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Crisis of the Ages, December 14
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of
Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Jeremiah 30:7
.
The fulfilling of the signs of the times gives evidence that the day of
the Lord is near at hand.... The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The
sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens
still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting
and building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying
and selling.... Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races,
gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation’s hour is
fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees
that his time is short. He has set all his agents to work, that men may be
deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced until the day of probation shall
be ended and the door of mercy be forever shut....
The “time of trouble, such as never was” (
Daniel 12:1
) is soon to open
upon us, and we shall need an experience which many are too indolent to
obtain.... Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us,
we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could
our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds
in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful
desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power.
But Christ declared of Himself, “The prince of this world cometh, and
hath nothing in me” (
John 14:30
). Satan could find nothing in the Son of
God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s
commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his
advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall
stand in the time of trouble.
“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: ... He shall call to the
heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather
my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice” (
Psalm 50:3-5
)
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The Review and Herald, March 14, 1912
.
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