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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
for no greater evidence than the few words he had spoken. And he
looked forward with pleasure to the work he was to do in relieving
the oppressed, healing the sick, and in breaking the bands of Satan.
In view of these blessings which Christ came to bestow, he says to
Nathanael, in the presence of the other disciples, “Hereafter ye shall
see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man.”
Christ virtually says, On the bank of Jordan the heavens were
opened before me, and the Spirit descended like a dove upon me. That
scene at Jordan was but a token to evidence that I was the Son of God.
If you believe in me as such, your faith shall be quickened, and you
shall see that the heavens will be opened, and shall never be closed.
I have opened them for you, and the angels of God, that are united
with me in the reconciliation between earth and Heaven, uniting the
believers on the earth with the Father above, will be ascending, bearing
the prayers of the needy and distressed from the earth to the Father
above, and descending, bringing blessings of hope, courage, health,
and life, for the children of men.
The angels of God are ever moving up and down from earth to
Heaven, and from Heaven to earth. All the miracles of Christ per-
formed for the afflicted and suffering were, by the power of God,
through the ministration of angels. Christ condescended to take human-
ity, and thus he unites his interests with the fallen sons and daughters
of Adam here below, while his divinity grasps the throne of God. And
thus Christ opens the communication of man with God, and God with
man. All the blessings from God to man are through the ministration
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of holy angels.
Disciples were being daily added to Christ, and people flocked
from cities and villages to hear him. Many came to him for baptism;
but Christ baptized none. His disciples performed this ordinance. And
while Christ’s disciples were baptizing large numbers, there arose a
question among the Jews and the disciples of John, whether the act
of baptism purified the sinner from the guilt of sin. The disciples of
John answered that John baptized only unto repentance, but Christ’s
disciples unto a new life. John’s disciples were jealous of the popular-
ity of Christ, and said to John, referring to Christ, “He that was with
thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold the same