels in the form of
men of war. {GC88 631.1}
In
all ages, God has wrought through holy angels for the succor and deliverance of
his people. Celestial beings have taken an active part in the affairs of men.
They have appeared clothed in garments that shone as the lightning; they have
come as men, in the garb of wayfarers. Angels have appeared in human form to
men of God. They have rested, as if weary, under the oaks at noon. They have
accepted the hospitalities of human homes. They have acted as guides to
benighted travelers. They have, with their own hands, kindled the fires of the
altar. They have opened prison doors, and set free the servants of the Lord.
Clothed with the panoply of Heaven, they came to roll away the stone from the
Saviour’s tomb. {GC88 631.2}
In
the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the righteous, and they
visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to Sodom, to make a record of
their deeds, to determine whether they have passed the boundary of God’s
forbearance. The Lord delights in mercy; and for the sake of a few who really
serve him, he restrains calamities, and prolongs the tranquillity of multitudes.
Little do sinners against God realize that they are indebted for their own
lives to the faithful few whom they delight to ridicule and oppress.
{GC88 631.3}
Though
the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in their councils angels have
been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked upon them; human ears have listened to
their appeals; human lips have opposed their suggestions and ridiculed their
counsels; human hands have met them with insult and abuse. In the council hall
and the court of justice, these heavenly messengers have shown an intimate
acquaintance with human history; they have proved themselves better able to
plead the cause of the oppressed than were their ablest and most eloquent
defenders. They have defeated purposes and arrested evils that would have
greatly retarded the work of God, and would have caused great suffering to his
people. In the hour of peril and distress, “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” [Psalm 34:7.] {GC88 632.1}
With
earnest longing, God’s people await the tokens of their coming King. As the
watchmen are accosted, “What of the night?” the answer is given unfalteringly,
“‘The morning cometh, and also the night.’ [Isaiah
21:11, 12.] Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountain tops. Soon
there will be a revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness is about to
shine forth. The morning and the night are both at hand,—the opening of endless
day to the righteous, the settling down of eternal night to the wicked.” {GC88 632.2}
As
the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, the veil separating them
from the unseen seems almost withdrawn. The heavens glow with the dawning of
eternal day, and, like the melody of angel songs, the words fall upon the ear,
“Stand fast to your allegiance. Help is coming.” Christ, the almighty victor,
holds out to his weary soldiers a crown of immortal glory; and his voice comes
from the gates ajar: “Lo, I am with you. Be not afraid. I am acquainted with
all your sorrows; I have borne your griefs. You are
not warring against untried enemies. I have fought the battle in your behalf,
and in my name you are more than conquerors.” {GC88 632.3}
The
precious Saviour will send help just when we need it. The way to Heaven is
consecrated by his foot-prints. Every thorn that wounds our feet has wounded
his. Every cross that we are called to bear, he has borne before us. The Lord
permits conflicts, to prepare the soul for peace. The time of trouble is a
fearful ordeal for God’s people; but it is the time for every true believer to
look up, and by faith he may see the bow of promise encircling him. {GC88 633.1}
“The
redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and
everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy;
and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am he that comforteth you; who art thou, that thou shouldst
be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as
grass; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker; ... and
hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if
he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the
oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he may be
loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared. The Lord
of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered
thee in the shadow of mine hand.”
{GC88 633.2}
“Therefore
hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Thus saith thy
Lord Jehovah, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of
his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even
the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again. But I will
put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul,
Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and
as the street, to them that went over.” [Isaiah 51:11-16, 21-23.] {GC88 633.3}
The
eye of God, looking down the ages, was fixed upon the crisis which his people
are to meet, when earthly powers shall be arrayed against them. Like the
captive exile, they will be in fear of death by starvation or by violence. But
the Holy One who divided the Red Sea before Israel,
will manifest his mighty power and turn their captivity. “They shall be mine,
saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare
them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” [Malachi 3:17.] If the
blood of Christ’s faithful witnesses were shed at this time, it would not, like
the blood of the martyrs, be as seed sown to yield a harvest for God. Their
fidelity would not be a testimony to convince others of the truth; for the
obdurate heart has beaten back the waves of mercy until they return no more. If
the righteous were now left to fall a prey to their enemies it would be a
triumph for the prince of darkness. Says the psalmist, “In the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide
me.” [Psalm 27:5.] Christ has spoken: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy
chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little
moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold,
the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity.” [Isaiah 26:20, 21.] Glorious will be
the deliverance of those who have patiently waited for his coming, and whose
names are written in the book of life. {GC88 634.1}
Chapter 40—God’s People
Delivered
When
the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor the law of
God, there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous movement for their
destruction. As the time appointed in the decree draws near, the people will
conspire to root out the hated sect. It will be determined to strike in one
night a decisive blow, which shall utterly silence the voice of dissent and
reproof. {GC88 635.1}
The
people of God—some in prison cells, some hidden in solitary retreats in the
forests and the mountains—still plead for divine protection, while in every
quarter companies of armed men, urged on by hosts of evil angels, are preparing
for the work of death. It is now, in the hour of utmost extremity,
that the God of Israel will interpose for the deliverance of his chosen.
Saith the Lord: “Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is
kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth ... to come into the mountain of
Jehovah, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious
voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the
indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with
scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.” [Isaiah 30:29, 30.] {GC88 635.2}
With
shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to
rush upon their prey, when lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of
the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the glory from
the throne of God, spans the heavens, and seems to encircle each praying
company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries die
away. The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful
forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God’s covenant, and long to be
shielded from its overpowering brightness. {GC88 635.3}
By
the people of God a voice, clear and melodious, is heard, saying, “Look up,”
and, lifting their eyes to the heavens, they behold the bow of promise. The
black, angry clouds that covered the firmament are parted, and like Stephen
they look up steadfastly into Heaven, and see the glory of God, and the Son of
man seated upon his throne. In his divine form they discern the marks of his
humiliation; and from his lips they hear the request, presented before his
Father and the holy angels, “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be
with me where I am.” [John 17:24.] Again a voice, musical and triumphant, is
heard, saying, “They come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept the word of my
patience; they shall walk among the angels;” and the pale, quivering lips of
those who have held fast their faith, utter a shout of victory. {GC88 636.1}
It
is at midnight that God manifests his power for the deliverance of his people.
The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow in quick
succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon
the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their
deliverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The
streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up, and clash against each
other. In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable
glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying, “It
is done.” [Revelation 16:17, 18.] {GC88
636.2}
That
voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, “such as
was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great.”
[Revelation 16:17, 18.] The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from
the throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a reed in
the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a roar as of a
coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriek of the
hurricane, like the voice of demons upon a mission of destruction. The whole
earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way. Mountain chains
are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports that have become like
Sodom for wickedness, are swallowed up by the angry
waters. Babylon the Great hath come in remembrance before God, “to give unto
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” [Revelation 16:19, 21.]
Great hailstones, every one “about the weight of a
talent,” are doing their work of destruction. The proudest cities of the earth
are laid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world’s great men have
lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling to ruin
before their eyes. Prison walls are rent asunder, and God’s people, who have
been held in bondage for their faith, are set free. {GC88 636.3}
Graves
are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth” “awake, some
to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” [Daniel
12:2.] All who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message come forth
from the tomb glorified, to hear God’s covenant of peace with those who have
kept his law. “They also which pierced Him,” [Revelation 1:7.] those that
mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of his
truth and his people, are raised to behold him in his glory, and to see the
honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.
{GC88 637.1}
Thick
clouds still cover the sky; yet the sun now and then breaks through, appearing
like the avenging eye of Jehovah. Fierce lightnings leap from the heavens,
enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame. Above the terrific roar of thunder,
voices, mysterious and awful, declare the doom of the wicked. The words spoken
are not comprehended by all; but they are distinctly understood by the false
teachers. Those who a little before were so reckless, so boastful and defiant,
so exultant in their cruelty to God’s commandment-keeping people, are now
overwhelmed with consternation, and shuddering in fear. Their wails are heard
above the sound of the elements. Demons acknowledge the divinity of Christ, and
tremble before his power, while men are supplicating for mercy, and groveling
in abject terror. {GC88 637.2}
Said
the prophets of old as they beheld in holy vision the
day of God: “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” [Isaiah 13:6.] “Enter into
the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of
his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of
men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For
the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty,
and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” “In that
day a man shall cast the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which
they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go
into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear
of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth
to shake terribly the earth.” [Isaiah 2:10-12, 21 (Margin).] {GC88 638.1}
Through
a rift in the clouds, there beams a star whose brilliancy is increased fourfold
in contrast with the darkness. It speaks hope and joy to the faithful, but
severity and wrath to the transgressors of God’s law. Those who have sacrificed
all for Christ are now secure, hidden as in the secret of the Lord’s pavilion.
They have been tested, and before the world and the despisers of truth they
have evinced their fidelity to Him who died for them. A marvelous change has
come over those who have held fast their integrity in the very face of death.
They have been suddenly delivered from the dark and terrible tyranny of men
transformed to demons. Their faces, so lately pale, anxious, and haggard, are
now aglow with wonder, faith, and love. Their voices rise in triumphant song: “God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not
we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though
the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” [Psalm 46:1-3.] {GC88 638.2}
While
these words of holy trust ascend to God, the clouds sweep back, and the starry
heavens are seen, unspeakably glorious in contrast with the black and angry
firmament on either side. The glory of the celestial city streams from the
gates ajar. Then there appears against the sky a hand holding two tables of
stone folded together. Says the prophet, “The heavens shall declare His
righteousness; for God is judge himself.” [Psalm 50:6.] That holy law, God’s righteousness, that amid thunder and flame was proclaimed from
Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the rule of
judgment. The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the precepts of the decalogue, traced as with a pen of
fire. The words are so plain that all can read them. Memory is aroused, the
darkness of superstition and heresy is swept from every mind, and God’s ten
words, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented to the view of
all the inhabitants of the earth. {GC88
639.1}
It
is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who have trampled
upon God’s holy requirements. The Lord gave them his law; they might have
compared their characters with it, and learned their defects while there was
yet opportunity for repentance and reform; but in order to secure the favor of
the world, they set aside its precepts and taught others to transgress. They
have endeavored to compel God’s people to profane his Sabbath. Now they are
condemned by that law which they have despised. With awful distinctness they
see that they are without excuse. They chose whom they would serve and worship.
“Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” [Malachi 3:18.]
{GC88 639.2}
The
enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down to the least among them, have a
new conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the
fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. Too late they see the true
nature of their spurious sabbath, and the sandy
foundation upon which they have been building. They find that they have been
fighting against God. Religious teachers have led souls to perdition while
professing to guide them to the gates of Paradise. Not until the day of final
accounts will it be known how great is the
responsibility of men in holy office, and how terrible are the results of their
unfaithfulness. Only in eternity can we rightly estimate the loss of a single
soul. Fearful will be the doom of him to whom God shall say, Depart, thou
wicked servant. {GC88 640.1}
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 roll 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. {GC88 640.2}
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 Saviour, 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. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the
earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its
base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant.
Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a “man of sorrows,” to drink
the bitter cup of shame and woe, he comes, victor in Heaven and earth, to judge
the living and the dead. “Faithful and True,” “in righteousness he doth judge
and make war.” And “the armies in Heaven follow him.” [Revelation 19:11, 14.]
With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng,
attend him on his way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms,—“ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” No human pen can
portray the scene, nor mortal mind is adequate to
conceive its splendor. “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full
of his praise. And his brightness was as the light.” [Habakkuk
3:3, 4.] As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the
Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head, but a diadem of
glory rests on his holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness
of the noonday sun. “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name
written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.” [Revelation 19:16.] {GC88 640.3}
Before
his presence, “all faces are turned into paleness;” upon the rejecters of God’s
mercy falls the terror of eternal despair. “The heart melteth,
and the knees smite together,” “and the faces of them all gather blackness.”
[Jeremiah 30:6; Nahum 2:10.] The righteous cry with trembling, “Who shall be
able to stand?” The angels’ song is hushed, and there is a period of awful
silence. Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying, “My grace is sufficient for
you.” The faces of the righteous are lighted up, and joy fills every heart. And
the angels strike a note higher, and sing again, as they draw still nearer to
the earth. {GC88 641.1}
The
King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are
rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before him, and every mountain
and island is moved out of its place. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep
silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round
about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he
may judge his people.” [Psalm 50:3, 4.] {GC88 641.2}
“And
the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath
is come; and who shall be able to stand?” [Revelation 6:15-17.] {GC88 642.1}
The
derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips are hushed into silence. The clash of
arms, the tumult of battle, “with confused noise, and garments rolled in
blood,” [Isaiah 9:5.] is stilled. Naught now is heard but the voice of prayer
and the sound of weeping and lamentation. The cry bursts forth from lips so
lately scoffing, “The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to
stand?” The wicked pray to be buried beneath the rocks of the mountains, rather
than meet the face of Him whom they have despised and rejected. {GC88 642.2}
That
voice which penetrates the ear of the dead, they know. How often have its
plaintive, tender tones called them to repentance. How
often has it been heard in the touching entreaties of a friend, a brother, a Redeemer. To the rejecters of his grace, no other could be
so full of condemnation, so burdened with denunciation, as that voice which has
so long pleaded, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?”
[Ezekiel 33:11.] Oh that it were to them the voice of a stranger! Says Jesus:
“I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man
regarded. But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my
reproof.” [Proverbs 1:24, 25.] That voice awakens memories which they would
fain blot out,—warnings despised, invitations refused, privileges slighted. {GC88 642.3}
There
are those who mocked Christ in his humiliation. With thrilling power come to
their minds the Sufferer’s words, when, adjured by the high priest, he solemnly
declared, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” [Matthew
26:64.] Now they behold him in his glory, and they are yet to see him sitting
on the right hand of power. {GC88
643.1}
Those
who derided his claim to be the Son of God are speechless now. There is the
haughty Herod who jeered at his royal title, and bade the mocking soldiers crown him king. There are the very men who with
impious hands placed upon his form the purple robe, upon his sacred brow the
thorny crown, and in his unresisting hand the mimic scepter, and bowed before
him in blasphemous mockery. The men who smote and spit upon the Prince of life,
now turn from his piercing gaze, and seek to flee from the overpowering glory
of his presence. Those who drove the nails through his hands and feet, the soldier
who pierced his side, behold these marks with terror and remorse. {GC88 643.2}
With
awful distinctness do priests and rulers recall the events of Calvary. With shuddering horror they remember how, wagging
their heads in Satanic exultation, they exclaimed, “He
saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now
come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him
deliver him now, if he will have him.” [Matthew 27:42, 43.] {GC88 643.3}
Vividly
they recall the Saviour’s parable of the husbandmen who refused to render to
their lord the fruit of the vineyard, who abused his
servants and slew his son. They remember, too, the sentence which they
themselves pronounced: The lord of the vineyard will miserably destroy those
wicked men. In the sin and punishment of those unfaithful men, the priests and
elders see their own course and their own just doom. And now there rises a cry
of mortal agony. Louder than the shout, “Crucify him! crucify
him!” which rang through the streets of Jerusalem,
swells the awful, despairing wail, “He is the Son of God! He is the true
Messiah!” They seek to flee from the presence of the King of kings. In the deep
caverns of the earth, rent asunder by the warring of the elements, they vainly
attempt to hide. {GC88 643.4}
In
the lives of all who reject truth, there are moments when conscience awakens,
when memory presents the torturing recollection of a life of hypocrisy, and the
soul is harassed with vain regrets. But what are these compared with the
remorse of that day when “fear cometh as desolation,” when “destruction cometh
as a whirlwind!” [Proverbs 1:27.] Those who would have destroyed Christ and his
faithful people, now witness the glory which rests upon them. In the midst of their
terror they hear the voices of the saints in joyful strains exclaiming, “Lo,
this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us.” [Isaiah 25:9.] {GC88 644.1}
Amid
the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning, and the roar of thunder, the
voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the
graves of the righteous, then raising his hands to heaven he cries, “Awake,
awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!” Throughout the length and
breadth of the earth, the dead shall hear that voice; and they that hear shall
live. And the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding great army
of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From the prison-house of death
they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying, “O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is the victory?” [1 Corinthians 15:55.] And the living righteous
and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory. {GC88 644.2}
All
come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered the tomb.
Adam, who stands among the risen throng, is of lofty height and majestic form,
in stature but little below the Son of God. He presents a marked contrast to
the people of later generations; in this one respect is shown the great
degeneracy of the race. But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal
youth. In the beginning, man was created in the likeness of God, not only in
character, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almost obliterated the
divine image; but Christ came to restore that which had been lost. He will
change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his glorious body. The
mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin, becomes
perfect, beautiful, and immortal. All blemishes and deformities are left in the
grave. Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will
“grow up” [Malachi 4:2.] to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory.
The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ’s
faithful ones will appear “in the beauty of the Lord our God;” in mind and soul
and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager
anticipation, but never fully understood. {GC88 644.3}
The
living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye.” At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are
made immortal, and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their Lord in
the air. Angels “gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other.” Little children are borne by holy angels to their
mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part,
and with songs of gladness ascend together to the city of God. {GC88 645.1}
On
each side of the cloudy chariot are wings, and beneath it are living wheels;
and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheels cry, “Holy,” and the wings, as they
move, cry, “Holy,” and the retinue of angels cry, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty.” And the redeemed shout “Alleluia!” as the chariot moves onward
toward the New Jerusalem. {GC88 645.2}
Before
entering the city of God, the Saviour bestows upon his followers the emblems of
victory, and invests them with the insignia of their royal state. The glittering
ranks are drawn up, in the form of a hollow square, about their King, whose
form rises in majesty high above saint and angel, whose countenance beams upon
them full of benignant love. Throughout the unnumbered host of the redeemed,
every glance is fixed upon him, every eye beholds His glory whose
“visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of
men.” Upon the heads of the overcomers, Jesus with
his own right hand places the crown of glory. For each there is a crown, bearing
his own “new name,” [Revelation 2:17.] and the inscription, “Holiness to the
Lord.” In every hand are placed the victor’s palm and the shining harp. Then,
as the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps the harp strings
with skillful touch, awaking sweet music in rich, melodious strains. Rapture
unutterable thrills every heart, and each voice is raised in grateful praise:
“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion
forever and ever.” [Revelation 1:5, 6.] {GC88 645.3}
Before
the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and
the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise
of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal
ear, is heard, saying, “Your conflict is ended.” “Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” {GC88 646.1}
Now
is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for his disciples, “I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.” “Faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” [Jude 24.] Christ
presents to the Father the purchase of his blood, declaring, “Here am I, and
the children whom thou hast given me.” “Those that thou gavest
me I have kept.” Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the
rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall
behold his image, sin’s discord banished, its blight removed, and the human
once more in harmony with the divine! {GC88 646.2}
With
unutterable love, Jesus welcomes his faithful ones to the “joy of their Lord.”
The Saviour’s joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls that have
been saved by his agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will be sharers in
this joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ
through their prayers, their labors, and loving sacrifice. As they gather about
the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they
behold those whom they have won for Christ, and see that one has gained others,
and these still others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their
crowns at Jesus’ feet, and praise him through the endless cycles of eternity. {GC88 647.1}
As
the ransomed ones are welcomed to the city of God, there rings out upon the air
an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God
is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race,—the being
whom he created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of
the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour’s form. As Adam discerns the prints
of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord, but in
humiliation casts himself at his feet, crying,
“Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up,
and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been
exiled. {GC88 647.2}
After
his expulsion from Eden, Adam’s life on earth was filled with sorrow. Every
dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight upon the fair face of
nature, every stain upon man’s purity, was a fresh reminder of his sin.
Terrible was the agony of remorse as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in
answer to his warnings, met the reproaches cast upon himself
as the cause of sin. With patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand
years, the penalty of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin, and
trust in the merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a
resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man’s failure and fall, and now, through
the work of the atonement, Adam is re-instated in his first dominion. {GC88
647.3}
Transported
with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his delight,—the very trees whose
fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the
vines that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to
care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is
indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was
banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life, and plucks the
glorious fruit, and bids him eat. He looks about him, and beholds a multitude
of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he casts his
glittering crown at the feet of Jesus, and, falling upon his breast, embraces
the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and the vaults of Heaven echo the
triumphant song, “Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives
again!” The family of Adam take up the strain, and cast their crowns at the
Saviour’s feet as they bow before him in adoration. {GC88 648.1}
This
reunion is witnessed by the angels who wept at the fall of Adam, and rejoiced
when Jesus, after his resurrection, ascended to Heaven, having opened the grave
for all who should believe on his name. Now they behold the work of redemption
accomplished, and they unite their voices in the song of praise. {GC88 648.2}
Upon
the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glass as it were mingled with
fire,—so resplendent is it with the glory of God,—are gathered the company that
have “gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark,
and over the number of his name.” [Revelation 15:2.] With the Lamb upon Mount
Zion, “having the harps of God,” they stand, the hundred and forty and four
thousand that were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of
many waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, “the voice of harpers harping
with their harps.” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17] And they sing “a new
song” before the throne, a song which no man can learn save the hundred and
forty and four thousand. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb,—a song of
deliverance. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song;
for it is the song of their experience,—an experience such as no other company
have ever had. “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.”
These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are
counted as “the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” “These are they which
came out of great tribulation;” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; Revelation 7:14-17.]
they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was
a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob’s trouble; they
have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God’s
judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have “washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” “In their mouth was found no guile;
for they are without fault” before God. “Therefore are they before the throne
of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them.” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; Revelation 7:14-17.]
They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having
power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured
suffering, hunger, and thirst. But “they shall hunger no more; neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and
shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes.” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17.] {GC88 648.3}
In
all ages the Saviour’s chosen have been educated and disciplined in the school
of trial. They walked in narrow paths on earth; they were purified in the
furnace of affliction. For Jesus’ sake they endured opposition, hatred,
calumny. They followed him through conflicts sore; they endured self-denial and
experienced bitter disappointments. By their own painful experience they
learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon it
with abhorrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice made for its cure, humbles
them in their own sight, and fills their hearts with gratitude and praise which
those who have never fallen cannot appreciate. They love much, because they
have been forgiven much. Having been partakers of Christ’s sufferings, they are
fitted to be partakers with him of his glory. {GC88 649.1}
The
heirs of God have come from garrets, from hovels, from dungeons, from
scaffolds, from mountains, from deserts, from the caves of the earth, from the
caverns of the sea. On earth they were “destitute, afflicted, tormented.” Millions went down to the grave loaded with
infamy, because they steadfastly refused to yield to the deceptive claims of
Satan. By human tribunals they were adjudged the vilest of criminals. But now
“God is judge himself.” [Psalm 50:6.] Now the decisions of earth are reversed.
“The rebuke of his people shall he take away.” [Isaiah 25:8.] “They shall call
them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord.” He
hath appointed “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” [Isaiah 62:12;
61:3.] They are no longer feeble, afflicted, scattered, and oppressed.
Henceforth they are to be ever with the Lord. They stand before the throne clad
in richer robes than the most honored of the earth have ever worn. They are
crowned with diadems more glorious than were ever placed upon the brow of
earthly monarchs. The days of pain and weeping are forever ended. The King of
glory has wiped the tears from all faces; every cause of grief has been
removed. Amid the waving of palm-branches they pour forth a song of praise,
clear, sweet, and harmonious; every voice takes up the strain, until the anthem
swells through the vaults of Heaven, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb.” And all the inhabitants of Heaven respond in
the ascription, “Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever.” [Revelation
7:10, 12.] {GC88 650.1}
In
this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme of redemption.
With our finite comprehension we may consider most earnestly the shame and the
glory, the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet in the
cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental powers we fail to grasp its
full significance. The length and the breadth, the depth and the height of
redeeming love are but dimly comprehended. The plan of redemption will not be
fully understood, even when the ransomed see as they are seen and know as they
are known; but through the eternal ages, new truth will continually unfold to
the wondering and delighted mind. Though the griefs
and pains and temptations of earth are ended, and the cause removed, the people
of God will ever have a distinct, intelligent knowledge of what their salvation
has cost. {GC88 651.1}
The
cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed through all eternity.
In Christ glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be
forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through
the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of Heaven, He whom
cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore,—humbled himself to uplift fallen
man; that he bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of his Father’s
face, till the woes of a lost world broke his heart, and crushed out his life
on Calvary’s cross. That the Maker of all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies,
should lay aside his glory, and humiliate himself from
love to man, will ever excite the wonder and adoration of the universe. As the
nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer, and behold the eternal glory of
the Father shining in his countenance; as they behold his throne, which is from
everlasting to everlasting, and know that his kingdom is to have no end, they
break forth in rapturous song, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and
hath redeemed us to God by his own most precious blood!” {GC88 651.2}
The
mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries. In the light that streams
from Calvary, the attributes of God which had filled us with fear and awe
appear beautiful and attractive. Mercy, tenderness, and parental love are seen
to blend with holiness, justice, and power. While we behold the majesty of his
throne, high and lifted up, we see his character in its gracious
manifestations, and comprehend, as never before, the significance of that
endearing title, our Father.
{GC88 652.1}
It
will be seen that He who is infinite in wisdom could devise no plan for our
salvation except the sacrifice of his Son. The compensation for this sacrifice
is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy, and
immortal. The result of the Saviour’s conflict with the powers of darkness is
joy to the redeemed, redounding to the glory of God, throughout eternity. And
such is the value of the soul that the Father is satisfied with the price paid;
and Christ himself, beholding the fruits of his great sacrifice, is satisfied. {GC88 652.2}