the 144,000. Thousands on thousands
of these professors or trees since this work began, have died, and
probably one hundred times that number have turned traitors, by deserting
their leader and commander, while the great mass of advent believers,
which stamped this truth upon them, (the nominal church) in Oct. 1844,
have since that time, also turned into the enemy's ranks, leaving the
remnant to finish up the work. The great majority of these professors were
once under the right banner, but the winnowing fan of their great leader
has left them with the chaff, so that the voice of the remaining
messengers, some of whom were sending these petitions to the four
governments, and their prayers to God to restrain these wicked practices,
have become so feeble and disregarded by their former associates, that the
Devil, seeing his time is short, is now hard at work marshalling his
united forces throughout the world, for a mighty victory; and these four
messengers are his principle dependence to "gather the whole world to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty," but it will not become general
until the 144,000 saints are sealed.

Here, then, I understand, that the professed followers of the Prince of
Peace, (symbolized as trees,) have been crying with a loud voice by their
petitions, which is the symbol for prayer, see xiv: 15, 18, and Matt.
xxvii: 46, praying these four messengers that have power on all lands, and
_all_ seas, not to make any more war, either on the land or on the sea,
nor with the professed people of the Prince of Peace, by disregarding
their petitions. I know not in what other way these four nations could be
prayed to as represented in the second verse. Now the 144,000 are sealed.
Then John brings us to the resurrection. The 9th verse says, _after this_,
(mark this point,) I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could
number of all nations and kindreds, and people and tongues stood before
the throne, clothed in white, with palms in their hands, &c. These I
understand are _all_ the sleeping saints from Abel down to the very last
one that falls asleep here. Their having palms in their hands, and robed
in white, looks to me like the perfect uniformity there will be with
_them_, and the 144,000 that have never died, that I believe will be
redeemed right from, or at, the time for the feast of Tabernacles, and
form a perfect phalanx, rending the air with their shouts while they are
mounting up with wing