The first four of the Seven Trumpets, as we have seen, mark the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome, and the planting, in its place, of the peoples that formed the nations of Western Europe to-day.
The fifth and sixth trumpets, likewise, mark the ruin of the Eastern Empire of Rome, and introduce the peoples by whom that ruin was accomplished, who are the modern nations of Eastern Europe and of Asia.
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [“that is to say, a destroyer,” margin].” Rev. 9: 1–11.
This trumpet covers a period of eight hundred and seventeen years,—A. D. 632–1449,—and shows the rise and work of the Mohammedans in the destruction of Eastern Rome—first the Arabian Mohammedans and later the Turkish Mohammedans. Of this Albert Barnes remarks that, “with surprising unanimity, commentators have agreed in regarding this as referring to the empire of the Saracens, or to the rise and progress of the religion and the empire set up by Mohammed.” We can not see how any one who will read the prophecy, and Gibbon's history of Mohammed and his successors in the light of it, can disagree with the application of the prophecy to the Mohammedans.
The term “bottomless pit,” which denotes the place of their rise, is from the Greek word abussos, and signifies a waste, desolate region. And to any one who will read Gibbon's chapter I, paragraphs 2–5, the significance and aptness of the term as applied to Arabia will readily be discerned.
The vast hordes of the Mohammedans are shown under the symbol of a cloud of locusts; and in verses 7–9 the meaning of the symbol is made plain by the words, “The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; . . . and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.”
As to that which was “commanded them,” the history witnesses thus: “Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression, consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the battle of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no palm trees nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor burn their monasteries. And you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohammedan or pay tribute.”—Decline and Fall,Id., par. 10.
And, says the Scripture, “Their power was to hurt men five months.” Five months are one hundred and fifty days; this, being prophetic time,—a day for a year,—equals one hundred and fifty years, during which they were to hurt men.
This one hundred and fifty years is to be counted from the time that they had a king over them, as says verse 11: “They had a king over them, . . . whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon [“a destroyer,” margin].” For more than six hundred years the Mohammedans had no regularly organized government, and recognized no such dignitary as that which answers to the title of king. Each tribe, under its own chief, was independent of all the others, and came and went as it pleased. While this was the case, it is evident, and it is the fact too, that their character as “a destroyer,” was not, and could not be, such as it was after they were solidly united in one government, under the sway of a ruler recognized by all.
This is made more apparent when it is seen what was to be destroyed by this “destroyer.” The first four trumpets show the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome; and the fifth relates to the destruction of the Eastern Empire. And it is in the character of the destroyer of the last remains of the Roman Empire that this power acts. It was not as a destroyer of men as such, for of them it is said “that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months,” “and their power was to hurt men five months.” It is evident, then, that this character and work as “a destroyer,” relates to the final destruction of the Roman Empire, which was then represented in the Eastern Empire, with the capital at New Rome—Constantinople.
Othman was the caliph who established the organized government of the Mohammedans, and from him descended the name and title of the Ottoman Empire. It was under the organized power of Othman that the work of the destroyer began. In closing his account of the devastating rage of the Moguls and Tartars under Zingis Khan and his generals, Gibbon says:—
In this shipwreck of nations [A. D. 1240–1304], some surprise may be excited by the escape of the Roman Empire, whose relics, at the time of the Mogul invasion, were dismembered by the Greeks and Latins.—Id., chap. 64, par. 13.
But the decline of the Moguls gave free scope to the rise of the Moslems, under Othman. Of this the historian says:—
He was situate on the verge of the Greek Empire; the Koran sanctified his gazi, or holy war, against the infidels; and their political errors unlocked the passes of Mount Olympus, and invited him to descend into the plains of Bithynia. . . . It was on July 27, A. D. 1299, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster.—Id., par. 14.
Several points in this quotation must be noticed:—
1. Othman was the man who succeeded in bringing the disjointed elements of the Mohammedan power into a compact and distinctly organized governmental shape. From him, consequently, comes the term that still attaches to the government of the Turks, namely, the Ottoman Empire. From him dates the time when, as never before, “they had a king over them.”
2. Note the expression of the historian—“the destructive growth of this monster.” Thus he distinguishes the very characteristic of “destroyer,” which is predicted of it in the Scriptures.
3. The historian emphasizes “the singular accuracy of the date.” In the original documents from which he drew his material, he found this date made so specific that he himself is forced to remark its “singular accuracy.” Yet, to those who recognize God's dealings with the nations and kingdoms, and who consider that from the time when these had a king over them, a period of a hundred and fifty years is given in which to do a certain work, it is not surprising that the date should be indicated with such singular accuracy.
The work of destruction, then, which was to subvert the last remains of the Roman Empire, began July 27, 1299, and never ceased till the imperial power passed into the hands of Amurath, July 27, 1449.
And “one woe is passed; and, behold there come two woes more hereafter.”
Christianity as a Means of Salvation
*The following golden words are from the Advance.* Study them till their vital principle shall be truly discerned, and shall live in you:—
The Christian religion is in danger of being discredited by its friends. The attempt to make it responsible for government, for industrial affairs, for economic relations, and all social conditions threatens to bring it into disrepute. It is putting too much upon it. Those who are changing Christianity from a means of redemption to a means of reform are trying to use the Christian religion in a way that does not secure its best results. Paul said that he was not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Those who refuse to use it as a means of salvationmiss its power. They not only lose its intense and direct appeal to the individual, but they fail to command the promised blessing and power of the Holy Spirit. They leave untouched both the spiritual depth of the human soul and the fountains of divine grace.
Used in this way, the Christian religion is sure to be discredited; because its advocates will be defeated and discouraged. Had the early disciples started out with the announced purpose of reforming the government of the Roman Empire, righting the relations of the classes, and changing social conditions, Christianity would have died before it was fairly born, crushed by the overwhelming forces arrayed against it. But they preached a gospel of redemption, of salvation to believers; and by this gospel they wrought at once upon individual character and all human relations.
We shall still best preserve the good name and power of Christianity by proclaiming it as a message of redemption. How a redeemed man should live in the world is very essential; but the first essential is to redeem him. For this kind of man, alone, does Christianity really stand responsible.
Against Haste and Fads in Education
The literary supplement to the New York Times, August 18, discussing education, says: “The love of novelty has invaded the schools. The education of the young to-day is largely charged with fads and nostrums, by which it is attempted to supersede natural methods.” “The things that, in the public schools, are crowded upon the child’s hopeless mind are to him as scarecrows.” “The baneful spirit of haste has also taken possession of the schools, in the attempt to crowd every conceivable subject into the shortest space of time, which starts false growths, and denies the faculties leisure for a natural unfolding. This is the more to be noticed, as the word ‘school’ is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘leisure.’ By such undue pressure the three R’s are in danger of eclipse. But if the foundations upon which school education rests are not deeply and well laid, the superstructure, the more extensive and pretentious it is, is the more certain to fail of serving any great or useful purpose. The foundations have the more need to be surely laid, as the real superstructure is, after all, raised by the life, the top stone of which is put on only when that [life] ends.” All of this is truth and sound wisdom. Let all diligently apply it, each in his own case.
Politics for Revenue
The Comptroller of New York City, writing in the Independent of August 9, quotes the statement of “a prominent political leader,—‘I am working for my own pocket all the time,’—and says that “he told in a terse phrase of unvarnished truth the exact condition of modern politics in the great cities of the United States. By hundreds and thousands of men, who are to-day classed as good and honest citizens, politics for revenue is regarded as a business, just as legitimate and honorable as the buying and selling of dry-goods or groceries. . . . And, unfortunately, that view of the matter is largely sustained by public opinion. . . . Few men enter modern politics for fame or honor. They are working for their own pockets all the time. . . . With the trade of such men it is not an easy matter to say where business ends and blackmail begins. . . . When corporations owning franchises or operating under the favor of special legislation can issue a vast amount of stock to be placed where it will be paid for in laws or permits, honest government has small chance of existence. Precisely this condition exists in every State in the Union.”
Of the last days of the Roman Republic it was long ago written: “For money the statesman sold the state, and the burgess sold his freedom, the post of the officer and the vote of the juryman were to be had for money. Men had forgotten what honesty was; a person who refused a bribe was regarded not as an upright man, but as a personal foe. Money was the one thought from the highest senator to the poorest wretch who sold his vote.” Do you see any likeness here?
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
This is the climax of Paul’s argument in answer to the “Pharisees which believed,” who preached to those who were saved by faith of Jesus Christ, that “except ye be circumcised and keep the law, ye can not be saved.”
The force of it is more fully discerned when there is understood just what was claimed for circumcision, and what it represented to those who there preached it. By them it was held that “so great is circumcision, that, but for it, the Holy One, blessed be he, would not have created the world;” that “but for circumcision, heaven and earth could not exist;” “it is as great as all the other commandments;” and “how great is circumcision, since it is equivalent to ALL the commandments of the law!” Thus, in their estimation, he who was circumcised had, in that, all the keeping of all the commandments. How this emphasizes the weight of that sentence of Paul’s, “I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” Instead of his having in circumcision all the keeping of all the commandments, he had by that none of it at all; but was still in debt to do the whole law, with nothing at all wherewith to pay.
From the value which they gave to circumcision, it is easy to see how the “Pharisees which believed” could insist that persons who believed in Jesus, and so were saved by the faith of Jesus, must yet be circumcised in order to be saved. This was so, and was so easy, simply because to them circumcision was greater than was Jesus; and because to them, in every sense, circumcision stood exactly in the place that Christ in truth occupies.
Thus the question involved between Christianity and “the Pharisees which believed,” the question which was settled by the Holy Spirit, and which is made plain in Galatians, is: Are men saved by faith of Christ, or by something else? Is Christ the true Saviour, or is something else the savior?
Yet, in reality, though that was the question, it did not stand exactly that way. Notice: the people to whom came preaching the “Pharisees which believed,” were already believers in Jesus; and the “Pharisees which believed” did not say that men should not believe in Jesus. They admitted that it is proper to believe in Jesus. They themselves professed to believe in Jesus. But they insisted that the faith of Jesus is not enough to save: salvation must be by the faith of Jesus and something else.
Therefore the question in reality stood: Is Christ alone sufficient for salvation? or must salvation be by Christ and something else?
Does faith in Christ alone, save the soul? or must salvation be by faith in Christ and something else?
Is salvation by Christ alone? or is it by Christ and circumcision?
Is it by Christ alone? or is it by Christ and the keeping of the law?
Is it by Christ alone? or is it by Christ and penance?
Is it by faith of Christ alone? or is it by faith and works?
Is it by faith which comes from God as the gift of God, and therefore itself works the works of God? or is it by a so-called faith which springs from mere assent of the mind, is thus “of yourselves,” and therefore must be supported by the works of the law in self and self-righteousness?
Is it by faith which works? or is it by faith and works?
And to this question, in all its various and subtle ways of insinuating self in place of Christ, the divine answer stands full and complete forever, in the single mighty sentence, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
“In Christ Jesus”—that is, with whomsoever believeth in Jesus—“neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith.”
“In Christ Jesus”—with whomsoever believeth in Jesus—“neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,”—neither works avail anything, nor no works,—“but faith WHICH WORKS.”
“In Christ Jesus”—with whomsoever believeth in Jesus—“neither circumcision . . . nor uncircumcision”—neither keeping the commandments availeth anything, nor not keeping the commandments; “but FAITH WHICHworketh by LOVE”—FAITH WHICHkeepeth the commandments of God; for “this is the LOVE of GOD, that we keep his commandments.” And he who has Christ, and is in Christ, has IN CHRIST all the keeping of all the commandments.
Even as it is written in another place in Galatians: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but A NEW CREATURE.” Gal. 6 : 15. And this, simply because “if any man is in Christ, he ISa new creature.” 2 Cor. 5 : 17. If he is not a new creature, his profession of being in Christ is only a profession, and is vain.
And as it is written yet again in another place: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping of the commandments of God” is something. But this only when the man “is a new creature,” only when the keeping of the commandments springs from the faith that comes from God as the gift of God; only when the keeping of the commandments is the result of faith, which is of God, and which therefore works the works of God; only when the keeping of the commandments is the effect, of which the sole cause is “faith WHICH worketh BY LOVE”—faith which is of God and worketh by the love of God, which love in itself is expressed and can be expressed only in the keeping of the commandments of God, and which therefore is the keeping of the commandments of God; all of which is because of Christ within.—“Christ IN YOU the hope of glory,”—by whose obedience alone every believer in Jesus is made righteous.
THE LAW OF WORKS IS SUBSTITUTED FOR THE LAW OF FAITH IN MODERN BABYLON.
By W. W. P.
In the great apostasy, which began before the death of the apostles, and in its complete development resulted in the papacy, the gospel was so perverted that man's way was substituted for God's way; and a counterfeit gospel was proclaimed in the place of the true. The works of the law superseded the hearing of faith. The forgiveness of sin was made chiefly dependent upon the absolution of the priest, rather than simply upon the faith of the individual. The power and authority of the church were substituted for the power and authority of God. Tradition was exalted above the Bible, and the simplicity of the gospel was corrupted by changing the law of faith into the law of works.
Through that period which is rightly designated in history as the Dark Ages, men groped in darkness, shut away from the word of God, the lamp to the feet and the light to the path. They were held in the bondage of superstition and error, and their consciences were ruled over by priests and popes, and their salvation was oftentimes made a matter of mere merchandise. In the Reformation of the sixteenth century, under the leadership of Luther and his associates, a protest was made against all this reversal of the gospel, and men asserted their privilege to be guided by the word of God rather than by tradition, to have communion with God through Jesus Christ without the intervention of popes or priests, and to receive forgiveness of sins through their own repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus was the foundation of Protestantism laid; and the very essence of the gospel, justification by faith in the saving power of God, brought into the life of each individual through the gift of Christ, was again taught to the people.
But back of the organization known as the papacy is “the god of this world,” seeking to overthrow the kingdom of God in the earth, and to establish his own in its place. Having insinuated himself into the very midst of the professed church of God by substituting worldly principles for the divine, he has made his crowning effort by striking directly at the foundation of the whole gospel, and attempting to cut off man from the direct working of the creative power of God in his soul, through the union of the divine life with human flesh.
On the one hand, in order to cut off man from direct communion with God, the pope, the priests, and the church were made to take the place that belongs to God himself; the law of works took the place of the law of faith; and forgiveness of sin was asserted to be under the control of the human agent.
On the other hand, in order to cut off God from his work in behalf of man, the revealing of his creative power to create anew in Christ Jesus, the law of God, as expressed in the ten commandments, was so changed through the instrumentality of the papacy as to hide from men the knowledge of God as the Creator.
This was simply the natural outgrowth of the first step. Having made man his own savior through an outward observance of the traditions and ordinances of the church, the way was easily opened for the next step, which was to remove as far as possible any reminder of that genuine saving power which alone could accomplish salvation.
The plan of redemption is simply the carrying out of the original plan of creation, that man should be in the image of God. And so David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart.” And so, “if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation.” “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Therefore, in the experience of the genuine gospel, God in Christ must be known as the10Creator, and the work that he has accomplished in the flesh of Christ must be accepted through faith, and thus the fruits of that life will again appear in the flesh.
All this is found in the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, as embodied in God's law, and as declared by him to be the sign of his saving power. The fourth commandment of the decalogue sets forth God as the Creator of all things, thus showing his power and his right to reign as Lord over all, and establishes the seventh day of the week, now commonly called Saturday, to be observed as the weekly day of rest. This day, blessed and sanctified by the Creator, was given to man before sin entered into the world (Gen. 2:2, 3), that man might share with God in the joy of a perfect creation.
After sin had marred the image of God in man, this same Sabbath was continued to man as the sign and the seal of God's creative power to restore man to his place in a perfect creation. “Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
Thus the seventh-day Sabbath, as given to man in the gospel, stands for justification by faith, and the real experience of the observance of this Sabbath is the experience of justification by faith. It is the sign of the creative power of God as revealed in Jesus Christ and trusted in for salvation.
In the effort to defeat God's plan for the salvation of man, the enemy of the truth first set forth a false gospel, in which the power of man and man's works take the place of the power of God and the work which he wrought in Christ, and then, logically enough, substituted another day as the sign of the new power that was to be trusted in for salvation. Thus Sunday was brought into the professed Christian church to take the place of the Sabbath of the Lord. For ages it had been observed among the heathen, even in Babylon of old, in honor of the sun-god; and now that modern Babylon has usurped the place of the church, it was only natural that this chief sign of heathenism should take its place as the universal power of this Babylon to rule in things spiritual.
Thus in this perversion of the gospel, the Sunday sabbath, which has no foundation in the word of God but rests wholly upon human tradition, stands for justification by works, and to hold to its observance after its origin and meaning are made clear is simply to choose justification by the works of the flesh instead of by faith,—to trust in man for salvation, rather than in the living God.
A few simple facts will serve to connect the papacy directly with the statement of the prophecy that he would “think to change the times and the law.” Any standard Roman Catholic catechism will show how the ten commandments have been so changed that the fourth is numbered as the third, the larger part of the commandment being omitted, and what is left being made to apply directly to Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of to the seventh day.
Having exalted tradition above the written word of God, the Catholic Church is consistent in its teaching, and does not claim to rest the observance of Sunday upon any Bible authority. Thus Cardinal Gibbons says: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”
And further, the general observance of Sunday, contrary to the plain teaching of the Bible, is appealed to by Catholics as a proof of the authority of the church even over Protestants. One Catholic writer puts it in this way: “It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday, in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the church.”
Is it not high time for every true Protestant to stand upon the Protestant platform of the Bible, and the Bible alone, and cease to worship according to the command of this modern Babylon?
W. W. P.
The Classics Ought to Go
*The Advance says:* “In this country the church has led all other agencies in the promotion of classical education. It founded the first college, and has multiplied the number. In these Christian colleges the study of Greek and Latin has heretofore held the principal place. But now a rapid change is passing over our institutions of learning. The classics are going. Not a shred of Greek is left in some of the new courses, and Latin is left more and more to the tender mercies of ‘the electives.’” The classics ought to go. Especially from every school that makes any pretensions to being Christian. For how is it possible for a study of pagan literature to be of any benefit to any Christian student? How can Christianity be learned from paganism?
IMPORTANCE OF AN UNDERSTANDING OF CHRIST'S WORK IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY.
By S. N. H.
We can not place too high an estimate upon an understanding of the work of our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. The parables that refer to the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary make the salvation of souls depend on the relation sustained to Christ and his work during the investigative judgment. Matt. 22 : 11-14; 25 : 10-13; Luke 12 : 35-37.
There are repeated warnings that have direct reference to this time. The day of atonement was the most important day of all the year for Israel, and those who did not afflict themselves on that day were cut off. The words of Moses to Israel were, “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever.” Lev. 16 : 30, 31. “Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.” Lev. 23 : 27-30.
“All business was to be laid aside, and the whole congregation of Israel were to spend the day in solemn humiliation before God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart.”—“Great Controversy,” page 420. They had complete control of their appetite, and all selfish interests were under control.
The antitype of this day is referred to by Christ in Luke 21 : 34-36: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” We are also directed to the same time in the parables of the ten virgins and the talents, in Matthew 25.
In most of the instruction given by Christ, both in his parables and in his direct teachings, the mind is carried to the time when the name of each person will come up in review before God. This is the time when they will be accounted worthy or unworthy of the resurrection from among the dead. It is the period of the investigative judgment, and the salvation of souls depends upon the relation that each individual sustains to the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary.
So important is this work that in the Spirit of Prophecy reference is frequently made to it. On pages 53 and 54 of ‘Early Writings’ we read as follows: “But such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the twenty-three hundred days, the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement and to show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.”
Again: “The great plan of redemption, as revealed in the closing work of these last days, should receive close examination. The scenes connected with the sanctuary above should make such an impression upon the minds and hearts of all that they may be able to impress others. All need to become more intelligent in regard to the work of the atonement, which is going on in the sanctuary above. When this grand truth is seen and understood, those who hold it will work in harmony with Christ to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God, and their efforts will be successful. By study, contemplation, and prayer, God's people will be elevated above common, earthly thoughts and feelings, and will be brought into harmony with Christ and his great work of cleansing the sanctuary above from the sins of the people. Their faith will go with him into the sanctuary, and the worshipers on earth will be carefully reviewing their lives, and comparing their characters with the great standard of righteousness. They will see their own defects; they will also see that they must have the aid of the Spirit of God if they would become qualified for the great and solemn work for this time which is laid upon God's ambassadors.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 573.
From this quotation it will be seen that our success in spiritual things depends upon a thorough understanding of the work going on in the sanctuary above.
“Many who embraced the third message had not had an experience in the two former messages. Satan understood this, and his evil eye was upon them to overthrow them; but THE THIRD ANGEL WAS POINTING THEM TO THE MOST HOLY PLACE, and those who had had an experience in the past messages WERE POINTING THEM THE WAY TO THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY. Many saw the perfect chain of truth in the angels' messages, and gladly received them in their order, and followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary. These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God. Those who understand and receive them will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.”—‘Early Writings,’ page 119. S. N. H.
