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. Revelation 14:8.
Individually and as a people we have a most solemn work before us. There is a daily preparation of heart and mind to be gained in order that we may be fitted to work out the purposes of God for us. The perils of the last days are upon us, and at this time we are each determining what our destiny for eternity shall be. Individually we are to form characters that will stand the test of the judgment. Individually we are to give, in the church where we are, an example of faithfulness and consecration.
The ministry of the Word is designed to prepare a people to stand in the times of temptation in which we live; and church members are to cooperate with the work of [the] ministry by revealing in the life the principles of the truth, that no word shall be spoken or act performed that will lead into false paths or create a condition of things that God cannot approve.
There has been revealed to me the grave dangers we shall meet in these last days of peril and temptation. Our only reliable light and guide for this time is in the Word of God. We must take this Word as our counselor, and faithfully follow its instructions, or we shall find that we are being controlled by our own peculiar traits of character, and our lives will reveal a selfish work that will be a hindrance and not a blessing to our fellow men...
It is the duty of those who stand as leaders and teachers of the people to instruct church members how to labor in missionary lines, and then to set in operation the great, grand work of proclaiming widely this message, that must arouse every unworked city before the crisis shall come, when, through the working of satanic agencies, the doors now open to the message of the third angel shall be closed...
The righteous judgments of God, with their weight of final decision, are coming upon the land. Do not hover over the churches to repeat over and over again the same truths to the people, while the cities are left in ignorance and sin, unwarned and unlabored for. Soon the way will be hedged up and these cities will be closed to the gospel message. Wake up the church members, that they may unite in doing a definite and self-denying work...
The world is preparing for the closing work of the third angel’s message. The truth is now to go forth with a power that it has not known for years. The message of present truth is to be proclaimed everywhere.—Manuscript 61, September 17, 1909, “Words of Instruction.”
Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 274
