chapter 9

of Volume III.

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.—“Each member of the Body of Christ must finish his sacrifice in actual death. They are reckoned of God as being already dead, and they are exhorted so also to reckon themselves: ‘Reckon ye yourselves dead indeed unto sin.’ No other dead men can be said to die but this class of dead ones, who must finish their course of sacrifice in actual death.”—C. 241; 1 Thes. 4:16.

From henceforth.—From the spring of 1878.

[Yea,] saith the Spirit.—The Word of God, in Rev. 6:11. “Nowhere in the Scriptures is death represented as in any sense a blessing, except in this one instance; and here it is particularly limited and made applicable to a certain specific time.”—C. 240.

That they may rest from their labors.—“Poor, bruised ‘feet,’ now despised of men, none but yourselves fully appreciate your privileges. None others can appreciate the joy you have in proclaiming Present Truth.” (C. 236.) “One by one the ‘feet’ class will pass from the present condition, in which, though often weary and wounded, they are always rejoicing, to the other side the veil;—‘changed’ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality to immortality, from weakness to power, from dishonor to glory, from human to Heavenly conditions, from animal to spirit bodies.” (C. 237.) “Instead of the Kingdom waiting for the living members to finish their course, the Kingdom work began at once; and the living ones on this side the veil are privileged to know ‘the mysteries of the Kingdom’ and to engage in Kingdom work before their ‘change;’ and as they die (will not fall ‘asleep,’ but) will be ‘changed’ in the moment of death, resurrected as part of the blessed and holy First Resurrection.”—D. 622.

[And] FOR their works do follow them.—“Their _work_ will not cease with this change; for all those who will be counted worthy of that change to glory will be already enlisted in the service of the Kingdom on this side the veil: only the weariness, the labor feature, will cease with the change.” (C. 238.) “We may not be able to judge accurately as to what features of the great work are now being carried on by the Lord and His glorified saints beyond the veil; but we may be sure that they are active

## participants in the work assigned the members of the same Kingdom class,

whose course and service are not yet ended on this side the veil—the Harvest work.”—D. 624; 1 Cor. 15:58.

14:14. [And I looked], and behold a white cloud.—See Rev. 10:1. As the cloud indicates the Time of Trouble, so the white indicates the pure motive back of it.

And upon the cloud [one sat] I SAW ONE SITTING like unto the Son of Man.—“To the Jewish House Jesus presented Himself in three characters—as Bridegroom (John 3:29), Reaper (John 4:35, 38) and King (Matt. 21:5, 9, 4). To the Christian House He presents Himself in the same characters. (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 14:14, 15; 17:14.)”—B. 238.

Having on His head a golden crown.—The Divine nature, Immortality, the highest form of life.—2 Tim. 4:8; Jas. 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4.

And in His hand a sharp sickle.—“This Harvest, like the Jewish one, is to be first a time of trial and sifting upon the Church, and afterward a time of wrath upon the world, including the nominal Church. That which tried fleshly Israel in the Harvest of their Age was the truth then presented to them. The truth then due was the sickle, and it separated the ‘Israelites indeed’ from the nominal Jewish Church; and of the true wheat there was but a fragment compared to the professors. So also is the Harvest of this Age. The Harvest of the Gospel Age, like that of the Jewish Age, is under the supervision of the Chief Reaper, our Lord Jesus, who must then be present.”—A. 238.

14:15. And another angel.—The Witness to the Lord in the Land of Egypt. (Isa. 19:20.) See pages 309, 311, Vol. III, and observe that