The Close of Probation

                                    

                                          
The Close of Probation
                          
No One Knows When Probation Will Close
                          
God has not revealed to us the time when this message will close or when probation will have an end. Those things that are revealed we shall accept for ourselves and for our children, but let us not seek to know that which has been kept secret in the councils of the Almighty.... LDE 227.1
                          
Letters have come to me asking me if I have any special light as to the time when probation will close, and I answer that I have only this message to bear, that it is now time to work while the day lasts, for the night cometh in which no man can work.-Selected Messages 1:191 (1894). LDE 227.2
                          
Sunday-Law Enforcement Precedes the Close of Probation
                          
The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes, for it is to be the great test [See the previous chapter, where the great test for the people of God is shown to be Sunday-law enforcement.] for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided.-Selected Messages 2:81 (1890). LDE 227.3
                          
What is the "image to the beast"? and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the two-horned beast, and is an image to the beast. It is also called an image of the beast. [The two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-17 makes an image to the beast portrayed in Revelation 13:1-10.] Then to learn what the image is like and how it is to be formed, we must study the characteristics of the beast itself-the papacy. LDE 228.1
                          
When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state, and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of "heresy." In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends.... LDE 228.2
                          
The "image to the beast" represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas.-The Great Controversy, 443, 445 (1911). LDE 228.3
                          
Probation Closes When the Sealing Is Finished
                          
Just before we entered it [the time of trouble], we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion.-The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:968 (1846). LDE 228.4
                          
I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, "It is done."-Early Writings, 279 (1858). LDE 229.1
                          
Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains. But while already nation is rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom, there is not now a general engagement. As yet the four winds are held until the servants of God shall be sealed in their foreheads. Then the powers of earth will marshal their forces for the last great battle.-Testimonies for the Church 6:14 (1900). LDE 229.2
                          
An angel returning from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts have received "the seal of the living God." Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above. He lifts His hands, and with a loud voice says, "It is done."-The Great Controversy, 613 (1911). LDE 229.3
                          


                          
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Taken From Last Day Events by Ellen G White