y numbering the
people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was
punished. The same destructive 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When God's presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests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been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil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
n