And who shall be able to stand.—“The answer through the Prophet is, ’He that hath clean hands [an honest life] and a pure heart [a conscience void of offence toward God and man]: he shall ascend into the mountain [Kingdom] of the Lord and stand in the holy place.’” (Psa. 24:3, 4; D. 582.) “Oh, what sorrow it gives us at times to behold some not standing well the testing of this hour, some who are developing tendencies of weakness, disloyalty to the cause, ambition for name and fame or position, desire to be greatest, tendencies to lord it over God’s heritage, and who, unless recovered, will be surely cut off from membership in the Body, even though, as the Apostle declares, they may be saved so as by fire, as members of the ‘great company.’—1 Cor. 3:15.” (Z. ’06‐309; Psa. 76:7.) The only ones who will stand are the twelve tribes named in the next chapter. Revelation 7—Seventh Seal And Great Company 7:1. And after [these things] THIS.—After the events disclosed by the opening of the sixth seal had already been amply fulfilled, but not signifying that further, more elaborate and final fulfilments on an immense scale will not take place later. I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth.—The Little Flock, commissioned to carry the message of Present Truth to the remotest outposts of civilization. “They shall gather together His Elect from the four winds.”—Matt. 24:31. Holding the four winds of the earth.—“The winds of the earth referred to here are, of course, symbolic. The thought is that the winds from the four quarters—North, East, South and West—are being held back, and that when the restraint is withdrawn they will rush together, and the result will be a whirlwind. Certain Scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised up from the coasts of the earth. See Jer. 23:19; 25:32, 33; 30:23, 24. We do not understand that this will be a physical whirlwind, but this symbolic expression is used to convey the thought of a severe strife of the powers of the air. These ‘powers of the air,’ or ‘winds,’ are not powers of natural air, but are the powers referred to by St. Paul when he speaks of Satan as ‘the Prince of the power of the air,’ (Eph. 2:2.) Those spirits who have been under the control of Satan—the fallen angels—were to be restrained until the Judgment of the Great Day. (Jude 6.) The letting loose of these winds, or air powers, would seem to show that God will let go His hand of restraint; that He will have to do with the permission of the terrible trouble that will come. This outside influence will exercise a baneful effect upon men, when finally granted the liberty. These fallen spirits have been under restraint for these many centuries, but they have exercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permission. If they had had unlimited power they would have wrecked the world long ago; but they have been restrained. Apparently God will soon cease to restrain