Increased Light? On What?

[skyblue888]

The words "merits of a crucified and risen Saviour" may be not be used in the Bible as such but they are under-stood. The sacrifice of Christ was infinite and because it is infinite it is of value beyond estimate and therefore full of divine merits so much so that all other merits save those of Jesus are to be held in abomination. See G.C.221.

There is nothing more scriptural than the teaching that the merits of Christ's sacrifice are sufficient to present to the Father in our behalf in order to receive all the blessings of the Covenant of Grace.

This was the true light that the Reformers discovered and when they did "they cast themselves wholly upon the merits of Jesus." G.C.74.

One has only to read D'aubigne's History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century to realize this.

sky

Thus it is written, "The MERITS of a crucified and risen Saviour are the FOUNDATION of the Christian's faith." G.C.73

[skyblue888]

The whole story of the great time of trouble, which follows the close of probation and sees the coming of the seven last plagues in their order, is the story of two parallel experiences; the experience of the wicked as they suffer the judgments of God, and the experience of the righteous as they go through the agony and the uncertainty of that terrible time.

It is impossible to trace through the experiences of either party without reference to the other, and yet it is not possible to cover them fully both at the same time. The falling of the plagues do have some effect upon the experience of the righteous but they are fully felt by the rejecters of the truth.

However, during this time the righteous will not be merely spectators of the drama, but will be passing over some difficult and trying ground themselves. The fifth and sixth plagues mark the end of troublous times for the righteous, for thereafter, they will have been released from all struggle and agony to watch spellbound the final fate of their enemies.

to be continued

sky

[Gibs]

Sky,

This quote from EGW came to mind when reading your post above, so I hunted it up and will paste it here.

Even though we can know He will care for His own through it all it no doubt will be thin to us.

"The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands and strangers would reap their fields. Then will be the time for us to trust wholly in God, and He will sustain us. I saw that our bread and water will be sure at that time, and that we shall not lack or suffer hunger; for God is able to spread a table for us in the wilderness. If necessary He would send ravens to feed us, as He did to feed Elijah, or rain manna from heaven, as He did for the Israelites. {CCh 281.4}

Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints in the time of trouble, for they will then have to flee before infuriated mobs, and at that time their possessions cannot be disposed of to advance the cause of present truth. I was shown that it is the will of God that the saints should cut loose from every encumbrance before the time of trouble comes, and make a covenant with God through sacrifice. If they have their property on the altar and earnestly inquire of God for duty, He will teach them when to dispose of these things. Then they will be free in the time of trouble and have no clogs to weigh them down." 518 {CCh 281.5}

We must be guided by His Spirit of our duty and time to do it.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[skyblue888]

Sky,

This quote from EGW came to mind when reading your post above, so I hunted it up and will paste it here.

Even though we can know He will care for His own through it all it no doubt will be thin to us.

"The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands and strangers would reap their fields. Then will be the time for us to trust wholly in God, and He will sustain us. I saw that our bread and water will be sure at that time, and that we shall not lack or suffer hunger; for God is able to spread a table for us in the wilderness. If necessary He would send ravens to feed us, as He did to feed Elijah, or rain manna from heaven, as He did for the Israelites. {CCh 281.4}

Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints in the time of trouble, for they will then have to flee before infuriated mobs, and at that time their possessions cannot be disposed of to advance the cause of present truth. I was shown that it is the will of God that the saints should cut loose from every encumbrance before the time of trouble comes, and make a covenant with God through sacrifice. If they have their property on the altar and earnestly inquire of God for duty, He will teach them when to dispose of these things. Then they will be free in the time of trouble and have no clogs to weigh them down." 518 {CCh 281.5}

We must be guided by His Spirit of our duty and time to do it.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Thanks so much, Gibs, for these quotes. Great timing.

sky

* I don't recognize the reference. CCh??

[Gibs]

CCh - Counsels for the Church (1991), {Broadside2, January 31, 1849 par. 9} and in some more that make close to the same statement.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[Samie]

The whole story of the great time of trouble, which follows the close of probation and sees the coming of the seven last plagues in their order, is the story of two parallel experiences; the experience of the wicked as they suffer the judgments of God, and the experience of the righteous as they go through the agony and the uncertainty of that terrible time.

It is impossible to trace through the experiences of either party without reference to the other, and yet it is not possible to cover them fully both at the same time. The falling of the plagues do have some effect upon the experience of the righteous but they are fully felt by the rejecters of the truth.

However, during this time the righteous will not be merely spectators of the drama, but will be passing over some difficult and trying ground themselves. The fifth and sixth plagues mark the end of troublous times for the righteous, for thereafter, they will have been released from all struggle and agony to watch spellbound the final fate of their enemies.

to be continued

sky

[Gibs]

Samie,

It appears perhaps all are to go through the first 6 plagues but not the seventh.

Read Rev 16:12 through 19. After the sixth plague verse 15 states,

Re 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Then the seventh plague verse 17 is the strongest one. That last and seventh can hardly leave many alive and those that have survived have seen the full wrath of God.

EGW states this for all who see her,

"The world is soon to be left by the angel of mercy, and the seven last plagues are to be poured out. Sin, shame, sorrow, and darkness are on every side; but God still holds out to the souls of men the precious privilege of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, sin for righteousness. But God's patience and mercy will not always wait. Let not one soul think that he can hide from God's wrath behind a lie; for God will strip from the soul the refuge of lies. The bolts of God's wrath are soon to fall, and when he shall begin to punish the transgressors, there will be no period of respite until the end. The storm of God's wrath is gathering, and those only will stand who are sanctified through the truth in the love of God. They shall be hid with Christ in God till the desolation shall be overpast. He shall come forth to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity, and "the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Let the language of the soul be,"--{SpTA03 7.1}

Many are perplexed by this question. If I find better will try to get back with it.

1Jo 4:4 ¶ Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

[skyblue888]

Just as the close of human probation is the point of time when the seven last plagues shall begin to fall, so it will also be the time when Jacob's trouble will begin. This is made quite clear in the following quotation:

"Jacob's experience during that night of wrestling and anguish rerpesents the trial through which the people of God must pass just before Christ's second coming. The prophet Jeremiah, in holy vision looking down to this time, said,'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.' When Christ shall cease His work as Mediator in man's behalf, then this time of trouble will begin." P.P.201.

This will be the time for the flight of the people of God to the most solitary and desolate hiding places on the face of the earth. Before this time, they will, to a large extent, have withdrawn from society, for the decree enforcing the papal sabbath-which is the setting up of the beast and his image--will be the sign to leave the large cities in preparation for the final flight. This is made clear in the following statement:

"It is no time for God's people to be fixing their affections or laying up their treasure in the world. The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation in the decree enforcing the papal sabbath will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains." 5 T 464-5.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

The making of the image will be the indication of very troublous times ahead for the people of God, and they will completely abandon the large cities at that point of time. Of course, those who are well aware of the directions of the Lord will have sought country homes long before that, for the people of God should today be living out of the large cities altogether.

Those who cannot immediately extricate themselves from their work and businesses should be planning, for their own sakes, to do this as soon as possible. Otherwise they will lose all as did Lot in Sodom, and subject themselves to trials far in excess of that which they would have to bear in the country.

That coming out of the large cities will be but the first movement toward ultimate flight. As the death decree is imposed upon them so that the entire protection of human laws is removed, then they will take their flight into the most remote and solitary places on the earth.

Of this flight it is written, "I saw the saints leaving the cities and villages, and associating together in companies, and living in the most solitary places. Angels provided them with food and water, while the wicked were suffering from hunger and thirst." Early Writings, 282.

This flight will not pass unnoticed by the enemies of God's people, who will by this time be keeping a very close watch over them. Because of the opposition which they have manifested to the Sunday decree and because of the absolute refusal to enter in the keeping of the Sunday, they are marked men and women upon whom the whole blame will be resting for all the troubles in the world.

The wicked, therefore, will be thirsting for revenge and ever watchful and suspicious that the righteous may be plotting some new scheme to further increase their suffering. So it will be, that "As the saints left the cities and villages, they were pursued by the wicked, who sought to slay them." Early Writings,284.

to be continued

[Samie]

Samie,

It appears perhaps all are to go through the first 6 plagues but not the seventh.

Read Rev 16:12 through 19. After the sixth plague verse 15 states,

Re 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

[skyblue888]

The blood of the martyrs was seed from which sprang up an abundant harvest of precious souls and a strong and powerful protestantism, but in the time of Jacob's trouble no such good fruits from the death of the righteous are any longer possible, for all who can be saved will have been saved, and the harvest will be complete.

Furthermore, it would be entirely a victory to the devil if he could have power over the lives of the faithful few in that time. Therefore, just as the three faithful Hebrew youth who refused to either eat the king's meat or to bow before his image, were delivered from death, so the true and the faithful will not be permitted to fall under the enemy's power at this time.

"I was pointed back to faithful Noah. When the rain descended and the flood came, Noah and his family had entered the ark, and God shut them in. Noah had faithfully warned the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, while they had mocked and derided him. And as the waters descended upon the earth, and one after another were drowning, they beheld that ark, of which they had made so much sport, riding safely upon the waters, preserving the faithful Noah and his family. So I saw that the people of God, who had faithfully warned the world of His coming wrath, would be delivered. God would not suffer the wicked to destroy those who were expecting translation and who would not bow to the decrees of the beast or receive his mark. I saw that if the wicked were permitted to slay the saints, Satan and all his host, and all who hate God, would be gratified. And oh, what a triumph it would be for his Satanic majesty to have power, in the last closing struggle, over those who had so long waited to behold Him whom they loved! Those who have mocked at the idea of the saint's going up will witness the care of God for His people and behold their glorious deliverance." Early Writings,284.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

So it will be, then, that as the saints leave the cities and villages to find their hiding places in the most desolate places of the earth, and as the wicked rush after them to cut off their escape and destroy them, then and there, even before the date for the execution of the decree. the angels will intervene to protect them fron this fate. Of this it is written,

"But the swords that were raised to kill God's people broke and fell as powerless as a straw. Angels of God shielded the saints. As they cried day and night for deliverance, their cry came up before the Lord." Early Writings,285.

This experience is something which occurs before the delivrance when the darkness falls upon the earth, for here we see that the people of God continue their agonizing cries for deliverance, whereas the other experience is followed by the great shout of victory and thankfulness of the deliverance which has come in answer to their prayers.

It would appear that the first attempts to destroy the fleeing saints are prevented by supernatural power, and the wicked, ascribing, as they will, this power to the power of the devil, will determine to plan more thoroughly and securely the death of the saints. For this reason a certain night will be chosen to strike that decisive blow by which the voice of reproof will be forever silenced. They plan by sheer weight of numbers to overpower the people of God, despite the great and mighty power which has been working on their behalf. No greater mistake could they make, as they will learn to their endless sorrow.

The fact that the wicked do seek to destroy the saints before the official time for it, is further established in this statement:

"In some places, before the time for the decree to be executed, the wicked rushed upon the saints to slay them, but angels in the form of men of war fought for them. Satan wished to have the privilege of destroying the saints of the Most High; but Jesus bade His angels watch over them. God would be honored by making a covenant with those who had kept His law in the sight of the heathen round about them; and Jesus would be honored by translating, without them seeing death, the faithful, waiting ones who had so longed expected Him." Early Writings,283.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

It is during this time, from the close of probation right through until the voice of God delivers them from the power of the enemy forever, that the believers pass through the time prophetically described as the time of Jacob's trouble.(Jer.30:5-7)

This is a type of Jacob's experience when he returned to his own land after the long exile in a strange land. Just so, the people of God will be returning to their own land, the land of the heavenly Canaan when they will pass through the same experience. In fact, just as they will be on the very borders of that heavenly land, so it was that Jacob had reached the borders of the earthly land of Canaan.

But Jacob was not allowed to enter the land of his fathers without the fearful threat of total destruction at the hand of his twin brother. This was the brother who had been born with identical opportunities as himself, and with him should have possessed the fullness of a true connection with God and have inherited the spiritual birthright. But Esau had sold it for the things of the flesh and, thus, had lost it forever.

He had chosen the transitory things of this world instead, and now, with the prospect of the return of Jacob, he was fearful that even this was to be taken from him. Therefore in order to preserve that which to him was of prime value, he determined to slay his brother.

So it will be, that in these last days the wicked will be those who had the same opportunities to enjoy the spiritual blessings as had the true people of God, but they will have chosen to cherish the things of this world being of the first value.

In the time of trouble, they will see these things passing away from them in drought, disaster, and pestilence, and they will be as convinced as Esau was, that it is the righteous who are depriving them of all their earthly possessions. So it will be, that they will determine to destroy them just as Esau determined to destroy Jacob.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

As Jacob approached the land of Canaan under the leadership and guidance of the Lord, he heard the news that Esau was approaching at the head of a band of armed men with the intention of slaughtering his whole company. Jacob could well have met this danger without fear, but for the consciousness that his own sin had brought this threatened disaster upon his head. This filled him with unspeakable dread that because of this sin, he could not possibly escape his impending fate.

He had no army to defend him, carried no weapons of his own, and, therefore, to all earthly appearances, he was doomed. This did not worry him so much, so far as his own person was concerned, but he was terribly burdened for the honor of God's name and the future of God's cause. He understood that the righteous Seed by which all men should be saved was to come down through the royal line of Judah, his son, and should he be destroyed, then the whole plan and promise of God would come to nothing, and all would be lost.

God had spoken and declared that the righteous Seed should come and that He would come as the Son of Abraham. The power of God is in that Word, and the devil has labored right down the stream of time to make that Word of none effect. If Satan could cut off the sons of Abraham so that the promise could not be fulfilled through them, then he would have proved that he had power to break the Word of God, and this would have been but to assure to him the whole victory in the contest.

For Jacob to realize that his own sin had brought about this threat to the whole plan of God was that which filled him with the greatest soul agony. This fact is clearly stated as follows:

"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." Great Controversy,616.

There was but the one place to which he could now turn, and it was to the pardoning love of his great Redeemer.

"His only hope was in the mercy of God; his only defence 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." ibid.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

Little do we realize today how things, which may seem even innocent in themselves, will be taken up in those days and used as an occasion against us. If innocent enough matters will be thus used, then how much more those things which have been mistakes and sins. It will be with an intensity never reached before that the devil will appear at this time as "the accuser of the brethren."

Through the agency of his servants upon the earth, whom he will endow with marvelously sharp memories, he will recall all the sins and mistakes of the people of God and heap these upon them to cause them to despair that the Lord could ever deliver them. This grim experience begins with the judgment of the living. It does not stop there, but carries right on through into the time of Jacob's trouble.

Then, as it was with Jacob, so with them it will be that "their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer. As Joshua was pleading before the Angel, so the remnant church, with brokenness of heart and earnest faith, will plead for pardon and deliverance through Jesus their Advocate. They are fully conscious of the sinfulness of their lives, they see their weakness and unworthiness, and as they look upon themselves they are ready to despair. The tempter stands to accuse them, as he stood by to resist Joshua. He points to their filthy garments, their defective characters. He presents their weakness and folly, their sins of ingratitude, their unlikeness to Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer. He endeavors to affright the soul with the thought that their case is hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes to destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations, turn from their allegiance to God, and receive the mark of the beast.

"Satan urges before God his accusations against them, declaring that they have by their sins forfeited the divine protection, and claiming the right to destroy them as transgressors. He pronounces them just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God.'Are these,' he says,'the people who are to take my place in heaven and the place of the angels who united with me? While they profess to obey the law of God, have they kept its precepts? Have they not been lovers of self more than lovers of God? Have they not placed their own interests above His service? Have they not loved the things of the world? Look at the sins which have marked their lives. Behold their selfishness, their malice, their hatred toward one another?'" Testimonies, Vol.5,473,474.

This will be indeed a terrible time for the people of God, as Satan thus casts all the sins of their past lives before them. This will provide added fuel to the fury of the wicked against them, providing them with what they will regard as more than ample justification to destroy them.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

The consciousness that the sins of their past lives will be the occasion for the wicked to justify themselves in their bid to exterminate them from the face of the earth, and thus gain the victory for the devil in the long standing controversy, will be a trial to the righteous of considerable proportions, but it will not be the only burden which they will have to bear during that period. They will also be living with the fear that they themselves have not yet been cleansed of every sin.

It is important that we understand that by this time the saints will in fact be reflecting Christ's character fully. They will have to be in order to pass through this time without a Mediator in the sanctuary, which is to pass through this time with the sanctuary closed to the receiving of anymore sin of any kind whatsoever. Probation will have closed when the time of Jacob's trouble begins. This tells us that the sanctuary will have been cleansed of all the defilement which had been taken into it as a result of the confessions of God's people, and we know that the Lord will never admit any further sin into the sanctuary after its cleansing so that it becomes defiled again.

Therefore any sin that has not been confessed or any sin that has not been overcome when probation shall close, must remain with the sinner forever, that wherever he goes, that sin must also go. Inasmuch as that sin will then be forever inseparable from him, and inasmuch as no sin can ever go into Heaven, such a person cannot be numbered among the people of God at that time.

[skyblue888]

Anyone who is to be numbered as a child of God then, must be sanctified. But God will have a people at this time, and as surely as He will, then just as surely will that people be more than conquerors in the battle against sin. Rev.3:21. At that time there will be no halfway mark. Either we will be holy or we will be unholy, righteous or unrighteous, clean or unclean. It will be at the close of human probation when Jesus ends His work as Mediator for the human family that He will stand up and say:

"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.

Thus when probation closes there will be the two classes of people: those who are righteous and those who are unclean and unholy.

"Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to live in the sight of a holy God without a Mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil." The Great Controversy,425.

These words are clear, yet there are those who hold the view that the people of God will not be purified from sin until the day when Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven. Such a view is refuted, not only by the fact of the closing of the sanctuary at the close of human probation some time prior to the actual appearing of the Saviour in the clouds of heaven, but also by the plain words of the following statement:

"We are preparing to meet Him who, escorted by a retinue of holy angels, is to appear in the clouds of heaven to give the faithful and just the finishing touch of immortality. When He comes He is not to cleanse us of our sins, to remove from us the defects in our characters, or to cure us of the infirmities of our tempers and dispositions. If wrought for us at all, this work will be accomplished before that time. When the Lord comes, those who are holy will be holy still. Those who have preserved their bodies and spirits in holiness, in sanctification and honor, will then receive the finishing touch of immortality. But those who are unjust, unsanctified, and filthy will remain so forever. No work will then be done for them to remove their defects and give them holy characters. The Refiner does not then sit to pursue His refining process and remove their sins and their corruption. This is all to be done in these hours of probation. It is now that this work is to be accomplished for us." Testimonies, Vol.2,355.

In no plainer words could it be shown that Jesus will not cleanse us from sin when He comes in the clouds of heaven. All such cleansing work must be done before that time, during the hours of probation. This limits the time, then, in which this work can be done; that limitation being while probation lasts. This is to clearly say that when probation closes, if the work is not completed then, all opportunity for it to be completed will be forever past, and we will then have to perish in our sins.

"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 by 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 wrong to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment and have been blotted out, and they cannot bring them to remembrance." Great Controversy, 620.

sky

[skyblue888]

Thus the period of Jacob's trouble will be the period of the final contest between truth and error, between righteousness and unrighteousness. For his part the devil will be doing his uttermost to break the faith of God's people in the cause of God so that he can have them also on his side. If he can do this, then he can prevent his final exposure before the eyes of men, thus preventing the fulfillment of the purpose of the long standing controversy, which purpose, as we have seen, is to bring things to that PLACE where Satan is fully and truly seen to be what he is. Only a people who under the utmost pressure can maintain the fullness of righteousness at its best, can expose sin at its very worst and thus remove all support from Satan.

This will be, to all intents and purposes, the battle of Armageddon.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

The battle of Armageddon of these last days will not be fought in a geographical location in the Middle East. It is a spiritual battle.

When the true nature of the battle of Armageddon is understood, it is seen with startling clarity that there will not be a man, woman, or child upon the face of the entire earth who will not be involved in that struggle when it comes. That it is coming is beyond doubt.

When it comes it will try to the uttermost the characters of each. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that all thoroughly understand this topic, so that the correct preparations can be made for the struggle when it does come.

sky

[skyblue888]

The exact nature of the kingdom which Satan sought to set up in Heaven is the exact nature of the kingdom which he has endeavored to set up on this earth. The battle of Armageddon represents his final effort to achieve this before the second coming of Christ.

Only as we go back into the past will it be possible for us to understand the future. Before us lies the great battle of Armageddon. It is the battle of the great day of God, and it is the last and final conflict to be waged upon the earth before Christ appears again. Because all the world will be on the one side or the other of the question, it is a battle in which we shall be personally involved. In that battle we shall stand on the one side or the other. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we understand what that battle will be, the issues over which it will be fought, the principles which guide each side, and just what course we are to pursue.

We must go back to the very beginning of things to obtain the picture of the purpose of the king of Babylon in his rebellion against God.

We need to establish certain points in order to proceed to a clear understanding of the great battle of Armageddon.

to be continued

[skyblue888]

The idea that the battle of Armageddon will be a political battle between the eastern and the western nations to be fought in the Middle East is based on the geographical method of interpretation of this passage of Scripture, "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Rev.16:16.

But the battle of Armageddon will not be fought in any valley in the Middle East but in the valley of decision in these last days.

It is a spiritual battle and a spiritual place.

"Two great opposing powers are revealed in the last great battle. On one side stands the Creator of heaven and earth. All on His side bear His signet. They are obedient to His commands. On the other side stands the prince of darkness, with those who have chosen apostasy and rebellion." Manuscript 175, 1899; 7 B.C.982,983.

sky

[skyblue888]

The final battle of the great day of God which is called the battle of Armageddon will not be something new but will be the repeating of that which has happened before. It will be the final struggle in the long-standing controversy between good and evil.

This final battle involves the drying up of the River Euphrates so that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(Rev.16:12)

So it was in the fall of ancient Babylon. She sat astride the great River Euphrates exactly as the final Babylon the Great will sit astride Euphrates. Against the ancient city came the Kings of the East who found the way of entrance to the city barred by the waters of the river; so they dried up the waters so that their way might be prepared.

As a result, Babylon was overthrown, as a city and as a nation, so totally that it never rose again.

The outcome of Babylon the Great will be precisely the same. Rev.18:21.

At the time of her fall, the people of God, which was the church of God, were in captivity in the land of Babylon. It is to be seen though that, while they were in physical captivity, the true ones were not in spiritual captivity. Daniel was as free a man could ever be in this respect.

To Babylon had been given the final calls to repentance, and she had made her final decisions.

With a never failing water supply in the great river which flowed through the city; with sufficient land within the walls to assure them of a perpetual food supply; with walls so thick that it was possible to hold chariot races around the top of them; the king felt assured that the city was invincible and would certainly stand forever.

What need was there to fear the kings of the east of whose approach he had heard tidings? He was safe and Babylon would last forever. His great ancestor, Nebuchadnezzar, had been right when he built the image of gold. Babylon was forever.

But this very time and place where he thought himself to have ultimately arrived, as king of kings and lord of lords, was the very time and place where he came to his sudden and utter end, with none to help him at all. From the ruin inflicted that night, Babylon fell, never to rise again forever.

So it will be in the final time.(Daniel 11:45)

to be continued

[skyblue888]

Once again Babylon will have control of the whole world and will have the physical ascendancy over the people of God. Once again she will have come to the pinnacle of supreme self-exaltation. The whole world will be at her feet.

She will see herself as king of kings and lord of lords, and, as the death decree is in the very moment of being put into effect, it will be that only an instant of time remains before the total annihilation of the people of God. Should she achieve this, then she will emerge the winner in the battle. Satan will be the triumphant in the great controversy, for, "If (at this time) he could blot them (the faithful people of God) from the earth, his triumph would be complete." Great Controversy,618.

It will be at this point that she will see herself as being in complete command. The whole world will be at her feet and doing her bidding, and the people of God are about to be destroyed. It is then that she will proudly say, "I am a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." Rev.18:7.

But, exactly as it was in the days of ancient Babylon, the moment of greatest apparent security and triumph is the moment of total and sudden destruction. It will be a desctruction so absolute that from it she will never rise again forever.

The change in her position will be from the one extreme of power and glory and unanimous support, to the opposite extreme of shame, defeat, and utter desertion from her of all those who had a moment before stood so loyally for her. Never will there have been a fall so great and so terrible as the fall of Babylon the Great in the last days.

The history of the past is to receive so striking a fulfillment in the events of the future that it will be esential to keep these things in mind as we enter now into a detailed study of the verses in the Scripture which describe the coming battle of the great day of God Almighty.

to be continued

[Robert]

Do not think that, because we have a glimmer of the light of God, that we have it all.--Ms. 3, 1889, pp. 1-3. (Morning Talk at Ottawa, Kansas, May 14, 1889.)

The question has been asked me, "Do you think that the Lord has any more light for us as a people?" I answer that He has light that is new to us, and yet it is precious old light that is to shine forth from the Word of truth [the Bible]. We have only the glimmerings of the rays of the light that is yet to come to us. [1SM 401]

The issues are the gospel & the love of God.

[Woody]

Do not think that, because we have a glimmer of the light of God, that we have it all.--Ms. 3, 1889, pp. 1-3. (Morning Talk at Ottawa, Kansas, May 14, 1889.)

The question has been asked me, "Do you think that the Lord has any more light for us as a people?" I answer that He has light that is new to us, and yet it is precious old light that is to shine forth from the Word of truth [the Bible]. We have only the glimmerings of the rays of the light that is yet to come to us. [1SM 401]

The issues are the gospel & the love of God.

Excellent Rob. Amen. Our prophet is right on again.