The Close of Probation
I was pointed down to the time when the third angel's message was closing. The power of God had rested upon His people; they had accomplished their work and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message. {SR 402.1}

Every case had been decided for life or death. While Jesus had been ministering in the sanctuary, the judgment had been going on for the righteous dead, and
then for the righteous living. Christ had received His kingdom, having made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The subjects of the kingdom were made up. The marriage of the Lamb was consummated. And the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was given to Jesus and the heirs of salvation, and Jesus was to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. {SR 402.3}
As Jesus moved out of the most holy place, I heard the tinkling of the bells upon His garment; and as He left, a cloud of darkness covered the inhabitants of the earth. There was then no mediator between guilty man and an offended God. While Jesus had been standing between God and guilty man, a restraint was upon the people; but when He stepped out from between man and the Father, the restraint was removed and Satan had entire control of the finally impenitent. {SR 403.1}
It was impossible for the plagues to be poured out while Jesus officiated in the sanctuary; but as His work there is finished, and His intercession closes, there is nothing to stay the wrath of God, and it breaks with fury upon the shelterless head of the guilty sinner, who has slighted salvation and hated reproof. In that fearful time, after the close of Jesus' mediation, the saints were living in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. Every case was decided, every jewel numbered. Jesus tarried a moment in the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and the sins which had been confessed while He was in the most holy place were placed upon Satan, the originator of sin, who must suffer their punishment. [NOTE.--THIS SUFFERING OF SATAN IS IN NO SENSE A VICARIOUS ATONEMENT. AS INDICATED IN A PREVIOUS CHAPTER: "AS MAN'S SUBSTITUTE AND SURETY, THE INIQUITY OF MEN WAS LAID UPON CHRIST." (SEE P. 225.) BUT AFTER THOSE WHO ACCEPT CHRIST'S SACRIFICE HAVE BEEN REDEEMED, IT IS CERTAINLY JUST THAT SATAN, THE ORIGINATOR OF SIN, SHOULD SUFFER THE FINAL PUNISHMENT. AS MRS. WHITE HAS SAID ELSEWHERE, "WHEN THE WORK OF ATONEMENT IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THEN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND HEAVENLY ANGELS, AND THE HOST OF THE REDEEMED, THE SINS OF GOD'S PEOPLE WILL BE PLACED UPON SATAN; HE WILL BE DECLARED GUILTY OF ALL THE EVIL WHICH HE HAS CAUSED THEM TO COMMIT."--THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, P. 658.--COMPILERS.] {SR 403.2}
Too Late! Too Late!

Those who had not prized God's Word were hurrying to and fro, wandering from sea to sea, and from the north to the east, to seek the Word of the Lord.
405
Said the angel, "They shall not find it. There is a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord. What would they not give for

Many of the wicked were greatly enraged as they suffered the effects of the plagues. It was a scene of fearful agony. Parents were bitterly reproaching their children, and children their parents, brothers their sisters, and sisters their brothers. Loud, wailing cries were heard in every direction, "It was you who kept me from receiving the truth which would have saved me from this awful hour." The people turned upon their ministers with bitter hate and reproached them, saying, "You have not warned us. You told us that all the world was to be converted, and cried, Peace, peace, to quiet every fear that was aroused. You have not told us of this hour; and those who warned us of it you declared to be fanatics and evil men, who would ruin us." But I saw that the ministers did not escape the wrath of God. Their suffering was tenfold greater than that of their people. {SR 405.1}
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