Chap. 346---Garden of Eden Restored

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst
of the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7.
The Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after man had become an
outcast from its pleasant paths. The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon
the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by the watching angels. At the
cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the divine glory was revealed. Hither came
Adam and his sons to worship God. Here they renewed their vows of obedience
to that law the transgression of which had banished them from Eden. When the
tide of iniquity overspread the world, and the wickedness of men determined their
destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from
the earth. But in the final restitution, when there shall be “a new heaven and a new
earth” (Revelation 21:1), it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the
beginning.
Then they that have kept God’s commandments shall breathe in immortal vigor
beneath the tree of life; and through unending ages the inhabitants of sinless worlds
shall behold, in that garden of delight, a sample of the perfect work of God’s
creation, untouched by the curse of sin—a sample of what the whole earth would
have become, had man but fulfilled the Creator’s glorious plan.
Adam is reinstated in his first dominion. Transported with joy, he beholds the
trees that were once his delight—the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered
in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have
trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality
of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored.
Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will “grow up”
(Malachi 4:2) to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory. The last lingering
traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ’s faithful ones will appear in
“the beauty of the Lord our God,” in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect
image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful redemption! long talked of, long hoped for,
contemplated with eager anticipation, but never fully understood."

Chap. 339- "While He May Be Found"

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
Isaiah 55:6.
There is coming, rapidly and surely, an almost universal guilt upon the
inhabitants of the great cities because of the steady increase of determined
wickedness. God has given life to man, in order that through a knowledge of
the Word and by practicing its principles, the human agent may become one with
God, obedient to the divine will. But Satan has been working constantly by many
devisings to bring man into disfavor with God. In the antediluvian world, human
agencies brought in all manner of devisings and ingenious practices to make of no
effect the law of Jehovah. They cast aside His authority, because it interfered with
their schemes. As in the days before the Flood, so now the time is right upon us
when the Lord God must reveal His omnipotent power....
For years Satan has been gaining control of human minds through subtle
sophistries that he has devised to take the place of the truth. In this time of peril,
right doers, in the fear of God, will glorify His name by repeating the words of
David, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.”
Our God is a God of compassion. With long-suffering and tender mercy He
deals with the transgressors of His law. And yet in this our day, when men and
women have so many opportunities for becoming familiar with the divine law as
revealed in Holy Writ, the great Ruler of the universe cannot behold with any
satisfaction the wicked cities, where reign violence and crime....
The forbearance of God has been very great, so great that when we consider the
continuous insult to His holy commandments we marvel. The Omnipotent One has
been exerting a restraining power over His own attributes. But He will certainly
arise to punish the wicked, who so boldly defy the just claims of the decalogue.
Now is a time when there should be a humbling of the heart before God. Let us
seek Him while He is to be found on the pardoning side, and not on the judgment
side. Wake up, my brethren and sisters.... Call upon the Lord while He may be
found."

Chap. 338---God's Character Vindicated

"Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy
ways, thou King of saints. Revelation 15:3.
Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been
made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes,
have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of
Satan’s rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole
universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’s wisdom, His justice, and
His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all His dealings in the great
controversy have been conducted with respect to the eternal good of His people and
the good of all the worlds that He has created.... The history of sin will stand to all
eternity as a witness that with the existence of God’s law is bound up the happiness
of all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy in view,
the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: “Just and
true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”
Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the
Father and the Son in man’s behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His
rightful position and is glorified above principalities and powers and every name
that is named. It was for the joy that was set before Him—that He might bring
many sons unto glory—that He endured the cross and despised the shame. And
inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet greater is the joy and the
glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing
the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their King.
He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is satisfied. Then,
in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous and the wicked,
He declares: “Behold the purchase of My blood! For these I suffered, for these I
died, that they might dwell in My presence throughout eternal ages.” And the song
of praise ascends from the white-robed ones about the throne: “Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour,
and glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:12.

Chap. 337---The Wicked Acknowledge God's Justice

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live,
saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Romans 14:10, 11.
As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of
God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes which they
have despised and transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and
adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes
without the city, all with one voice exclaim, “Great and marvelous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints” (Revelation
15:3); and, falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of life.
Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He who
was once a covering cherub remembers whence he has fallen. A shining seraph,
“son of the morning;” how changed, how degraded! From the council where once
he was honored, he is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the
Father, veiling His glory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christ
by an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and he knows that the exalted
position of this angel might have been his.
Memory recalls the home of his innocence and purity.... As Satan looks upon
his kingdom, the fruit of his toil, he sees only failure and ruin....
The time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated and the
history and character of Satan disclosed. In his last great effort to dethrone Christ,
destroy His people, and take possession of the City of God, the archdeceiver has
been fully unmasked. Those who have united with him see the total failure of his
cause.... He is the object of universal abhorrence.
Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has
trained his powers to war against God; the purity, peace, and harmony of heaven
would be to him supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy and justice of
God are now silenced. The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah
rests wholly upon himself. And now Satan bows down and confesses the justice of
his sentence."

Chap. 338-A Time of Trouble

"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the
inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!
for the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Revelation 12:12.
As we approach the perils of the last days, the temptations of the enemy become
stronger and more determined. Satan has come down in great power, knowing that
his time is short; and he is working “with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in
them that perish” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). The warning comes to us through God’s
Word that, if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect.
Wonderful events are soon to open before the world. The end of all things is
at hand. The time of trouble is about to come upon the people of God. Then it is
that the decree will go forth forbidding those who keep the Sabbath of the Lord to
buy or sell, and threatening them with punishment, and even death, if they do not
observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath.
“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for
the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1). By this
we see the importance of having our names written in the book of life. All whose
names are registered there will be delivered from Satan’s power, and Christ will
command that their filthy garments be removed, and that they be clothed with His
righteousness. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I
make up my jewels ...” (Malachi 3:17).
In the time of trouble Satan stirs up the wicked, and they encircle the people of
God to destroy them. But he does not know that “pardon” has been written opposite
their names in the books of heaven. He does not know that the command has been
given, “Take away the filthy garments” from them, clothe them with “change of
raiment,” and set “a fair miter” upon their heads (Zechariah 3:4, 5)....
How precious in the sight of God are His people!"

Chap. 335---The Panoramic Scene Above the Holy City

DECEMBER
"We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be
good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10.
Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the
scenes of Adam’s temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of
redemption. The Saviour’s lowly birth; His early life of simplicity and obedience;
His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His public ministry,
unfolding to men heaven’s most precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of
love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains;
the plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful,
mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the crushing weight of the sins of the
whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the fearful events of
that night of horror—the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by His best-loved disciples,
rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the Son of God exultingly displayed
before Annas, arraigned in the high priest’s palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate,
before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to
die—all are vividly portrayed.
And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes—the patient
Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging upon the
cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony; the
supernatural darkness; the heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves, marking
the moment when the world’s Redeemer yielded up His life.
The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his subjects
have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the
part which he performed.... All behold the enormity of their guilt. They vainly seek
to hide from the divine majesty of His countenance, outshining the glory of the sun,
while the redeemed cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet, exclaiming: “He died for
me!”

Chap. 336---Crisis of the Ages * December *

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let
all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it
is nigh at hand. Joel 2:1.
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....
In accidents and calamities by land and by sea, in great conflagrations, in fierce
tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and
earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power....
The crisis is stealing gradually upon us.
The sun shines in the heavens,
passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God.
Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving
in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling.... Pleasure lovers are still
crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails,
yet probation’s hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided.
Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agents to work, that men may
be deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced, until the day of probation shall be
ended and the door of mercy be forever shut. The time is right upon us when there
will be sorrow that no human balm can heal. Sentinel angels are now restraining
the four winds, that they shall not blow till the servants of God are sealed in their
foreheads; but when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be a scene
of strife such as no pen can picture....
“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.... He shall call to the heavens
from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints
together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (Psalm
50:3-5)."