power exercised by holy angels when God commands , will be exercised by evil angels when He permits . There are forces now ready , and only waiting the divine permission , to spread desolation everywhere .
Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the world , and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with woe . The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked ; their anger is kindled against all who have received the message , and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution . When God ' s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation , priests and people knew it not . Though under the control of Satan , and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions , they still regarded themselves as the chosen of God . The ministration in the temple continued ; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars , and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God ' s dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles .
So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny of the world has been forever fixed , the inhabitants of the earth will know it not . The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn ; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs , will bear the semblance of zeal for God . As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom , and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday , the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration . It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated ; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness .
The same argument eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the " rulers of the people ." " It is expedient for us ," said the wily Caiaphas , " that one man should die for the people , and that the whole nation perish not ." John 11:50 . This argument will appear conclusive ; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment , denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty , after a certain time , to put them to death . Romanism in the Old World and apostate Protestantism in the New will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precepts . The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob ' s trouble .
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