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“The sweetest melodies that come from God through human lips [are] —justification by faith, [PARDON] —and the righteousness of Christ . . . [PERFECTION]” 6T 426. What is justification by faith? “. . . Pardon and justification are one and the same thing.” 6BC 1070. (See ML 250.) When one is justified by faith in Christ’s death, he is PARDONED! What is righteousness by faith? Christ’s “. . . own robe of righteousness [is] perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah . . . And receiving His perfection, we are entitled to heaven.” COL 312; QD 684. (Emphasis added.) When one is sanctified by faith in Christ’s life, he has PERFECTION! (“True sanctification is a daily work, continuing as long as life shall last . . . Sanctification means habitual communion with God.” SL 9; 7BC 908.) (Emphasis added.) (“When we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, we shall have no relish for sin; for Christ wil1 be working with us. We may make mistakes, but we wil1 hate the sin that caused the sufferings of the Son of God . . . The righteousness of Christ will not cover one cherished sin.” 1SM 360; COL 316.) “The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; [PARDON] the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. [PERFECTION] The first is our title to heaven, [JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH] the second is our fitness for heaven. [RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH]” MYP 35. (Emphasis added.) Page 507 Requirements for Traveling to Heavenly Canaan: As Jesus stands before our Father in the investigative judgment, to begin the sealing work for His people, He holds the book of life in His hands. Inside its covers are registered the names of all who have ever entered the service of God. (See Revelation 5:1-8; COL 294; 7BC 987.) What are the transactions necessary so that God’s people can be sealed eternally within the covers of this book? All of the earthbound children of men who have the desire to travel to heavenly Canaan, need to understand the requirements for entering the land of eternal peace. 7BC 970: “Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City. But there are many who take upon themselves responsibilities in connection with the work of God who are not wholehearted believers, and while they ret main thus cannot receive the seal of the living God. They trust in their own righteousness, which the Lord accounts as foolishness.” There are several steps necessary in getting ready to visit friends in another country, and certain transactions are required in securing the proper documents for travel. (1.) There should be an invitation from your friends (2.) There must be a desire to accept the invitation. (3.) Application is next made for a passport. (4. ) A passport is then issued, with space for a visa. (5.) A visa must be stamped in your passport by a representative of the country to which you wish to travel, so you can obtain legal entry. Let us suppose for a moment that somewhere in the Swiss Alps was a fountain of youth, where all was peace and happiness. A friend of yours is acquainted with your condition “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17.) He has pity on you, and offers to pay your transportation to Switzerland, and all of your expenses in getting ready for the voyage to this fountain of youth. Friend, maybe you don’t realize it, but you have an offer infinitely greater than this: John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Revelation 22:17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” This special invitation to “everlasting life”, to drink from the fountain of the “water of life,” has your name on it—“whosoever will.” Do you really want to travel to a land where you will live forever? Page 508 Listen to the desperate cry from the lips of one who is facing an untimely death: “l want to live! I want to live!” How much would a rich man give to extend his life ten years, ten months, ten days? And what would he give to live forever? The Price for eternal life—living forever—has already been given to mankind! It has been given to us—as a Gift! Romans 6:23: “. . . The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Eternity stretches out beyond time and imagination. What is its value? Mind cannot fathom it! Eternal life? We are lost in trying to comprehend its worth! Christ’s atonement? The minds of the redeemed will marvel at its depth and beauty throughout ceaseless ages! RH June 3, 1890: “It is difficult for the reason to grasp the majesty of Christ, the mystery of redemption. The shameful cross has been upraised, the nails have been driven through His hands and feet, the cruel spear has pierced to His heart, and the redemption price has been paid for the human race. The spotless Lamb of God bore our sins in His own body upon the tree; He carried our sorrows. Redemption is an inexhaustible theme, worthy of our closest contemplation. It passes the comprehension of the deepest thought, the stretch of the most vivid imagination . . . The theme of redemption will employ the minds of the redeemed through all eternity. There will be new and rich developments made manifest in the plan of salvation throughout eternal ages.” 1Corinthians 2:9: “. . . Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Eternal life is offered to us as a free gift! There is One who prevailed—gained the victory—so that we might live forever in this beautiful land of peace and happiness with our Redeemer and our heavenly Father. Many are the delightful surprises which They have prepared for repentant believers! Do you really desire to live forever? Then it is time for you to make a decision—Step 3. When someone has received an invitation to travel abroad, and there comes into his heart a desire to accept this invitation, he has a decision to make—a part to act! He must apply for a passport if he wishes to prepare for the trip. After Peter’s sermon, following Pentecost, a group of people were “pricked” in their hearts, and felt their need of a change. They came to the apostles with a question: Acts 2:37-39: “. . . Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” A PARDON has been graciously sent out to every child of Adam “whosoever will.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9.) All of Adam’s children have sinned, (Romans 3:23); all have needed pardon; and all have had pardon extended to them. (John 3:16.) Page 509 But this PARDON is not valid unless it is accepted by the person to whom it is offered. In order to receive a gift, one must reach out and take it. The sentence of eternal death will not be inflicted on the sinner because of Adam’s sin; nor will it fall on him merely because of his own sin. The sinner will be eternally separated from God because he refused the PARDON so graciously offered him by Jesus, who paid the penalty for all sin on the cross of Calvary. AA 62: “The wrath of God is not declared against unrepentant sinners merely because of the sins they have committed, but because, when called to repent, they choose to continue in resistance, repeating the sins of the past in defiance of the light given them.” John 3:17, 18: “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus didn’t come to condemn us; He came to give us a PARDON. Only believe! Isaiah 1:18-20: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. “ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Shall we accept the offer of PARDON, which Jesus holds out to us, and prepare to travel to a land where we can live forever—with our Redeemer? Now is the day to make application for your passport if you have not already done so! Joshua 24:15: “. . . Choose you this day whom ye will serve . . .” Joel 3:14: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” If the offer of eternal life—the PARDON with your name on it—looks beautiful, reach out and take it. It is free—to you! But it was expensive to Another. The price has been paid! The arrangements have been made for you to secure—and retain—your heavenly passport! If you will only apply for it, and follow all instructions in the Guide Book, in appreciation for the One who purchased your PARDON for you, eternal life can be yours as a gift! The Visa of Righteousness: (1.) Our page in the book of life is our passport to heavenly Canaan. All who have ever entered God’s service have had their names registered in the Lamb’s book of Life, (GC 480); in fact, each one has been given a separate page in this great book. (DA 313.) (2.) However, our page in the book of life soon becomes marred with the record of sin. Every particular of our history is placed on our page in the book of Page 510 life, (DA 313), and the very best we can do is as “filthy rags” when compared to God’s holy law. (Isaiah 64:6. ) After our names are entered in the Lamb’s book of life, our passport becomes cluttered—and ugly for even our best efforts come far short of God’s perfect standard. (3.) Continual atonement by Christ for the repenting, believing Christian, leaves a record of pardon on his page in the book of life. QD 683: “Jesus stands before the Father, continually offering a sacrifice for the sins of the world . . . Because of the continual commission of sin, the atoning sacrifice of a heavenly Mediator is essential. Jesus, our great high Priest, officiates for us in the presence of God, offering in our behalf His shed blood.” (4.) Sins, though pardoned, stand on our record until our name is called in the investigative judgment. PP 357: “The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement.” (5.) Jesus entered the most holy place in 1844 to begin the investigative judgment and the blotting out of pardoned sin. GC 486, 484: “At the time appointed for the judgment—the close of the 2300 days, in 1844—began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins . . . The divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their transgressions . . .” (See Daniel 8:14; 9:24-27; and pages 27-34.) (6.) Jesus began the investigation with the first generation and closes with the last. GC 483: “As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation and closes with the living.” (7.) As the leaves of this great book of life are turned one by one in the investigative judgment, something is removed from each page. SD 49: “. . . Either our sins or our names will be blotted out of the Book of Life.” Unpardoned sinners have their names and their records both removed. Their passports are canceled! They are listed in the book of death! “If in that day it shall appear that all our wicked deeds have not been fully repented of, our names will be blotted from the book of life, and our sins will stand against us.” 7BC 987. (See EW 291.) Pardoned sinners have their sins blotted out of the book of life, and their names are retained within this precious book. (GC 483, 484.) (8.) When sins are blotted off a page in the book of life, there is a blank space on the passport for the permanent visa of righteousness. “. . Receiving His perfection, we are entitled to heaven.” QD 684. Page 511 Ponder, for a moment, the value of a soul. When Jesus turns to a page in the book of life where no pardon is found, sadness, like a pall of death, falls over the vast assembly. His beloved child, for whom He made an infinite sacrifice, has neglected to accept the PARDON sent to him, and his name is blotted out of the book of life. His passport to eternal life is canceled! He will be forever separated from His Creator and Redeemer! Picture in your mind the sadness of the heavenly Family as the verdict is recorded—eternal death. This is the demand of the holy law, for “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23.) (“. . . The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4.) But nevertheless, the Father and the Son are suffering with grief, and guardian angels weep. AA 273: “In the light of the cross alone can the true value of the human soul be estimated.” 5T 620, 614: “In order to determine how important are the interests involved in the conversion of the soul from error to truth, we must appreciate the value of immortality; we must realize how terrible are the pains of the second death; we must comprehend the honor and glory awaiting the ransomed, and understand what it is to live in the presence of Him who died that He might elevate and ennoble man, and give to the overcomer a royal diadem. “The worth of a soul cannot be fully estimated by finite minds . . . “In comparison with the worth of one soul, the whole world sinks into insignificance.” Jesus paid the penalty for unpardoned sinners when He died on the cross, but they refused Christ’s sacrifice for them. They could have lived forever, with those who accepted the pardon, but they chose, instead, the things of this present life. The choice was theirs—and theirs only. God never demands love or obedience from any of His creatures. Perhaps some just procrastinated—waiting for some later date to accept the valuable provisions of Christ’s atonement. Perhaps others were holding on to some cherished sin—some idol that was taking the place of God in their thoughts and hearts. 5T 53. “Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel . . . Those who would rather die than perform a wrong act are the only ones who will be found faithful.”) These unpardoned sinners did not let God put enmity between them and the inborn corruption of their hearts. (Genesis 3:15; Psalms 51:5.) They failed to reach out and accept the PARDON with their name on it. And when the court turns to their pages in the book of life, their names are removed from its covers, and entered into the book of death. Their names are blotted out forever from the Lamb’s book of life; they are eternally lost, and will suffer the penalty for their own sins. Now, turn your thoughts to a different scene—a scene of rejoicing. When Jesus comes to a person’s page in the book of life where the beautiful word PARDON—stands out in glowing letters, the courts of the sanctuary ring with happy praise. Joy, unspeakable, fills the hearts of every one in the vast tribunal, because a sinner repented, and accepted the eternal pardon Jesus sent to him. This sinner had permitted God to put enmity in his heart against sin, and had received God’s converting grace in his soul. (See Genesis 3:15; GC 505, 506.) The investigative judgment scene is blessed with a praise service. Hearts throb Page 512 anew with grateful thanks for the worthy Lamb that was slain, who “prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” (Revelation 5:5.) The sins registered against this pardoned individual are quickly erased from the book of life. (See SD 49; PP 357, 358; GC 421, 483, 484.) The precious blood of Jesus removes all stain of a guilt-filled life, regardless of how crimson the record might have been—just because His pardoned child reached out and accepted the pardon purchased for him at Calvary. Isaiah 1:18: “. . . Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Now—with the record of sin removed from his page in the book of life, the pardoned child of God is left with a blank page under his name. His past record has been cared for; his pardoned sins are blotted out! The first transaction for each individual whose name is called in the judgment, is a subtraction from the record. Either his sins will be blotted out, or his name and his record will be blotted out. The second transaction in the sealing work of the investigative judgment is an addition to the record. But the addition cannot be made to any page in the book of life, until the subtraction has left the page clean. There must be room for the all-important visa! After a person receives his passport on this earth, something else is needed before he is ready to travel abroad. He needs a visa from a representative of the country he wishes to visit, before he can enter that country. Jesus is the Representative of heavenly Canaan. He is the only One who can give those from earth a visa to enter the pearly gates of His country. (1.) There must be an addition of righteousness before we can have eternal life. SC 62: “The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been, —just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents, —perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness.” Even with his sins—and his “filthy-rag righteousness”—blotted out of the book of life, the pardoned child of God is not in a position to enter heaven. He needs righteousness, absolute righteousness equal to that of God the Father, before his documents are in order for his transfer to heavenly Canaan. Matthew 5:48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (2.) The eternal law of God, situated beneath His throne during the investigative judgment, demands righteousness. 1SM 218, 210: “The law demands perfect obedience . . . “The law of God existed before man was created. It was adapted to the condition of holy beings; even angels were governed by it. After the Fall, the principles of righteousness were unchanged. Nothing was taken from the law; not one of its holy precepts could be improved. Page 513 And as it has existed from the beginning, so will it continue to exist throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.” James 2:12: “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged; by the law of liberty.” Jesus stands directly in front of this holy law—the sentinel of justice—as He carries on the sealing work of the investigative judgment. (See EW 32.) God’s law is the great standard to which every page in the book of life is compared. Each individual whose name is left on the pages of the Lamb’s book of life, must have perfect obedience to all ten commandments registered to his account. —He owes death: To break the law in the smallest detail brings eternal death. Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death . . .” Ezekiel 18:20: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die . . .” 1SM 218: “Not one of those ten precepts can be broken without disloyalty to the God of heaven. The least deviation from its requirements, by neglect or willful transgression, is sin, and every sin exposes the sinner to the wrath of God.” If the law could have been changed when Adam sinned, Jesus need not have died to redeem him from the offense of a broken law. To pay our eternal death sentence to the law requires no effort at the present time. It will be the fate of millions who glide through life, ignoring the pardon which God, the Father, and Jesus have sent to them through the Holy Spirit. The sinner can pay his own eternal death sentence, if he refuses to accept Christ’s death on Calvary for his payment. (See Revelation 20:9, 14.) —The sinner owes righteousness to God’s holy law in order to have eternal life: To keep the law in its minute perfection permits eternal life. 1SM 367: “Righteousness is obedience to the law. The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it.” To pay our debt of righteousness to the law, demands an addition of something we do not have naturally, for “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Job 14:4. SC 62: “Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God.” The best the pardoned sinner ever did, though it showed he loved Jesus, (John 14:15), and though it is immortalized in the book of remembrance, (GC 481), is still nothing but “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), when held up to the standard of God’s law. 1SM 344: “The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God.” Where can a sinner, who trusts in the blood of Jesus for his pardon, secure the addition of perfect righteousness to answer the demands of the holy law? How can he pay his debt of righteousness, which he owes Page 514 to the law, when his name is called in the investigative judgment, and the book of life lies open to his page? (3.) Jesus has paid the double debt which sinners owe to God’s law! Jesus has done two wonderful things for humanity! He lived in our stead to pay the debt required by the law for our perfect law keeping—our righteousness! He died in our stead to pay the debt required by the law for our sins! RH April 29, 1902: “Christ saw the helpless condition of the race, and He came to redeem them by living the life of obedience the law requires, and by paying in His death the penalty of disobedience.” Romans 5:10, 19: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life . . . By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” The demands of the law for every individual, have been met by the life and the death of Christ. By these two valuable atonements, Jesus has paid both of our debts to God’s holy law, making it possible for us to have eternal life! Pardoned sinners are no longer under the condemnation of the law Jesus has become their law-keeping; Jesus has become their grace! Romans 6:14: “. . . Ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Of what legal value is the gift of grace—the gift of Jesus? Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” 2Corinthians 12:9: “. . . My grace is sufficient for thee . . .” Praise God for all-inclusive grace, which may be summed up in one word—Jesus! COL 271: His grace “is His character.” —His perfect law keeping. 6BC 1073: “It is impossible for us to exalt the law of Jehovah unless we take hold of the righteousness of Jesus Christ . . . “We honor both the Father and the Son when we talk about the law. The Father gave us the law, and the Son died to magnify it and make it honorable.” Isaiah 42:21: “The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” Matthew 5:17, 18: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (4.) Because Jesus paid our double debt to God’s law, He can make the two great transactions at the time of the investigative judgment! His death makes it possible for the pardoned sins to be blotted out in the first transaction; and His perfect life makes it possible for righteousness to be added in the second transaction. Because of the death and the life of Jesus, there can be both a subtraction and an addition. Jesus has done His part. But there is one big “if.” The sinner must do his part before he can receive the pardon Page 515 and the cleansing: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1John 1:9. (5.) Christ’s righteousness is written to the accounts of His pardoned children when their names are called in the investigative judgment. Jesus spent 33½ years on this earth, working out a perfection which He knew His pardoned children would need in that day when their records would be compared to God’s law. In this obedience credit lies the hope of humanity! Notice what is actually written down to the accounts of those whose names are finally left in the book of life GC 484: “Christ will clothe His faithful ones with His own righteousness, that He may present them to His Father ‘a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’ Their names stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is written, ‘They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.’” GC 665: “. . . The white robe [is] an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ . . .” God’s pardoned children, who have their names left in the book of life, will be accounted “worthy” because they have Christ’s obedience credit added to their passports, as a visa from God’s dear Son. This righteousness is of such value that it answers all of the demands of the law for their perfection! SD 22: “There is an inexhaustible fund of perfect obedience accruing from His obedience.” Praise God! QD 684: “. . . Receiving His perfection, we are entitled to heaven.” (6.) The seal of God is necessary in order to retain our passport. 7BC 970: “Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City. But there are many who take upon themselves responsibilities in connection with the work of God who are not wholehearted believers, and while they remain thus cannot receive the seal of the living God. They trust in their own righteousness, which the Lord accounts as foolishness.” Here are a group of people who were workers in the cause of God who came up to the last, and did not have their passports to enter heaven. Their names had once been entered in the book of life. (GC 480: “The book of life contains the names of all who have ever entered the service of God.”) They had each applied for a passport, and their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life. They each had a page with their name written on it. (DA 313.) But when their records came up for examination in the investigative judgment, they lost their passports. Their sins were unpardoned. Their names were taken out of the book of life. Their passports were canceled! Why did they lose their passports? Why were their names taken out of the book of life? They were trusting in their own righteousness instead of receiving the seal of the living God, which includes the perfect law-keeping of Jesus. (For further study on the seal of God, see Revelation 7.) As long as their self-righteousness filled up their pages in the book of life, there was no room for the heavenly visa in their passports. Their Page 516 names were blotted out of the book of life, because there was not room for both self-righteousness and Christ’s law keeping. When Jesus throws down the golden censer, He will announce the solemn words, ‘. . . he which is filthy, with filthy-rag righteousness] let him be filthy still . . .” (Revelation 8:5; 22:11; Isaiah 64:6; EW 279.) Jesus will never again be a High Priest to make remission for sin. The golden censer has been “cast” out of heaven. Those with unconfessed sins will be forever lost! There is no second chance after Jesus takes off His priestly garments, and puts on the garments of vengeance to appear in the seven last plagues and the battle of Armageddon. (Study Chapter 6.) (7.) Christ’s righteousness is also our righteousness by faith—today as well as when our names are called in the investigative judgment. SC 62: “. . . Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.” 1SM 367: “. . . The Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account.” (Emphasis added.) 1SM 393, 394: “. . . Christ by His obedience rendered to the law, claims for the repentant soul the merit of His own righteousness . . . The provision made is complete, and the eternal righteousness of Christ is placed to the account of every believing soul. The costly, spotless robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has been provided for the repenting, believing sinner, and he may say: ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.’ (Isa. 61:10.).” 1SM 215: “The human family are in trouble because of their transgression of the Father’s law. But God does not leave the sinner until He shows the remedy for sin. The only-begotten Son of God has died that we might live. The Lord has accepted this sacrifice in our behalf, as our substitute and surety, on the condition that we receive Christ and believe on Him. The sinner must come in faith to Christ, take hold of His merits, lay his sins upon the Sin Bearer, and receive His pardon. It was for this cause that Christ came into the world. Thus the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the repenting, believing sinner. He becomes a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King, an heir of God, and joint heir with Christ.” 3T 371, 372: “Christ came from the courts of glory to this sin polluted world and humbled Himself to humanity. He identified Himself with our weaknesses and was tempted in all points like as we are. Christ perfected a righteous character here upon the earth, not on His own account, for His character was pure and spotless, but for fallen man. His character He offers to man if he will accept it. The sinner, through repentance of his sins, faith in Christ, and obedience to the perfect law of God, has the righteousness of Christ imputed to him; it becomes his righteousness, and his name is recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. He becomes a child of God, a member of the royal family.” Page 517 What is the reaction of the heavenly Father to members of the sinful race receiving credit for what His Son has done? Meditate on the beauty of this tremendous thought from 1SM 36771 “The only way in which he [the sinner] can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account. Christ’s righteousness is accepted in place of man’s failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son. This is how faith is accounted righteousness . . .” It is impossible for mortal minds to comprehend such love. Throughout eternity we will study the marvelous plan of redemption, but we can never fully comprehend the love of God that compelled Him to send His only-begotten Son on such an expensive errand—to rescue a race of rebels from the prison-house of sin. Let us praise Him anew for His wonderful love to the children of men—that while we were yet sinners He sought us! If we appreciate the sacrifice heaven has made for our restoration, we will show our love to God by keeping all of His commandments to the best of our ability. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. We will keep them—not to earn salvation—but because our hearts are overflowing with such love to Jesus for all He has done for us, that it is our pleasure to follow His commands as closely as we can (“Our best” still comes far short of “His best.” And “His best” is what the law requires before we can enter heaven. We need perfection equal to that of the Godhead. Compare Matthew 5:48 with Isaiah 64:6.) If we appreciate the great love of the heavenly Family, we will permit God to put enmity in our hearts against sin, as He has promised to do in Genesis 3:15. And if we cherish no willful sin, Christ’s beautiful robe of righteousness may be about us—today! (1SM 360; COL 316: “When we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, we shall have no relish for sin; for Christ will be working with us. We may make mistakes, but we will hate the sin that caused the sufferings of the Son of God.” However—“The righteousness of Christ will not cover one cherished sin.”) If we are trusting in Christ’s righteousness, and confessing our sinfulness, in our day by day walk with Him, His obedience will be stamped on our permanent record at the time of our sealing, when our page dies open to the eyes of the heavenly tribunal. May they find PARDON written on that page!—so the beautiful “obedience” seal may be placed there after the sins are blotted out! Christ’s character—His life of perfect obedience to God’s law is our heavenly visa. And the law of Canaan is completely satisfied when it finds this visa—the perfection of Jesus—officially placed on our passports in the book of life. Perhaps this is why it is called the Lamb’s book of life—because it becomes filled with the record of His deeds, after our sins and our filthy-rag righteousness are removed. The perfect law-keeping of Jesus added to our account, gives us the privilege to be, not only tourists, but full-fledged citizens of heavenly Canaan. And what is more wonderful still, it entitles us to be members of His immediate family—sons and daughters of God! This precious document gives us permission to spend eternity in Christ’s country. And when we receive this visa of righteousness in our passports, we are—sealed! Sealed for eternity! Rejoice! Page 518 The great pre-advent judgment has been going on since 1844, —ever since Jesus entered the most holy place and took the book from the hand of the Father. The judgment began with those who first lived on earth and continues down through succeeding generations. On some pages, sin has been blotted out and righteousness added; on others the names were removed completely and put in the book of death. Soon the lives of God’s living children are to be examined. (See Daniel 7:9, 10; 8:14; 9:24-27; GC 479, 480, 483; Revelation 5:1-7; James 2:12.) In the midst of the vast assembly, the immense book of life occupies a central position, for everyone who is to be judged—everyone who has ever professed to serve God—has been given a page within its covers. (See GC 480-483; DA 313; 7BC 987; Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14.) GC 486-490: “At the time appointed for the judgment—the close of the 2300 days, in 1844—began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins. All who have ever taken upon themselves the name of Christ must pass its searching scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to be judged ‘out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.’ . . . [Revelation 20:12.] “Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of the atonement. Momentous are the interests involved therein. The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. For many years this work has been in progress. Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour’s admonition, ‘Watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.’ ‘If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” “When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven . . . “All who would have their names retained in the book of life, should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians must be put away.” 1SM 125, 126: “The cases of the righteous dead have been passing in review before God. When that work shall be completed, judgment is to be pronounced upon the living. How precious, how important are these solemn moments! Each of us has a case pending in the court of heaven. We are individually to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. In the typical service, when the work of atonement was performed by the high priest in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary, the people were required to afflict their souls before God, and confess their sins, that they might be atoned for and blotted out. Will any less be required of us in this antitypical day of atonement, when Christ in the sanctuary above is pleading in behalf of His people, and the final, invocable decision is to be pronounced upon every case? “What is our condition in this fearful and solemn time? Alas, what pride is prevailing in the church, what hypocrisy, what deception, what love of dress, frivolity, and amusement, what desire for the supremacy! All these sins have clouded the mind, so that eternal things have not been discerned. Shall we not search the Scriptures, that we may know Page 519 where we are in this world’s history? Shall we not become intelligent in regard to the work that is being accomplished for us at this time, and the position that we as sinners should occupy while this work of atonement is going forward? If we have any regard for our souls’ salvation, we must make a decided change. We must seek the Lord with true penitence; we must with deep contrition of soul confess our sins, that they may be blotted out. “We must no longer remain upon the enchanted ground. We are fast approaching the close of our probation. Let every soul inquire, How do I stand before God? We know not how soon our names may be taken into the lips of Christ, and our cases be finally decided. What, oh, what will these decisions be! Shall we be counted with the righteous, or shall we be numbered with the wicked?” 5T 526: “The whole universe is looking with inexpressible interest to see the closing work of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. At such a time as this, just as the great work of judging the living is to begin, shall we allow unsanctified ambition to take possession of the heart? What can be of any worth to us now except to be found loyal and true to the God of heaven? What is there of any real value in this world when we are on the very borders of the eternal world? What education can we give to the students in our schools that is so necessary as a knowledge of ‘What saith the Scripture?’” 6T 130: “Then let no more time be lost in dwelling on the many things which are not essential and which have no bearing upon the present necessities of God’s people. Let no more time be lost in exalting men who know not the truth, ‘for the time is at hand.’ There is no time now to fill the mind with theories of what is popularly called ‘higher education.’ The time devoted to that which does not tend to assimilate the soul to the likeness of Christ is so much time lost for eternity. This we cannot afford, for every moment is freighted with eternal interests. Now, when the great work of judging the living is about to begin, shall we . . . neglect the education required to meet the needs in this day of peril? “In every case the great decision is to be made whether we shall receive the mark of the beast or his image, or the seal of the living God.” When the judgment of the living begins, Jesus will take the great book of life, and turn, page by page, to the records of each of His professed children. Some will have PARDON written over their confessed sins, while others will be unpardoned, because they neglected the beautiful Gift offered to them, (John 3:16) and failed to ask for pardon. As Jesus begins to make the transactions one by one in the book of life, some will have their sins blotted out, and will be sealed for eternity, with the record of Christ’s perfection on their page. Others will have their names erased from the book of life, and will be listed, with the wicked of all ages, in the book of death. In addition to these transactions of the investigative judgment, which take place in the book of life, as the name of each individual is examined, there is also another transaction which takes place upon earth. Each person who is alive when his name is examined, is also to receive a mark in his forehead. Page 520 TM 234, 235: “The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from among the tares. Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous. ‘They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.’ . . . The one shall be taken. His name shall stand in the book of life, while those with whom he associated shall have the mark of eternal separation from God.” All of the living who are investigated in the judgment receive a mark—either the mark (or seal) of God, or the mark of eternal separation. God’s professed children, hying side by side, will all receive one mark or the other. 6T 130: “In every case the great decision is to be made whether we shall receive the mark of the beast or his image, or the seal of the living God.” The final decision is registered: (1.) in the records of heaven, and (2.) on the foreheads of the living. Only the eyes of the angels can see the marks which are placed upon the individuals whose eternal destiny has been determined. 7BC 968: “What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of His people? It is a mark which angels, but not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption. The intelligent mind has seen the sign of the cross of Calvary in the Lord’s adopted sons and daughters. The sin of the transgression of the law of God is taken away. They have on the wedding garment, and are obedient and faithful to all God’s commands.” When the adopted children of God (1.) receive this mark in their foreheads, and (2.) have their names left enrolled in the book of life, there are two transactions which have taken place: The sin of the transgression of the law of God is taken away. (This includes the blotting out of pardoned sin recorded in the book of life, leaving a blank space—for even the best deeds were contaminated by sin, and of “filthy-rag” value. Isaiah 64:6.) “They have on the wedding garment” —of Christ’s righteousness. (This includes having their page in the book of life credited with the inexhaustible fund of Christ’s perfect obedience. GC 484; SD 22;1SM 367.) Why does God commission His angels to place a mark upon the foreheads of His sealed people, who are alive in the closing days of earth’s history? 4BC 1161: “The angel with the writer’s ink horn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel follows this angel.” (See Ezekiel 9.) The marks in the foreheads of God’s living people are to guide the destroying angel, so he will know who to preserve in the terrible slaughter of the seven last plagues, when ruin and disaster will fill the earth. Human beings will be unable to see these marks. Will there be any change in the individual who receives the seal of God in his forehead? There has been a change on the individual’s page in the book of life, as his sins have been blotted out, and he has been sealed with the record of Christ’s perfection. But what does the sealing do for God’s living children? for their minds? for their natures? Page 521 Let us examine the experience of God’s people who are alive during’ the time of Jacob’s trouble. PP 198, 199: “In his night of anguish beside the Jabbok, when destruction seemed just before him, Jacob had been taught how vain is the help of man, how groundless is all trust in human power. He saw that his only help must come from Him against whom he had so grievously sinned. Helpless and unworthy, he pleaded God’s promise of mercy to the repentant sinner. That promise was his assurance that God would pardon and accept him. Sooner might heaven and earth pass than that word could fail; and it was this that sustained him through that fearful conflict. [Genesis 32.] “Jacob’s experience during that night of wrestling and anguish represents the trial through which the people of God must pass just before Christ’s second coming. The prophet Jeremiah, in holy vision looking down to this time, said: ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace . . .” Jeremiah 30:6, 7: “Ask ye now, and see whether a man cloth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” When God’s people go through this time of Jacob’s trouble, the plagues will be falling on the wicked. All of God’s people will have already passed the investigative judgment. Their sins will be blotted out, and their pages in the book of life will be glowing with the perfection seal of Christ’s righteousness. Christ exchanges His priestly garments for garments of vengeance, and leaves the heavenly sanctuary before the plagues begin to fall. Therefore God’s people are sealed as they go through the time of Jacob’s trouble. (Study GC 613-621; EW 279-285.) EW 48: “When Jesus leaves the sanctuary, then they who are holy and righteous will be holy and righteous still; for all their sins will then be blotted out, and they will be sealed with the seal of the living God.” T M 446: “The bottles of God’s wrath cannot be poured out to destroy the wicked and their works until all the people of God have been judged, and the cases of the living as well as the dead are decided. And even after the saints are sealed with the seal of the living God, His elect will have trials individually. Personal afflictions will come; but the furnace is closely watched by an eye that will not suffer the gold to be consumed. The indelible mark of God is upon them. God can plead that His own name is written there. The Lord has shut them in. Their destination is inscribed—‘GOD, NEW JERUSALEM.’ They are God’s property, His possession. “Will this seal be put upon the impure in mind. . . ?” Trials will continue for God’s children, even after their sins are blotted out and they are sealed with the seal of the living God. Sealing does not do away with trials. After our names have passed in the investigative judgment, and all of God’s children are sealed, and after Jesus leaves the heavenly sanctuary, God’s people must go through the time of Jacob’s trouble Why is this trying experience necessary, if God’s people are already sealed in the Lamb’s book of life, and are wearing the seal of God in their foreheads? Page 522 GC 621: “God’s love for His children during the period of their severest trial is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in the furnace of fire; their earthliness must be consumed, that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected.” 1T 431: “Every carnal thing will be separated from God’s peculiar treasures until they shall be like gold seven times purified.” OHC 321: “The time of trouble is the crucible that is to bring out Christlike characters. It is designed to lead the people of God to renounce Satan and his temptations. The last conflict will reveal Satan to them in his true character, that of a cruel tyrant, and it will do for them what nothing else could do, uproot him entirely from their affection” (Emphasis added.) There is a great difference between the “earthliness” spoken of above and willful sinning. God’s sealed people will have no unconfessed sin in this time when their earthliness is being consumed: GC 620, 621: “. . . In the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted out; and they cannot bring them to remembrance . . . “Jacob’s history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been deceived, and tempted, and betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but the Lord’s eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to their cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire.” The Refiner is the One who will see His people through this experience when the earthliness is being removed! He Himself is in charge of the refining process. Even though they have no Mediator in the heavenly sanctuary to forgive sin, after Jesus has removed His priestly garments, and cast the censer out of heaven, (EW 280; Revelation 8:5), they still have a Friend! God’s people do not stand alone in Jacob’s time of trouble! “His angels” are sent to comfort and protect them, and “His ear listens to their cries.” TM 446: “. . . The furnace is closely watched by an eye that will not suffer the gold to be consumed.” They are “eternally secure” in His arms of love and protection: PK 591: “The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb’s book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages. They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon’s roar. Now they are eternally secure from the tempter’s devices.” As God’s people are agonizing in the time of Jacob’s trouble, where do they find hope? PP 202, 203: “Yet Jacob’s history is an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been betrayed into sin, but who have returned Page 523 unto Him with true repentance . . . As dangers surround them, and despair seizes upon the soul, they must depend solely upon the merits of the atonement.” (These precious merits have already been applied to their pages in the book of life during the sealing.) Even though the memory of their specific sins has been removed, (GC 620), how do God’s people feel about their condition? 2SG 132: “The righteous, in their distress, will have a deep sense of their unworthiness, and with many tears will acknowledge their utter unworthiness, and like Jacob will plead the promises of God through Christ, made to just such dependent, helpless, repenting sinners.” Some may falsely conclude that the sealing brings divinity or immortality, but as we study the experience of the people of God in the last remnant of time after they are sealed, we can see they are looking in faith to One much higher than they are. They have no confidence in their flesh. (Study the compilation of quotations in the appendix on the “Mental Condition of a Sealed Person”, and “Perfection of the Flesh VS Christian Perfection of the Soul.” See also AA 560, 561.) When do our mortal bodies put on immortality? 1Corinthians 15:51-53: “. . . We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Grace will be needed by God’s sealed children until Jesus appears in the clouds of heaven: GC 641: “The righteous cry with trembling: ‘Who shall be able to stand?’ The angels’ song is hushed, and there is a period of awful silence. Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying: ‘My grace is sufficient for you?’” Grace is Christ’s character. (COL 271.) God’s sealed people will be depending upon Christ’s perfection even at the time of His appearing. Their own corruptible natures do not give them any confidence to face their Creator without trembling. It is His grace which takes away their fear, and allows them to look up and say, “. . . Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us . . .” (Isaiah 25:9.) So we are trusting in Christ’s righteousness and His forgiveness before we are sealed in the book of life and in our foreheads, and we are trusting in them after we are sealed. The sealing does not change our faith in Jesus! The “sealed” people will still feel their need of Jesus and His grace: —even after their foreheads are marked by the angels with the indelible seal, and —after the memory of their specific sins has been taken from them, (GC 620}, and —after their confessed and pardoned sins have been blotted out of the book of life, and —their names stand eternally registered on its pages, blessed with a portion of that precious, inexhaustible fund of obedience credit which Jesus worked out for them! Freely bestowed on all who believe; You that are longing to see His face, Will you this moment His grace receive?” As Jesus investigates the records of His children, to see who have accepted His pardon, He has in front of Him the great book of life. On some pages, there is PARDON recorded; these of His children are sealed. On other pages, where the sins are unconfessed, His professed children have their names blotted out. They are “shaken out” of the book of life, because they did not accept His pardon. Every name is either sealed or shaken out, as Jesus turns the pages of the book of life in the investigative judgment. The sealing and the shaking go side by side, as the judgment progresses. And the determining factor which decides whether a name will be sealed or shaken out of the book of life, hinges on the finding of PARDON on that person’s record. GC 483: “Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life . . . “All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven . . .” ML 238: “But the sins that are not confessed will never be forgiven; the name of him who thus rejects the grace of God will be blotted out of the book of life.” Let us examine some of the quotations of the sealing and of the shaking, which describe what is happening in the heavenly sanctuary since Jesus entered the most holy place in 1844: Sealing, a past work—Individuals yet alive In 1849 —sealing a present work: EW 43, 44. “Satan is now 11849] using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from the present truth and to cause them to waver . . . Satan was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was past, until the covering was drawn over God’s people, and they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues.” Sealing, a past work of Individuals yet alive: 7BC 982: “There are living upon our earth men who have passed the age of fourscore and ten. The natural results of old age are seen in their feebleness. But they believe God, and God loves Them. The seal of God is upon them . . .” Sealing, a past work Individual in the grave: 2SM 263: “The news of your wife’s death was to me overwhelming . . . I saw that she was sealed and would come up at the voice of God and stand upon the earth, and would be with the 144,000.” Sealing, a future work continues until Jesus leaves the heavenly sanctuary: EW 58: “The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure.” EW 36: “I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues.” 1SM 66 “Reference to our published works will show our belief that the living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation; also that these will enjoy special honors in the kingdom of God.” Page 525 In 1850 —shaking was in progress: EW 50: “The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on, and all will be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth . . .” In 1862 —angels weighing worth: 1T 429: “I saw that we are now [1862] in the shaking time. Satan is working with all his power to wrest souls from the hand of Christ . . . Angels of God are weighing moral worth.” In 1900 —shaking time continued: 6T 331, 332: “If we only knew what is before us we would not be so dilatory in the work of the Lord. We are in the shaking time, the time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken.” The shaking time is a measuring time: 7T 219: “The time has come when everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Every case is coming in review before God; He is measuring the temple and the worshipers therein.” Future shaking of God’s living people: 1T 100: “As we near the judgment, all will manifest their true character, and it will be made plain to what company they belong. The sieve is moving. Let us not say: Stay Thy hand, O God. The church must be purged, and it will be . . . The judgment is to set, the books are to be opened, and we are to be judged according to our deeds.” 9T 15, 16: “Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those: who serve God and those who serve Him not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain . . . 3T 266, 267: “Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to stand without fault before the throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God’s professed people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet’s illustration of the last work under the figure of the men each having a slaughter weapon in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. ‘And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’” “Who are standing in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs among the professed people of God and who murmur in their hearts, if not openly, against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against them and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! Unless they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the burden of the work and in holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, they will never receive the mark of God’s sealing approval. They will fall in the general Page 526 destruction of the wicked, represented by the work of the five men bearing slaughter weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in lien, are those ‘that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done’ in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying. Read the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. [Praise God for His promise of hatred against sin in Genesis 3:15!] “But the general slaughter of all those who do not thus see the wide contrast between sin and righteousness’ and do not feel as those do who stand in the counsel of God and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men with slaughter weapons: ‘Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” Ezekiel 9 refers to two types of slaughterings: (1.) The literal slaughtering which occurs near the time of the second advent of Christ, (See GC 656), and (2.) the spiritual slaughtering, when God’s unfaithful children receive their sentence of eternal death, and their names are removed from the book of life. 1T 198: “Angels keep a faithful record of every man’s work, and as judgment passes upon the house of God, the sentence of each is recorded by his name; and the angel is commissioned to spare not the unfaithful servants, but to cut them down at the time of slaughter.” 5T 211-216: “The class who do not feel grieved over their own spiritual declension, nor mourn over the sins of others, will be left without the seal of God. The Lord commissions His messengers, the men with slaughtering weapons in their hand: ‘Go ye after him through the city, and smite: . . . but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” “Here we see that the church—the Lord’s sanctuary—was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God . . . “It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws His presence from those who have been blessed with great light and who have felt the power of the word in ministering to others. They were once His faithful servants, favored with His presence and guidance; but they departed from Him and led others into error, and therefore are brought under the divine displeasure . . . “Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not receive the seal of God in their foreheads. They had the light of truth, they knew their Master’s will, they understood every point of our faith, but they had not corresponding works. Those who were so familiar with prophecy and the treasures of divine wisdom should have acted their faith. They should have commanded their households after them, that by a well-ordered family they might present to the world the influence of the truth upon the human heart “By their lack of devotion and piety, and their failure to reach a high religious standard, they make other souls contented with their position. Page 527 Men of finite judgment cannot see that in patterning after these me: who have so often opened to them the treasures of God’s word, the will surely endanger their souls. Jesus is the only true pattern. Everyone must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him. However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path. “Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them . . . “Now is the time to heed the admonition of the True Witness: ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint shine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.’ . . . “It is now that we must keep ourselves and our children unspotted from the world. It is now that we must wash our robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is now that we must overcome pride, passion, and spiritual slothfulness. It is now that we must awake and make determined effort for symmetry of character. ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.’ We are in a most trying position, waiting, watching for our Lord’s appearing. The world is in darkness. ‘But ye, brethren,’ says Paul, ‘are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.’ It is ever God’s purpose to bring light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow, and rest out of weariness for the waiting, longing soul. “What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation: Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads. When the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity. “Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God—candidates for heaven. Go forward, my brethren and sisters . . . Search the Scriptures for yourselves, that you may understand the fearful solemnity of the present hour.” Please reread the preceding three paragraphs—as you kneel before God in your closet, alone with Him. EW 270: “I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans . . . Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people.” 2SG 284: “Just as long as God has a church, He will have those Page 528 who will cry aloud and spare not, who will be His instruments to reprove selfishness and sins, and will not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, whether men will hear or forbear. I saw that individuals would rise up against the plain testimonies. It does not suit their natural feelings. They would choose to have smooth things spoken unto them, and have peace cried in their ears. I view the church in a more dangerous condition than they ever have been. Experimental religion is known but by a few. The shaking must soon take place to purify the church.” TM 112: “When the shaking comes, by the introduction of false theories, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are like shifting sand. They slide into any position to suit the tenor of their feelings of bitterness. 4T 89: “The shaking of God blows away multitudes like dry leaves. Prosperity multiplies a mass of professors. Adversity purges them out of the church. As a class, their spirits are not steadfast with God. They go out from us because they are not of us; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, many are offended.” 9T 62, 63: “My brethren, let your souls be truly converted. If ever there was a time when we needed to understand our responsibilities, it is now, when truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter. Satan has come down with great power to work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; and everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and those things that cannot be shaken will remain. The Lord is coming very soon, and we are entering into scenes of calamity. Satanic agencies, though unseen, are working to destroy human life. But if our life is hid with Christ in God, we shall see of His grace and salvation.” GC 625: “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.” LS 93: “The enemy will be successful in overthrowing the faith of some, but those who are true to principle will not be shaken out.” Those of God’s professed people, who are alive in the closing days of this earth’s history, and who are shaken out of His church body, will also have their names blotted out of the book of life, during the shaking of the investigative judgment, when their names come up for review before the Judge of all the earth. When is the shaking to come to those who are alive? 2SM 368: “When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” 6BC 1065: “When the day comes when the law of God is made void, and the church is sifted by the fiery trials that are to try all that live upon the earth, a greater proportion of those who are supposed to be genuine will give heed to seducing spirits, and will turn traitors and betray sacred trusts. They will prove our very worst persecutors.” 2SM 380: “Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God’s only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decree of the national councils and obey the national laws to Page 529 exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin, to the disregard of God’s holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of, the Protestant world, the image of the beast. “Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.” 5T 136: “Soon God’s people will be tested by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal. Instead of being strengthened and confirmed by opposition, threats, and abuse, they will cowardly take the side of the opposers.” 1T 251: “There is a class . . . who cherish secret feelings of dissatisfaction against those who bear the burden in this work . . . Such readily receive, cherish, and circulate reports which have no foundation in truth, to destroy the influence of those who are engaged in this work. All who wish to draw off from the body will have opportunity. Something will arise to test everyone. The great sifting time is just before us. The jealous and faultfinding, who are watching for evil, will be shaken out.” lT 406: “Ministers and people are unprepared for the time in which they dive, and nearly all who profess to believe present truth are unprepared to understand the work of preparation for this time. In their present state of worldly ambition, with their lack of consecration to God, their devotion to self, they are wholly unfitted to receive the latter rain . . .” 5T 80-82: “. . . The days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor . . . “The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness. “When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. These who have been timid and self-distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David—willing to do and dare. The deeper the night for God’s people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass the faithful; but in the name of Jesus, they will. Page 530 come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’” 8T 41: “Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord’s army joined the foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment keeping people of God.” After the judgment of the living begins, there are two phases to the shaking: (1.) Names are blotted from the book of life in heaven. (2.) Members are shaken out of the Lord’s church on earth. The shaking of the investigative judgment (for God’s professed children who have already been laid to rest), has been underway since 1844, when Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary and began examining the records of His professed people. EW 50: (written in 1850): “The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on . . .” Those who have not received Christ’s PARDON have their names removed from the book of life forever—they are shaken out. (Those who have received Christ’s PARDON are sealed, when Jesus examines their page in the book of life.) The judgment began with those who first lived on the earth, and continues down until it comes to those who are alive in the last days of earth’s history. 7T 219: “The time has come when everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Every case is coming in review before God; He is measuring the temple and the worshipers therein.” Entire companies of believers disappear from God’s ranks, and join the enemy. (8T 41.) They are shaken out of God’s living church. 2SM 380: “. . . The sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat.” 5T 80: “But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty shaking soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.” When is the shaking of the living members of God’s church to begin? 5T 81: “The mark of the beast will be urged upon us . . . The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church.” 2SM 380: “And all who will not bow to the decree of the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin, to the disregard of God’s holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery Page 531 alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast . . . “The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.” 2SM 368: “When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials . . .” 5T 452: “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 whether the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon . . . Says the prophet: ‘The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.’ [Daniel 12:10.] “Those who have access to God through Christ have important work before them. Now is the time to lay hold of the arm of our strength. The prayer of David should be the prayer of pastors and laymen: ‘It is time for Thee, Lord to work: for they have made void Thy law.’” The great book of life will soon be open to your name, living church member! Will PARDON be written on your record? Will you receive the seal of God?—or the mark of eternal destruction? 5T 216: “What are you doing, brethren, in the great work of preparation? Those who are uniting with the world are receiving the worldly mold and preparing for the mark of the beast. Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads.” 6T 130: “In every case the great decision is to be made whether we shall receive the mark of the beast or his image, or the seal of the living God.” GC 490. “The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above . . . Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living.” 4BC 1161: “The angel with the writer’s ink horn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel follows this angel.” TM 431: “To His angels He gives the commission to execute His judgments. Let the ministers awake, let them take in the situation. The work of judgment begins at the sanctuary. ‘And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.’ Read Ezekiel 9:2-7.” (Verse 2 is quoted above.) Ezekiel 9:3-11: “And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye Page 532 spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark: and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. “And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt Thou destroy all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem? “Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. And as for Me also, Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. “And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded me.” When will the judgment of the living start? When will some of God’s professed people be shaken out of His church body—and be shaken out of the book of life? When will others begin to be sealed, and have their sins blotted out of the heavenly records? 1SM 66: “Reference to our published works will show our belief that the living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation; also that these will enjoy special honors in the kingdom of Those of God’s living people who will be privileged to receive the seal of God at this period of the earth’s history, must go through an experience to prepare them for this seal. Study carefully the following lines: PK 590, 591: ‘in the time of the end, the people of God will sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. With tears they will warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they will humble themselves before the Lord in penitence. The wicked will mock their sorrow and ridicule their solemn appeals. But the anguish and humiliation of God’s people is unmistakable evidence that they are regaining the strength and nobility of character lost in consequence of sin. It is because they are drawing nearer to Christ, because their eyes are fixed on His perfect purity, that they discern so clearly the exceeding sinfulness of sin. [They are receiving the promise of Genesis 3:15!] Meekness and lowliness are the conditions of success and victory. A crown of glory awaits those who bow at the foot of the cross. “God’s faithful, praying ones are, as it were, shut in with Him. They themselves know not how securely they are shielded. Urged on by Satan, the rulers of this world are seeking to destroy them; but could the eyes of God’s children be opened, as were the eyes of Elisha’s servant at Dothan, they would see angels of God encamped around about them, holding in check the hosts of darkness. “As the people of God afflict their souls before Him, pleading for purity of heart, the command is given, ‘Take away the filthy garments,’ and the encouraging words are spoken, ‘Behold, I have caused shine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.’” Page 533 Zechariah 3:4. The spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness is placed upon the tried, tempted, faithful children of God. The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb’s book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages. They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon’s roar. Now they are eternally secure from the tempters devices. Their sins are transferred to the originator of sin. A ‘fair miter’ is set upon their heads. “While Satan has been urging his accusations, holy angels, unseen, have been passing to and fro, placing upon the faithful ones the seal of the living God.” Yes, there is a crisis ahead, as God’s law is made void in the legislative halls, and as God’s people face the roar of the dragon. There are solemn moments ahead, also, as one by one, the names of God’s professed people are called in the investigative judgment. But there is triumph ahead for some. Let us look at the second part of the reference found in 8T 41: “Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord’s army joined the foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God.” Companies will be shaken out of God’s church—but “tribes” will enter! The sinners in Zion will be removed, before the church is ready to receive these multitudes who are honestly seeking for light. These will eagerly accept the message of Christ and His righteousness, during the outpouring of God’s Spirit in the latter rain. Why do they not accept this message before? 6T 371: “The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who have backslidden.” But God’s eye is upon these jewels of His who are longing for light. He will prepare His people to take them the message of salvation. It is in the shaking time that God’s people receive the final preparation for the latter rain, and the church is purified. EW 269-271: “I saw some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle. Firmness and great earnestness was expressed in their countenances; large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads. Now and then their faces would light up with the marks of God’s approbation, and again the same solemn, earnest, anxious look would settle upon them. “Evil angels crowded around, pressing darkness upon them to shut out Jesus from their view, that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness that surrounded them, and thus they be led to distrust God and murmur against Him. Their only safety was in keeping their eyes directed upward. Angels of God had charge over His people, and as the poisonous atmosphere of evil angels was pressed around these anxious ones, the heavenly angels were continually wafting their wings over them to scatter the thick darkness “As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of Page 534 light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances. Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these and went to the aid of the earnest, praying ones. I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance. But His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them. “I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people. “I saw that the testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified. “Said the angel, ‘List ye!’ Soon I heard a voice like many musical instruments all sounding in perfect strains, sweet and harmonious. It surpassed any music I had ever heard, seeming to be full of mercy, compassion, and elevating, holy joy. It thrilled through my whole being. Said the angel, ‘Look ye!’ My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through. Yet their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shone with the light and glory of heaven. They had obtained the victory, and it called forth from them the deepest gratitude and holy, sacred joy. “The numbers of this company had lessened. Some had been shaken out and left by the way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks. Evil angels still pressed around them, but could have no power over them. “I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound; some wives by their husbands, and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it. All fear of their relatives was gone, and the truth alone was exalted to them. They had been hungering and thirsting for truth; it was dearer and more precious than life. I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’” Thank God for the gift of His Holy Spirit to His unshaken people! Page 535 Notice the following five points from this description of the shaking of God’s people: (1.) There is a group of God’s living people who go through the shaking time before they are prepared to receive the latter rain. “I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth.” (2.) Because of the testimony of the True Witness, two groups of people are developed. a. “Some I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. . . His angels left those who made no effort to help themselves, and I lost sight of them . . . The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks.” b. “I saw some with strong faith and agonizing cries, pleading with God . . . As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, at times a ray of light from Jesus came to them, to encourage their hearts and light up their countenances . . . I saw angels of God hasten to the assistance of all who were struggling with all their power to resist the evil angels and trying to help themselves by calling upon God with perseverance.” (3.) This group who continued to look upward were not shaken out—they were purified! EW 270: “This testimony [of the True Witness] must work deep repentance; all who truly receive it will obey it and be purified.” 8T 250: “When purification shall take place in our ranks, we shall no longer rest at ease, boasting of being rich and increased with goods . . . 1T 100: “The sieve is moving . . . The church must be purged, and 1T 187: “Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain . . .” (4.) When this group of God’s people had obtained the victory, “they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet.” “Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through . . . They had obtained the victory . . .” Where does the armor come from, which is to be worn by God’s purified children, after they have passed through the agonizing struggle of the shaking time? Page 536 EW 271: “I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power . . . I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel” AA 55: “This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain . . .” PK 590, 591: “In the time of the end the people of God will sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. With tears they will warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they will humble themselves before the Lord in penitence. “As the people of God afflict their souls before Him, pleading for purity of heart, the command is given, ‘Take away the filthy garments,’ and the encouraging words are spoken, ‘Behold, I have caused shine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.’ Zechariah 3:4. The spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness is placed upon the tried, tempted, faithful children of God. The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb’s book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages.” COR 127: “. . . The latter rain will be more abundant. The Saviour of men will be glorified, and the earth will be lightened with the bright shining of the beams of His righteousness.” COL 415: “The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.” 6T 19: “The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel.” (5.) After this group are purified, and are wearing the heavenly armor, it is their privilege to go out and proclaim, in a special way, the message of Christ’s righteousness to others. Probation is still open for those who had been “prevented from hearing the truth.” EW 271. “I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound; some wives by their husbands, and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it . . . It was dearer and more precious than life.” In the following quotation from (GC 611, 612, which describes the closing work of God in the earth, notice: —how God’s servants proclaim His message in the time of the latter rain; and —the relation of the blotting out of sin to the time of the latter rain. “The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel, are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are ‘the times of refreshing’ to which the apostle Peter looked forward Page 537 when he said: ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus.’ Acts 3:19, 20. “Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand. “The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord’s side.” Notice in the preceding quotation that “sins” are to be “blotted out” when the times of refreshing come from God. The judgment of the living is, without doubt, underway at the same time that some of God’s people are receiving the latter rain—because it is in the investigative judgment that pardoned sins are removed from the records. (GC 483.) GC 485: “The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things written in the books, impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated. But the apostle Peter distinctly states that the sins of believers will be blotted out ‘when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord . . .’” RH Aug. 28, 1883: “Are we by repentance and confession sending our sins beforehand to judgment, that they may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come?” 1SM 66: “. . . The living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation . . .” (1.) None will receive the seal of God until after their sins have been blotted out of the book of life. The First Transaction: When Jesus investigates a page in the book of life where PARDON is registered, the sins are blotted out. The Second Transaction: After the sins are erased, righteousness is added. Page 538 (The living righteous, as well as the dead righteous, need absolute perfection, before they can enter heaven. God’s holy law—the sentinel of justice—requires righteousness equal to that of God the Father. (See James 2:10, 12; Matthew 5:48.) All whose names are to remain enrolled in the Lamb’s book of life, must have this absolute perfection—recorded on their pages to satisfy the demands of the law. The very best of human effort is contaminated, and of “filthy-rag” value. (See Isaiah 64:6; 1SM 344.) The only place the repentant sinner can find this absolute righteousness is from Jesus. This perfection of Jesus is placed to the account of the pardoned sinner at the time his name is investigated in the judgment, after his sins are blotted out. This is his permanent visa—his permission to enter heavenly Canaan. This is the seal of God, based on the perfect law-keeping of Jesus. When Christ’s righteousness is stamped as a Permanent entry on a page in the book of life, that individual is sealed for eternity! ) Notice the order of sequence in this quotation from GC 483, 484: “As the books of record are opened m the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come m review before God . . . All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven . . . Their sins will be blotted out . . . “Christ will clothe His faithful ones with His own righteousness . . . Their names stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is written, ‘They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.’” GC 665: “. . . The white robe [is] an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ . . .” 1SM 367: “. . . The Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account.” (2.) As Jesus turns the pages of the great book of life, some names are sealed, and others are shaken out. The applying of Christ’s two transactions, (the blotting out of sin and the addition of righteousness) will be carried out name by name, page by page—wherever PARDON is found. KH 238: “But sins that are not confessed will never be forgiven; the name of him who thus rejects the grace of God will be blotted out of the book of life.” (There will be no second chance, when the sealing is over, and Jesus throws down the censer. Revelation 8:5; 22:11.] (3.) The shaking of the living church members begins when God’s law is made void. 5T 81: “The mark of the beast will be urged upon us . . . The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church.” 2SM 368: “When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials . . .” 2SM 380: “And all who will not bow to the decree of the national councils. . . will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast. . . The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat.” Page 539 (4.) The shaking of the living church members precedes the latter ram. Two groups are developed: a. EW 270: “Some, I saw, did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud . . . They were left behind in darkness . . .” b. EW 271: “My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet . . . I heard these clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound . . . I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’” (5.) Some will have their sins blotted out “when the times of refreshing [the latter rain shall come.” {The blotting out of sin is the first transaction in the heavenly courtroom.) GC 485: “But the apostle Peter distinctly states that the sins of believers will be blotted out ‘when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord . . .’” (See also GC 612; RH Aug. 28, 1883.) (6.) Some will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation. {This is the second transaction in the heavenly courtroom.) 1SM 66: “. . . The living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation . . .” (7.) When the judgment of the living begins, there are as many closes of probation as there are names listed in the book of life. GC 483, 490: “Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life . . . “We are not saved in groups . . . Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet He will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth.” Probation closes name by name, as Jesus turns the pages of the great book of life. After He investigates each page, that person’s eternal destiny is forever decided. He is either sealed for eternity, or shaken out of the heavenly register and shaken out of the ranks of God’s people on earth. (See EW 271.) Jesus makes a page-by-page examination, and there are name-by-name closes of probation. (8.) Those of God’s children who are first investigated, after the judgment of the living begins—who are pardoned and sealed and who have received the latter rain—will take the message of Christ’s righteousness to those honest ones who have not yet been investigated in’ the heavenly judgment. Page 540 EW 271: “They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. —Their countenances expressed the severe conflict which they had endured, the agonizing struggle they had passed through. Yet their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shown with the light and glory of heaven . . . “I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound . . . The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it . . . They had been hungering and thirsting for truth; it was dearer and more precious than life. I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.’” (9.) Those of God’s professed children who are first investigated, after the judgment of the living begins—who are unpardoned and who have their names blotted out of the book of life—will have no further opportunity to be saved. The mark of separation is eternal! TM 234, 235: “The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from among the tares. Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous . . . The one shall be taken. His name shall stand in the book of life, while those with whom he associated shall have the mark of eternal separation from God.” Revelation 22:11, 12: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still . . . Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Jeremiah 8:20: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death . . .” Ezekiel 18:20: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die . . .” Revelation 20:15: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” —after the millennium. (10.) Probation is closed for a group of unpardoned people, during the same period of time that many are accepting God’s truth. 2SM 16. “But I speak not my own words when I say that God’s Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth.” 7BC 979: “The time of God’s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.” Those of God’s professed living people, who are first to be examined when the judgment of the living begins, and who are shaken out instead of being sealed, will not have a second chance during the time of the latter rain. Probation is closed for us when our cases are presented before the investigative judgment session. We are either sealed for eternity when Jesus turns to our page in the book of life, or we receive the mark of eternal separation. Page 541 Luke 14:16-24: “. . . A certain Man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent His servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse . . . So that servant came, and shewed his Lord these things. Then the Master of the house being angry said to His servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind . . . Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled. “For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of My supper.” 2T 40, 41. “Here is a class rejected of God because they despised the invitation of the Master . . . If those who have the light reject it, or neglect to follow it out, it will become darkness to them . . . Those who choose to make excuses and continue in sin and conformity to the world will be left to their idols . . . “An immense sacrifice was made on the part of God’s dear Son, that He might have power to rescue fallen man and exalt him to His own right hand, make him an heir of the world and a possessor of the eternal weight of glory. Language fails to express the value of the immortal inheritance. The glory, riches, and honor offered by the Son of God are of such infinite value that it is beyond the power of men or even angels to give any just idea of their worth, their excellence, their magnificence. If men, plunged in sin and degradation, refuse these heavenly benefits, refuse a life of obedience, trample upon the gracious invitations of mercy, and choose the paltry things of earth because they are seen, and it is convenient for their present enjoyment to pursue a course of sin, Jesus will carry out the figure in the parable; such shall not taste of His glory, but the invitation will be extended to another class.” EW 278: “The light that was shed upon the waiting ones penetrated everywhere, and those in the churches who had any light, who had not heard and rejected the three messages, obeyed the call and left the fallen churches.” (11.) It is not left with human beings to judge who has accepted or rejected the gospel invitation. {Satan would have us judge both ourselves and others.) EW 261: “I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out, ministers and people will be called out from these churches and will gladly receive the truth.” 6T 400, 401: “As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in our ranks . . . 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 the fold will come back to follow the great Shepherd.” Yes, some will hear and accept the final gospel call to the great wedding supper of the Lamb—but for others it will be too late! Page 542 Even though we know that the judgment of the living is to begin at the house of God, (Ezekiel 9:6; 3T 266, 267; 5T 211, 212), and that the shaking of His living church begins at the time God’s law is made void, (5T 80, 81; 2SM 368, 380), still we do not know when each individual will face the heavenly tribunal. But we know that the judgment of the living is soon to begin. And death may close our probation even before that day arrives. So it behooves us to be ready to meet our Saviour in peace—now! Someone’s record is being examined right now in the heavenly courts. Perhaps it is your neighbor who died yesterday. Soon it will be your living neighbor! And then—the moment will arrive when all in the heavenly sanctuary will focus their eyes on your page in the book of life. How will your record look, professed child of God? Will Jesus find PARDON written over your sins? Will the heavenly Lawyer be able to say of you—Yes, He accepted the pardon I sent him? He is Mine! Erase the record of sin which mars his page. It is pardoned by My blood. Place underneath his name the perfect obedience credit I worked out for him nineteen hundred years ago! On your special day—the day when the Judge of all the earth reviews the path you have chosen to trod—your probation will be closed forever. Your eternal destiny will be decided. COL 319, 263: “There will be no future probation in which to prepare for eternity. It is in this life that we are to put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness . . . This life is the only time given to man in which to prepare for eternity.” Child of God, your name will soon be up for consideration in the courtroom. You must be found with PARDON on your page in the book of life, if you wish to have your sins blotted out permanently, and have the indelible visa of Christ’s righteousness placed on your page in the heavenly registry. Will you be among this blessed group who are purified, and who will take the message of Christ’s righteousness to the masses in the time of the latter rain? (EW 270, 271; GC 612; 1T 187.) Or will you be of the group “that God’s Spirit will pass by,” when there are thousands in the eleventh hour acknowledging the truth? (See SM 16; 9T 97.) Face these solemn thoughts squarely and honestly—on your knees. Eternity is in the balance—a life that measures with the life of God! Don’t put into the future that quiet moment when you come alone with God—and your Bible—and let Him talk to you through His Holy Spirit. Let the busy world rush by, and go aside and listen to the still small Voice which is calling you to consider your eternal destiny. Face these solemn thoughts gratefully, too. You have an elder Brother who is touched with the feelings of your infirmities—and He will be your heavenly Lawyer, if you will let Him be. He stands with hands outstretched, pleading with you to let Him handle your case. No problem is too difficult for Him to unravel; no wound so great that He cannot heal. Jesus waits with infinite love—waits to give you pardon and peace. You are very precious to Him! If you had been the only one on earth to receive His pardon, He would have left heaven for you! Page 543 The door of mercy is still open! But soon it must close. The costly experience of sin, which has marred the universe for nearly 6000 years, must be brought to an end. Here in the last moment of time, the investigative judgment still lingers, as eternal destinies are weighed in the balance. The court is still in session, as the list of citizens for the coming world are being sealed in the Lamb’s book of life. Very precious to the Christian are two promises, which bring him peace of mind as he lays down to sleep at night—wondering if his name might be the next to be called in the judgment: 1John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Genesis 3:15: “And I [God] will put enmity [hatred] between thee [Satan] and the woman, [God’s church] . . .” GC 505, 506: “God declares: ‘I will put enmity.’ This enmity is not naturally entertained. When man transgressed the divine law, his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. There exists naturally no enmity between sinful man and the originator of sin . . . “It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul which creates in man enmity against Satan . . . Whoever is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it, whoever resists and conquers those passions that have held sway within, displays the operation of a principle wholly from above.” How will a genuine Christian feel about the mistakes he makes? 1SM 360: “When we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, we shall have no relish for sin; for Christ will be working with us. We may make mistakes, but we will hate the sin that caused the sufferings of the Son of God.” If we let God put hatred for sin in our hearts, and continually ask Him to forgive the iniquity and corruption of our human natures, we can have the beautiful robe of Christ’s righteousness about us moment by moment. Then—at any time our names may be examined in the judgment, or we may be called to “sleep” until Jesus comes, we will be safe. We will be covered with Christ’s beautiful garment and our names will remain in the Lamb’s book of life! But beware! “The righteousness of Christ will not cover one cherished sin.” (COL 316.) If we have not permitted God to work the miracle of Genesis 3:15 in our lives, we are in continual danger. One sin—only one—which we are cherishing, will prevent us from being covered with Christ’s robe of perfection 5T 53: “Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel.” SL 66: “The willful commission of a known sin silences the witnessing voice of the Spirit, and separates the soul from God.” How earnestly we should plead with God to give us this gift of hatred for sin—so we may be covered with His insurance policy! If we will continually accept His gift of hatred for sin, then—living or dying—we have the assurance of eternal life. We would be covered with the righteousness of Christ—today! And we would be covered with it when our names are called in the heavenly sanctuary! Letter 22, 1889: “Thank God it is not too late for wrongs to be righted. Christ looks at the spirit, and when He sees us carrying our burden with faith, His perfect holiness atones for our shortcomings. When we do our best, He becomes our righteousness.” (Study “Cherished Sin VS Hatred for Sin” in the Appendix.) Page 544 GC 487-491: “The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, when, with Daniel, every individual must stand in his lot, at the end of the days . . . “The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. “The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, ‘whether the Forerunner is for us entered.’ Hebrews 6:20. There the light from the cross of Calvary is reflected. There we may gain a clearer insight into the mysteries of redemption. The salvation of man is accomplished at an infinite expense to heaven; the sacrifice made is equal to the broadest demands of the broken law of God. Jesus has opened the way to the Father’s throne, and through His mediation the sincere desire of all who come to Him in faith may be presented before, God . . . “We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians must be put away . . . “The hidden selfishness of men stands revealed in the books of heaven. There is the record of unfulfilled duties to their fellow men, of forgetfulness of the Saviour’s claims. There they will see how often were given to Satan the time, thought, and strength that belonged to Christ. Sad is the record which angels bear to heaven. Intelligent beings, professed followers of Christ, are absorbed in the acquirement of worldly possessions or the enjoyment of earthly pleasures. Money, time, and strength are sacrificed for display and self-indulgence; but few are the moments devoted to prayer, to the searching of the Scriptures, to humiliation of soul and confession of sin. “Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. The arch-deceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful Mediator. He knows that with him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and His truth . . . “The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. For many ears this work has been in progress. Soon—none know how soon—it Page 545 will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour’s admonition, ‘Watch and pray . . .’ ‘If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.’” “When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christ, in the Revelation, looking forward to that time, declares: ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still . . .” “The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth in their mortal state—men will be planting and building, eating and dunking, all unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary above . . . Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour which marks the fixing of every man’s destiny, the final withdrawal of mercy’s offer to guilty men. “‘Watch ye therefore: . . . lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping.’ Mark 13:35, 36. Perilous is the condition of those who, growing weary of their watch, turn to the attractions of the world. While the man of business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure lover is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments—it may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence: ‘Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.’ Daniel 5:27.” (Emphasis added.) 5T 466: “Every day that passes brings us nearer the last great important day . . . Every day we have been associating with men and women who are judgment bound. Each day may have been the dividing line to some soul; someone may have made the decision which shall determine his future destiny. What has been our influence over these fellow travelers? What efforts have we put forth to bring them to Christ?” “It is a solemn thing to die, but a far more solemn thing to live. Every thought and word and deed of our lives will meet us again. What we make of ourselves in probationary time, that we must remain to all eternity. Death brings dissolution to the body, but makes no change in the character. The coming of Christ does not change our characters; it only fixes them forever beyond all change. . . “My brethren and sisters, awake, I beseech you, from the sleep of death. It is too late to devote the strength of brain, bone, and muscle to self-serving . . . Seek to push the triumphs of the cross . . .” PP 140: “All around us are souls going down to ruin as hopeless, as terrible, as that which befell Sodom. Every day the probation of some is closing. Every hour some are passing beyond the reach of mercy. And where are the voices of warning and entreaty to bid the sinner flee from this fearful doom? Where are the hands stretched out to draw him back from death? Where are those who with humility and persevering faith are pleading with God for him?” Let us be earnest in pointing others to their heavenly Advocate before their probation closes. And let us set apart some time of every day to settle up our own account with our best Friend. If we take time to seek His pardon now—before He comes to our cluttered page in the book of life—then He will find PARDON stamped over our sins! Amos 4:12: “. . .Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” Remember—with deep gratitude—Genesis 3:15 and 1John 1:9. Page 546 Let us watch, with John, as Jesus enters the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844, and takes His position in front of God’s throne—to carry on the work of the investigative, pre-advent judgment. Revelation 5:6, 7: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain . . . And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.” The heavenly sanctuary is filled with anthems of praise because One was found who had gained the victory, and was worthy to open the book of life, and apply the benefits of His atonement—His life and His death—to those who had accepted His pardon. And then—the heavenly music dies away. Every face takes on deep earnestness as the actual examination of the heavenly records begins. All eyes are focused on this solemn scene, as the worthy Lamb that was slain takes the book of life and begins to break the seven seals which are on the backside. Remember? This is the book wherein is recorded the great sin of the professed people of God, when Pilate asked them, “What shall I do then with Jesus?” COL 294: “. . . The priests joined with the ignorant mob in declaring passionately, ‘His blood be on us, and on our children.’ “Thus the Jewish leaders made their choice. Their decision was registered in the book which John saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne, the book which no man could open. In all its vindictiveness this decision will appear before them in the day when this book is unsealed by the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Remember? This is the same book that first caused John to weep, as he compared his record to that of God’s broken law. And then John rejoiced that Someone was found worthy to open this book, and take away his sins. (See Revelation 5:4-9.) 4T 395: “He [Jesus] was shown to John as a Lamb that had been slain, as in the very act of pouring out His blood in the sinner’s behalf. When the law of God is set before the sinner, showing him the depth of his sins, he should then be pointed to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” Remember? This is also the book in which are registered the names of all of God’s professed children. Not a name was removed, until the investigative judgment began in 1844. 7 GC 987: “When we become children of God, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and they remain there until the time of the investigative judgment. Then the name of every individual wit be called, and his record examined, by Him who declares, ‘I know thy works.’ If in that day it shall appear that all our wicked deeds have not been fully repented of, our names will be blotted from the book of life and our sins will stand against us.” (See PP 357; GC 421.) Remember? This is the book that will be thoroughly investigated while Jesus is in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. GC 483, 484: “The deepest interest manifested among men in the Page 547 decisions of earthly tribunals but faintly represents the interest evinced in the heavenly courts when the names entered in the book of life come up in review before the Judge of all the earth.”: Remember? This is the book from which sin will be removed in the great day when Jesus applies His atonement to His pardoned people. SD 49: “Either our sins or our names will be blotted out of the book of life.” PP 357: “The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement . . .” Remember? This is the book where God’s pardoned children have their names enrolled for eternity—with the visa of Christ’s perfection. GC 484: “Christ will clothe His faithful ones with His own righteousness, that He may present them to His Father ‘a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’ Their names stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is written, ‘They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.’” GC 665; COL 312: “. . . The white robe [is] an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ. . . His own robe of righteousness. . . [is] perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah.” Before God’s pardoned children can become legal residents of heavenly Canaan, the law of that country demands perfection. But their best efforts were of “filthy-rag” value when held up to God’s holy law. Christ’s perfect law keeping added to their page in the book of life is their visa in their heavenly passport. When they receive the addition of perfection to their page, they are sealed for eternity. 7BC 970: “Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City.” QD 684: “. . .Receiving His perfection, we are entitled to heaven.” Remember? This is the book about which the whole message of Revelation 5 centers. There was One who was found worthy to loose the seven seals which bound shut the book in the Father’s hand—and carry on the work of the investigative judgment 9T 266, 267: “What will such a one do in the day that the books are opened and every man is judged according to the things written the books? “The fifth chapter of Revelation needs to be closely studied. It is of great importance to those who shall act a part in the work of God for these last days. There are some who are deceived . . . Unless they make a decided change they will be found wanting when God pronounces judgment upon the children of men.” Notice the close connection between the book described in the fifth chapter of Revelation, and the sealing angels in Revelation 7: 7BC 967: “John writes, ‘I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne.’ Angels were united in the work of Him who had broken the seals and taken the book. Four mighty angels hold back the powers of this earth till the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.” Page 548 Which are Opened on the Book of Life: The Lamb’s book of life has seven seals on it, sealing shut its seven important sections. Before we study each seal in detail, let us look at the outline of the seven seals together. The first seal was removed from the book of life in 1844—at the beginning of the investigative judgment. GC 486: “At the time appointed for the judgment—the close of the 2300 days, in 1844—began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins.” EW 43, 44: “Satan is now [1849] using every device in this sealing time to keep the minds of God’s people from the present truth, and to cause them to waver . . . Satan was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was past, until the covering was drawn over God’s people, and they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues.” (The seals had to be opened sometime after A.D. 96, for it was near this time that John was on the Isle of Patmos, and was shown the vision of the heavenly sanctuary and the book in the Father’s hand. This vision was of events yet future—of “things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1.) Begins with the First Generation: GC 483: “As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected.” PP 357: “The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement . . .” SD 49: “. . . Either our sins or our names will be blotted out of the book of life.” GC 483: “When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life . . . All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out . . .” GC 484: “Christ will clothe His faithful ones with His own righteousness. . .Their Page 549 names stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is written, ‘They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.’” SC 62: “Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.” 1SM 367, 394: “. . .The Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner’s account . . . The eternal righteousness of Christ is placed to the account of every believing soul.” The sealing work is one phase of the investigative judgment. Those of God’s professed children whose sins are blotted out, will be sealed with the record of Christ’s perfect law keeping. This is their heavenly visa, giving them full privileges to enter heavenly Canaan as sons and daughters of God. (Chapter XVI of Life Sketches, and chapter IV of Early Writings, entitled “A View of the Sealing,” and “The Sealing,” describe the work of Jesus in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.) EW 58: “The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure.” The first group of God’s professed children to have their names investigated in 1844, and either sealed or removed, were those who first lived upon the earth. (See GC 483.) They were the men and women of the patriarchal age—who lived the nearest to the purity of Eden. The investigation of the records of the second group of God’s children took place sometime after 1844. It included the pages of God’s professed people who lived at the time when the church was given a sword, and told to go out and dispossess the idolatrous nations. They were the church of the theocracy. SR 143: “The Lord would have His people know that it was because of the idolatry of those nations, which had led them to every degree of wickedness, that He would use the Israelites as His instruments to punish them and destroy their gods.” The Third Seal on the Book of Life: The third-seal investigation was of God’s professed people who were alive when Jesus was on earth. The third seal investigation was of God’s professed people who were alive when Jesus waws on earth. Ed 74: “The Light appeared when the world’s darkness was deepest.” A heavenly Voice counsels those who are weighing Christ in the balances: “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (Biblical symbols need Biblical interpretations. See GC 320.) A measure of wheat is a symbol for the Bread of life. John 6:35. A penny is a symbol for an unearned gift in the parable of the labourers. Matthew 20:9. Page 550 The oil in the lamp is a symbol of the righteousness of Christ. (See Matthew 25:4; TM 234.) The wine is a symbol of His blood of the New Testament. Matthew 26:28. The heavenly Voice calls out to those who are deciding what to do with Christ: The Bread of life may be shine as a gift. And see thou hurt not (do not reject) —the life Jesus lived for thee—His righteousness —or the death Jesus died for thee—His blood! When Jesus opened the fourth seal in the investigative judgment, He examined the lives of His professed children who lived after He ascended to heaven—when persecution came to many who dared to follow the steps of their Saviour. Satan met with his evil angels after the ascension, and told them that “their efforts must be tenfold stronger against the followers of Jesus. . . Then Satan’s angels went forth like roaring lions, seeking to destroy the followers of Jesus.” (EW 191, 192.) The first four seals on the book of life were opened in successive order after 1844. They reveal the records of the majority of God’s professed people who live during the entire span of human history. Some names are blotted out of the book of life in the judgment. Unconfessed sins marred their records. Other pages have PARDON recorded, thus permitting Jesus to place the benefits of His atonement to their permanent records. When the sealing transactions—the blotting out of sin and the addition of righteousness—have been applied to their pages in the book of life, they are sealed for eternity. This visa of Christ’s perfect law keeping, stamped on their pages, permits them to become legal residents of heavenly Canaan. The different priesthoods ordained of God parallel the periods of time covered by the first four seals: The patriarchal age—the patriarchal priesthood; the theocracy—the Levitical priesthood; God’s people when Jesus was on earth—Jesus in the outer court; God’s people after Jesus ascended to heaven—our High Priest interceding in the heavenly sanctuary. (Hebrews 8:1, 2.) God’s angels and God’s people, Satan’s angels and Satan’s people, are symbolized as riding on animals: Satan’s angels, his confederacy, ride horses in Revelation 9, and his earthly church rides a beast in Revelation 17. God’s heavenly church, the angels, are pictured with Jesus on white horses in Revelation 19, and God’s people are described on four different colored horses in Revelation 6. The rider of the animal represents a church. It may be a true church or a false church. It may be an angelic church or a human church. But Page 551 in all of these cases, the riders of prophetic animals are church groups. In Revelation 6, the condition of God’s church on earth, and the experiences they pass through, are illustrated in the different colors of the symbolic horses they are riding. The riders of these symbolic horses are God’s professed people, whose names are to be examined in the investigative judgment—when the seals on the book of life are loosed. The white horse rider— represents God’s professed people of the patriarchal age, who lived the nearest to the hand of their Creator, and the purity of the garden of Eden. The red horse rider—represents God’s professed people of the Levitical age, some of whom were given a sword, and told to destroy certain idolaters. (Exodus 32:27; COL 290.) The black horse rider—represents God’s professed people who lived when Christ was Priest on earth. “. . . The greater the light bestowed, the greater the darkness of those who pervert and reject it.” (GC 572.) They were given a pair of balances to weigh the evidences that Christ was the Messiah. The heavenly voice warns: Hurt not the oil and the wine. The majority chose darkness instead of light. The pale horse rider—represents God’s professed people who live after Jesus ascended to heaven. Persecution comes to many, and death follows the church “to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:8.) Investigation of the First Seal: Includes the examination of the records of God’s professed people who lived during the patriarchal age; Patriarchal priesthood; Symbolized by God’s people riding a white horse; Represented by God’s church at its purest period. Investigation of the Second Seal: Includes the examination of the records of God’s professed people who lived during the theocracy; Levitical priesthood; Symbolized by God’s people riding a red horse; Represented by God’s church given a sword to dispossess idolaters. Investigation of the Third Seal: Includes the examination of the records of God’s professed people who lived when Jesus was on earth; Jesus as Priest in the outer court; Symbolized by God’s people riding a black horse Represented by God’s church when earth’s darkness was deepest. Investigation of the Fourth Seal: Includes the examination of the records of God’s professed people who dive when Jesus is in the heavenly sanctuary; Jesus, our great High Priest in heaven; Symbolized by God’s people riding a pale horse; Represented by God’s church when persecution increased tenfold. Page 552 God’s church may be in battle conflict with idolaters, (red), or suffering persecution, (pale), or rejecting light, (black), but through it all, it is God’s church, and His love for His church is as strong in times of distress, as in the times of her sunniest prosperity. “Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard.” AA 12. When the fifth and sixth seals are opened on the book of life, special groups of God’s people, out of one or more of these four periods of time, will have their records in the book of life examined. The names of the martyrs are recorded in the fifth section of the family registry. They are those “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” (Revelation 6:9.) When Jesus makes the vital transactions on their pages in the book of life, every one of them are given “white robes”—representing the perfection of their Redeemer. Revelation 6:11; COL 310, 311. Those sealed under the sixth section of the book of life include the 144,000. (Revelation 7:4-8.) They live during the last part of earth’s history—after the signs in the heavens telling of Christ’s soon return. Revelation 6:12, 13. All sealed under the sixth seal must have the seal of God in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:3.) This seal is the mark of protection from the destruction of the seven last plagues: 7BC 968: “What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of His people? It is a mark which angels, but no human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption. The intelligent mind has seen the sign of the cross of Calvary in the Lord’s adopted sons and daughters.” (This will include the group who are raised in the special resurrection. See EW 285.) All in the sixth-seal group honor God’s Sabbath: 7BC 970: “Those who would have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. This is what distinguishes them from the disloyal, who have accepted a man-made institution in the place of the true Sabbath.” —BC 981: “There is to be a mark placed upon God’s people, and that mark is the keeping of His holy Sabbath.” The 144,000 are called virgins, because they understand the true doctrines of God’s word. See Revelation 14:4; COL 406. To honor God’s memorial of creation, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, has ever been the privilege of God’s people. But special light has been shining from the open door of the heavenly sanctuary, since Jesus entered the most holy place in 1844. See EW 254, 32, 33. Page 553 —As Jesus opens the first six seals in the investigative judgment, and applies the necessary transactions to the records of His professed people, the book of life is cleansed from the record of sin. SD 49: “. . . Either our sins or our names will be blotted out of the book of life.” —Unpardoned sinners have their records removed, and their names are placed in the book of death. —Pardoned sinners have their sins blotted out, and they are credited with the perfect law keeping of Jesus. Their names remain in the book of life, sealed with the perfection of Christ’s righteousness. This is their visa to heavenly Canaan, which permits them to enter legally, as law keepers. They enter—not because of their own works—but because of their faith in the works of their Substitute. When the first six seals have been opened on the book of life, and Jesus finishes applying the benefits of His atonement and intercession to His repentant, believing children, the book of life is clean! No trace of sin, or of unpardoned sinners, can be found within its covers. The object of the opening of the first six seals has been fulfilled. Every person, whose name is left in the heavenly registry, has righteousness equal to the perfection of God the Father. The only deeds recorded in the great book of life, after the investigative judgment is finished, are the deeds of Jesus. That is why it is called the Lamb’s book of life. When Jesus leaves the most holy place, His deeds shine forth from every page of this beautiful book. After the book of life is cleansed from the record of sin during the opening of the first six seals, the sanctuary itself is cleansed from the defilement of sin when the seventh seal is opened. This cleansing of the sanctuary is made possible through the “much incense” (Revelation 8:3), which is released after the breaking of this seal. What does the incense represent? PP 353: The incense represents “His perfect righteousness.” Where is the account of Christ’s earthly life recorded? SD 22: “There is an inexhaustible fund of perfect obedience accruing from His obedience. In heaven His merits, His self-denial and self-sacrifice, are treasured as incense to be offered up with the prayers of His people.” The record of Jesus’ life on earth—His merits and self-denial—are “treasured” in heaven as incense. And when the seventh section of the Lamb’s book of life is opened, “much incense” is released—fragrant as the rich perfume in a costly alabaster box. Why is much incense needed as Jesus is finishing up His work in the most holy place as our High Priest? 1. It is to be offered “with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” “All saints,” Page 554 would include every one whose names were retained in the Lamb’s book of life. 2. It is needed for the final atonements for the apartments of the sanctuary, and for the altar of incense. To understand what Jesus does during the antitypical day of atonement, let us turn back to the services in the wilderness. For— “. . . what was done in type in the ministration of the earthly sanctuary is done in reality in the ministration of the heavenly sanctuary.” GC 420. Leviticus 16:16-23: “And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, [the second apartment] because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, [the first apartment] that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an [1.] atonement for himself, and for his household, [2.] and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he hath made an end of reconciling [3.] the holy place, [4.] and the tabernacle of the congregation, [5.] and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments . . .” The atonement for the second apartment is made before the high priest goes “out” (verse 18) to the first apartment, to make the atonements for it, and for the altar of incense. PP 348: “Upon this altar the priest was to burn incense every morning and evening, its horns were touched with the blood of the sin offering, and it was sprinkled with blood upon the great day of atonement.” By understanding Leviticus 16, we can see why Jesus is in the holy place—the first apartment—when John sees Him in Revelation 8:3. GC 414, 415: “As in vision the apostle John was granted a view Page 555 of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld there ‘seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.’ Revelation 4:5. He saw an Angel ‘having a golden censer; and there was given unto Him much incense, that He should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.’ Revelation 8:3. Here the prophet was permitted to behold the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven . . .” (The altar of incense and the candlesticks could be seen “before” the throne, because the door into the most holy was opened in 1844. EW 42.) The fragrance of incense permeated the sanctuary on the typical day of atonement. (See Exodus 30:7, 8.) And as Jesus makes the atonements for the apartments of the heavenly sanctuary and the altar of incense, after the seventh seal is opened, He is given “much incense,” which fills God’s temple with a rich aroma. Why is there silence in heaven after the seventh seal is opened? 1. Jesus places the confessed sins on His body and carries them to the door of the sanctuary. (GC 420: The typical high priest, in the camp of Israel, “in his character of mediator, . . . took the sins upon himself and bore them from the sanctuary.”) EW 280, 281: “Jesus tarried a moment in the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and the sins which had been confessed while He was in the most holy place were placed upon Satan, the originator of sin, who must suffer their punishment.” (See PP 358 also.): Once before there had been silence in heaven, as Jesus took our sins upon His body in the garden of Gethsemane: DA 685-693: “Throughout His life on earth He had walked in the light of God’s presence . . . But now He seemed shut out from the light of God’s sustaining presence. Now He was numbered with the transgressors . . . Upon Him who knew no sin must be laid the iniquity of us all . . . Christ was now standing in a different attitude from that in which He had ever stood before . . . His nature weighed down with a shuddering, mysterious dread. There was silence in heaven. No harp was touched. Could mortals have viewed the amazement of the angelic host as in silent grief they watched the Father separating His beams of light, love, and glory from His beloved Son, they would better understand how offensive in His sight is sin.” (Emphasis added.) 2. Probation for teeming millions comes to an end. EW 279, 280: “Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark, [He is now in the holy place, GC 414,] throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, ‘It is done.’ And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still . . .” Revelation 8:5; 22:11. Revelation 8:6: “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound,” —announcing the coming of the plagues. 7BC 982: “Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded . . .” Page 556 1. The investigative judgment scene is pictured in Revelation 4 and 5. See Daniel 7:9, 10; GG 479, 480; 9T 266, 267. 2. The door in heaven, of Revelation 4:1, was not opened until the mediation of Jesus was finished in the holy place in 1844, and Jesus was ready to move into the most holy place for the antitypical day of atonement. See EW 42, 43. 3. The book in the hand of the Father, (Revelation 5:1) contains a record of the sins of God’s professed children. See COL 294. 4. The book of life is investigated in the judgment. (See 7BC 987.) It contains a record of sin. (See SD 49.) “Every particular of our history” is recorded on our page in the book of life. DA 313. 5. If the book in the hand of the Father were any other than the book of life, which needed the pardoned sins of God’s people blotted from its pages, why would it require the death of the worthy Lamb to open it? Revelation 5:5-7. See SD 49; GC 483, 484. 6. John was weeping, (Revelation 5:1-5) because he saw his lost condition. The law of God had been set before him, and he felt his need of a Saviour. (See 4T 395.) The law demands the life of the sinner. (Romans 6:23.) Unless John’s sins were blotted off of his page in the book of life, he faced the eternal death sentence. And secondly, unless he had perfection equal to the law’s demands, his name could not remain in the eternal registry—the Lamb’s book of life. 7. The opening of the seals on the book in the Father’s hand, is apart of the sealing work of Revelation 7. See 7BC 967. This reference, with that also of Revelation 6:1, connects Revelation 6, 7, and 8, with the investigative judgment chapters of Revelation 4 and 5. 8. The sealing work is a part of the investigative judgment. See LS 116-119; EW 36-38; 42-44; 58. 9. The grand object of the sealing work is: the removal of sin, and the addition of righteousness to the records of the book of life—the pages of God’s pardoned children; and the removal of sin from the sanctuary itself, and atonements for its sacred apartments and the altar of incense. Daniel 8:14: “. . . Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” The removal of sin is made possible—by the blood of Jesus. Matthew 26:28: “For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The addition of righteousness is made possible—by the perfection of Jesus. Romans 5:19: “. . . By the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” See 2Corinthians 5:21. His life is symbolized by the incense. PP 353. PP 353: “By blood and by incense God was to be approached—symbols pointing to the great Mediator . . .” 10. The first seal could not be opened until after 96 A.D. Near this date, John was shown “things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1. Page 557 11. The riders of symbolic animals in the Bible represent church groups. They may be a false church, or a true; they may be composed of angels or men. Jesus leads His armies. See Revelation 6, 9, 17, 19 12. The second seal: God’s professed people, riding the red horse, were given a sword to use in dispossessing the idolatrous nations. (See COL 290; SR 143.) The rider of the red horse, God’s church, was to use the sword; it was not to be used against the rider. 13. The third seal—balances and blackness: The rider, God’s church, was given a pair of balances. God’s professed people had a choice to make: What think ye of Christ? See Matthew 26:62-66. “The Light appeared when the world’s darkness was deepest.” Ed 74. 14. Bible symbols should find their interpretation in the Scripture, for it is to be “its own interpreter.” GC 521, 320. The symbols used in the third seal refer to Christ: (Revelation 6:6.) “A measure of wheat for a penny” —the Bread of life for a gift. John 6:35; Matthew 20:9; COL 397-401. “See thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Do not reject the life and the death of Christ—His righteousness and His blood. Oil is “the righteousness of Christ.” TM 234; Matthew 25:4. 15. The fourth seal: The symbolic rider of God’s earthly church is “Death.” “Hell” —the devil and his angels—began following him, (see margin of Revelation 6:8,) when Jesus ascended to heaven. At the ascension of Christ, “Satan again counseled with his angels, and . . . told them that . . . their efforts must be tenfold stronger against the followers of Jesus.” EW 191. (The persecution of Christian.: began in the days of the apostles. See Acts 8:1; 12:1, 2.): 16. The fifth seal: The voices crying to God from martyr’s graves are still to be heard when the defiance of God’s law is almost universal. John sees the martyrs in vision, when the fifth seal is opened, before the latter rain. See 6BC 1081; 7BC 968. 17. Giving white robes to those still in their graves awaiting the resurrection morning, is applying the righteousness of Jesus to their pages in the book of life during the investigative judgment, after their sins are blotted out. See GC 483, 484; 5T 451; 3T 371, 372. 18. White robes could not be given to the fifth seal martyrs, or to any other group, until after Jesus entered the most holy place in 1844. 19. The sixth seal: “Those who would have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.” 7BC 970. 20. The seventh seal: In Revelation 8:3, Jesus is in the holy place, instead of the most holy. He is making atonements for it, and for the altar. GC 414; Leviticus 16:16-18; Exodus 30:6, 10; PP 356, 348. 21. There is solemn silence, as Jesus places the pardoned sins on His body and carries them to the door of the sanctuary. Angels remove their crowns while the censer is cast out of heaven, and probation closes. See Revelation 8:1-5; GC 420; DA 693; EW 279-281. 22. At Christ’s coming, heaven will be silent for more than 7½ days—the prophetic half hour. It takes “a number of days” for Jesus to descend, and “seven days” to return. Messenger to the Remnant, 29; EW 16 23. Study Revelation 8 in its order. Trumpets are yet future. 7BC 982 Page 558 
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