At that time Michael shall stand up, … and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. Daniel 12:1.

Troublous times are right upon us. The fulfilling of the signs of the times gives evidence that the day of the Lord is near at hand. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men and women and little children. All these things testify that the coming of Christ is near at hand.

The doctrine that men and women are released from obedience to God’s requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world….

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by a desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many, so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. “Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” People are rushing on in the mad race for gain and selfish indulgence as if there were no God, no heaven, and no hereafter….

The “time of trouble, such as never was,” is soon to open upon us, and we shall need an experience which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality, but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that trial all must stand for themselves before God….

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 Savior 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.” 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.—The Review and Herald, March 14, 1912.

From From the Heart

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:44.

To us has been given the message of Christ’s soon coming. At the ascension of our Lord, angels stood beside the disciples and with them watched the Savior as He passed into the heavens. Then they turned to the disciples with the words, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” …

Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet [fit] to appear in God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul….

This robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has in it not one thread of human devising. Christ in His humanity wrought out a perfect character, and this character He offers to impart to us. “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin….

By His perfect obedience, He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart; the will is merged in His will; the mind becomes one with His mind; the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then, as the Lord looks upon us, He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah….

There will be no second 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 is our only opportunity to form characters for the home which Christ has made ready for those who obey His commandments.

The days of our probation are fast closing. The end is near. Solemnly there come down to us through the centuries the warning words of our Lord from the Mount of Olives, “Take heed to yourselves, lest … that day come upon you unawares.” … “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”—Signs of the Times, November 22, 1905.

From From the Heart

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:42.

The condition of society today is the same as when God presented before Israel the abominations of the heathen, and the same warnings are necessary to the remnant people. Spiritualism is advancing through the land in triumph. “The spirits of devils, working miracles” are going “forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Men and women are seeking unto them that have familiar spirits, but the people of God cannot in any sense follow the practices of the world. They must keep the commandments of the Lord. The line of separation must be distinctly marked between the obedient and the disobedient. There must be open and avowed enmity between the church and the serpent, between her seed and his seed.

Satan was determined to keep his hold on the land of Canaan, and when it was made the habitation of the children of Israel and the law of God was made the law of the land, he hated Israel with a cruel and malignant hatred and plotted their destruction. Strange gods were introduced through the agency of evil spirits, and because of transgression the chosen people were finally scattered from the land of promise.

The same experience is repeating in the history of God’s people….

It is time to heed the Savior’s injunction as never before, “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Trust in God, however perplexing may be your situation. Seek His counsel, and turn not after them that have familiar spirits to be defiled by them. He who has died to redeem you has promised to guide you and clothe you with His own righteousness, if you will but loathe sin and purge yourself from evil by washing your robes of character and making them white in the blood of the Lamb.

What love, what wonderful love, that God bears with the perversity of His people and sends help to every soul that desires to do His will and forsake sin! If we will but cooperate with the agencies of heaven, we may come off more than conquerors. Fallen creatures as we are, capable of the most revolting crimes, yet we may become victors through the power of the grace of Christ and have a place in His everlasting kingdom, to reign with Him forevermore.—Signs of the Times, August 26, 1889.

From From the Heart

For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world. Revelation 16:14.

The great power that attends spiritualism has its origin in the great leading rebel, Satan, the prince of devils. It is through his artifice that evil angels have been able to substitute themselves for the dead, and through lying hypocrisy they have led men and women to have communion with devils. Those who commune with the supposed spirits of the dead are communing with those who will have a corrupting, demoralizing power upon the mind. Christ commanded that we should have no communion with sorcerers and with those who have familiar spirits….

For years spiritualism has been growing in strength and gaining in popularity by advocating a certain kind of faith in Christ, and thus many Protestants are becoming infatuated with this mystery of iniquity. It is little wonder that they are deluded when they persistently retain the error that, as soon as the breath leaves the body, the spirit goes immediately to heaven or hell. Through the hold this doctrine has upon them, the way is prepared for the delusive working of the prince of the power of the air….

As the Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from the earth, Satan’s power will be more and more manifest. The knowledge that he had through being in connection with God as a covering cherub, he will now use to subordinate his subjects who fell from their high estate. He will use every power of his exalted intellect to misrepresent God and to instigate rebellion against Jesus Christ, the Commander of heaven. In the synagogue of Satan he brings under his scepter and into his counsels those agents whom he can use to promote his worship. It is not a strange matter to find a species of refinement and a manifestation of intellectual greatness in the lives and characters of those who are inspired by fallen angels. Satan can impart scientific knowledge and give people chapters upon philosophy. He is conversant with history and versed in worldly wisdom….

Satan will use his agencies to carry out diabolical devices to overpower the saints of God, … yet the people of God can look calmly at the whole array of evil and come to the triumphant conclusion that because Christ lives, we shall live also…. The confederacy of evil will finally be destroyed.—Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894.

From From the Heart

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. 1 Timothy 4:1.

Before the last developments of the work of apostasy there will be a confusion of faith. There will not be clear and definite ideas concerning the mystery of God. One truth after another will be corrupted…. There are many who deny the preexistence of Christ and therefore deny His divinity; they do not accept Him as a personal Savior. This is a total denial of Christ. He was the only begotten Son of God, who was one with the Father from the beginning. By Him the worlds were made.

In denying the miraculous incarnation of Christ, many turn from other truths of heavenly origin and accept fables of Satan’s invention. They lose spiritual discernment and practice that which is brought to them and impressed upon their minds through the agency of Satan….

Spiritualism is about to take the world captive. There are many who think that spiritualism is upheld through trickery and imposture; but this is far from the truth. Superhuman power is working in a variety of ways, and few have any idea as to what will be the manifestations of spiritualism in the future. The foundation for the success of spiritualism has been laid in the assertions that have been made from the pulpits of our land. The ministers have proclaimed, as Bible doctrines, falsehoods that have originated from the archdeceiver. The doctrine of consciousness after death, of the spirits of the dead being in communion with the living, has no foundation in the Scriptures, and yet this theory is affirmed as truth. Through this false doctrine the way has been opened for the spirits of devils to deceive the people in representing themselves as the dead. Satanic agencies personate the dead and thus bring souls into captivity. Satan has a religion; he has a synagogue and devout worshippers….

The signs and wonders of spiritualism will become more and more pronounced as the professed Christian world rejects the plainly revealed truth of the Word of God and refuses to be guided by a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” accepting instead the doctrines and the commandments of men….

The confederacy of evil will not stand. The Lord says: … “Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary.”—Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894.

From From the Heart