Oh, let us live wholly for the Lord and show by a well-ordered life and godly conversation that we have been with Jesus and are His meek and lowly followers. We must work while the day lasts, for when the dark night of trouble and anguish comes, it will be too late to work for God. Jesus is in His holy temple and will now accept our sacrifices, our prayers, and our confessions of faults and sins and will pardon all the transgressions of Israel, that they may be blotted out before He leaves the sanctuary. 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. But those that are unjust and filthy will be unjust and filthy still; for then there will be no Priest in the sanctuary to offer their sacrifices, their confessions, and their prayers before the Father’s throne. Therefore what is done to rescue souls from the coming storm of wrath must be done before Jesus leaves the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.
(EW 48.1)
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The Lord gave me a view, January 26, 1850, which I will relate. I saw that some of the people of God are stupid and dormant and but half awake; they do not realize the time we are now living in, and that the man with the “dirt brush” [see “William Miller’s dream,” page 81.] has entered, and that some are in danger of being swept away. I begged of Jesus to save them, to spare them a little longer, and let them see their awful danger, that they might get ready before it should be forever too late. The angel said, “Destruction is coming like a mighty whirlwind.” I begged of the angel to pity and to save those who loved this world, who were attached to their possessions and were not willing to cut loose from them and sacrifice to speed the messengers on their way to feed the hungry sheep who were perishing for want of spiritual food.
(EW 48.2)
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As I viewed poor souls dying for want of the present truth, and some who professed to believe the truth were letting them die by withholding the necessary means to carry forward the work of God, the sight was too painful, and I begged of the angel to remove it from me. I saw that when the cause of God called for some of their property, like the young man who came to Jesus (Matthew 19:16-22) they went away sorrowful, and that soon the overflowing scourge would pass over and sweep their possessions all away, and then it would be too late to sacrifice earthly goods, and lay up a treasure in heaven.
(EW 49.1)
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I then saw the glorious Redeemer, beautiful and lovely; that He left the realms of glory and came to this dark and lonely world to give His precious life and die, the just for the unjust. He bore the cruel mocking and scourging, wore the plaited crown of thorns, and sweat great drops of blood in the garden, while the burden of the sins of the whole world was upon Him. The angel asked, “What for?” Oh, I saw and knew that it was for us; for our sins He suffered all this, that by His precious blood He might redeem us unto God!
(EW 49.2)
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Then again was held up before me those who were not willing to dispose of this world’s goods to save perishing souls by sending them the truth while Jesus stands before the Father pleading His blood, His sufferings, and His death for them; and while God’s messengers are waiting, ready to carry them the saving truth that they might be sealed with the seal of the living God. It is hard for some who profess to believe the present truth to do even so little as to hand the messengers God’s own money that He has lent them to be stewards over.
(EW 49.3)
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The suffering Jesus, His love so deep as to lead Him to give His life for man, was again held up before me; also the lives of those who professed to be His followers, who had this world’s goods, but considered it so great a thing to help the cause of salvation. The angel said, “Can such enter heaven?” Another angel answered, “No, never, never, never. Those who are not interested in the cause of God on earth can never sing the song of redeeming love above.” I saw that the quick work that God was doing on the earth would soon be cut short in righteousness and that the messengers must speed swiftly on their way to search out the scattered flock. An angel said, “Are all messengers?” Another answered, “No, no; God’s messengers have a message.”
(EW 50.1)
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I saw that the cause of God had been hindered and dishonored by some traveling who had no message from God. [see Appendix.] Such will have to give an account to God for every dollar they have used in traveling where it was not their duty to go, because that money might have helped on the cause of God; and for the lack of the spiritual food that might have been given them by God’s called and chosen messengers, had they had the means, souls have starved and died. I saw that those who have strength to labor with their hands and help sustain the cause were as accountable for their strength as others were for their property.
(EW 50.2)
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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 and to sacrifice for God and His cause. The angel said, “Think ye that any will be compelled to sacrifice? No, no. It must be a freewill offering. It will take all to buy the field.” I cried to God to spare His people, some of whom were fainting and dying. Then I saw that the judgments of the Almighty were speedily coming, and I begged of the angel to speak in his language to the people. Said he, “All the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai would not move those who will not be moved by the plain truths of the Word of God, neither would an angel’s message awake them.”
(EW 50.3)
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I then beheld the beauty and loveliness of Jesus. His robe was whiter than the whitest white. No language can describe His glory and exalted loveliness. All, all who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life and ever be in the presence of the lovely Jesus, whose countenance shines brighter than the sun at noonday.
(EW 51.1)
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I was pointed to Adam and Eve in Eden. They partook of the forbidden tree and were driven from the garden, and then the flaming sword was placed around the tree of life, lest they should partake of its fruit and be immortal sinners. The tree of life was to perpetuate immortality. I heard an angel ask, “Who of the family of Adam have passed the flaming sword and have partaken of the tree of life?” I heard another angel answer, “Not one of Adam’s family has passed that flaming sword and partaken of that tree; therefore there is not an immortal sinner. The soul that sinneth it shall die an everlasting death—a death that will last forever, from which there will be no hope of a resurrection; and then the wrath of God will be appeased.”
(EW 51.2)
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“The saints will rest in the Holy City and reign as kings and priests one thousand years; then Jesus will descend with the saints upon the Mount of Olives, and the mount will part asunder and become a mighty plain for the Paradise of God to rest upon. The rest of the earth will not be cleansed until the end of the one thousand years, when the wicked dead are raised, and gather up around the city. The feet of the wicked will never desecrate the earth made new. Fire will come down from God out of heaven and devour them—burn them up root and branch. Satan is the root, and his children are the branches. The same fire that will devour the wicked will purify the earth.”
(EW 51.3)
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At the general conference of believers in the present truth, held at Sutton, Vermont, September, 1850, I was shown that the seven last plagues will be poured out after Jesus leaves the sanctuary. Said the angel, “It is the wrath of God and the Lamb that causes the destruction or death of the wicked. At the voice of God the saints will be mighty and terrible as an army with banners, but they will not then execute the judgment written. The execution of the judgment will be at the close of the one thousand years.”
(EW 52.1)
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After the saints are changed to immortality and caught up together with Jesus, after they receive their harps, their robes, and their crowns, and enter the city, Jesus and the saints sit in judgment. The books are opened—the book of life and the book of death. The book of life contains the good deeds of the saints; and the book of death contains the evil deeds of the wicked. These books are compared with the statute book, the Bible, and according to that men are judged. The saints, in unison with Jesus, pass their judgment upon the wicked dead. “Behold ye,” said the angel, “the saints, in unison with Jesus, sit in judgment, and mete out to the wicked according to the deeds done in the body, and that which they must receive at the execution of the judgment is set off against their names.” This, I saw, was the work of the saints with Jesus through the one thousand years in the Holy City before it descends to the earth. Then at the close of the one thousand years, Jesus, with the angels and all the saints, leaves the Holy City, and while He is descending to the earth with them, the wicked dead are raised, and then the very men that “pierced Him,” being raised, will see Him afar off in all His glory, the angels and saints with Him, and will wail because of Him. They will see the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet, and where they thrust the spear into His side. The prints of the nails and the spear will then be His glory. It is at the close of the one thousand years that Jesus stands upon the Mount of Olives, and the mount parts asunder and becomes a mighty plain. Those who flee at that time are the wicked, who have just been raised. Then the Holy City comes down and settles on the plain. Satan then imbues the wicked with his spirit. He flatters them that the army in the city is small, and that his army is large, and that they can overcome the saints and take the city.
(EW 52.2)
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6. On pages 48-52 is a view given January, 1850. That portion of this view which relates to means being withheld from the messengers, applied more particularly to that time. Since then, friends of the cause of present truth have been raised up, who have watched for opportunity to do good with their means. Some have handed out too freely, to the injury of the receivers. For about two years I have been shown more relative to a careless and too free use of the Lord’s money, than a lack of it.
(EW 93.1)
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The following is from a view given at Jackson, Michigan, June 2, 1853. It related mostly to the brethren at that place: “I saw that the brethren commenced to sacrifice their property and handed it out without having the true object set before them-the suffering cause-and they handed out too freely, too much, and too often. I saw that the teachers should have stood in a place to correct this error and exert a good influence in the church. Money has been made of little or no consequence, the sooner disposed of the better. A bad example has been set by some in accepting large donations and not giving the least caution to those who had means not to use it too freely and carelessly. By accepting so large an amount of means, without questioning whether God had made it the duty of the brethren to bestow so largely, too bountiful giving has been sanctioned.”
(EW 93.2)
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“Those who gave also erred, not being particular to inquire into the necessities of the case, whether there was actual need or not. Those who had means were thrown into great perplexity. One brother was much hurt by too much means being put into his hands. He did not study economy, but lived extravagantly, and in his travels laid out money here and there to no profit. He spread a wrong influence by making such free use of the Lord’s money, and would say in his own heart, and to others, ‘There is means enough in J—, more than can be used before the Lord comes.’ Some were very much injured by such a course and came into the truth with wrong views, not realizing that it was the Lord’s money they were using and not feeling the worth of it. Those poor souls who have just embraced the third angel’s message and have had such an example set before them will have much to learn to deny self and suffer for Christ’s sake. They will have to learn to give up ease, cease studying their convenience and comfort, and bear in mind the worth of souls. Those who feel the ‘woe’ upon them will not be for making great preparations to travel in ease and comfort. Some who have no calling have been encouraged into the field. Others have been affected by these things and have not felt the need of economy, of denying themselves, and putting into the treasury of the Lord. They would feel and say, ‘There are others who have means enough; they will give for the paper. I need not do anything. The paper will be supported without my help.’”
(EW 93.3)
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