The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 492

holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward
is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation
22:11, 12.
The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth
in their mortal state—men will be planting and building, eating and
drinking, all unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been
pronounced in the sanctuary above. Before the Flood, after Noah entered
the ark, God shut him in and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the
people, knowing not that their doom was fixed, continued their careless,
pleasure-loving life and mocked the warnings of impending judgment.
“So,” says the Saviour, “shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:39. Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the
decisive hour which marks the fixing of every man’s destiny, the final
withdrawal of mercy’s offer to guilty men.
“Watch ye therefore: ... lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping.”
Mark 13:35, 36. Perilous is the condition of those who, growing weary
of their watch, turn to the attractions of the world. While the man of
business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure lover
is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her
adornments—it may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will
pronounce the sentence: “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art
found wanting.” Daniel 5:27.

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