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352
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers
wall, standing there flashing with light, sent terror to their sinful
hearts. Their aroused consciences interpreted these letters to be a
denunciation against them. Suspicion, fear, and alarm took hold
upon king and princes.
Belshazzar, awed by this representation of God’s power, showing
that they had a witness, though they knew it not, had had great
opportunities of knowing the works of the living God, and His
power, and of doing His will. He had been privileged with much
light. His grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had been warned of his
danger in forgetting God and glorifying himself. Belshazzar had
a knowledge of his banishment from the society of men, and his
association with the beasts of the field; and these facts, which ought
to have been a lesson to him, he disregarded, as if they had never
occurred; and he went on repeating the sins of his grandfather. He
dared to commit the crimes which brought God’s judgments upon
Nebuchadnezzar. He was condemned, not alone that he himself was
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doing wickedly, but that he had not availed himself of opportunities
and capabilities, if cultivated, of being right.
Why Condemned
God will not condemn any at the judgment because they hon-
estly believed a lie, or conscientiously cherished error; but it will
be because they neglected the opportunities of making themselves
acquainted with truth. The infidel will be condemned, not because
he was an infidel, but because he did not take advantage of the means
God has placed within his reach to enable him to become a Christian.
So it will be found in the judgment. God’s reproof has been
plainly uttered against men and women who have sinned by corrupt-
ing their bodies and defiling their souls by licentiousness. They have
the warnings to others placed in similar circumstances, who have
been overcome by the tempter, and they know that the displeasure of
God rested upon them. They have the example of Joseph and Daniel,
who feared God. Joseph, when tempted, looked up to heaven, and
realized that God’s eye was upon him, and he exclaimed, “How can
I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” He also urged his
duty to his master, who trusted him so fully, as a reason against it.