CHAPTER 5
God’s True Church
Vs.
Satan’s Counterfeit Church
Revelation 12 and 13.


      —Far, far back in the mist-veiled ages of eternity, before the thunder tones of a mighty God called into being our world, there was only one church —a heavenly church. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, received pure adoration and untarnished worship from all of the heavenly intelligences which They had created.
      —True worship ascended in beautiful harmony from every part of the vast universe—from every heart on every planet. Millions of angels and created beings poured forth their praises to the heavenly Family for having created them, and for having placed them in the celestial atmosphere of peace and love.
      —It was worship which arose spontaneously from every intelligent being —just as a geyser lifts its radiant sprays of water into the air. Joy and praise arose naturally and continually from every life throughout the vast realms of space.
      —Worship of the heavenly Family from the heavenly church in its purity, was the highest privilege of every created being.
          —“. . .The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7.

Lucifer, Beautiful Son of the Morning:
      —The worship service of the heavenly church was conducted by Lucifer, “son of the morning.” (See Isaiah 14:12.) He, “next to Christ, had been most honored of God and . . . stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven . . . Lucifer, as the anointed cherub, had been highly exalted; he was greatly loved by the heavenly beings,
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and his influence over them was strong . . . He was beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host. Angels delighted to execute his commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and glory above them all.” GC 493-497. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Lucifer had been the covering cherub. He had stood in the light of God’s presence. He had been the highest of all created beings, and had been foremost in revealing God’s purposes to the universe.” DA 758.
      —“Lucifer in heaven . . . was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son. His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad, showing a powerful intellect. His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. A special light beamed in his countenance and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels . . . He had been near the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glorious light enshrouding the eternal God had shone especially upon him.” SR 13, 14. (Emphasis added.)
      —Lucifer was “united in closest ties to the Son of God . . . God made him good and beautiful, as near as possible like Himself.” DA 435; 4BC 1163. (Emphasis added.)
      —It had been Lucifer’s privilege to “raise the first note” of praise in the heavenly courts. “. . . All the angelic host had united with him, and glorious strains of music had resounded through heaven in honor of God and His dear Son.” SR 25. (Emphasis added.)
          —“. . . Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering . . . The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou west created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou west upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou west perfect in thy ways from the day that thou west created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Ezekiel 28:12-15.

The Founding of False Worship:
      —As long as true worship was directed to the Trinity by all of the created beings in the universe, there was only one church —God’s true church. The heavenly Family alone was worshiped.
      —Time passed, with the loyal creatures giving genuine thanksgiving to the Creators. But in the heart of Lucifer, son of the morning, a seed of pride began to grow. He, the highest of all created beings, found himself coveting the honor that was due only to the Creators.
      —This was the beginning of false worship —the founding of Satan’s counterfeit church!
      —The selfish thought that was cherished became an overwhelming passion:
      —“. . . I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Isaiah 14:13, 14.
(Emphasis added.)
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      —“Had Lucifer really desired to be like the Most High, he would never have deserted his appointed place in heaven; for the spirit of the Most High is manifested in unselfish ministry. Lucifer desired God’s power, but not His character. He sought for himself the highest place . . .” DA 435. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Lucifer might have remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all the angelic host, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to glorify his Maker. But, says the prophet,
          ‘Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.’ Verse 17. [Ezekiel 28.]
      Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for self-exaltation . . . Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of His creatures, it was Lucifer’s endeavor to win their service and homage to himself. And coveting the honor which the infinite Father had bestowed upon His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power which it was the prerogative of Christ alone to wield.’ GC 494. (Emphasis added.)
      —Jealousy and unholy ambition lay secretly in Lucifer’s heart for sometime—known only by God. The holy angels under his charge never suspected that this most beautiful of all created beings was undergoing a change. He led the heavenly choirs in adoration as before, but secretly he was planning how he could take to himself the homage which Jesus—and His Father—were receiving.
          —(Imagine it! —the creature saying to the Creator, give me the credit for my wisdom and beauty; —the clay saying to the Potter, I am the one to be exalted because of my lovely design.
      —We honor and praise our earthly parents on Mother’s day and Father’s day. They had a part in bringing us into existence, and in caring for us in our early years.
      —Likewise, all created beings should also give honor and praise to the heavenly Father who brought us into existence, and who has cared for us all the days of our lives.
      —It is the same principle of love returned —from those who are loved—even though their minds cannot fully comprehend the wonderful love of their heavenly Parent!)
      —“Leaving his place in the immediate presence of the Father, Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent among the angels. He worked with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealed his real purpose under an appearance of reverence for God. He began to insinuate doubts concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that though laws might be necessary for the inhabitants of the worlds, angels, being more exalted, needed no such restraint, for their own wisdom was a sufficient guide.” PP 37. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Since their natures were holy, he urged that the angels should obey the dictates of their own will. He sought to create sympathy for himself by representing that God had dealt unjustly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon Christ. He claimed that in aspiring to
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greater power and honor he was not aiming at self-exaltation, but was seeking to secure liberty for all the inhabitants of heaven, that by this means they might attain to a higher state of existence.” GC 495. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Taking advantage of the loving, loyal trust reposed in him by the holy beings under his command, he had so artfully instilled into their minds his own distrust and discontent that his agency was not discerned. Lucifer had presented the purposes of God in a false light, misconstruing and distorting them, to excite dissent and dissatisfaction. He cunningly drew his hearers on to give utterance to their feelings; then these expressions were repeated by him when it would serve his purpose, as evidence that the angels were not fully in harmony with the government of God. While claiming for himself perfect loyalty to God, he urged that changes in the order and laws of heaven were necessary for the stability of the divine government. Thus while working to excite opposition to the law of God, and to instill his own discontent into the minds of the angels under him, he was ostensibly seeking to remove dissatisfaction, and to reconcile disaffected angels to the order of heaven. While secretly fomenting discord and rebellion, he with consummate craft caused it to appear as his sole purpose to promote loyalty, and to preserve harmony and peace.
      —“The spirit of dissatisfaction, thus kindled, was doing its baleful work. While there was no open outbreak, division of feeling imperceptibly grew up among the angels. There were some who looked with favor upon Lucifer’s insinuations against the government of God . . .
      —“In great mercy, according to His divine character, God bore long with Lucifer. The spirit of discontent and disaffection had never before been known in heaven. It was a new element, strange, mysterious, unaccountable. Lucifer himself had not at first been acquainted with the real nature of his feelings; for a time he had feared to express the workings and imaginings of his mind; yet he did not dismiss them. He did not see whether he was drifting. But such efforts as infinite love and wisdom only could devise, were made to convince him of his error. His disaffection was proved to be without cause, and he was made to see what would be the result of persisting in revolt Lucifer was convinced that he was in the wrong. He saw that ‘the Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works;’ [Ps. 145:17.] that the divine statutes are just, and that he ought to acknowledge them as such before all heaven. Had he done this, he might have saved himself and many angels. He had not at that time fully cast off his allegiance to God. Though he had left his position as covering cherub, yet if he had been willing to return to God, acknowledging the Creator’s wisdom, and satisfied to fill the place appointed him in God’s great plan, he would have been reinstated in his office.” PP 38, 39. (Emphasis added.)
      “Again and again he was offered pardon on condition of repentance and submission.” GC 496. (Emphasis added.)
      —“But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Psalm 86:15. (Emphasis added.)
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Disaffection Ripened into Active Revolt—Against God and His Law:
      —“The time had come for a final decision; he must fully yield to the sovereignty, or place himself in open rebellion. He had nearly reached the decision to return; but pride forbade him. It was too great a sacrifice for one who had been so highly honored to confess that he had been in error, that his imaginings were false, and to yield to the authority which he had been working to prove unjust . . .
      —“He persistently defended his own course, and fully committed himself to the great controversy against his Maker. Thus it was that Lucifer, ‘the light-bearer,’ the sharer of God’s glory, the attendant of His throne, by transgression became Satan, ‘the adversary’ of God and holy beings, and the destroyer of those whom Heaven had committed to his guidance and guardianship.
      —“Rejecting with disdain the arguments and entreaties of the loyal angels, he denounced them as deluded slaves. The preference shown to Christ he declared an act of injustice both to himself and to all the heavenly host, and announced that he would no longer submit to this invasion of his rights and theirs. He would never again acknowledge the supremacy of Christ. He had determined to claim the honor which should have been given him, and take command of all who would become his followers; and he promised those who would enter his ranks a new and better government, under which all would enjoy freedom. Great numbers of the angels signified their purpose to accept him as their leader. Flattered by the favor with which his advances were received, he hoped to win all the angels to his side, to become equal with God Himself, and to be obeyed by the entire host of heaven.
      —“Still the loyal angels urged him and his sympathizers to submit to God; and they set before them the inevitable result should they refuse: He who created them could overthrow their power, and signally punish their rebellious daring. No angel could successfully oppose the law of God, which was as sacred as Himself. They warned all to close their ears against Lucifer’s deceptive reasoning, and urged him and his followers to seek the presence of God without delay, and confess the error of questioning His wisdom and authority.
      —“Many were disposed to heed this counsel, to repent of their disaffection, and seek to be again received into favor with the Father and His Son. But Lucifer had another deception ready. The mighty revolter now declared that the angels who had united with him had gone too far to return; that he was acquainted with the divine law, and knew that God would not forgive. He declared that all who should submit to the authority of Heaven would be stripped of their honor, degraded from their position. For himself, he was determined never again to acknowledge the authority of Christ. The only course remaining for him and his followers, he said, was to assert their liberty, and gain by force the rights which had not been willingly accorded them.
      —“So far as Satan himself was concerned, it was true that he had now gone too far to return. But not so with those who had been blinded by his deceptions. To them the counsel and entreaties of the loyal
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angels opened a door of hope; and had they heeded the warning, they might have broken away from the snare of Satan. But pride, love for their leader, and the desire for unrestricted freedom, were permitted to bear sway, and the pleadings of divine love and mercy were finally rejected.” PP 39-41. (Emphasis added.)
      —“All the powers of his master mind were now bent to the work of deception, to secure the sympathy of the angels that had been under his command . . . From misrepresentation of the words of Christ he passed to prevarication and direct falsehood . . . All whom he could not subvert and bring fully to his side he accused of indifference to the interests of heavenly beings. The very work which he himself was doing he charged upon those who remained true to God. And to sustain his charge of God’s injustice toward him, he resorted to misrepresentation of the words and acts of the Creator. It was his policy to perplex the angels with subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plainest statements of Jehovah. His high position, in such close connection with the divine administration, gave greater force to his representations, and many were induced to unite with him in rebellion against Heaven’s authority.
      —“God in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry forward his work until the spirit of disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for his plans to be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might be seen by all . . . God’s government included not only the inhabitants of heaven, but of all the worlds that He had created; and Satan thought that if he could carry the angels of heaven with him in rebellion, he could carry also the other worlds. He had artfully presented his side of the question, employing sophistry and fraud to secure his objects. His power to deceive was very great, and by disguising himself in a cloak of falsehood he had gained an advantage. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his character or see to what his work was leading . . .
      —“Until fully developed, sin would not appear the evil thing it was. Hitherto it had had no place in the universe of God, and holy beings had no conception of its nature and malignity. They could not discern the terrible consequences that would result from setting aside the divine law.” GC 496, 497. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Satan grew bold in his rebellion, and expressed his contempt of the Creator’s law. This Satan could not bear. He claimed that angels needed no law but should be left free to follow their own will, which would ever guide them right; that law was a restriction of their liberty; and that to abolish law was one great object of his standing as he did.” SR 18, 19. (Emphasis added.)

Evil Must Come to Maturity—to Show the Results of Setting Aside God’s Law:
      —“Even when it was decided that he could no longer remain in heaven, Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since the service of love can alone be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must
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rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice and mercy of God in the destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted from existence, they would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. Evil must be permitted to come to maturity. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages Satan must more fully develop his principles,
          that his charges against the divine government
          might be seen in their true light by all created beings,
          that the justice and mercy of God and
          the immutability of His law
          might forever be placed beyond all question.
      —“Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages, a perpetual testimony to the nature and terrible results of sin. The working out of Satan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God’s government and His law is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made. Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy intelligences,
      to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression,
      to save them from committing sin and suffering its punishments.” GC 498, 499. (Emphasis added.)

One-Third of the Angels Followed Satan in Rebellion—and War! Revelation 12:7-9, 4.
AND THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN: MICHAEL
      —Christ—
AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHT AGAINST THE DRAGON;
      —Satan—
AND THE DRAGON FOUGHT AND HIS ANGELS,
      —“. . . Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers, comprising nearly one half of all the angels, and exclaimed, ‘These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in heaven?’
He then declared that he was prepared to resist the authority of Christ and to defend his place in heaven by force of might, strength against strength. Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan and his exulting boasts . . .
      —“The great God could at once have hurled this archdeceiver from heaven; but this was not His purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal chance to measure strength and might with His own Son and His loyal angels. In this battle every angel would choose his own side and be manifested to all.” SR 18, 17. (Emphasis added.)
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      —As war began, the angels who had not openly chosen sides, made their visible choice rapidly—and joined in the battle.
      —There was no neutral position!
      —Every angel fought for the one he worshiped:
          —Jesus led the loyal angels, —His true angelic church.
          —Satan led the rebellious angels, —his counterfeit angelic church.
      —And the dragon fought and his angels,
AND PREVAILED NOT;
      —The rebellious army were the losers in this first battle of history.
NEITHER WAS THEIR PLACE FOUND ANY MORE IN HEAVEN.
      —“The Son of God and true, loyal angels prevailed; and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from heaven. All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God of justice. Not a taint of rebellion was left in heaven. All was again peaceful and harmonious as before. Angels in heaven mourned the fate of those who had been their companions in happiness and bliss. Their loss was felt in heaven.” SR 19. (Emphasis added.)
AND THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT,
THAT OLD SERPENT, CALLED THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, WHICH DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD:
HE WAS CAST OUT INTO THE EARTH,
AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM.
      —How many of the angels, called “stars,” followed the rebel leader? (“Star” is a Bible symbol for angel or messenger. See Revelation 1:20; AA 586.)
AND HIS TAIL DREW THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS OF HEAVEN, AND DID CAST THEM TO THE EARTH:
      —God’s true angelic church remained in heaven;
Satan, with his false system of worship, and his angelic worshipers, were cast out into the earth.
      —These two angelic churches—the true and the false—continue until now. And they will continue until the false system is finally destroyed in the last day. See Revelation 20:8-10 and Chapter 7.
      —(In the final battle of history, the rebels will again be losers.)
      —Why did not Jesus make an atonement for fallen angels like He did for fallen man?
      —“Satan, the chief of the fallen angels, once had an exalted position in heaven. He was next in honor to Christ. The knowledge which he, as well as the angels who fell with him, had of the character of God, of His goodness, His mercy, wisdom, and excellent glory, made their guilt unpardonable.
      —“There was no possible hope for the redemption of those who had witnessed and enjoyed the inexpressible glory of heaven, and had seen the terrible majesty of God, and, in presence of all this glory, had rebelled against Him. There were no new and wonderful exhibitions of God’s exalted power that could impress them so deeply as those they had already experienced. If they could rebel in the
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very presence of glory inexpressible, they could not be placed in a more favorable condition to be proved. There was no reserve force of power, nor were there any greater heights and depths of infinite glory to overpower their jealous doubts and rebellious murmuring.” 4BC 1163. (Emphasis added.)

God Created Planet Earth—After Satan Fell From Heaven:
“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth . . . For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:6, 9.
      —“The theory that God did not create matter when He brought the world into existence is without foundation. In the formation of our world, God was not indebted to preexisting matter. On the contrary, all things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and all things therein, are not only the work of His hand; they came into existence by the breath of His mouth.
      —“‘Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God . . .’ Hebrews 11:3.” 8T 258, 259. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Infinite love—how great it is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desires a larger family of created intelligences.” 1BC 1081.
      —“It was God’s purpose to repopulate heaven with the human family, if they would show themselves obedient to His every word.” 1BC 1082. (“. . . The vacancies made in heaven by the fall of Satan and his angels will be filled by the redeemed of the Lord.” 7BC 949.)
      —After Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven, “the Father consulted His Son in regard to at once carrying out Their purpose to make man to inhabit the earth. He would place man upon probation to test his loyalty before he could be rendered eternally secure. If he endured the test wherewith God saw fit to prove him, he should eventually be equal with the angels. He was to have the favor of God, and he was to converse with angels, and they with him. He did not see fit to place them beyond the power of disobedience.” SR 19.
      —“By Christ the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings. ‘By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.’” GC 493; Colossians 1:16. See AA 471, 472; PP 36. (Emphasis added.)

Then Came Creation Week:
      —Day one:          Light.
      —Day two:          Firmament.
      —Day three:       Dry land with vegetation.
      —Day four:        Sun, moon and stars.
      —Day five:         Fish and fowl.
      —Day six:          Animals and human beings,
                                  made in the image of their Creators.
      —Day seven:    The heavenly Family met with the human family
                                  in sweet companionship on the Sabbath.
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      —This was the very beginning of God’s true church on earth!
      —How Adam and Eve loved to have the seventh day of the week come around, for it was their very special time of getting better acquainted with their Creators.

Adam and Eve:
      —“After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out Their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in Their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God says to His Son, ‘Let us make man in our image.’” 3SG 33, 34. (Emphasis added)
      —“All heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order. They were made ‘in the image of God,’ and it was the Creator’s design that they should populate the earth. They were to live in close communion with heaven, receiving power from the Source of all power. Upheld by God, they were to live sinless lives.
      —“The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between . . . The mysteries of the visible universe—‘the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge’ —afforded them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. The laws and operations of nature, which have engaged men’s study for six thousand years, were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. They held converse with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life . . .
      —“God created man a superior being; he alone is formed in the image of God, and is capable of partaking of the divine nature, of cooperating with his Creator and executing His plans.” SD 7. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Man was to bear God’s image, both in outward resemblance and in character. Christ alone is ‘the express image’ of the Father; [Heb. 1:3.] but man was formed in the likeness of God. His nature was in harmony with the will of God. His mind was capable of comprehending divine things. His affections were pure; his appetites and passions were under the control of reason. He was holy and happy in bearing the image of God, and in perfect obedience to His will.” PP 45.
      —“As Adam came forth from the hand of his Creator, he was of noble height, and of beautiful symmetry. He was more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned. His features were perfect and beautiful. His complexion was neither white, nor sallow, but ruddy, glowing with the rich tint of health. Eve was not quite as tall as Adam. Her head reached a little above his shoulders. She, too, was noble—perfect in symmetry, and very beautiful.
      —“The sinless pair wore no artificial garments. They were clothed with a covering of light and glory, such as the angels wear. While they lived in obedience to God, this circle of light enshrouded them.
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Although everything God had made was in the perfection of beauty, and there seemed nothing wanting upon the earth which God had created to make Adam and Eve happy, yet He manifested His great love to them by planting a garden especially for them. A portion of their time was to be occupied in the happy employment of dressing the garden, and a portion in receiving the visits of angels, listening to their instruction, and in happy meditation. Their labor was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating. This beautiful garden was to be their home, their special residence . . .
      —“In this garden the Lord placed fruit-trees of every description, for usefulness and beauty, also lovely flowers which filled the air with fragrance. Everything was tastefully and gloriously arranged. In the midst of the garden stood the tree of life, the glory of which surpassed all other trees. Its fruit looked like apples of gold and silver, and was to perpetuate immortality. The leaves contained healing properties.
      —“Very happy were the holy pair in Eden. Unlimited control was given them over every living thing. The lion and the lamb sported together peacefully and harmlessly around them, or slumbered at their feet. Birds of every variety and color and plumage flitted among the trees and flowers, and about Adam and Eve, while their mellow toned music echoed among the trees in sweet accord to the praises of their Creator.” 3SG 34, 35. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Adam was crowned king in Eden. To him was given dominion over every living thing that God had created . . . He made Adam the rightful sovereign over all the works of His hands. Man, made in the divine image, could contemplate and appreciate the glorious works of God in nature.” 1BC 1082. (Emphasis added.)
      —“God endowed man with so great vital force that he has withstood the accumulation of disease brought upon the race in consequence of perverted habits, and has continued for six thousand years. This fact of itself is enough to evidence to us the strength and electrical energy that God gave to man at his creation. It took more than two thousand years of crime and indulgence of base passions to bring bodily disease upon the race to any great extent. If Adam, at his creation, had not been endowed with twenty times as much vital force as men now have, the race, with their present habits of living in violation of natural law, would have become extinct.” 3T 138, 139. (Emphasis added.)

The Memorial of Creation:
“In six days the great work of creation had been accomplished. And God rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.’ . . .
“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God’s great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God’s wisdom
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and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.
      —“In Eden, God set up the memorial of His work of creation, in placing His blessing upon the seventh day. The Sabbath was committed to Adam, the father and representative of the whole human family. Its observance was to be an act of grateful acknowledgment, on the part of all who should dwell upon the earth, that God was their Creator and their rightful Sovereign; that they were the work of His hands, and the subjects of His authority. Thus the institution was wholly commemorative, and given to all mankind . . .
      —“God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven, that he might more fully contemplate the works of God, and meditate upon His power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath, to remind him more vividly of God, and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator.” PP 47, 48. (Emphasis added.)

The Plot Against the Human Family:
“. . . Satan’s enmity against God found a new field in plotting the ruin of the human race. In the happiness and peace of the holy pair in Eden, he beheld a vision of the bliss that to him was forever lost. Moved by envy, he determined to incite them to disobedience, and bring upon them the guilt and penalty of sin. He would change their love to distrust, and their songs of praise to reproaches against their Maker. Thus he would not only plunge these innocent beings into the same misery which he was himself enduring, but would cast dishonor upon God, and cause grief in heaven.” PP 52. (Emphasis added.)
      —Satan’s “followers were seeking him, and he aroused himself and, assuming a look of defiance, informed them of his plans to wrest from God the noble Adam and his companion Eve . . . Satan held a consultation with his evil angels. They did not all readily unite to engage in this hazardous and terrible work. He told them that he would not entrust any one of them to accomplish this work, for he thought that he alone had wisdom sufficient to carry forward so important an enterprise. He wished them to consider the matter while he should leave them and seek retirement, to mature his plans . . .
      —“Satan went alone to mature plans that would most surely secure the fall of Adam and Eve. He had fears that his purposes might be defeated. And again, even if he should be successful in leading Adam and Eve to disobey the commandment of God, and thus become transgressors of His law, and no good come to himself, his own case would not be improved; his guilt would only be increased.
      —“He shuddered at the thought of plunging the holy, happy pair into the misery and remorse he was himself enduring. He seemed in a state of indecision: at one time firm and determined, then hesitating and wavering. His angels were seeking him, their leader, to acquaint him with their decision. They would unite with Satan in his plans:
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and with him bear the responsibility and share the consequences.
      —“Satan cast off his feelings of despair and weakness, and, as their leader, fortified himself to brave out the matter and do all in his power to defy the authority of God and His Son. He acquainted them with his plans. If he should come boldly upon Adam and Eve and make complaints of God’s own Son, they would not listen to him for a moment but would be prepared for such an attack. Should he seek to intimidate them because of his power, so recently an angel in high authority, he could accomplish nothing. He decided that cunning and deceit would do what might, or force, could not.” SR 27-29. (Emphasis added.)

Adam and Eve are Warned:
      —“God assembled the angelic host to take measures to avert the threatened evil. It was decided in heaven’s council for angels to visit Eden and warn Adam that he was in danger from the foe. Two angels sped on their way to visit our first parents. The holy pair received them with joyful innocence, expressing their grateful thanks to their Creator for thus surrounding them with such a profusion of His bounty. Everything lovely and attractive was theirs to enjoy, and everything seemed wisely adapted to their wants; and that which they prized above all other blessings, was the society of the Son of God and the heavenly angels, for they had much to relate to them at every visit, of their new discoveries of the beauties of nature in their lovely Eden home, and they had many questions to ask relative to many things which they could but indistinctly comprehend.
      —“The angels graciously and lovingly gave them the information they desired. They also gave them the sad history of Satan’s rebellion and fall. They then distinctly informed them that the tree of knowledge was placed in the garden to be a pledge of their obedience and love to God . . .” SR 29, 30. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The Lord had seen fit to lay upon them but one prohibition as to the use of all that was in the garden; but if they should disregard His will in this particular, they would incur the guilt of transgression. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. Should they attempt to investigate its nature, they would be exposed to his wiles. They were admonished to give careful heed to the warning which God had sent them, and to be content with the instruction which He had seen fit to impart.” PP 53. (Emphasis added.)
      “The angels cautioned Eve not to separate from her husband in her employment, for she might be brought in contact with this fallen foe. If separated from each other they would be in greater danger than if both were together. The angels charged them to closely follow the instructions God had given them in reference to the tree of knowledge, for in perfect obedience they were safe, and this fallen foe could then have no power to deceive them . . .
      —“They told Adam and Eve that God would not compel them to obey—
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that He had not removed from them power to go contrary to His will; that they were moral agents, free to obey or disobey. There was but one prohibition that God had seen fit to lay upon them as yet. If they should transgress the will of God they would surely die. They told Adam and Eve that the most exalted angel, next in order to Christ, refused obedience to the law of God which He had ordained to govern heavenly beings; that this rebellion had caused war m heaven, which resulted in the rebellious being expelled therefrom, and every angel was driven out of heaven who had united with him in questioning the authority of the great Jehovah; and that this fallen foe was now an enemy to all that concerned the interest of God and His dear Son.
      —“They told them that Satan purposed to do them harm, and it was necessary for them to be guarded, for they might come in contact with the fallen foe; but he could not harm them while they yielded obedience to God’s command, for, if necessary, every angel from heaven would come to their help rather than that he should in any way do them harm. But if they disobeyed the command of God, then Satan would have power to ever annoy, perplex, and trouble them. If they remained steadfast against the first insinuations of Satan, they were as secure as the heavenly angels. But if they yielded to the tempter, He who spared not the exalted angels would not spare them. They must suffer the penalty of their transgression, for the law of God was as sacred as Himself, and He required implicit obedience from all in heaven and on earth . . .
      —“Adam and Eve assured the angels that they should never transgress the express command of God, for it was their highest pleasure to do His will. The angels united with Adam and Eve in holy strains of harmonious music, and as their songs pealed forth from blissful Eden, Satan heard the sound of their strains of joyful adoration to the Father and Son. And as Satan heard it his envy, hatred, and malignity increased, and he expressed his anxiety to his followers to incite them (Adam and Eve) to disobedience and at once bring down the wrath of God upon them and change their songs of praise to hatred and curses to their Maker.” SR 30, 31. (Emphasis added.)

Would Adam and Eve be Obedient to God’s Law?
      —“With what intense interest the whole universe watched the conflict that was to decide the position of Adam and Eve. How attentively the angels listened to the words of Satan, the originator of sin, as he placed his own ideas above the commands of God, and sought to make of none effect the law of God through his deceptive reasoning! How anxiously they waited to see if the holy pair would be deluded by the tempter, and yield to his arts! They asked themselves, Will the holy pair transfer their faith and love from the Father and Son to Satan? Will they accept his falsehoods as truth? They knew that they might refrain from taking the fruit, and obey the positive injunction of God, or they might violate the express command of their Creator.” 1BC 1083. (Emphasis added.)
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Eve Believes the Serpent—Instead of God:
      —“Satan assumes the form of a serpent and enters Eden. The serpent was a beautiful creature with wings, and while flying through the air his appearance was bright, resembling burnished gold. He did not go upon the ground but went from place to place through the air and ate fruit like man. Satan entered into the serpent and took his position in the tree of knowledge and commenced leisurely eating of the fruit. SR 32. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Resting in the rich-laden branches of the forbidden tree, and regaling itself with the delicious fruit, it was an object to arrest the attention and delight the eye of the beholder. Thus in the garden of peace lurked the destroyer, watching for his prey.
      —“The angels had cautioned Eve to beware of separating herself from her husband while occupied in their daily labor in the garden; with him she would be in less danger from temptation than if she were alone. But absorbed in her pleasing task, she unconsciously wandered from his side. On perceiving that she was alone, she felt an apprehension of danger, but dismissed her fears, deciding that she had sufficient wisdom and strength to discern evil and to withstand it. Unmindful of the angels’ caution, she soon found herself gazing, with mingled curiosity and admiration, upon the forbidden tree. The fruit was very beautiful, and she questioned with herself why God had withheld it from them. Now was the tempter’s opportunity. As if he were able to discern the workings of her mind, he addressed her: ‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ [See Genesis 3.] Eve was surprised and startled as she thus seemed to hear the echo of her thoughts. But the serpent continued, in a musical voice, with subtle praise of her surpassing loveliness; and his words were not displeasing.” PP 53, 54. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Eve’s curiosity was aroused. Instead of fleeing from the spot, she listened to hear a serpent talk. It did not occur to her mind that it might be that fallen foe, using the serpent as a medium. It was Satan that spoke, not the serpent. Eve was beguiled, flattered, infatuated. Had she met a commanding personage, possessing a form like the angels and resembling them, she would have been upon her guard. But that strange voice should have driven her to her husband’s side to inquire of him why another should thus freely address her. But she entered into a controversy with the serpent. She answered his question, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’ The serpent answered, ‘Ye shall not surely die: for God cloth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’
      —“Satan would convey the idea that by eating of the forbidden tree they would receive a new and more noble kind of knowledge than they had hitherto attained . . . Satan boldly insinuated that God had deceived them to keep them from being exalted in knowledge equal with Himself.
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          God said: If ye eat ye shall surely die.
          The serpent said, If ye eat, ‘ye shall not surely die. ‘
      —“The tempter assured Eve that as soon as she ate of the fruit she would receive a new and superior knowledge that would make her equal with God. SR 33, 34. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Then she was jealous that God had withheld from them what was really for their good . . .” EW 147. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Eve really believed the words of Satan, but her belief did not save her from the penalty of sin. She disbelieved the words of God, and this is what led to her fall. In the Judgment, men will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie, but because they did not believe the truth, because they neglected the opportunity of learning what is truth. Notwithstanding the sophistry of Satan to the contrary, it is always disastrous to disobey God. We must set our hearts to know what is truth. All the lessons which God has caused to be placed on record in His word are for our warning and instruction. They are given to save us from deception. Their neglect will result in ruin to ourselves. Whatever contradicts God’s word, we may be sure proceeds from Satan.” PP 55. (Emphasis added.)

Adam, in Disloyalty to God, Joins Eve in Disobedience:
      —“The serpent plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, and placed it in the hands of the half-reluctant Eve . . . It was grateful to the taste, and as she ate, she seemed to feel a vivifying power, and imagined herself entering upon a higher state of existence. Without a fear she plucked and ate. And now, having herself transgressed, she became the agent of Satan in working the ruin of her husband. In a state of strange, unnatural excitement, with her hands filled with the forbidden fruit, she sought his presence, and related all that had occurred.
      —“An expression of sadness came over the face of Adam. He appeared astonished and alarmed. To the words of Eve he replied that this must be the foe against whom they had been warned; and by the divine sentence she must die . . . Adam understood that his companion had transgressed the command of God, disregarded the only prohibition laid upon them as a test of their fidelity and love. There was a terrible struggle in his mind. He mourned that he had permitted Eve to wander from his side. But now the deed was done; he must be separated from her whose society had been his joy. How could he have it thus? Adam had enjoyed the companionship of God and of holy angels. He had looked upon the glory of the Creator. He understood the high destiny opened to the human race should they remain faithful to God. Yet all these blessings were lost sight of in the fear of losing that one gift which in his eyes out valued every other. Love, gratitude, loyalty to the Creator, —all were overborne by love to Eve . . . He resolved to share her fate; if she must die, he would die with her . . . After all, he reasoned, might not the words of the wise serpent be true?” PP 56, 57. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Our first parents chose to believe the words, as they thought, of a
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serpent, yet he had given them no tokens of his love. He had done nothing for their happiness and benefit; while God had given them everything that was good for food, and pleasant to the sight. Everywhere the eye might rest was abundance and beauty; yet Eve was deceived by the serpent to think that there was something withheld which would make them wise, even as God. Instead of believing and confiding in God, she basely mistrusted His goodness and cherished the words of Satan . . .
      —“They both ate, and the great wisdom they obtained was the knowledge of sin, and a sense of guilt. Immediately the covering of light about them disappeared, and under a sense of their guilt, and loss of their divine covering, a shivering seized them, and they tried to cover their exposed forms.” 3SG 43. (Emphasis added.)
      —“They felt a dread of the future, a sense of want, a nakedness of soul. The sweet love and peace and happy contented bliss seemed removed from them, and in its place a want of something came over them that they had never experienced before. They then for the first time turned their attention to the external . . .
      —“Their crime is now before them in its true light. Their transgression of God’s express command assumes a clearer character. Adam censured Eve’s folly in leaving his side and being deceived by the serpent.” SR 38.

An Emergency Counsel was Called—a “Counsel of Peace.”
      —“The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. The world that God had made was blighted with the curse of sin, and inhabited by beings doomed to misery and death. There appeared no escape for those who had transgressed the law. Angels ceased their songs of praise. Throughout the heavenly courts there was mourning for the ruin that sin had wrought.
      —“The Son of God, heaven’s glorious Commander, was touched with pity for the fallen race. His heart was moved with infinite compassion as the woes of the lost world rose up before Him . . .
      —“Before the Father He pleaded in the sinner’s behalf, while the host of heaven awaited the result with an intensity of interest that words cannot express. Long continued was that mysterious communing, —‘the counsel of peace’ for the fallen sons of men . . .
      —“The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner. In all the universe there was but One who could make atonement for its transgression. None but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law, and bring him again into harmony with Heaven.” PP 63. Zechariah 6:13. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The anxiety of the angels seemed to be intense while Jesus was communing with His Father. Three times He was shut in by the glorious light about the Father, and the third time He came from the Father, His person could be seen. His countenance was calm, free from all perplexity and doubt, and shone with benevolence and loveliness, such as words cannot express. He then made known to the
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angelic host that a way of escape had been made for lost man. He told them that He had been pleading with His Father, and had offered to give His life a ransom, to take the sentence of death upon Himself that through Him man might find pardon; that through the merits of His blood, and obedience to the law of God, they could have the favor of God, and be brought into the beautiful garden, and eat of the fruit of the tree of life.
      —“At first the angels could not rejoice; for their Commander concealed nothing from them, but opened before them the plan of salvation. Jesus told them that He would stand between the wrath of His Father and guilty man, that He would bear iniquity and scorn . . . Not merely agony of body would He suffer, but mental agony, that with which bodily suffering could in no wise be compared. The weight of the sins of the whole world would be upon Him . . .
      —“The angels prostrated themselves before Him. They offered their lives. Jesus said to them that He would by His death save many, that the life of an angel could not pay the debt. His life alone could be accepted of His Father as a ransom for man. Jesus also told them that . . . they would be stirred with the deepest emotion, and through their love for Him would wish to rescue and deliver Him from His murderers; but that they must not interfere to prevent anything they should behold . . .
      —“With a holy sadness Jesus comforted and cheered the angels and informed them that hereafter those whom He should redeem would be with Him, and that by His death He should ransom many and destroy him who had the power of death . . . Jesus bade the heavenly host be reconciled to the plan that His Father had accepted and rejoice that through His death fallen man could again be exalted to obtain favor with God and enjoy heaven.
      —“Then joy, inexpressible joy, filled heaven. And the heavenly host sang a song of praise and adoration. They touched their harps and sang a note higher than they had done before, for the great mercy and condescension of God in yielding up His dearly Beloved to die for a race of rebels. Praise and adoration were poured forth for the self-denial and sacrifice of Jesus; that He would consent to leave the bosom of His Father, and choose a life of suffering and anguish, and die an ignominious death to give life to others.
      —“Said the angel, ‘Think ye that the rather yielded up His dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven, whether to let guilty man perish, or to give His beloved Son to die for him.’ . . . It was impossible for God to alter or change His law to save lost, perishing man; therefore He suffered His beloved Son to die for man’s transgression.” EW 149-152. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The Father consents to give His dearly beloved Son to save the fallen race; and through His merits and intercession promises to receive man again into His favor, and to restore holiness to as many as should be willing to accept the atonement thus mercifully offered, and obey His law. For the sake of His dear Son the Father forebears awhile the execution of death, and to Christ He commits the fallen race.” 3SG 46, 47. (Emphasis added.)
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Adam and Eve Receive their Sentence of Death—and a Promise of Hope!
      —“As Adam and Eve hear the sound of God’s majestic approach, they seek to hide themselves from His inspection, whom they delighted while in their innocence and holiness, to meet.” 3SG 46. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . . The great Lawgiver was about to make known to Adam and Eve the consequences of their transgression. The divine Presence was manifested in the garden. In their innocence and holiness they had joyfully welcomed the approach of their Creator; but now they fled in terror, and sought to hide in the deepest recesses of the garden. But ‘the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And He said, Who told thee that thou west naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’ . . .
      —“Instead of humbly confessing their sins, they try to shield themselves by casting the blame upon others, upon circumstances, or upon God—making even His blessings an occasion of murmuring against Him.
      —“The Lord then passed sentence upon the serpent . . . From the most beautiful and admired of the creatures of the field, it was to become the most groveling and detested of them all, feared and hated by both man and beast. The words next addressed to the serpent applied directly to Satan himself, pointing forward to his ultimate defeat and destruction: ‘I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’
      —“Eve was told of the sorrow and pain that must henceforth be her portion . . . Eve had been perfectly happy by her husband’s side in her Eden home; but, like restless modern Eves, she was flattered with the hope of entering a higher sphere than that which God had assigned her. In attempting to rise above her original position, she fell far below it. A similar result will be reached by all who are unwilling to take up cheerfully their life duties in accordance with God’s plan. In their efforts to reach positions for which He has not fitted them, many are leaving vacant the place where they might be a blessing. In their desire for a higher sphere, many have sacrificed true womanly dignity, and nobility of character, and have left undone the very work that Heaven appointed them.
      —“To Adam the Lord declared: ‘. . . In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it west thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’
      —“It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know aught of evil. He had freely given them the good, and had withheld the evil. But, contrary to His command, they had eaten of the forbidden tree, and now they would continue to eat of it —they would have the knowledge of evil— all the days of their life. From that time the race would be afflicted by Satan’s temptations. Instead of the happy labor heretofore appointed them, anxiety and toil were to be their
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lot. They would be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to death . . .
      —“After their sin, Adam and Eve were no longer to dwelt in Eden. They earnestly entreated that they might remain in the home of their innocence and joy. They confessed that they had forfeited all right to that happy abode, but pledged themselves for the future to yield strict obedience to God. But they were told that their nature had become depraved by sin; they had lessened their strength to resist evil, and had opened the way for Satan to gain more ready access to them. In their innocence they had yielded to temptation; and now, in a state of conscious guilt, they would have less power to maintain their integrity.
      —“In humility and unutterable sadness they bade farewell to their beautiful home, and went forth to dwell upon the earth, where rested the curse of sin . . . As they witnessed, in drooping flower and falling leaf, the first signs of decay, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply than men now mourn over their dead . . .
      —“To man the first intimation of redemption was communicated in the sentence pronounced upon Satan in the garden . . . [Genesis 3:15.] This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the power of the great adversary would finally be broken. Adam and Eve stood as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred; but before they heard of the life of toil and sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return to dust, they listened to words that could not fail to give them hope. Though they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, they could look forward to final victory . . .
      —“Heavenly angels more fully opened to our first parents the plan that had been devised for their salvation. Adam and his companion were assured that notwithstanding their great sin, they were not to be abandoned to the control of Satan. The Son of God had offered to atone, with His own life, for their transgression. A period of probation would be granted them, and through repentance, and faith in Christ, they might again become the children of God.
      —“The sacrifice demanded by their transgression, revealed to Adam and Eve the sacred character of the law of God, and they saw, as they had never seen before, the guilt of sin, and its dire results. In their remorse and anguish they pleaded that the penalty might not fall upon Him whose love had been the source of all their joy; rather let it descend upon them and their posterity.
      —“They were told that since the law of Jehovah is the foundation of His government in heaven as well as upon the earth, even the life of an angel could not be accepted as a sacrifice for its transgression. Not one of its precepts could be abrogated or changed to meet man in his fallen condition; but the Son of God, who had created man, could make an atonement for him. As Adam’s transgression had brought wretchedness and death, so the sacrifice of Christ would bring life and immortality.” PP 57-67. (Emphasis added.)
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The Great Controversy Begun in Heaven Rages on Planet Earth:
      —“When Satan was thrust out of heaven, he determined to make the earth his kingdom. When he tempted and overcame Adam and Eve, he thought that he had gained possession of this world; ‘because,’ said he, ‘they have chosen me as their ruler.’ . . . Christ undertook to redeem man, and to rescue the world from the grasp of Satan. The great controversy begun in heaven was to be decided in the very world, on the very same field, that Satan claimed as his.
      —“It was the marvel of all the universe that Christ should humble Himself to save fallen man. That He who had passed from star to star, from world to world, superintending all, by His providence supplying the needs of every order of being in His vast creation, —that He should consent to leave His glory and take upon Himself human nature, was a mystery which the sinless intelligences of other worlds desired to understand . . .
      —“But the plan of redemption had a yet broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of man. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the 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 vindicate the character of God before the universe . . . The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man [1.] would not only make heaven accessible to men, but [2.] before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. [3.] It would establish the perpetuity of the law of God, and [4.] would reveal the nature and the results of sin.
      —“From the first, the great controversy had been upon the law of God. . . In attacking the law, he [Satan] aimed to overthrow the authority of its Author.” PP 69, 68. (Emphasis added.)

Every Individual Decides Which Leader He Will Follow:
      —God’s true church and Satan’s counterfeit church have grown side by side for nearly 6,000 years:
          —one with truth and love as the impelling force;
          —the other built on lies and deceit;
          —one upholding God’s government and His law;
          —the other rebelling against it with malignant hatred.
      —Good angels have been sent to Adam and his descendants, to enlighten, counsel, and plead with them to look in faith to their Redeemer.
      —Satan’s angels have been sent to ensnare them with innumerable schemes, so they would despise, ignore, or neglect His salvation.
      —The Controversy has been waged over every descendant of Adam. The good angels and the evil angels have hovered over every human soul since time began. Where will this individual place his affections? Who will he worship? Will he repent of his sins, and accept pardon, and stand with God’s redeemed people, or will he cling to sin and love its companionship and stand under Satan’s banner of rebellion?
      —God spreads out the issues in the great controversy between Christ and Satan—and every individual chooses his leader!
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The Conflict Between God’s True Church and Satan’s Counterfeit Church:

Revelation 12.
      —As John was seated on the Isle of Patmos, receiving instruction for God’s people in the centuries to follow, Jesus gave him a vision of the two churches that would be in conflict.
      —The great controversy between Christ and Satan, which began in heaven and spilled over to this earth, is to rise to great intensity in its final stages. In the closing scenes of earth’s history, this controversy will reach a peak—as the issue over God’s law comes into sharp focus.
      —For comfort and instruction —and for identification— Jesus shows John both groups in Revelation 12, 13, and 17.
          —His true church is symbolized by a pure woman clothed with the sun,
          —and Satan’s counterfeit church is pictured as a corrupt woman sitting on a beast.
          —(“In Revelation 17 Babylon is represented as a woman—a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.” GC 381. See Genesis 3:15; Revelation 19:7-9; 17:1, 18.)
AND THERE APPEARED A GREAT WONDER IN HEAVEN;
      —Look up into the sky with John. There is
A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN,
      —The Sun of Righteousness wraps His church in His own robe of perfection.
      —“The Lord has provided His church with capabilities and blessings, that they may present to the world an image of His own sufficiency, and that His church may be complete in Him . . . His church is to be a temple built after the divine similitude, and the angelic architect has brought his golden measuring rod from heaven, that every stone may be hewed and squared by the divine measurement, and polished to shine as an emblem of heaven, radiating in all directions the bright, clear beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The church is to be fed with manna from heaven. Clad in complete armor of light and righteousness, she enters upon her final conflict.” TM 17.
AND THE MOON UNDER HER FEET,
      —The silver moon reflects the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness.
      —As we shall see, this woman, representing God’s true church, brings forth a Man Child —Jesus. The most powerful reflector of God’s love, at the time Jesus was born, was revealed to man in the Old Testament Scriptures. They contain God’s moral law, and also the ceremonial laws which pointed to Jesus.
AND UPON HER HEAD A CROWN
      —only one—
OF TWELVE STARS.
      —“The disciples were to go forth as Christ’s witnesses, to declare to
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the world what they had seen and heard of Him Their office was the most important to which human beings had ever been called, second only to that of Christ Himself. They were to be workers together with God for the saving of men. As in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs stood as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles stand as representatives of the gospel church.” AA 19.

Why does the woman representing God’s true church wear only one crown?
      —“Christ gives power to the voice of the church. ‘Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’” 3T 450.
“Throughout his ministry, Paul had looked to God for direct guidance. At the same time, he had been very careful to labor in harmony with the decisions of the general council at Jerusalem, and as a result the churches were ‘established in the faith, and increased in number daily.’ Acts 16:5.” AA 402. (Study 3T 451, 492; 9T 260, 261; AA 196-200.) (Emphasis added.)
      —“The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to ‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God. Ephesians 3:10 . . .
      —“The church is God’s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His only-begotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. In every age the Lord has had His watchmen, who have borne a faithful testimony to the generation in which they lived. These sentinels gave the message of warning; and when they were called to lay off their armor, others took up the work. God brought these witnesses into covenant relation with Himself, uniting the church on earth with the church in heaven. He has sent forth His angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people.
      —“Through centuries of persecution, conflict, and darkness, God has sustained His church. Not one cloud has fallen upon it that He has not prepared for; not one opposing force has risen to counterwork His work, that He has not foreseen. All has taken place as He predicted. He has not left His church forsaken, but has traced in prophetic declarations what would occur, and that which His Spirit inspired the prophets to foretell has been brought about. All His purposes will be fulfilled. His law is linked with His throne, and no power of evil can destroy it. Truth is inspired and guarded by God; and it will triumph over all opposition.
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      —“During ages of spiritual darkness the church of God has been as a city set on a hill. From age to age, through successive generations, the pure doctrines of heaven have been unfolding within its borders. Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard. It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts . . . Everyone in whose heart Christ abides, everyone who will show forth His love to the world, is a worker together with God for the blessing of humanity . . .
      —“The church of Christ is very precious in His sight. It is the case which contains His jewels, the fold which encloses His flock.” AA 9-13; 6BC 1118. (Emphasis added.)

The Word was Made Flesh, and Dwelt Among Us: (John 1:14.)
AND SHE
      —God’s true church, in the first century—
BEING WITH CHILD CRIED, TRAVAILING IN BIRTH, AND PAINED TO BE DELIVERED.
      —“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son . . .” Galatians 4:4.
      —“. . . Like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God’s purposes know no haste and no delay . . . In heaven’s council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem . . .
      —“While the light of truth seemed to have departed from among men, there were souls who were looking for light, and who were filled with perplexity and sorrow. They were thirsting for a knowledge of the living God, for some assurance of a life beyond the grave . . . With longing eyes they looked for the coming of the Deliverer, when the darkness should be dispelled, and the mystery of the future should be made plain . . .
      —“Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, . . . and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful . . . The deception of sin had reached its height. All the agencies for depraving the souls of men had been put in operation. The Son of God, looking upon the world, beheld suffering and misery. With pity He saw how men had become the victims of satanic cruelty. He looked with compassion upon those who were being corrupted, murdered, and lost. They had chosen a ruler who chained them to his car as captives. Bewildered and deceived, they were moving on in gloomy procession toward eternal ruin, —to death in which is no hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning . . .
      —“Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the hostility of man was most violent against heaven. It was demonstrated before the universe that apart from God, humanity could not be uplifted . . .
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      —“And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled.” DA 32-37. (Emphasis added.)

Satan Seeks to Destroy Jesus:
AND THERE APPEARED ANOTHER WONDER IN HEAVEN;
      —As John is beholding the beautiful lady portrayed in the skies, about to give birth to the world’s Redeemer, he sees another symbol.
AND BEHOLD A GREAT RED DRAGON, HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS, AND SEVEN CROWNS UPON HIS HEADS.
      —Verses 7-9, and 4, tell us who this dragon is, and some of his background:
AND THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN: MICHAEL AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHT AGAINST THE DRAGON; AND THE DRAGON FOUGHT AND HIS ANGELS, AND PREVAILED NOT; NEITHER WAS THEIR PLACE FOUND ANY MORE IN HEAVEN. AND THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT, THAT OLD SERPENT, CALLED THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, WHICH DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD: HE WAS CAST OUT INTO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM . . . AND HIS TAIL DREW THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS OF HEAVEN, AND DID CAST THEM TO THE EARTH.
      —Satan, and one third of the angels, began war in heaven against Michael, God’s dear Son.
      —And now, as Jesus is about to be born, and unite humanity with His divinity, Satan takes up the battle with renewed fury.
AND THE DRAGON STOOD BEFORE THE WOMAN WHICH WAS READY TO BE DELIVERED, FOR TO DEVOUR HER CHILD AS SOON AS IT WAS BORN.
      —Can’t you picture Satan, with his evil angels, in deep and intense conference, planning their strategy to overthrow the Child of promise! They would use King Herod as their instrument to kill the babes of Bethlehem.
AND SHE BROUGHT FORTH A MAN CHILD, WHO WAS TO RULE ALL NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON:
      —“The King of glory stooped low to take humanity . . . The priests and teachers of the nation knew not that the greatest event of the ages was about to take place . . . In a rude building where the beasts are sheltered, . . . the Redeemer of the world is born.
      —“Men know it not, but the tidings fill heaven with rejoicing . . . Above the hills of Bethlehem are gathered an innumerable throng of angels . . . The whole plain was lighted up with the bright shining of the hosts of God. Earth was hushed, and heaven stooped to listen to the song,—
      ‘Glory to God in the highest,
      And on earth peace, good will toward men.’
—“Oh that today the human family could recognize that song!” DA 43-48. (Emphasis added.)
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      —“Even before He took humanity upon Him, He saw the whole length of the path He must travel in order to save that which was lost. Every pang that rent His heart, every insult that was heaped upon His head, every privation that He was called to endure, was open to His view before He laid aside His crown and royal robe, and stepped down from the throne, to clothe His divinity with humanity. The path from the manger to Calvary was all before His eyes. He knew the anguish that would come upon Him. He knew it all, and yet He said, ‘Lo, I come . . .’ Ps. 40:7, 8 . . .
      —“And all that He endured —the blood drops that flowed from His head, His hands, His feet, the agony that racked His frame, and the unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the hiding of His Father’s face— speaks to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the Son of God consents to bear this burden of guilt; for thee He spoils the domains of death, and opens the gates of Paradise. He who stilled the angry waves and walked the foam-capped billows, who made devils tremble and disease flee, who opened blind eyes and called forth the dead to life, —offers Himself upon the cross as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. He, the Sin Bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes sin itself.” DA 410, 755, 756. (Emphasis added.)

Jesus Is Triumphant Over Satan and Sin:
      —“Christ had sojourned in the world for thirty-three years; He had endured its scorn, insult and mockery; He had been rejected and crucified. Now, when about to ascend to His throne of glory, —as He reviews the ingratitude of the people He came to save, —will He not withdraw from them His sympathy and love? Will not His affections be centered upon that realm where He is appreciated, and where sinless angels wait to do His bidding? No; His promise to those loved ones whom He leaves on earth is, ‘I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ Matt. 28:20 . . .
      —“As a divine Conqueror He was about to return with the trophies of victory to the heavenly courts . . . With hands outstretched in blessing, as if in assurance of His protecting care, He slowly ascended from among them . . . As He passed upward, the awestricken disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. A cloud of glory hid Him from their sight; and the words came back to them as the cloudy chariot of angels received Him, ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ At the same time there floated down to them the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.” DA 829-831. (Emphasis added.)
AND HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP UNTO GOD, AND TO HIS THRONE.
      —“Christ had ascended to heaven in the form of humanity . . . The same Jesus who had walked and talked and prayed with them; who had broken bread with them; who had been with them in their boats on the lake; and who had that very day toiled with
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them up the ascent of Olivet, —the same Jesus had now gone to share His Father’s throne. And the angels had assured them that very One whom they had seen go up into heaven, would come again even as He had ascended. He will come ‘with clouds; and every eye shall see Him.’ ‘The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise.’ ‘The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.’ Rev. 1:7; 1Thess. 4:16; Matt. 25:31. Thus will be fulfilled the Lord’s own promise to His disciples: ‘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 14:3. Well might the disciples rejoice in the hope of their Lord’s return.
      —“When the disciples went back to Jerusalem, the people looked upon them with amazement. After the trial and crucifixion of Christ, it had been thought that they would appear downcast and ashamed. Their enemies expected to see upon their faces an expression of sorrow and defeat. Instead of this there was only gladness and triumph. Their faces were aglow with a happiness not born of earth. They did not mourn over disappointed hopes, but were full of praise and thanksgiving to God. With rejoicing they told the wonderful story of Christ’s resurrection and His ascension to heaven, and their testimony was received by many.
      —“The disciples no longer had any distrust of the future. They knew that Jesus was in heaven, and that His sympathies were with them still. They knew that they had a Friend at the throne of God, and they were eager to present their requests to the Father in the name of Jesus. In solemn awe they bowed in prayer, repeating the assurance, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.’ John 16:23, 24. They extended the hand of faith higher and higher, with the mighty argument, ‘It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.’ Rom. 8:34.” DA 832, 833. (Emphasis added.)

At the Death of Jesus, Satan was Unmasked Before the Universe:
AND I HEARD A LOUD VOICE SAYING IN HEAVEN,
      —Listen with John, as vital words ring through the atmosphere—
NOW IS COME SALVATION, AND STRENGTH,
AND THE KINGDOM OF OUR GOD,
AND THE POWER OF HIS CHRIST:
FOR THE ACCUSER OF OUR BRETHREN IS CAST DOWN, WHICH ACCUSED THEM BEFORE OUR GOD DAY AND NIGHT . . . THEREFORE REJOICE, YE HEAVENS, AND YE THAT DWELL IN THEM.
      —When were these triumphant words first spoken?
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      —“Christ did not yield up His life till He had accomplished the work which He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, ‘It is finished.’ John 19:30. The battle had been won. His right hand and His holy arm had gotten Him the victory. As a Conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Saviour’s victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.
      —“To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, ‘It is finished,’ had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ’s victory.
      —“Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The arch apostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.
      —“It was a being of wonderful power and glory that had set himself against God . . . Lucifer had been the covering cherub. He had stood in the light of God’s presence. He had been the highest of all created beings, and had been foremost in revealing God’s purposes to the universe. After he had sinned, his power to deceive was the more deceptive, and the unveiling of his character was the more difficult; because of the exalted position he had held with the Father.
      —“God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this. Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan’s government. The Lord’s principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God’s government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.
      —“It was God’s purpose to place things on an eternal basis of security, and in the councils of heaven it was decided that time must be given for Satan to develop the principles which were the foundation of his system of government. He had claimed that these were superior to God’s principles. Time was given for the working of Satan’s principles, that they might be seen by the heavenly universe.
      —“Satan led men into sin, and the plan of redemption was put in operation. For four thousand years, Christ was working for man’s uplifting, and Satan for his ruin and degradation. And the heavenly universe beheld it all.
      —“When Jesus came into the world, Satan’s power was turned against Him. From the time when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem, the usurper worked to bring about His destruction. In every possible way he sought to prevent Jesus from developing a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry, and an unblemished sacrifice.
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But he was defeated. He could not lead Jesus into sin. He could not discourage Him, or drive Him from a work He had come on earth to do. From the desert to Calvary, the storm of Satan’s wrath beat upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father, and press on in the bloodstained path. All the efforts of Satan to oppress and overcome Him only brought out in a purer light His spotless character.
      —“All heaven and the unfallen worlds had been witness to the controversy. With what intense interest did they follow the closing scenes of the conflict. They beheld the Saviour enter the garden of Gethsemane, His soul bowed down with the horror of a great darkness. They heard His bitter cry, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.’ Matt. 26:39. As the Father’s presence was withdrawn, they saw Him sorrowful with a bitterness of sorrow exceeding that of the last great struggle with death. The bloody sweat was forced from His pores, and fell in drops upon the ground. Thrice the prayer for deliverance was wrung from His lips. Heaven could no longer endure the sight, and a messenger of comfort was sent to the Son of God.
      —“Heaven beheld the Victim betrayed into the hands of the murderous mob, and with mockery and violence hurried from one tribunal to another. It heard the sneers of His persecutors because of His lowly birth. It heard the denial with cursing and swearing by one of His best-loved disciples. It saw the frenzied work of Satan, and his power over the hearts of men. Oh, fearful scene! the Saviour seized at midnight in Gethsemane, dragged to and fro from palace to judgment hall, arraigned twice before the priests, twice before the Sanhedrin, twice before Pilate, and once before Herod, mocked, scourged, condemned, and led out to be crucified, bearing the heavy burden of the cross, amid the wailing of the daughters of Jerusalem and the jeering of the rabble.
      —“Heaven viewed with grief and amazement Christ hanging upon the cross, blood flowing from His wounded temples, and sweat tinged with blood standing upon His brow. From His hands and feet the blood fell, drop by drop, upon the rock drilled for the foot of the cross. The wounds made by the nails gaped as the weight of His body dragged upon His hands. His labored breath grew quick and deep, as His soul panted under the burden of the sins of the world. All heaven was filled with wonder when the prayer of Christ was offered in the midst of His terrible suffering, —‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ Luke 23:34. Yet there stood man, formed in the image of God, joining to crush out the life of His only-begotten Son. What a sight for the heavenly universe!
      —“The principalities and powers of darkness were assembled around the cross, casting the hellish shadow of unbelief into the hearts of men . . . Satanic agencies confederated with evil men in leading the people to believe Christ the chief of sinners, and to make Him the object of detestation. Those who mocked Christ as He hung upon the cross were imbued with the spirit of the first great rebel. He filled them with vile and loathsome speeches. He inspired their taunts. But by all this he gained nothing.
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      —“Could one sin have been found in Christ, had He in one particular yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God and man would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith and His submission to God. ‘And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.’ Rev. 12:10.
      —“Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.” DA 758-761. (Emphasis added.)
      —“In the contest between Christ and Satan, during the Saviour’s earthly ministry, the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe as did his cruel warfare upon the world’s Redeemer . . . The pent-up fires of envy and malice, hatred and revenge, burst forth on Calvary against the Son of God, while all heaven gazed upon the scene in silent horror . . .” GC 501. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The casting down of Satan as an accuser of the brethren in heaven was accomplished by the great work of Christ in giving up His life . . .
      —“In carrying out his enmity to Christ until He hung upon the cross of Calvary, with wounded, bruised body and broken heart, Satan completely uprooted himself from the affections of the universe. It was then seen that God had in His Son denied Himself, giving Himself for the sins of the world, because He loved mankind.” 7BC 973, 974. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Christ’s death proved God’s administration and government to be without a flaw. Satan’s charge in regard to the conflicting attributes of justice and mercy was forever settled beyond question . . .
      —“God bowed His head satisfied. Now justice and mercy could blend. Now He could be just, and yet the Justifier of all who should believe on Christ. He . . . Iooked upon the Victim expiring on the cross, and said, ‘It is finished. The human race shall have another trial.’ The redemption price was paid, and Satan fell like lightning from heaven.” QD 674.

      —As Jesus was expiring on the cross, God’s words, “It is finished,” were rolling through the universe from planet to planet.
      —And Jesus, with the shout of a Conqueror, made the same proclamation with His dying breath.
      —“It is finished!” The great controversy between Christ and Satan, forever settled!
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      —Loyal angels and the inhabitants of unfallen worlds had been filled with anguish and terror as this phase of the conflict between Christ and Satan came to its close.
      —But as the mighty words —from both the Father and the Son— pierced the atmosphere, and they realized their significance, there arose a mighty shout of victory throughout the universe!
      —And even as they were praising God and His victorious Son who hung lifeless on the cross, they hear another thrilling announcement. Through the clouds, and out into space, go these triumphant words:
      —Now is come salvation,
          and strength,
          and the kingdom of our God,
          and the power of His Christ:
          for the accuser of our brethren is cast down . . .
THEREFORE REJOICE, YE HEAVENS, AND YE THAT DWELL IN THEM.
      —Rejoice! unfallen worlds. Satan no longer has access to you—and his days on planet earth are numbered!
      —Jesus is victor in the great controversy between Christ and Satan!
          —Now—  is come salvation for the repenting, believing sinner.
          —Now—  is come strength—the strength of the prevailing Lamb.
          —Now—  is come the eternal kingdom of our God—the kingdom which shall never end, and which Satan has been trying to tear down for over 4000 years.
          —Now—  is come the power of His Christ—power to contend with the evil one in behalf of every humble person who signifies his need of help.
      —Pause in silent reverence for a moment, and contemplate what this announcement means to you personally —this announcement which was made to the universe as the body of God’s dear Son was hanging on the cross.
      —“. . . Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ . . .” Revelation 12:10.
          —Accept this proclamation as your royal right to be a child of God.
          —Tell Satan, that by the grace of God, he is your defeated foe!
          —Thank God for giving His only-begotten Son that you might become a part of His family!
          —Let your heart melt in gratitude to Jesus, who was willing to die in your stead, and pay the ransom price for your soul on Mount Calvary!
          —Rejoice that Christ has power to untangle the snares that Satan has cunningly woven around your feet!
          —Now—  yes, right now, salvation, and strength, and God’s kingdom, and Christ’s power, may lift you out of the pit of sin, and keep you on the royal pathway!
      —What a gift!—but at what a price! Throughout eternity we will continue to marvel at its value —and at what it cost the eternal Family to make such a Gift available to us.
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      —“If we look to the cross of Calvary, every boast will die upon our lips, and we shall cry, ‘Unclean, unworthy of so great suffering, of; so rich a price paid for my redemption.’ . . .
      —“We can learn the depths of our transgression only by the length of the chain let down to draw us up.” 1SM 316.

How May Fallen Man Overcome Satan?
AND THEY
      —sinners who appreciate heaven’s love—
OVERCAME HIM
      —the accuser of the brethren—
BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB
AND THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY.
      —Christ’s part is infinitely large—and man’s part is infinitely small. But Christ’s part—His cleansing blood—does not remove the stain from the guilty soul until it is accepted by the sinner.
      —“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:10.
      —“All should have something to say for the Lord, for by so doing they will be blest. A book of remembrance is written of those who do not forsake the assembling of themselves together, but speak often one to another. The remnant are to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Some expect to overcome alone by the blood of the Lamb, without making any special effort of their own. I saw that God has been merciful in giving us the power of speech. He has given us a tongue, and we are accountable to Him for its use. We should glorify God with our mouth, speaking in honor of the truth and of His unbounded mercy, and overcome by the word of our testimony through the blood of the Lamb.” EW 114. (Emphasis added.)
      —Those who do not overcome “by the word of their testimony,” are apt to use the gift of speech to accuse their brethren.
      “Satan is constantly encouraging unbelief. He notes the mistakes and failings of Christ’s professed followers, and taunts the angels of God with them. He is an accuser of the brethren, and he will influence as many as possible to do the same work. Those who take it upon themselves to watch their neighbor’s garden instead of weeding their own plot of ground will surely find their own gardens so grown up to weeds that every precious plant will be crowded out.” 5T 286.
      —What did the angels write down yesterday about the word of your testimony?
          —Did you speak of Jesus and His love
          or did you talk about the faults of your neighbor?
AND THEY
      —who overcame the accuser of the brethren by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony
LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH.
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      —Jesus gave His life for them. And the soldiers of the cross are willing to plant His banner of truth in any field their General may indicate, regardless of the cost.
      —If they are called to give their lives, while witnessing in enemy territory, they have the assurance that “the blood of Christians is seed,” (GC 42) and it will yield a harvest for God’s kingdom.
      —Death, to the Christian, is not be feared. (Psalm 23.) It is like sleeping at night. And Jesus will call His children from their sleep on the great resurrection morning. 1Thessalonians 4:16, 17; 1Corinthians 15:51-53; John 5:28, 29.
      —When Jesus sent forth His twelve disciples, He told them:
      “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you . . . And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved . . . And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell . . . Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven . . . And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” Matthew 10:16, 39. (Emphasis added.)

The Devil is Angry with God’s People:
      —At the same time that the proclamation of triumph was made to the universe, when Jesus was hanging on Calvary’s tree, another proclamation was made—a proclamation of woe.
WOE TO THE INHABITERS OF THE EARTH AND OF THE SEA! FOR THE DEVIL IS COME DOWN UNTO YOU, HAVING GREAT WRATH, BECAUSE HE KNOWETH THAT HE HATH BUT A SHORT TIME.
      —When Satan lost in the great controversy with Jesus on earth, he knew that his days were limited.
AND WHEN THE DRAGON SAW THAT HE WAS CAST UNTO THE EARTH,
      —and that the last link of sympathy with other worlds was broken—
HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHICH BROUGHT FORTH THE MAN CHILD.
      —“Satan again counseled with his angels, [at the ascension of Jesus] and with bitter hatred against God’s government told them that while he retained his power and authority upon earth their effort must be tenfold stronger against the followers of Jesus. They had
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prevailed nothing against Christ but must overthrow His followers, if possible. In every generation they must seek to ensnare those who would believe in Jesus. He related to his angels that Jesus had given His disciples power to rebuke them and cast them out, and to heal those whom they should afflict. Then Satan’s angels went forth like roaring lions, seeking to destroy the followers of Jesus.” EW 191, 192. (Emphasis added.)
AND THE WOMAN
      —God’s true church—
FLED INTO THE WILDERNESS,
      —for seclusion—
WHERE SHE HATH A PLACE PREPARED OF GOD, THAT THEY SHOULD FEED HER THERE A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND THREESCORE DAYS . . .
      —This is twelve hundred and sixty years in prophetic time, using the day-for-a-year yardstick. See Ezekiel 4:6.
AND TO THE WOMAN WERE GIVEN TWO WINGS OF A GREAT EAGLE, THAT SHE MIGHT FLY INTO THE WILDERNESS, INTO HER PLACE, WHERE SHE IS NOURISHED
      —by God
FOR A TIME, [1 year] TIMES, [2 years] AND A HALF A TIME,
      —(Three and a half years are the same as 1260 days.)
FROM THE FACE OF THE SERPENT.
      —“that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.” Revelation 12:9.
      —“The periods here mentioned—‘forty and two months,’ and ‘a thousand two hundred and threescore days’ —are the same, alike representing the time in which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate in 1798.” GC 266.
      —“Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons, or to suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headsman’s ax. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: ‘Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.’ Luke 21:16, 17. Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet: ‘The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.’ Revelation 12:6.” GC 54, 55. (Emphasis added.)
AND THE SERPENT CAST OUT OF HIS MOUTH WATER AS A FLOOD AFTER THE WOMAN, THAT HE MIGHT CAUSE HER TO BE CARRIED AWAY OF THE FLOOD.
      —The devil cast a flood of persecution after God’s true church, to try to destroy her completely, but
THE EARTH HELPED THE WOMAN,
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      —“Behind the lofty bulwarks of the mountains,” some found refuge. Others sought freedom with the pilgrim fathers, on the New England shores. See GC 65; 291-294.
AND THE EARTH OPENED HER MOUTH, AND SWALLOWED THE FLOOD WHICH THE DRAGON CAST OUT OF HIS
MOUTH.

The Builders of God’s Church Shine Like Jets of Light:
      —God has preserved true witnesses for Him in every generation.
      —“Many who wrought as builders of the church could be likened to the builders of the wall in Nehemiah’s day . . .
      —“Kings and governors, priests and rulers, sought to destroy the temple of God. But in the face of imprisonment, torture, and death, faithful men carried the work forward; and the structure grew, beautiful and symmetrical. At times the workmen were almost blinded by the mists of superstition that settled around them. At times they were almost overpowered by the violence of their opponents. But with unfaltering faith and unfailing courage they pressed on with the work.
      —“One after another the foremost of the builders fell by the hand of the enemy. Stephen was stoned; James was slain by the sword; Paul was beheaded; Peter was crucified; John was exiled. Yet the church grew. New workers took the place of those who fell, and stone after stone was added to the building. Thus slowly ascended the temple of the church of God.
      —“Centuries of fierce persecution followed the establishment of the Christian church, but there were never wanting men who counted the work of building God’s temple dearer than life itself . . .
      —“The enemy of righteousness left nothing undone in his effort to stop the work committed to the Lord’s builders. But God ‘left not Himself without witness.’ Acts 14:17. Workers were raised up who ably defended the faith once delivered to the saints. History bears record to the fortitude and heroism of these men. Like the apostles, many of them fell at their post, but the building of the temple went steadily forward. The workmen were slain, but the work advanced. The Waldenses, John Wycliffe, Huss and Jerome, Martin Luther and Zwingli, Cranmer, Latimer, and Knox, the Huguenots, John and Charles Wesley, and a host of others brought to the foundation material that will endure throughout eternity. And in later years those who have so nobly endeavored to promote the circulation of God’s word, and those who by their service in heathen lands have prepared the way for the proclamation of the last great message—these also have helped to rear the structure.
      —“Through the ages that have passed since the days of the apostles, the building of God’s temple has never ceased. We may look back through the centuries and see the living stones of which it is composed gleaming like jets of light through the darkness of error and superstition. Throughout eternity these precious jewels will shine with increasing luster, testifying to the power of the truth of God . . .
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      —“But the structure is not yet complete. We who are living in this age have a work to do, a part to act. We are to bring to the foundation material that will stand the test of fire—gold, silver and precious stones, ‘Polished after the similitude of a palace.’
      —“As Christ sent forth His disciples, so today He sends forth the members of His church. The same power that the apostles had is for them. If they will make God their strength, He will work with them, and they shall not labor in vain . . . And He bids us go forth to speak the words He gives us, feeling His holy touch upon our lips.
      —“Christ has given to the church a sacred charge. Every member should be a channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is nothing that the Saviour desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and His character. There is nothing that the world needs so much as the manifestation through humanity of the Saviour’s love. All heaven is waiting for men and women through whom God can reveal the power of Christianity . . .
      —“If she will be true to her allegiance, if she will honor the God of Israel, there is no power that can stand against her.” AA 596-600. (Emphasis added.)

Two Characteristics of God’s True Remnant Church:
AND THE DRAGON
      —the great seven-headed beast, the devil—
WAS WROTH WITH THE WOMAN
      —God’s faithful people, His church—
AND WENT TO MAKE WAR WITH THE REMNANT OF HER SEED,
      —those living in the last end of time—
WHICH KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD,
      —as found in the decalogue of Exodus 20—
AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST.
      —“. . .The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.
      —The devil is especially angry with God’s remnant church, which has these two characteristics:
          1.  They honor all of God’s holy law, including the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
          2.  They have the gift of the Spirit of prophecy to guide them through the final crisis.
      —Not for any new doctrine, but for help in facing the new surge of anger which the devil and his hosts of evil angels would fling at them, God promised His remnant people additional guidance. These messages of counsel and encouragement came from God’s special messenger for the latter days.  —Ellen G. White.
      —Her writings are like a telescope. They make no new “stars” in the sky; they shed light on the principles already found in the Bible.
      —“The Lord has sent His people much instruction, line upon line, precept upon precept . . . Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light. CE 37. (Emphasis added.)
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      —“The remnant church will be brought into great trial and distress. Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects, he has gained control of the apostate churches; but here is a little company that are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. As he influenced the heathen nations to destroy Israel, so in the near future he will stir up the wicked powers of earth to destroy the people of God. All will be required to render obedience to human edicts in violation of the divine law. Those who will be true to God and to duty will be menaced, denounced, and proscribed. They will be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends.”
      —“Their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer. 5T 472, 473. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The great controversy between Christ and Satan, that has been carried on for nearly six thousand years, is soon to close; and the wicked one redoubles his efforts to defeat the work of Christ in man’s behalf and to fasten souls in his snares. To hold the people in darkness and impenitence till the Saviour’s mediation is ended, and there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, is the object which he seeks to accomplish. . .
      —“Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the searching of the Scriptures will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore he invents every possible device to engross the mind . . .
      —“Satan is well aware that the weakest soul who abides in Christ is more than a match for the hosts of darkness, and that, should he reveal himself openly, he would be met and resisted. Therefore he seeks to draw away the soldiers of the cross from their strong fortification, while he lies in ambush with his forces, ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground. Only in humble reliance upon God, and obedience to all His commandments, can we be secure.
      —“No man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer. Especially should we entreat the Lord for wisdom to understand His word. Here are revealed the wiles of the tempter and the means by which he may be successfully resisted. Satan is an expert in quoting Scripture, placing his own interpretation upon passages, by which he hopes to cause us to stumble. We should study the Bible with humility of heart, never losing sight of our dependence upon God.” GC 518, 519, 530. (Emphasis added.)
      —Friend, the “dragon” is wroth with the “woman,” and is coming to make special war against those who honor God’s commandments, and who have the testimony of Jesus. No amount of wisdom or cunning will enable you to resist his plans for you. He has 6,000 years of experience—and he is especially furious as his time is running out. Your only hope is to abide in Jesus—and study His word.
      —“. . . I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me . . .” Psalms 23:4.
      —(Revelation 12 gives us a description of God’s true church in the Christian era and during the final conflict. Revelation 13 shows us the devil’s counterfeit church during this same period of time.)
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The Great Red Dragon—with Seven Heads and Ten Horns:

Revelation 13.
AND I
      —John—
STOOD UPON THE SAND OF THE SEA,
      —He is so interested in the vision before him that he rises to his feet.
      —Let us stand with John, on the Isle of Patmos, and watch with him.
AND SAW A BEAST RISE UP OUT OF THE SEA,
HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS, AND UPON HIS HORNS TEN CROWNS AND UPON HIS HEADS THE NAME OF BLASPHEMY.
      —This seven-headed beast is identified in Revelation 12:3, 9:
          —“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world . . .” (Emphasis added]
AND THE BEAST WHICH I SAW WAS LIKE UNTO A LEOPARD
AND HIS FEET WERE AS THE FEET OF A BEAR,
AND HIS MOUTH AS THE MOUTH OF A LION.
  —This beast is also the same as the one from the bottomless pit.
          —“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” Revelation 11:7.
          —“And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit . . .” Revelation 9:11. See Revelation 20:1-3.
      —Revelation 17 gives us additional information regarding this seven headed beast, who is Satan himself—from the bottomless pit.
          —“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” Verse 3.
—All of these texts refer to the same person—primarily Satan. Let us put the composite together, so we can see exactly what he is like.
          —The beast has a body like a leopard, and he is called a dragon
          —He has the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion.
          —He is scarlet—red—in color, and is from the bottomless pit.
          —He has seven heads, with seven crowns upon his heads.
          —He has ten horns, with ten crowns upon his horns.
          —He carries a woman on his back—a fallen church.
          —He deceives the whole world, and wars against God’s people.
          —He is called “a king” —and an “angel” —and receives worship
          —He is full of names of blasphemy—has it written on his heads
—He is the beast of Revelation 13:3: “Satan is working to the utmost to make himself as God and to destroy all who oppose his power. And today the world is bowing before him. His power is received as the power of God. The prophecy of the Revelation is being fulfilled, that ‘all the world wondered after the beast.’ Revelation 13:3.” 6T 14. (Emphasis added.)
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      —The beast, who comes up out of the sea, with seven heads and ten horns —the beast of Revelation 13:3—is Satan himself.
      —And every time that John speaks of a beast with seven heads and ten horns, or of a beast from the bottomless pit, we may know that he is referring primarily to Satan.
      —But this beast of Revelation 13 also has a secondary meaning. As John watched him arise out of the sea, he also represented the Roman government.
          —“The dragon is said to be Satan (Revelation 12:9); he it was that moved upon Herod to put the Saviour to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making war upon Christ and His people during the first centuries of the Christian Era was the Roman Empire, in which paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus while the dragon, primarily, represents Satan, it is, in a secondary sense a symbol of pagan Rome.” GC 438. (Emphasis added.)
      —In the vision which Jesus gave to John, recorded in Revelation 17, we can see why the beast of Revelation 13 is referred to as both Satan himself, and the Roman government:
          —“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” Revelation 17:9-11.
      —The seven heads on the devil’s beast are seven kings —seven world governments. At the time when John received the visions on the Isle of Patmos, five of the governments had fallen. Their power had passed away. The sixth head was in power —the Roman government. And the seventh was yet to come.
      —The devil himself is called “the eighth.” But the beast only has seven heads. So the body of the beast would necessarily work through one of his heads.
      —Therefore, in Revelation 13, when John saw the beast with seven heads and ten horns rise up out of the sea, he was looking at the devil’s beast, when five of his heads were inactive, and his sixth head was in power. That is why the beast of Revelation 13 is both the devil’s kingdom and the Roman government.

The Roman government is divided into two phases—pagan Rome and papal Rome.
Consider these two points in identifying the devil’s beast when the sixth head is in power:
          1.  Daniel pictures both pagan Rome and papal Rome in one beast:
          “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth . . . And the ten horns of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
          “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and
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shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:7, 23-25.
          2.  The principles of pagan Rome developed during the time of pagan Rome.
              And the principles of pagan Rome continue as a part of papal Rome.
              “The apostle Paul, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, foretold the great apostasy which would result in the establishment of the papal power . . . Even at that early date he saw, creeping into the church, errors that would prepare the way for the development of the papacy. Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, ‘the mystery of iniquity’ carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church . . . The nominal conversion of Constantine in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing, and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.” GC 49, 50. (Emphasis added.)
      —Thus we see, that even though there is a date set by historians, when the papal power accepted civil responsibilities from the pagan power, the spirit of paganism still continues.
      —And the spirit of the papal power was developing in the hearts of men back in the early days of pagan Rome, when the apostle Paul was still alive.
      —Because of the overlapping of principles, in both directions, the sixth head on the great beast includes both pagan and papal Rome —the same as the fourth beast of Daniel 7.

The Sixth Head Receives Power—and Later a Deadly Wound:
      —Let us stand with John again on the Isle of Patmos, and watch as this seven headed beast comes out of the sea His sixth head is in power. Where did he get this power?
AND THE DRAGON GAVE HIM HIS POWER, AND HIS SEAT, AND GREAT AUTHORITY.
      —The dragon “primarily, represents Satan,” and “in a secondary sense,” is “a symbol of pagan Rome.” GC 438. Both of them gave power to the papacy, after pagan Rome was in existence.
      —“In chapter 13 (verses 1-10) is described another beast, ‘like unto a leopard,’ to which the dragon gave ‘his power, and his seat, and great authority.’ This symbol, as most Protestants have believed, represents the papacy, which succeeded to the power and seat and
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authority once held by the ancient Roman empire. Of the leopardlike beast it is declared: ‘THERE WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM A MOUTH SPEAKING GREAT THINGS AND BLASPHEMIES. . . AND HE OPENED HIS MOUTH IN BLASPHEMY AGAINST GOD, TO BLASPHEME HIS NAME, AND HIS TABERNACLE, AND THEM THAT DWELL IN HEAVEN. AND IT WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM TO MAKE WAR WITH THE SAINTS, AND TO OVERCOME THEM: AND POWER WAS GIVEN HIM OVER ALL KINDREDS, AND TONGUES, AND NATIONS.’       —This prophecy, which is nearly identical with the description of the little horn of Daniel 7, unquestionably points to the papacy.
“‘POWER WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM TO CONTINUE FORTY AND TWO MONTHS.’ And, says the prophet, ‘I SAW ONE OF HIS HEADS AS IT WERE WOUNDED TO DEATH. And again: ‘HE THAT LEADETH INTO CAPTIVITY SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY: HE THAT KILLETH WITH THE SWORD MUST BE KILLED WITH THE SWORD.’ The forty and two months are the same as the ‘time and times and the dividing of time,’ three years and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7 —the time during which the papal power was to oppress God’s people This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, ‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.’” GC 439. (Emphasis added.)
AND I
      —John—
SAW ONE OF HIS HEADS
      —the sixth one—
WOUNDED TO DEATH.
      —In 1798, “a French army entered Rome and made the pope a prisoner . . . The papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power which it before possessed.” GC 266. (Emphasis added.)
      —But “life” is to be given this wounded head at the first Sunday law.
      “When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism.” 5T 712. (Emphasis added.)
      —And complete healing will come to this wounded head, when the Sunday law is enforced by secular laws.
      “Let the principle once be established in the United States that the church may employ or control the power of the state; that religious observance may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured.” GC 581.
AND HIS DEADLY WOUND WAS HEALED:
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By the union of church and state, the former power to persecute is restored—and the deadly wound received in 1798 is healed.

After the Healing, the Beast and his Head Receive Universal Worship:
AND ALL THE WORLD WONDERED AFTER THE BEAST.
      —“As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example.” 6T 18. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world.” 6T 395. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Not yet, however, can it be said that ‘Babylon is fallen, . . . because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ She has not yet made all nations do this . . . Not until this condition shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete.” GC 389, 390. (Emphasis in the original.)
      —How long is the sixth head to continue in power?
      “After this, says the prophet, ‘his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.’ Paul states plainly that the ‘man of sin’ will continue until the second advent. 2Thessalonians 2:3-8. To the very close of time he will carry forward the work of deception. And the revelator declares, also referring to the papacy: ‘ALL THAT DWELL UPON THE EARTH’ SHALL WORSHIP HIM, WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT’ WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE. Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church.” GC 579.
      —(The sixth head on the great beast does not have to fall to make room for the seventh head, which is to continue “a short space” under the devil’s direction. The sixth head unites with the seventh. The seventh head is a masterpiece of the devil’s designing, bringing a threefold union into existence. See the section on Revelation 17 in Chapter 6. The sixth head and the seventh head continue together with the beast, until Christ’s second coming, and the close of time.) AND THEY WORSHIPPED THE DRAGON WHICH GAVE POWER UNTO THE BEAST:
      —“The time is at hand when Satan will work miracles to confirm minds in the belief that he is God.” 7BC 975. (Emphasis added.)
      —“We are standing upon the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. Strange, eventful history is being recorded in the books of heaven. Everything in our world is m agitation . . . Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains . . .
      —“Satan is busily laying his plans for the last mighty conflict, when all will take sides . . . Satan is working to the utmost to make himself as God and to destroy all who oppose his power . . .
      —“Men cherish the attributes of the first great deceiver. They have
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accepted him as God, and have become imbued with his spirit.
      —“But the cloud of judicial wrath hangs over them, containing the same elements that destroyed Sodom. In his visions of things to come the prophet John beheld this scene. This demon worship was revealed to him, and it seemed to him as if the whole world were standing on the brink of perdition. But as he looked with intense interest he beheld the company of God’s commandment keeping people. They had upon their foreheads the seal of the living God . . .” 6T 14, 15. (Emphasis added.)
      —“I saw the rapidity with which this delusion [spiritualism] was spreading. A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully. I fixed my eyes upon the train. It seemed that the whole world was on board, that there could not be one left. Said the angel, ‘They are binding in bundles ready to burn.’ Then he showed me the conductor, who appeared like a stately, fair person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, ‘It is Satan. He is the conductor in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive. They are given over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they may be damned. This agent, the next highest in order to him, is the engineer, and other of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them, and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition.
      —“‘I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth . . .’ EW 88. (Emphasis added.)
      —Satan “will come personating Jesus Christ, working mighty miracles; and men will fall down and worship him as Jesus Christ.
      —“We shall be commanded to worship this being, whom the world will glorify as Christ. What shall we do?—Tell them that Christ has warned us against just such a foe, who is man’s worst enemy, yet who claims to be God; and that when Christ shall make His appearance, it will be with power and great glory, accompanied by ten thousand times ten thousand angels and thousands of thousands; and that when He shall come, we shall know His voice.” 6BC 1105, 1106. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Disguised as an angel of light, he [Satan] will walk the earth as a wonderworker. In beautiful language he will present lofty sentiments. Good words will be spoken by him, and good deeds performed. Christ will be personified, but on one point there will be a marked distinction. Satan will turn the people from the law of God. FE 471, 472. (Emphasis added.)
AND THEY WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, SAYING, WHO IS LIKE UNTO THE BEAST? WHO IS ABLE TO MAKE WAR WITH HIM?
      —“. . . In this homage to the papacy the United States will not be alone. The influence of Rome in the countries that once acknowledged her dominion is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy foretells a restoration of her power. ‘I saw one of her heads as it
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were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.’ Verse 3 . . . And the revelation declares, also referring to the papacy: ‘All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.’ Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church . . . And a movement to enforce Sunday observance is fast gaining ground.
      —“Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Roman Church. She can read what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their acceptance of the false sabbath and that they are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself employed in bygone days. Those who reject the light of truth will yet seek the aid of this self-styled infallible power to exalt an institution that originated with her. How readily she will come to the help of Protestants in this work it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better than the papal leaders how to deal with those who are disobedient to the church?
      —“The Roman Catholic Church, with all its ramifications throughout the world, forms one vast organization under the control, and designed to serve the interests, of the papal see. Its millions of communicants, in every country on the globe, are instructed to hold themselves as bound in allegiance to the pope. Whatever their nationality or their government, they are to regard the authority of the church as above all other. Though they may take the oath pledging their loyalty to the state, yet back of this lies the vow of obedience to Rome, absolving them from every pledge inimical to her interests.” GC 579, 580. (Emphasis added.)

Blasphemy:
AND THERE WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM A MOUTH SPEAKING GREAT THINGS AND BLASPHEMIES;
      —After the deadly wound is healed, there will still be the same blasphemous spirit as in the dark ages.
      —What is blasphemy?
          “The Jews answered Him, [Jesus] saying, For a good work we stone Thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.” John 10:33.
      —“. . . The pope has been given the very titles of Deity. He has been styled ‘Lord God the Pope’ (see Appendix), and has been declared infallible. He demands the homage of all men. GC 50.
AND POWER WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM TO CONTINUE FORTY AND TWO MONTHS.
      —There is to be a literal time prophecy after the deadly wound is healed, using the day-for-a-day yardstick,
          just as there was a prophetic time prophecy before the wound was inflicted, using the day-for-a-year measurement.
          (Study both of these applications in Chapter 4—on time prophecy.)
          (Revelation 13, like many other prophecies, has a double meaning.)
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AND HE OPENED HIS MOUTH IN BLASPHEMY AGAINST GOD, TO BLASPHEME HIS NAME,
      —“The Scriptural ordnance of the Lord’s Supper had been supplanted by the idolatrous sacrifice of the mass. Papal priests pretended, by their senseless mummery, to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual ‘body and blood of Christ.’ —Cardinal Wiseman, The Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist, Proved From Scripture, lecture 8, sec. 3, par. 26. With blasphemous presumption, they openly claimed the power of creating God, the Creator of all things. Christians were required, on pain of death, to avow their faith in this horrible, Heaven-insulting heresy. Multitudes who refused were given to the flames. (See Appendix.)” GC 59. (Emphasis added.)
      —The beast power is also to blaspheme
HIS TABERNACLE,
      —the sacred heavenly sanctuary. (He substitutes a false tabernacle.)
      —(“The enemy will bring in false theories, such as the doctrine that there is no sanctuary. This is one of the points on which there will be a departing from the faith.” Ev 224.)
AND THEM THAT DWELL IN HEAVEN.
      —“Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator and that none could approach God except through him; and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed . . . Thus the minds of the people were turned away from God to fallible, erring, and cruel men, nay, more, to the prince of darkness himself, who exercised his power through them. Sin was disguised in a garb of sanctity. When the Scriptures are suppressed, and man comes to regard himself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, deception, and debasing iniquity. With the elevation of human laws and traditions was manifest the corruption that ever results from setting aside the law of God.” GC 55. (Emphasis added.)


Severe Persecution Rekindled:
AND IT WAS GIVEN UNTO HIM
      —the beast power
TO MAKE WAR WITH THE SAINTS,
      —At the time of the oppressive Sunday law, after the deadly wound is healed, the church will again employ the state to enforce her decrees.
AND TO OVERCOME THEM:
      —“Those who live during the last days of this earth’s history will know what it means to be persecuted for the truth’s sake. In the courts injustice will prevail. The judges will refuse to listen to the reasons of those who are loyal to the commandments of God, because they know that arguments in favor of the fourth commandment are unanswerable. They will say, ‘We have a law, and by our
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law he ought to die.’ God’s law is nothing to them. ‘Our law’ with them is supreme. Those who respect this human law will be favored, but those who will not bow to the idol sabbath will have no favor shown them. ST May 26, 1898. (Emphasis added.)
      —“God’s word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.” GC 581. (Emphasis added.)
AND ALL THAT DWELL UPON THE EARTH SHALL WORSHIP HIM, WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

God’s Other True Sheep Will Heed His Call:
      —“All in the world are not lawless and sinful. God has many thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal. There are God-fearing” men and women in the fallen churches. If this were not so we would not be given the message to bear: ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen . . . Come out of her, My people.’ Revelation 18:2-4. Many of the honest in heart are gasping for a breath of life from heaven. They will recognize the gospel when it is brought to them in the beauty and simplicity with which it is presented in God’s word. 9T 1l0, 111. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition and are longing for clearer light.” GC 390. (Emphasis added.)
      —“It is true that there are real Christians in the Roman Catholic communion. Thousands in that church are serving God according to the best light they have . . . They have never seen the contrast between a living heart service and a round of mere forms and ceremonies. God looks with pitying tenderness upon these souls, educated as they are in a faith that is delusive and unsatisfying. He will reveal to them the truth as it is in Jesus, and many will yet take their position with His people.” GC 565. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . . When the storm of persecution really breaks upon us, the true sheep will hear the true Shepherd’s voice. Self-denying efforts will be put forth to save the lost, and many who have strayed from
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the fold will come back to follow the great Shepherd. The people of God will draw together to present to the enemy a united front.” 6T 401. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . .The attention of the people is to be called to the downtrodden law of God, which is contained in the ark of the testament . . . They see that instead of observing the seventh day, the day that God sanctified, and commanded to be observed as the Sabbath, they are keeping the first day of the week. But they honestly desire to do God’s will, and they begin to search the Scriptures to find the reason for the change. Failing to find any scriptural authority for the custom, the question arises, Shall we accept a truth that has become unpopular, and obey the commandments of God, or shall we continue with the world, and obey the commandments of men? With open Bibles they weep, and pray, and compare scripture with scripture, until, convinced of the truth, they conscientiously take their stand as keepers of the commandments of God.” ST May 5, 1887. (Emphasis added.)
      —When the true issues are clearly presented, these will not worship the beast. Their names will be enrolled in the book of life of the Lamb —slain from the foundation of the world.
IF ANY MAN HAVE AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR . . .
      —“The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the third angel’s message.” GC 449.
      —“. . . If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:9-11.
      —“When God sends to men warnings so important that they are represented as proclaimed by holy angels flying in the midst of heaven, He requires every person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the message. The fearful judgments denounced against the worship of the beast and his image (Revelation 14:9-11), should lead all to a diligent study of the prophecies to learn what the mark of the beast is, and how they are to avoid receiving it. But the masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth and are turned unto fables . . . The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world loving heart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.
      —“But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms.” GC 594, 595. (Emphasis added.)
HERE IS THE PATIENCE AND THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS.
      —“. . . Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. (Emphasis added.)
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“. . Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19.
HE THAT LEADETH INTO CAPTIVITY SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY: HE THAT KILLETH WITH THE SWORD MUST BE KILLED WITH THE SWORD.
      —The sixth head on the devil’s beast, which caused so much suffering to God’s people in the Christian era, received a deadly wound in 1798, and went into captivity for a brief period of time. (See GC 439.) But he did not die; the wound began to heal
      —However, his end is in sight. In the great battle of Armageddon this power, who has killed millions with the sword, is to be killed with the sword of Him who rides forth on the white horse. See Revelation 19:19-21; Chapter 6.

The Beast with Two Horns Like a Lamb—the United States:
      —As John was standing on the Isle of Patmos, he saw another beast appear. But this one didn’t come out of the sea, like the great leopard beast with seven heads and ten horde, or like the four beasts of Daniel 7. Where did this new beast arise from?
AND I BEHELD ANOTHER BEAST COMING UP OUT OF THE EARTH; AND HE HAD TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB,
      —In Bible symbols, what is the difference between the “sea” and the earth?
      —“Both the appearance of this beast [coming up out of the earth] and the manner of its rise indicate that the nation which it represents is unlike those presented under the preceding symbols. The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey, rising when ‘the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea.’ Daniel 7:2. In Revelation 17 an angel explained that waters represent ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’ Revelation 17:15. Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.
      —“But the beast with lamblike horns was seen ‘coming up out of the earth.’ Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself the nation thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World—that turbulent sea of ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’ It must be sought in the Western Continent.
      —“What nation of the New World was in 1798 rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one, meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America. Again and again the thought, almost the exact words, of the sacred writer has been unconsciously employed by the orator
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and the historian in describing the rise and growth of this nation. The beast was seen ‘coming up out of the earth;’ and, according to the translators, the word here rendered ‘coming up’ literally signifies ‘to grow or spring up as a plant.’ And, as we have seen, the nation must arise in territory previously unoccupied.” GC 439, 440.
      —This new beast—USA—has two horns like a lamb. What do they represent?
      “. . . The lamblike horns, emblems of innocence and gentleness, well represent the character of our government, as expressed in its two fundamental principles, republicanism and Protestantism.” 7BC 975. (Emphasis added.)
      —They fitly represent “the character of the United States when presented to the prophet as ‘coming up’ in 1798. Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self-government, providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden throughout Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have sought its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the most powerful nations of the earth.” GC 441. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The Lord has done more for the United States than for any other country upon which the sun shines. Here He provided an asylum for His people, where they could worship Him according to the dictates of conscience. Here Christianity has progressed in its purity. The life-giving doctrine of the one Mediator between God and man has been freely taught. God designed that this country should ever remain free for all people to worship Him in accordance with the dictates of conscience. He designed that its civil institutions, in their expansive productions, should represent the freedom of gospel privileges.
      —“But the enemy of all righteousness has designs upon God’s purpose for this country. He will bring in enterprises that will lead men to forget that there is a God. Worldliness and covetousness, which is idolatry, will prevail through the working of the arch deceiver, till the law of God, in all its bearings, shall be made void.” MS 17, 1906. (Emphasis added.)
      —The nation with the lamblike horns does not always stay peaceful and gentle. The prophecy says:
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AND HE SPAKE AS A DRAGON.
      —“The ‘speaking’ of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities.” GC 442.
AND HE EXERCISETH ALL THE POWER OF THE FIRST BEAST BEFORE HIM,
      —“the spirit of intolerance and persecution” (GC 442)—
AND CAUSETH THE EARTH AND THEM WHICH DWELL THEREIN
      —both its own citizens, and peoples of other lands—
TO WORSHIP THE FIRST BEAST,
      —the leopardlike beast, with his sixth head, (the papacy) in power—
WHOSE DEADLY WOUND WAS HEALED.
      —When will the United States of America loose its lamblike chacteristics, and speak as a dragon? When will the legislative and judicial authorities of the United States try to force people to worship the papacy or accept his false teachings? This change in the United States, from a lamb to a dragon, will have been made by the time the deadly wound on the first beast is completely healed.
      —It is the very union of church and state which heals the wound on the leopardlike beast, and gives him the power to enforce his decisions with persecution and death. And the USA helps to heal the wound!
      —“. . . The statement that the beast with two horns ‘causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast’ indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.
      —“Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution. The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular power on the part of the church with its inevitable result—intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ and that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States.’ Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards to the nation’s liberty, can any religious observance be enforced by civil authority. But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than is represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamblike horns—in profession pure, gentle, and harmless—that speaks as a dragon.” GC 442. (Emphasis added.)
      —“When the land which the Lord provided as an asylum for His people, that they might worship Him according to the dictates of their own consciences, the land over which for long years the shield of Omnipotence has been spread, the land which God has favored by making it the depository of the pure religion of Christ—when that land shall, through its legislators, abjure the principles of Protestantism, and give countenance to Romish apostasy in
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tampering with God’s law —it is then that the final work of the man of sin will be revealed. Protestants will throw their whole influence and strength on the side of the Papacy; by a national act enforcing the false sabbath, they will give life and vigor to the corrupt faith of Rome, reviving her tyranny and oppression of conscience. Then it will be time for God to work in mighty power for the vindication of His truth.” ST June 12, 1893. (Emphasis added.)
      —What will be registered in the books of heaven against the USA?
      “The people of the United States have been a favored people; but when they restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give countenance to popery, the measure of their guilt will be full, and ‘national apostasy’ will be registered in the books of heaven. The result of this apostasy will be national ruin.” RH May 2, 1893.
      —How does the papacy receive homage?
      “. . . The papacy . . . will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman church.” GC 579.
      —“The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon.” 5T 452.
      —And who is the dragon, whose spirit is revealed?
          The dragon is “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.” Revelation 12:9.
          He is the one who began the war against God’s law in the courts of heaven, while he still bore the name of Lucifer.
          He is the “eighth” —the body of the seven-headed beast, who is to manipulate his sixth and seventh heads in a threefold union, during the last moments of this earth’s history. Study Revelation 17:9-11 in Chapter 6.

An image Made to the Wounded Beast
      by the Beast with Lamblike Horns!
SAYING TO THEM THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH, THAT THEY SHOULD MAKE AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST, WHICH HAD THE WOUND BY A SWORD, AND DID LIVE.
      —An image is a reproduction of the original. A mirror, or a lake, reflect an image.
      —“But what is the ‘image to the beast? and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the two-horned beast, and is an image to the beast. It is also called an image of the beast. Then to learn what the image is like and how it is to be formed we must study the characteristics of the beast itself—the papacy.” GC 443.
      —What are the characteristics of the papacy which are to be reproduced by the Protestant churches of the United States, to form an “image” of the beast—so that the Protestant churches of the USA will be like the papacy?
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      —“When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy.’ In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends
      —“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result . . .
      —“The ‘image to the beast’ represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas. The ‘mark of the beast’ still remains to be defined.” GC 443-445.
      —What is the mark of the beast?
      “The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy: ‘He shall think to change times and the law.’ Daniel 7:25, R.V. And Paul styled the same power the ‘man of sin,’ who was to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark of allegiance to the pope in the place of God. . . .
      —“While the worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the fourth commandment, —since this is the sign of His creative power and the witness to His claim upon man’s reverence and homage, —the worshipers of the beast will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator’s memorial, to exalt the institution of Rome. It was in behalf of the Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims (see Appendix); and its first resort to the power of the state was to compel the observance of Sunday as ‘the Lord’s day.’ But the Bible points to the seventh day, and not to the first, as the Lord’s day. Said Christ: ‘The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.’ The fourth commandment declares: ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.’ And by the prophet Isaiah the Lord designates it: ‘My holy day.’ Mark 2:28; Isaiah 58:13 . . .
      —“The enforcement of Sunday keeping on the part of Protestant churches is an enforcement of the worship of the papacy —of the beast. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded.
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But in the very act of enforcing a religious duty by secular power, the churches would themselves form an image to the beast; hence the enforcement of Sunday keeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image.” GC 446-448.
      —“The conflict is between the requirements of God and the requirements of the beast. The first day, a papal institution which directly contradicts the fourth commandment, is yet to be made a test by the two-horned beast . . . It is because the saints are keeping all ten of the commandments that the dragon makes war upon them. If they will lower the standard and yield the peculiarities of their faith, the dragon will be at peace; but they excite his ire because they have dared to raise the standard and unfurl their banner in opposition to the Protestant world, who are worshiping the institution of papacy.” 1T 223. (Emphasis added.)
      —(Notice closely that it is the Protestant world who cause the inhabitants of earth to give homage to the papacy. The Catholic power “bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their acceptance of the false sabbath and that they are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself employed in bygone days.” See GC 580.)
      —Do God’s honest people, still observing Sunday, now have the mark of the beast?
      “But Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and his image.” GC 449.
      —When will men receive the mark of the beast?
      “As men then reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, [the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment] and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, [Sunday, the first day of the week] they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome—the mark of the beast.’ And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive ‘the mark of the beast.’” GC 449.
      —“No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church . . . None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth
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enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast
      —“If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls ‘My holy day,’ you receive the mark of the beast When does this take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.” Ev 234, 235. (Emphasis added.)
      —Will anyone receive the mark of the beast before he is warned?
      “The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the third angel’s message. That must be a terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this important matter; the warning against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of God’s judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunity to escape them . . .
      —“In the issue of the contest all Christendom will be divided into two great classes —those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark.” GC 449, 450.

God’s Special Sign—His Seal in the Fourth Commandment:
      —“The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord’s memorial of creation. ‘The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.’ Exodus 31:12, 13. Here the Sabbath is clearly designated as a sign between God and His people.” 8T 117. (Emphasis added.)
      —God’s official seal contains His name, His title, and His dominion: His Name:
      “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates . . .”
His Title: (Creator)
“For in six days the Lord made . . .”
His Dominion:
      “. . . heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:10-11. (Emphasis added)
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      —“The seal of God’s law is found in the fourth commandment. This only, of all the ten, brings to view both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It declares Him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows His claim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside from this precept, there is nothing in the Decalogue to show by whose authority the law is given.” GC 452.
      —The Sabbath is a memorial of creation, the birthday of the world.
      “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day . . . And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3.
      —The Sabbath is God’s “Family day”:
          —the day when He communed with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden;
          —the day He longs to commune with you!
      —“The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people, a sign that they honor His law. It distinguishes between His loyal subjects and transgressors.” 6T 349, 350.

Death Lies Ahead for Many who Honor God’s Holy Law:
AND HE
      —the two-homed beast who is yet to speak as a dragon—
HAD POWER
      —from Satan himself—
TO GIVE LIFE UNTO THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST.
      —to develop his own reflection of the beast with the wounded head—
THAT THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST
      —to be reproduced by the Protestant churches of the United States as they unite the power of church and state—
SHOULD BOTH SPEAK,
      —through the action of his legislative and judicial authorities—
AND CAUSE THAT AS MANY AS WOULD NOT WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST
      —paying homage to the false sabbath, which the Protestant churches have accepted from the papacy—
SHOULD BE KILLED.
      —“The National Reform movement, exercising the power of religious legislation, will, when fully developed, manifest the same intolerance and oppression that have prevailed in past ages. Human councils then assumed the prerogatives of Deity, crushing under their despotic power liberty of conscience; and imprisonment, exile, and death followed for those who opposed their dictates.” 5T 712. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . . Many will be imprisoned, many will flee for their lives from cities and towns, and many will be martyrs for Christ’s sake in standing in defense of the truth.” MS 6, 1889. (Emphasis added.)
      —“As Christ was hated without cause, so will His people be hated because they are obedient to the commandments of God . . . Human
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enactments, laws manufactured by satanic agencies under a plea of goodness and restriction of evil, will be exalted, while God’s holy commandments are despised and trampled underfoot. And all who prove their loyalty by obedience to the law of Jehovah must be prepared to be arrested, to be brought before councils that have not for their standard the high and holy law of God.” 7BC 977.
      —“The time is right upon us when persecution will come to those who proclaim the truth . . . Exalting a spurious rest day, they will seek to force men to dishonor the law of Jehovah, the transcript of His character. Though innocent of wrongdoing, the servants of God will be given over to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of those who, inspired by Satan, are filled with envy and religious bigotry.
      —“Religious powers, allied to heaven by profession, and claiming to have the characteristics of a lamb, wilI show by their acts that they have the heart of a dragon and that they are instigated and controlled by Satan. The time is coming when God’s people will feel the hand of persecution because they keep holy the seventh day.” 9T 227-229.
      —“Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments be removed and Rome be reinstated in her former power, and there would speedily be a revival of her tyranny and persecution.” GC 564.
      —“And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the principles of the Roman Catholic Church. And had she but the power, she would put them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of their purposes, Rome is aiming to reestablish her power, to recover her lost supremacy.” GC 581.
      —“The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High.” GC 571.
      —“The persecutions of Protestants by Romanism, by which the religion of Jesus Christ was almost annihilated, will be more than rivaled when Protestantism and popery are combined.” MS 30, 1889. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The prospect of being brought into personal danger and distress need not cause despondency, but should quicken the vigor and hopes of God’s people; for the time of their peril is the season for God to grant them clearer manifestations of His power.” 2SM 370. (Emphasis added.)
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No Man Will Be Able To Buy Or Sell—Without the Mark of the Beast:
AND HE
      —the beast with the lamblike horns, the USA—
CAUSETH ALL,
      —within his jurisdiction—
BOTH SMALL AND GREAT,
      —with influence or without—
RICH AND POOR,
      —with money or without—
FREE AND BOND,
      —in prison or without—
TO RECEIVE A MARK IN THEIR RIGHT HAND, OR IN THEIR FOREHEADS:
      —This mark will be given—
          —after the issues regarding the law of God and the claims of the papacy are clearly presented; and,
          —after the Sunday law of force has been decreed; and,
          —after the deadly wound on the papal head has been healed.
      —The mark will indicate
          —that the individual is willing to pay homage to the institution established by the papacy, and observe the first day of the week —which is his mark—
          —instead of respecting the Creator of the universe by honoring His holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment—which contains His seal.
      —AND THAT NO MAN MIGHT BUY OR SELL,
      —even food—
SAVE HE
      [1.] THAT HAD THE MARK,
      —Sunday observance, after the decree is understood—
      [2.] OR THE NAME OF THE BEAST,
      —the master he has chosen to serve—
      [3.] OR THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME.
      —“The time of trouble is about to come upon the people of God. Then it is that the decree will go forth forbidding those who keep the Sabbath of the Lord to buy or sell, and threatening them with punishment, and even death, if they do not observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath.” RH Nov. 19, 1908. (Emphasis added.)
      —“I saw our people in great distress, weeping, and praying, and pleading the sure promises of God, while the wicked were all around us, mocking us, and threatening to destroy us. They ridiculed our feebleness, they mocked at the smallness of our numbers, and taunted us with words calculated to cut deep. They charged us with taking an independent position from all the rest of the world. They had cut off our resources so that we could not buy nor sell, and referred to our abject poverty and stricken condition. They could not see how we could live without the world; we were dependent upon the world, and we must concede to the customs, practices, and laws of the world, or go out of it. If we were the
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only people in the world whom the Lord favored the appearances were awfully against us. They declared that they had the truth, that miracles were among them, that angels from heaven talked with them, and walked with them, that great power, and signs and wonders were performed among them, and this was the Temporal Millennium, which they had been expecting so long. The whole world was converted and in harmony with the Sunday law, and this little feeble people stood out in defiance to the laws of the land, and the laws of God, and claimed to be the only ones right on the earth.” Letter 6, 1884. (Emphasis added.)

Now is the Time to Sacrifice for God:
      —“The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save him that hath the mark of the beast . . . Now is our opportunity to work . . .
      —“Satan is pleased to have you increase your farms and invest your means in worldly enterprises, for by so doing you not only hinder the cause from advancing, but by anxiety and overwork lessen your prospect for eternal life.
      —“We ought now to be heeding the injunction of our Saviour: ‘Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.’ It is now that our brethren should be cutting down their possessions instead of increasing them. We are about to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Then let us not be dwellers upon the earth, but be getting things into as compact a compass as possible.” 5T 152. (Emphasis added.)
      —“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.
      —“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.
      —“I saw that if any held on to the property and did not inquire of the Lord as to their duty, He would not make duty known, and they
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would be permitted to keep their property, and in the time of trouble it would come up before them like a mountain to crush them, and they would try to dispose of it, but would not be able. I heard some mourn like this: ‘The cause was languishing God’s people were starving for the truth, and we made no effort to supply the lack; now our property is useless. Oh, that we had let it go, and laid up treasure in heaven!’ I saw that a sacrifice did not increase, but it decreased and was consumed. I also saw that God had not required all of His people to dispose of their property at the same time; but if they desired to be taught, He would teach them, in a time of need, when to sell and how much to sell.” EW 56, 57. (Emphasis in the original and added.)
      —“There is a time coming when commandment-keepers can neither buy nor sell. Make haste to dig out your buried talents. If God has entrusted you with money, show yourselves faithful to your trust; unwrap your napkin, and send your talents to the exchangers, that when Christ shall come, He may receive His own with interest. In the last extremity, before the work shall close, thousands will be cheerfully laid upon the altar. Men and women will feel it a blessed privilege to share in the work of preparing souls to stand in the great day of God, and they will give hundreds as readily as dollars are given now. If the love of Christ were burning in the hearts of His professed people, we would see the same spirit manifested today. Did they but realize how near is the end of all work for the salvation of souls, they would sacrifice their possessions as freely as did the members of the early church. They would work for the advancement of God’s cause as earnestly as worldly men labor to acquire riches.” Historical Sketches, 292. (Emphasis added.)

The Number of his Name:
HERE IS WISDOM. LET HIM THAT HATH UNDERSTANDING COUNT THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST: FOR IT IS THE NUMBER OF A MAN; AND HIS NUMBER IS SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX.
      —The letters inscribed in the pope’s miter are these:
          —Vicarius Filii Dei,
          —which is the Latin for “Vicar of the Son of God.”

        LATIN

      V         5
      I          1
      C    100
      A         0
      R         0
      I          1
      U        5
      S         0
             112

      F         0
      I          1
      L       50
      I          1
      I          1
              53

      D   500
      E        0
      I         1
            501
            112
              53
           666   —Revelation 13:18.

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Those Resisting God’s Truth—Will be Deceived by Miracles:
AND HE DOETH GREAT WONDERS, SO THAT HE MAKETH FIRE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN ON THE EARTH IN THE SIGHT OF MEN,
      —“Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. GC 624 (Emphasis added.)
      —“Satan will come in to deceive if possible the very elect. He claims to be Christ, and he is coming in, pretending to be the great medical missionary. He will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men to prove that he is God.” MM 87, 88.
      —“It is the lying wonders of the devil that will take the world captive, and he will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men. He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world.” 2SM 51.
AND DECEIVETH THEM THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH BY THE MEANS OF THOSE MIRACLES WHICH HE HAD POWER TO DO IN THE SIGHT OF THE BEAST;
      —And what is the purpose for these miracles?
SAYING TO THEM THAT DWELL ON THE EARTH, THAT THEY SHOULD MAKE AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST, WHICH HAD THE WOUND BY A SWORD, AND DID LIVE.
      —“Men are deceived by the miracles which Satan’s agents have power to do, not which they pretend to do.” SR 395.
      —“It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the serpent his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden. Before the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform actual miracles. Says the Scripture: ‘He . . . deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do,’ not merely those which he pretends to do. Something more than mere impostures is brought to view in this scripture. But there is a limit beyond which Satan cannot go, and here he calls deception to his aid and counterfeits the work which he has not power actually to perform. 5T 698. (Emphasis added.)
      —God’s people have one safe and unerring yardstick, to measure all who pretend to be spiritual leaders:
          —“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. (Emphasis added.)
      —If in one particular these leaders do not measure up to the standard of God’s law, or to the testimony God has given to His prophets to record in His sacred Scriptures, then—flee from them!
      —Poison is all the more dangerous when disguised as healthful food.
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      —So-called “Faith” Healers—Vs. God’s Method of Healing:
      —“Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles. They will make people sick by casting their spell upon them, and will then remove the spell, leading others to say that those who were sick have been miraculously healed. This Satan has done again and again . . .
      —“We need not be deceived. Wonderful scenes, with which Satan will be closely connected, will soon take place. God’s Word declares that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring Seventh-day Adventists to the test. Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ . . .
      —“The way in which Christ worked was to preach the Word, and to relive suffering by miraculous works of healing. But I am instructed that we cannot now work in this way, for Satan will exercise his power by working miracles. God’s servants today could not work by means of miracles, because spurious works of healing, claiming to be divine, will be wrought.
      —“For this reason the Lord has marked out a way in which His people are to carry forward a work of physical healing, combined with the teaching of the Word.” 2SM 53, 54.

How does God wish His people to relieve suffering in these closing days of crisis?
          —“. . . When the Israel of today humble themselves before Him, and cleanse the soul-temple from all defilement, He will hear their prayers in behalf of the sick and will bless in the use of His remedies for disease.” 9T 164.
What are God’s remedies?
      “Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health . . . Unhealthful conditions should be changed, wrong habits corrected. The nature is to be assisted in her effort to expel impurities and to reestablish right conditions in the system.
      —“Pure air,                   sunlight,
          abstemiousness,       rest,
          exercise,                    proper diet,
          the use of water,       trust in divine power.
These are the true remedies. Every person should have a knowledge of nature’s remedial agencies and how to apply them . . .
      —“The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body and health of mind.” MH 127.
      —“There are many ways in which water can be applied to relieve pain and check disease. All should become intelligent in its use in simple home treatments.” MH 237.
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      —“As we near the close of time we must rise higher and still higher upon the question of health reform and Christian temperance, pre sensing it in a more positive and decided manner . . . In every city where we have a church there is need of a place where treatment can be given . . . The building might be inelegant and even rude, but it should be furnished with facilities for giving simple treatments.” 6T 112, 113.
      —“. . . On such occasions as our annual camp meetings we must never lose sight of the opportunities afforded for teaching the believer how to do practical missionary work in the place where they may live.” 9T 82.
      “. . . Soon there will be no work done in ministerial lines but medical missionary work. The work of a minister is to minister. Our ministers are to work on the gospel plan of ministering. You will never be ministers after the gospel order till you show a decided interest in medical missionary work, the gospel of healing and blessing and strengthening. Come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty powers of darkness, that it be not said of you, ‘Curse ye Meroz, . . . curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord.’ Judges 5:23.” WM 139. (Emphasis added.)

Channels for Satan’s Electric Currents:
      —Satan’s “agents still claim to cure disease. They attribute their power to electricity, magnetism, or the so-called ‘sympathetic remedies.’ In truth, they are but channels for Satan’s electric currents. By this means he casts his spell over the bodies and souls of men . . .
      —“Not a few in this Christian age and Christian nation resort to evil spirits rather than trust to the power of the living God. The mother, watching by the sickbed of her child, exclaims: ‘I can do no more. Is there no physician who has power to restore my child?’ She is told of the wonderful cures performed by some clairvoyant or magnetic healer, and she trusts her dear one to his charge, placing it as verily in the hands of Satan as if he were standing by her side. In many instances the future life of the child is controlled by a satanic power which it seems impossible to break . . .
      —“The heathen oracles have their counterpart in the spiritualistic mediums, the clairvoyants, and fortune-tellers of today. The mystic voices that spoke at Ekron and En-dor are still by their lying words misleading the children of men. The prince of darkness has but appeared in a new guise. The mysteries of heathen worship are re” placed by the secret associations and seances, the obscurities and wonders, of the sorcerers of our time. Their disclosures are eagerly received by thousands who refuse to accept light from God’s word or from His Spirit. While they speak with scorn of the magicians of old, the great deceiver laughs in triumph as they yield to his arts under a different form.” 5T 193, 194. (Emphasis added.)
Who do you choose to have for your physician in the time of crisis?
      —Satan, with his entwining electric currents—and bondage, or
      —Jesus, with His true natural remedies —and freedom!
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Satan’s Plans for Ensnaring the Last Generation—
      and Making Them a Part of his Counterfeit Church:

      —“The great controversy between Christ and Satan, that has been carried forward for nearly six thousand years, is soon to close, and the wicked one re-doubles his efforts to defeat the work of Christ in man’s behalf and to fasten souls in his snares. To hold the people in darkness and impenitence till the Saviour’s mediation is ended, and there is no longer a sacrifice for sin, is the object which he seeks to accomplish.” GC 518. (Emphasis added.)

1. Satan Deceives—Through the Science of the Human Mind:
      —“. . . We must be guarded on every side and perseveringly resist the insinuations and devices of Satan. He has transformed himself into an angel of light and is deceiving thousands and leading them captive. The advantage he takes of the science of the human mind, is tremendous. Here, serpent-like, he imperceptibly creeps in to corrupt the work of God. The miracles and works of Christ he would make appear as the result of human skill and power. If he should make an open, bold attack upon Christianity, it would bring the Christian in distress and agony to the feet of his Redeemer, and his strong and mighty Deliverer would put the bold adversary to flight. He therefore transforms himself into an angel of light and works upon the mind to allure from the only safe and right path. The sciences of phrenology, psychology, and mesmerism are the channel through which he comes more directly to this generation and works with that power which is to characterize his efforts near the close of probation . . .
      —“Satan has come unperceived through these sciences and has poisoned the minds of thousands and led them to infidelity. He is well pleased to have the knowledge of these sciences widespread. It is a plan which he himself has laid that he may gain access to minds and influence them as he pleases. While it is believed that one human mind so wonderfully affects another, Satan, ready at hand, insinuates himself and works on the right hand and on the left . . . Said the angel: ‘Mark its influence. The controversy between Christ and Satan is not yet ended.’ This entering in of Satan through the sciences is well devised by his satanic majesty, and in the minds of thousands will eventually destroy true faith in Christ’s being the Messiah, the Son of God.” 1T 290, 291. (Emphasis added.)
2. Satan Deceives—Through the Tongues Movement:
      —“The world will not be converted by the gift of tongues, or by the working of miracles, but by preaching Christ crucified.” TM 424.
      —God’s messages are to be understood:
      “Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” 1Corinthians 14:19.
      —The gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost was for teaching foreigners: “. . . Every man heard them speak in his own language . . . And they
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that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:6, 41.
      —“‘There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.’ . . . Every known tongue was represented by those assembled. This diversity of languages would have been a great hindrance to the proclamation of the gospel; God therefore in a miraculous manner supplied the deficiency of the apostles. The Holy Spirit did for them that which they could not have accomplished for themselves in a lifetime.” AA 39, 40. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . . A new endowment was now promised. The disciples were to preach among other nations, and they would receive power to speak other tongues. The apostles and their associates were unlettered men, yet through the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, their speech, whether in their own or a foreign language, became pure, simple, and accurate, both in word and in accent.” DA 821.
      —Another spirit controls those with the false gift of tongues:
      —“Some of these persons have exercises which they call gifts . . . They have an unmeaning gibberish which they call the unknown tongue, which is unknown not only by man but by the Lord and all heaven. Such gifts are manufactured by men and women, aided by the great deceiver. Fanaticism, false excitement, false talking in tongues, and noisy exercises have been considered gifts which God has placed in the church. Some have been deceived here. The fruits of all this have not been good . . .
      —“They give themselves up to wild, excitable feelings and make unintelligible sounds which they call the gift of tongues, and a certain class seemed to be charmed with these strange manifestations. A strange spirit rules with this class, which would bear down and run over anyone who would reprove them. God’s Spirit is not in the work and does not attend such workmen. They have another spirit . . .
      —“The truth should be presented in a manner which will make it attractive to the intelligent mind . . . How important that the cause of truth be stripped of everything like a false and fanatical excitement, that the truth may stand upon its own merits, revealing its native purity and exalted character.” 1T 411-415. (Emphasis added.)

3. Satan’s Plan for Labor Unions:
      —“In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy . . . They may be church members, but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue . . .
      —“Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and understand what is before us? . . .
      —“The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.” Country Living, 10-12.
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4. Satan’s Plan Against the Testimonies:
      —“There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them for this reason. Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded . . .
      —“The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.” Messenger to the Remnant, 91. (Emphasis added.)

5. Satan’s Strategy Against Sabbath keepers:
      —“As the people of God approach the perils of the last days, Satan holds earnest consultation with his angels as to the most successful plan of overthrowing their faith . . . He directs his angels to lay their snares especially for those who are looking for the second advent of Christ and endeavoring to keep all the commandments of God.
      —“Says the great deceiver: ‘. . . Our principle concern is to silence this sect of Sabbath keepers. We must excite popular indignation against them. We will enlist great men and worldly-wise men upon our side, and induce those in authority to carry out our purposes. Then the sabbath which I have set up shall be enforced by laws the most severe and exacting. Those who disregard them shall be driven out from the cities and villages, and made to suffer hunger and privation. When once we have the power, we will show what we can do with those who will not swerve from their allegiance to God. We led the Romish church to inflict imprisonment, torture, and death upon those who refused to yield to her decrees; and now that we are bringing the Protestant churches and the world into harmony with this right arm of our strength, [Sunday observance] we will finally have a law to exterminate all who will not submit to our authority. When death shall be made the penalty of violating our sabbath, then many who are now ranked with commandment keepers will come over to our side.
      —“‘But before proceeding to these extreme measures, we must exert all our wisdom and subtlety to deceive and ensnare those who honor the true Sabbath. We can separate many from Christ by worldliness, lust, and pride. They may think themselves safe because they believe the truth, but indulgence of appetite or the lower passions, which will confuse judgment and destroy discrimination, will cause their fall.
      —“‘Go, make the possessors of lands and money drunk with the cares of this life. Present the world before them in its most attractive light, that they may lay up their treasure here and fix their affections upon earthly things. We must do our utmost to prevent those who labor in God’s cause from obtaining means to use against us. Keep the money
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in our ranks. The more means they obtain, the more they will injure our kingdom by taking from us our subjects. Make them care more for money than for the up building of Christ’s kingdom and the spread of the truths we hate, and we need not fear their influence; for we know that every selfish, covetous person will fall under our power, and will finally be separated from God’s people.
      —“‘Through those that have a form of godliness but know not the power, we can gain many who would otherwise do us harm. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God will be our most effective helpers. Those of this class who are apt and intelligent will serve as decoys to draw others into our snares. Many will not fear their influence, because they profess the same faith. We will thus lead them to conclude that the requirements of Christ are less strict than they once believed, and that by conformity to the world they would exert a greater influence with worldlings. Thus they will separate from Christ, then they will have no strength to resist our power, and ere long they will be ready to ridicule their former zeal and devotion.
      —“‘Until the great decisive blow shall be struck, our efforts against commandment keepers must be untiring. We must be present at all their gatherings. In their large meetings especially our cause will suffer much, and we must exercise great vigilance, and employ all our seductive arts to prevent souls from hearing the truth and becoming impressed by it.
      —“‘I will have upon the ground, as my agents, men holding false doctrines mingled with just enough truth to deceive souls. I will also have unbelieving ones present who will express doubts in regard to the Lord’s messages of warning to His church. Should the people read and believe these admonitions, we could have little hope of overcoming them. But if we can divert their attention from these warnings, they will remain ignorant of our power and cunning, and we shall secure them in our ranks at last. God will not permit His words to be slighted with impunity. If we can keep souls deceived for a time, God’s mercy will be withdrawn, and He will give them up to our full control.
      —“‘We must cause distraction and division. We must destroy their anxiety for their own souls, and lead them to criticize, to judge, and to accuse and condemn one another, and to cherish selfishness and enmity. For these sins, God banished us from His presence; and all who follow our example will meet a similar fate.’” TM 472-476. (Emphasis added.)
      —Thus ends the recording of the devil’s committee meeting.
      —(“The Lord’s angels are appointed to keep strict watch over those who put their faith in the Lord, and these angels are to be our special help in every time of need.” 7BC 907. (Emphasis added.)
      —Study the section in Chapter 6, entitled, “Battle between the good and evil angels—over even one soul.”
      —“No storm or tempest can move those whose feet are planted on the principles of eternal truth. They will be able to stand in this time of almost universal apostasy.” 6BC 1106.) (Emphasis added.)
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6. Satan’s Valuable Tool—the Television:
      —“Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the searching of the Scriptures, will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore he invents every possible device to engross the mind.” GC 519. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . . But a small number of those now professing to believe the truth would eventually be saved—not because they could not be saved, but because they would not be saved in God’s own appointed way. The way marked out by our divine Lord is too narrow and the gate too strait to admit them while grasping the world or while cherishing selfishness or sin of any kind. There is no room for these things; and yet there are but few who will consent to part with them, that they may pass the narrow way and enter the strait gate . . .
      —“‘. . . Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? [in God’s presence.] He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high . . .’” Isaiah 33:14-16; 2T 445, 446. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The crisis is stealing gradually upon us . . . 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 agencies at 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.” DA 636. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Satan is well aware that the weakest soul who abides in Christ is more than a match for the hosts of darkness, and that, should he reveal himself openly, he would be met and resisted. Therefore he seeks to draw away the soldiers of the cross from their strong fortification, while he lies in ambush with his forces, ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground. Only in humble reliance upon God, and obedience to all His commandments, can we be secure. No man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer. Especially should we entreat the Lord for wisdom to understand His word. Here are revealed the wiles of the tempter and the means by which he may be successfully resisted.” GC 530. (Emphasis added.)
      —“None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” GC 593, 594.
      —“We are living in the most solemn period of this world’s history. The destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about to be decided . . . We should now seek a deep and living experience in the things of God. We have not a moment to lose. Events of vital importance are taking place around us; we are on Satan’s enchanted ground. Sleep not, sentinels of God; the foe is lurking near, ready at any moment, should you become lax and drowsy, to spring upon you and make you his prey.” GC 601. (Emphasis added.) (See pages 495, 496, 132.)
      —“. . . Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;. . . think on these things.” Philippians 4:8.
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7. Satan’s Masterpiece of Deception—Spiritualism:
      —“Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. . . Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet: ‘I saw three unclean spirits like frogs; . . . they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.’ Revelation 16:13, 14. Except those who are kept by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God.” GC 561,
562. (Emphasis added.) \
      —“Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience . . .
      —“Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonderworking power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.
      —“Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a destroyer. His temptations are leading multitudes to ruin.” GC 588, 589. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The doctrine of man’s consciousness in death, especially the belief that spirits of the dead return to minister to the living, has prepared the way for modern spiritualism.” GC 551. (Emphasis added.)
      —(The Bible specifically states:
          —“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything . . . Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6.
          —“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:4.
          —“. . . Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Genesis 3:19.
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          —Jesus spoke of death as a sleep: “. . . Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” John 11:11.
          —And His sleeping children, resting in their dusty beds, are to awake on the resurrection morning: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29.
          —“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1Thessalonians 4:16.
          —“. . . For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible . . .” 1Corinthians 15:52.
          —Both the righteous and the wicked are resting in their graves, unconscious of anything that is transpiring upon earth. They sleep while awaiting their resurrection. Study Chapter 7 regarding the two resurrections.)
      —Who, then, comes to “comfort” or “give direction” to the sorrowing loved ones?
      “The fallen angels who do his bidding appear as messengers from the spirit world. While professing to bring the living into communication with the dead, the prince of evil exercises his bewitching influence upon their minds.
      —“He has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed friends. The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the tone, are reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many are comforted with the assurance that their loved ones are enjoying the bliss of heaven, and without suspicion of danger, they give ear ‘to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
      —“When they have been led to believe that the dead actually return to communicate with them, Satan causes those to appear who went into the grave unprepared. They claim to be happy in heaven and even to occupy exalted positions there, and thus the error is widely taught that no difference is made between the righteous and the wicked. The pretended visitants from the world of spirits sometimes utter cautions and warnings which prove to be correct. Then, as confidence is gained, they present doctrines that directly undermine faith in the Scriptures. With an appearance of deep interest in the well-being of their friends on earth, they insinuate the most dangerous errors. The fact that they state some truths, and are able at times to foretell future events, gives to their statements an appearance of reliability; and their false teachings are accepted by the multitudes as readily, and believed as implicitly, as if they were the most sacred truths of the Bible. The law of God is set aside, the Spirit of grace despised, the blood of the covenant counted an unholy thing. The spirits deny the deity of Christ and place even the Creator on a level with themselves. Thus under a new disguise the great rebel still carries on his warfare against God, begun in heaven and for nearly six thousand years continued upon the earth.” GC 552, 553. (Emphasis added.)
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      —“. . . The saints must get a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures. They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved friends and relatives, who will declare to them that the Sabbath has been changed, also other unscriptural doctrines. They will do all in their power to excite sympathy and will work miracles before them to confirm what they declare. The people of God must be prepared to withstand these spirits with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything, and that they who appear to them are the spirits of devils.” EW 87.
      —“Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations by attributing them wholly to fraud and sleight of hand on the part of the medium. While it is true that the results of trickery have often been palmed off as genuine manifestations, there have been, also, marked exhibitions of supernatural power. The mysterious rapping with which modern Spiritualism began was not the result of human trickery or cunning, but the direct work of evil angels, who thus introduced one of the most successful of soul-destroying delusions. Many will be ensnared through the belief that Spiritualism is a merely human imposture; when brought face to face with manifestations which they can but regard as supernatural, they will be deceived, and will be led to accept them as the great power of God . . .
      —“The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But Spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival in a new disguise of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old. [Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27; Isaiah 8:19; Deuteronomy 18:11, 12.]. . .
      —“The prince of darkness has a masterly mind, and he skillfully adapts his temptations to men of every variety of condition and culture . . . He can accomplish his object only as they voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who place themselves in his power by indulging their evil traits of character, little realize where their course will end. The tempter accomplishes their ruin, and then employs them to ruin others.” SR 394-396. (Emphasis added.)
      —“There are few who have any just conception of the deceptive power of spiritualism and the danger of coming under its influence. Many tamper with it merely to gratify their curiosity. They have no real faith in it and would be filled with horror at the thought of yielding themselves to the spirits’ control. But they venture upon the forbidden ground, and the mighty destroyer exercises his power upon them against their will. Let them once be induced to submit their minds to his direction, and he holds them captive. It is impossible, in their own strength, to break away from the bewitching, alluring spell. Nothing but the power of God, granted in answer to the earnest prayer of faith, can deliver these ensnared souls.” GC 558. (Emphasis added.)
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      —(When tortured souls breathe the name of “Jesus,” and look to Him in living faith, the demons tremble, and flee.
      —“However fierce the tempest, those who turn to Jesus with the cry, ‘Lord, save us,’ will find deliverance.” DA 336.
      —“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:20, 19.
      —“And souls that have been degraded into instruments of Satan are still through the power of Christ transformed into messengers of righteousness, and sent forth by the Son of God to tell what ‘great things the Lord hath done for thee . . .’” Mark 5:19; DA 341.)

8. Satan’s Crowning Act in the Drama of Deception:
      —“As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong almost overmastering delusion . . .
      —“But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false Christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class upon whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out.
      —“And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception on this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming. ‘There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders . . . If they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chamber; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.’ Matthew 24:24-27, 31; 25:31; Revelation 1:7; 1Thessalonians 4:16, 17. This coming there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally known—witnessed by the whole world.” GC 624, 625. (Emphasis added)
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God Offers Protection from Satan’s Deceptions—to all who Choose it!
      —“But while he [Satan] will bear the appearance of Christ in every particular, so far as mere appearance goes, it will deceive none but those who, like Pharaoh, are seeking to resist the truth.” 5T 698. (Emphasis added.)
      —“I saw that . . . Satan’s power would increase and some of his devotee followers would have power to work miracles and even to bring down fire from heaven in the sight of men . . . I was pointed back to the time of Moses and saw the signs and wonders which God wrought through him before Pharaoh, most of which were imitated by the magicians of Egypt; and that just before the final deliverance of the saints, God would work powerfully for His people, and these modern magicians would be permitted to imitate the work of       —God.
“That time will soon come, and we shall have to keep hold of the strong arm of Jehovah; for all these great signs and mighty wonders of the devil are designed to deceive God’s people and overthrow them. Our minds must be stayed upon God, and we must . . . be bold and valiant for the truth. Could our eyes be opened, we should see forms of evil angels around us, trying to invent some new way to annoy and destroy us. And we should also see angels of God guarding us from their power; for God’s watchful eye is ever over Israel for good, and He will protect and save His people, if they put their trust in Him. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
      —“Said the angel, ‘Remember, thou art on the enchanted ground.’ I saw that we must watch and have on the whole armor and take the shield of faith, and then we shall be able to stand, and the fiery darts of the wicked cannot harm us.” EW 59, 60. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Satan is well aware that the weakest soul who abides in Christ is more than a match for the hosts of darkness, and that, should he reveal himself openly, he would be met and resisted. Therefore he seeks to draw away the soldiers of the cross from their strong fortification, while he lies in ambush with his forces, ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground. Only in humble reliance upon God, and obedience to all His commandments, can we be secure . . .
      —“Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.” GC 530, 626. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The power and malice of Satan and his host might justly alarm us were it not that we may find shelter and deliverance in the superior
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power of our Redeemer. We carefully secure our houses with bolts and locks to protect our property and our lives from evil men; but we seldom think of the evil angels who are constantly seeking access to us, and against whose attacks we have, in our own strength, no method of defense. If permitted they can distract our minds, disorder and torment our bodies, destroy our possessions and our lives. Their only delight is in misery and destruction. Fearful is the condition of those who resist the divine claims and yield to Satan’s temptations, until God gives them up to the control of evil spirits. But those who follow Christ are ever safe under His watchcare. Angels that excel in strength are sent from heaven to protect them. The wicked one cannot break through the guard which God has stationed about His people.” GC 517. (Emphasis added.)


Some Will Change Leaders—and Not Know It:
      —“If you indulge stubbornness of heart, and through pride and self-righteousness do not confess your faults, you will be left subject to Satan’s temptations. If when the Lord reveals your errors you do not repent or make confession, His providence will bring you over the ground again and again. You will be left to make mistakes of a similar character, you will lack wisdom, and call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. The multitudes of deceptions that will prevail in these last days will encircle you, and you will change leaders, and not know that you have done so.” RH Dec. 16, 1890. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Young and old have a conflict and warfare before them . . . A wily foe is constantly on the alert to lead them astray and overcome them. Believers in present truth must be as watchful as their enemy, and manifest wisdom in resisting Satan. Will they do this? . . . Christ is denied in many ways. We may deny Him in our words, by speaking contrary to truth, or by speaking evil of others, or by foolish talking or jesting, or by words that are idle. In these things we manifest but little shrewdness or wisdom. We make ourselves weak, and our efforts are feeble to resist our great Enemy, and we are conquered. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and through lack of watchfulness we confess that Christ is not in us. Those who will hesitate to devote themselves unreservedly to God, make poor work of following Christ. They follow Him at such a distance they do not really know half the time whether they are following His footprints, or the footsteps of their great Enemy. Why are we so slow to give up our interest in the things of this world, and take Christ for our only portion? Why should we wish to keep the friendship of our Lord’s enemies, and follow their customs and be led by their opinions? There must be an entire, unreserved surrender to God, a forsaking and turning away from the love of the world and earthly things, or we cannot be His disciples.” 4SG 150. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The power of Satan now to tempt and deceive is tenfold greater than it was in the days of the apostles. His power has increased, and it will increase, until it is taken away. His wrath and hate grow stronger as his time to work draws near its close.” 2SG 277. (Emphasis added.)
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God’s Church Is Not To Be Disorganized—or Broken Into Atoms:
      —“I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be. Those who shall heed this false message and try to leaven others will be deceived and prepared to receive advanced delusions, and they will come to nought.” 2SM 68, 69. (See 2SM 380, 390.) (Emphasis added.)

The Two Armies in the Impending Conflict:
      —“Every individual in our world will be arrayed under one of two banners.” HP 48. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The two armies will stand distinct and separate, and this distinction will be so marked that many who shall be convinced of truth will come on the side of God’s commandment-keeping people.” MS 6, 1889.
      —“Rapidly are men ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen. Restlessly are they waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are waiting and watching and working for our Lord’s appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate.” DA 636. (Emphasis added.)
      —“. . . It will be made apparent who are the godly . . . What clouds of chaff will then be borne away by the fan of God! . . . Every one who is not centered in Christ will fail to stand the test and ordeal of that day. While those who are clothed with Christ’s righteousness will stand firm to truth and duty, those who have trusted in their own righteousness will then be ranged under the black banner of the prince of darkness. Then it will be seen whether the choice is for Christ or Belial.” RH Nov. 8, 1892. (Emphasis added.)
      —“Satanic agencies in human form will take part in this last great conflict to oppose the building up of the kingdom of God. And heavenly angels in human guise will be on the field of action.” RH Aug. 5, 1909.
      —“God and Christ and the heavenly angels are working with intense activity to hold in check the fierceness of Satan’s wrath, that God’s plans may not be thwarted. God lives and reigns. He is conducting the affairs of the universe. Let His soldiers move forward to victory. Let there be perfect unity in their ranks. Let them press the battle to the gates. As a mighty Conqueror, the Lord will work for them . . .
      —“Those who place themselves under God’s control, to be led and guided by Him, will catch the steady tread of the events ordained by Him to take place. Inspired with the Spirit of Him who gave His life for the life of the world, they will no longer stand still in impotency, pointing to what they cannot do. Putting on the armor of heaven, they will go forth to the warfare, willing to do and dare for God, knowing that His omnipotence will supply their need.” 7T 14. (Emphasis added.)
      —“The powers of darkness will open their batteries upon us; and all who are indifferent and careless, who have set their affections on their earthly treasure, and who have not cared to understand God’s dealings with His people, will be ready victims. No power but a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, will ever make us steadfast; but with this, one may chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.” RH Apr. 29, 1884. (Emphasis added.)
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