Help in the Lord

The Lord declares that he has set before his people “an open door, and no man can shut it.” No marvel, then, that the message has gone steadily forward. It is God’s message to the people, and it must succeed. In Revelation 7:2 the work of preparing a people to stand when the great day of God’s wrath shall come is symbolized by an angel “ascending from the east,” or, as some translate, “like the rising of the sun.” Behold the dawning of the day—first appear the rays of light in the east; these blend into greater clearness until the sun’s broad, distinct disk is seen. As the “King of Day” ascends to the zenith, its light, heat, and power become more and more vivid.GSAM 464.1

Such indeed has been the progress of the third angel’s message since 1848, when its component truths were brought into distinct form, and from which point we have shown a marked and steady growth that is wonderful. This we can explain upon no other ground than that the Lord is verifying his word to those who in this time, when his salvation is about to come, “keep the Sabbath from polluting it,” ^{5Isaiah 56:1, 2.} and turn away their foot from doing their own pleasure on God’s holy day, thus, through the “faith of Jesus,” as declared in the third angel’s message of Revelation 14, keeping all “the commandments of God.” Of such the Lord said by the prophet Isaiah, “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness [“the Lord our righteousness” Jeremiah 23:6] shall go before thee; and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.” ^{6Isaiah 58:8, 13.} With such assurances how could we expect aught else but that the work would be a success? “If God be for us, who can be against us?”GSAM 464.2