Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am. John 17:24. {TMK 371.1} The love of God is without measure, without comparison. It is infinite. . . . When we contemplate the dignity and glory of Christ we see how great was that love that prompted the sacrifice made upon the cross of Calvary for the redemption of a lost world. This theme will fill the saints with wonder and amazement through eternal ages, and why should we not meditate upon it here in this world? . . . {TMK 371.2} O the mystery of godliness--God manifest in the flesh! This mystery increases as we try to comprehend it. It is incomprehensible, and yet human beings will allow worldly, earthly things to intercept the faint view it is possible for mortals to have of Jesus and His matchless love. . . . How can we be enthusiastic over earthly, common things and not be stirred with this picture--the cross of Calvary, the love that is revealed in the death of God's dear Son . . . ? {TMK 371.3} All this humiliation and anguish were endured to bring back the wanderers, guilty and thankless, to the Father's house. O the home of the blest--I cannot afford to lose it! I shall, if saved in the kingdom of God, be constantly discerning new depths in the plan of salvation. All the redeemed saints will see and appreciate as never before the love of the Father and the Son, and songs of praise will burst forth from immortal tongues. He loved us, He gave His life for us. With glorified bodies, with enlarged capacities, with hearts made pure, with lips undefiled, we shall sing the riches of redeeming love. There will be no suffering ones in heaven, no skeptics whom we must labor to convince of the reality of eternal things, no prejudices to uproot, but all will be susceptible to that love which passeth knowledge. Rest, thank God, there is a rest for the people of God, where Jesus will lead the redeemed into green pastures, by the streams of living waters which make glad the city of our God. Then the prayer of Jesus to His Father will be answered: "I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." {TMK 371.4}

They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Psalm 84:7. {TMK 370.1} All heaven has been looking with intense interest upon those who claim to be God's commandment-keeping people. Here are the people who ought to be able to claim all the rich promises of God, who ought to be going on from glory to glory and from strength to strength, who ought to be in a position to reflect glory to God in the works that they do. . . . {TMK 370.2} We have received the rich blessing of God, but we must not stop here. We are to catch more and more the divine rays of light from heaven. We are to stand just where we can receive the light and reflect it, in its glory, upon the pathway of others. . . . {TMK 370.3} We need to drink deeper and deeper of the fountain of life. . . . You may have a living testimony to bear: "Hear what the Lord has done for my soul." The Lord is ready to impart still greater blessings. He permitted all His goodness to pass before Moses. He proclaimed His character to him as a God full of mercy--long-suffering and gracious, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Moses was to represent this character to the people of Israel, and we are to do the same. We are to go forth to proclaim the goodness of God and to make plain His real character before the people. We are to reflect His glory. . . . Let us declare the character of God to the people as Moses did to Israel, both in spirit and life. We are to catch the light of His countenance, full of compassion and love, and reflect it to perishing souls. {TMK 370.4} I beseech you to keep reaching out after God, to keep drinking of the fountain of living water. You may be as a tree planted by the rivers of waters, whose leaf does not wither. You may be full of moisture, and may be able to refresh others, and to give them grace and comfort. I love Jesus now, and I want to know more and more of Him. I have only begun to know Him, but there is an eternity before us in which there will be revealings of His glory, and we shall become better and better acquainted with our divine Lord. {TMK 370.5}

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11. {TMK 369.1} What sustained the Son of God during His life of toil and sacrifice? He saw the results of the travail of His soul, and was satisfied. Looking into eternity, He beheld the happiness of those who through His humiliation had received pardon and everlasting life. His ear caught the shout of the redeemed. He heard the ransomed ones singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. {TMK 369.2} "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." During every moment of Christ's life in our world, God was repeating His gift. Christ, the sinless One, was making an infinite sacrifice for sinners, that they might be saved. He came as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and those for whom He came looked upon Him as stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. The cup of suffering was placed in His hand, as if He were the guilty one, and He drained it to the dregs. He bore the sin of the world to the bitter end. . . . No line can fathom, no measurement compute, the love revealed by the cross of Calvary. . . . {TMK 369.3} In every pang of anguish endured we behold the throes of paternal love. The Father Himself travailed in the greatness of His almighty love in behalf of a world perishing in sin. By the sacrifice that has been made, the gift of eternal life has been placed within the reach of every son and daughter of Adam. {TMK 369.4} Christ's redeemed ones are His jewels, His precious and peculiar treasure. "They shall be as the stones of a crown"--"the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Zechariah 9:16; Ephesians 1:18). In them "he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection as the reward of all His sufferings, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory--Christ the great center, from whom radiates all glory. {TMK 369.5}

Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2. {TMK 368.1} The work of Christ upon earth was to seek and save that which was lost. Ever before Him He saw the result of His mission, although the baptism of blood must first be received, although the weight of sins of the world was to gather upon His innocent soul, although the shadow of an unspeakable woe was ever over Him. Yet for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross and despised the shame. He endured all this that sinful man might be saved, that he might be elevated and ennobled and have a place with Him upon His throne. {TMK 368.2} Christ is the originator of divine truth. He knew the height and depth, length and breadth and fullness of the compassion of divine love, as no mortal man can know it. He knows the blessedness that sinners are refusing when they reject divine light, the horrors that will come upon the soul that refuses the truth of Heaven. . . . Christ alone knows what means the exceeding weight of glory which those who rebel against God refuse to receive. . . . {TMK 368.3} Men are contaminated with sin, and they cannot have an adequate conception of the heinous character of the evil which they cherish. Because of sin the Majesty of heaven was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Voluntarily our divine Substitute bared His soul to the sword of justice, that we might not perish but have everlasting life. Said Christ: "I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself" (John 10:17, 18). . . . No man of earth nor angel of heaven could have paid the penalty of sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. {TMK 368.4} The joy that was set before Jesus was that of seeing souls redeemed by the sacrifice of His glory, His honor, His riches, and His own life. The salvation of man was His joy. When all the redeemed shall be gathered into the kingdom of God, He will see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. {TMK 368.5}

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:10, 11. TMK 367.1 We should consider that it was not merely to accomplish the redemption of man that Christ came to earth, it was not merely that the inhabitants of this little world might regard the law of God as it should be regarded, but it was to demonstrate to all the worlds that God's law is unchangeable and that the wages of sin is death. TMK 367.2 There is a great deal more to this subject than we can take in at a glance. O that all might see the importance of carefully studying the Scriptures! Many seem to have the idea that this world and the heavenly mansions constitute the universe of God. Not so. The redeemed throng will range from world to world, and much of their time will be employed in searching out the mysteries of redemption. And throughout the whole stretch of eternity this subject will be continually opening to their minds. The privileges of those who overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony are beyond comprehension. TMK 367.3 We have each to battle with the fallen foe.... Begin the warfare at once by gaining victories over self. Do not give place to the devil.... Throw all the weight of your influence on the side of Christ. TMK 367.4 When you look at the cross of Calvary you cannot doubt God's love or His willingness to save. He has worlds upon worlds that give Him divine honor, and heaven and all the universe would have been just as happy if He had left this world to perish, but so great was His love for the fallen race that He gave His own dear Son to die that they might be redeemed from eternal death. As we see the care, the love, that God has for us, let us respond to it; let us give to Jesus all the powers of our being, fighting manfully the battles of the Lord. We cannot afford to lose our souls; we cannot afford to sin against God. Life, eternal life in the kingdom of glory, is worth everything.34The Review and Herald, March 9, 1886. TMK 367.5

The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Psalm 97:1, 2. {TMK 366.1} The law of love is the foundation of God's government, and the service of love the only service acceptable to Heaven. God has granted freedom of will to all, endowed men with capacity to appreciate His character, and therefore with ability to love Him and to choose His service. So long as created beings worshiped God they were in harmony throughout the universe. While love to God was supreme, love to others abounded. As there was no transgression of the law, which is the transcript of God's character, no note of discord jarred the celestial harmonies. {TMK 366.2} But known unto God are all His works, and from eternal ages the covenant of grace (unmerited favor) existed in the mind of God. It is called the everlasting covenant, for the plan of salvation was not conceived after the fall of man, but it was that which was "kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and . . . made known unto all the nations . . ." (Romans 16:25, 26, R.V.). . . . {TMK 366.3} Before Him who ruleth in the heavens the mysteries of the past and future are alike outspread, and God sees beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, the outworking of His purpose of love and blessing. Though clouds and darkness are round about Him, yet righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne. . . . Through the plan of salvation a larger purpose is to be wrought out even than the salvation of man and the redemption of the earth. Through the revelation of the character of God in Christ, the beneficence of the divine government would be manifested before the universe, the charge of Satan refuted, the nature and result of sin made plain, and the perpetuity of the law fully demonstrated. {TMK 366.4} Then the extermination of sin will vindicate God's love and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law. {TMK 366.5}

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:9. {TMK 365.1} Many have endeavored to define the mystery which Paul here mentions. But it embraces much, and our ideas in regard to the love, the goodness, and the compassion of God are strangely limited. Because our knowledge of spiritual things has become so dwarfed and enfeebled, we have not advanced from light to greater light. The Lord has not been able to open to our understanding many precious things. In view of the losses which we have sustained by our earthliness and commonness we have much to make us humble. . . . {TMK 365.2} Since the promise given in Eden, God has revealed His mysteries through His prophets. . . . But many mysteries yet remain unrevealed. How much that is acknowledged to be truth is mysterious and unexplainable to the human mind! How dark seem the dispensations of Providence! What necessity there is for implicit faith and trust in God's moral government! . . . "How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33). {TMK 365.3} We are not now sufficiently advanced in spiritual attainments to comprehend the mysteries of God. But when we shall compose the family of heaven, these mysteries will be unfolded before us. . . . {TMK 365.4} Then much will be revealed in explanation of matters upon which God now keeps silence because we have not gathered up and appreciated that which has been made known of the eternal mysteries. The ways of Providence will be made clear; the mysteries of grace through Christ will be unfolded. That which the mind cannot now grasp, which is hard to be understood, will be explained. We shall see order in that which has seemed unexplainable, wisdom in everything withheld, goodness and gracious mercy in everything imparted. Truth will be unfolded to the mind, free from obscurity, in a single line, and its brightness will be endurable. The heart will be made to sing for joy. Controversies will be forever ended, and all difficulties will be solved. {TMK 365.5}

And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. Revelation 22:4. {TMK 364.1} We cannot now see the glory of God, but it is only by receiving Him here that we shall be able by and by to see Him face to face. God would have us keep our eyes fixed on Him, that we may lose sight of the things of this world. We have . . . no time for any of us to delay that preparation which will enable us to see the face of God. . . . {TMK 364.2} Only by looking to Jesus, the Lamb of God, and following in His steps, can you prepare to meet God. Follow Him, and you will one day walk the golden streets of the city of God. You will see Him who laid aside His royal garments and His kingly crown, and disguising Himself with humanity, came to our world and bore our sins, that He might lift us up and give us a revelation of His glory and majesty. We shall see Him face to face if we now give ourselves up to be molded and fashioned by Him and prepared for a place in the kingdom of God. {TMK 364.3} Those who consecrate their lives to the service of God will live with Him through the ceaseless ages of eternity. "God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). . . . {TMK 364.4} Their minds were given to God in this world; they served Him with their heart and intellect, and now He can put His name in their foreheads. "And there shall no night there; . . . for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). They do not go in as those that beg a place there, for Christ says to them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). He takes them as His children, saying, Enter ye into the joy of your Lord. The crown of immortality is placed on the brow of the overcomers. They take their crowns and cast them at the feet of Jesus, and touching their golden harps, they fill all heaven with rich music in songs of praise to the Lamb. Then "they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." {TMK 364.5}

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:1-3. {TMK 363.1} When Christ lay in the tomb, His disciples called to mind these words. They pondered over them, and wept because they could not fathom the meaning of them. No faith and hope relieved the brokenhearted disciples. They could only repeat the words, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself. . . ." {TMK 363.2} Mansions are prepared for all who have subjected themselves in obedience to the divine law. And in order that the human family might have no excuse because of Satan's temptations, Christ became one with them. The only Being who was one with God lived the law in humanity, descended to the lowly life of a common laborer, and toiled at the carpenter's bench with His earthly parent. He lived the life which He requires of all who claim to be His children. Thus was cut off the powerful argument of Satan that God required of humanity a self-denial and subjection that He would not Himself render. . . . {TMK 363.3} Jesus asks no more of men than that they shall follow in His footsteps. He was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, but for our sakes He became poor that we through His poverty might be made rich. Almost His last words to us are, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." In the place of being sorrowful, your hearts troubled, you should rejoice. I came into the world for your sakes. My time here is now accomplished. I shall henceforth be in heaven. For your sakes I have been an interested worker in the world. In the future I shall be engaged just as devotedly in a more important work in your behalf. I came into the world to redeem you. I go to prepare an abiding place for you in My Father's kingdom. {TMK 363.4} What a comfort these words should be to us! Think of the work Christ is now doing in heaven--preparing mansions for His children. He wants us to prepare to dwell in these mansions. {TMK 363.5}

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:54. {TMK 362.1} How precious to those who are losing their loved of this world are their faith and hope in the promises of God which open before them the future immortal life! Their hopes may fasten upon unseen realities of the future world. Christ has risen from the dead the first fruits. Hope and faith strengthen the soul to pass through the dark shadows of the tomb, in full faith of coming forth to immortal life in the morning of the resurrection. The Paradise of God, the home of the blessed! There all tears shall be wiped from off all faces! When Christ shall come the second time, to be "admired in all them that believe" (2 Thessalonians 1:10), death shall be swallowed up in victory, and there shall be no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more death! A rich promise is given to us: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14). Is not this promise rich and comforting to those who love God? {TMK 362.2} The resurrection of Jesus was a sample of the final resurrection of all who sleep in Him. The risen body of the Saviour, His deportment, the accents of His speech, were all familiar to His followers. In like manner will those who sleep in Jesus rise again. We shall know our friends even as the disciples knew Jesus. Though they may have been deformed, diseased, or disfigured in this mortal life, yet in their resurrected and glorified body their individual identity will be perfectly preserved, and we shall recognize, in the face radiant with the light shining from the face of Jesus, the lineaments of those we love. {TMK 362.3} The Life-giver will call up His purchased possession in the first resurrection, and until that triumphant hour, when the last trump shall sound and the vast army shall come forth to eternal victory, every sleeping saint will be kept in safety and will be guarded as a precious jewel, who is known to God by name. {TMK 362.4}

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 1 John 2:28. {TMK 361.1} Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not in their sins but from their sins, and to sanctify them through the truth; and in order that He may become a perfect Saviour to us, we must enter into union with Him by a personal act of faith. Christ has chosen us, we have chosen Him, and by this choice we become united to Him and are to live from henceforth, not unto ourselves, but unto Him who has died for us. But this union can only be preserved by constant watchfulness, lest we fall into temptation and make a different choice, for we are free always to take another master if we so desire. Union with Christ means an unfailing preference for Him in every act and thought. . . . {TMK 361.2} We are to consider ourselves as constituting the family of Christ, and we are to follow Him as dear children. Adopted into the household of God, shall we not honor our Father and our kindred? . . . {TMK 361.3} We must establish an unyielding enmity between our souls and our foe, but we must open our hearts to the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. We want Satan's darkness to be shut out and the light of Heaven to flow in. We want to become so sensitive to holy influences that the lightest whisper of Jesus will move our souls. . . . Then we shall delight to do the will of God, and Christ can own us before the Father and before the holy angels as those who abide in Him. . . . {TMK 361.4} But we shall not boast of our holiness. As we have clearer views of Christ's spotless and infinite purity we shall feel as did Daniel when he beheld the glory of the Lord and said, "My comeliness was turned in me into corruption" (Daniel 10:8). We cannot say, "I am sinless" till this vile body is changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body. But if we constantly seek to follow Jesus, the blessed hope is ours of standing before the throne of God without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, complete in Christ, robed in His righteousness and perfection. {TMK 361.5}

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Revelation 1:17, 18. {TMK 360.1} John, exiled upon the Isle of Patmos, . . . hears a voice saying, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last" (Revelation 1:11). At the sound of the voice John falls down in astonishment as if dead. He is unable to bear the sight of the divine glory. But a hand raises John up, and the voice he remembers as the voice of his Master. He is strengthened and can endure to talk with the Lord Jesus. {TMK 360.2} So will it be with the remnant people of God who are scattered-- some in the mountain fastnesses, some exiled, some pursued, some persecuted. When the voice of God is heard and the brightness of the glory is revealed, when the trial is over, the dross removed, they know they are in the presence of One who has redeemed them by His own blood. Just what Christ was to John in his exile He will be to His people who are made to feel the hand of oppression for the faith and testimony of Jesus Christ. . . . These were driven by the storm and tempest of persecution to the crevices of the rocks, but were hiding in the Rock of Ages; and in the fastnesses of the mountains, in the caves and dens of the earth, the Saviour reveals His presence and His glory. Yet a little while, and He that is to come will come and will not tarry. His eyes as a flame of fire penetrate into the fast-closed dungeons and hunt out the hidden ones, for their names are written in the Lamb's book of life. These eyes of the Saviour are above us, around us, noting every difficulty, discerning every danger; and there is no place where His eyes cannot penetrate, no sorrows and sufferings of His people where the sympathy of Christ does not reach. . . . {TMK 360.3} The child of God will be terror-stricken at the first sight of the majesty of Jesus Christ. He feels that he cannot live in His holy presence. But the word comes to him as to John, "Fear not." Jesus laid His right hand upon John; He raised him up from his prostrate position. So will He do unto His loyal, trusting ones. {TMK 360.4}

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:12. {TMK 359.1} The Scriptures declare, "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). There is not a shadow of doubt about this matter. . . . Sin may be concealed, denied, covered up from father, mother, wife, children, and associates. No one but the guilty actors may cherish the least suspicion of the wrong, but it is laid bare before the intelligences of heaven. The darkness of the darkest night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not sufficient to veil one thought from the knowledge of the Eternal. . . . {TMK 359.2} The Lord beheld Adam and Eve as they took of the forbidden tree. In their guilt they fled from His presence and "hid themselves," but God saw them; they could not cover their shame from His eyes. When Cain slew his brother, he thought to hide his crime by denial of his deed, but the Lord said, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground" (Genesis 4:10). . . . {TMK 359.3} All sin unrepented of and unconfessed will remain upon the books of record. It will not be blotted out, it will not go beforehand to judgment, to be canceled by the atoning blood of Jesus. The accumulated sins of every individual will be written with absolute accuracy, and the penetrating light of God's law will try every secret of darkness. In proportion to the light, to the opportunities, and the knowledge of God's claims upon them will be the condemnation of the rejecters of God's mercy. {TMK 359.4} The day of final settlements is just before us. . . . {TMK 359.5} The Bible presents the law of God as a perfect standard by which to shape the life and character. The only perfect example of obedience to its precepts is found in the Son of God, the Saviour of lost mankind. There is no stain of unrighteousness upon Him, and we are bidden to follow in His steps. {TMK 359.6}

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:44. {TMK 358.1} We are incapable of looking into the future, which often causes us disquietude and unhappiness. But one of the greatest evidences we have of the loving-kindness of God is His concealment of the events of the morrow. Our ignorance of tomorrow makes us more vigilant and earnest today. We cannot see what is before us. Our best-laid plans sometimes seem to be unwise and faulty. We think, "If we only knew the future!" But God would have His children trust in Him and be ready to go where He shall lead them. We know not the precise time when our Lord shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven, but He has told us that our only safety is in a constant readiness--a position of watching and waiting. Whether we have one year before us, or five, or ten, we are to be faithful to our trust today. We are to perform each day's duties as faithfully as though that day were to be our last. {TMK 358.2} We are not doing the will of God if we wait in idleness. To every man He has given his work, and He expects each one to do his part with fidelity. . . . As never before, resistance must be made against sin--against the powers of darkness. The time demands energetic and determined activity on the part of those who believe present truth. They should teach the truth by both precept and example. {TMK 358.3} If the time seems long to wait for our Deliverer to come, if, bowed by affliction and worn with toil, we feel impatient for our commission to close, and to receive an honorable release from the warfare, let us remember--and let the remembrance check every murmur--that God leaves us on earth to encounter storms and conflicts, to perfect Christian character, to become better acquainted with God our Father and Christ our Elder Brother, and to do work for the Master in winning many souls to Christ, that with glad heart we may hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:23). {TMK 358.4}

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13. {TMK 357.1} We are Adventists. We are looking for the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we love to think about it. We know in whom we have believed, and are not afraid to commit the keeping of our souls unto Him against that day. We are not at all humiliated by confessing ourselves to be Adventists. . . . {TMK 357.2} We believe the Sabbath of the fourth commandment because it is written plainly and is the foundation of our religious faith. Let none of us be ashamed of this. . . . We accept not the authority of men's councils, but we go further back, even to the councils of heaven. "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89). We take a "Thus saith the Lord." Here we stand. A doctrine that has not a "Thus saith the Lord" may be accepted by the whole world, but that does not make it truth. . . . If we want to know the way to heaven we must study the Bible, not man-made theories or man's suppositions. . . . We are not at all ashamed of our faith, Seventh-day Adventism, for it is the very best specification we can have. We are waiting for the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Men may scoff and ridicule our faith, but this should not provoke or surprise us. All these demonstrations do not make the truth error, neither do they make error truth. We take our stand firmly and unmovably upon the platform of the Word of God. . . . {TMK 357.3} Eternal realities must be kept before the mind's eye, and the attractions of the world will appear as they are--altogether profitless. . . . We are pilgrims and strangers who are waiting, hoping, and praying for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If we believe this and bring it into our practical life, what vigorous action would this faith and hope inspire; what fervent love one for another; what careful holy living for the glory of God; and . . . what distinct lines of demarcation would be evidenced between us and the world! {TMK 357.4}

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. Isaiah 26:20. {TMK 356.1} It will not be long until the gathering storm will burst upon the world that is so asleep in sin. . . . When the earth is reeling to and fro like a drunkard, when the heavens are shaking, and the great day of the Lord has come, who shall be able to stand? One object they behold in trembling agony from which they will try in vain to escape. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him" (Revelation 1:7). The unsaved utter wild imprecations to dumb nature--their god: "Mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne'" (Revelation 6:16). {TMK 356.2} Creation is loyal to her God, and deaf to the frenzied call. That unrequited love is now turned to wrath. Sinners who would not let Jesus take away their sins are rushing from place to place in search of a hiding place, crying, The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and our souls are not saved! . . . {TMK 356.3} That Lamb whose wrath will be so terrible to the scorners of His grace will be grace and righteousness and love and blessing to all who have received Him. The pillar of cloud that was dark with terror and avenging wrath to the Egyptians, was to the people of God a pillar of fire for brightness. So will it be to the Lord's people in these last days. The light and glory of God to His commandment-keeping people are darkness to the unbelieving. They see that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The arm, long stretched, strong to save all who come unto Him, is strong to execute His judgment upon all who would not come unto Him that they might have life. God grant that while mercy still lingers, while the voice of invitation is still heard, there will be a turning unto the Lord. The sure provision has been made to shelter every soul and shield those who have kept His commandments until the indignation be overpast. {TMK 356.4}

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Revelation 3:10. {TMK 355.1} God keeps a reckoning with the nations. . . . In this age a more than common contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full. . . . The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. When the angel of mercy folds her wings and departs, Satan will do the evil deeds he has long wished to do. Storm and tempest, war and bloodshed--in these things he delights, and thus he gathers in his harvest. And so completely will men be deceived by him that they will declare that these calamities are the result of the desecration of the first day of the week. From the pulpits of the popular churches will be heard the statement that the world is being punished because Sunday is not honored as it should be. . . . {TMK 355.2} Satan will bring in pleasing fables to meet the minds of all who love not the truth. With angry zeal he will accuse commandment keepers. . . . Satan claims the world, but there is a little company who withstand his devices and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Satan sets himself to destroy this commandment-keeping company. But God is their tower of defense. He will raise up for them a standard against the enemy. He will be to them "as an hiding place from the wind," and "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isaiah 32:2). He will say to them, "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: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain" (Isaiah 26:20, 21). "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:10). {TMK 355.3}

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 30:7. TMK 354.1 The fulfilling of the signs of the times gives evidence that the day of the Lord is near at hand.... The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling.... Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation's hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agents to work, that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced until the day of probation shall be ended and the door of mercy be forever shut.... TMK 354.2 The “time of trouble, such as never was” (Daniel 12:1) is soon to open upon us, and we shall need an experience which many are too indolent to obtain.... 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 foothold; 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. TMK 354.3 “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: ... He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (Psalm 50:3-5).17The Review and Herald, March 14, 1912. TMK 354.4

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14. TMK 353.1 “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). I want to sow for time and eternity. My heart hungers and thirsts after righteousness. I want my life hid in Christ Jesus, that my sowing shall bring me the right kind of a harvest. I feel deeply in regard to my own self, for every day, in words or in actions, I am sowing either tares or wheat. I want to sow for time and eternity. I have lived nearly the period of my allotted time, and what shall the harvest be? I want a quiet and unwavering trust in the Most High. I have experienced His protecting care in a remarkable manner when following the path of duty. I want to go down to the grave as a shock of corn fully ripe. I want no complaining in my heart; only gratitude should abide there. God's mercy and His loving-kindness are to be kept, not as a thing out of mind, but as something so precious as never to be forgotten. As eyewitnesses of His majesty we may exalt and praise His holy name. We are with Him in the holy mount. TMK 353.2 Every moment of time is precious and weighty with eternal consequences. We are in a world of appearances which mock and deceive like the apples of Sodom. O how the Lord looks upon the double-dealing and the duplicity which is in our world! If we could not get a glimpse above and beyond the clouds to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness we might well be downcast, but Jesus lives.... TMK 353.3 The discipline in the school of Christ will cause the church to lean upon the arm of her Beloved. The redeemed of the Lord shall at last come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, in victorious triumph. All the angelic hosts will rejoice over them with singing. But what are the qualifications of our citizenship? “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” 16Manuscript 7a, 1896. TMK 353.4

But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 1 Peter 4:7. TMK 352.1 The signs of the times tell us that the end of all things is at hand. Prophecies fulfilled have become facts of history, clearly defining our position. We are standing upon the verge of the eternal world.... Our Lord forewarned His people that iniquity would abound in the last days and would have a paralyzing influence upon true godliness. Wickedness is seen and heard and felt all around us. It seems to permeate the very atmosphere, and affects the faith and love of God's professed people. It is difficult to hold fast Christian integrity. The fact is, much which is current in our day as Christianity is indebted for its very existence to the absence of persecution. When the test of fiery trial comes, a great proportion of these who profess the faith will show that their religion was hollow formalism.... TMK 352.2 The days in which we live are days of peril. Carelessness, levity, love of pleasure and selfish gratification, are seen in the lives of very many professed Christians. Is this the time for Seventh-day Adventists to lose their faith and grow cold and formal? God forbid! Shall we turn traitor at the very moment when God would be most glorified by our steadfast adherence to principle? Shall we turn from the heavenly attractions now, when we can almost see the glories on the other shore? We are living in the most important period of earth's history. By maintaining our allegiance to God, we may bear the noblest testimony for Christ and the truth. TMK 352.3 The true Christian will cling to the promises of God more firmly now than ever before. His heart is where he has laid up his treasure—in heaven. When right principles are despised and forsaken, then the true and loyal will show their warmest zeal and deepest love; then they will stand most firmly for truth, unpopular though it be.... TMK 352.4 The Lord is coming.... Let us be consistent; let our works correspond with our profession of faith.15The Review and Herald, November 29, 1881. TMK 352.5