Letters have
come to me asking me if I have any special light as to the time when probation
will close, and I answer that I have only this message to bear, that it
is now time to work while the day lasts, for the night cometh in which
no man can work.--1SM 191 (1894).
What is the "image to the beast"? and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the two-horned beast, and is an image to the beast. It is also called an image of the beast. [THE TWO-HORNED BEAST OF REVELATION 13:11-17 MAKES AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST PORTRAYED IN REVELATION 13:1-10.] Then to learn what the image is like and how it is to be formed, we must study the characteristics of the beast itself--the papacy.
When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state, and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of "heresy." In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends. . . .
The "image to the beast"
represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed
when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for
the enforcement of their dogmas.--GC 443, 445 (1911).
Just before we
entered it [the time of trouble], we all received the seal of the living
God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw
famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole
world was in confusion.--7BC 968 (1846).
I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, "It is done."--EW 279 (1858).
Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains. But while already nation is rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom, there is not now a general engagement. As yet the four winds are held until the servants of God shall be sealed in their foreheads. Then the powers of earth will marshal their forces for the last great battle.--6T 14 (1900).
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." Then Jesus
ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above. He lifts His hands, and
with a loud voice says, "It is done."--GC 613 (1911).
When Jesus ceases
to plead for man, the cases of all are forever decided. . . . Probation
closes; Christ's intercessions cease in heaven. This time finally comes
suddenly upon all, and those who have neglected to purify their souls by
obeying the truth are found sleeping.--2T 191 (1868).
When probation ends, it will come suddenly, unexpectedly--at a time when we are least expecting it. But we can have a clean record in heaven today, and know that God accepts us.--7BC 989 (1906).
When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. . . .
Before the Flood, after Noah entered the ark, God shut him in, and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the people, knowing not that their doom was fixed, continued their careless, pleasure-loving life, and mocked the warnings of impending judgment. "So," says the Saviour, "shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matt. 24:39). Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour which marks the fixing of every man's destiny, the final withdrawal of mercy's offer to guilty men. . . .
While the man of business
is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure lover is seeking
indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments--it
may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence:
"Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting" (Dan. 5:27).--GC
490, 491 (1911).
The righteous and
the wicked will still be living upon the earth in their mortal state--men
will be planting and building, eating and drinking, all unconscious that
the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary above.--GC
491 (1911).
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.--GC 615 (1911).
The wheat and tares "grow together until the harvest." In the discharge of life's duties the righteous will to the last be brought in contact with the ungodly. The children of light are scattered among the children of darkness, that the contrast may be seen by all.--5T 100 (1882).
Christ declared that
when He comes some of His waiting people will be engaged in business transactions.
Some will be sowing in the field, others reaping and gathering in the harvest,
and others grinding at the mill.--Ms 26, 1901.
Skepticism and
that which is called science has to a large degree undermined the faith
of the Christian world in their Bibles. Error and fables are gladly accepted,
that they may pursue the path of self-indulgence and not be alarmed, for
they are striving not to retain God in their knowledge. They say, "Tomorrow
will be as this day and much more abundant." But in the midst of their
unbelief and godless pleasure the shout of the archangel and the trump
of God is heard. . . .
When everything in our world is busy activity, immersed in selfish ambition for gain, Jesus comes as a thief.--Ms 15b, 1886.
When the professed
people of God are uniting with the world, living as they live, and joining
with them in forbidden pleasure; when the luxury of the world becomes the
luxury of the church; when the marriage bells are chiming, and all are
looking forward to many years of worldly prosperity--then, suddenly as
the lightning flashes from the heavens, will come the end of their bright
visions and delusive hopes.--GC 338, 339 (1911).
When Lot warned
the members of his family of the destruction of Sodom, they would not heed
his words, but looked upon him as a fanatical enthusiast. The destruction
that came found them unprepared. Thus it will be when Christ comes--farmers,
merchants, lawyers, tradesmen, will be wholly engrossed in business, and
upon them the day of the Lord will come as a snare.--RH March 10, 1904.
When ministers, farmers, merchants, lawyers, great men and professedly good men shall cry, "Peace and safety," sudden destruction cometh. Luke reports the words of Christ, that the day of God comes as a snare--the figure of an animal prowling in the woods for prey, and lo, suddenly he is entrapped in the concealed snare of the fowler.--10MR 266 (1876).
When men are at ease,
full of amusement, absorbed in buying and selling, then the thief approaches
with stealthy tread. So it will be at the coming of the Son of man.--Letter
21, 1897.
When the reasoning
of philosophy has banished the fear of God's judgments, when religious
teachers are pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity, and
the world are absorbed in their rounds of business and pleasure, planting
and building, feasting and merrymaking, rejecting God's warnings and mocking
His messengers--then it is that sudden destruction cometh upon them, and
they shall not escape.--PP 104 (1890).
Come when it may, the
day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in
its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in
traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world's
progress and enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security--then,
as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden
destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, "and they shall not escape."--GC
38 (1911).
In the time of
trouble Satan stirs up the wicked, and they encircle the people of God
to destroy them. But he does not know that "pardon" has been written opposite
their names in the books of heaven.--RH Nov. 19, 1908.
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. . . . 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.--GC 618
(1911).
Those who do not
now appreciate, study, and dearly prize the Word of God spoken by His servants
will have cause to mourn bitterly hereafter. I saw that the Lord in judgment
will at the close of time walk through the earth; the fearful plagues will
begin to fall. Then those who have despised God's Word, those who have
lightly esteemed it, 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 8:12). A famine is in the land for hearing
the Word.--Ms 1, 1857.
The ministers of
God will have done their last work, offered their last prayers, shed their
last bitter tear for a rebellious church and an ungodly people. Their last
solemn warning has been given. Oh, then how quickly would houses and lands,
dollars that have been miserly hoarded and cherished and tightly grasped,
be given for some consolation by those who have professed the truth and
have not lived it out, for the way of salvation to be explained, or to
hear a hopeful word or a prayer or an exhortation from their ministers.
But no, they must hunger and thirst on in vain; their thirst will never
be quenched, no consolation can they get. Their cases are decided and eternally
fixed. It is a fearful, awful time.--Ms 1, 1857.
In the time when God's
judgments are falling without mercy, oh, how enviable to the wicked will
be the position of those who abide "in the secret place of the Most High"--the
pavilion in which the Lord hides all who have loved Him and have obeyed
His commandments! The lot of the righteous is indeed an enviable one at
such a time to those who are suffering because of their sins. But the door
of mercy is closed to the wicked. No more prayers are offered in their
behalf after probation ends.--3BC 1150 (1901).
The Lord is coming
in power and great glory. It will then be His work to make a complete separation
between the righteous and the wicked. But the oil cannot then be transferred
to the vessels of those who have it not. Then shall be fulfilled the words
of Christ, "Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,
and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,
and the other left." The righteous and the wicked are to be associated
together in the work of life. But the Lord reads the character. He discerns
who are obedient children, who respect and love His commandments.--TM 234
(1895).
It is a solemn thing
to die, but a far more solemn thing to live. Every thought and word and
deed of our lives will meet us again. What we make of ourselves in probationary
time, that we must remain to all eternity. Death brings dissolution to
the body, but makes no change in the character. The coming of Christ does
not change our characters; it only fixes them forever beyond all change.--5T
466 (1885).
We are to make
the best of our present opportunities. There will be no other probation
given to us in which to prepare for heaven. This is our only and last opportunity
to form characters which will fit us for the future home which the Lord
has prepared for all who are obedient to His commandments.--Letter 20,
1899.
There will be no probation after the coming of the Lord. Those who say that there will be are deceived and misled. Before Christ comes just such a state of things will exist as existed before the Flood. And after the Saviour appears in the clouds of heaven no one will be given another chance to gain salvation. All will have made their decisions.--Letter 45, 1891.
All will be tested
and tried according to the light they have had. Those who turn from the
truth to fables can look for no second probation. There will be no temporal
millennium. If, after the Holy Spirit has brought conviction to their hearts,
they resist the truth and use their influence to block the way so that
others will not receive it, they will never be convinced. They did not
seek for transformation of character in the probation given them, and Christ
will not give them opportunity to pass over the ground again. The decision
is a final one.--Letter 25, 1900.