Judged

Revelation 14-

VERSE 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,    7.    Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.   8.    And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.   9.   And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,   10.   The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 'which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:   11.   And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.   12.   Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

(Excerpt from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911)

"But it must be apparent to every student of the Scriptures that the angel who proclaims the hour of God's judgment does not give the latest message of mercy. Revelation 14 presents two other and later proclamations before the close of human probation. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that the coming of the Lord does not take place until the second and third proclamations have been added to the first. The same thing may also be seen in the fact that after the angel of chapter 10 has sworn that time shall be no longer, another work of prophesying before many people and nations is announced. Hence we understand that the first angel preaches the hour of God's judgment come; that is, he preaches the termination of the prophetic periods; and that this is the time which he swears shall be no longer.

"The judgment does of necessity commence before the advent

p 645 -- of Christ; for he comes to execute the judgment (Jude 14, 15; Rev. 22;12; 2 Tim. 4:1); and at the sound of the last trumpet be confers immortality upon every one of the righteous, and passes by all the wicked. The investigative judgment does therefore precede the execution of the same by the Saviour. It is the province of the Father to preside in this investigative work, as set forth in Daniel 7. At this tribunal, the Son closes up his work as high priest, and is crowned king. Thence he comes to earth to execute the decisions of his Father. It is this work of judgment by the Father which the first angel introduces.

"The great period of 2300 days, which was the most important period in marking the definite time in that proclamation, extends to the cleansing of the sanctuary. That the cleansing of the sanctuary is not the cleansing of any part of the earth, but that it is the last work of our great High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle before his advent to the earth, has been clearly shown. [See on Dan. 8:14.] And we understand that it is while the work of cleansing the sanctuary is taking place, that the latest message of mercy is proclaimed. Thus it will be seen that the prophetic periods, and the proclamation which is based upon them, do not extend to the coming of the Lord."

That the mistake made by adventists in 1844 was not in the time, has been shown by the argument on the seventy weeks and twenty-three hundred days in Daniel 9; that it was in the nature of the event to occur at the end of those days, has been shown in the argument on the sanctuary in Daniel 8. Supposing that the earth was the sanctuary, and that its cleansing was to be accomplished by fire at the revelation of the Lord from heaven, they naturally looked for the appearing of Christ at the end of the days. And through their misapprehension on this point, they met with a crushing disappointment, though everything which the prophecy declared, and everything which they were warranted to expect, took place with absolute accuracy at that time. There the cleansing of the sanctuary began; but this did not bring Christ to this earth, for the earth is not the sanctuary; and its cleansing does not involve the destruction

p 646 -- of the earth, for it is accomplished with the blood of a sacrificial offering, not with fire. Here was the bitterness of the little book to the church. Rev. 10:10. Here was the coming of one like the Son of man, not to this earth, but to the Ancient of days. Dan. 7:13, 14. Here was the coming of the Bridegroom to the marriage, as set forth in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. We have spoken of the midnight cry of that parable in the summer of 1844. The foolish virgins then said to the wise, "Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone [margin, going] out." The wise answered, "Go and buy for yourselves." And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came. This is not the coming of Christ to this earth; for it is a coming which precedes the marriage; but the marriage, that is, the reception of the kingdom (see on chapter 21), must precede his coming to this earth to receive to himself his people, who are to be the guests at the marriage supper. Luke 19:12; Rev. 19:7-9. This coming, in the parable, must therefore be the same as the coming to the Ancient of days spoken of in Dan. 7:13, 14.

And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. After the Bridegroom comes to the marriage, there is an examination of guests, to see who are ready to participate in the ceremony, according to the parable of Matt. 22 :1-13. As the last thing before the marriage, the King comes in to see the guests, to ascertain if all are properly arrayed in the wedding garment; and whoever, after due examination, is found with the garment on, and is accepted by the King, never after loses that garment, but is sure of immortality. But this question of fitness for the kingdom can be determined only by the investigative judgment of the sanctuary. This closing work in the sanctuary, therefore, which is the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the atonement, is nothing else than the examination of the guests to see who have on the wedding garment; and consequently until this work is finished, it is not determined who are "ready" to go in to the marriage. "They that were ready went in with him to the marriage." By this short expression we are carried from the time when the Bridegroom comes to the marriage,

p 647 -- entirely through the period of the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the examination of the guests; and when this is concluded, probation will end, and the door will be shut.

The connection of the parable with the message under examination is now apparent. It brings to view a period of making ready the guests for the marriage of the Lamb, which is the work of judgment to which the message brings us when it declares, "The hour of his judgment is come." This message was to be proclaimed with a loud voice. It went forth with the power thus indicated between the years 1840-44, more especially in the seventh-month movement of the latter year, bringing us to the end of the 2300 days, when the work of judgment commenced as Christ began the work of cleansing the sanctuary.

But, as has been already shown, this did not bring the close of probation, but only the period of the investigative judgment. In this judgment we are now living; and during this time other messages are proclaimed, as the prophecy further declares.

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We are living in the time of judgment.

We don't know WHEN we are being judged by God.

We don't know WHEN our probation is us and sentence passed.

We DO know that when we die our probation is automatically over. Why, because we can know longer choose Christ as our Savior when we are dead. If we chose Jesus Christ as our Savior before we died and belong to Him, and He knows us, then we are dead IN Christ and when He returns we will rise from our graves and meet him in the air and forever be with Him.  If we do not know Him, and do not choose Him, and He does not know us, then we are forever dead- we will die eternally and be know more eternally, we will suffer the punishment due to us for our sins and then be no more, non-existent. 

We cannot know when we will die, and we cannot choose to wait to accept Christ until we are close to death, because our Savior knows our heart and knows the sincerity of our hearts, salvation is NO game to Him.

We choose Him NOW, we never delay, never, ever wait to accept Christ!

He is our all in all! He is our everything!

We  have been given prophecy and we know by prophecy and history the truth of it all and we know those alive In Christ when our Savior returns will be judged and found worthy through HIM.

Please, Lord, please may we be found worthy in CHRIST, in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Forgive us, save us!

All by YOUR MERCY, LOVE, and GRACE!

Amen!