Gods Sabbath

C HRIST S HOWS T HE W AY

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down upon them to break the covenant and join forces with the enemy. They will pray as Jesus did during those forty days He fasted in the desert, but just as no recognizable answer came back to Him, so none will come back to them. God’s children will feel completely alone, forsaken, and vulnerable to Satan’s fury. The glory of the loud cry period will have departed, and they will be left to battle with the temptation that presses on them every moment. Apart from Christ’s confrontation with Satan, humanity will never have been more severely tested. The ability to withstand this awesome pressure does not come in a moment. Obviously then, those who will be fitted with the necessary knowledge, faith, and endurance to stand in that day, must be learning to do so now. It will be a qualified people through whom the Lord per forms that work by which the great controversy is finally con cluded satisfactorily, a people dedicated to the principle that “it is a less calamity to suffer whatever may befall than to depart in any manner from the will of God.” The Desire of Ages , 121.1. Being utterly committed to this ideal, Christ was fully suc cessful in His mission. And when God has a people who can be fully trusted to the same extent, He will finally be able to finish the work on this earth. This will be the ultimate exemplification of the Sabbath rest principles by which, long, long ago, God’s people could have entered into His rest.