Close of Probation
153
glected to purify their souls by obeying the truth are found sleeping.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:191
(1868).
When probation ends, it will come suddenly, unexpectedly—at a
time when we are least expecting it. But we can have a clean record
in heaven today, and know that God accepts us.—
The S.D.A. Bible
Commentary 7:989
(1906).
When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of
all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short
time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven....
Before the Flood, after Noah entered the ark, God shut him in,
and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the people, knowing not
that their doom was fixed, continued their careless, pleasure-loving
life, and mocked the warnings of impending judgment. “So,” says the
Saviour, “shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (
Matthew 24:39
).
Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour
which marks the fixing of every man’s destiny, the final withdrawal of
mercy’s offer to guilty men....
While the man of business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while
the pleasure lover is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion
is arranging her adornments—it may be in that hour the Judge of all the
earth will pronounce the sentence: “Thou art weighed in the balances,
and art found wanting” (
Daniel 5:27
).—
The Great Controversy, 490,
491
(1911).
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Human Activity After Probation’s Close
The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth in
their mortal state—men will be planting and building, eating and drink-
ing, all unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pro-
nounced in the sanctuary above.—
The Great Controversy, 491
(1911).
When the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pro-
nounced, 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withdrawn, and the Satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will in-
spire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear
the semblance of zeal for God.—
The Great Controversy, 615
(1911).