The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77 (1900)

January 2, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message: What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 1 , p. 8.

THE expression "the Third Angel's Message" has reference to the message borne by the third in a series of three angels, each one bearing a message, in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. The messages of these three angels blend and culminate in the third, which does not cease to sound until the harvest of the earth is ripe, and made ready for the coming of the Lord to reap it.

The Third Angel's Message itself, as it is announced in the words of the third angel, separated from the other two, is as follows: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

This is the Third Angel's Message, as it would stand separated from the other two. But, in fact, it can not be regarded as separate, and can not be made to stand apart as if it alone were a single, separate message to the world; for the very first words concerning it are: "The third angel followed THEM." Thus, by the very first words of the message itself we are referred not only to the one, but to the two which preceded it. And the Greek word translated "followed" signifies not following apart, nor only following, but "following with," as soldiers follow their captain, or servants their master; therefore, "to follow one in a thing; to let one's self be led." When spoken of things, it signifies to follow as a result; to follow "as a consequence of something which had gone before." Thus, as to persons, the third angel follows with the two which have preceded; and his message, as a thing, follows as a result, or consequence, of the two which have gone before.

Of the second one also it is written: "And there followed another angel." As with the third angel following him, so it is with the second angel following the first. And of the first one it is written: "And I saw another angel fly," etc. This is the first in this series of three. There follows with him another; and the third angel follows with them. There is a succession in the order of their rise; but, when the three have in succession risen, then they go on together as one. The first one sounds forth his message; the second one follows and joins with the first; the third follows them, and joins with them; so that, when the three are joined, and go on together in their united power, they form a mighty threefold, loud-voiced message. It takes all to make the Third Angel's Message complete; and the Third Angel's message can not be truly given without the giving of all.

What, then, is the threefold message in its respective parts?–Here is the first: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

Here is the second: "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."

And here is the third: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

A glance at the wording of each of these messages will discover that thought in the Greek word "followed, which signifies "following as a consequence." The first bears the everlasting gospel, to preach to every creature, calling upon all to fear God and give glory to him, and to worship him, because the hour of his judgment is come. The rejection of this message produces a condition of things which is described as the consequence of such rejection, in the words of the second angel, which followed. And, because of the rejection of the first message, and because of the consequences of that rejection, as announced in the second, a condition of things is produced as a further consequence, which requires that the third angel shall follow them, proclaiming with a loud voice his dreadful warning against the terrible evils that have been produced as the double consequence of the rejecting of the first message.

And that the voice and work of the third angel blend with that of the first, is plain from his closing words: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;" because this is ever the object of the preaching of the everlasting gospel. It is the substance of fearing God and giving glory to him, and or worshiping "him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." And the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus is the only thing that will enable any soul to stand in the hour of his judgment, which the first angel declares "is come."

Immediately following the closing words of the third angel is "heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the death which die in the Lord from henceforth"–from this time forward; and immediately following this, are the words: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."

And Jesus himself said, "The harvest is the end of the world."

Again: the third angel particularly warns all people against the worship of the beast and his image, whatever these may be; and, from Rev. 19:11-21, we find that the beast and his image are "alive" when the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven, and are "both" destroyed with the brightness of his coming.

These facts show that the Third Angel's Message is a mighty, threefold, loud-voiced message, which goes forth to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people, just before the coming of the Lord; which ripens the harvest of the earth; and which makes a people prepared for the Lord. And so, it is the last, the closing, message of God to the world.

Such, in a word, in form, in arrangement, is the Third Angel's Message. What the Third Angel's Message is in spirit and in truth, will be considered next.

"The 'Return of the Jews'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 1 , pp. 8, 9.

FOR anybody to claim, to advocate, or to believe in, the "return of the Jews," shows that such person has no true conception of the gospel. This is plain from the words quoted in last week's article,–the Lord's appeal to all people before this people were scattered,–"What could have been done more. . . . that I have not done?"

The final thing which the Lord did, was, as he himself says, to send his Son. And, in his Son, God gave himself; for "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself;" and "in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." And whosoever accepts him is, in the nature of the case, "complete in him." And any Jew can find all this any moment that he chooses, and at any place that he may be in this wide world. He can find it in America as well as in Palestine: he can find it in New York City, in Hongkong, in Calcutta, in London, or anywhere else, just as well as in Jerusalem?

Then, what possible need can there be that the Jews should return to Jerusalem? What can God do for them there, more than he did for the Jews before they were ever scattered from there? Has he another Son whom he can give? Has he yet a greater gift than himself that he can bestow? Has he a greater gift than "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" to give, even though he had another Son whom he might send?

It is perfectly plain, therefore, that any claim of the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, or to Palestine, betrays an utter lack of the true value of the gospel. For there can be no question whatever that what we have here suggested must inevitably be involved in any return of the Jews; but there is no possible place for any such that as that. God has no other Son to give. He has no greater gift than "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," to give, even though he had ten thousand other sons, greater even than Jesus.

Then, as he has already given his only begotten Son; as in him he has given "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;" as all this was given to the Jews while they were yet a people, and was rejected by them, and upon their own judgment was given "to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,"–as God has thus done all that it can be possible for even him to do; and as the benefit of all this can be had by any Jew, wherever he is on earth, at any moment when he will choose to receive it; so there is neither necessity, nor place, nor yet a possibility, of any return of the Jews to Palestine or Jerusalem, or of their re-establishment there as a nation and a peculiar people for whom and by whom God is to do great things.

Another feature of this claim of the return of the Jews, which betrays an absolute lack of knowledge of the gospel, is that those who claim it actually hold not only that the Jews are to return, but that they are to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple, and re-establish the temple services, sacrifices, offerings, etc., etc. But since the time of the offering of Christ once for all, the offering of a sacrifice is the denial of Christ. And the establishment of a priestly service on earth is a denial of the priesthood of Christ, which is simply denial of his intercession. To establish a sanctuary service on the earth would be only to deny the sanctuary and its services in heaven. Thus any such scheme as is proposed in the claim of the return of the Jews is a denial of all that God has done in the gift of Christ, and if carried out, would be only a repudiation of all that Christ has done since his ascension to heaven, and all that he is now doing.

But this whole subject was discussed, and this whole ground was covered, in the first days of Christianity, in the contest carried on by "the Pharisees which believed," against the gospel as preached by Stephen in the earliest days of the gospel after the ascension of Christ, and by Paul afterward. And the truth of the question–the truth of the gospel, as against this destructive error–is all made plain in the book of Galatians. There it is made plain that all distinctions in behalf of the Jew are utterly broken down, exactly as Jesus said in the parable; and exactly as the Jews decided in their judgment upon the case as presented in the parable,–that the kingdom of God was taken away from them and

9

given to others,–and that whatsoever the Jew obtains must be obtained precisely as by any others. Accordingly, over and over it is written: "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek." A thorough study, therefore, of the book of Galatians is the best course to an understanding of the truth of the gospel as concerns the Jews, and so is the best refutation of all claims of "the return of the Jews."

From these considerations it is perfectly plain that under the present order of things in the gospel, there can be no "return of the Jews" according to the claims that are made as to the return of the Jews; that the only possible way that there can be any such return of the Jews would be to pass by all the present order of things in the gospel, and for the Lord to set up an altogether new system of things, an absolutely new procedure. Accordingly, to every claim of the "return of the Jews," there is inevitably attached an "age to come," in which is involved the millennium. And this is why it is that the subject of the "return of the Jews" and "the millennium" are so intimately connected. And thus we are brought to the study of the truth as to the millennium, as further answer to all claims of the "return of the Jews."

"Studies in Galatians" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 1 , p. 9.

SO far in our studies in Galatians we have reached the end of the fourteenth verse of the third chapter. And in this study we have been brought about five times, by different lines of reasoning, to the fact that the coming of Christ–the sacrifice of Christ, and the work of Christ–brings salvation to the Gentiles just where the Gentiles are, and not where the Jews are; that the special claims of the Jews are now passed, and that, instead of the Gentiles being required to meet Christ in the field of the Jew, even the Jew himself must now meet Christ in the field of the Gentile, and not in the field of the Jew.

Over and over it has been seen that the Jews claimed justification by law, while the truth of the gospel is, and always was, justification by faith. Laws were given to the Jews by the Lord; yet the object of these never was that those to whom they were given should be justified by the laws: the giving of those laws was but the consequence of their transgression and their unbelief, and that they might the better attain to righteousness by faith. As they went further into darkness by unbelief and transgression, God in mercy followed them with further means that, if by any means, he might bring them to a true and clear faith in Jesus Christ.

Consequently, if they had maintained the true faith which Abraham had before he was circumcised,–faith which works the works of God, and which, therefore, keeps the commandments of God,–the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,–none of these other laws, not even the written form of the law of God, would ever have been added. They would have kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. For "if man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt. They would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai, or engraved upon the tables of stone. And [even when God's law had been engraved upon the tables of stone] had the people practiced the principles of the ten commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses."–"Patriarchs and Prophets" page 364.

But the sole object of all these laws when they were added, was faith in Christ, and not works of law. And, therefore, when Christ had come, who was the sole object, aim, and purpose of all the laws and statutes that had been given by the Lord–when these had all met and found their purpose in him, and he had showed the grand glory of the true and clear faith of God, it is, of all things, extravagant to claim justification by law, as did "the Pharisees which believed," and who had confused the Galatians who believed in Christ, by insisting that, in order to he saved, they must be circumcised and keep the law. This was made clear by Paul in his appeal to Peter before them all, when he said, "If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" That is, if you have abandoned the ground of the Jews, which, in order to be justified, is the right thing to do, and have gone over to the ground of the Gentiles, how can it be required of the Gentiles to abandon their ground and go over to that of the Jews, which, as we ourselves have confessed, must be abandoned by even us who by nature belong on the ground?

Next he followed this thought back to Abraham himself, and showed that even Abraham was justified by faith, and received all the promises, and became heir to the inheritance, by faith alone, without circumcision, or any other of the laws which were given to the Jews.

He next showed that even to those who were circumcised and had all these laws, these things were of no profit, and availed, only when they walked "in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised." So that, even with themselves, and through all their day, and forever, "they which are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."

Next he demonstrates by the Scripture that those who are of the works of law, those who go about by the law to be saved, and to be justified by law, are under the curse; and that Christ is come, and "hath redeemed us from the curse of the law," from the curse of our own works; and that he did this in order "that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles."

In all this it has been shown over and over that the Gentile meets Christ in the field of the Gentile, and not in the field of the Jew. It is also demonstrated over and over that the Jew meets Christ not in the field of the Jew, but also in the field of the Gentile; exactly where the Gentile meets him, where Abraham met him, and where all, alike, and forever, must meet him–in the glorious field of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

All this, too, gives added emphasis, and sets in a fuller light, those two expressions in the word of Peter at the council in Jerusalem on this question, when he, telling the assembly that God had made choice of him among the apostles that the Gentiles by his mouth "should hear the word of the gospel, and believe," and then said: "God, which knoweth the hearts, bear them [the Gentiles] witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them [note, not between them and us, but "between us and them"] purifying their hearts by faith." He then appealed to them: "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Note again that Peter by the Holy Spirit, said not that they shall be saved even as we, but "WE shall be saved even as THEY." The means of salvation to the Gentile, and not to the Jew, is the supreme standard of salvation. We, Jews, shall be saved even as they, the Gentiles, are saved. And they were saved by being justified, by faith; not by law, but without law. They must be so justified; for they did not have any of these laws, as had the Jews, by which to be justified, if that had been the way. And so we, the Jews must be justified even as they must be justified–by with without any works of any law, even though we had all the laws that ever were.

There was a time when the Gentile could meet Christ in the field of the Jew; but that time is past. It passed by the fact of the Jews rejecting Christ, even though it had not passed by any other means. But it also passed by the coming of Christ as the object, purpose, aim, completion, and fullness, of all these laws that must of necessity be given to the Jews because of their unbelief and transgression. And since that time is doubly past, in which the Gentile could meet Christ in the field of the Jews: and since it is more than doubly so that now the Jew must meet Christ in the field of the Gentile there is no other name, nor other means, by which either Jew or Gentile must be saved but by the name of Jesus Christ through faith in his name.

It must be borne in mind always that in all this there was no question raised nor any point made as to the value of any law in itself; the sole question was, and is, as to any value or use of any law in justification. Justification is by faith not by law, by faith which is of God, and so, which works by the love of God, which is the keeping of the commandments of God. And so of all who catch the thought of God as it is in the book of Galatians, it can truly be written, "Here are they which keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 1 , p. 16.

A CERTAIN Monsignor Sbaretti came from Rome to the United States in 1894 as auditor of the apostolic delegation of the papacy here. About a month ago he was appointed bishop of Havana, Cuba. And it is announced that he was selected for that bishopric "on account of his knowledge of canon law, the Constitution of the United States, and the method of procedure in our courts," and with all this because of "the prominence in Havana of questions concerning the property of the Roman Catholic Church." If that is not the forming of a union between the papacy and the United States government in Cuba, then what more is needed to make such a nation? And the the Constitution of the United States, which this Romanist is said to know so well, is not the Constitution ordained and intended by the Fathers of this nation; but the constitution as it was made Catholic by the argument, declaration, and decision of the United States Supreme Court, Feb. 29, 1892,–the constitution which, because of that decision, Pope Leo XIII commanded all Catholics to take in one hand, with the Catholic Bible in the other, and go forward to bring this country into unity with the Catholic Church.

THE National Reform leaders are among the best promoters of the Roman Catholic cause in the United States: they are practically agents of the papal cause. About two weeks ago, at the Presbyterian Ministers' Association, New York City, "Rev." David G. Wylie read a paper entitled "The Services of the Roman Catholic Church to American Civilization." And when one of the ministers present said that "from the paper itself" he must "assume that it had been written after a conference with Roman Catholic priests," Mr. Wylie replied that the paper had been written "after consultation with the Catholic Church ecclesiastics, from Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Corrigan down." And so the National Reformers are still carrying on their nefarious work.

January 9, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It in Spirit and in Truth?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2 , p. 24.

WE have found that in word, in form, and in arrangement the Third Angel's Message is a great threefold message, which ripens the harvest for the end of the world, and makes ready a people prepared for the Lord. And now we are to study what that message is in spirit and in truth.

In the first place, it is the everlasting gospel; and that gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." It "is Christ in you, the hope of glory." It is "God manifest in the flesh." "Therein [in the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." And it calls men to the worship of "him that made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters."

This preaching of the everlasting gospel, which is the third angel's message, is, therefore, the preaching of "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." It is the preaching of God manifest in the flesh. It is the preaching of the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

And since the gospel is the "power of God unto salvation" to them that believe; since Christ dwells in the heart, and God is manifest in the flesh, only "by faith;" since the righteousness of God is "by faith of Jesus Christ," and is revealed only "from faith to faith;" and since true worship of God is only of faith, because "without faith it is impossible to please him," it is perfectly plain that the Third Angel's Message, in spirit and in truth, is all of faith. And since whatsoever is not of faith is sin, then whatsoever is of faith is righteousness. And since the Third Angel's Message is all of faith, the Third Angel's Message is righteousness by faith.

Further: this everlasting gospel is preached, calling all people to the worship of God, in view of the fact that "the hour of his judgment is come." And since men are to be judged by the law of God, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the gospel (Rom. 2:12, 16), it is certain that this preaching of the everlasting gospel in the Third Angel's Message, in warning all men concerning the judgment, is to prepare for that judgment every soul who is willing to be prepared. And since the only preparation for the judgment is perfect harmony of life, in body, soul, and spirit, with the law of God, this message inevitably calls all people to the keeping of the commandments of God. And, in very truth, the sole purpose of the gospel, which is altogether of faith, is the keeping of the commandments of God; for in Christ Jesus nothing avails but faith, which worketh by love,–the love of God: and "this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments;" and "love is the fulfilling of the law." And so the closing words of the third angel are but the sum of the great threefold message, so far as it pertains to the saints and to those who are prepared to meet the Lord, in its declaration: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." And thus the beginning words, and the closing words, and all between, of the Third Angel's Message, as it pertains to the saints, is summed up in the three words "righteousness by faith."

Thus, justification by faith is the Third Angel's Message: the preaching of righteousness by faith is the preaching of the Third Angel's Message. It is true that this threefold message announces the fall of Babylon, and calls out of her God's people. It is true that this message also warns people against the worship of the beast and his image. But what could the announcement of the fall of Babylon, and the warning against the worship of the beast and his image, amount to, simply as such, without the power of God to save the people from Babylon, and from the worship of the beast and his image? Therefore the everlasting gospel, the preaching of righteousness by faith, is the Third Angel's Message in spirit and in truth; because this is the very thing, and the only thing, that can make effective the announcements and warnings of the message.

Will it, by any, be thought too strong a statement that justification by faith is the Third Angel's Message. Lest, by any possibility, any should think thus, we set down here some statements of authority, as to that truth. In the first-page article of the REVIEW of April 1, 1890, are the following words:–

Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the Third Angel's Message; and I have answered, "It is the Third Angel's Message in verity."

In a Testimony, dated Hobart, Tasmania, May 1, 1895, and published Nov. 18, 1896, are the following words:–

The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. ¹1 This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the Third Angel's Message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure. . . . This message of the gospel of his grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ. . . .

It has been Satan's determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the Third Angel's Message, in clear, distinct lines. . . . .

This is the testimony that must go throughout the length and breadth of the world. It presents the law and the gospel, binding up the two in a perfect whole. See Romans 5 and 1 John 3:9 to the close of the chapter.

Thus it is plain, and is repeatedly confirmed, that the Third Angel's Message in spirit and in truth, is righteousness by faith; the everlasting gospel; the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith in the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

A person may announce to the world the fall of Babylon, and may proclaim the warning against the worship of the beast and his image; and yet, if that person is not justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, and has not in him and upon him the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, he himself will be a part of Babylon, and will worship the beast and his image. The Third Angel's Message is not a message in mere word: the message consists in the spirit and the truth of the gospel of God, which is righteousness by faith: the very keeping, in heart and life, of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." And when he who would preach the Third Angel's Message has that message in his life, and when that message is his life; when he is justified by faith, and lives by faith, and is clothed with the righteousness of God, which is by faith, and THEN announces the fall of Babylon and the warning against the worship of the beast and his image, there will be power in his message to deliver souls from Babylon, and to hold them back from worshiping the beast and his image. In his message there will be power to deliver souls from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, which is the only true religious liberty.

And this is why the book of Galatians is so fully a part of the Third Angel's Message.

"The Millennium" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2 , pp. 24, 25.

THE word "millennium" is composed of two Latin words, mille, "a thousand," and annus, "a year," and signifies "a thousand years." Any period of a thousand years is a millennium; but that period of a thousand years designated and understood universally as "the millennium" is a certain thousand years mentioned and measured off in the Scriptures.

The particular scripture which defines the thousand years–the millennium–is Rev. 20:1-7. The connection in which this thousand years is set is such that from it can be certainly known, not the date of its beginning, but the event that marks its beginning. Also the connection in which it is set is such that from it can be certainly known what the character of that millennium is to be.

In that scripture it is said that Satan is to be bound and shut up for a thousand years, and that the saints live and reign with Christ a thousand years. "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [living of the saints] is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

By these words we know that the event that marks the beginning of the millennium is "the first resurrection,"–the resurrection of the "blessed and holy,"–the resurrection of "the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands." And this resurrection of the saints, this "first resurrection," is at the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for it is written: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

And again: "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.

And again: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." Verses 22, 23.

There are many other scriptures to the same purpose, but these are enough to settle it as the truth of God that the second coming of Christ marks the beginning of the millennium, because the second coming of Christ brings the resurrection of the just, of the blessed and holy; and this resurrection, the first one, marks the beginning of the thousand years–the millennium.

Here, then, at the beginning of the millennium, is the resurrection of all the righteous dead; the translation of all the righteous living; and these all are caught away from the earth. They meet the Lord, not on the earth, but "in the air;" and as all the resurrected and translated ones hitherto have done, they ascend to heaven with Christ their Lord, where they reign with him upon the thrones of judgment for a thousand years. Thus the righteous.

25

What, then, of the wicked at the beginning of the thousand years, and during the thousand years? What occurs to them at the coming of the Lord? Read: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. 1:7, 8. They call for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them "from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:14-17. They are slaini by the "armies which were in heaven," but which follow "Him upon white horses," and by the "sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev. 19:11-21. As it is written in another place: "The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." Jer. 25:30-33.

Now, since it is the truth of the word of God that the resurrection of the righteous–the first resurrection–marks the beginning of the millennium; since that resurrection is caused by the second coming of the Lord; and since at his coming all the righteous, dead and living, are taken away from the earth, and all the wicked upon the earth are slain, it is certain that the earth is at that point left desolate. And as the saints do not return to the earth for a thousand years, and the wicked dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished, it is certain that the earth is left desolate during that thousand years. And that is to say that, during the millennium, this earth is to be utterly desolate.

This is certain from the texts here given. But next week it will be shown more fully; because there is must involved in the subject–much more than simply the desolation of the earth.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2 , p. 25.

BECAUSE of the indorsement of the extreme higher criticism by the Episcopal Church in receiving Dr. Briggs into the Episcopal ministry, Benjamin F. Da Costa, D. D., felt himself logically obliged to leave that church and go over to the Catholic Church. He says that "all those forces of science, which it was once thought would be fatal to her [the Catholic Church], are now, in a way which constitutes one of the great surprises of history, so grouping themselves as to afford her a new foundation."

Fifteen years ago it was published that "a day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the success of popery. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages, when men were without God's word, and without the knowledge of the truth, their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes become dazzled by the glare of human speculations, 'science false so-called;' they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if blindfolded. . . . Thus the false science of the nineteenth century, which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages."–"Great Controversy," chapter on "Character and Aims of the Papacy."

That thing is now being demonstrated; and it may be expected that soon there will be seen a perfect tide of these "intellectually great," flowing into the Catholic Church; and all only the result of the apostasy of Protestantism from the word of God to "science false so-called,"–evolution, ect.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:15" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2 , pp. 25, 26.

"BRETHREN, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."

Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. How much more, then, shall it be so with God's covenant? Then, since the making of God's covenant with Abram, there has never been, and never could be, anything added to it, nor anything taken from it. Let us notice God's covenant with Abram, and what it included.

In Gen. 11:29-32 is recorded Abram's leaving his native country because that "the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." At that time God also said to Abram: "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." Gen. 12:2. At that time also God preached the gospel unto Abram, saying: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8.

After Abram had lived in the land of Haran, and had come into the land of Canaan, God said to him: "Unto thy seed will I give this land; and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." Gen. 12:7.

The Lord had said that he would show to Abram the land which was to be his. And, though he was in the land of Canaan, yet the Lord had not showed to him the land that he said he would give to him: and he could not yet show it to him, because Lot, of his kindred, was yet with him; and the first condition of the promise was, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house." Abram was separated from his father's house, but so long as Lot was with him, he was not yet separated from his kindred: and so long as that was so, God could not show him the land.

But after a while, their flocks and herds increased so that "the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together;" and so, by mutual agreement, and as "brethren" they separated, Lot choosing "all the plain of Jordan." Then, "after that Lot was separated from him," the Lord said to Abram, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." Gen. 13:14-16.

And the land which Abram then saw, and which was promised to him, included the world; for this promise was "the promise that he should be the heir of the world." And since that is a world that includes "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11), and which God "hath prepared" for him and his children; and since it is "a better country" than any on the earth, even "an heavenly," it is certain that the land which Abram then saw, and which included the world, was, and is, "the world to come." And more: since this was promised to Abram and his seed–to neither without the other, but to both together; since this promised seed "is Christ;" and since while Abram was in this world, he never received any "inheritance in it," no, not so much as to set his foot on (Acts 7:5), it is certain that the inheritance then promised to Abram, and which he then saw, and which included the world, is only "the world to come."

This is further confirmed by that which Abram next met in his experience; for it is written that when Abram had returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, he met "Melchisedec king of Salem," who "brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God." "And he [Melchisedec] blessed him [Abram], and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth." Gen. 14:18, 19. Thus the priest of the Most High, Melchisedec, who "was the voice of God in the world," recognized Abram.

In this connection there is another important element to be noticed, that is, that Abram now meets and recognizes "Melchisedec," "the priest of the most high God," and in him recognizes the Melchisedec priesthood. He received blessing from this priest of the Meschisedec priesthood; and yet further recognized this priesthood in that "he gave him tithes of all."

Several times, now, in Abram's experience, the Lord has referred to that "seed" of Abram. And now Abram makes definite inquiry about this "seed," saying to the Lord: "Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." Gen. 15:3-7.

Abram had now received from God, in promise, the blessing of God which would make him a "blessing to all nations;" he had received the promise of the world for an inheritance; he had received the promise of a seed in whom all nations should be blessed; he had received the benefit of the priesthood of the most high God; and he had received the righteousness of God, fitting him to enter of right into that eternal inheritance.

And now Abram asks: "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" And here and now, in pledge to Abram that he shall inherit all that has been promised, God made a covenant with Abram: "And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. . . And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Gen. 15:9-12, 17, 18.

Now it is a truth laden with meaning that in these animals and birds which he brought and offered, there was included every animal sacrifice that was ever allowed or commanded to be offered to God. And when Abram, as directed, had divided all these except the fowl, and had laid them in their pieces, one against another, "behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces." And "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land."

The Lord did this because in ancient times "it was the custom of those who entered into a covenant with each other to take a heifer and cut it in two, and then the contracting parties passed between the pieces." And the reason of this was that the contracting parties agreed, and thus expressed the agreement, that if either of them broke that covenant, he submitted himself to be cut in two just as was the sacrifice between the parts of which they passed.

But Abram did not pass between the parts of these victims: only God passed through. This because this is not a covenant of agreement between two persons in which each is equally responsible; but it is a covenant of promise from God, in which he alone is the responsible party. Consequently, God alone passed between the parts of the slain victims, in the making of this covenant. And, in that act, God agreed, and thus expressed his agreement, that that covenant could no more fail than that he himself could be severed in twain. Thus the Lord pledged himself, in his very life, that all the promises which he had made to Abram should be fulfilled, and that not one of these promises could fail; that

26

this covenant to fulfill the promises could not fail any more than that God should cease to live.

Thus, that covenant of God with Abram was confirmed even there, by the sacrifice of Him who made the covenant. And when Abram, not yet fully comprehending the greatness of the blessed promises of this covenant, slipped, the Lord, in his mercy, even repeated himself, and again pledged himself,–"interposed himself"–swearing by himself, and thus by his oath confirmed his covenant that his promises should not fail. Heb. 8:17. And thus again that covenant was "confirmed."

Therefore, since "though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto," how much more shall this be so of God's covenant with Abram, which is doubly confirmed? Therefore, that covenant could never be disannulled, nor could anything ever be added to it. In that covenant at that time was all that ever has been since, or that ever can be to anybody. And whoever has that covenant, has everything in heaven and earth,–everything in the wide universe, to all eternity.

That is the Abrahamic covenant, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" which is made sure by that covenant.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 2 , p. 27.

IN the matter of the W. C. T. U. and the right resolution, which their convention rejected, the evidence which we have presented is conclusive, that not only have lines of work of the N. W. C. T. U. been used, but the N. W. C. T. U. itself has been used, to give not only aid and comfort but influence and power "to those who, through ignorance, prejudice, or malice, would enact or enforce such laws as can be made to serve the purpose of persecution;" and which can in every way be made to interfere with all "liberty of conscience concerning days and the manner of their observance." The evidence is conclusive that, to put it in the mildest possible way, the N. W. C. T. U. has been made a tool, in the machinations of men who are ambitious of power, to enforce religious dogmas upon all people. So entirely is this so that these men publicly acknowledge that the W. C. T. U. is their main dependence–in fact, that their success must come through the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

And it was the machinations of these men in their use of the W. C. T. U. and its lines of work,–it was this that was aimed at in that resolution, "That as a National Woman's Christian Temperance Union we protest against any such interpretation or use of any lines of our work as shall give aid or comfort," etc.

The one who introduced that resolution knew what "use" these men had been making of the W. C. T. U. and its lines of work all these years; and how, as the consequence, the W. C. T. U. was being dragged down from its true place and high and pure purpose, and made to serve in the train of designing men. And knowing this, she longed to have the deliver itself from this injurious connection, and stand free once more to carry on its original work according to the original purpose. But the ladies in the convention did not take time to look calmly at the resolution, and to inquire after and consider its plain import: they allowed themselves to be stampeded from this to an issue that was altogether foreign to the intent of the resolution, and so placed the N. W. C. T. U. in the false position of declaring that it is an objectionable thing for the union to be asked to protest against the use of its lines of work to serve the purposes of persecution. Surely every well-wisher of the W. C. T. U. can only ask it now to consider this question calmly and fairly, and clear itself from this false position. And it is perfectly plain that the only way that the union can clear itself is by adopting in the next national convention the amendment to its constitution that will come regularly before the convention.

And while those excellent women are considering this matter, there is another point inseparably connected therewith that is worthy of their most careful consideration. And that is, With what propriety can men take part in, and seek to mold and give direction to, the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union? What can men do in women's work? What but to spoil it? There was a work that needed to be done, that the men had never done when they had all the field. It was, and is, a work that men could not do. It was, and is, a work that can be done only by woman's ministry. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union–an organization of women–was, under God, called out and organized to do this work of women. But the women have allowed unmanly men to insinuate themselves into this work which is woman's. And, as could only be expected, these men have spoiled the whole thing. We speak of them as unmanly men, because who but an unmanly man could think that he could do woman's work?

Now let the W. C. T. U. be in truth a Woman's Christian Temperance Union: not a woman's and man's Christian temperance union. Let the Woman's Christian Temperance Union positively exclude men from all the councils, conventions, and work of the union. And let the women go on grandly to the blessed ministry to which, as women and as a woman's organization, God called them at the first, and to which he still calls them.

This is written by a man, as his firm conviction; but let all the women and all the men, yea, let all the people, say, Amen.

"Editorial Notes" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 2 , p. 27.

HOW the world views the situation of the British Empire is expressed by the New York Tribune, December 15. It says that all "must be" changed in South Africa "before long" "unless the world is to see the greatest political cataclysm of modern ages." It also says:–

It is true that, as the London papers are saying, not merely South Africa, but the world-wide British Empire, is at stake. Perhaps that fact was not realized as clearly before the war as it is now. At the present time it is seen by all as clearly as the noonday sun. If Great Britain were defeated by the Boers, she would be driven out of South Africa altogether. And what then?–Why, she would be a third-rate power. India would be lost in a twinkling. The United States of Australia and the Dominion of Canada would probably reckon further connection with her a source of weakness and peril, rather than of safety and strength. And the greatest and most beneficent empire the world has ever seen would become a thing of the past. That is the tremendous realization that now dawns upon the British mind.

And the London Times, the most nearly official of any paper in England, says:–

Neither the Crimean War nor the Indian mutiny gave rise to greater dangers to the empire than that with which we are now menaced, nor at either of those critical periods was Great Britain so isolated politically or regarded with such dislike and suspicion as are now almost everywhere apparent.

Unless the calmness which impresses the foreign observer proceeds only from apathy or a want of sufficient imagination to realize the imminent danger to the whole fabric of our empire, the great efforts now urgently required will surely be made before it is too late to retrieve the situation.

We are fighting not merely for supremacy in South Africa, but for our position as a great power.

It is possible that the world may not be compelled to witness this awful cataclysm just yet; though the fact that the British press and publicists should so openly confess and discuss this as the only alternative shows that the danger is real. And it all shows, in a most impressive way, by how small and thin a thread even the mightiest of earthly dominions hangs. We know from the whole field of the prophecies of the word of God, that we are in the time when all earthly dominions shall go to pieces and be utterly wasted; and the people of God must be prepared for any such thing, in any case, at any time. The Christians of the Roman Empire in the fifth century saw the like in the ruin of that empire, the "mightiest monument of greatness built by human hands," and it was an awful thing to contemplate. Yet the Christians of these last times can only expect to see a more awful ruin than was even that at Rome. There is now perplexity of nations; and it is exceedingly doubtful whether there will ever be any less. And soon the sign of the Son of Man will appear. "Get ready, get ready, get ready."

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 2 , p. 32.

IN referring to heresy trials and the evils accompanying them, the Interior (Presbyterian) says: "Our ecclesiastical law was taken over bodily from the Roman Church. . . . We preserve in our forms of discipline precisely the attitude of the inquisitors who brought men to the stake, which assumes that those who differ with us in some theological matter are criminals. 'Are you guilty or not guilty?' If the accused is found to hold the views charged, the verdict is 'guilty.' This link ties us fast to a post which is too horrible to contemplate." This is all too true, as is clearly demonstrated in the career of John Calvin, who brought over bodily from Rome this system of ecclesiastical law. Then the Interior very properly declares, "Some better way of administering discipline must be found." Why not take the "better way" shown in the words of Christ? This way is as much better than that as Christ is better than Rome.

CARDINAL VAUGHAN, of England, sent to the Catholic Mirror "A New-year's Greeting to the American People," in which he says that "one can not fail to see that it may be in the providence of God to use the American Republic and the British Empire in furtherance of his designs of mercy and salvation for the human race;" and that "the Catholics of both countries have a distinguished and exalted mission. They are the leaven in the lump. I hope we shall ever remember this, and mold our thoughts and lives accordingly.

FOR some time there has been emphasized in the REVIEW AND HERALD the necessity of understanding the distinction between true divine healing and false divine healing. This necessity is illustrated in an advertisement of a professed "wonderful divine healer," that has been sent to us. He declares: "It does not make a bit of difference whether you believe in divine powers or not: Mr.–– cures unbelievers, skeptics, scoffers, infidels, atheists, and revilers." And being "healed," they can of course go on in their unbelief, skepticism, scoffing, infidelity, atheism, and reviling. It is perfectly plain that all the divinity that there can be about such healing as that, can be only satanic. And we have received an inquiry, "Can we trust him?" Would you trust a preacher who would preach forgiveness of sins to unbelievers, skeptics, scoffers, infidels, atheists, and revilers, without calling on them for any amendment of life?

THE "great" example and advocate of the "higher criticism," Prof. Charles A. Briggs, D. D., has said that "if the Roman Catholic will recognize the authority of the Bible, as he ought to; and Protestants will recognize the authority of the church, as they should, the two will find themselves so near together that they can shake hands." The truth is that the Catholic does now recognize the authority of the Bible precisely upon the principle represented by Dr. Briggs, only with the pope instead of Dr. Briggs as the grand representative of the principle. And Dr. Briggs is doing perhaps more than any other person to draw Protestants into accepting the authority of the church. And whoever follows his lead will very shortly find himself shaking hands with the Catholic Church. And on the popular tide of science, false to called, of which the higher criticism is but the logical outcome, professed Protestantism is fast approaching the point where she shall clasp the hand of the Roman power.

MORE than once last year in these columns we called attention to the great probability that the Catholic Church would push herself upon the United States in immense claims for "damages to church property" in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines. And now she has already begun it. And this is only the beginning, too. And when that is only the beginning, and only in Cuba, what will it be when she has finished for Cuba and the Philippines? In Cuba hardly any damage at all was done, while in the Philippines churches have been great damaged, if not actually destroyed. And since the Methodist Episcopal Church South got four hundred and eighty-four thousand dollars from the government for the occupancy of only one building belonging to that church, and not a church building, what will the Catholic Church be likely to get for the many buildings in payment for which she will enter claims, which are actually church buildings? The colonial career of the United States is a harvest of gold, as well as a golden harvest, for Rome.

January 16, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It in Spirit and in Truth?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 3 , p. 40.

ALL that is accomplished by this great threefold message is done in view of the fact that "the hour" of God's "judgment is come." Therefore the one great object of the Third Angel's Message is to prepare the world for the judgment: to prepare to stand in the judgment all who receive the message; and to ripen the world for the judgment in all who, by refusing the message which will prepare them to stand in the judgment, subject themselves to the judgment itself, in all its terror.

The word of the message itself is that "the hour of his judgment is come;" not that it will come, but that it "IS come." To every one, therefore, who receives this message, the judgment of God becomes an ever-present reality. All these stand always before the judgment seat, and put themselves voluntarily under all the tests of the judgment. This is so in the very nature of belief of the message; for when a message of God declares that "the hour of his judgment is come," what can such a message amount to in the belief of a person to whom it is not a present reality that "the hour of his judgment is come"? And when it is held by the believer that it is the truth that "the hour of his judgment is come," what can such a belief amount to if that person does not place himself in the very judgment itself, as a present thing, and does not willingly subject himself to all the searching realities of that judgment?

This is emphasized by the further fact that this message is to make ready a people prepared to meet the Lord when he comes in the clouds of heaven,–a people who will be alive on the earth when the Lord comes, and who will be translated without seeing death. And all those who will be ready must be "accounted worthy to escape" all the evils that come upon the earth, and "to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:36. They must be accounted worthy before that coming occurs, or else they will not be worthy at his coming, and, therefore, can not be saved by him at his coming. And in this counting of each person worthy, or otherwise, the decisive word is, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Rev. 22:11.

Thus, by the very nature of the decision of the judgment in the cases of these living ones, in the time of the message that "the hour of his judgment is come," it is evident that there is no long process of examination and of balancing of accounts one against another; but that it is simply the recognition of the condition of each person, according as that condition is by his own choice. Just what he is at the moment when the crisis of the decision in his case is reached, that he forever remains. If he is righteous, the judgment recognizes it, and pronounces the word, "Let him be righteous still." And this word is so pronounced at that moment simply because he was already what this says that he shall be "still." If he is unjust, then the word of the judgment is, "Let him be unjust still;" and this is so said simply because that is what he is at the moment, whether the judgment were pronounced or not; and the judgment, coming to his case just at that moment, finds it so, and recognizes it, and says, "Let him be unjust still."

And why should it not be thus? Here is a message of God proclaimed to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people, saying to all, "Fear God, and give glory to him," especially because "the hour of his judgment is come." On one hand, here are the people who have received the message. That message has in it all the divine power of the everlasting gospel fully to fit them for the judgment; and their very acceptance of the message is a confession that they recognize the fact that "the hour of his judgment is come," and that they are in this "hour." And if, in spite of this, any of them lives as if he were not in "the hour of his judgment," and so shall be unprepared for the blessed word to be pronounced, "Let him be righteous still," and is prepared for the awful word, "Let him be unjust still," surely none but himself can be in any wise to blame for that. The decision is as it is because of his disregard of the very thing that he professed to hold, and the very thing that had called him to the profession which he holds.

On the other hand, here is a message, proclaimed to all the world,–to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people,–saying, with a loud voice: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." And here are vast multitudes of people who refuse to believe that there is any truth in the statement that "the hour of his judgment is come." They, therefore, go on in their way, utterly regardless of the truth that they are in the presence of the judgment. Then, when the case of any individual among these is reached, and the word must be, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still," this also is simiply because of his own decision: the judgment pronounced is simply a recognition of the condition in which he is, and which he himself has fixed by his disregard of the message that would have altogether changed his condition, and fitted him for that other word, "He that is righteous, let him be righteous still."

A number of letters have been received at this Office, within the last few weeks, asking whether it is true that word had come by the Spirit of Prophecy that the judgment has already begun upon the living. As to that, we know of no word that has expressly said so. But why should any believer of the Third Angel's Message be asking any such question? Does not the very message itself–the message which he professes to believe–say to him plainly, as plainly as the Lord can speak, "The hour of his judgment is come"? Has not this message said the same thing to every Seventh-day Adventist from the day that he first heard it?

This being so, is it possible that any Seventh-day Adventist has not yet learned that "the hour of his judgment is come," when that very word is what he heard, and has professed to believe from the day he heard it? And if any professed believer of the Third Angel's Message does not believe this word of God, which, all this time, he has professed to believe, when it tells him that the hour of God's judgment is come, then would he believe it if the Lord should tell him again? Is it possible that any one has lived under a profession of belief of this message, even for a day, and yet has not placed himself in the presence of the judgment, and has not subjected himself to all the searching tests of the judgment? Is it possible that any one of these professing to believe the word that "the hour of his judgment is come," has not believed it at all, and has been acting all the time as he would not act if he did believe in reality that "the hour of his judgment is come"?

So far as concerns every believer of the Third Angel's Message, each individual has fixed it that, with himself, the judgment has begun upon the living; for he is alive, and has accepted a message from God which declares to him that the hour of God's judgment is come. Being alive, and having accepted such a message from God, by the very force of his profession, simply by the virtue of his belief, he enters alive, hourly, into the judgment. He lives in the presence of the judgment. He opens his life to all the searching tests of the judgment. And this being so with him, he will never have any inquiry to make as to whether any word has come that the judgment has begun upon the living.

There will be yet more on this; for this is the Third Angel's Message.

"The Millennium" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 3 , pp. 40, 41.

WE have found by the word of the Lord that the Millennium begins at the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the righteous; that at that time all the righteous are taken away from the earth, and all the wicked are slain upon the earth, and that thus the earth is left desolate; and that, as the righteous reign as kings and priests with Christ a thousand years before returning to the earth, and the wicked "lived not again until the thousand years were finished," the earth is left desolate during the Millennium.

This is abundantly confirmed by other scriptures and other considerations.

1. The Millennium is in "the day of the Lord." And the day of the Lord begins in connection with the second coming of the Lord; for the prophet Joel, in proclaiming and describing the coming of the Lord, the same coming that is described in Rev. 19:11-21, says: "The Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" Joel 2:11.

And, again, after declaring that the Lord of Hosts would rise up against Babylon and "cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew," "make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water," and "sweep it with the besom of destruction," he says: "This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" Isa. 14:22-27.

And Jeremiah says: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein." Jer. 4:23-29.

Accordingly, Joel proclaims the coming of this "day of the Lord," and describes it thus: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations." Joel 2:1, 2.

This clause, "as the morning spread upon the mountains," is very expressive. It is description of a dark and gloomy morning, in which fogs and mists rest upon the earth, in dismal weirdness, as if there were no atmosphere. And this is precisely the condition of things in the Millennium; for when the Lord comes, the atmospheric heaven departs "as a scroll when it is rolled together" (Rev. 6:14); it passes away "with a great noise." 2 Peter 3:20. And when the atmosphere shall have thus passed away, there is nothing left to cause the mists and fogs to float; and so they settle upon the earth, in dismal darkness and gloom, just as it was when first the world was spoken into existence. Before the atmosphere was created, "the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep;" even as described by Jeremiah in the day of the Lord: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light."

2. This desolation of the earth is further confirmed by the teaching concerning the sabbatic year

41

of the old dispensation. It is stated in 2 Chron. 36:21 that, by the people's being carried captive to Babylon, the land was left desolate, that she might enjoy her sabbaths. And the land lay desolate for seventy years, "until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill three-score and ten years." That is, Israel for four hundred and ninety years had failed to observe the sabbatic year in giving the whole land the rest that God had provided for it in that year, and now they have to go into captivity, and the land must lie desolate, until all the Sabbaths of which they had robbed the land in those four hundred and ninety years, which made seventy years, should be made up.

And in this all men are taught definitely by the word of the Lord that since the whole earth has been obliged to pass along for six thousand years without any rest at all, it having been robbed of all the sabbatical years in this whole time,–until the curse has "devoured the earth," and it is "utterly broken down" (see Isa. 24:4-6, 19, 20),–the whole earth–must lie desolate one thousand years, to make up the sabbaths of which the earth has been robbed in these six thousand years under the weight of the curse that has been heaped upon it by the sins of men.

Accordingly Isaiah says: "The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word." Isa. 24:3. And Zephaniah says, "I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. . . . Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests [Rev. 19:17, 18]. . . . The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness: . . . the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Zeph. 1:2-18.

And that is the Millennium, though there is even yet more to say upon it.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:16, 17" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 3 , p. 41.

"NOW to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect."

God's covenant with Abraham was not a covenant of law, but of promise: not of works, but of faith. This covenant, as we have seen, and as is even here said, was not only confirmed, but was even doubly confirmed, "in Christ," at the time of the making of the covenant. Then, since the covenant, even though a man's, once confirmed, can not be disannulled, neither can anything be added to it, it is perfectly plain that the law, which entered four hundred and thirty years afterward, was never intended to change the character of the covenant. The law did not enter in any sense to take the place of the promise. In the entering of the law there was never any purpose in the mind of God that the works of the law should take the place of righteousness by faith.

But just here was the great mistake that was made by Israel: they utterly mistook their own standing, and the meaning of what the Lord gave to them, and his purpose in the giving of all that came after that covenant was confirmed. If the covenant with Abraham had been held in faithfulness, nothing else would have ever been needed to enter. But, when the real truth and virtue of that covenant were not discerned, and men went further into unbelief and darkness, the Lord followed them, and employed means and gave instruction to bring them from unbelief and darkness to the faith, light, and blessing of the covenant that he had made.

For, "if man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt. They would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai, or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the ten commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.

"The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters, the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service."–"Patriarchs and Prophets," page 364.

The law entered in written form, ordinances were established, and all only because of their unbelief and transgression. None of these things were ever necessary to the covenant, nor were they parts of the covenant: the covenant was complete in itself when it was confirmed, and being confirmed, nothing could possibly be added to it.

Therefore nothing that ever came afterward was essential to the covenant. But because of their unbelief and transgression, these things were essential to them, to help them to the place where they could discern the truth, the light, and the purpose of the covenant; and where in faith they could enjoy all its blessings and its power. In other words, these things were all to help them to an enlightened faith–the true faith of the covenant–the faith of Christ. Accordingly, in another place, it is written: "The law entered that the offense might abound [to make sin appear "that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful"]. But, where sin abounded grace did much more abound, that, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." Thus the object of the entering of the law was to bring men to Jesus Christ. And the object of all that came in after the covenant was made and confirmed was to help them to a true knowledge of that covenant.

But instead of receiving all these things in this light, and using them for this purpose,–the purpose only of coming to the full faith of the covenant of Abraham,–Israel made the mistake of putting all these things in the place of the covenant, and using these, instead of God's covenant, as the way of salvation. Thus the law of God which, as we have seen, entered to give the knowledge of sin, and so impress the need of the Saviour provided in the covenant with Abraham, Israel turned into the way of salvation by their own endeavors to do the law.

The law of the Levitical priesthood, which was instituted to instruct them with respect to the true,–the Melchisedec, priesthood of the covenant with Abraham,–Israel turned from this purpose, and made it the final priesthood, and expected salvation and perfection by it. Heb. 7:11.

The earthly sanctuary and its services, which were given in connection with the Levitical priesthood, and which were given to instruct them concerning the true,–the heavenly sanctuary and its services, in which Christ was to be priest after the order of Melchisedec,–this Israel also perverted, and made it the final service, and expected salvation by this service. Ps. 110:4; Heb. 6:13-20; 7:9-22, 28; 8:1-5; 9:2-28; 10:1-17.

Thus they lost sight altogether of the covenant with Abraham,–the true way of salvation,–and all these things which were given to them in their unbelief and transgression to lead them to the light and to instruct them unto the covenant with Abraham and the true way of salvation, they put in the place of that. And this was only to put their own perverse views in the place of the truth of God; to pervert to the inventions of their own carnal minds, the sacred ordinances which the Lord had given to lead them to spiritual mindedness, it was only to make themselves their own saviors, it was to put themselves in the place of God.

But when these things which, in his love, God had given to help them to faith, were thus perverted to their own carnal views, all life was taken out of them, and they found in them no help whatever to righteousness. And, as in this way which they had gone, everything depended upon their own doing, this caused them to go yet further, and add to these things that God had given, that vast multitude of fine-spun distinctions, legal exactions, and pharisaic traditions, which was manifested in the ceremonialism of the Jews in the days when Jesus came, and which "the Pharisees which believed" thought to fasten upon Christianity, by which they confused the Galatians. And this it was which called forth from the Lord the epistle to the Galatians, to show to both Jews and Gentiles the truth of God's everlasting covenant and the true relation of the law, both moral and ceremonial, to that covenant. And this instruction is needed to-day just as well as then, or ever; because it is the bane of human nature to be ever ready to put its own views in the place of the truth of God; to put its own works in the place of the righteousness of God; to put ordinances and ceremonies in the place of faith; to put the inventions of the carnal mind in place of the work of God; to put self in the place of God.

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 3 , p. 48.

A BILL was introduced in the United States Senate Thursday, to become a law of the United States by act of Congress, providing that "when all insurrection against the authority and sovereignty of the United States in the Philippine Islands shall have been completely suppressed by the military and naval forces of the United States," then "all military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern the said islands shall, until otherwise provided by Congress, be vested in such persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the president of the United States shall direct, for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants and protecting the inhabitants of said islands in the full enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion." That is a proposition that the principle of absolute authority–one-man power–shall be definitely recognized by Congress and established by its act. An administration correspondent says of this, "It is a new and novel question in American politics;" and "the exceedingly lively interest" taken in it "is one of the signs of the times." Indeed, it is. It is one of the most remarkable of the signs of the times. Do you see what it is a sign of? As the approach of the Romans armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may "the repudiation of Protestant and republican principle be a sign to us." It would be impossible to repudiate republican principle more certainly than is steadily being done by this nation.

January 23, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 4 , p. 56.

THE Third Angel's Message–this great threefold message–is in every feature present truth. And when in its own words it is shown that this message is given in view of the fact that the hour of God's judgment "is come," then when the time comes for this message to be given, it will be only present truth thoroughly to believe that "the hour of his judgment is come" in truth.

Indeed, that this message were ever given at all would be evidence in itself that the hour of his judgment is come; for no message of God can ever be given before the time. Therefore whenever this message shall be found sounding to the world, it will be then true that the hour of God's judgment is come. And the word of the message that says so will be only the announcement of the fact that the hour of his judgment is come. And every one believing the message will believe that this is the fact: he will have to believe it, to be a believer of the message; because the very word of the message that he professes to believe says that this is so. And as certainly as he believes this, he will enter hourly into God's judgment, and will constantly hold himself subject to all the tests of that judgment.

That message is now due in the world. It is being given to the world. For years this has been so. Therefore for years it has been, and it now is, present truth that the hour of God's judgment is come. Thousands upon thousands of persons profess to believe that message. Thousands upon thousands have for years professed to believe that message. Therefore the principle is that this whole people of that message are entered hourly into God's judgment, and, as constantly as they live, do subject themselves to all the searching tests of that judgment. All these, therefore, know that as for themselves, each individually, the judgment has begun upon the living; for they are living. To them the message of God has come that "the hour of his judgment is come;" they have accepted that message, and accordingly have entered into that judgment, and so they live constantly in the presence of that awful fact. Consequently we say again that with these there is no room for any such question as to "whether the judgment has begun upon the living."

And if there be any who profess to believe this message, and yet are living as they would not live if they knew that the judgment had come, and would make a revolution in their lives if only they knew that the judgment had come upon the living, but would not make this revolution if they could be certain that the judgment had not come, then to what purpose to them could be a message, even if it were sent directly from heaven to them personally, that the judgment had begun upon the living? In such case, any change that would be sought or made, would have no virtue whatever; and these persons would be no more prepared for the decision of the judgment than if they had heard nothing about it; the only change that would be made in such a life would be altogether out of fear of the consequences, and not out of any love of righteousness. Therefore, in the nature of things, in such a case the world could not be, He is righteous, "let him be righteous still;" because he is not righteous: he has not love of righteousness in his heart. This is demonstrated by the fact that, under the very profession of this judgment-message, he lived without regard to the judgment; he indulged evil things in his life,–things which he knew could not pass the judgment,–and he continued to indulge them until the startling word came to him personally that the judgment was come to him. Then, all at once, and only that he may pass the judgment, and escape the consequences of the evil things that he has indulged in spite of righteousness, he sets forth to make a grand revolution in his life!

But no such thing as that will ever work in the judgment of God. Whoever will pass in righteousness the judgment of God, will do so only because he has "loved righteousness, and hated iniquity," whether the judgment was begun upon him or not. He loves righteousness because it is righteousness, and he hates iniquity because it is iniquity; and he will no more indulge iniquity in his life with the judgment a thousand years away than with the judgment only a minute away.

There is, therefore, no room whatever for any professed believer of the Third Angel's Message, for any Seventh-day Adventist, ever to ask whether the judgment has begun upon the living. Every true believer of the Third Angel's Message, every true Seventh-day Adventist, KNOWS, because the word of God says it, and has said it for years, that "the hour of his judgment is come." It is here: it is a present thing as certainly as the world is here. and, knowing this, every true Seventh-day Adventist lives accordingly: he puts himself alive into the judgment; he reins himself up hourly before the judgment seat; because "the hour of his judgment is come." To the true believer of the Third Angel's Message this is a fact: it is living truth.

And how shall he ever give this message to the world otherwise? Can he, with any force of truth at all, preach to another man that the hour of God's judgment "is come," when he himself does not believe at all that it "is come," but only that it will come? Who is there in the world that does not believe that God's judgment will come? But the Third Angel's Message is not that the judgment will come; but that the very time, the "hour, of his judgment IS COME."

Since this judgment, in its decision when pronounced, is but a recognition and declaration of a condition that already exists, and is, therefore, practically instantaneous, it follows that the means of preparation for this awful decision shall be such that it shall be able to effect that preparation also instantaneously. And precisely this provision is that which is offered by the Lord in this great, glorious Third Angel's Message; for it carries the "everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." And this everlasting gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." And those who are thus made righteous live righteously; because they "live by faith." This power of God is creative, and is, therefore, instantaneous in its action. And any soul loving and longing for righteousness, and hating and desiring to escape iniquity, who hears this message of the everlasting gospel, announcing that the hour of God's judgment is come, and enters into the judgment in this hour, can be by that everlasting gospel prepared for the judgment. And while he holds himself in the presence of the judgment, subject to all its searching tests, and holds fast this everlasting gospel,–its power to save, and the righteousness that it reveals,–he is ready for the crisis of that judgment at any moment in the "hour;" because, when comes the critical moment in which his name is reached, he is righteous by the "power of God" and by the righteousness of God, which that gospel has given to him; and most gladly will the Judge speak the joyous words, "Let him be righteous still."

This, so far, is what the Third Angel's Message is in spirit and in truth. And this is why it is that righteousness by faith "is the Third Angel's Message in verity." That message of God declares that "the hour of his judgment is come." Do you believe it?

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 4 , p. 56.

DON'T make any rules for yourself, then you will not be found making any for others.

"The Millennium" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 4 , pp. 56, 57.

WE have found, by many infallible proofs, that at the beginning of the Millennium, the earth is made utterly desolate, with "not a man" left to "dwell therein;" and so it remains during the Millennium, "until the thousand years are finished." And this is for a purpose: it is for a purpose even beyond that to which reference was made last week,–that it should lay desolate during the thousand years, to make up for the sabbaths, of which, through the six thousand years, the earth has been robbed by the curse.

This further purpose is shown also in one of the ceremonies of the Levitical priesthood. There, in the great day of atonement, two goats were presented before the Lord, upon which lots were cast, "one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat." Then the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell was offered in sacrifice, and his blood was used in the cleansing of the sanctuary and the making of the atonement for all Israel. And when the high priest had "made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar," then the live goat was brought, and the high priest laid "both his hands upon the head of the live goat," and confessed "over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat." And then the scapegoat was sent away alive "by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the goat" bore "upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited." See Lev. 16:5-22.

Now the word here translated "scapegoat" is a proper name–"Azazel." And so the Revised Version runs: "Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the Lord. . . . to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness."

Who, then, is Azazel?–Since one lot was for the Lord, and the other was for Azazel, it is plain that Azazel is a personality as really as is the Lord. And since only one lot was for the Lord,–the other being for Azazel,–it is also plain that Azazel is the opposite of the Lord. And as God is Spirit, and all this represents spiritual things, it follows that Azazel, being the opposite of the Lord, is a spirit personality, who is the opposite of the Lord. And, plainly, that is Satan.

In a note to the passage, the Polychrome Version describes Azazel as "an evil spirit, suppose to dwell in the wilderness." McClintock and Strong's Encyclopedia, says: "Ewald agrees with Gesenius, and speaks of Azazel as a demon belonging to the pre-Mosaic religion. Others have regarded him as an evil spirit, or the devil himself. In the Apocryphal book of Enoch, Azazel is among the chief spirits whose doctrine and influence the earth was corrupted. The same title among the Gnostics signified either Satan or some other demon, on which account Origen did not hesitate, in the passage of Leviticus in question, to understand the devil as meant.

"Among moderns this view has been copiously illustrated. The following are the arguments used in its support: (a) The contrast of terms ('to the Lord,' 'to Azazel') in the text naturally presumes a person to be intended, in opposition to, and contradistinction from, Jehovah; (b) the desert, wither the consecrated goat of Azazel was sent away, was accounted the peculiar abode of demons (Isa. 13:21; 34:13, 14; Matt. 12:43; Rev. 18:2); (c) this interpretation may be confirmed by the early derivation of the word, signifying either strength of God, if referred to a once good, but now fallen, angel; or powerful against God, as applied to a malignant demon. Hengstenberg affirms, with great confidence that Azazel can not possibly be anything but another name for Satan."

That service of the high priest in the earthly sanctuary was representative of the service of Christ our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary. Hebrews 9. When our great High Priest shall have blotted out all the sins of his people in all ages, and shall have cleansed the heavenly sanctuary from all their transgressions in all their sins, then shall be

57

brought Azazel indeed, Satan, the originator of all sin and by our High Priest there shall be laid upon him all the iniquities of all the people in all their sins, putting them upon the head of Azazel. Then shall come the great and mighty angel of Rev. 20:1, having "a great chain in his hand," and shall lay hold on Azazel, "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan," and shall bind him, and shall cast him into the wasted and desolate earth, and shall shut him up, and set a seal upon him, for a thousand years. And thus Azazel "shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited." Read Lev. 16:15-22; Rev. 20:1-3; Isa. 14:22-27; Jer. 4:23-27.

And this is the great purpose of the desolation of this earth at the coming of the Lord and through the thousand years. This earth at that time will be the only "land not inhabited" that Satan has had anything to do with. And that this desolated earth is certainly the very "land no inhabited" into which Azazel, the real scapegoat, is led, is made plain by the fact that the word translated "bottomless pit" in Rev. 20:1-3 is the identical word which, in the Septuagint, in Gen. 1:1, is translated "the deep," and which refers to this earth in its waste, void, dark, and desolate condition, as its first existed.

The Revised Version translates the word in Rev. 20:1-3 by the term "abyss." Jeremiah's description of the earth in this time makes the connection between Rev. 20:1-3 and Gen. 1:1; for, in describing the earth in the thousand years, Jeremiah uses almost the very words of Gen. 1:1. Read: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had not light." The word in Genesis is "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." And Revelation 20, using, with reference to the earth in that time, the very word that is used by the Septuagint in Gen. 1:1, not only settles the fact that this earth during the thousand years is in a condition of darkness, wasteness, and desolation comparable to that "in the beginning," but also settles the fact that it is in this waste and desolated earth that Satan is confined during the thousand years, and that this is "an land not inhabited," and this is the real Azazel led into it, which were typified in the ceremonies of the earthly sanctuary and priesthood.

And this is the Millennium upon the earth.

"Abraham Did Pass Through" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 4 , p. 57.

THAT statement was wrong that I made two weeks ago in connection with God's covenant with Abraham, in saying that "only God passed through" between the parts of the sacrifices offered by Abraham. Abraham also passed through.

This fact, however, is not stated in Genesis. It is given in Jer. 34:18: "I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, where they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts of the calf."

This was spoken to the people in the days of Zedekiah; and the only way in which it was possible for them to have passed "between the parts of the calf" was in the fact of Abraham's having passed through; just as in Heb. 7:9, 10, it is said that Levi, "who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham." I have many a time used Jer. 34:18 to show that the people in the days of Zedekiah were included in God's covenant with Abraham: I do not know how it slipped my mind in the article of two weeks ago, unless it was that my mind was just then absorbed in discovering and describing what God had put into that blessed covenant.

This is the more singular, too, from the fact that many a time I have read, even in the galley-proofs, the words in "Patriarchs and Prophets," to which a brother in Illinois has just now called my attention, that, when Abraham had arranged the sacrifices according to the divine direction, "This being done, he reverently passed between the parts of the sacrifice, making a solemn vow to God of perpetual obedience;" and "as a pledge of this covenant of God with men, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, symbols of the divine presence, passed between the severed victims, totally consuming them."–Page 137.

Since writing that article, I have found the following account of an incident in the journey of General Grant around the world, which more fully, and in great beauty, illustrates the meaning of the "passing between the pieces." The General Wassef Khayat, at Assiout, in Egypt; and the account says: "When General Grant alighted at the consul's house, he was detained from entering until a beef, beautifully garlanded with flowers, had been brought out. It was killed, and cut into two pieces, which were laid on either side of the doorway. Then the consul invited General Grant to enter his home with him. They stepped over the blood on the threshold, and between the pieces. By this act they entered into the most solemn covenant known to the Oriental,–the blood covenant,–and thus became 'blood brothers,' a relation which outranks every other relation in life. One blood brother can not ask anything that the other will refuse."

These things show that Abraham "passed between the pieces;" that when he did so, all his children also passed between them; and that since we, being Christ's, are Abraham's seed, WE PASSED BETWEEN THE PIECES, and thus became "blood brothers" with the Lord; that we can not ask of him anything that he will refuse, and that he can not ask anything of us that we will refuse. John 14:13, 14; 15:7, 16.
ALONZO T. JONES.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:16, 17" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 4 , pp. 57, 58.

"NOW to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God, in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect."

We have seen that Israel made the mistake of putting in the place of God's covenant the things which the Lord gave to them to aid them in arriving at the full light and blessing of the covenant. There is another great mistake that Israel made, and the same mistake is made to-day by thousands of persons concerning Israel; and that is that the things which God gave to them were for them alone, not for the people of the world in general.

Israel, thinking thus, naturally shut herself away from the nations, and made all these things specially her own. Thus she separated herself from all the nations, and held herself aloof from, and above, the nations, as being holier than they, and because of this special holiness, as more highly regarded by God than were the other nations. Yet this whole conception of things was an utter mistake, and was a perversion of the intent of the things that God had given.

Everything that the Lord gave to Israel was for the benefit of the whole world. Israel was to be the missionary people who should extend to all nations the light and blessing given to her, in order that all nations might enjoy the light and blessing of God, as revealed in the Abrahamic covenant, to the full knowledge of which all these things that were given were to lead Israel, and all people.

We again set down here, for study, the passage from "Patriarch and Prophets," which was quoted in last week's article:–

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there could have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt. They would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai, or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the ten commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.

The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters, the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service."–"Patriarchs and Prophets," page 364.

It was the apostasy of mankind in general that was the cause of God's calling Abraham, and setting him as a light to the nations. It was the unfaithfulness of the descendants of Abraham that caused them "to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt." In Egypt, amid its darkness of every sort, the ideas that they had received in descent from Abraham were more and more obscured until they were practically lost. And thus "in their bondage the people had, to a great extent, lost their knowledge of God, and of the principles of the Abrahamic covenant."

As they had thus lost the law of God from their minds, all this must be renewed. But, having no true conception of the law of God as in the Abrahamic covenant, this had to be taught them. Therefore God proclaimed his law with his own voice to all the people, then gave it in written form, that they might under his guidance, discern its deep, spiritual principles. And that this might the better be done in their obscurity of mind, the principles of the ten commandments were drawn out in detail, in the writings of Moses, which the people had in their hands, and which they were to study constantly until these words of God and these holy principles should be engraved upon their hearts, imbedded in their souls and written in their minds; that is, until they had attained to the glory of the covenant with Abraham.

Now, since all this was necessary to Israel because of her unfaithfulness and the confusion of Egypt, it is certainly plain enough that all these things were necessary to the people of Egypt and the other nations that were in darkness, as she was, that these might find the knowledge of God and his salvation. Then, in the very nature of things, all these things, and all this teaching that came to Israel to bring them to the light of God, were intended by the Lord to be passed on by Israel to the other nations, that these also might be brought to where they should walk in the light of God.

Thus it is perfectly plain that the law of God in all its forms–as spoken from heaven, as written on the tables, and as drawn out in detail in the writings of Moses–was just as much for the nations of the world as it was for the people of Israel. And both Israel and the nations made the mistake of thinking that it was only for Israel,–Israel thinking so, and confining it to herself, and shutting it away from the nations; and the nations thinking so, and therefore despising it. And the nations were, indeed, helped in their mistake by the attitude that was assumed by Israel in her mistake. For when, in her self-righteousness, Israel shut herself away from the nations, despising them, this only resulted in the nations seeing her as shut away from them in self-righteousness, and despising them, and consequently, further resulted in their despising her, and all that was given to her for their benefit. And that same thing continues to this day concerning those things in the Bible which were given to Israel for all the nations.

This is true, not alone of the moral law, but of the ceremonial law–the sacrificial system–as well. Before Adam left Eden, the sacrificial system was instituted. By Noah it was observed. Thus the sacrificial system pertained to all mankind; it was simply the means of expressing faith in God's sacrifice, which he had made to save man from sin. As God has given the firstling of his flock, the best that he had, so every soul who accepted that gift of God, and would show his faith therein, would, in very gratitude to God, offer the firstling of his flock, the best of all that he had. That was true faith in God, and in the Lamb that he had given. "By faith Abel offered unto God" his sacrifice, "the firstlings of his flock," "by which he obtained witness that he was righteous." Thus Abel's righteousness was true righteousness by faith. And that was the way for all mankind.

But as the nations apostatized, and came more and more under the darkening influence of Satan,

58

they began to look upon God as, like themselves, a stern, forbidding, exacting judge, who was angry with them, and waiting only for the opportunity to punish them for their evil doing. Therefore they thought they must offer sacrifices to appease him, and the more precious and costly the sacrifice, the more favor they should gain, and so they were led to sacrifice their own sons and daughters. Thus the sacrificial system, which God had given to Adam, and which was observed by Noah, and which was included in the covenant with Abraham, was altogether perverted and lost sight of in this apostasy of the nations. And the descendants of Abraham, in their unfaithfulness, through their association with the nations, and amid the darkness of Egypt, also lost sight of the true, the simple, and the significant service that God had given to Adam, and had continued with Abraham. Accordingly, when they came out of Egypt, the Lord renewed to Israel the sacrificial system, with definite instruction in it, that they might, according to his own direction, offer his sacrifices in purity, and according to truth; that they might see in these the true meaning that God put there at the beginning, which was the sacrifice that he had made,–the offering of his only begotten Son,–the firstling of his flock,–the best of all that he had.

Thus it is plain that the sacrificial system that was given to Israel was for the enlightenment and instruction of all the people of the world as certainly as it was for Israel; because it was Israel's likeness to all the other nations in their darkness that made it necessary that this should be given to them.

God has no favorites, and never had any. All that he ever had is free to all people. All that he ever gave to anybody is free to all others, and he gives to any only that they may pass it on to all others. And those who receive, and do not pass it on to all others, but confine it to themselves, lose that which God has in truth given, and can cling only to the empty form of the truth, absolutely dry and barren.

This principle is present truth to-day, to the people of the Third Angel's Message. There is positive danger, and there has been for years, that these shall repeat the history of the Jews.

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 4 , p. 64.

LAST week in the United States Senate, in a speech that has been accepted as expressing the intent of the nation, it was declared that if the late and present course of the United States in the farthest East "be imperialism, its final end will be the empire of the Son of God;" and that "the American people move forward to the future of their hope, and the doing of His will." Thus the evil seeds of National Reform that have been sown in these thirty-five years are springing up now everywhere, and soon will be producing their baleful fruit everywhere.

January 30, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 5 , p. 72.

THE hour of God's judgment is come. This is the basic fact of the great threefold message, which forms the complete Third Angel's Message.

The Third Angel's Message is therefore the judgment message. This has been already shown to some extent, and will be seen more and more as we advance in the study of the message.

This message is to prepare for the judgment all who will be prepared for that crisis of human destiny. Accordingly all who accept this message will enter into the judgment, they will subject themselves to all the tests of the judgment.

They will open the whole life to Him who is the Judge; for "God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:14. And because God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, all people are exhorted to "fear God, and keep his commandments." Verse 13.

This word in Ecclesiastes is complemented and emphasized in the word of this great threefold message, in which the everlasting gospel is preached to them that dwell on the earth,–to every nation and kindred and tongue and people,–saying, with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. . . . Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

They that have sinned in the law, that is, with a knowledge of the law of God, "shall be judged by the law; in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." And since now the "hour of his judgment is come," and since all to whom this message comes will be judged by the law of God, it is certain that all who accept the message will set their whole lives in the light of that law, that every secret thing that is out of harmony with that holy law may be searched out and put away.

For that law does reach the most secret things, the very thoughts and intents of the heart. "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matt. 5:21, 22.

Therefore with all who accept this message in sincerity, the prayer will constantly be, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Ps. 139:23, 24. Every one who prays thus, every one who thus opens the life to God, and invites him in to search and see if there be any wicked way there,–every such one will be prepared for the crisis of the judgment whenever it may come. For then God will search the heart and purify the life, and make it all that it must be to be holy before God. And every one who does this will be led by the Lord in the way everlasting.

And why should it ever be otherwise? And of all times, now, in the hour of his judgment, why should it ever be otherwise? For does not God see all the life anyhow? Are not all things "naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do"? Can anything be hidden from him? Are not our secret sins set in the light of his countenance? Ps. 90:8. Has he not searched us and known us? Does he not know our very thought "afar off," long before we think it?

Since all this is true every moment of every life anyhow, what kind of person must he be who will pass along day after day and year after year as if it were not so at all? And since it is all true every moment of every life, and since we are now in the time when it is especially true in the fact that the hour of his judgment is come, what kind of person would he be who would professedly accept this message that the hour of His judgment is come, and then would pass along a single day as if it were not so?

No, no; no such thing as that can ever be, with the people of this judgment message. It comes to them as the judgment message, they accept it as the judgment message, and accordingly they enter hourly into the judgment. Since he has set our secret sins in the light of his countenance, we ourselves will set our secret sins in the light of his countenance. Since he has searched us and known us, we will hourly say unto him, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me." Since all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do, we ourselves will constantly hold all things naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Then God will occupy all the life, and will cleanse and purify it by his own presence, making it a fit habitation for himself to dwell in. Then he will clothe us with the garments of his own salvation, and will put upon us the robe of his own righteousness. And then, when the crisis in the judgment as to each individual comes, with Christ thus presenting us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, the glad work will thrill each soul. He "is righteous, let hi be righteous still." He "is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

Thank the Lord for such a precious message of faithful warning. Praise God for such a glorious message of justification, sanctification, and redemption.

"The Millennium" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 5 , pp. 72, 73.

WE have seen that at the coming of the Lord all the righteous dead are raised, and all the righteous living are translated; and all, "together," are caught away from the earth to meet the Lord: that all the wicked are slain upon the earth by "the brightness of his coming" and the terrors of that great day. We have seen that thus the earth is made desolate; and in this "land not inhabited," Satan,–Azazel,–the antitype of the scapegoat, is cast out for the thousand years. This is the Millennium on the earth.

But what of the righteous? What is their Millennium? Where are they during this thousand years? As already stated, at the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the righteous, which is the beginning of the thousand years, all the righteous are caught away from the earth, even as saith the scripture: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

Now, what next becomes of these? In his resurrection from the dead, Christ was "the first fruits of them that slept." 1 Cor. 15:20. In connection with his resurrection also "many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Matt. 27:50-53. This "multitude of captives" Jesus led when he ascended up on high. Eph. 4:8, margin. In this resurrection of the saints he "spoiled" the "principalities and powers" that were at enmity with God. And when he led these saints "up on high," this was his triumph over these principalities and powers. Col. 2:15.

This resurrection of Christ and the saints was the antitype of the wave offering of "the first fruits" of the harvest, which, annually, on the sixteenth day of the first month, was waved before the Lord. Lev. 23:10-12. That wave sheaf of the first fruits offered to the Lord was a sample of the whole harvest. Accordingly, Christ and these saints rising fro the dead, "the first fruits of them that slept," as the antitype of that wave sheaf of the first fruits in the Levitical law, were a sample of the whole harvest of saints that should be gathered from all the earth, in all ages. As with these, so with all the others. And as these ascended up on high with Christ when he ascended, so will all the other saints from this world ascend up on high with Christ when he ascends again.

Those who ascended to heaven with Jesus in triumph, after his resurrection, were seen by John in heaven. "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests." Rev. 5:9, 10.

Accordingly of all that shall be redeemed when Jesus comes the second time, and who ascend with him at the beginning of the thousand years, it is written: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." Rev. 20:4-6.

To this also witnesses the word in Daniel: "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Dan. 7:21, 22.

"Judgment was given unto them." What judgment is this? Bear in mind that the wicked are, at this time, in the thousand years, all dead. They have not been judged; their judgment is yet to come; for they "lived not again until the thousand years were finished." It is true that, by their being wicked, and having been found wicked at the coming of the Lord, this settles it that they can not be saved; but that does not settle all the questions of the judgment as to them. Every man is to receive according to the things done in his body, "whether. . . good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:10. Every man is to be judged according to his works. Rev. 20:12, 13. And since God is not an arbitrary governor or judge, but governs only with the consent of the governed, the judgment that shall come upon each of the wicked must be such, and so well understood, that all, even the wicked themselves, will acknowledge the perfect justice of it. Therefore the Lord, the righteous Judge, takes into his counsels concerning the final judgment all these who have been redeemed from the earth, who have been men among these other men who can not be saved, who know all the circumstances among which these men lived, sinned, and rejected salvation. The Lord Jesus himself came to this world and became a man, and lived thus among men, in order that he might be a righteous judge of those who must be lost, as well as a faithful high priest of all who shall be saved.

And so it is written that not only the judgment is given to the saints, but: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how muct more things that pertain to this life?" 1 Cor. 6:2, 3.

This is true, because the angels that sinned, as well as wicked men, are reserved unto judgment. 2 Peter 2:4, 9; Jude 6-8. And this judgment is given to the saints at the coming of the Lord; for it is written, "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." 1 Cor. 4:5.

73

Thus, in the case of the righteous, the Millennium is in heaven. By the righteous the Millennium is spent in the presence of God, in company with Christ, in association with all the gladsome, heavenly host. They are priests of God and of Christ, and reign with him a thousand years.

Thank the Lord. Who will not enjoy this blessed Millennium? All its blessings, its glory, and its joy are for all. And in the Third Angel's Message the preparatory, gathering call of this grand Millennium is now sounding to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. Listen to the call. Accept the invitation. Get ready, get ready, get ready.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:18" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 5 , p. 73.

"FOR if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise."

The Greek words are "ik nomos" "of law," not "ik tou nomos" "of the law," signifying law in general rather than any particular law. Thus the inheritance, exactly as justification, is received altogether by faith, and not at all by the works or deeds of any law.

It can not possibly be otherwise, because the inheritance is the first and grand object in the call of Abraham. For, first of all, God said to Abram: "Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." Gen. 12:1. And in this "he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance;" and when so called he "obeyed, and he went out not knowing whither he went." Heb. 11:8.

And since this inheritance is altogether in the world to come, and includes the whole world to come, it is absolutely impossible for any one ever to obtain it by works. It was and is impossible for Abraham or any other man ever to work enough to earn it; and so, since the inheritance is so utterly beyond all possible reach of the works of any man, in the nature of things it must come only as the gift of God, and can be received by men only by faith, altogether as the gift of God.

And since the inheritance is the one great object in the call of Abraham, everything else that came from God to Abraham was only contributory to this great object; it was only to fit Abraham to enter upon and enjoy in all its fullness that wondrous inheritance which is the original and settled object of the call to him.

For instance, God said to Abraham: "I will bless thee." This blessing is essential to entering upon the inheritance; for no one who is under the curse can possibly have any part in the inheritance. Therefore, to be relieved from the curse, and to be put under the blessing, of God, is an essential to any one's ever having any part in the inheritance. And this blessing upon Abraham, relieving him from the curse, and preparing him for the inheritance, was to be extended, through him, to all the families of the earth, that these also might be relieved of the curse and receive the blessing, and thus have a part in the grand inheritance.

Again, we have found that in the covenant with Abraham there was sacrifice and a priesthood–the Melchisedec priesthood. This also was essential to the entering upon the inheritance, because "all have sinned," and "without shedding of blood is no remission." Therefore every one who will enter upon that grand inheritance must be absolutely cleansed and purified from all sin. But this can be done only by that great sacrifice which God made in the gift of his Son, and by the ministration of that priest and priesthood of Christ unto which he was ordained by God alone, "after the order of Melchisedec." Thus the sacrifice and service of the priesthood are also essential in behalf of every soul who shall enter into that inheritance, and are essential in order that he may enter into that inheritance.

Righteousness is essential to the entering upon that inheritance. It is an eternal inheritance; the righteousness, which alone can fit anyone to enter upon the inheritance, must be eternal righteousness. But the only righteousness that is eternal is the righteousness of God. To this no man can possibly attain by works, or anything that he can do. It is only the righteousness of God, and it can come to man only as the free gift of God, and can be received by man only by faith.

Again, as this inheritance is an eternal inheritance, whosoever enters upon it must have eternal life in order to possess it. But all have sinned and "the wages of sin is death." How then can these who are subject only to death ever obtain eternal life by any works that they can do?–It simply can not be done. This life, therefore, being eternal life, must come from him who is eternal–the only source of eternal life, which is God. It can, therefore, come to men in no conceivable way except as the gift of God, and can be received only by faith. And since only in the way of righteousness is life, only in the way of eternal righteousness can be eternal life. And these both being essential to entering upon the inheritance, every soul who will ever enter upon that inheritance must have these. And they can come only as the gift of God, received only by faith.

Thus the inheritance being the great and original object of the call of Abraham; that inheritance being altogether the gift of God; and it being impossible for man ever to have obtained it otherwise, it follows that everything that can help man unto that inheritance, and fit him for the inheritance, must also be altogether from God, as the gift of God, received by men only by faith. And since the blessing of God, the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, eternal righteousness, and eternal life, are the essentials to receiving the inheritance; and since all these are utterly beyond any possible reach of man by anything that he can do, it follows that these all, in the nature of things, come as the gift of God, and are obtained by men only by faith in God.

And, thank the Lord, he has given all these.

He has given the blessing; for it written: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ;" and "sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

He has given his only begotten Son, the "Lamb of God, which priest, who "ever liveth to make intercession" for us.

He has given his righteousness, the free gift of God "unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference." To every creature he has sent his gospel, wherein is "the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith."

He has given eternal life; for it is written: "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11, 12. And the Son of God says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24.

Therefore the inheritance can not possibly be of law,–of any kind of law, nor of all kinds of law,–"for if the inheritance be of law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. And everything that God ever gave or ordained after this promise, is, in the nature of things, contributory to the promise. And whoever would use anything God ever gave after the promise, at any time or in any way, without, in such use, holding the promise in view, frustrates every purpose of God in the giving of those things.

Therefore even though it had been a man's covenant, yet, once confirmed, no man could disannul it nor add thereto. Much more, being God's covenant, and being even doubly confirmed, it could not possibly be disannuled, neither could anything be added thereto. And since "to Abraham and his seed were the promises made," and that seed "is Christ;" and since that covenant "was confirmed before of God in Christ, anything that came afterward can not take the place of the covenant, neither can it be added to the covenant.

February 6, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6 , p. 88.

[This is the reprint of the first article on The Third Angel's Message, to supply new subscribers.]

THE expression "the Third Angel's Message" has reference to the message borne by the third in a series of three angels, each one bearing a message, in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. The messages of these three angels blend and culminate in the third, which does not cease to sound until the harvest of the earth is ripe, and made ready for the coming of the Lord to reap it.

The Third Angel's Message itself, as it is announced in the words of the third angel, separated from the other two, is as follows: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

This is the Third Angel's Message, as it would stand separated from the other two. But, in fact, it can not be regarded as separate, and can not be made to stand apart as if it alone were a single, separate message to the world; for the very first words concerning it are: "The third angel followed THEM." Thus, by the very first words of the message itself we are referred not only to the one, but to the two which preceded it. And the Greek word translated "followed" signifies not following apart, nor only following, but "following with," as soldiers follow their captain, or servants their master; therefore, "to follow one in a thing; to let one's self be led." When spoken of things, it signifies to follow as a result; to follow "as a consequence of something which had gone before." Thus, as to persons, the third angel follows with the two which have preceded; and his message, as a thing, follows as a result, or consequence, of the two which have gone before.

Of the second one also it is written: "And there followed another angel." As with the third angel following him, so it is with the second angel following the first. And of the first one it is written: "And I saw another angel fly," etc. This is the first in this series of three. There follows with him another; and the third angel follows with them. There is a succession in the order of their rise; but, when the three have in succession risen, then they go on together as one. The first one sounds forth his message; the second one follows and joins with the first; the third follows them, and joins with them; so that, when the three are joined, and go on together in their united power, they form a mighty threefold, loud-voiced message. It takes all to make the Third Angel's Message complete; and the Third Angel's message can not be truly given without the giving of all.

What, then, is the threefold message in its respective parts?–Here is the first: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

Here is the second: "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."

And here is the third: ""And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

A glance at the wording of each of these messages will discover that thought in the Greek word "followed, which signifies "following as a consequence." The first bears the everlasting gospel, to preach to every creature, calling upon all to fear God and give glory to him, and to worship him, because the hour of his judgment is come. The rejection of this message produces a condition of things which is described as the consequence of such rejection, in the words of the second angel, which followed. And, because of the rejection of the first message, and because of the consequences of that rejection, as announced in the second, a condition of things is produced as a further consequence, which requires that the third angel shall follow them, proclaiming with a loud voice his dreadful warning against the terrible evils that have been produced as the double consequence of the rejecting of the first message.

And that the voice and work of the third angel blend with that of the first, is plain from his closing words: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;" because this is ever the object of the preaching of the everlasting gospel. It is the substance of fearing God and giving glory to him, and or worshiping "him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." And the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus is the only thing that will enable any soul to stand in the hour of his judgment, which the first angel declares "is come."

Immediately following the closing words of the third angel is "heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the death which die in the Lord from henceforth"–from this time forward; and immediately following this, are the words: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."

And Jesus himself said, "The harvest is the end of the world."

Again: the third angel particularly warns all people against the worship of the beast and his image, whatever these may be; and, from Rev. 19:11-21, we find that the beast and his image are "alive" when the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven, and are "both" destroyed with the brightness of his coming.

These facts show that the Third Angel's Message is a mighty, threefold, loud-voiced message, which goes forth to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people, just before the coming of the Lord; which ripens the harvest of the earth; and which makes a people prepared for the Lord. And so, it is the last, the closing, message of God to the world.

Such, in a word, in form, in arrangement, is the Third Angel's Message.

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It as to Babylon?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6 , p. 88.

"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." Rev. 14:8.

As we have before remarked, this word "followed" signifies not to follow alone one who has gone on before, but to arise and accompany one who is already on his way, and thus really, "to follow with," or "to go with." A good illustration of the thought is found in 1 Corinthians 10, where, speaking concerning Israel in the wilderness, it says: "They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them ["went with them," margin]: and that Rock was Christ."

Thus the angel of the everlasting gospel goes forth proclaiming that gospel to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Afterward the angel with the announcement concerning Babylon joins the first angel, and goes with him.

The word "Babylon," with the idea conveyed by it, is from "Babel." And the word "Babel" comes to us from the tower described in Genesis 11. And from the confusion of tongues created there, on account of the tower, the word now signifies "confusion."

But this was not the original meaning of the word "Babel." This was the name of the city and the tower when the people began to build it, before their language was confused, and therefore before their language was confused, and therefore before the word signified "confusion."

It is written that the people said one to another: "Let us build us a city and a tower." And the name which they then gave to the city was "Babel."

At that time the meaning of the word "Babel"–its original meaning–was "Gate of God." Accordingly, they said: "Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven."

But, because of their pride and self-exaltation, their whole enterprise was turned so utterly into confusion that the word "Babel" lost its original meaning of "Gate of God," and bore only the meaning of "confusion." And thus, that which originally meant the "Gate of God" became only the symbol of "confusion."

And this original meaning of "Babel"–"Gate of God"–with its new meaning of "confusion," carries a lesson all the way through the whole subject of Babylon. It has its lessons now, in the phase of the Third Angel's Message which speaks of Babylon and her fall.

Accordingly, next week we shall notice how that which, in the Christian dispensation, originally was the "gate of God" became "confusion,"–"Babylon the great, the mother."

"The Millennium" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6 , pp. 88, 89.

"AND when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." Rev. 20:7. This, because, the thousand years being finished, "the rest of the dead lived," and this releases him. It was the taking away of all people from the earth, by the resurrection and translation of the righteous, and the slaying of all the wicked, at the beginning of the thousand years, which put a bond upon Satan, in that he is left utterly without resource. There is thus none upon whom he can exercise any of his wiles or faculties in any way whatever. And being confined to this earth in its utterly wasted, desolate, broken-down, dark, and dismal condition, it is a horrible and gloomy prison, indeed.

But when the thousand years are expired, and the rest of the dead all live, in the resurrection of the unjust,–the second resurrection,–then Satan is loosed. Now he has something to do: now he has subjects upon whom he can work: now he can be active once more in all his satanic ingenuity.

Accordingly it is written of him that immediately when he is loosed, he goes "out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Rev. 20:8. And this battle, into which, by his deception, he leads this multitude to engage, is a bat-

89

tle against the camp of the saints and the beloved city, for "they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city."

They are enabled to do this because, in Zechariah 14, it is declared that when the Lord Jesus comes, at the end of the thousand years, "his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley. . . . and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." Verses 4, 5. Thus the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, the camp of the saints, is brought down upon the earth at his coming to the judgment of the wicked. And this is how it is that Satan can gather all the nations of the wicked, who have then been raised from the dead, against this camp of the saints and the beloved city.

And how easy it will be for him to deceive them all in this, however much he has deceived them before! What a vast multitudes of the wicked dead of the ages have died in battle! And even when Jesus comes to gather to him his saints at the beginning of the thousand years, the kings of the earth and their armies are gathered together to make war against him that sits "upon the horse," and his army, and, in this warlike mind and spirit, they are slain by the brightness of his coming. And now, when all these awake from the dead, it is to them just as if they had awaked in the midst of the battle and turmoil in which they went down. It is, indeed, in their minds, almost a continuation of the scenes in which they perished in the beginning. And now Satan and his armies are there, with his spirit reigning supreme, to seize their minds in this crisis and in this spirit of war, and to draw them up to battle against the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And so "they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city."

And thus, and at that time, the Son of man sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him are "gathered all nations," and they are separated one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: the sheep–the righteous–are at "his right hand," in the city, and the goats–the wicked–are at "his left hand," outside the city. Matt. 25:31-33.

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell ["the grave," margin] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." Rev. 20:11-13.

These are all the wicked dead; for the righteous dead all lived a thousand years before. And mark: these are judged out of the things "written in the books;" not out of the things written in the book. These books are the records of their lives. The book of life is there as the witness that they might have had their places in that book, and so might have had all the records in "the books" blotted out, and they have lived at the beginning of the thousand years, and be reigning now with Christ. But they would not have their place in "the book of life," and so they must now meet the record in "the books," exactly as that record is, "according to their works."

And now all the books are opened; and every soul of that vast throne, as it stands compassed about "the camp of the saints and the beloved city," sees his life exactly as it was lived. He sees all the blessedness and the joy that he might have had. He sees "the book of life," in which he might have had his name. But, alas! it is too late. They are judged out of those things written in the books, "according to their works."

"There all flesh is at once in the sight of the Lord,
And the doom of eternity hangs on his word."

And every soul of them, seeing all this, and, in the light of the judgment of the just Judge,–seeing that it is all just, every knee bows to Christ, and every tongue confesses to God that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:11. Thus, all they "that go down to the dust shall bow before him;" yet, as each one has chosen his way in spite of all that the Lord could possibly do, now "none can keep alive his own soul." Ps. 22:29. Then to those on his left hand the awful word goes forth, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." "And these go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matt. 25:41, 46.

"It is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch." "The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." "And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire." "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." And "the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

"O mercy! O mercy! look down from above,
Great Creator, on us, thy sad children, in love;
When beneath to their darkness the wicked are Driven,
May we find a reward and a mansion in heaven."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:19" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6 , p. 89.

IT will be noticed that the word "serveth" is a supplied word. It really adds nothing to the sense. The question stands just as strong and just as plain to read. "Wherefore then the law?" Another translation is, "Why then the law?"

This was the ready argument of "the Pharisees which believed," against all the gospel which was presented by Paul. And this, because the gospel presented justification by faith of Christ, and not by works of law. And wherever this was presented, "the Pharisees which believed," who had no conception of justification in any other way than by works of law, raised this inquiry, "Wherefore then the law?" "What is the use of the law?" In their estimation, this objecting question was a sufficient refutation of all that might ever be said as to justification by faith, without any deeds of any law.

And, indeed, this same argument, in this same superior, self-assertive way, is used for this same purpose by "the Pharisees which believe" to-day. Let the claims of the law of God, precisely as God wrote it, be presented to-day in any part of this whole land, or even in any other land, and immediately professed ministers of the gospel will arise, all bristling with objections, and will oppose every claim of the law of God upon them, because it "never could justify anybody." They will single out, and search out, every expression they can find in the Scriptures, such as, "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified;" and, "Whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace," etc.; and with strong voice will ring forth and then vigorously demand, "What is the use of such a law? What is it good for? It can not justify anybody."

The scene here described is perfectly familiar to thousands upon thousands of the readers of the REVIEW AND HERALD, and especially to the preachers of the gospel, in the Third Angel's Message, which calls all people to the keeping of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

It is worthy of notice, however, that in the ancient days this objection was never raised by the Gentiles, but only by "the Pharisees which believed:" never by the plain, simple sinner, who knew that his works could not justify him, and who therefore longed for justification indeed; but only by those who professed to know God, and to know justification, but who knew only justification by their own works of law. And so it is even now.

Therefore, this inquiry–"Wherefore then the law?"–is present truth, and will be present truth forever. To a person whose conception of justification is altogether justification by works, such an inquiry, presented in objection, is a sufficient refutation of all the claims of the law of God; and no stronger proof could ever be given by any one that his only conception of justification is altogether by works, than that he should raise against the law of God, this objecting inquiry, "Why then the law?" "What is the use of the law?" This because such an objection certifies that in his estimation, there can be no possible use for law of any kind unless it will justify a man, even the transgressor.

But every one who knows justification in truth, which is justification by faith, knows full well, and can see with perfect plainness, that there may be abundant use for law, altogether apart from any idea of justification by it. And thus there is a place for this question, in sober inquiry.

"Why then the law?" The answer is–

1. "By the law is the knowledge of sin:" "that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful," in order that men, knowing the enormity of sin, may be able to appreciate the greatness of the salvation that God has sent in the gift of his Son.

Even so, it is said in another place. "The law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

2. When the sinner, having learned by the law the greatness of his sin, and having found in the Lord Jesus a salvation so great as to save him from all sin, and a righteousness so complete as to reign in him against all the power of sin, he still finds a second grand use for the law in its witnessing, in his behalf, to the righteousness of God, which he obtained without the law. And so, it is written: "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. "But now the righteousness of God WITHOUT THE LAW is manifested, being witnessed BY THE LAW and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference."

Such, and so far, is, Wherefore then the law?

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6 , p. 90.

IN the account of the woman brought to Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees (John 8:3-11), it is said that Jesus "stooped down, and wrote on the ground." What did he write? has ever been a question. The Spirit of Prophecy told us long ago that he wrote the sins of the accusers of the woman. And now Professor C. R. Gregory, of Leipsic University, Germany, has found three manuscripts of the Gospel of John in which are readings which say that he wrote their sins. The published account is as follows:–

We are told, referring to the scribes and Pharisees who brought the woman to Jesus, that he wrote "the sins of each one of them." The people noticed first what he was writing; and this led the scribes to press forward to read for themselves.

First came Eldad, and read: "Eldad slew his companion Modar in the wilderness." On seeing this he slunk away.

Then Horan read: "Horan devoured the house of Bunan's widow;" and Horan crept away.

Next Mamun read: "Arned's wife must yield to the power and influence of Mamun."

Thus one after another the scribes were convicted and fled. Jesus pardoned the woman, and she alone went away in peace.

Professor Gregory adds: "The picture of this scene was indelibly engraved upon the souls of the spectators;" and though we know not how it came into John's Gospel, it is a true picture of a historical scene.

February 13, 1900

"The Meaning of the Missionary Reading Circle" ²1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 7 , pp. 99, 100.

A. T. JONES

THIS being the fourth Sabbath of the month, the missionary Sabbath, I am to speak on the subject of missionary work. There can be no stronger incentive, no more earnest persuasion, to missionary work than simply to look at what is before us, and study the meaning of it; and all that I shall do, or attempt to do, in this missionary talk will be to call your attention to what is before us, as it is before the eyes of all the people, that of which you yourselves are a part, in which, indeed, you are engaged at present, and call your attention to the meaning of these things. And if that will not persuade you to missionary work, then, even if an angel from heaven should come, he could not do it.

Last fall there was organized and begun the work of the Missionary Reading Circle. It was organized in order that all persons who profess to know the Third Angel's Message may have a part in it, may enter into that work of missionary reading so as to know what is now to be done. I think that, generally speaking, all who profess to believe the Third Angel's Message are engaged in that reading of the Missionary Circle.

Surely there can be no doubt in the mind of any one who is observing, or who will think, that the organization of that Missionary Reading Circle and work is of God; that the Lord led out the ones who have the charge of it, to speak of it, to call together those who could engage in the organizing of it, in the setting of the machinery to work, and in the laying out of the plan of work.

And since the Lord has so manifestly started this; since it is for all the people; and the object of it is to have all the people engage in missionary work, there can be no doubt whatever that this Reading Circle enterprise itself is a call of God to all this people to engage in missionary work as they have never done before.

The object of the organizing of that Reading Circle, the plan of the readings, all in connection with it, was solely to get people to engage in missionary work. The only sure way to get the people to engage in missionary work intelligently is to have them read the things that they are to use in their missionary work, so far as circulating literature is concerned, so that they may get a fresh and intelligent and up-to-date knowledge of the literature, in order that they may intelligently bring it before all people to whom they may go.

The books of Daniel and Revelation contain the special, systematized present truth for the world at this time. "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation" is the only book, outside of the Bible, that gives a comprehensive, simple, plain, and clear view of the whole field of the truth covered by the Third Angel's Message and comprehended in it. Therefore "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation" was chosen as the beginning book of study, in order that all the people might have a renewed view of the great prophetic field. With the reading of the books, there was also planned the Reading Circle lessons, bringing in that which is occurring to-day in fulfillment of what is spoken in the books of Daniel and Revelation, and which was outline long ago in "Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation."

This being brought before the people, it was supposed–and the supposition is correct, whether the fact proves it or not–that this would be the best opening, the surest means, of getting the people intelligently informed upon the issues of the day with regard to the literature that must be put into the hands of the people, that they may know what is going on to-day, that they may know the truth, that they may understand it, and that they may be won to the Lord and to the ways of righteousness, and so escape the evil that is fast coming upon the earth. All that was planned, and contemplated in the plan, in arranging the Missionary Reading Circle.

Therefore any one who studies these lessons in the Missionary Reading Circle studies, or thinks of the lessons, or reads the book, simply to be HIMSELF informed, that HE shall know more than he did before, and pride himself upon knowing more than other persons, and confine this to himself,–that person is missing all that was intended in the organizing of that work. He will miss all that is intended by the Lord in calling the people unto that work. And he will not only miss all that, but will miss all the rest that there is, whether in the Bible or out; because God never gave to anybody, and he never will give to anybody, anything to be held fast to himself.

Whoever takes what God gives, and shuts it unto himself, and himself in with it, will lose that and all else; even as Jesus said: "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he thinketh that he hath." That was spoken to those to whom God had given talents. He gave them these talents to be used. And the one who received the talents, and did not use them, is the one who did not have them when the end came. The one that received them and used them is the one who in the end had them; and he also got what the other one had and did not use.

So whatever is given in the Missionary Reading Circle work, whatever comes to any of this people in the book that has been put at so low a price that anybody can buy it, not only for himself, but can afford to give it away,–this that has thus been brought to all people, was brought to the people only in order that they might pass it on to those who have it not. And if it should be that those to whom this work has come should study this for their own sakes, and then shut it in to themselves, and themselves in with it, then there could be no surer token that that people have forfeited all the light and the truth that God ever gave, or ever can give, to that people; and the kingdom of God will be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. This is some of the meaning that lies in the organizing of the Missionary Reading Circle.

Now in a study of the meaning of the Missionary Read Circle work, I do not know of anything that could emphasize that meaning as I have outlined it to you just now, any more than would a glance at the lessons that have so far been studies in the book of Daniel in the Reading Circle lessons.

This thought that we have just noticed–that God gives nothing to anybody to be shut in to himself, but only that it shall be passed on to other persons–is emphasized in these studies. I do not say that it has been brought out and made a lesson in the studies; but that it is made plain in the situation from which the things came that have been studies.

Why was it that Daniel or any others of Israel were in Babylon?–It was because they had confined to themselves the things that God had given them for all the nations. Everything that God gave to Israel when they came out of Egypt, or at any other time, was that they might pass it on to all the nations who did not know God. But they made the mistake of thinking, and acting thoroughly upon the thought, that God gave these things to them because they were much better than all the other people in the world. And since he gave these things to them because they were much better than everybody else, the other nations could not have any of these things unless they became as good "as we are."

And since, in that conception, Israel separated herself from all the people of the nations, and despised them, all the nations, being so much like Israel, simply said, All right; you can separate yourselves from us if you wish to; you can despise us if you wish to; what do we care? And the result was that all the nations despised Israel. And that will always be so. Just as certainly as you are like me, and I despise you, you will despise me. Just as certainly as you are like me, and I separate myself from you, you will say, All right; go it, I don't care. And you will separate yourself from me.

That was Israel and the nations. But where was the separation? By whom was it made?–Not by the nations, but BY ISRAEL; not by the heathen, but BY THOSE WHO KNEW GOD. And by that they lost all the knowledge of God, to such an extent that when he came into the world, and presented himself to them in all his fullness, they did not know him, and crucified him out of the world.

That is why Israel was in Babylon. It was because they would not pass on to the nations, in the light of God, to the glory of God, that which God had given to them in light and glory. They had shut themselves away from the nations, and by that means had become worse than all the nations. Yet they had the truth: God had given it to them. Even though they had shut it away from the nations, and had abused it, and had trampled it underfoot, yet they had the light, and by them it must be given to the nations. And as they would not give if freely as God gave it to them to give, as they separated themselves from the nations, and thus hindered all the nations from having it, God scattered them among all the nations, in captivity, in distress, in bondage, in slavery; and thus he caused them to give to the nations that which he had given to them to give to the nations. But how infinitely better it would have been for Israel and all the world if Israel had given to the nations the truth, in the light, the blessing, the joy, and the peace in which God gave it to her.

And when those people found themselves scattered among the nations, they were actually surprised to find there were persons among the nations, even kings, kings of the mightiest empires of the world, who were hungering and longing for the truth, and were ready gladly to receive it as soon as it came to their attention.

Israel had thought all the time that those people were so bad, so hard hearted, and so much in the dark, that they did not care for the truth. But the Lord had given them, all the way along, lessons that that view was not

100

correct. He called Jonah, and had him go that long, long journey to Nineveh,–that great city, so wicked that it was about to perish,–to tell its inhabitants of their danger. And even Jonah, the prophet of the Lord, raised objection; and when he had really gone there and preached, and the Ninevites had repented, he thought strange that the Lord should forgive such persons as they. But the Lord taught Jonah the truth that he cared for other people as well as for Israel. And then that whole experience was written out, and was put into the literature of Israel as a living lesson that God cared for the other nations just as he did for Israel; and that Israel was in the world to take to the nations round, dark as they were, heathen as they were, that which God had given to her.

Yet, for all this, Israel would not learn that lesson. And the Lord had to pick them up bodily, and fling them out as seed in the wind, to fall where they might among the nations.

Then, in their distress, in their loneliness, with no temple of worship, no sacrifices, no offerings,–with all these taken away, they sought God without them, and found him, as they ought to have sought him with them, and found him. And when they sought him without them, and found him and his blessing, then they became a blessing to all those where they were scattered.

Now that is the philosophy of Israel's being in Babylon. And the book of Daniel is a last-day book, you know. It says so over and over. Then the book of Daniel is written to teach the people in the last days–the people of God, to whom God has given his truth–that unless they pass this truth on to all the nations, in peace, in quietness, in light and blessing, they will do it in distress, in poverty, in the confusion and contention of the nations as the curse falls upon the earth and spreads over it everywhere.

And all this teaches to the people of God in the last days that there are persons in the world, in the darkness of heathenism, everywhere outside of the circle of the people of God, who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness; who long for the knowledge of God; who have hearts just as honest as any saint's heart,–only they have not the knowledge. They have not yet received the light. But they long for it, they wait for it. And if it shall not be given to them by the people who now have it, and who are dwelling in undisturbed peace, prosperity, and happiness, under their own vine and fig tree, then these honest souls among the nations will get the light and truth by means of these people who have it being scattered to the ends of the earth, and doing in poverty and distress what they would not do in peace and quietness.

And when that time comes, there will be found again among kings, the greatest of earth's kingdoms, of mighty world empires, those who long for the truth, and who will welcome it when it comes. This, in order that all the peoples and languages may know the truth: even as it was before. For what was done with the truth when Nebuchadnezzar received it? Why was it given to him?–First, of course, it was given to him because he longed for it, because he desired to know what was the way of light and truth in the world. But when he had received it, immediately it was spread to all the nations. It was given to him to be spread to all the nations. And the last thing in Nebuchadnezzar's experience–you know, you have had it in your lesson–was that experience recorded in the fourth chapter of Daniel, in which King Nebuchadnezzar confessed his pride and his foolishness, and what came of it in judgment to him, and also what came out of it in blessing and glory to him, from God. And that experience was published to every nation and language and people in all the world as it then was, of which Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler.

Thus, these people outside of Israel, when they received the truth of God, did with it exactly what Israel ought to have done with it when she received it; and which if she had done with it, Israel would not have gone into captivity to the nations,–would have been blessed instead of being cursed.

Nebuchadnezzar is only one. Darius was another; Cyrus was another. These mighty rulers, all heathen to begin with, were all the servants of God to end with; and all this, through the instrumentality of the people of God who were scattered in the kingdoms which these men ruled.

And all this is one of the things that illustrate the deep meaning of the Missionary Reading Circle. This is one of the mighty thoughts that God is giving to us now, and to the carrying out of which he is calling his people, in the Missionary Reading Circle studies.

(To be continued.)

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It as to Babylon the Mother?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 7 , pp. 104, 105.

"AND I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 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." Rev. 14:6-8.

In this quotation from the Scripture there is expressed a great principle concerning Babylon in all its phases in the Christian age. The principle is that wherever the everlasting gospel is disregarded, or its advancing light is not followed, even by those who believe it, there is a moral fall and confusion as the sure result.

As we have before shown, the ancient meaning of "Babel," from which comes "Babylon," was "Gate of God;" and because of the pride and exaltation of those who were of this "Babel," confusion overtook them; and that which originally meant "Gate of God," thenceforth meant only "confusion."

Now the church is "the body of Christ" in this world; and he says: "I am the way," "I am the door." The church of Christ is the Lord's appointed agency through which he would call men unto himself, that they may find in him deliverance from this present evil world. The church is therefore indeed and in truth the "Gate of God" to mankind; and the faith of Jesus is that which gives access through this gate, to all the fullness of God.

If, then, the church, or any part of it, should become proud and self-exalted, and thus there come a confusion of principles and relationships, it would follow that that which at first was "Gate of God" would become confusion. What, then, says the Scripture?–It tells that there would come "a falling away" from the truth of the gospel; that there would come a self-exaltation in the church, through men arising, from the very midst of her trusted ones, who would speak "perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." 2 Thess. 2:3, 4; Acts 20:28, 30.

Now the church in Rome was, in the beginning, pre-eminently a church of Christ. So entirely was this so that she was an example to the whole world; for Inspiration has declared, with thanksgiving, of her faith, that it was "spoken of throughout the whole world." Rom. 1:8.

By this great and exemplary faith that church was clothed with the beautiful garments of salvation and the robe of the Lord's righteousness; she was endued with the power of God and of godliness, before the eyes of all the nations. The beauty of the Lord God was upon her, and she prospered, and her renown went forth to all the world for her beauty, for its was perfect, through his comeliness, which he had put upon her. But not satisfied with the exaltation that the Lord gave, which could remain only through her own humility and purity of faith, the church grew haughty, and exalted herself. Not content with the beauty of the Lord, which he had put upon her, she prided herself upon her own beauty. Instead of trusting in him for her beauty, she trusted in herself. Not content that God alone should be glorified in her, she "glorified herself, and lived deliciously."

Trusting in herself, priding herself upon her own beauty, magnifying her own merit, and satisfied with her own sufficiency,–this was in itself to put herself in the place of God. Then it was natural enough that she should seek to draw disciples to herself, rather than to the Lord. And having so exalted herself, it was impossible for her to draw disciples to anybody but herself. Thus came the apostasy. And thus, instead of remaining the church of Christ in truth, manifesting to the world the mystery of God and of godliness, she became, though still professedly the church of Christ, only the manifestation to the world of the mystery of self and of selfishness, which is the very mystery of iniquity.

Thus, pre-eminent in both phases of this career was the church at Rome. She was pre-eminent in faith, insomuch that her faith was "spoken of throughout the whole world." She was also preminent in apostasy, insomuch that this likewise has been spoken of throughout the whole world, and for nearly eighteen hundred years.

There is another thought in the Scriptures, which illustrates this apostasy: In the fifth chapter of Ephesians, the apostle speaks "concerning Christ and the church," under the figure of the marriage relation, with Christ in the place of the husband, and the church in the place of the wife. And the Word says, "The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. . . . This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Verses 23-32. The relationship of the church to Christ is thus plainly shown to be the same as that of the wife to her own husband. As the husband himself, and not another man, is "the head of the wife;" so Christ himself, and not another, is "the head of the church."

Now suppose another man should propose to put himself in between a husband and his wife, to speak to her the sentiments of her husband in faith and morals, what would the loyal wife do?–Everybody knows that she would resent such an intrusion, and would promptly repudiate all such proffers. But suppose another man should not only propose to put himself in the place of the husband to the wife, but that the wife should agree to the proposal, and actually accept this other man in the place of her husband, to speak to her the sentiments of her husband in faith and morals, then what would that be but treason to her own husband, apostasy from her marriage vows, and adultery with this other man? And what kind of faith and morals have you in that case?–Everybody knows that that would be nothing but unfaithfulness and immorality.

Now the Bishop of Rome claims to be, and the Church of Rome claims that he is, the head of that church. From Cardinal Gibbons we quote:–

Says the Council of Florence (1439), at which also were present the bishop of the Greek and Latin Church, "We define that the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church, the father and doctor of all Christians; and we declare that to him, in the person of blessed Peter, was given, by Jesus Christ our Saviour, full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal church."

The pope is here called the true vicar, or representative, of Christ in this lower kingdom of the church militant; that is, the pope is the organ of our Saviour, and speaks his sentiments in faith and morals.–"The Faith of Our Fathers," pages 154, 155.

It was the Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D., that first addressed the Bishop of Rome as "the head, of whom we are the members."

Thus the Church of Rome claims to be "the bride of Christ." She claims that she is "the spouse of Christ." And yet she has accepted another man as the "representative" of her husband, as the "substitute"–vicar–for her husband, to occupy the place of her husband in his absence, to occupy the place of her husband in his absence, to speak to her "his sentiments in faith and morals." She not only has accepted another in the place of her husband, but she openly boasts of it, and actually proclaims it as the chiefest evidence of her faithfulness, her morality, and her purity. How could the unfaithfulness, the apostasy, the immorality, and the impurity of a church be more plainly shown than in this which is her boast?

How could the complete abandon, the essential wantonness, the utter confusion of moral principles, of a wife, be more clearly demonstrated than in citing the confirmed fact of another man's occupying the place of her husband to her, as evidence of her faithfulness and purity? Would not such a boast, and for such a purpose, be the strongest possible evidence that that woman's native modesty and moral sense had become utterly confused? Yet by her own words this is precisely the case of the Church of Rome. She has accepted another to occupy the place of her husband to her. She constantly boasts before the world that this fact is evidence of her faithfulness, her morality, and her purity; and she insists that all the world shall fall in with her in this course, in order that they may all be faithful and moral and pure! How could she more clearly demonstrate that all true sense of faithfulness, of morality, and of purity has become completely confused in her consciousness? That a confirmed adulteress and harlot should boast of her iniquity as being the only way to righteousness, is certainly nothing else than the very mystery of iniquity itself. And such, even according to her own showing, is the Church of Rome.

Yet she did not stop even there: she went on and took to herself yet other men: she committed fornication with the kings of the earth. Having lost the heavenly power, she now sought for earthly power. Having forsaken the arm of the Lord, she sought the arm of man. Having disconnected herself from the kingdom of heaven, she would now connect herself with the kingdoms of earth.

Still trusting in her own beauty, and her own bedecking of herself with silk and gold and precious stones and pearls, and holding in her hand the proffer of rich gifts to any lover that would receive her immodest advances and form an alliance with her, she finally succeeded, through Constantine, in gaining imperial favor an earthly lord. The now unholy church formed an unholy connection with the unholy state.

Thus did she who had been espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ; she who had been joined in the bonds of pure and holy marriage to him who is perfect in power, in love, and purity; she who had known the blissful delights of his love,–thus did she violate her virgin vows, break her marriage ties, and become a bold and vicious harlot, and the very symbol of confusion. Accordingly the next view that is given of her is this: "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." Rev. 17:3-6.

And that all may have the best authority, outside of the Bible, that this Babylon does refer to Rome, we set down here the statements of two standard works of the Church of Rome. One of these is by Cardinal Gibbons, and says:–

"Babylon," from which Peter addressed his first epistle, is understood by learned annotators, Protestant and Catholic, to refer to Rome.–"The Faith of Our Fathers," page 131.

The other is by the Very Rev. Joseph Fa‡ di Bruno, D.D., Rector-General of the Pious Society of Missions, and says:–

No one mistook what St. John in the Apocalypse designated under the figure of Babylon. In the end of the first general epistle of St. Peter we have these words: "The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark;" in which passage the word "Babylon" must be taken to mean Rome; in fact, it is not recorded either in Holy Scripture or elsewhere that St. Peter or St. Mark had ever been to ancient Babylon in Asia; and no ancient writer has ever said

105

that this letter was dated really from ancient Babylon, or that it was so understood by any one; on the contrary, it is recorded positively in the history of Eusebius (book 2, chapter 15) as having been stated by Papias, the disciple of St. John the evangelist and friend of St. Polycarp, that St. Peter, in his first epistle, which he wrote from Rome, called Rome figuratively Babylon. The same thing is asserted by St. Jerome in his book of "Illustrious Men," when he speaks of St. Mark.–"Catholic Belief," pages 323, 324.

Now since this Babylon signifies Rome, and since it is a church–a woman–that is thus called Babylon, it follows with absolute certainty that it is the Church of Rome that is this "Babylon the mother."

"After the Millennium" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 7 , p. 105.

AFTER the wicked are destroyed, as shown in Revelation 20, and in the previous study on this subject, "he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. . . . It is done."

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea;" and the new Jerusalem, the holy city, having already come down from God out of heaven, and being thus upon the earth, it is written: "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Rev. 21:3, 4.

And thus is fulfilled the promise made of old: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isa. 65:17-19.

"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there." Rev. 21:3-5.

And there the wilderness shall be "like Eden," and the desert as "the garden of the Lord." "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isa. 51:3.

There "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." And even "then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." Isa. 30:26; 24:23.

There "the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick;" for "the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." Isa. 33:24.

There the people "shall be all righteous" (Isa. 60:21), and "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing." Isa. 35:1, 2.

There the eyes of the blind shall have been opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. There the lame man shall "leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with sons and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isa. 35:5, 6, 10.

There all shall be so quiet and so secure that the people can dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And the people, and the very places round about, shall be a blessing; yea, "there shall be showers of blessing." Eze. 34:25, 26.

There the very land itself shall rejoice even with joy and singing; and there, for very joy, "the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Isa. 55:12.

There "we shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and shall ever be far fro its close."

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are I the sea, and all that are in them," are heard "saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5:13.

"And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. 22:3-5.

"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. . . . The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." "And let all the people say, Amen" and Amen.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:19" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 7 , p. 89.

"WHEREFORE then the law?"

This inquiry of "the Pharisees which believed" was not limited to the law of God, although that, being the chief of all laws, was of course the principal thought in the inquiry. But from the beginning of this study of the book of Galatians we have found that there was involved not only the moral law, but also the ceremonial law–indeed all that God had given. And this, because all the service of the Pharisees was a service merely of law; since their only idea of justification was justification altogether by law, and their only idea of salvation altogether by works.

Therefore with "the Pharisees which believed" this inquiry extended also to, Wherefore the Levitical law? Wherefore the sacrificial system? Wherefore circumcision? What was the use of all these, if salvation were not attained by any of them? Such was the only use they had ever made of any of these things: indeed, this was the only conception that they had of them.

They expected perfection by the Levitical priesthood; the same by circumcision; and the same by all that was given by the Lord. Their only idea of their use was that justification, salvation, came to them in the doing of these things. BY THE DOING of them. But this was all error, and was a perversion of the true intent of all that God gave. Justification was not by any of these, nor by all of them together, any more than it was by the law of God. Justification was always by faith; and the sacrificial system, and all the services and ceremonies of the Levitical law, were only means which God gave, by which faith was expressed: the sacrifices were means of expressing faith that they already had in the great Sacrifice that God had made.

And this same query, and for the same reason, is raised to-day by thousands of "Pharisees which believe," in their enmity against the truth of the gospel. For this reason alone, "Wherefore then the law?" is a live question to-day, and always will be a live question wherever the truth of the gospel–righteousness by faith–is preached.

But there is a greater reason, than that, as to "Wherefore then the law?" being a live question to-day and always. It is a true and proper question always, in the inquiry after the truth as it is in Jesus. For in the whole divine economy of the times of Israel, there is precious truth, rich instruction, and glorious light, for all who would be taught of God. This was all there for the people of Israel of old; but through carnal-mindedness and its self-justification, they missed it. And because Israel did thus miss it, thousands of professed believers to-day, stumbling over Israel's failures, neglect and even reject all the great riches which Israel missed, but which were then and are now for all people. For to the people of the very last days it is written: "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." Mal. 4:4. And "the Christian who accepts the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, will look at Bible history in its true bearing. The history of the Jewish economy from beginning to end, though spoken of contemptuously, and sneered at as 'the dark ages,' will reveal light, and still more light, as it is studied."

"Wherefore then the law" of Levitical priesthood, sacrifice, offering, burnt offering, and offering for sin, the sanctuary and its ministry?–It was all only the divinely appointed means of expressing the faith that they already had, and that had already brought to them the righteousness of God without any deeds of any law

The Levitical priesthood was the means of expressing faith in that greater priesthood–the priesthood of the Son of God–announced in the words: "The Lord said unto my Lord. . . .Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec." Ps. 110:1-4. The sanctuary and the services of this priesthood were but means of expressing faith in the sanctuary and the services of the priesthood that is in heaven. For, of all that system, "this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:1, 2.

And this whole story, as here outlined, is shown in the instruction given to the people, in the book of Leviticus. In Lev. 4:13-20 it is said that when the people had sinned through ignorance, and the thing was hid from their eyes in having "done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; when the sin, which they have sinned against it–against the law of God–was known, then the congregation should "offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation." And the elders of the congregation were to lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord, thus confessing the sin of the congregation, and laying it upon the bullock. Then the bullock must be "killed before the Lord." And the priest that was anointed brought "of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation; and dipped his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkled it seven times before the Lord, even before the vail." And he "put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar," which was before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the congregation; and poured out "all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering," which was "at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." Thus the priest made "atonement for them," and the sin was "forgiven them."

There was the law of God, and by it the knowledge of sin, showing them guilty. Then there was the sacrifice, and the laying of the sin, in confession, upon the sacrifice as a substitute. Then there was the slaying of the sacrifice and the offering of its blood in their behalf, and by it atonement made and the forgiveness of sin to them. There was by the law the knowledge of sin, and by the gospel of sacrifice the forgiveness of sin and atonement with God.

But "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Heb. 10:4. Wherefore then all this law, sanctuary, service, and ceremony? Ah! it was "a figure for the time then present" "until the time of reformation." But "Christ being come an high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:9-19.

And with Christ and in Christ we have this day, A.D. 1900, the substance of which all that was the

106

shadow. In the heavenly temple there is the ark of his testament, in which is the testament–his law. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." And by the Gospel of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his priestly service, and the offering of his blood in the heavenly sanctuary, there is forgiveness of sin "to every one that believeth," and righteousness in his being made at one with God, in Jesus Christ, who is the atonement.

And the only difference between the times before Christ and these times after Christ, is that then, because Jesus had not yet come and offered himself, but was to come, faith in his coming and offering himself could be expressed only in this way; whereas, now that he has come and has offered himself a sacrifice, and has entered upon his priesthood and "ever liveth to make intercession for" us, faith is now expressed in the bread and wine–the body and blood–representing that which has actually been offered. To offer a sacriftce now, and to have a priesthood and a priestly ministry on earth, would be to deny that Christ, the true Sacrifice, has yet been offered.

Thus, there was clear use, and intelligent use, for all the laws, both moral and ceremonial, which were given to Israel. And this without any purpose or thought of any justification coming by any of them, or all of them together; but that justification comes always and ONLY by faith.

And this is "Wherefore the law?" as to the ceremonial law. And from the considerable and careful study of the subject, we are thoroughly convinced that in the book of Galatians, the book of Romans and the book of Hebrews MEET. The letter to the Galatians was written before either the letter to the Romans or that to the Hebrews. In the controversy raised by the Pharisees which believed," which had confused the Galatian Christians, both the moral and the ceremonial law were involved; and so both are involved in the letter to the Galatians, and the whole ground is briefly covered. Then afterward the book of Romans was written, enlarging, and dwelling wholly, upon that phase of Galatians which involves the moral law, and justification by faith; and the book of Hebrews was written, enlarging, and dwelling wholly, upon that phase of Galatians which involves the ceremonial law, and justification by faith. And we believe that as the whole subject is more, and more carefully, studied, the more it will be seen that in Galatians both Romans and Hebrews are comprehended.

February 20, 1900

"The Meaning of the Missionary Reading Circle" ³1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 114.

A. T. JONES
(Continued.)

WE have found that God taught his people the truth in order that they might teach it to the nations. When they shut up the truth to themselves, they were scattered among the nations, and then and thus the nations received the truth. The first thing that the nations received where Israel went, was the knowledge of God. The next thing, as outlined in the book of Daniel, in the third chapter, Nebuchadnezzar set up his great image, and required that it should be worshiped. This brought in the thought of religious liberty, and the duty of the people to worship God, regardless of the will of the king. "The king's word" must "change." In the sixth chapter comes up again the duty of the children of God to worship God, even though the law be made for the definite purpose of interfering with the worship of those who fear God. We need not go into the detail of those chapters about the present situation.

From the days of Abraham, God gave to Israel plain instruction upon all the subject of religious liberty–true separation of religion and the state. But Israel did not hold it fast; they would not believe it. Instead of holding fast the truth as they were taught, they went the way the nations went, and united church and state. And now, in her captivity, the Lord would teach to the heathen, by Israel when she was scattered among them, the very things that he gave to Israel to teach to the heathen, but which Israel rejected, and as a consequence became like the heathen.

Now the book of Daniel is a last-day book. And religious liberty, the separation of religion and the state, is one of the great subjects of the last days. When Christianity was started in the world, it was started with the truth on this point, as on all others. This truth of God was revived in Christianity, and was given to the nations,–the separation of religion and the state. The apostasy from God stepped in, and swung off, not Christianity, but that which passed for Christianity, and joined church and state again. The Reformation came in with Christianity again, the separation of religion and the state. Protestantism apostatized, and went in the same direction, uniting church and state. And so the book of Revelation tells what would thus come in the world–in the Dark Ages, it was the beast; and in the present day, it is the image to the beast.

Now all these years–fifty years–this has been studied by this people. It is a subject professedly known by this people. It is a truth given to this people to give to all the world. And yet, just now, in the very crisis of that thing, just before the last step is taken in which life shall be given to the image of the beast that he "should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed,"–just in this very crisis, one of the hardest things in the world is to get this people who profess to be in this time to see this truth, to acknowledge it, and give it to the world.

Let me call your attention to the situation as it is to-day outside the Third Angel's Message,–the other side of the message. It is a surprise to the people of the world,–to the people of the United States, and the people outside of the United States, the people of the world, I mean,–the nations of the world, how swiftly the present movement of the nation in repudiation of its fundamental principles has been accepted by the people of this nation. Yet to those who have been here these years, and have really studied during these years, and have really studied during these years, there is nothing at all mysterious, nor wonderful, nor strange about it.

Let me call your attention to something that you know. You know that for thirty-seven years there has been an organization in this United States whose set purpose was to turn this government "into a government of some other form." It began in 1863–the National Reform Association.

These thirty-seven years that association has been working, and you know that one of the fundamental principles of the association of the National Reformers always has been, and is to-day, that "governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."

It has been preached by the National Reformers always, and there is nothing else in their theory. These thirty-seven years these men have been sowing that seed through all this land. Is it strange that the seed should grow? Is there anything strange that fruit should begin to appear from that sowing of thirty-seven years?

Another thing: it is remarked especially by the public writers of the present time, the newspaper correspondents of the daily papers, that it is "the younger generation of public men," not the older generation, who have taken this up so readily, and who are pushing this movement forward so strongly.

The older generation of men, who have been in the halls of Congress for a generation, are the ones who say No. They say, That is dangerous ground; that is a road we can not travel, and continued to exist as a republic. It means ruin to go that way.

But the younger generation who have come in,–who are they? Listen! These National Reformers have had open doors, free access, these thirty-seven years, in the churches, in the colleges, in the academies of all this land. All these years they have taught these evil precepts to the young men in the colleges, in the academies, and in the religious and literary assemblies. And now these young men are the very ones who are coming upon the stage of public action to-day. To-day these young men are taking their places in the halls of Congress–some of them only thirty-seven years old, and yet the very leaders in this movement. These are the young men in whose minds were sown, by these National Reformers a generation ago and onward, the evil seed that "governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." And now when they step into places of power in national affairs, they simply carry out the principles that they imbibed when they were in school, from the persistent and industrious teaching of the National Reformers through all these years.

That is the philosophy of this sudden rush away from the principles of this nation, away from the principles that made it the model nation of the earth, by which it enlightened the world, and the abandonment of which causes it to become the very image of the beast.

Now the National Reformers are still here, and are still preaching that same doctrine, that "governments do not derive their just powers form the consent of the governed." And their supporters, their doctrinal children, are now in the halls of Congress and in the halls of legislation throughout the nation. And now we are upon the very verge of the last movement that will be made, in which this nation will give life unto the image of the beast, that it should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the beast should be killed.

And just now, when we are standing face to face with this dreadfully dangerous and imminent issue, instead of all this people who have been here all these years, to whom God has given the truth to pass on to all these, and to give to all the nations–just now, when this people should arise as one man, with the might of God upon them, and sound the alarm and give the warning, instead of doing so, thousands of this people have not a word to say except it be to denounce those who would give that warning to the world! I am wondering, wondering every day, how long this can continue before this people shall have to be scattered among all these nations, in poverty, in distress, and amid confusion among the nations, in order that they shall give to all people and nations that which God gave us all these years to give, and for exactly such a time as this.

From ten to fifteen years ago, this people were especially told, by the Spirit of Prophecy, that the National Reform movement was working in secrecy, was making its way silently underneath the surface, and that its results and its mighty movement would be sprung upon the nation unawares; and we are in the time when it is now being sprung upon the nation. We are now past the time when it is working in secrecy; for its own agents, whom it has raised up, are its agents now in the halls of Congress and the halls of legislation throughout the land. So they have the whole machinery in their hands,–the machinery that they themselves have created. They created it for this very purpose, and they will use it for the purpose for which they created it, and that speedily.

And that is why it is that this Missionary Reading Circle work means a missionary work to which this people have now been called; and it calls for a missionary spirit, and an awakening such as has never been among this people. And if this crisis and work are not seen–then what? That is the important question: Then what?

(To be concluded.)

"The Third Angel's Message" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 120.

GOD would have healed Babylon, but she would not be healed. In the Reformation he sent a balm for her, if so be that she might be healed; but she would not receive it, and, therefore, the Lord was obliged to leave her to her own ways. In the Reformation the Lord sent his gospel anew, and with power, to all people; and at that time all the people were in Babylon, because all were under the dominion of Rome. Multitudes received the gospel, and walked in the light as it was then revealed. but as that was the first step out of darkness, there were other steps to be taken, to reach the fullness of the gospel: there was advance light in which to walk.

And here again history began to repeat itself. Many of those who had come out of darkness, and had taken the first steps into the light of the gospel, stopped there, became satisfied with that: they counted themselves sufficiently rich, and increased with goods, and therefore in need of nothing. And, as the consequence, they grew proud of what they had, exalted themselves upon what they had, and became exclusive. Then, as the gospel must go on as the light must increase more and more unto the perfect day, it followed that all those who would walk in the advancing light, all who would receive more truth,–the fuller gospel,–were excluded from the company of those who were self-satisfied, and were obliged to go forward as had the others at the first.

Then, in turn, these became satisfied with what they had, grew proud of it, exalted themselves upon it, and became exclusive. But as the gospel must still advance, the light must shine yet more fully, and as those who would walk in the advancing light, and would receive more truth, could not do so and be recognized as of the company of those who had taken the former steps, they must, in turn, inevitably go on in a separate company.

On this subject Mosheim says:–

The doctrine of the Lutheran Church remained entire during this [seventeenth] century; its fundamental principles received no alteration, nor could any doctor of that church, who should have presumed to renounce or invalidate any of those theological points which are contained in the symbolical books of the Lutherans, have met with toleration and indulgence.

And again:–

The method. . . observed by Calvin. . . was followed, out of respect for his example, by almost all the divines of his communion, who looked upon him as their model and their guide.

Thus those people, instead of continuing to be reformers, became respectively Lutherans and Calvinists.

Thus each phase of advancing truth developed a separate denomination. And this is the whole philosophy of the principal divisions manifest in the different denominations of Protestantism. Primarily, of course, it should not have been so; yet, under the circumstances, as they developed, secondarily it becomes essential that it should be so. If those who started in the Reformation had continued to walk in the light as it shone more fully, if they had received advanced truth as they grew in the knowledge of the gospel, it is plain enough that there never could have been any other company, any new denomination: they would all have been reformers; there would have been one continuous and progressive reformation.

And that is as it should have been. But when, instead of that, those who had received light and truth refused to receive more; when they held that they had all the light and all the truth, and grew proud, self-exalted, and exclusive because of it; and when they excluded from their company those who would receive increased light and advanced truth,–then, in the nature of things, there was nothing else for these to do but to associate together in the fellowship of the light and truth that they had received, and in the spirit of the gospel to spread it to all people.

Then, history further repeated itself. These successive denominations, each in turn refusing to go further, and so rejecting truth, were turned from originally the "Gate of God" to "confusion." Each one, in turn, as the mother at the first, joined herself to another man: they accepted kings of the earth as their head, in place of Christ, the true Head,–entered into illicit connection with the kings of the earth. The Emperor of Germany to-day, as king of Prussia, is the head, the supreme pontiff, of the Lutheran Church in Prussia. In the Scandinavian countries also the Lutheran is the state church, and the head of the state there, is the head of that church. In England the sovereign is head of the Church of England; and in Scotland the same sovereign is head of the church (Presbyterian) of Scotland. And so, because the same person is sovereign of both countries, the same person is head of one church in England and of another in Scotland: is an Episcopalian when in England, and a Presbyterian when in Scotland. And in New England the Congregationalists became the state church, as had the others each in her place; and each and all of them after the very example of "Babylon the Great, the other."

From the colonial period forward, will be considered next week.

"A New Religio-Political Move" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 120.

IN Willard Hall, Rock Island, Ill., Dec. 31, 1899, "under the auspices of the Young People's Temperance Federation of America," there was held a conference that, as reported in the Union Signal of Jan. 11, 1900, engaged in "the discussion of the necessity of unified action of Christians on political and reform lines." And as a result, the following address was adopted at the closing session by a unanimous vote:–

To all Christian Voters and Friends of Jesus of Nazareth throughout the United States of America, Greeting:–

We believe the fullness of time to have arrived when the eternal principles of justice, mercy, and love, as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, should be embodied in the political economy of our nation, and applied in concrete form to every function of our government, national, State, municipal, and local.

We believe that the most direct means of accomplishing this end is the formation of a political body of united Christian men and women, who shall use their elective franchise for the selection of able, worthy, and conscientious public officials who will seek in their respective positions to reform the functions of government in the spirit of the Man of Galilee.

We believe that a sufficient number of our fellow citizens have been so spiritually and intellectually enlightened by the example and teachings of Christ and his disciples as to equip them for wise and efficient leadership of such a political force; and to these we appeal for immediate and vigorous co-operation.

We believe that the pressing need, year, the necessity of the times among the great masses of our fellow citizens, is a practical application, commercially and socially, of the spirit and principles of Jesus of Nazareth.

1. The eternal principles of justice, mercy, and love, as exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, never can "be embodied in the political economy" of any earthly nation or government. In the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus as exemplified in himself on earth, there was nothing of the kind ever seen. The opposite of it was seen there. He refused to hold political office (John 6:15; Matt. 4:8-10); he refused to touch economic questions, or to perform such functions (Luke 12:13, 14); he declared, "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36. And to his disciples forever he said: "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so AMONG YOU." Matt. 20:25.

That notion of applying the principles of Christ "in concrete form to every function of our government, national, State, municipal, and local," sounds enough like, to be part and parcel of, that declaration of the National W.C.T.U., in 1887: "The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, local, State, national, and world-wide, has one vital, organic thought, one all-absorbing purpose, one undying enthusiasm; and that is that Christ shall be this world's king,–yea, verily, THIS WORLD'S KING, in its realm of cause and effect,–king of its colleges and its cloisters,–king of its customs and its constitutions. . . . The kingdom of Christ must enter the realm of law through the gateway of politics."

2. No "political body" can ever be formed by Christian men and women, united or otherwise; for Christians do not form political combinations, nor do they take part in politics. The Christian's commonwealth, his citizenship, "is in heaven." Phil. 3:20, R.V., or Greek. Christians are "fellow citizens with the saints," not with sinners. Eph. 2:19; Deut. 33:2; Jude 14. They are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb. 11:13-16. All the affairs of government that Christians have anything to do with are the affairs of the government and kingdom of God, which "is not of this world."

3. No man ever can be so "enlightened by the example and teachings of Christ and his disciples" as to be equipped "for wise and efficient leadership" of any "political force." And this, simply because there is neither example nor teaching, either of Christ or his disciples, on any such subject. All the example and all the teaching of Christ and his disciples, are designed solely to equip men for efficient work, and leadership, if need be, of religious and spiritual forces only.

4. Yes; there is now and always "pressing need, yea, necessity," "among the great masses," of a "practical application, commercially and socially, of the spirit and principles of Jesus of Nazareth." It is needed "among the great masses" of Christians everywhere in the world. That is just what Christians are in the world for. And this application is to be made by the individual Christian, in all the affairs of his daily life wherever he is. That is simply what it is to be a Christian at all.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 120.

THE Boston University School of Theology is an institution of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Early in December nine students of the school protested against the infidelity that was being taught to them. As stated by one of the students, the case was as follows:–

Coming from the West to Boston University School of Theology a year ago, I was shocked to find the most rabid rationalism being taught as Old Testament exegesis, under cover of a leading Methodist school. Coming to Messianic prophecy, only half a truth was taught. Further on, Jesus Christ was no authority on Old Testament Scripture. The miraculous conception was set aside, and the atoning blood made nonessential.

The president and the faculty sustained the professor who so taught; the president remarking that these were only "eight or nine out of an aggregate of one hundred and seventy-eight students. The students appealed to the Board of Bishops; but these supported the president and the faculty, and advised the students to keep quiet on the subject. Then the nine students withdrew entirely from the school. It is good that they had enough faith to carry them so far; for there are hundreds of students who enter the "great" schools to-day, who yield to those perverse influences, and are carried out to sea, to be utterly shipwrecked unless the saving gospel finds them anew.

"The Return of the Jews" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 121.

IN our studies on the "Return of the Jews," we found that the Scriptures, and the whole principle of the gospel, are directly against it. we found also that those who claim and advocate a return of the Jews as a people–a nation, to be re-established in the land of Palestine–are, by their claim, obliged to find another order of things from that of the true gospel as it is in Christ–another long period of time, indeed, an "age to come," this "age" including the "millennium."

In the studies on the Millennium, we have found, by the straightforward story of the word of God, from the present day entirely through to the creation of the new earth and its everlasting occupation by the saved, that there is no possible place for any such long period of time, or "age, to come," and, therefore, no possible place for any such return of the Jews as a people, a nation, to be re-established in the land of Palestine, as is claimed by those who advocate the return of the Jews.

And even so saith the Scripture. How often in the New Testament there stands the expression, "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek." But what can be the force of any such expression when there is to be manifested such an enormous difference as is involved in this claim of the return of the Jews,–that they must be gathered from all the nations of other people, to that one particular place; and blessings, bounties, and favors be showered upon them, and not upon other people?

It is true that the claim contemplates that these shall be made the means of conveying these things to other people; but this does not relieve the scheme from the charge that it does make a decided difference between the Jew and the Greek–the Jew and the Gentile. This, because the claim is that they Jews are to be gathered thus simply because they are Jews, without any reference whatever to character. It is true that God uses those who receive his blessing, his light, his truth, to convey all these to those who have them not; but all his blessing, all his light, and all his truth are equally open and free to all people alike to be received. And those who receive them are used to convey his blessings to others, not because they have been especially chosen from among all other people, without regard to character; but solely because of the character they have obtained in the accepting of these things from God, which were equally open to all. This is the gospel call and the gospel work, always and everywhere.

But such is not in any sense the claim to the return of the Jews. In that scheme a man is to be drawn to Jerusalem simply because he is a Jew, without reference to what his character is. Then, when these Jews have been gathered there, it seems that the claim is that the Lord is to manifest himself to them in such a stupendously impressive and open way that they simply can't refuse to believe in him and to receive him as the Messiah.

And, surely, that can be nothing else than the making of a boundless difference between the Jew and the Greek. For if the Jew is thus to be gathered there simply because he is a Jew, and without reference to character, and, after he gets there, the Lord is to be so astonishingly revealed to him that he simply can not refuse any longer to believe, would not the same plan be equally effective in bringing any other man, and, indeed, EVERY other man, to the same point? And to do it for one man, or for one set of men, and not for all alike, could not possibly be anything else than putting a difference between those and others.

But there stands the Scripture forever: "God is no respecter of persons." "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek." Therefore it is certain that every Jew must believe in and receive Christ, and what he has to give, precisely as every Gentile must believe in and receive him.

"Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision [the Jews] by faith, and uncircumcision [the Gentiles] through faith," it follows that for both alike the means of justification, of salvation, is faith–not faith for the Gentile, and sight for the Jew; but faith alone for both alike. For "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:19" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 121.

"WHEREFORE then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions."

The Greek term that is here translated "added," is the same word that, in Heb. 12:19, is translated "spoken," in the clause referring to the voice of God speaking from Sinai, "which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken [or added] to them any more." It is the same word that is used also in Deut. 5:22 where it is translated "added," in the sentence, "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added [or spoke] no more."

In both Hebrews and Deuteronomy the word is used with direct reference to the giving of the law of God, the ten commandments. This passage in Galatians, therefore, would certainly seem to suggest that the law here referred to would be the same law. And this is further sustained by the expression later, in this verse, that the law referred to was ordained "in the hand of a mediator." Now, since there is only "one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," it was certainly Christ's hand in which this law was ordained. And Deut. 33:2, speaking of the same scene referred to in Deut. 5:22 and Heb. 12:20, says: "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them: he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them."

Now the ten commandments were not only written by the hand of the Lord himself, but they were written on tables of stone, which "tables were the work of God," as well as the writing, which was the writing of God. And these tables were given by the hand of the Lord, unto Moses. And even when Moses had broken these tables, and had been directed to make other tables, the Lord wrote again with his hand on these tables the same law that at first he had written on the tables that he himself had made.

But this is not true of any other law. It is true that the ceremonial law–the law concerning sacrifices, offerings, the sanctuary, the whole Levitical system–was also given by the Lord to Moses; but it was not given by the hand of the Lord to Moses. It did not come forth from his hand, either in writing by his own hand, or upon tables made with his own hand. It was given to Moses by the Lord, and was written altogether by Moses, and not at all by the Lord.

Some, taking the English word "added" in this clause in Gal. 3:19, and holding it in the restricted English sense of "added," have supposed that it is here taught that whatever law is referred to was necessarily added to something as a part of that thing, and so have held that it was added to the covenant with Abraham. But such a view as that would plainly be a mistake, because, in Gal. 3:15, it is positively stated that "though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man . . . addeth thereto." Thus it would be impossible for anything to be added to that covenant. The word translated "addeth," in Gal. 3:15, is not the same in Greek as that translated "added" in Gal. 3:19, nor are the words akin.

From the Greek word itself, in Gal. 3:19, and its use in connection with the law, in Heb. 12:20 and Deut. 5:22, as well as its further use in the Scriptures, it is plain that it is not necessarily implied that what is referred to should be literally added in the sense of a mathematical addition. One expression in which the Greek word is used is, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33. Here it is plain that the expression is equivalent to merely to "give"–"all these things shall be given unto you," or "ye shall receive all these things." Such is exactly its meaning in Mark 4:24, in which our translation is, "Unto you that hear shall more be given"–shall more be added. In Acts 12:3 our translation reads, "He proceeded further to take Peter also." This, translated as in Gal. 3:19, would be, "He added to take Peter." Thus the word in Gal. 3:19 could, with equal propriety be translated, "Wherefore then the law? It was spoken because of transgressions," or, "It was given because of transgressions." One translation of the clause is, "It was set because of transgressions." Another is, "It was introduced," etc. True, to translate it, "It was added," is just as good, provided it be understood that the word "added" conveys these senses, and is not to be restricted to its special meaning of a mathematical addition, as of adding "one cubit unto his stature."

The law, then, was given, was spoken, was added, because of transgression. Will this statement that "it was added because of transgressions" hold in the case of the law of God, the ten commandments? With respect to that law as it is referred to throughout in the discussion in which the Galatian Christians were involved, that is, the law in its written form, the expression does certainly apply. This will not only be clearly seen, but it is positively stated, in a passage already several times quoted in these "Studies in Galatians;" and we here set it down again:–

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abrahams, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for then to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai, or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the ten commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses.–"Patriarch and Prophets," page 364.

This corresponds exactly to the other expressions with reference to the entering of the law of God: "The laws entered, that the offense might abound." Rom. 5:20. "That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Rom. 7:7, 13. "To bring transgressions to a head."–Farrar's translation of Gal. 3:19. "In order to bring about as transgressions the transgressions of it."–Alford.

This will be followed further next week.

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 8 , p. 128.

AT a grand reception in Manila in honor of Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Chapelle, January 23, a petition was presented to the apostolic delegate "praying for the withdrawal of the friars from the Philippine Islands." In the midst of the reading of the petition, the apostolic delegate stopped the reading, and said that "that question would be regulated by the pope, General Otis, and himself." And so already it has come to pass that the United States government in the Philippines is an essential party in a triumvirate in which the pope and his apostolic delegate are the other two. But as the pope is in Rome, this leaves only the other two in the Philippines. And as the apostolic delegate is the mouthpiece and sole channel of communication with the pope, this makes him the superior of the two who are on the ground in the Philippines. And this makes the United States second to the Church of Rome in the Philippine Islands. Therefore, in truth, whatever settlement is made will be really by "the pope and himself;" and the only place where General Otis will really come in, will be with the power of the United States to compel the acceptance of such arrangement as shall have been made by "the pope and himself." And so the United States government becomes the tool of the papacy.

CONGRESS, by an overwhelming vote, excluded Mr. Roberts from taking a seat; and at the same time, and by the same vote, excluded the Constitution of the United States. That is to say, the thing that Congress did was unconstitutionally done, when the same result could have been Constitutionally attained. This is recognized throughout the whole country; and no one can doubt it who will read the speeches on the subject. More than this, what was unconstitutionally done, even by an overwhelming majority, could in effect have been Constitutionally done by a unanimous vote. The question is, Why should Congress do a thing in an unconstitutional way when its whole purpose and intent could have been attained in a strictly Constitutional way? The answer is that by the majority influence of this nation, the Constitution, as to true Constitutional principle, has been completely lost sight of. Ever since the nation, in 1892, tore the Sabbath of the Lord from its place in his own law, and set up Sunday in its stead, the nation in every crisis has taken the wrong course. By that high-handed act the nation was handed over to the perverse spirit, and it is manifested on every occasion; and all the more as occasions multiply.

AS is well known, Archbishop Chapelle is apostolic delegate to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and is now in the Philippines. He has been there but a little while; yet he has already proposed that there "the ecclesiastical court should be reorganized as it was during the Spanish rÈgime." This, because of the fixed papal doctrine that "ecclesiastical offenders against the law should be brought to trial only before an ecclesiastical tribunal." That is, when a priest breaks the law, he must not be tried by the regular courts like any other lawbreaker, but must be tried by his fellow ecclesiastics. Such a system, of course, leads to practical exemption of the ecclesiastics from all punishment for crime, and so results in an unmitigated ecclesiastical tyranny. No wonder that the archbishop's proposal stirred the resentment of the Filipinos. And now it will be a matter of intense interest to all to watch the course of events, and see whether the United States government supports the archbishop or the Filipinos.

February 27, 1900

"The Meaning of the Missionary Reading Circle" ⁴1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 9 , pp. 131, 132.

A. T. JONES

(Concluded).

THERE is another warning in the book of Daniel, in these lessons that you are studying,–the history of Belshazzar. Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had longed for God, had found God, had become a true worshiper of God, and was saved by the Lord, as any other saint. Belshazzar knew all this,–all people, indeed, knew it; for it was published over and over. When Daniel made known to Nebuchadnezzar the dream that gave him the knowledge of God, that knowledge went to all the people. When Nebuchadnezzar set up his image, and the brethren would not worship it, then that was spread among all the people of the world at that time; for all the governors, the captains, the princes, and the sheriffs were there to see it all; and when they went back to their provinces, they carried it with them, and the fame of it spread everywhere. When Nebuchadnezzar wrote out his own experience, that was sent in a public decree to all the peoples, nations, and languages: it was read to them by the governors: so the message of God came to all the people again and again.

Now Belshazzar knew all this; but he paid no attention to it. He did not glorify God, though he knew all this. And because of that, because he passed it all by and acted in defiance of it all, he was weighed in the balances then, was found wanting, was set aside, and he, with Babylon, perished.

And it is the truth, and you know it, that there are not only grandchildren, but even children of Seventh-day Adventists who know all this that God did for Nebuchadnezzar, as really as Belshazzar knew it. there are children and grandchildren who have been taught all this from their infancy, and have come up now to the age of young manhood and young womanhood, who, though they know all this as really as did Belshazzar, also despise it all as really as did he. These now do not fear God, nor glorify him in whose hand is their life, and from whom they get their breath every day. Their parents taught them these things when they were small. They understood it then, and they have been under the teaching of it all these years. And now that they have reached the age of young manhood and young womanhood, they despise it as did Belshazzar. And they are the Belshazzars of to-day. And that which came to the Belshazzar of the day will come to the Belshazzars of to-day.

Any one who knows these things that came to Nebuchadnezzar, and acts an did Belshazzar in view of these things that he knows came to Nebuchadnezzar, that person is a Belshazzar; and that which came to the other Belshazzar will come to him. And we are now in the time when these Belshazzars are being weighed in the balances and found wanting. And you know that that is so. Then what is the next thing?–After the weighing of the Belshazzars and the finding of them wanting, the next thing another kingdom comes in. It was Medo-Persia that took the kingdom then. There is another kingdom to come in now too, thank the Lord; and it is the kingdom of God,–the kingdom which shall stand forever, and shall not be given to other people.

And there is where we are on that phase of the subject. And this is another illustration of the deep and solemn meaning of the Missionary Reading Circle, as it comes to families from week to week. And surely it reveals that we are in a time that calls upon all to awake out of sleep as never before in the history of this people. It is a call from God to this whole people to awake and study these things, read the literature, and then spread it abroad to all people, in these days when everything is going with swiftness, and when, of all things, the work of God requires haste.

There is one other item in this connection, to which I must call your attention; and that is the character that stood through all this, and was ready for each step of God's truth as it came, all the way along. At the beginning of the book of Daniel, you find a young man of integrity of principle, who takes his stand upon principle, and stands there. There were three others who stood with him. At the next step in the progress of God's message to the people at that time, you find these four young men faithful, learning from God, and explaining to the king, the king's dream. The next step was the test of the three young men, in the face of a fiery furnace, and they were still found faithful. The next step was Nebuchadnezzar's experience; and Daniel must be called to explain that, and he is equal to the occasion still. He is awake to the time, and can give the message of God upon the hour. The next step is Belshazzar's test. The king's character and his failure are to be revealed, and the nation is to sink into everlasting ruin: and there is that same man; and he is ready on the hour with the message of God for the hour. And he gave the message.

Then there came yet another test after that, when Daniel was tested over and over, we know not how long. He was systematically spied upon. A trap was set for him by a set of schemers, who were ready to take any advantage, or create any advantage, by which they might accomplish their purpose to discredit him and break him down. A large number of them set themselves to spy upon him day by day, to see whether they could not find some fault with him concerning the business of the kingdom. But when they had done everything they could, when they had examined every place, and every particle of business of a mighty world-empire, they were compelled to confess that there was neither error nor fault that could be found–no error in the business, and no fault in the man.

And that is the kind of character that God calls for to-day. Such character alone can stand in this time, in this last Babylon, in this time when God would make known his truth to the nations, in this time of being weighed in the balances and found wanting.

Daniel was weighed in the balances every day. He put himself in the balances before God every day, and held himself before God, in God's balances every day, and had God's judgment passed upon him every day; so whenever the time came for him or anybody else to be weighed in the balances, he was not afraid to go into the balances. He had put himself into the balances, and against himself and all that he was, and all that he ever could have had, he had put the merit of Jesus Christ; and when that was there, there was no weight of sin or anything else that could overbalance that: he was perfectly secure.

While these men were thus systematically conspiring against Daniel, and continually spying upon him, looking suspiciously into every piece of business, and narrowly and with prejudice examining every record with which Daniel was in any way connected, or for which he was in any way responsible, how do you suppose Daniel took it? Do you suppose that Daniel set on foot any arrangement or any scheme to shut that off, or to oppose it, for fear they would discover some fault, or that they might find something that was wrong? Do you think he did? Was Daniel afraid that they would find something wrong?–No. In all this Daniel did simply as he did aforetime. He was not afraid that they would find something wrong.

This is not to say that Daniel had proudly set himself up, and said, There is nothing wrong in me. I am perfect. I am infallible. Not at all. But Daniel was so thoroughly in earnest, so thoroughly honest, so thoroughly just, that he would have been just as glad of the discovery of an error as any enemy in all the land could be. He was always trying to find just such a thing as that himself: and that is how he escaped them all. So if they had found any error, he would have been glad of it, and would have said, All right, we will correct that instantly. And I thank you for pointing it out.

That was Daniel, and that is the kind of business men God wishes in these last days. He is calling for them now in every institution, everywhere among all Seventh-day Adventists throughout the world. And any one in charge of business who is not of that kind, any one who pretends to be a business man and is not of that sort, is not Daniel's sort, and he is not the kind that God is calling for. If there is any one in charge of business anywhere throughout all the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists, who would not be glad to have anybody in the wide world, even a prejudiced, conspiring enemy, point out a mistake, or detect an error, or discover a fault, in the way that business is conducted–any one, I say, who is not glad to have that done is not fit for that place, and is not a Christian business man at all.

And that is what Daniel's business character is put in that book for. It is drawn out thus, and is set before you and me in all its details, and brought down to us in these last days, in order that in these times when God wishes men whom he can trust anywhere, who will be ready to give the Third Angel's Message at any point that may arise, at any crisis that may come, he may find us ready on the instant to give the message of God, ready on the instant to stand whatever test the enemies or friends, God or man, may put upon us.

That is the kind of character alone that will stand in these days and in these fearful times in which we are: I do not say to which we are coming; but in which we are.

Is it not high time that we were doing missionary work? Is it not high time that we, each one of us, were in that place where Daniel stood before God,–weighed daily in the balances, and not found wanting, because of the merit of Jesus Christ, which is our only hope?

This is simply what the Third Angel's Message is–"the hour of his judgment is come." And when the message says that the hour of his judgment is come, as certainly as I believe that message, I believe that the hour of his judg-

132

ment is come to me. And as certainly as I believe that the hour of his judgment is come to me, so certainly will I enter into that judgment, and put myself into the balances to be weighed. I will put myself into the balances of God, the balances of the sanctuary. I will put myself there in the righteousness and fullness of merit of Jesus Christ, who is the "minister of the sanctuary" himself. He who holds the balances knows all the fullness and richness of the merit of the Lord Jesus. And when Jesus Christ's merit is found there in my behalf, I am not afraid to put myself into the balances; for I know that I shall not be found wanting; for he presents me "faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy;" he presents me "holy and unblamable and unreprovable" in the sight of God. His merit is able to take away every sin, to make complete atonement, and to save to the uttermost every soul who comes to God by him. Bless his name.

And so, in the very nature of things, it is only such a character as Daniel's was, such as Jesus Christ's is, that we must have to-day. That is the only thing that will win; that is the only thing that will carry us through, and make us ready for each crisis as it comes.

Then may such study be given to the Missionary Reading Circle as never was given by Seventh-day Adventists before. And may it be attended with such earnestness and such devotion that the blessing of God may come upon each one; for now is the time when this word must go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. We are on the verge of the days when life is to be given to the image of the beast by the very machinery that has been created for this time. May the Lord save his people from the mistakes that Israel made of old. May we awake and give to the world that which God has given to us to give to the world, even while there is yet a little time of quietness and of comparative peace. May we gather from the study of the book of Daniel the principles that will make manifest in us the character of Daniel, so that we shall be ready for every test and every crisis, as was Daniel.

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It as to Babylon the Daughters?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 9 , p. 136.

WE have seen that, up to the time of the planting of the American colonies, each denomination that had been developed by the advance steps of the Reformation had become joined to the state; and that the Independents, or Congregationalists, who had not joined themselves to the state in Europe, did so in the New England colonies, while the Church of England was the established church in all the Southern colonies. Thus it came to pass that in the "New World," church and state were in every colony united, except in Rhode Island, and the whole influence of the colonial governments was enlisted in sustaining the illicit union of professed Protestantism and the state.

But in Virginia, immediately after the Declaration of Independence, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, and the Quakers took the lead in a movement that became universal and even national on this side of the sea. That movement was the total separation of religion and the state, bringing the churches back to the original "principles on which the gospel was first propagated and the Reformation from popery carried on." After a contest of nearly ten years, this splendid task was accomplished for the State of Virginia, "with the hope that it would endure forever."

The long and universal discussion of this great subject in the State of Virginia, had drawn the attention of all the other colonies to this great principle; and when, immediately upon the triumph of the principle in Virginia, the convention was called to form the Constitution, and frame a government, for the whole nation, this principle of the total separation of church and state was established in the National Charter, and was recognized as a fundamental principle. And from this the influence spread, and caused that "in every other American State oppressive statutes concerning religion fell into disuse, and were gradually repealed."

Thus, in this land, and in this great nation, Protestantism was placed in its original attitude, as in the beginning of the Reformation, and as the first principles of the Reformation required; and also in the original attitude of Christianity as it was preached by Christ and the apostles, and as the fundamental principles of Christianity require. Thus Protestantism–the church, even in its different denominations–became clothed with a power that made her once more, and rightly, the "Gate of God." And the benign influence of this excellent example acted upon all the nations of the Old World, and led them forward in the path of light and liberty, which is the path of true Protestantism, which is the path of true Christianity, which is the path of the total separation of the church from the state: the path in which the church walks only with her true Husband, with her dependence solely upon God.

Then, in 1840-44 there came the time when, "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," God would send the message of "the everlasting gospel," proclaiming, to all men: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Rev. 14:6, 7. Thus the church in this great nation, standing in an attitude the purest and the closest to God of any in the world,–in the nature of things, this church would be the chosen instrument by which God would spread that message of blessing and of warning to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." Also thus, in the nature of things, this nation would be the place where that message would rise in its power, and fro which it would spread to all nations.

Here was a wonderful blessing that God had for his church at that time,–a blessing by which she would have been indeed the "Gate of God" to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" on the earth. It was a message that opened up to the church the length and breadth and depth and height of the glory of the everlasting gospel as it had never been seen before since the days when the apostles preached it in the fullness of its living power. In this message was "the mystery of God" revealed in all its fullness,–God manifest in the flesh,–Christ in men "the hope of glory." And all this blessing and glory was to be proclaimed to all the world in view of the fact that "the hour of His judgment is come;" and in order that men might be fitted to stand holy and without blame before God, ready in all respects to be translated without seeing death, at the coming of the glorious Lord.

But lo! instead of receiving this wonderful blessing; instead of rejoicing and being glad that God had sent to her a message that would clothe her with such power as would make her the instrument of God's greatest work for the salvation of the nations, she refused the blessing, rejected the message of God, and would not walk in the light that had come to her and to the world.

Then history again repeated itself. By thus rejecting the message of God, there was a "falling away" again from the truth, and she that had been the "Gate of God," became "confusion," and of her it had to be said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." Faith is the strength and salvation of the church, as of the individual. Faith is the breath of life of the church, it must be constantly and momentarily used, in order to live by it; because "the just shall live by faith;" and faith comes by hearing the word of God.

Since, then, faith comes by hearing the word of God, whenever any word of God, any message of the word of God, is rejected, either by the church or by the individual, faith itself it rejected; because it is impossible to retain faith while rejecting that by which alone faith comes. Further: when any advance light or additional truth is rejected by a church or by an individual, that church or individual not only rejects this advance light and truth, but rejects whatever light and truth such church or individual formerly possessed. A person refusing to breathe rejects not only renewed life, but loses the life that he already has.

This is strongly illustrated in the words of Jesus concerning the people of his day on earth, who rejected him: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." John 15:22. Before Jesus came, these people were walking in the light of faith as they then had it, and Jesus testifies that they were accepted in it. If those folks had died before Jesus came, they would have been saved, because "they had not had sin." But when he came with such light and truth and glory; when he spoke to them such words as had never been spoken to them; when he did among them such works as none ever had done; and they rejected it all and refused him, in so doing they rejected all true faith; not only the present faith in him and his message, but also the faith which they had before he came, and which made them accepted before God in their day before he came. Accordingly, Jesus further said: "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated me and my Father." Verse 24.

Men can not reject the truth of God, and still retain the truth of God: they can not refuse to walk in the light, and still walk in the light: they can not hate Christ and God, and still be the brethren of Christ and the children of God.

Consequently, when in 1840-44 God's wonderful message of the everlasting gospel of light and blessing and of truth, to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, bringing to them the presence, the power, the righteousness, of God, which would prepare them to stand in the judgment,–when this was rejected, and when God's messengers whom he sent to give it were hated and persecuted, then she which had been the "Gate of God" in her day, ceased to be the "Gate of God," and became only "confusion."

"The 'Return of the Jews'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 9 , pp. 136, 137.

"FOR there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek."

It will be of interest to notice the scriptures which discuss the great truth that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. Here is one passage of divine argument as to the relative standing, and the true standing, of the Jews and the Gentiles:–

"Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

"For circumcision [being a Jew] verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision [the Gentile] keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision [the Gentile] which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee [the Jew], who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

"For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Rom. 2:17-29.

Now, how would it be possible more forcibly to show that there is not, and can not be, any sort of difference between Jew and Gentile; for the whole question of the relation of either to God, turns upon character. "There is no respect of persons with God;" there is respect of character. And the sole standard of character is the righteousness of God, which is expressed in his law. And when a Jew disregards the law of God, in character he is a Gentile, and in person he is as a Gentile. And when a Gentile keeps the righteousness of the law, and so fulfills the law, he becomes in character a true Jew, and in person is as a Jew. This because being truly a Jew consists altogether in character, in the true circumcision "of the heart, in the spirit," which is, indeed, "the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh," and having the love of God shed abroad in the heart, which love is manifested in the keeping of the his commandments.

Since, then, when a Jew according to the flesh, wanders from God, and by transgression of the law of God his circumcision is made uncircumcision, and he becomes a Gentile in character, and as a Gentile in person; and when a Gentile comes to God, and his uncircumcision becomes circumcision, and he becomes in character truly a Jew, and in person is as a Jew, what is this but a return–a true return–of the Jew?

And even so says the Scripture, in another place: "They are not all Israel, which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

"That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Rom. 9:6-8.

137

And, "WE, brethren [Galatians–Gentiles], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." Gal. 4:28-30. And when the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman, how much less shall he be heir above the son of the freewoman, as the theory of the "Return of the Jews" represents him!

And all this is simply to say again that the only way of return for the Jews is the way of the faith of Jesus Christ, the way of the truth of the one gospel of Christ, the way of return of all sinners alike: even as is demonstrated over and over in the books of Galatians, Romans, and Hebrews especially, as it is also in the other books of the New Testament, as well as in the very essence of the whole plan of the gospel itself.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:19" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 9 , p. 137.

"WHEREFORE then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions." From the evidences presented in last week's study in Galatians, it is perfectly plain that the law of God, the ten commandments, in written form, both in tables of stone and as drawn out in its principles in the statutes and judgments of the "additional directions given to Moses," was spoken, was given, was added, because of the transgressions of men. As men went further into darkness, the Lord followed them with added efforts, and with further details to bring them to the light. Indeed, they went so far into transgressions and darkness that the Lord actually followed them so far as to give them "statutes that were not good." The whole story is told in the following passage:–

The law of God existed before man was created. The angels were governed by it. Satan fell because he transgressed the principles of God's government. After Adam and Eve were created, God made known to them his law. It was not then written, but was rehearsed to them by Jehovah.

The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was instituted in Eden. After God had made the world and created man upon the earth, he made the Sabbath for man. After Adam's sin and fall, nothing was taken from the law of God. The principles of the ten commandments existed before the fall, and were of a character suited to the condition of a holy order of beings. After the fall, the principles of those precepts were not changed, but additional precepts were given to meet man in his fallen state. . . .

Adam taught his descendants the law of God which law was handed down to the faithful through successive generations. The continual transgression of God's law called for a flood of waters upon the earth. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, who for right-doing were saved in the ark by a miracle of God. Noah taught his descendants the ten commandments. The Lord preserved a people for himself from Adam down, in whose hearts was his law. He says of Abraham, He 'obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, my laws.'" . . .

If the descendants of Abraham had kept separate from other nations, they would not have been seduced into idolatry. . . .

There were but a few families that first went down into Egypt. These increased to a great multitude. Some were careful to instruct their children in the law of God; but many of the Israelites had witnessed so much idolatry that they had confused ideas of God's law. . . .

To leave them without excuse, the Lord himself condescended to come down upon Sinai enshrouded in glory, and surrounded by his angels, and in a most sublime and awful manner made known his law of ten commandments. He did not trust them to be taught by any one, not even his angels, but spoke his law with an audible voice in the hearing of all the people. He did not, even then, trust them to the short memory of a people who were prone to forget his requirements, but wrote them with this own holy finger upon tables of stone. He would remove from them all possibility of mingling with his holy precepts any tradition, or of confusing his requirements with the practices of men.

He then came still closer to his people, who were so readily led astray, and would not leave them with merely the ten precepts of the decalogue. He commanded Moses to write, as he should bid him, judgments and laws, giving minute directions in regard to what he required them to perform, and thereby guarded the ten precepts which he had engraved upon the tables of stone. These specific directions and requirements were given to draw erring man to the obedience of the moral law, which he is so prone to transgress.

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved in the ark by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a token of pledge, they would never have gone into idolatry, nor been suffered to go down into Egypt; and there would have been no necessity of God's proclaiming his law from Sinai, and engraving it upon tables of stone, and guarding it by definite directions in the judgments and statutes given to Moses.

Moses wrote these judgments and statutes from the mouth of God while he was with him in the mount. If the people of God had obeyed the principles of the ten commandments, there would have been no need of the specific directions given to Moses, which he wrote in a book, relative to their duty to God and to one another. The definite directions which the Lord gave to Moses in regard to the duty of his people to one another, and to the stranger, are the principles of the ten commandments simplified and given in definite manner, that they need not err.

The Lord said of the children of Israel, "Because they had not executed my judgments but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers idols. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live." Because of continual disobedience, the Lord annexed penalties to the transgression of his law, which were not good for the transgressor, or whereby he should not live in his rebellion.

By transgressing the law which God had given in such majesty, and amid glory which was unapproachable, the people showed open contempt of the great Lawgiver, and death was the penalty."–"Spirit of Prophecy," Vol. 1. pages 261-265. See also "Patriarchs and Prophets," chap. 32, pars. 1-4.

It is true that the sacrificial system was also given, added, because of transgressions. This is true as to the sacrifices originally, with Adam and Abraham: it is also true of the Levitical system given to Israel in the wilderness. This is also stated in a passage quoted in previous studies, as follows:–

A system was then ["after the fall"] established requiring the sacrificing of beasts, to keep before fallen man that which the serpent made Eve disbelieve, that the penalty of disobedience is death. The transgression of God's law made it necessary for Christ to die a sacrifice, and thus make a way possible for man to escape the penalty, and yet the honor of God's law be preserved."–"Spirit of Prophecy," Vol. 1, page 261.

The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters, the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service. After the completion of the tabernacle, he communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy seat, and gave full directions concerning the system of offerings, and forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. But the law of ten commandments spoken from Sinai had been written by God himself of the tables of stone, and was sacredly preserved in the ark."–"Patriarchs and Prophets," pages 364, 365.

Thus, of either the moral law or the ceremonial law it is true that it was given, added, because of transgressions. The question then is, Which one is the law pre-eminently referred to in this clause in Gal. 3:19? And from the specifications already noticed, as to this law having been "ordained . . . in the hand of a mediator," and the direct association of this text with the speaking of the law of God in Heb. 12:20 and Deut. 5:22, it certainly must be the truth that the law which in this passage is pre-eminently intended, is the law of God, the ten commandments, in written form on tables of stone and in the Bible.

March 6, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It as to Babylon the Daughters?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 10 , p. 152.

SO long as a person walks in the light of God, loves and accepts the truth of God, however that truth may come to him, so long the presence and the power of God will accompany him, and he will have influence with men. The abiding presence and power of God is the only true source of legitimate power and influence with men. When Jacob knew that he had no strength against Esau, who was coming with four hundred armed men, he earnestly sought God all night, until the break of day; and when the angel exclaimed, "Let me go, for the day breaketh," Jacob said, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." "And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Gen. 32:26-28.

Thus the abiding presence and power of God is the only true source of legitimate power and influence with men. And continuing to walk in advancing light, the receiving of additional truth, is the only true means of having this abiding presence and power of God; because this is the only way of faith: and faith is the only means of God's dwelling with us, or we with him. Therefore, in the nature of things, whenever advance light or additional truth is rejected, the power and presence of God are lost; and, in this, the true source of legitimate power and influence with men is lost. And whenever this is so, whether in the case of an individual or of a church, this loss is discerned by that individual or church; and then resort is invariably had to inventions of their own, to external and worldly means, to secure power and influence with men.

In all the instances in all this course of history, from the apostles' days until now, whenever a church has refused to walk in the advancing light, has refused to receive additional truth, she has separated from the presence and power of God, and then has invariably resorted to inventions of her own, and to external and worldly means of securing power and influence with men. And since 180-44 it has been, and is, so with this church in the United States. She rejected the message of God; and so separated herself from the presence and power of God, and thus lost power and influence with men.

But power belongs to the church of God. That is settled: It is the power of God. And power she will have; power she must have, or perish. But it is only the power of God that can keep her alive. By any other power, however great it may be, she will surely perish. The power of God, as manifested in the true gospel of Christ, draws men; for it is written: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." And, in the nature of things, when the church has rejected the drawing power of the everlasting gospel of the crucified Christ, she is compelled to resort to other means of drawing men. And when she resorts to other means to draw men, again, in the nature of things, she draws them not unto Christ, but unto herself: there is a "falling away;" she exalts herself, in the place of God, and draws disciples to herself.

Everybody knows that the Protestant churches in the United States have followed this very course. Beginning with strawberry festivals in summer, and oyster suppers in winter, they have passed through the successive stages of "grab-bags," "fish-ponds," "kissing bees," "auction sales," "ring-cakes," "crazy suppers," lotteries, raffles, etc., etc., etc. All this is too notorious to need any sort of proof.

And this bad gradation, from the milder to the more intense sort, is all perfectly logical, because when the churches had resorted to such means of drawing the crowd and "influencing the masses," the milder forms of entertainment soon grew stale. And these having lost their drawing power, other and more novel devices had to be invented. As these, in turn, grew stale and lost their power to draw, still others had to be invented. And at last they were brought to their wits' end for any such resources.

But there was one source of power and influence with men that still had not been touched: that was–the state. And true to the logic of the case, and true to the whole course of history, this power of the state was at last not simply invoked, but under threats of political perdition to legislators, and "bull-dozing their congressional representatives," they actually seized the power of the United States government, and since have boasted that they hold the government of the United States in their hands. And by their own statements and the acknowledgment of the leading statesmen of the nation, the power of the state and the influence of the law are the only power and influence depended upon by the church to control the masses, even of her own membership.

And thus these churches have run the whole course, after the example of Babylon the great, the mother; and, by rejecting truth, separating from their Lord, and joining themselves to the kings of the earth, they have made themselves true daughters of "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth."

Thus the rejection of the first of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14, resulted in the "falling away" from the truth, and the formation of Babylon the daughters. And, therefore, the second message became due to the world, and must be given: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

And as the first "falling away," which resulted in Babylon the mother, ended in the formation of "the beast," so this latter falling away, which results in Babylon the daughters, ends in the formation of "the image of the beast." And this necessitates the third of the three angels' messages,–the great and mighty Third Angel's Message,–which follows the first two, "saying with a loud voice, If any worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." Rev. 14:9, 10.

Such is the philosophy, and such the course of the things that are the cause of the Third Angel's Message being given in the world. And thus we are brought to the time of the Third Angel's Message, and to the condition of things which demands that that message shall be given. And, therefore, we are brought to the consideration of the Third Angel's Message itself, as it has to do with "the beast and his image."

"The 'Return of the Jews'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 10 , pp. 152, 153.

IN view of the fact that "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;" and that disregard of the law of God turns circumcision into uncircumcision, a Jew into a Gentile; while observance of the law of God turns uncircumcision into circumcicion, a Gentile into a true Jew, the Scripture very appropriately asks the questions: "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?"

And although there is advantage, yet it is in no wise of a sort that calls for any return of the Jews, just because they are Jews–Jews after the flesh. The Scripture answers these questions; but in the answers to the questions, it is nowhere given as one of the advantages which the Jew has that he should return to Palestine.

Though there is much advantage, every way, yet the chief of all the advantages that ever were to the Jews for any cause, is "that unto them were committed the oracles of God." And even these oracles were committed to them, not for their sakes but for the fathers' sakes, that God might fulfill the promise made to the fathers. And the promise made to the fathers was not because of any personal favor that God would show to them; but was altogether because of the character that they had developed through faith in God. And these oracles were committed to them that they, in turn, might convey to all nations of the Gentiles the knowledge of God as revealed in those oracles. And when, instead of doing so, those people abused those oracles, they became even worse than the heathen who had not had the great light that had been given to them.

So, then, neither were the oracles committed to them because they were better than other people, nor did the mere committing of the oracles to them make them better than others; for, in view of the fact of this chief advantage "that unto them were committed the oracles of God," it is written: "What then? are we [the Jews] better than they [the Gentiles]? No, in NO WISE: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. . . .

"Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: aeeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith." Rom. 3:9-30.

Thus again it is demonstrated by the argument of the plain word of God that faith–faith, the faith of Jesus Christ–is the only way for any return of

153

either Jew or Gentile, and is the one only way for both alike. And this faith is equally within the reach of Jew and Gentile wherever they may be. It can not be had any more certainly in Palestine than in any other country; and for the simple reason that it is not found in a place, but only in a Person–the person of Jesus Christ. And through the blessed administration of the eternal Spirit, this Person is now accessible to all people in all places alike.

And through him both Jew and Gentile have access by the one Spirit unto the Father; all are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; and there, "there is neither Jew nor Greek;" for whosoever is Christ's is "Abraham's seed," and an heir "according to the promise" made of God to Abraham.

And this is the return, and the only true return, of the Jews to their own land; for the land that God sware to Abraham to give to him and to his seed is the only land that truly belongs to the Jews; and this belongs only to true Jews, the true seed of Abraham, who are such only by faith in Christ.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:19" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 10 , pp. 152.

"WHEREFORE then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions. . . and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator."

This statement in Gal. 3:19 is identical in substance with that by Stephen in his last words to the Sanhedrin, as they were about to stone him to death, when he said, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers; who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." Acts 7:52, 53.

This expression by Stephen, that the law was received, "by the disposition of angels," and the expression in Gal. 3:19, that the law "was ordained by angels," are identical; for Stephen's word translated "disposition," and Paul's word translated "ordained," are the same Greek word precisely, with simply a variation in tense. Stephen's word is diatagas and Paul's word is diatageis.

Now, what law could it be which, whatever else might be included, was pre-eminently the law referred to by Stephen when, in connection with the law that they had not kept, he charged them with being murderers? What law is it which pre-eminently is not kept by a murderer?–It is the law of God–the ten commandments, one of which says, "Thou shalt not kill." And when the same identical word is used in Gal. 3:19, in the same identical connection, then what law alone can be referred to as pre-eminently the law there referred to, whatever other laws may be included? To have any other than the same law in both places, would be simply to do positive violence to the plain scripture in its whole connection. And since there can be no possible question as to what law is pre-eminently the one referred to by Stephen, there can likewise be no question as to what law is pre-eminently referred to in Gal. 3:19, when the same identical word is used as was used by Stephen, and in the same connection and in the same sense precisely.

What, then, is the thought expressed in the words "the disposition of angels," "ordained by angels"? The root of the two words used by Stephen and Paul is diatasso, which signifies "to arrange, ordain, establish;" "to set in order, and draw up an army" on parade, or "in battle order." Thus, the specific statement in the two passages is that at the giving of the law referred to in the two places, the angels were drawn up in a grand array, as a king disposes his army, or a general his troops; and that, in the presence of this grand array of the angels of God, the law in question was given by the hand of a mediator.

As was presented in a former study: Since there is but "one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," Christ is unquestionably the Mediator in whose hand this law was ordained. And the scene is touched in Deut. 33:2; "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them." From his right hand went forth this "fiery law" in the writing upon the tables of stone, and also in the work of making the tables of stone upon which the law was written by the hand of fire. For "the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Ex. 32:16.

And when those original tables had been broken by Moses, although Moses hewed out a second two tables like unto the first, he was required to take up these tables into the mount; and there, Moses says, the Lord again "wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." Deut. 10:4, 5.

Thus the law of the ten commandments, in the completest sense, was given by the hand of the "one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus;" and no other law was given. Other law was given by word, or by inspiration, to Moses, which he wrote with his hand; but no other law than that on the tables of stone was given in or by the hand of the Mediator. From his "hand" went forth that "fiery law;" and from that hand went forth no other law. And when from that "right hand" went forth that "fiery law," then thousands of saints were present. These ten thousands of saints (or "holy ones," R.V.) were the grand and glorious array of angels ordained, disposed, set in order, by the heavenly King, to behold and to do honor to this wonderful transaction of that most wonderful occasion.

Even Christian people have never yet truly discerned the majesty and glory of the giving of the law at Sinai; and that majesty and glory are only the true measure of the importance of that event. "There were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud:" "mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly:" "the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder:" "the voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook." Ps. 77:18.–And from the midst of that glorious and terrible scene, when "the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness" (Deut. 4:11), "the Lord spake. . . . out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice," the ten commandments (Deut. 5:22), "and he added no more." And "all the people that was in the camp trembled," and "entreated that the word should not be spoken [added] to them any more." And then, with his hand of fire, "he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto" Moses.

"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." Ps. 68:17. "The angels, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, surrounded the people of God as they were assembled around the mountain, and were all above them; thus making a great living tabernacle, from which every evil angel was excluded, that not one word that was to come from the voice of Jesus should be altered in any mind, nor one suggestion of doubt or evil to a soul be made."

Thus when the law was delivered at Sinai, the glorious Lord and all the people were surrounded with the heavenly host of angels, disposed, ordained, arranged in orderly array. Four-faced and four winged cherubim, six-winged seraphim, and bright angels in glittering golden chariots–all these by the thousands upon thousands accompanied the Majesty of heaven, the Mediator, as in love there went forth from his hand to sinful men his great fiery law of love. Deut. 33:3. Then at the giving of the law of God, the ten commandments, at Sinai, there certainly has been no more majestic scene since the creation of the world. And that is the only law ever given by the hand of the Mediator.

How can there be any question or doubt that this is the law of Gal. 3:19 that was added because of transgressions, and that was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator?

"A Mischievous Scheme" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 10 , p. 154.

TWO years ago Mr. John Barrett was United States Minister to Siam. Since that he has been in the United States about a year. Here he seems to be a sort of general drummer-up of sympathy, and molder of public opinion, in favor of the policy of the United States in the East. February 22 he was the guest of honor at a banquet of the Southern Society of New York City, on which occasion he made a speech on America's policy in the far East. He declared that the "open-door" victory of the United States in China must now be defended; and that she must not allow the other powers to "slam the door." In order for the United States to make sure of her position there, he gave the following most dangerous advice:–

There remains, however, one highly strategic and effective move to be made on the chessboard of diplomacy before the United States and the world at large will be convinced that disguised efforts to discriminate against our products will be forever checkmated under those new agreements, and I think the government at Washington has the point well in mind. We must have a test case, and the sooner the better,–not a defiant attitude or effort to embroil our country in war, but a firm purpose, prompted by an honest desire to establish our rights by practical trial, like the test of the constitutionality of a new law that has just been enacted. Stated in other and brief terms: We must have a precedent now to prove that the door is opened and can not be closed. If an effort is made to shut it in our faces, either by a gradual movement or a slam, despite these new negotiations, our government, support by the country at large, must resist such movement, and insist on our rights, with all the forces, moral and material, at our command.

And in view of all the circumstances, it is practically certain that this mischievous advice will be followed. Indeed, the danger is that the thing is already planned, and that this statement of the necessity is put forth as a feeler, and to pave the way for it. And with what a world of possible danger and calamity the suggestion is laden!

March 13, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 11 , p. 168.

"AND the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:9-12.

Such is the Third Angel's Message in itself. And what an awful thing it must be to "worship the beast and his image," when the doing of it brings such fearful consequences as are here spoken? What a wicked thing it must be for any one to "worship the beast and his image," when the warning against it must be put in such words as are the words of the warning in this message! And yet the worship of the beast and his image will be so widespread that the message of warning against it must be made universal in the words "if any man worship the beast and his image," etc.

The universality of this thing, and of the warning against it, is further shown in the fact that this angel follows the one of the eighth verse, and he follows the one of the sixth verse; and the message of the angel of the sixth verse is "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." And since the second and the third unmistakably must go "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people." And since the second and the third follow this one, these two as well as the first unmistakably must go "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." And since this threefold message, culminating in the warning of the third angel against the worship of the beast and his image, this shows that the worship of the beast and his image will be found in every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.

This is shown in yet another way. In the record of the beast it is said: "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain fro the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him heart." Rev. 13:8, 9. And of the other beast, which gives life unto the image of the beast, it is written that "he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast." Rev. 13:12. These scriptures thus testify to the universality of the worship of the beast and his image.

The beast is possessed of power and "great authority," insomuch that "all the world wondered after the beast," and exclaimed, "Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" And all this power and great authority are exerted to compel all that dwell upon the earth to worship the beast.

Then, when the other beast rises, which is instrumental in the making, and the giving of life to, the image of the beast, he, likewise, is possessed of great power, even as we have already read: "He exerciseth all the power of the first beast." And all this power is put forth by this beast to compel all men to worship "the beast and his image."

Thus, each of these terrible powers in the earth, singly and both of them together, exert all their power, singly and unitedly, to compel all to worship the two, both singly and unitedly. And to what extent they go in the exercise of this power is shown in the description of the work of the image of the beast, which is made alive and active by the "other beast," which exercises "all the power of the first beast." On this it is written: "He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast SHOULD BE KILLED. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13:15-17.

Since, then, all this power, which is indeed all the power of the earth, is so exerted to compel all men to worship these terrible and terribly wicked powers, how appropriate it is that the first voice of the great threefold message should proclaim "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," "Fear God, and give glory to him," "and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

By this outline of the conditions of things in the world, which makes essential the loud, warning voice of the Third Angel's Message, it is seen that in the time of this message there is a universal conflict between the powers of evil and the power of God. All the powers of "the beast and his image," actuated by the spirit of the dragon, "which is the devil, and Satan," are put forth to prevent all men everywhere from worshiping the true God. And because of this, and in view of the terrible consequences of such a thing, the Lord sends his great threefold message, warning all mankind against the terrible work of these powers, and calling upon all to worship him, the true God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains of waters. From the scriptures relating to the case, it is evident that the contest is a terrible one. On the one hand is all the power and wrath of the beast and his image, persecuting unto death all who will not worship them. On the other hand is "the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation," upon all who worship the beast and his image.

And there will be those who will not worship the beast and his image,–those who will worship him that made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of waters,–who will not receive the mark of the beast in their foreheads or their hands, but will keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

And these get "the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name," and "stand on the sea of glass" before the great white throne, "having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb," which is the song of their triumph, through the power of God, over all false worship, over all the power of the beast and his image, exercised to enforce false worship.

Next week the study in the message will be, What Is the Beast? and What His Image?

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 11 , p. 168.

THE "higher criticism," which has thoroughly dissected the Old Testament, is now putting the same sort of effort upon the New Testament. In the January Contemporary Review, Dr. James Stalker says that "even orthodox German writers do not hesitate to characterize a saying of Christ as unauthentic, if it does not square with their own opinions;" and that "it is more than possible that within the next decade the Gospels may be issued from the press, printed in all the colors of the rainbow to indicate the different documents of which they are composed, as is happening to the books of the Old Testament at the present hour. The materials already exist in abundance for such an effort; and only a bold hand is required to appropriate them." Since faith comes by the word of God, and since the word of God throughout is thus treated, did not Jesus do well to inquire, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Preach the Word.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:19" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 11 , pp. 168, 169.

"Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator."

By each particular clause of this verse, considered by itself alone, we have found that the law of God–the ten commandments in written form, as given at Sinai, and as in the Bible–is the law that is pre-eminently meant, and is the only one that meets all the requirements of all the specifications so far considered. What now of this one–"till the seed should come to whom the promise was made"?

There are two laws referred to in Galatians. That is settled. They were both added; and they were both added because of transgressions. But which is pre-eminently the law referred to in that place, and its connection? That is the question here.

There are also two comings of the seed, which is Christ; and it is proper and fair to ask, Which is the coming referred to here? Why should any one settle and firmly fix as the coming of this passage a coming that requires that a law shall also be settled and fixed as the law of the passage, which will not meet the requirements of the passage in its connection? That is what has been done; and it has been the great defect in the usual consideration of this passage of Scripture.

Those who are the enemies of the law of God in any form, and who would be glad to have it abolished in every form, but who do not know that that law could not by any possibility be abolished, have always wrung this verse in to do service in that terribly mistaken cause. These eagerly seize upon and settle it that the coming of the Seed here referred to is the first coming of Christ. They never look beyond the single clause: it is not to their interest to do so; because the only use they have for this scripture is that they may support their determination that the law of God is abolished. Thus the enemies of the law of God.

On the other hand, the friends of the law of God know that it is true that there was a law abolished at the first coming of Christ. And since here is a law that was added "till the seed should come," these friends of the law of God allow, and even settle upon, the claim of the enemies of the law of God, that the first coming of Christ is the coming that is here meant: THEN, and CONSEQUENTLY the law that was abolished is decided to be the law here referred to. But it must be confessed that this is a weak way of getting at the thing. It bears on its face more the aspect of the begging of the question than of a real study and discovery of the truth as it is in the Word, for the truth's sake. As a matter of fact, there is nothing in the passage, nor any where in this whole connection, that suggests the abolition of any law. The subject is, Wherefore serveth the law? What is the purpose, the object, the aim, of the law?

But there are two comings of the Seed. There is another, the second coming of Christ as well as there was the first. Is it impossible that this second coming of the Seed should be the coming referred to in this passage? There are other similar expressions in the Scripture.

For instance, Eze. 21:27. Speaking of the removing of the diadem and crown of the king of Judah, it says: "I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it; and it shall be no more, until HE COME whose right it is; and I will give it to him." What coming is this? The answer to this question can be given only by a consideration of the facts in the case, He came, but instead of receiving that crown, he received a crown of thorns; instead of being seated upon that throne, he was nailed to the

169

cross. So we know that that was not the coming referred to in the text, but that it is his second coming "seated upon the throne of his father David, and having on his head many crowns. Then it is that the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord. and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 11:15, R.V. And this is the coming of him whose right it is, that is referred to in the text, and then it will be given him.

Again, it is written that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. That Seed CAME, and did not bruise the serpent's head, but himself was bruised instead. Isa. 53:5. And after he had come, and had thus been bruised, even to death; had risen again from the dead; and had ascended to heaven,–even thirty years after these things–it was written: "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Rom. 16:20.

In Daniel 2 it is written: "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. 2:44. We all know that it is generally held by the ministers of the day that this was done at the first coming of Christ: that there the stone was cut out without hands, and is to roll on, and on, and on, until it fills the whole earth. But WE know that when he was here, he said, "My kingdom is not of this world," and "not from hence." John 18:36. And so we know that this scripture is fulfilled at his second coming.

Now, why should it be thought impossible that Gal. 3:19 should refer to his second coming? Look at the situation as it is in the text, with its context: "Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made." What promise?–The promise of the inheritance, unquestionably: as it is written: "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made." Thus it is fixed by the Word itself that the promise referred to is the promise of the inheritance. And whatever law it is that is here referred to, it is given, added, till He comes to whom the promise of the inheritance was made.

Now, at his first coming did he receive any of the inheritance?–No; no more than did Abraham, to whom with him, the promise was made. He "had not where to lay his head." And of him it was equally true, as with Abraham, that he received "none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on.

Notice, too, particularly, that the clause says, "Till the seed should come to whom,"–not concerning whom, but TO whom–"the promise was made." That is, the promise referred to was made to HIM, personally; and not simply to somebody, concerning him. But it is fixed by the text that the promise is the promise of the inheritance. This promise was made to Abraham and to his seed, which is Christ; and this was done when the promise was made to Abraham. But, further, it was also done TO the seed himself in person, which is Christ. Read it in the second psalm: "The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." Verses 7, 8. Here is the promise of the inheritance made direct to the seed, which is Christ.

Now, when is this promise fulfilled? And when something should be done, make, or instituted, "till the seed should come TO whom" that promise was made, then which coming would be the true and the only logical one that could be considered?–Plainly, the coming that would be at the receiving of the inheritance REFERRED TO THE PROMISE; and with which alone the promise is concerned.

Therefore, considering what the promise is plainly in the scriptures declared to be,–the promise of the inheritance,–and considering that this promise relates and pertains particularly, and above all, to his second coming, it is evident that the second coming of Christ, rather than his first, is the one referred to in the clause "till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.

And since by every other clause of the verse, we have found that the law of God, as given on tables of stone at Sinai, and in the Bible, is the one pre-eminently referred to, and the only one that will meet all the specifications of all the clauses; and since the coming referred to in this clause is the coming in connection with the inheritance and the receiving of it, this settles it beyond all possibility of controversy that the law of God, the ten commandments, as given on the tables of stone and in the Bible, must remain in full force and obligation UNTIL THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST and the end of the world. And we all know that it will not be abolished then.

It is always true that those scriptures that Satan fixes upon and uses most tenaciously to prove the abolition of the law of God are the very ones which, when truly grasped, are seen to most conclusively and most beautifully show its everlasting integrity and obligation.

Look at the subject further. The inheritance is the thing referred to in the promise. But with what is the inheritance connected?–Plainly, and only, with God's covenant with Abraham–the everlasting covenant. Notice in the context that "the covenant [that is the covenant with Abraham, the everlasting covenant] that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise [the promise of the inheritance of that covenant] of none effect." Gal. 3:17.

As we have seen in a former study, the inheritance is the great thing in the covenant with Abraham, the everlasting covenant. Indeed, the covenant with Abraham was made by God in pledge to Abraham that he should inherit that which God had promised. For after God had promised it to him, Abraham said, "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" And, in answer, God made with him, and entered into with him, that blood covenant, in which he pledged his life that the promise of the inheritance should never fail. Gen. 15:8, 18.

And as we also found in the former studies, all that ever come in after that covenant was made, was, in blessing men, to enable them to attain to the fullness of that covenant, and to the inheritance of which that everlasting covenant is the pledge. And this was exactly the object of the giving of the law of God on tables of stone on Mount Sinai, and in the Bible. For if men had kept that covenant, they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone." The object of that law, thus written and given to men, bringing transgressions to a head, making sins abound, was and is that men might find the grace of Christ much more abounding,–that through him they might attain to the fullness of that everlasting covenant with Abraham, and so to the inheritance of which that covenant was and is the pledge.

And to allow the coming of the seed to whom the promise of the inheritance was made, to be the second coming of Christ, and not his first,–this gives opportunity for the law of God, in its written form, to fulfill its grand object, which is the bringing of men, through faith in Christ, to the fullness of that everlasting covenant. The fullness of that everlasting covenant is the righteousness of God–the keeping of the commandments, and the faith of Jesus." And men must be brought to the fullness of that everlasting covenant in order that they may receive the inheritance, of which that everlasting covenant is the pledge.

That this view is the correct one, and is the truth of the matter, is emphasized by the fact that the everlasting covenant is not met in its fullness, in believers, until the second coming of Christ; that is, till the seed really comes to whom the promise of the inheritance was made.

One provision of that everlasting covenant is. "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." And that provision will not be accomplished in its fullness until, by the Third Angel's Message, men are brought to the actual keeping of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;" so that the Lord, looking down from heaven upon them, can say, in perfect truth: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Another provision of that covenant is: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." Heb. 8:11. Although we are now living in the times of the new covenant as really as was Abraham, yet neither the world nor we have attained to that point where it is not necessary any more for any man to teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, Know the Lord. And this part of the everlasting covenant will not be met in its fullness until, through the blessing and power of God in the Third Angel's Message, the mystery of God shall have been finished. Col. 1:26, 27; Rev. 19:7.

It is not necessary here to take up all the clauses of the new covenant one by one. These are enough to illustrate the truth that the everlasting covenant, the new covenant, the covenant with Abraham, which is the pledge of the inheritance that is promised to the Seed, is not met in its fullness in those who accept it, till the second coming of Christ.

And if this be not plain enough by the scriptures presented, or is not convincing enough, then read the following sentences from the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of Prophesy:–

It was at midnight that God chose to deliver his people. As the wicked were mocking around them, suddenly the sun appeared; shining in his strength, and the moon stood still. The wicked looked upon the scene with amazement, while the saints beheld with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Signs and wonders followed in quick succession. Everything seemed turned out of its natural course. The streams ceased to flow. Dark, heavy clouds came up and clashed against each other. But there was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like many waters, shaking the heavens and the earth. There was a mighty earthquake. The graves were opened, and those who had died in faith under the Third Angel's Message, keeping the Sabbath, came form from their dusty beds, glorified, to hear the covenant of peace that God was to make with those who had kept his law.

The sky opened and shut, and was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot, and cast out stones upon the land. And as God spoke the day and the hour of JESUS' COMING, and delivered the EVERLASTING COVENANT to his people, he spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. . .The wicked could not look upon them [the saints] for the glory. And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God in keeping his Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image."–"Early Writings," pp. 145, 146.

The following quotation also, though concerning in substance what is in the foregoing quotation, contains statements that make it worth printing in this connection:–

With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens, and seems to encircle each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God's covenant, and long to be shielded from its overpowering brightness. . . In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying. "It is done." That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, "such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great." . . . Graves are opened, and "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth" "awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." All who have died in the faith of the Third Angel's Message come forth from the tomb, glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who have kept his law. . . .

The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus' coming and delivering the everlasting covenant to his people. . . .

Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour, and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The peo-

170

ple of God know this to be the sign of the Son of Man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it, the rainbow of THE COVENANT.–"Great Controversy" pages 635-641.

And when the saints of God have thus attained to the fullness of the everlasting covenant, the covenant with Abraham, when the object of the giving of the law from Sinai, and in the Bible, has thus been accomplished, the law will not then be abolished, but will be kept in mind, in heart, in soul, just as it was by Adam, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, when as yet there was "no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai, or written on the tables of stone." Instead of being then abolished, it will be observed and lived more fully and more perfectly that ever before by men.

And this is "Wherefore serveth the law?" And this is why it is that "it was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise [of the inheritance] was made, and it was ordained by [the disposition, the grand array of] angels in the hand of a mediator."

We are thoroughly convinced that more genuine study, and far more profitable study can be put upon Galatians 3:19, and the rest of the chapter, and the whole book, by Seventh-day Adventists, than has ever yet been put upon it by us or anybody else.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 11 , pp. 170, 171.

PUERTO RICO is a possession of the United States; and so is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

For more than a year the United States, by her officials, has governed the people of Puerto Rico.

Those people are therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

The Constitution of the United States says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction are citizens of the United States."

Just now Congress and the national administration are, and for about two weeks have been, earnestly discussing the proposition, and the House has already decided, that, though the Puerto Ricans are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, they are not citizens of the United States, because the Constitution does not extend to Puerto Rico.

In order to maintain this proposition, it is held that the term "United States" is restricted to, and is declared to mean, only the States; that it does not include the Territories at all; and that, therefore, the people of the Territories and of the island possessions are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress, and can never have any of the benefits of the Constitution as of the Constitution, nor at all unless Congress chooses to extend to them said benefits.

This procedure, if confirmed by the Senate, at once inaugurates, as a principle of the United States government, the principle of government without the Constitution. It at once sets Congress above the Constitution; and so makes Congress absolute everywhere except in the States.

171

The President of the United States admits that "if the Constitution of itself extends to every possession over which the flag flies," "it would be necessary to give up the Philippines;" and that "if the Supreme Court [by a decision] compels us to take the archipelago within the Constitution," he "will advocate abandonment of the islands."

Thus it is admitted on the highest authority that the new career entered upon by the United States can not be followed under the Constitution; but must be followed without the Constitution, or not at all.

This is precisely what we have said from the beginning. Every step that has so far been taken in this course, we have called attention to, and shown that it was in principle the abandonment of the Constitution. Now the matter has come to a crisis, and it is not only admitted but declared by the highest possible national authority. This whole country is awake. Congress is all astir. The Senate is now deliberating upon this mighty question in its crisis at the final parting of the ways.

Will not nation now consciously abandon its Constitution for empire and absolutism? With intense interest we await the answer which in a few days will be made by the event of national action. For when this nation shall "repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government," this national apostasy means speedy national ruin.

"'What Do These Things Mean?'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 11 , p. 170.

DUTY is plain: the selling time has come if means is demanded to advance the cause and work of God, and can not be raised without selling your extra land and your extra houses. AWAKE, BRETHREN, TO THE CALL OF DUTY.–E. G. W., in REVIEW AND HERALD, No. 6, 1885.

Everything in the world is hastening to a finish. The world is throwing its whole soul into what it is doing, and it is making things move. Why, then, is it that many of God's institutions and enterprises are standing still or staggering right on the border line of eternity?–Clearly because we are not putting our whole soul into them to make them stand up stiffly for the truth, and move forward with power and life.

It is true that in many instances there has not been the best management. But there is only one thing that can be done about this now. That is to tell the Lord that we have been all wrong, and altogether repent of the evil, and go on and do better. It is no manner of use for us to stand still, and blame those who have had charge of things. we might not have done any better if we had been in their places. "Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." Those who have had the management of things are not the only ones who can be rightly accused of wasting the means entrusted to their care. All of us have been guilty of this to a greater or less extent.

In the Battle Creek College there has been mismanagement. God has reproved it; and the men who were in it have freely confessed it, and have repented of it. Many of them are doing all that they can to make amends. They are doing this in a real, material way, sacrificing, and giving of their means. Now the Lord has spoken, and has said that the debt of the college should be raised. This debt aggregates over $70,000. As there are other colleges and institutions in other districts that also have debts, it is asked that the people of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin take upon them the raising of this debt. Come along, brethren and sisters, and let us do it! It will be a bright and joyful day when this debt, which is one of the oldest as well as one of the largest resting upon a Seventh-day Adventist institution, is lifted.

To lift this debt will mean for some persons to sell extra lands and houses. There are those among Seventh-day Adventists in the four States mentioned who do have extra lands and extra houses. Will these now sell these extra lands and houses, and relieve the suffering school? Or will they give these extra lands and houses to the school, so that it can sell them and free itself?

Here are a few paragraphs from "Testimonies for the Church," Vol. I, pages 175, 175:–

He [God] could send means from heaven to carry on His work; but this is out of His order. He has ordained that men should be His instruments, that as a great sacrifice was made to redeem them, they should act a part in this work of salvation, by making a sacrifice for one another, and by thus doing show how highly they prize the sacrifice that has been made for them.

I was directed to James 5:1-3: "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days."

I saw that these fearful words apply particularly to the wealthy who profess to believe the present truth. The Lord calls them to use their means to advance His cause. Opportunities are presented to them, but they shut their eyes to the wants of the cause, and cling fast to their earthly treasure. . . . They give a little now and then to ease their conscience, but have not overcome their love for this world. . . . The work is closing; and soon the means of those who have kept their riches, their large farms, their cattle, etc., will not be wanted. I saw the Lord turn to such in anger, in wrath, and repeat these words: "Go to now, ye rich men." He has called, but you would not hear. Love of this world has drowned His voice. Now He has no use for you, and lets you go, bidding you: "Go to now, ye rich men." . . .

I was shown that as the work is closing up, and the truth is going forth in mighty power, these rich men will bring their means and lay it at the feet of the servants of God, begging them to accept it. The answer from the servants of God will be: "Go to now, ye rich men." Your means is not needed. Ye withheld it when ye could do good with it in advancing the cause of God.

Again, on page 152, are the words:–

Oh, the blighting influence that has been cast by men professing to be waiting for their Lord, and yet possessing large and attractive lands! The farms have preached louder, yes, much louder, than words can, that this world is their home. The evil day is put off. Peace and safety reign. Oh, the withering, blighting influence! God hates such worldly-mindedness. "Cut loose, cut loose," were the words of the angel.

Let us all do all we can for the Lord and unto the Lord in this matter. We have before stated what Sister White is doing for the college, in giving all the proceeds from this school district, of a new and most valuable book that is coming out. Those in the school have done a great deal already, and are going to do more. Let all the people in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin make generous contributions, March 17, to relieve the college of its slavish burden. All contributions should be sent to P. T. Magan, College, Battle Creek, Mich.
ALONZO T. JONES, Pres. College Board.

March 20, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It, as to the Beast and His Image?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 12 , p. 184.

WHAT is the Beast? What is the Image of the Beast? These two powers are described in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation. But since the thirteenth chapter is but the complement of the twelfth, the twelfth must be considered in connection with the thirteenth, in order to obtain the best view of what is the Beast and what his Image.

At the opening of the twelfth chapter there is seen a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars, who brings forth "a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." That "man child" is Jesus Christ. Ps. 2:9; Rev. 19:15, 16; Luke24:50, 51; Mark 16:9; Acts 7:55; Heb. 8:1.

This woman is nothing else than the church of God, in her beauty "fair as the moon," and "clear as the sun." And there stood before the woman a great red dragon "to devour her child as soon as it was born." This dragon, in his own proper person, is declared to be "that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan." But Satan in this world works through instrumentalities. His instrumentalities are men, and, chiefly, combinations of men in world-powers. What power was it, then, which was Satan's instrument in his endeavors to destroy Christ as soon as he was born?–Herod. But who was Herod?–He was more than simply a person: he was king of the Jews and of Judea. And yet he was more than that; for he became king only by a decree of the Roman Senate, upon the special advocacy of Octavius Cesar and Mark Anthony. And he could not have been king for a day in Judea, unless he had been supported by the mighty power of Rome. Thus Herod, in his place of power, was only the creature, the representative, of the Roman power. Therefore the Roman power in the world was the instrumentality that Satan used in his endeavors to destroy Christ as soon as he was born.

However, that attempt failed. Yet Satan never rested until he had, so far as possible, and so far as himself and this world were concerned, destroyed the Lord Jesus–until he had crucified him upon the cross, and had buried him out of the world, in a tomb sealed with the Roman seal. And it was by the Roman power that he did all this–through Pilate, the Roman governor. But even in this he failed; because from death and the sealed Roman tomb, the man child "was caught up unto God, and to his throne."

Then Satan turned all his endeavors, through his world instrumentality,–the Roman Empire,–against the woman, which is the church, and "persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." This he did while that Roman power continued. And all the while that that power did continue, it was so identified with Satan, who is pre-eminently the dragon, and so entirely imbued with his spirit, that this power itself is called the dragon. Rev. 12:3, 4. But Rome in that phase, pagan Rome, fell: that power in that form passed away, and it was succeeded by that which, in the book of Revelation, is called "the beast."

Accordingly, it is written: "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:1-8.

Notice that the dragon gave to this beast, which is "the beast," his power, and his seat, and great authority. Now it is true that the power of pagan Rome; and the seat of pagan Rome, which was the city of Rome; and the authority of pagan Rome, passed over to this power, which succeeded pagan Rome. And more than this is true: it is true that the dragon pre-eminently is Satan; and in this it is true that Satan gave to the Beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. Another passage in the book of Revelation, referring to Rome, speaks of it as "where Satan's seat is." Rev. 2:13.

And thus the power, the seat, and the authority of the Beast, are all received from Satan; even as the Beast received the power, and the seat, and the authority that had belonged to the phase of Rome that had passed away.

And this new phase of Rome, in its world-wide power, Satan still used in his persecution of the woman. "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." Rev. 12:14. And the Beast, the great world instrument of that old serpent that is the devil and Satan, made "war with the saints," and overcame them, and "power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." And this power was given him to continue forty and two months–"a time, and times, and half a time," "a thousand two hundred and threescore days." Rev. 13:7; 12:6, 14.

This period of time began in A.D. 538, and, continuing twelve hundred and sixty years, reached to A.D. 1798. It began in A.D. 538 because in that year was rooted out the last of the three powers that were plucked up by the roots, before the establishment of the papacy, not as a church, but as a world-power; and ended in 1798, when the papacy was led into captivity, by the capture and imprisonment of Pope Pius VI, under order of the French directory.

Then comes in the rise and the description of the Image of the Beast, as it is written: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13:11-17.

And this power which is here called "the image of the beast," speaking as a dragon, and using all the power of the first beast, is, in its turn and place, used by Satan, "the great dragon," still in persecuting the church; as it is written: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17.

And this brings us definitely to the Third Angel's Message; because the Image of the Beast compels all to worship the Beast, and to receive his mark. And the Third Angel's Message warns all against worshiping the Beast and his Image, and against receiving his mark. Satan uses these powers in his wrath against the remnant of the church, which particularly stirs his wrath by keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. And the Third Angel's Message, in saving men from the worship of the Beast and his Image, calls them all to the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This is all done in the time of the remnant of the church, which is the last of the church. And the Third Angel's Message closes with the coming of the Lord, and the victory over the Beast and his Image by those who have received the Third Angel's Message.

Now, from the description given in the Word, anyone can see that the Beast is the Papacy; and, in the nature of things, the Image of the Beast is the Image of the Papacy. What, then, in a word, is the Papacy?–It is a union of the church and the state, with the church supreme, and using the power of the state for her despotic and persecuting purposes. And the Beast was formed by the union of the fallen church with the mighty world-power of Rome. In the nature of things, therefore, the Image of the Beast would be another great and notable instance of the fallen church uniting with a mighty world-power, and using that power of the state in the likeness of the Papacy.

Where, then, in the world must the Image of the Beast be found? notice that the Image of the Beast must be "made;" for it was said "to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast." And the only place where such a thing could be made, would have to be in a nation where, at first, there was no such thing. And since the Beast is the union of church and state, and the Image of the Beast must be "made" in a nation where, to begin with, there was no such thing, it is perfectly plain that the Image of the Beast must arise–must be "made"–in a nation where, to begin with, there was no union of church and state. And this order of things out of which comes the Image of the Beast, was seen "coming up" at the end of the twelve hundred and sixty years, at the time when the Beast was led into "captivity."

Where, then, in 1798, could there be found on the earth any nation coming up, in which there was no union of church and state? Indeed, where at any time in the history of the world in the Christian era has there been a nation planted, in which there was no union of church and state?–In the United States, and in this alone, of all places on the earth. In 1789 this nation was fully formed and established, in order, under its Constitution. On March 4, 1797, ended the second administration of the nation's first president, and occurred the inauguration of its second president. Thus, in 1798, this nation could be seen "coming up" to its place among the powers of the earth, since, by that time, it had become firmly established, and was moving quietly, safely, and steadily forward, in a national career.

And it was without a union of church and state. The total separation of religion and the state was one of the fundamental principles in the establishment of the nation, and was the just pride of the nation before the world. And this was the only nation on the earth at that time, or in all history since the book of Revelation was written, that did so begin, and that had no union of church and state.

Accordingly, this nation is the place, and the only one in the world, where it could be properly be said "to them that dwell on the earth" that they should "make" a union of church and state–"an Image of the Beast." Consequently, in the United States, in connection with this power as a nation, is the place where the Image of the Beast must be found. This is so certain that in no other nation are the specifications of this scripture met at all, while in this nation they are fully met. For though

185

this can not be further dwelt upon just now, it is the truth, as will abundantly appear, that the Image of the Beast is already nearly, full-formed in this nation.

Thus, the twelfth chapter of Revelation is a sketch of the powers used by Satan against the church of God, from the first advent of Christ unto his second. These powers are three: the Dragon, the Beast, and the Image of the Beast. And these three are pagan Rome, papal Rome, and American Rome.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:21, 22" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 12 , p. 185.

"IS the law then against the promises of God? God forbid; for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

The law could not possibly be against the promises of God. For when God had given a promise, why should he, and how could he, set up anything against the promise? Why should he desire to weaken or to frustrate his own promise? Therefore his "God forbid" is set against any such suggestion. Instead of the law being against the promises, it is, as we have again and again seen, an aid to men in attaining unto the promises.

The divine reason here given as to why the law is not against the promises is that "if there had been a law given which could have given life," then "verily righteousness should have been by the law." And if righteousness had been by the law, there would have been no need of any promises. Indeed there would then have been no place for any promises. For "to him that worketh [obtains righteousness by the law] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." Rom. 4:4.

If righteousness could be obtained by working, it would be possessed in the very act of the work performed. And when possessed, there could not possibly be any room for any promise of it. And if righteousness could be obtained by working, then the reward of righteousness would be earned, and so would be a debt due; and any with holding of it from him who had earned it, and to whom it was so due, would be in justice. Thus again, if righteousness were by the law, there would be no room for any promise; for even to promise to a person that which he had already earned, and which was already due, would be a withholding of the thing earned and due, and so would be injustice.

Therefore upon every consideration, if righteousness could be obtained by the law, then the law would be against the promises of God. And for any one to expect righteousness by the law, he in that very thing does set the law against the promises of God. But against all thought of obtaining righteousness by the law the Lord sets his "God forbid" that the law should be against the promises.

Another reason given why righteousness can not be by the law is that the law can not give life–"if there had been a law given which could have given life," THEN "VERILY righteousness should have been by the law." Thus it is certified by the word of God that righteousness and life come from precisely the same source, and in precisely the same way; and that is, as the free gift of God by his creative power as, the Author and Prince of life.

But there is no law that can possibly give life to men; because all men have lost their lives by transgression of the highest law in the universe–the law of God. And since all men have transgressed that highest law in the universe, and so have lost their lives, no law subordinate to that can possibly give them life, And even that highest law itself can not give them life; because, having transgressed it, and so forfeited their lives, they, being sinners and under sentence of death, can not possibly observe it, but can only continue to transgress it. So that for men there is no life in any law.

Now it is true that the law was "ordained to life," but because of transgression it was "found to be unto death." Rom. 7:10. It is true that it is written: "The man that doeth them shall live in them;" but there is none that doeth them. "There is none righteous, no, not one." "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable." Rom. 3:10, 12.

But, bless the Lord, "what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,"–weak through the sinfulness of the flesh,–"God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" did. "What the law could not do,"–it could not do even that to which it was ordained, it could not give life,–"God sending his own Son" did. In the likeness of sinful flesh he "for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:34. "For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6: 23.

Therefore "the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." And the only way in which anybody can be concluded "under sin" is by the law of God–the law by which alone "is the knowledge of sin." And since the Scripture hath thus concluded
all under sin, that–so that, in order that–the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe, it is perfectly plain that instead of the law being against the promises of God, it is the God-given means of men's attaining to the perfect surety of the promises of God by faith of Jesus Christ, perfectly plain that instead of the law being against the promises of God, it is the God-given means of men's attaining to the perfect surety of the promises of God by faith of Jesus Christ.

Therefore that law can no more be done away than the promises of God can be done away, and no more than the faith of Jesus Christ can be done away. And any one who would in argument or in thought do away that law, does in argument or in thought do away the promises of God and the faith of Jesus Christ, and so destroys the way of God's salvation to men. But that can not in truth be destroyed–except in the individual experience of men. And to destroy the way of God's salvation in individual experience, is to work eternal destruction to the soul. Therefore the claim that the law of God–the ten commandments–is done away is the most stupendous and destructive error that could possibly be entertained by anybody anywhere.

March 27, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. How Shall We Know the Image?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 13 , p. 200.

WE have seen that the Image of the Beast is the last great and chief instrument that Satan uses in his war against the church of Christ; that this is the chief power used by him in his war against "the remnant" of her seed, "which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17; 13:12, 15; 14:9, 12.

The Third Angel's Message with "a loud voice" sounds a world-wide warning against the work of the Image of the Beast, and against the worship of the Beast and his Image. And we have seen that this message closes only with the coming of the Lord to reap the harvest of the earth, which is the end of the world. Rev. 14:9-16.

We have seen that the contest between the Beast and his Image on the one side, and the worshipers of God on the other, ends in the triumph of the worshipers of God; and this at the coming of the Lord. Rev. 13:16, 17; 15:1, 2.

We have seen that the Beast and his Image are living, acting powers on the earth when the Lord comes; and that alive they are consumed with the brightness of his coming. Dan. 7:11; 2 Thess. 2:8, 9; Rev. 19:11-21.

All these evidences, and many more, make it certain that that which, in the book of Revelation, is called the Image of the Beast is the last of the world-powers to come upon the stage of action; that it arises in the time of the end, and continues unto the very end; and therefore that after it there will be no history. Its time will be comparatively very short. And yet its work is of such a dangerous character to all people, that against it is the warning of the Third Angel's Message–the most terrible warning in all the word of God.

From this it is also evident that there can be no opportunity for persons to wait till they see the actual working of this power in its oppressive and destructive nature in order to understand it and take warning, and escape its deceptions and the worship of it. All this must be understood before hand, in order to be effectually avoided. And just this need of effectual knowledge beforehand, is what is supplied in the Scriptures concerning this power.

What is this power called?–The Image of the Beast. What is an image?–It is a copy, a likeness, of something that was before, as a photograph or a statue; and by its character of a likeness constantly suggests and recalls an original.

In this case the original is the Beast. And the Beast is the Papacy. The Image of the Beast, then, is the likeness of the Papacy; and by its likeness constantly suggests and recalls the Papacy, of which it is the likeness. How, then, shall anybody be able to know, to recognize at sight, the Image?–Plainly, and only, by studying the original.

And here is the great advantage that is presented to all, and that all may fully possess, and so be effectually guarded against the deceptions of the Image and the worship of it. The Beast, the original of the Image, has had a career of more than fourteen hundred years. In that time the Beast, in each and every feature of it, can be marked and traced, from its earliest inception unto its fullest development. The time of the Beast is so long, and its history is so full, that each particular feature can be studied and traced in all its bearings, from inception to full development. And each particular feature being thus studied in detail, such a full-rounded knowledge of the Beast can be obtained that every one who will make the study will be prepared to detect the Image, the likeness, of the Beast in whatever way or in whatever disguise it may appear.

And this is essential because the time of the Image is comparatively so short, and his rise, formation, and working, all occur in such a complication of affairs, amid such a swift passing, such a very whirl, of events that the time is not sufficient to study and analyze each feature so as to know and avoid its dangerous effects. The time of the Image is comparatively so short, and its motion with events so swift, that a certain phase will appear, and in its dangerous and oppressive working will be fastened upon men before there is opportunity even to make a study of the thing as if it were the original.

Besides all this, it would surely be an incongruous thing to study a likeness, in order to obtain a knowledge of original characteristics or principles. And how much more incongruous it would be to study the likeness in order to obtain a knowledge of original characteristics or principles, when the original itself is accessible, and can be studied directly in all its details! Inspiration contemplates no such thing, but in every instance directs the attention of all to the study of the Beast as the source of information as to the Image of the Beast. this it does by blending in every instance "the Beast and his Image," "the Beast and his Image."

Therefore by every consideration it is perfectly plain that "to learn what the Image is like, and how it is to be formed, we must study the characteristics of the Beast–the Papacy."

And that it is essential to know what is the Image of the Beast, in order to know what is the force of the Third Angel's Message, is certain from the fact that it is the living Image of the Beast that would compel all to "worship the Beast" and to "receive his mark;" this worship and the receiving of this mark being the very thing against which the warning of the Third Angel is given.

Therefore, in our study of the Third Angel's Message we are now brought to the study of the Beast and his Image in what they actually are. And in order to know what they actually are, we must study the Beast, as the great original of the whole subject.

Accordingly, next week we shall begin to study the Making of the Beast.

"The 'Return of the Jews'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 13 , p. 200.

"I SAY the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." Rom. 9:1-5.

Now, a pertinent question is, If the Jews are to return, if they are to be gathered because they are Jews, then why should Paul be willing to wish himself accursed from Christ, if only they might be saved? Under any phase of the claim of the return of the Jews, Paul's heaviness, continual sorrow, and heart's wish, are altogether an empty and groundless thing.

For if the Jews who are alive to-day must be gathered to Palestine, and given such evidences as they can not resist, but must be converted and saved by them, then all the Jews from Paul's time until now, who have not believed in Christ and been saved, must likewise be gathered with these of to-day. Otherwise the God would be a respecter of persons. And if all the Jews from Paul's day to the end of the world must be gathered again to Palestine, and there be saved by some specially new and wonderful means, then it is perfectly plain that all Paul's anxiety and longing for their salvation are altogether a mistaken thing.

But that is simply not true. What Paul has here written is the truth. He did have great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, because his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh, would not accept the gospel and be saved; and because they persisted in rejecting the gospel in whatever of the many ways it came to them, and so were confirming themselves in everlasting loss. The love of Christ in Paul's heart caused him, in his longing after them, to be willing, if their salvation could be accomplished by it, to wish himself accursed from Christ, for them. All that is the truth; and it being the truth, it is thereby settled forever that except the Jews believe in Christ, they can not be saved; that whoever will not believe in him is lost; and that, therefore, there simply can not possibly be any such thing as this claimed "return of the Jews."

Though it be true that so many of the Jews, Paul's kinsmen according to the flesh, persisted in rejecting the gospel, and so missing salvation, even all this did not make it "as though the word of God hath taken none effect." The word of God abideth faithful, and He abideth faithful, even though they believed not (Rom. 3:3); because "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." "Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto the, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." Rom. 9:7, 8, 24-26.

"What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Verses 30-33.

We have before remarked that, by the scriptures quoted from Romans 3, "it is demonstrated by the argument of the plain word of God that faith–faith, the faith of Jesus Christ–is the only way for any return of either Jew or Gentile, and is the one only way for both alike. And this faith is equally within the reach of Jew and Gentile wherever they may be. It can not be had any more certainly in Palestine than in any other country: and for the simple reason that it is not found in a place, but only in a Person–the person of Jesus Christ. And through the blessed administration of the eternal Spirit, this Person is now accessible to all people in all places alike." And this is the further thought that is brought out in full in the tenth chapter of Romans. Study carefully the truth as it is there stated.

"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Rom. 10:1-3.

Again: we may ask, Why should Paul have such particular and great anxiety that Israel after the flesh might be saved, if all that Israel is to be saved anyhow? But since they insist upon "going about to establish their own righteousness," and "have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God," they simply can not be saved; for whoever will not submit himself to the righteousness of God, simply can not be saved. For nothing but the righteousness of God can save any soul, Jew, Gentile, or what not; and the righteousness of God will save every soul who has it, Jew, Gentile, or what not. "For Christ is the end," the object, the aim,

201

the purpose, "of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."

"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)" Rom. 10:1-3. The righteousness of faith speaks to all, to Jew and Gentile alike, saying, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven to bring Christ down from above? because Christ has come down from above; or saying, Who shall descend into the deep to bring up Christ again from the dead?

Since, therefore, Christ has come down from heaven to men; since he became a man among men, even one of us, so that God with him is God with us; since he descended into the deep, through the gates of death, and has come up again from the dead; since he has thus done all that can possibly be done,–and all this freely done for all men alike, and the gift of his righteousness free to all men alike,–it is but the simple soberness of divine truth that faith now says to every soul alike: "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Rom. 10:8-13.

And Christ, in what he has done, has brought to every soul in the world the opportunity to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Notice carefully the great argument in the following gradation of questions:–

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

"But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." Verses 14, 15, 18.

"But they have not all obeyed the gospel." Verse 16. They have all heard it. And, having all heard it, God is fully justified, even though none at all should obey. Having all heard, the responsibility is with each one after that.

"But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." Verses 19-21.

Thus closes the tenth chapter of Romans. And every word of it is as true to-day, and has been as true every day it was written first by the hand of Paul, as it was that day. And how would it be possible, even for Inspiration, to make plainer the truth that "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek,"–the Gentile,–but that all alike are called, and are called all alike, to the full and free salvation of God, which has been accomplished in the gift and work of the Lord Jesus?

Faith in Christ,–the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ,–this is the way, and the only way, of salvation, for either Jew or Gentile, nor or evermore. And that faith is nigh now and evermore to every Jew in the wide world; it is even in his mouth and in his heart; and there is no room, nor any possible need, that the Jews should go "far off" "beyond the sea," in a grand return to Palestine to get it. Accordingly all claim of a return of the Jews to Palestine is vanity and imposture. Read together Deut. 30:11-14 and Rom. 10:6-12.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:23" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 13 , pp. 201, 202.

"BUT before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."

This verse repeats, in different words, the particular thought of the two verses immediately preceding. Verse 21 declares that the law is not against the promises of God, and shows that it is a helper unto the fullness of the promises that are in Christ. Verse 22 declares that "the scripture hath concluded all under sin" and this for a purpose. And what is the purpose?–"That [in order that] the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

Now, "By the law is the knowledge of sin;" and it is the law of God, the ten commandments, by which is the knowledge of sin. Then since "the scripture hath concluded all under sin," and "by the law is the knowledge of sin," the scripture hath concluded all under the law. And it has concluded them all under the law so that "the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

Then, that law by which is the knowledge of sin,–by that law it is that "the scripture hath concluded all under sin." And since it is by that law that all are concluded under sin, in order that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might by given to them that believe, therefore, as stated in the previous verse, the law is not against the promises of God, but is an aid to all men in their attaining to the promise by faith of Jesus Christ.

Now the same thought is carried forward in the verse at present under consideration; namely, "Before faith came, we were kept under the law." Under what law?–Plainly under the law by which alone "the scripture hath concluded all under sin." Even at it is said in another place: "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it is said to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." This is the condition of every soul upon earth before faith comes to him. But when faith does come to him, when he awakes to the exercise of faith, then "the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, . . .even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." Rom. 3:19-22. Thus it is true, and thus it is, that all are concluded under sin and kept under the law until faith in Jesus Christ delivers them.

However, there is another expression in the verse that is particularly to be noticed: that is, that we were "shut up." We were "under the law," "shut up." We were "kept under the law, shut up." It was "before faith came" that "we were kept under the law, shut up." And "before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."

How was it that we were shut up?–"Under the law, shut up." But to be under the law is to be "guilty before God." Rom. 3:19. To be "under the law" is to be under the dominion of sin. Rom. 6:14. And since we were "under the law, shut up," it was the law that shut us up. And what law is this?–It is the same law as that of the previous verse, by which "the scripture hath concluded all under sin." And the only law by which anybody can possibly be concluded under sin, is that law by which "is the knowledge of sin," which is the law of God, the law of ten commandments.

The Greek word thus translated, "shut up" is the same word that, in the previous verse, is translated "concluded;" and also that in Rom. 11:32 is translated in the text "concluded," and in the margin "shut up." So that the expressions translated alike in the two verses, would be: verse 22, "The scripture hath shut up all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe;" and verse 22, "We were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."

This makes it certain that the law by which, in verse 22, "we were shut up under sin" is the same law by which, in verse 23, "we were kept under the law, shut up." And by these twin expressions it is plain that to be "under the law" is to be "under sin," for to be "shut up under sin" is to be "kept under the law, shut up;" to be "shut up under the law" is to be "shut up under sin." And the only law by which anybody can be shut up under sin, is that law by which alone is the knowledge of sin; and that law is the law of God, the law of ten commandments.

Therefore, since all are shut up under sin, in order that the promise of faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe; and since the law of ten commandments is the only one by which anybody can be shut up under sin, it is certain that law is not against the promises of God, but is the only certain means of attaining to the true faith, and so to the fullness of the promises in Christ.

April 3, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 14 , p. 216.

IN our studies of the Third Angel's Message in its phase of Babylon Fallen, we found that the Beast was the result of a falling away from the truth of the gospel in the first ages of the church; and that the Image of the Beast is the result of a falling away from the truth of the gospel in the last days of the church.

That woman designated as "Babylon the mother," which resulted fro the "falling away" in the first days of the church, was seen seated "upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked ["gilded," margin] with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." Rev. 17:3, 4.

In the first days of the church, the course of this apostasy from its inception is described in the word of the Lord to "the seven churches." This subject of the seven churches is, indeed, the word of the Lord to his church in the seven distinctive phases of her existence, from the first advent of Christ to his second. In the first four stages, the development of this harlot, and her connection with that Beast, are portrayed in his counsel to his true church, warning her of the evils that threatened her, and the dangers that beset her.

The first of "the seven churches" is the church in its first stage, which, by this word itself (Rev. 2:2), is shown to have been in the days of the apostles. While there was much that he commended, yet there was this one thing in which he was compelled to speak to that church otherwise: "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love." This being the church in its first stage, this "first love" was the first love of the church. The first love of the church was the love of Christ as revealed to his church at the first. And in leaving that first love, the only possible way that the church could go was to go away from it. And thus is marked, in the words of Christ, the beginning of that "falling away."

The next phase of the church is her time of persecution, which ended in the ten years of terrible persecution, in the time of Diocletian, referred to in the words. "Ye shall have tribulation ten days." Rev. 2:10. Those ten years expired A.D. 312.

Then, in the next stage of the church, the Lord commends his faithful ones who dwelt "where Satan's seat is," and who had held fast his name, and had not denied his faith, "even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr." This word "Antipas" is not a person's name, but is a term characteristic of the times. It is composed of two words,–anti anti, and pappas pappas. Anti anti signifies against, and pappas pappas, papa, which is our English, and also the universal, word for "papa." And this word "papa" is the original of the word "pope."

Therefore this word "Antipas"–"against pappas"–shows the growth of the papa-cy in the period immediately following A.D. 312. This was the period of Constantine, and onward, in which the papa-cy itself was distinctly made, and began openly to assert its authority. And, in that time, the history records that while other principal bishops of the church bore the title of "patriarch," "the bishop of Rome studiously avoided the title of 'patriarch,' as placing him on a level with other 'patriarchs.' He always preferred the title of 'papa,' or 'pope' (Schaff): and this, because 'patriarch' bespeaks an oligarchical church government, that is, government by a few; whereas 'pope' bespeaks a monarchical church government, that is, government by one."–"Two Republics," page 485.

Thus the history and the word of the counsel of Christ, unite in marking as the characteristic of that phase of the church the formation of the papa-cy, and the assertion of the authority of the pope.

Then, in the very next phase of the church, the Lord, in his counsel to his faithful ones, is compelled to make this statement: "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess." Rev. 2:20.

As all know, in the history and time of ancient Israel, Jezebel is that heathen woman who came into Israel, bringing with her her heathen worship and practices; and above all, the sun worship; and by persecution unto the death, compelled all to bow to her will in enforcing the worship of Baal.

Thus, in this gradation of descent in the "falling away" from the "first love" of the church, we find her brought to the condition of that wicked woman Jezebel, holding under her control the world-power–the power of the State–as the implement in her hands to enforce her wicked will upon all the people, and especially upon the saints of God. And thus it is that that great harlot was seen "sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."

And now these two portions of Revelation–that gradation in the falling away marked in the second chapter, and this full development of it as pictured in the seventeenth chapter–are united in the prophecy of the thirteenth chapter, which pictures the Beast. So that the Beast is the symbol, in the book of Revelation, which marks the union of the elements pictured in the second of Revelation and the seventeenth of Revelation. This can readily be seen now by the mere reading of Revelation 13.

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name ["names," margin] of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue ["make war," margin] forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:1, 2, 5-8.

"The 'Return of the Jews'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 14 , pp. 216, 217.

IN both the ninth and tenth chapters of Romans Paul had shown over and over, giving the full reasons for it, that there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.

He had shown that all alike are called to the salvation of God, and all must receive it alike–as the free gift of God by faith of Jesus Christ. "For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

He had shown that all have heard, but not all have obeyed. He then had shown by the word of Isaiah, that the Lord had been found of them that sought him not, and was made manifest unto them that asked not for him. This was the Gentiles. While to Israel he saith: "All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." Rom. 10:21.

Since, then, while the Gentiles had found God, and he had been made manifest to them, the Jews, whom he had called his people, and to whom he had stretched his own people, and to whom he had stretched forth his hands all the day long, had refused him and all that he had done, had he, in consequence of their disobedience and gainsaying attitude, cast them away? Therefore the question: "I say then, Hath God cast away his people?" And the answer is, as everywhere else in the Bible, on such a subject, "God forbid." In spite of all their gainsaying and rejecting of him, his salvation is still for them; and they can be saved, as well as the Gentiles, if only they will believe the Lord. Therefore, whatever they have done, or whatever they might do, God had not, and he will not, cast them away.

And now he gives proof that the Lord had not cast them away. Note carefully his first proof. What evidence is there that God hath not cast them away?–"For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." And I, being thus an Israelite, am saved by the Lord. Now, if he had cast away his people, I, Paul, would have been cast away: I should not have had this salvation. Therefore, "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.

Next, as proof that God hath not cast them away, he cites Elijah and his time. "Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Rom. 11:2-5.

The time of Elijah, therefore, is an illustration, chosen by Inspiration, of the times of Paul, and of the standing of the Jews before God. And it is an illustration, in the fact that there was a remnant that had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. And now, says Paul, "even so then at this present time also there is a remnant." This, of itself, shows that there is no promise at all of any salvation of the Jews as a whole people, altogether, because they are such; any more than there is a promise of universal salvation of the human race altogether, and just because they are such.

But according to the scripture, in the words of the prophet, "a remnant" believed,–"a remnant" were faithful,–and so were saved. Even as Paul had already quoted in Rom. 9:27: "Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved."

And except it had been for this remnant, there would have been none at all saved: the whole people would have gone, as Sodom and Gomorrah went. Even "as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha." Rom. 9:29.

Thus quoted in Romans, the passage in Isaiah speaks of "a seed"–"except the Lord had left us a seed." But the passage in Isaiah itself saith: "Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." Isa. 1:9.

How is it with Sodom and Gomorrah? How many of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were saved?–A very small remnant–Lot and his two daughters. And will the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were consumed in the fire, and were sunk in the waters of the Dead Sea that day–will these be saved? Will these return to Palestine, or to the plain of Sodom and Gomorrah, and meet there great and grand manifestations of the Lord, to convince them and get them to believe because they see, and so be saved? To ask these questions is to answer them. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah will never return to their own land. That which alone awaits them is "the judgment of the great day." 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 6. And even as Jesus said of the Jews, and to the Jews: "I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of Judgment, than for thee." Matt. 11:24.

More than a remnant could have been saved, just as well and just as easily as the remnant itself were saved. The whole people could have been saved, just as well and just as easily as were the remnant saved. But the great body of the people would not believe the Lord: they would not receive him. Only a few, "a remnant," and even "a very small remnant"–only these believed. Only these would believe, and so only these could be saved.

Therefore, as for anything more than "a remnant" of the nation and people of the Jews being saved, it is no more true than that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah will be saved. As for the Jews returning to Palestine, it is no more true than that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah will return to the plain of Jordan. Eze. 16:55.

Even as further says the scripture: "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election ["the remnant," verse 5] hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded ["hardened," margin] (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway." Rom. 11:7-10.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:21-23" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 14 , p. 217.

"IS the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. And the scripture hath concluded ["shut up," Greek] all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."

All were "shut up under sin." And all were "under the law, shut up." And the only possible way in which anybody can be under sin is by that law by which is "the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20; 7:7); by that law which is "the strength of sin" (1 Cor. 15:56); that law of which "sin" itself is "the transgression." 1 John 3:4. That law is the law which says, "Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 7:7-13. And that is the law of God, the ten commandments. This is so certain that there can be no question about it.

And it is equally certain that the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings never was intended to, and never could, shut up anybody under the law. On the contrary, that was for the time then present the way out from under the law. Notice the following example in illustration, from that ceremonial law:–

"If the whole congregation of Israel sin,. . . and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; when the sin which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock FOR THE SIN, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord: and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord. And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation;. . .and the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be FORGIVEN THEM." Lev. 4:18-20.

Now please look that all over, and consider it step by step:–

(a) The people sinned. How?

(b) They had done "somewhat against the commandments of the Lord." What commandments of the Lord?

(c) The commandments of the Lord concerning things which SHOULD NOT BE DONE." What are the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done?

(d) Plainly enough these: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." "Thou shalt not kill." "Thou shalt not commit adultery." "Thou shalt not steal." "Thou shalt not bear false
witness." "Thou shalt not covet."

(e) And when they had sinned by doing somewhat against any of these commandments, this law, of the Lord, they were "GUILTY." And when the sin came to their knowledge, that guilt was the more impressed–"sin by the commandment became exceedingly sinful." And so long as they remained in that attitude and in that place only, they were held under that guilt, "shut up under sin;" so long as they remained there only, they remained the more guilty, and "were kept under the law, shut up." But they need not remain there "shut up under sin" and "kept under the law, shut up," held "guilty." They need not remain there, because–

(f) THERE WAS A WAY OUT. That way out, the only way out, was the way of the sacrifice and the blood of THE OFFERING; and the ministration of the priest who made "AN ATONEMENT."

(g) And when the sin was forgiven them, they were free. They were no longer guilty, no longer "shut up under sin," no longer "under the law, shut up." They were out and free; because they were at one with God, because of the at-one-ment made.

That whole course of the sacrifice and offering was the way of FAITH. It was the way of promise. And that way was for, and was available for, only those who were "guilty" of "sin," and so were "shut up under sin." That sacrifice and blood was the expression of faith in the sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ. And that ministration of the priest, and the atonement made, was the example and shadow of the ministration of Christ, the great High Priest, and the atonement that he makes.

That whole course of sacrifice and offering was the way of the faith of Jesus Christ. That way of the faith of Jesus Christ was the way out for those who were "guilty" of "sin," and so were "shut up under sin." They were guilty of sin, and so "shut up under sin," only because they had done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done. And those commandments were the ten commandments.

Therefore it is by the Scripture indisputable that by the law of the ten commandments, which showed them guilty, they were "concluded [shut up] all under sin, that [in order that, so that] the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."

Now, did the sacrifice and offering bring them to faith? or did faith bring them to the sacrifice and offering?–The only answer that there can be is that by all conceivable evidence faith brought them to the sacrifice. Can this possibly be doubted when it is written: "By faith Abel offered unto God a . . . sacrifice by which he obtained witness that he was righteous"? Heb. 11:4. It was faith that brought to the offering of the sacrifice Abel and all the others who were ever accepted of God.

But what brought them to the FAITH that brought the sacrifice?–The knowledge of their sin–the conviction that they were "guilty."

And what gave them the knowledge of their sin? What caused the conviction of their guilt?–Their having "done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done."

Thus "before faith came" they, as all others of mankind, "were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." They were "shut up unto the faith," the faith expressed in the sacrifice and offering, because there was no other way out from their guilt of sin. And there was no other way out, because "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 14 , pp. 217, 218.

IN connection with the Puerto Rican legislation a considerable number of United States senators have taken a position in which they "resent the country's interference," saying that "the people have generous impulses, but are not experts; the masses do not know how to play politics." What, then, becomes of "government by the people, for the people"? If the voice of the people is to be "resented" as "interference" by senators, then it becomes at once a government by senators. If the voice of the people is to be disregarded because they are not experts, then it becomes at once a government by "experts." If the people are to be ignored because they do not know how to play politics, then it becomes at once a government by those who do "know how to play politics." And in any case,

218

according to the views expressed, the principle is that this government is not a government by the people, but by the superior ones who are "experts," who "know how to play politics," and who "resent" as "interference" the voice and will of the country. It is even said, and all this by an administration correspondent, that "the President himself may weary of carrying the load [of disregarding the voice of the people], and throw up his hands in favor of a rule of public opinion." Why shouldn't he? And if he should not, then what? It must be remember that the real issue involved is whether Puerto Rico shall be governed under the Constitution or without the Constitution.

April 10, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 15 , p. 232.

The Beast, in it rise, its time, and its place, is so clearly marked in the Scriptures that there can be no mistaking it by any one who will carefully study the Scriptures. And when the Scripture is clearly understood, as to its characteristics, its rise, its time, and its place, the intelligent study of the thing itself in its different phases is easy.

In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul described that which, in other places, is set forth as the Beast, as follows: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God ["setting himself forth as God," R.V.: "and gives it out that he is God." German].

"Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thess. 2:1-8.

Remember that was written to the Thessalonians; and notice what he says, "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?" Thus, when Paul was at Thessalonica, he had preached to them the things which are here written.

Now, in Acts 17:1-3, we read of his visit to Thessalonica, thus: "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ."

Notice that, in his preaching there, he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. The only Scriptures that were then in existence were what are now the Old Testament Scriptures. These, then, it was out of which Paul reasoned with the Thessalonians. And he says that, when he was there, he told the people about this "falling away," and the man of sin being revealed,–"the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God,"–"the mystery of iniquity," and "that Wicked," "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroye with the brightness of his coming."

Where, then, in the Old Testament did he find scriptures from which to reason to the people concerning all this, by which he could tell them these things? Look at Daniel 8. After the prophet had seen in vision the ram, and the he goat with the notable horn, and the four notable horns that came up after that one fell, "out of one of them [one of the four] came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." "It waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host," "and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered."

Now the Word plainly declares that the ram represents Medo-Persia; and the rough goat, Grecia; and the great horn, the first king; and the four that succeeded it, the four divisions of the Grecian Empire after Alexander died. Then, in the latter time of the kingdom of these four, "when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes."

This great power, which followed Grecia, is none other than Rome, as all the world knows. And that power, as described in this scripture throughout, is Rome in all its phases, from the beginning to end; from the entrance of ancient Rome upon the scene of the world's action, unto the end of the world, when "he shall be broken without hand." For this breaking "without hand" is evidently that time and event referred to in the second chapter of Daniel, when a stone cut out "without hand," smites the image on the feet, and then all the kingdoms of the world are dashed to pieces and swept out of the world, and the stone becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth–and that is the kingdom of God.

This is further pictured, and this same ground is covered, in the seventh chapter of Daniel, where the fourth kingdom is described as "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." Then among these horns came up another little one, "before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." And this power continued until the judgment was set, and the books were opened. And, says the prophet, "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame."

No one can attentively read these two passages of scripture concerning Rome, in the eighth chapter and in the seventh chapter of Daniel, and compare them with the passage in 2 Thessalonians 2, without being able to see plainly that 2 Thessalonians 2 refers definitely to these passages in Daniel. And this makes it certain that it was these passages of Daniel from which Paul reasoned when he was at Thessalonica, when he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, and told them in words that which, later, he wrote in the passage here quoted from 2 Thessalonians 2, as to "the man of sin, the son of perdition," "the mystery of iniquity," and "that Wicked."

And notice particularly that in both the passages in Daniel, it is Rome, from its beginning to the end of the world, that is considered: it is Rome in both its phases, ancient and modern, that is described. The passage in the eighth chapter, in ever feature, is applicable to modern Rome as well as to ancient Rome, and in some of its features is applicable only to modern Rome. The passage in the seventh chapter is first Rome in its pagan form, under the symbol of the great and terrible beast; then, after that fell, the subject is the rise of Rome, and its career, in its papal form, as the little horn. Yet, when it comes to the end of its career, and the time of its destruction, it is not said: I beheld until the horn was slain, and given to the burning flame; but "till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame." And this shows plainly that it is in essence, and in characteristics, the Beast that continues, under the form and phase described as "the little horn." This feature is also discerned in the description in the eighth chapter, where it is under the symbol of a little horn, which waxes exceeding great, that the whole course of Rome, from the beginning to the end of the world, is sketched.

In a former study, in considering Revelation 12 and 13, we found that the power there described as the Beast is that power which Satan uses in his wrath against the church, in the time in which the church is in the wilderness. This power which is "the Beast" succeeds the power which Satan used to destroy Christ as soon as he was born, and to persecute the church after Christ was caught up to God and to his throne. That power, as we plainly saw, was Rome as it stood in the time of Christ. And the power which succeeded Rome in that phase, by which Satan persecuted the church when she "fled into the wilderness"–this power, as all the world knows, is Rome in its second phase, which is papal Rome. And this power it is which is plainly declared by the Scripture to be "the Beast."

Therefore it is perfectly plain, by the Scriptures throughout, that the Beast is nothing else than the Papacy; and the making of the Beast is nothing but the making of the Papacy. Consequently, the study of the making of the Beast will have to be the study of the making of the Papacy. And it is necessary to study and to know the making of the Papacy, in order to be able to know the making of the Image of the Papacy, and to take warning and escape the worship of the Beast and his Image.

Next week, therefore, the study of the Third Angel's Message will be, The Elements That Enter into the "Falling Away" out of Which Came the Beast.

"The 'Return of the Jews'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 15 , pp. 232, 233.

IN Jer. 11:16 it is written: "The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken."

This is the tree of Israel. The word in Jeremiah leaves the tree only where the branches of it are broken. In Romans 11 Inspiration takes up the subject, and carries it to completion. There it is shown that when the natural branches of the tame olive tree–the Jews–were broken off, in the place of these there are grafted in branches from "a wild olive tree"–the Gentiles.

In Romans 11 it is also shown that these natural branches of the tame olive tree were broken off "because of unbelief;" and the branches of the wild olive tree are grafted in and remain "by faith." It is also shown that if the Jews, the natural branches, "abide not still in unbelief," they too shall be grafted in; "for God is able to graff them in again."

This settles it beyond all possibility of legitimate controversy that no Jew will ever return, or shall ever be counted among the children of God, except by faith: precisely as any Gentile comes to God and is counted among the children of God. This again demonstrates the truth that "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek."

The Gentile, from the wild olive tree, who is grafted in, is warned not to become exalted in his own merit and begin to boast against the branches that were broken off, that I might graffed in." And the caution to all such in this is: "Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, IF THEY ABIDE NOT STILL IN UNBELIEF, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?" Rom. 11:20-24.

233

That tells the whole story, and in such a way that no one who will consider what it says can possibly fail to see that there is, indeed, no difference between the Jew and the Greek; but that when the Jews, because of their unbelief, rejected God, and, so, as dead and withered olive branches, were broken off, branches are taken from the wild olive tree of the Gentiles and grafted into the good olive tree in their places: so that, in the economy of God and the plan of his tree of Israel, the believing Gentile takes the place of the unbelieving Jew. just as he has said in another place: "They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Rom. 9:8. Those who are of the flesh have no claims upon the Lord; for the minding of the flesh is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. They which be of faith, these only are the children of Abraham, and so the children of God.

In the plan of God, there is the tree of Israel. As written, because of unbelief its branches withered, died, and were broken off. That left the tree incomplete. But he sends his husbandmen to the wild olive tree; and from that branches are gathered and grafted into the good olive tree–his own tree of Israel. And that work will continue until the branches gathered from the wild olive tree and grafted into the good one, shall fill all the places of the branches broken off–till these branches from the wild olive tree, by being grafted in and partaking of the root and fatness of the good olive tree, become live, fruitful branches of that good tree. And thus the good olive tree shall be caused to stand full and complete in its symmetry, as originally conceived in the mind of God.

Thus the fullness of that broken olive tree is made up from the wild olive tree–the Gentiles. And this is the significance of that expression, "Till the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." This "fullness of the Gentiles" is the fullness of that broken, good olive tree which is made up from the Gentiles as the wild olive tree. That good olive tree, with its branches all broken, is marred and incomplete: it in no sense represents the idea of God concerning it. But when all those broken branches are replaced from the wild olive tree, and that tree stands, full and flourishing, as originally planned in the mind of God, then the "fullness" of the tree is there, as originally designed: it is a complete tree. And this "fullness" of that tree–that which makes it a complete tree, after it was all marred and broken–comes from the Gentiles, from the wild olive tree. This is the "fullness of the Gentiles," and this is how that "fullness" comes in.

And upon all this, as the conclusion of all, it is written: "And so all Israel shall be saved." "So" signifies "in this way," "by this means," "after this manner." There it is written: "In this way, by this means, after this manner, shall all Israel be saved." And that is the only return of the Jews, and the only salvation of Israel.

True, as already noted, from this the original branches are not arbitrarily excluded: any one of these will gladly be grafted in again, "if they abide not still in unbelief."

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 15 , p. 233.

AN administration dispatch from Washington says that the New Philippine Commission "will sail from San Francisco, April 18," with "plenary powers. President Taft of the commission will be the personal representative of President McKinley in the Philippine Group; and he and his colleagues will fully represent American sovereignty. The army is to be wholly subordinate to their orders. . . . The new commission is to be the government, just as if the President himself were to go to the Philippines with his cabinet, and exercise control under military law. It is necessary, therefore, that it have absolute authority over all civil government that may be established, and over the army, too." But if even the President himself were to go there, he would not have absolute authority, unless he went without the Constitution. And if he went without the Constitution, he would have no authority at all; because it is only by the Constitution that he is president at all. And then all the authority he could possibly exercise would be merely personal authority. Consequently the president of the commission in possession of absolute authority, being the "personal representative of the President," can be only the representative of the person of him who is president, and not of him as president; for as president he has not and never can have absolute authority.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:22, 23" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 15 , p. 233.

The Greek word, translated in verse 23 "shut up," and in verse 22 and Rom. 11:32 "concluded," is sunekleisan, sunekleisan, and signifies "to shut or coop up, hem in, inclose." In Luke 5:6 it is translated "inclosed," in the statement that "when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes."

Now, since this is the law by which is the knowledge of sin,–for by not other law is it possible to conclude, shut up, men under sin,–the question comes, How does the law of God, the ten commandments, shut men up?

Bear in mind that mankind "have all gone out of the way;" "there is none that doeth good, no, not one;" and "there is none that seeketh after God." Rom. 3:10-18. Therefore if any of them ever get into the way, it can be only by God's seeking them. And when God seeks them, it is to bring them to himself. And since they are all under sin, in order to bring them to himself he brings them to righteousness. Since the character of men is altogether bad, the Lord, in bringing them to the knowledge of himself, brings them to the knowledge of a character that is altogether good.

Since man is sold under sin, is the slave of sin, possessed of a mind that is enmity against God, and "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," everything that he does is, in its very nature, wrong. How, then, can the Lord get him into the right way when he is out of the way, and under a power and possessed of a nature, by which he does only wrong? That he might reach man where he is, the Lord formulated for man a transcript of his own character, in such a form as to be particularly adapted to the condition and needs of man altogether as he is. And this transcript of the character of God is formulated in the law of God–the ten commandments in written form, as given at Sinai on tables of stone, and in the Bible.

It was necessary for the Lord to present his law, the transcript of his character, in this form, because of the essential sinfulness of mankind. For "from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21, 22. Since such is the nature and confirmed condition of all men, this is why it is that the law of God as it entered in written form "is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." 1 Tim. 1:9, 10. Here is included the principle of each one of the ten commandments, and the violation of it.

Thus the law of God, entering, comes to every man, telling him not to do the very thing which it is natural and inherent in him to do. He has it in his heart to kill; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not kill." He has it in his heart to commit adultery; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." He has it in his heart to steal; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not steal." He has it in his heart to bear false witness; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not bear false witness." He has it in his heart to covet; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not covet." He has it in his heart to dishonor father and mother; but there stands the word, "Honor thy father and thy mother." He has it in his heart to go on using all the time there is, the Lord's day as well as all others, in disregard of God; but there stands the word, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work." He has it in his heart to take the name of God in vain; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." He has it in his heart to have other gods than the Lord; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." He has it in the evil imagination of his heart to formulate in an image his idea of God; but there stands the word, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."

And thus the law of God meets every man in the world just where he is, and by its emphatic "Thou shalt not," shuts him off from doing everything that is natural for him to do. Thus he is shut in with himself, and is "cooped up" with his sins, "kept under the law, shut up." Thus there is revealed to the man the knowledge of himself, which is the knowledge of sin: he sees himself to be altogether wrong. There is awakened in him the desire for something better, and the longing to get away from his exceeding sinful self. He is stripped of every resource in himself; and, in his desperation, he cries out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And the answer is: "I thank God through Jesus Christ," there is deliverance. In his longing to do something that is not forbidden by the holy law of God, he exclaims: What shall I do, that I might work the works of God? And the answer is: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." With the stings of sin pricking him to the heart on all sides, he cries out: "What must I do to be saved?" The answer is: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

And thus it is that the law of God is an essential aid to men in bringing them unto the promises of God. Thus it is that by the law by which "is the knowledge of sin," "the scripture hath concluded [shut up] all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." And thus it is that before faith comes to men, they are "kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which," if they will only rightly use the law, and meet the true principle of the law, shall "afterwards be revealed."

And thus in Gal. 3:21-23 there is preached the same gospel precisely as is preached in Leviticus 4 and in Rom. 3:10–and everywhere else where the true gospel is preached.

All men have sinned in doing somewhat against the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty. An offering must be brought, an atonement made, so that the sin may be forgiven, and the guilt be removed. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." And "when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed." "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Isa. 53:5, 6, 10; Gal. 3:29.

April 17, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 16 , p. 248.

IT is essential to know the elements that enter into the "falling away," out of which came the "man of sin," "the son of perdition," "the mystery of iniquity," "that Wicked," "the Beast;" because it was by these elements that the power was gained which made the Beast, and which has been, and is to be, wielded by the Beast in his terrible career. For of him it is written that "an host was given him. . . by reason of transgression." Dan. 8:12. Now, since all transgression is sin, because "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), this statement in Daniel is, in itself, the original suggestion from which Paul wrote the expression "the man of sin."

It was by sin; by reason of transgression; by courting the elements of sin and playing into the hands of transgressors, that the man of sin gathered to himself the "host" which gave to him the power that characterizes him as the Beast. This process is described in Paul's words to the elders of the church at Ephesus, who met him at Miletus, in Acts 20:30: "Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." This, in itself, tells of the self-exaltation of men to the place of Christ. They drew disciples to themselves, instead of to Christ; it was their design to draw disciples to themselves, instead of to Christ; and, in carrying out this design, they spoke perverse things. This they did deliberately: they did it TO draw away disciples after them.

Note further: It was not simply to draw disciples to themselves; but to draw AWAY disciples after them. These were men professing to be Christians, speaking to people who were, likewise, professed Christians–some of them, indeed, in good faith. But these self-exalted ones, not content that men should be disciples of Christ, perverted the truth of Christ, while still professing it; and this they did to draw AWAY from Christ and his truth disciples unto themselves and their errors.

All this was, in itself, to court the elements of sins, and to play into the hands of the transgressors. And this all for power. For, for what but power could any man want disciples drawn to himself? And what kind of power could it be that was gained by this means?–It could be nothing else than the power of iniquity. And while it was true that great numbers, even "an host," could by this means be gained, yet it was a host gained only by means of transgression. And this host being gathered from the elements of iniquity, only by means of iniquity, could never, in any of its workings, be anything but the working of iniquity, even as described; it would be "the man of sin," "the mystery of iniquity."

Even while the apostles yet lived, the mystery of iniquity had already begun to work, though not to open observation. But no sooner was their watchful attention gone and their apostolic authority removed, than it developed into vigorous activity. In order to make easier the "conversion" of the heathen; to multiply disciples to themselves; and, by this, establish their own influence and authority, would-be leaders and self-exalted men began to adopt heathen customs and forms, mingling them with the Christian forms, and adapting the Christian forms to the heathen rites.

Of all the ceremonies of the heathen, the mysteries were the most sacred and most universally practiced. And to gain the favor of the heathen, these perverse teachers gave it out that they also had mysteries. And to make good the representation, they gave to baptism and the Lord's Supper the name of "the mysteries," in the very terms of the pagan mysteries; and this they followed up by gradually incorporating from the heathen practices the very rites that were designated by the terms expressive of the heathen mysteries.

The mysteries were directly related to the worship of the sun; for "the most holy and perfect rite in the Eleusinian mysteries was to show an ear of corn mowed down in silence, and this was a symbol of the Phrygian Atys." And the Phrygian Atys was simply the incarnation of the sun. The character of the rites performed in the celebration of the mysteries is suggested in Eph. 5:11, 12: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." This evil was spread over both the East and the West of the Roman Empire before the apostle John had been dead forty years. So swiftly proceeded the fulfillment of the prophecy that "an host" would be "given him. . . by reason of transgression."

Another step: It was a universal custom of the heathen to worship with their faces toward the east; because the sun was the great object of their worship, and there first he displayed his bright beams. This practice of the heathen was also adopted by the perverse teachers who would draw disciples to themselves, and who would gain an host by reason of transgression.

Yet another step in the apostasy was the adoption of the heathen day of the sun–Sunday–as a festival day. So general did this become that, even before A.D. 200, one of the apostasy–even now one of the "church Fathers"–has reported that "others suppose that the sun is the God of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festival."–Tertullian.

And so much like the heathen was that of these of the apostasy, that the heathen themselves charged those so-called Christians with being worshipers of the sun. And the only defense that was offered by those of the apostasy was: "What then? Do you do less than this? Do not many among you, with an affectation of sometimes worshiping the heavenly bodies, likewise move your lips in the direction of the sunrise? It is you, at all events, who have admitted the sun into the calendar of the week; and you have selected its day, in preference to the preceding day."–Id.

While this was the only defense they made, it is true that they did, in fulfillment of the words of Paul, speak perverse things–perverted the word of the Lord–to justify it. In the Scriptures it is written: "The Lord God is a sun and shielf." Ps. 84:11. And again: "Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings." Mal. 4:2. These beautiful passages were perverted, to justify the honoring of the sun, and especially at his rising. They claimed that in so honoring the sun they were honoring God, who is a sun, and who, as the Sun of righteousness, would "arise."

Another step in promoting the honor of the sun was taken, especially under the leadership of the church at Rome. The early Christians celebrated the Passover, in remembrance of the death of Christ, the true Passover. Accordingly, they celebrated it on the fourteenth day of the first month. Rome, however, and from her all the west, adopted Sunday as the day of this celebration. According to the original and the Eastern custom this celebration, being on the fourteenth day of the month, would, of course, fall upon different days of the week, as the years revolved. But the rule of Rome was that the celebration must always be on a Sunday–the Sunday nearest to the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year. And if that fourteenth day of the month were itself a Sunday, then the celebration was not to be held on that day; but upon the next Sunday. And this is why it is that, to this day, Easter, even though celebrated always on Sunday, is so very variable in its recurrence,–sometimes in March, sometimes early in April, sometimes late in April,–but always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the twentieth of March, or the spring equinox.

Indeed, this very item of Easter itself illustrated this gathering of a host to the man of sin, by reason of transgression. The word "Easter" is peculiar to the English language, and to the British Isles. "It is derived from Eostre, or Ost·ra, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the fourth month, answering to our April–thence called Eostur-monath–was dedicated." The heathen in Britain were celebrating in early spring this festival of their goddess Eostre, when the agents of Rome first entered Britain; and by them this name of the heathen goddess was adopted, with the festival in her honor; and the whole ceremony thus adopted was carried on as the celebration of the so-called Christian Passover. And, says the Venerable Bede: "The old festival was observed with the gladness of a new solemnity." The word "Easter" in Acts 12:4 is not a translation, but a sheer insertion by the translators; as the Greek is pascha, meaning "passover."

Another item worth noticing, in this connection, is that this Eostre, or Ost·ra, of the ancient Britons, is identical with the Ishtar, or Astarte, of Babylon and Nineveh, and the Ashtaroth of the Phúnicians. She was the female of Bel in Babylon and Nineveh, and of Baal in Phúnicia; and represented the female element in sun worship.

"The Gathering of Israel" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 16 , pp. 248, 249.

WHILE by every consideration of the Scriptures it is certain that there is not to be a return of the Jews, it is equally certain that there is to be a gathering of Israel. And this gather of Israel, and, in this sense, this return of the Jews, is to be, as was quoted in last week's study on this subject, concerning Israel as the good olive tree. Because of unbelief, the branches of that tree were broken, and so the tree stood all marred and incomplete; but from the wild olive tree, branches are taken and grafted into the good olive tree,–and also such of the original branches as abide not still in unbelief,–until all its lost branches are restored, and the tree stands full, complete, and perfect, as originally conceived. "And SO all Israel shall be saved."

And such has been the story of Israel always. It has always been true that "they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Rom. 9:8. This was so in the family of Abraham, at the very beginning of God's peculiar people. Ishmael was the child of Abraham, but was born after the flesh, and so was not a child of God. Abraham, in his natural affection, thought that Ishmael should be recognized by the Lord as His, according to original design and his original purpose in the gospel; and so exclaimed, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!"

But the Lord said, No. "Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. . . . But my covenant will I establish with Isaac." Gen. 17:19-21. Isaac was the child of faith, born by the promise of God, "born after the Spirit." Accordingly, though both were the sons of Abraham, only one was a son of God. This did not utterly exclude from the promises him that was born after the flesh; but he could become partaker of the promises only by himself becoming a child of promise.

And this "allegory," which was worked out in the family of Abraham, was for the instruction of all people in all ages, that "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are of the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Rom. 9:6-8. It tells to all people, forever, that that which is born of the flesh

249

is flesh, and can not inherit the things of the Spirit; that, unless one is born of promise, and thus becomes a child of promise, he never can be partaker of the promises.

Yet, although this lesson was worked out to completion in the family of Abraham at the very beginning of the course of Israel; though it was repeated in the family of Isaac–in Esau and Jacob; and though it was written for the instruction of all people afterward, great claim is, and ever has been, made in behalf of them "which are the children of the flesh." And in spite of all the instruction the Lord has given upon the subject, it is insisted that he is bound, in justice, to recognize as his children those who are children of the flesh. But such a thing never, in justice, can be. Such a thing would undo all righteousness, and would ruin the universe. It is asking that God shall clothe sin with righteousness, that he shall accept sin as righteousness, and exalt it as righteousness, to the place of righteousness. But that is all that Lucifer wanted, in the beginning of sin: that is the secret of the whole controversy from that time when it began in heaven, unto this day, and even to the end of the controversy in the triumph of righteousness over sin, to the complete exclusion of sin.

And so from Abraham's day until this hour, and unto the end of the world, the children of the promise are counted for the seed of Abraham, in place of the children of the flesh. Forever it is so, and is abundantly shown to be so, that they which be of faith, these only are the children of Abraham, and, as such, alone are heirs of Abraham, of Christ, and of God. And in the gathering of Israel, only these will come,–these who have been, when they lived, or are, while they live, children of the promise,–"they which are of faith."

Read the story of faith, in Hebrews 11, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah, and of those that sprang "of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth;" because "they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."

Read on in the story of faith, through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and the number of whom the time to tell would fail. "These all, having obtained a good report provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Thus all israel are to be made perfect together: they are all to be gathered at once.

And that time of gathering all Israel is declared by the word of the Lord in Isaiah: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which are ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem." Isa. 27:12, 13.

This day when "the great trumpet shall be blown" is the day when "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise" (1 Thess. 4:16); and "he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt. 24:31), and "then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17.

And "as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:22, 23.

This is the gathering of Israel: this is the return of the Jews. And there is no other.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:24, 25" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 16 , p. 249.

"WHEREFORE the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."

These two verses are the conclusion of the argument in verses 21-23. Accordingly they are introduced by "Wherefore." "Wherefore" signifies "for which cause or reason; in consequence of which; consequently." It is easy to see that these two verses are the consequence of the preceding ones.

Notice verse 23: the law is not against the promises of God; but, instead, is an aid in attaining unto the promises. And we know that all the promises of God are in Christ. Then, since the law is an aid in attaining unto the promises; and all the promises are in Christ, evidently the law is an aid in men's attaining unto Christ.

Next, notice verse 22: "The scripture hath concluded [shut up] all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Plainly, then, the law is a means of bringing men to Christ and to the promises by faith in him.

Next, notice verse 23: "Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." As we were "shut up unto the faith," and "were kept under the law, shut up,"–it was the law that shut us up, and it shut us up unto the faith,–plainly the law brought men to faith. But faith is always Christ, and Christ is always faith, for he is "the author and finisher of faith." And since the law brought men to faith and Christ is the substance of all faith, in the nature of things the law brought men to Christ. And so, verse 24 states the fact, as the consequence of all this: "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

But the great question with most persons is, What law is that? It is a fair enough question, because, since whatever law it is, it brings men to Christ: and if men take the wrong law, it will not bring them to Christ.

But it can easily be known what law it is. Read again the text: "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster"–we are no longer under the law. Now, what is it to be under the law?–It is to be under the dominion of sin; for it is written: "Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law." Rom. 6:14. Then, whoever is under the law, is under the dominion of sin, and this because "sin is the transgression of the law." And what law is it?–It is the moral law–the law which says: "Thou shalt not covet;" for it is written: "I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 7:7. And this is the very thought that is before us in Gal. 3:23, 25, and in the verses preceding, of which verses 24, 25, are only the conclusion.

Verse 22 says: "The scripture hath concluded [shut up] all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe;" and verse 23 says: "We were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." There can be no manner of question that these expressions "under sin" and "under the law" are identical in meaning, and therefore it is plain that to be "under the law" is to be "under sin." And being "under sin," being "shut up under sin," and thus "kept under the law, shut up unto the faith," it is certain that it is the law by which is the knowledge of sin,–the law which says, "Thou shalt not covet."–which is the schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. And this is the more evident by the fact that after faith is come, after we are justified by faith, we are no longer under the law; we are no longer under the dominion of sin; we are no longer shut up; because we have attained unto the very thing which is the object of the law, which is Christ. For "Christ is the end [the object, the aim, the purpose] of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." Rom. 10:4.

Notice again: for what purpose is it that men are brought to Christ?–"That we might be justified by faith." This is the same as the preceding verses: "We were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith." "The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Plainly, therefore, whatever law it is, it is a law that brings men to faith.

Now, it is not true, and it never was true, that the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings ever brought anybody to faith. It was faith that brought them to that law. "By faith Abel offered unto God . . . sacrifice." Did the sacrifice, or the offering of it, bring Abel to faith?–No. Faith brought Abel to the sacrifice. That sacrifice was a lamb, and, in Abel's faith, it was Christ. And by the faith of Christ, in which he offered that sacrifice, "he obtained witness that he was righteous." Thus he attained to righteousness by faith; to justification by faith. Thus faith brought him to that ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings.

But what brought him to the faith that brought him to the law of sacrifices and offerings?–The knowledge of sin brought him to the faith. And what brought him to the knowledge of sin?–The moral law, to be sure–the law that says: "Thou shalt not covet"–the law by which alone is the knowledge of sin.

Cain brought an offering: but it was not brought in faith, and therefore was not accepted; and consequently sin still lay at his door. Gen. 4:7. Cain had no faith in Christ, and therefore his offering was of no avail. And even though an offering were made of a lamb, if there was no faith in Christ in him who offered it, it would not avail. The faith must be there before he brings his offering at all, or else it is of no avail.

Thus, by every consideration, it is certain that, instead of the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings bringing men to the faith, it was faith that always brought men to the sacrifices and offerings. And it must be faith that would do that, or else, the sacrifice and the offering was nothing.

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 16 , p. 246.

THE Senate Porto Rico tariff and civil government bill passed the House of Representatives in Congress, Wednesday, April 11, by a vote of one hundred and sixty-one to one hundred and fifty-three, and was signed by the President, and so became the law of Porto Rico, Thursday, April 12. It definitely establishes a colonial system of government by the United States, without the Constitution, with a governor and council appointed by the President, approved by the Senate, the governor the personal representative of the President, and responsible only to the President. It is in principle, and will prove in practice, Republican Rome's system of colonial government, which was a mighty element in hurrying that republic into the terrific imperial despotism that it became.

THE present assistant secretary of the Navy, Hon. Chas. H. Allen, of Massachusetts, has been chosen by the President as the first United States colonial governor of Porto Rico. The Washington correspondent of the Detroit News-Tribune says that "Mr. Allen is credited by those familiar with his two-years' service in the Navy Department, with being a man of unusual poise and ability, and with unswerving loyalty to his President and party." Of course in Porto Rico he can not be loyal to the Constitution; because there he is to govern without the Constitution. Since he is the personal representative of the President, he can be loyal only to the President. That is, in that place and office he can not be loyal to principle, but only to a person.

BY the signature of the President, April 12, the Porto Rico bill became law. by it the Porto Ricans are not citizens of the United States, and have no representation in the United States; and yet are taxed by the United States, though the money thus raised is to be spent upon Porto Rico itself. Friday, April 13, the New York World recalled the fact that, "one hundred and thirty-five years, one month, and fifteen days ago to-day, the British Parliament passed an act for the taxation of the American colonies, the money thus raised to be expended in and upon the colonies themselves. The whole world knows what followed." In view of current events of daily happening, can any one fail to see that this nations is steadily repudiating every principle of its Constitution as a republican government? And how much further must she go before she shall have actually repudiated every such principle? And then what?

April 24, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 17 , pp. 264, 265.

ANOTHER element in the falling away out of which came the Beast, and which was a mighty impulse in the making of the Beast, was the adoption of pagan philosophy.

In the second century there was a school of philosophy in Alexandria called the Eclectic, so called because its originator held that there was truth in all the philosophies of the world, and that if this truth was gathered out from all and embodied in one, this one would become the universal philosophy, and would dominate the world. At the beginning of the third century an improvement was made upon this system by a certain Ammonius Saccas, by which the formation of a universal philosophy, one that would dominate the world, should be accomplished more easily and much more quickly. Ammonius held that the essences of all the philosophies in the world were already one if only men understood one another; and he applied himself to the task of forming such a system of explanations as would enable the philosophers to understand all the philosophies just aslike.

Clement, one of the earliest "Fathers of the church," adopted the system of Ammonius, and finally established a philosophical school in Alexandria, which at the same time he held under the name and form of Christian.

Clement is supposed to have died about A.D. 220, and was succeeded by Origen, who had been taught by both Ammonius and Clement. This is the Origen who became by this very means, and even yet is regarded, one of the greatest of the Fathers of the Catholic Church. By his philosophizing comments in exposition of the Scriptures, to make this perverse Christianity acceptable to the heathen, and by the great success that he had in building up this new system of things, he became the commentator and master not only of his time, but for ages afterward. For "from the days of Origen to those of Chrysostom [A.D. 451] there was not a single eminent commentator that did not borrow largely from the words of" Origen. "He was the chief teacher of even the most orthodox of the Western Fathers."–Farrar.

From the beginning there was in the church earnest protest against this tendency to the heathen philosophy. Indeed, this was certain to be so on the part of all who respected the Scriptures, for there it is plainly written: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." For in Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." And again, it was plainly stated in the Scriptures that by this very philosophy the world had been brought to the point where it did not know God. Therefore Christians were warned against it because it led away from God.

But these would-be Christians philosophers were not restrained by this admonition of the Scriptures; because, as in former studies we have seen, it was not disciples to Christ that they were after, but "to draw away disciples after them;" and for this purpose they would even pervert what was plainly written in the Scripture. They wanted a multitude drawn to themselves that they might have power; and whatever means would draw the multitude was readily adopted by them.

"The estimation in which human learning should be held was a question on which the Christians were about equally divided. Many recommended the study of philosophy, and an acquaintance with the Greek and Roman literature; while others maintained that these were pernicious to the interests of genuine Christianity and the progress of true piety." This heathen philosophy and literature were pernicious to the interests of genuine Christianity, and could not be anything else. And the fact that ere was any division at all on the subject among the Christians, simply reveals that among the Christians there were those who could not discern that the heathen philosophy and literature were not compatible with Christian principle and Christian literature.

And this reveals further that the Christianity of those persons was a mere profession, that it consisted only in outward form. And this shows that the heart had never been touched by the divine Spirit, that these persons had never been converted. The natural mind was still theirs, the mind that "is enmity against God," that "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." They never had attained to true faith; to the righteousness, the character of God, which is by faith; to the mind of Jesus Christ. And the fact that "the Christians were about equally divided" demonstrates that there were a great number at this time in the church who were unconverted, who knew nothing of true conversion, of the righteousness of God which is by faith, nor of the mind that was in Christ.

These of course followed the lead of Clement and Origen, were pleased at the great "success" of these teachers and their school in gathering such large numbers to "Christianity;" and so "the cause of letters and philosophy triumphed, however, by degrees; and those who wished well to them continued to gain ground till at length the superiority was manifestly decided in their favor. This victory was principally due to the influence of Origen. . . . The fame of this philosophy increased daily among the Christians; and in proportion to his rising credit his method of proposing and explaining the doctrines of Christianity gained authority till it became almost universal." Thus, by this means, yet further, "an host was given him" "by reason of transgression."

This system of philosophy, originated by Ammonius and perpetuated by Clement and Origen, was altogether Egyptian, and thence passed to the Greeks, among whom it was preserved in its bad purity, especially by Plato, from whom it was given the title of the New Platonism.

The means employed by Ammonius, and from him adopted by Clement and Origen, of finding or making all the philosophies to be one, was a system of allgorization and mystification by which anybody could find whatever he wanted in any writing that might come to his notice. And when this method was applied to the Scriptures, it was easy enough to pervert the word of God so as to make it sanction anything taught in the pagan philosophies. According to it, in every passage of Scripture there are at least three meanings, and there may be from three to six meanings.

The basis of this was the immortality of the soul. As every man is composed of body, soul, and spirit, so every Scripture has in it three original senses: (a) a literal sense corresponding to the body; (b) a moral sense, corresponding to the soul; and (c) a mystical sense, corresponding to the spirit, or mind. And as the body is the baser part of man, so the literal is the baser sense of the Scripture. And further, as the body often betrays good men into sin, so the literal sense of Scripture often leads into error. And yet further, as the body is a clog to the soul, and hinders it in its heavenly aspirations, and must therefore be despised and separated as far as possible from the soul; so the literal sense of Scripture, which corresponds to man's body, is likewise a hindrance to the detection and proper understanding of the hidden and mystical meanings of the Word, and therefore the literal sense of Scrip-

265

ture must be despised and separated as far as possible from the hidden senses, and must be counted as of the least possible worth.

Accordingly Origen taught and wrote: "The source of many evils lies in adhering to the carnal, or external, part of Scripture. Those who do so will not attain to the kingdom of God. Let us therefore seek after the substantial fruits of the Word, which are hidden and mysterious. The Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they are written."

This system at once took away the Scriptures from the common people, and shut up the Scriptures to be interpreted solely by these philosophers, who alone were learned in the mystifications and mysteries that were "the true spirit and substantial fruit of the Word." The common people could understand the Scriptures only as they are written, just as they must any other writing; because they knew nothing of the use of that method of mystification. And as it was settled that those who did understand the Scriptures as they are written would "not attain to the kingdom of God," it was plainly in the interests of the common people themselves that these leaders in the new philosophic "Christianity" should withhold the Scriptures from them. For it was only in the receiving of the mystifications of these self-exalted teachers that the ignorant–the common people–could attain to the real truth and "substantial fruit of the Word." In this Egyptiaco-Platonic-philosophic-Christian system of the third century lies the origin and the philosophy of the papacy's forbidding even to this day the common people to read the Scriptures.

And when from the common people the Scriptures were shut away, and were shut up exclusively to a perverse-minded hierarchy, who were set on reading into them every pagan doctrine that they chose, in order to be able to class the pagans as Christians–when thus such a sinful and iniquitous "host was given him. . . by reason of" such "transgression," it was easy, and indeed only natural, that, as the consequence, there should be revealed "that man of sin. . . . the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," "the mystery of iniquity," "that Wicked," "the Beast."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:24-26" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 17 , pp. 265, 266.

THE law that is here under consideration brings men to Christ, that they may "be justified by faith." Justification by faith is the object in view. But from the example of Abel, from the ceremonial law of Leviticus, which we have already presented these studies, it has been demonstrated that the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings was itself the way of justification by faith; so that it is impossible for a law which in itself is justification by faith, to bring men to justification by faith.

On the other hand, what is the necessity for justification?–All have sinned; all have transgressed the lawn; all are shunt up under sic, and so kept under the law. And they never can be justified by the law. The only possible escape is by faith of Jesus Christ. Their only hope of justification is in justification by faith. Consequently, this law is the law by which is the knowledge of sin; the law "under" which every can is "kept" until he is justified by faith. This law it is that is the schoolmaster to bring men unto Christ in order that they may be justified by faith.

One other word just here. The ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings is done away. There is no question of that anywhere. Now if it were the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings that brought men to Christ, that they might be justified by faith–since that is done away, how can men brought to Christ? and how can they find justification by faith? If that were the law here referred to, then, of all things, that law never should have been, and it never could have been, in righteousness, done away, so long as there remained a single soul that needed to be brought to Christ, that needed to be justified by faith. Consequently, since that law has been done away, and ever since it was done away, men have needed to be brought to Christ, and to be justified by faith, this, in itself, is the most conclusive proof that the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings is not at all, and could not possibly be, the law here referred to.

For these reasons that law could be only a law that abides forever–and that law is the MORAL law–the law by which is the knowledge of sin, by which all the world is declared and held guilty before God, until they are justified by faith. For "what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped; and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Rom. 3:19-28. All this is of the moral law. But it was with the very deeds of the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings that men were justified by faith. Indeed, a man could be justified by faith without the deeds of the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings: because the deeds of the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings were the very expression of faith itself. By faith Abel offered unto God a . . .sacrifice." What was the faith worth that brought no sacrifice?–Nothing. That was Cain's faith. The law, then, that brought men to Christ that they might be justified by faith, is a law, and must be a law, without the deeds of which men are justified by faith. And this is true and can be true only of the moral law.

One of the principle sources of misunderstanding of this text, lies in the taking of the word "schoolmaster" in the sense of our everyday word "school-teacher," and knowing that the ten commandments do not of themselves teach, instruct, or tell men about Christ and his work of salvation, while the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings does,–because in figure it was Christ,–it is concluded that this law which was the schoolmaster, must be, and can be, only the ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings

But the word translated schoolmaster does not signify a school-teacher. It signifies a schoolmaster, in the sense of a master as a disciplinarian: not a school-teacher, in the sense of an instructor. It is true that the schoolmaster, the disciplinarian, might be, and sometimes was, also a school-teacher, an instructor, but that was only an incident. The original and primary thought of the word is that of master, as a disciplinarian, a watcher, a corrector. Accordingly, the German of Luther translated it "Zucht-meÌster–master of the house of correction." The Greek word corresponds to the Latin and Anglicized word "tutor." But even as connected with the idea of tutor, the thought of teacher only incidentally attaches; because the original and primary meaning of "tutor" is simply "a guardian; a watcher; a protector." A guardian may be indeed a teacher also, if he have the ability and faculty to be a teacher also, but that is not the original and primary thought in the word, it is only an incident.

The Greek word translated schoolmaster is paidagogos and signifies "a boy-ward;" "a child-conductor;" or "child-guide;" "the slave who went with a boy from home to school and back again, a kind of a tutor." "Fabius is jeeringly called the paidagogos of Hannibal, because he always followed him about:–generally a leader, demokratias, turannidos." The thought that he was primarily a person apart from the teacher of the boy is emphasized in the word "paÌdagogio–the room in a schoolhouse in which the paÌdagogoi waited for their boy." The Century Dictionary says: "Among the Greeks and Romans the pedagogue was originally a slave who attended the younger children of his master, and conducted them to school, to the theater, etc., combining, in many cases instruction with guardianship." If the thought intended to be conveyed in this verse were that of a school-teacher, the word would have to be not paÌdagogos, but didaskalos.

The law then here meant is not a law which in itself teaches of Christ; but that which conducts men as children to Christ that by him they may be taught. The law is not in itself the teacher, but that which watches, guards, corrects, and conducts men as untrained and unruly children to Christ as to the school where by him they shall be taught. And the only law that can possible fit the thought not only of the single word paÌdagogos, but also the whole context of which verses 24, 25, are only the conclusion and consequence, is the moral law–the ten commandments. For "the scripture has shut up all under sin;" "we were kept under the law shut up UNTO THE FAITH." "Wherefore"–consequently–"the law was our paÌdagogos–watcher, warden, guardian, corrector, and conductor–unto Christ, that [so that, in order that] we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come we are no longer under" the law–no longer "kept under the law," "shut up under sin." "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."

TWO correspondents think that this is new doctrine, especially for and in the REVIEW AND HERALD; but whatever and with whomsoever this may be new doctrine, there is one thing certain, and that is that for and in the REVIEW AND HERALD it is not in any sense new. Consider: The first number of the REVIEW AND HERALD ever issued, was Vol. I, No. 1, in November, 1850–forty-nine and a half hears ago. No. 5 of Vol. I was issued in January, 1851. In that No. 5 was the first notice of the third chapter of Galatians that was ever made in the REVIEW AND HERALD. It is in an article by J. N. Andrews, on "The Perpetuity of the Law of God." From that article we quote, just as there printed, enough to make perfectly plain to all now, the position that was held in and by the REVIEW then:–

Our faith may be expressed in a single sentence: God's LAW COVERS ALL TIME, and under all dispensations it stands out before men as the rule of their lives, and the sum of their duty to God. The fall of man left "the work of the law" written in his heart though faintly indeed; then at Mt. Sinai it was written in tables of stone by the finger of God; then, under the new covenant, it is written in the hearts of God's people, even as it was before the fall. We appeal to men of candor and reason. Are not these things so?

Galatians 3. The great doctrine of justification by faith having been lost sight of by the Galatian church, the apostle argues the point with them; and with great clearness shows that it is our only hope of salvation. Hence, the different covenants which God made with his people are here examined and contrasted. The covenant made with Abraham, which was based on the righteousness of faith, is first introduced. This covenant secured to him self, and to his seed, the inheritance of the earth. Rom. 4:13. . . . The question now arises. Why does the apostle say that the law could not disannul the promise made to Abraham? Is there anything in the law which is against the promise of God?–No, verily. See verse 21. For the law of God, which embodies his requirements, and man's duty, can not be contrary to his own promise.

Why then is it said that if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise? We answer that God made perfect obedience to his law the condition on which he took Israel, the literal seed of Abraham, to be his people. Jer. 11:3, 4; Ex. 19:5-8; 20. This covenant made the works of the law the condition on which they should receive the inheritance, instead of the righteousness of faith which was the condition of the promise made to Abraham. But it is plain that if the deeds of the law be made the ground of justification, then is justification by faith made void. And as it is evident that fallen, guilty man can not be justified by a law

266

which already condemns him, he could then have no hope of salvation. . . Why, then, it may be asked, did God give to Israel a covenant which recognized perfect obedience as its only condition? We reply, He did it that he might exclude all appearance of heirship from the natural seed except such as should walk in the faith of their father Abraham. Hear the apostle: "For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scriptures hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ MIGHT BE GIVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE." Such are the only heirs.

That article on "The Perpetuity of the Law of God" was concluded in No. 6 of Vol. I, and in this Elder Andrews took up the very verses that stand at the head of this present Study in Galatians, as follows:–

Gal. 3:23-26. . . How is the law a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ? Answer: The law shows our guilt and just condemnation, and that we are lost without a Saviour. Read Paul's account of this school in Rom. 7:7-25. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20. "I had not known sin, but by the law." Rom.7:7. Then the instruction of the law is absolutely necessary, that we may know ourselves to be sinners in the sight of God. We find ourselves sinners by past offences, and unable to render present obedience. The just penalty of the law hangs over our heads; we find ourselves lost, and fly to Jesus Christ for refuge."

The same thoughts were published again in Vol. II, No. 4, Sept. 16, 1851; and in Vol. III, No. 7, Aug. 5, 1852; so that it plainly stands as the original doctrine of the REVIEW AND HERALD as to the law of God in Galatians 3. And that is was sound doctrine then, and is sound doctrine now, it is certain from the fact that in the REVIEW AND HERALD of April 5, 1898, in the first-page article, under the title of "The Perfect Law," the Spirit of Prophecy speaks as follows:–

The law of God, as presented in the Scriptures, is broad in its requirements. Every principle is holy, just, and good. The law lays men under obligation to God; it reaches to the thought and feelings; and it will produce conviction of sin in every one who is sensible of having transgressed its requirements. . .

In his teachings, Christ showed how far-reaching are the principles of the law spoken from Sinai. He made a living application of that law whose principles remain forever the great standard of righteousness.

Paul's testimony of the law is: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin [the sin is in the man, not in the law]? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. . . Wherefore the law is holy, the commandment holy, and just, and good." . . .

There is no safety nor repose nor justification in transgression of the law. Man can not hope to stand innocent before God, and at peace with him through the merits of Christ, while he continues to sin. He must cease to transgress, and become loyal and true. As the sinner looks into the great moral looking-glass, he sees his defects of character. He sees himself just as he is, spotted, defiled, and condemned. But he knows that the law can not in any way remove the guilt, or pardon the transgressor. He must go farther than this. The law is but the schoolmaster to bring him to Christ. He must look to his sin-bearing Saviour. And as Christ is revealed to him upon the cross of Calvary, dying beneath the weight of the sins of the whole world, the Holy Spirit shows him the attitude of God to all who repent of their transgressions. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever-lasting life."

And all this is–not the law in Galatians, but–the gospel in Galatians–justification, righteousness, by faith,–the Third Angel's Message.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 17 , p. 267.

AS to that "American court," with its "court chamber" and "court dress," that has been established at Washington, D.C., we noted last week that the idea signifies "specifically, the collective body of persons who compose the retinue or council of a sovereign or other PRINCELY dignity." Only royalty can appropriately hold court. It consists only with "a sovereign or other princely dignity." The definition of "sovereign" is "supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; not subject to any other; hence, royal; princely; a ruler, governor, chief, or master; one to who allegiance is due." Study now this subject in connection with the statements as to these colonial governors being the "personal representatives of the President," and as such "possessing absolute power," and "unswerving loyalty to their President," etc. In his history of "The Fall of the Roman Empire," Sismondi, tracing the decline from republic to empire, remarks that "the people of the provinces, strangers to the antique liberty, perceived no difference between the republic and the empire; the army, confounding fidelity to a standard with the duty of citizens, and blind obedience with patriotism, attached themselves to the Julian family with implicit and unhestitating devotion."–Chap. 2, par. 9.

May 1, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 18 , p. 280.

BY their perversions of the truth, and accommodating themselves to the ways of the heathen, the self-exalted teachers referred to by Paul in his word to the elders of the church at Ephesus, had occurred to themselves a host by reason of transgression.

The lust for power was the secret of all this course, from the beginning; for no man can ever want disciples to himself except it be to obtain power. And Eusebius tells that "some that appeared to be our pastors, deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with mutual strifes, only accumulating quarrels and threats, rivalship, hostility, and hatred to each other, only anxious to assert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves."

Nor was it only government in the church and over this host that had been gathered by reason of transgression that they were anxious to assert; it was government of all kinds–civil as well as ecclesiastical; state as well as church. And, at the beginning of the fourth century the political conditions of things in the Roman state was such as to open the way for these ambitious church managers to get control of the civil power, and thus assert the civil government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves, and to use it the further to enlarge, and more firmly to fix, their ecclesiastical power.

In A.D. 208, it came about in the Roman state, that there were six emperors at once, each one holding a particular division of the empire; each one in command of an army, and each one ambitious to be himself sole emperor of the whole empire. But, there being so many of them, and each one having gathered to himself all the troops that he could, the military strength of the empire was exhausted. There being no more resources in military strength, it became a matter of interest to each emperor to secure the alliance, or the favor, of whatever other element of power there might be. And just at this time it was that Eusebius declares that those chief church men were "anxious to assert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves," and when, as stated by another, "it was the hope of every bishop in the empire to make politics a branch of theology."

This ambition on the part of the clergy was detected among the emperors, and, with certain of them it awoke a desire to make theology a branch of politics. Maximum made advances to win to his interests the church element, but he was distrusted by the church managers, and so his design in that direction was frustrated. Constantine, however, a consummate politician in all phases of the term, and who, therefore, more than any of the other emperors, was able "to make theology a branch of politics," succeeded in so gaining the favor of the bishops as to win to his cause the apostate church-elements throughout the whole empire; and, what to his immediate purpose was more important, gaining to his interests such of the apostasy as were in the armies of his rivals.

Maxentius was emperor in Italy and Africa, with Rome as his seat. He was so "cruel, rapacious, and profligate" that his reign recalled the times and acts of the worst emperors of the past. By this time also the bishopric of Rome had become a position of such possibilities of power and wealth, that in the times of the election of a bishop there were repeated all the chicanery, contentions, violence, and riot that characterized the political contests in Rome in the worst days of the republic.

In A.D. 308 Marcellus was elected bishop of Rome. "His severity rendered him odious to the people, and caused divisions among the faithful. Discord degenerated into sedition, and the quarrel terminated in murder." Maxentius blamed Marcellus as being the chief cause of these disturbances, "and condemned him to groom post-horses in a stable on the high-road."

After about nine months of this service, some priests succeeded in carrying off Marcellus. They concealed him in the house of a Roman lady named Lucilla. When the officers would have taken him again, the faithful assembled under arms to defend him. Maxentius ordered out his guards and dispersed them. He then commanded that Lucilla's house should be converted into a stable, and obliged Marcellus to continue in the office of groom. In January, A.D. 310, Marcellus died, and was succeeded by Eusebius, whom Maxentius banished to Sicily. He died thereafter a few months, and was succeeded by Melchiades, in the same year, A.D. 310.

Because of these things, Maxentius was held to be a persecutor of the church, even equal to Pharaoh, to whom he was likened, while the church was correspondingly likened to Israel in Egypt, oppressed by this Pharaoh. Melchiades improved his opportunity to seek deliverance from this Egypt and the oppressions of this Pharaoh. Accordingly, in A.D. 311, Melchiades wrote a letter to Constantine, and by a delegation of bishops sent it to him at Treves, in Gaul, inviting him to come to the relief of the church, and to make the conquest of Rome. Constantine deliberated, and Maxentius became more and more tyrannical. In A.D. 312, an embassy from Rome went to Constantine at Aries, and in the name of the senate and people requested him to deliver the city from the despotism of the tyrant. Constantine now gladly embraced the opportunity thus afforded, and quickly set out toward Rome.

At Turin he met and destroyed a strong body of the troops of Maxentius; and at Verona, after a considerable siege of the city, and a hard-fought battle in the field, which, beginning in the afternoon, continued through the whole of the following night, he vanquished quite a formidable army. Between Verona and Rome there was nothing to check his march. Maxentius drew out his army, and met Constantine on the banks of the Tiber, nine miles from Rome. He crossed the Tiber and set his army in battle array, with the river in his rear. The battle was joined Oct. 28, A.D. 312. Maxentius was soon defeated, and his army, broken to pieces, attempted to escape. In the confusion and by the terrible onslaught of Constantine's veterans, thousands of the soldiers of Maxentius were crowded into the river and drowned. Maxentius, endeavoring to escape on his horse across the Milvian bridge, was crowded off into the river, and being clothed with heavy armor, was drowned.

Since Maxentius was Pharaoh, and the church in Rome was Israel in Egypt, oppressed by this Pharaoh, the system was completed by counting Constantine as the new Moses sent by the Lord to deliver Israel from this Egypt and this Pharaoh. When Constantine marched against Maxentius, it was the new Moses on his way to deliver Israel. When the army of Maxentius was defeated and multitudes were drowned in the river, it was the Red Sea swallowing up the hosts of Pharoah. When Maxentius was crowded off the bridge and, by the weight of his armor, sank instantly to the bottom of the river, it was the new Pharaoh, "the horse and his rider" being thrown into the sea and sinking to "the bottom as a stone," and "as lead in the mighty waters." Ex. 15:9, 10. Then was Israel delivered, and a song of deliverance was sung by the new Israel as by the original Israel at their deliverance. Thus the story is told by one of the principal bishops of the time and of the dark intrigue with Constantine:–

And now those miracles recorded in Holy Writ, which God of old wrought against the ungodly (discredited by most as fables, yet believed by the faithful), did He in very deed confirm to all, alike believers and unbelievers, who were eye-witnesses to the wonders I am about to relate. For as once in the days of Moses and the Hebrew nation, who were worshipers of God, He cast Pharaoh's chariots and his host into the waves, and drowned his chosen chariot-captians in the Red Sea, so at this time did Maxentius and the soldiers and guards with him sink "to the bottom as a stone," when in his flight before the divinely aided forces of Constantine he essayed to cross the river which lay in his way, over which he had made a strong bridge of hosts, and had framed an engine of destruction, really against himself, but in the hope of ensnaring thereby him who was beloved of God. For his God stood by the one [Constantine] to protect him, while the other [Maxentius], destitute of His aid, proved to be the miserable contriver of these secrete devices to his own ruin. so that one might well say, "He made a pit, and digged it, and shall fall into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his own pate." Thus in the present instance, under divine direction, the machine erected on the bridge, with the ambuscade concealed therein, giving way unexpectedly before the appointed time, the passage began to sink down, and the boats with the men in them went bodily to the bottom. At first the wretch himself [Maxentius], then his armed attendants and guards, even as the sacred oracles had before described, "sank as lead in the mighty waters." So that they who thus obtained victory from God might well, if not in the same words, yet in fact in the same spirit, as the people of His great servant Moses, sing and speak as they did concerning the impious tyrant of old: "Let us sing unto the Lord, for He has been glorified exceedingly; the horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea. He is become my helper and my shield unto salvation." And again: "Who is like to thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, marvelous in praises, doing wonders?"–Eusebius.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 3:27-29" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 18 , pp. 280, 281.

"FOR as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." The Greek word here translated "put on," expresses the thought of putting on of clothes: "to be clothed in: have on to wear." It well expresses the thought of baptism, as expressed elsewhere: of being buried, lost sight of: baptism being a burial in the water, so that the person baptized is overwhelmed, lost sight of, and shut away from the sight of the world.

Baptism in water is but the form in which is expressed the fact that the individual is buried, overwhelmed, clothed, and lost sight of, in Christ; so that instead of the old man being seen in the world and by the world, it is only Christ that is seen in the baptized individual.

The thought of this verse is expressed in another place: "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." As you have put on Christ, and so are clothed in Christ, so wear him as your clothing, that you yourself may be hidden, and only Christ appear.

This is the truth expressed in baptism. Oh, that this truth were indeed always expressed in baptism. How many realize that baptism in the water is not itself the true baptism; but is only the outward expression of that which is the true baptism? For though a person be baptized, buried, overwhelmed, and lost sight of in the water–if that be all, then it is but nothing. For baptism consists not in the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. 1 Peter 3:21. And a good conscience is found only in "the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God." Heb. 9:14. When each soul, to be baptized in the water has al-ready been, by faith, overwhelmed, clothed, and lost sight of, in Christ, and the baptism in the water is the expression of his faith which has clothed him indeed in Christ, then baptism will not only bear to Christians its true meaning, but will also bear to the world its true meaning.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for

281

ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Among those who are Christians, there are neither racial, tribal, national, nor any other distinctions, for all are one in Christ Jesus. And, whoever among those professing to be Christians, there are seen any distinctions of any kind, by that very fact it is therein declared that among them Christ is not truly apprehended. Accordingly, the Revised Version brings out this very thought, that among those who have been baptized into Christ, and so have put on Christ, "there can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female," for all are one, and that one is only Christ.

The thought is that, when the man has died, and has been buried–baptized–into Christ: overwhelmed, lost sight of, in Christ, he is forever taken away from himself, and is not himself any more. If he was an American before, he is not an American now: he is a Christian. If he was a Scythian before, he is not a Scythian now: he is a Christian. If he was an African before, he is not "an African" now: he is a Christian. If he was a slave before, he is not a slave now: he is a Christian. So that among those who are truly Christ's, who have put on Christ, and who are wearing Christ, all manner of racial, tribal, national, or whatsoever distinction, is utterly gone. There is no respect of persons with God, nor with those who are the children of God: it is only character that counts and that the character of Christ–the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.

And thus, "if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed; and heirs according to the promise. For the promise is only to Abraham, and to his seed, which is Christ. Accordingly, that promise, that inheritance, could not possibly fall to any person but to Christ. For, "he saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Then, whosoever shall not be found with Christ, so that Christ is the individual who is seen, can never be heir to the inheritance nor receive the promise. And wherever among professed Christians there are divisions or dissensions, the promise of the inheritance is forfeited. Because the promise is not unto "seeds, as of many, but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ:" and Christ is not divided. He is one, and only those who are one IN HIM, can possible receive the inheritance.

May 8, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 19 , p. 296.

THE death of Maxentius and the conquest of Rome by Constantine, secured to Constantine one stroke, the whole of the Western empire of Rome. As before related, it occurred Oct. 8, A.D. 312.

In the month of March, A.D. 313, Constantine and Licinius met at Milan, and formed an alliance, and jointly issued an edict, granting "to the Christians, and to all, the free choice to follow that mode of worship which they may wish: "decreeing" that no freedom at all shall be refused to Christians to follow or to keep their observances or worship, but that to each one power be granted to devote his mind to that worship which he may think adapted to himself." This freedom was "absolutely granted to them." The privilege was "also granted to others to pursue that worship and religion they wish. . . . that each may have the privilege to select and to worship whatsoever divinity he pleases."

Plainly, with reference to the separation of religion and the state, this edict put the Roman empire exactly in the attitude in which the United States government stood at its organization and under its Constitution.

But, as we have seen, the rulers of the apostate church were anxious "to assert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves;" and there was another portion of this edict upon which they seized and which they made to work to their advantage, in securing a union of the church with the state, by which they could indeed assert the imperial government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves. That other portion of the edict commanded that all the property of the Christians which had been destroyed, or confiscated, in the late persecution, should be restored "to the Christians." And it was definitely stated in the edict that this contemplated "the right of the whole body of Christians," and commanded that this property should "without any hesitancy," "be restored to these same Christians; that is, to their body, and to each conventicler respectively."

Now no sooner were the claims presented, and restitution begun, according to the edict, than the Catholic Church raised the issue that only those in communion with her were Christians: and so insisted that only these were entitled to the restored property. She thus forced a governmental interpretation of the term "Christians," and a governmental decision as to who could properly bear the title of "Christians." And, since that church had given to Constantine her active support, in his campaign against Maxentius, which brought to him the whole power of the Western empire, this issue which she raised, was pressed with this added force of the political favor which she had rendered to him, and for which she demanded a corresponding return.

Accordingly, upon the first appeal, Constantine issued an edict to the proconsul in the province from which the appeal came, in which he said: "It is our will that when thou shalt receive this epistle, if any of those things belonging to the Catholic Church of the Christians in the several cities of other places, are now possessed either by the decurions or any others, these thou shalt cause immediately to be restored to their churches; since we have previously determined that whatsoever these same churches before possessed, shall be restored to their right." This was not true in fact; it was not "the Catholic Church of the Christians," but "the Christians," "the whole body of Christians," to whom it was "previously determined" that the property should be restored. Yet this interpretation being that of the supreme imperial power, was final as to what was implied in this edict. And this interpretation was in effect a decision that those of the Catholic Church were the only Christians, and made the edict of Milan, from the beginning, bear that meaning.

It having now been decided that only those of the Catholic Church were Christians, the issue was next raised as to what was in truth the Catholic Church. A division of the church in Africa, that was not just then in communion with the bishop of Rome, claimed, equally with the communion of Rome, to be the Catholic Church. This also called for a decision on the part of the emperor.

Accordingly, still in the same month of the issue of the original edict of Milan,–March, A.D. 313,–Constantine addressed an edict to the proconsul of the province in which the question was raised, in which he specified that to be "the Catholic Church, over which Cecilianus presides." Cecilianus was the principal bishop in that province over that portion of the church which was in communion with the bishop of Rome. This was, therefore, in effect, with the decisions already made, to settle it that only those of the Catholic Church were Christians, and only those who were in communion with the bishop of Rome were the Catholic Church. The effect of this was, of course, to make the Church of Rome the standard in the new imperial religion.

However, the opposite party was not satisfied with this decision, but sent a petition to the emperor, requesting that he refer the matter to the bishops of Gaul for a decision. Constantine accept their petition, and responded, so far as to refer it to a council of bishops. But, instead of having the council composed of the bishops of Gaul, he had it composed of the bishop of Rome and eighteen others, of Italy, before whom the contending parties were required to appear in Rome for the hearing.

The bishop of Rome here concerned and definitely named in the edict, was "Miltiades;" the same as "Melchiades" who was the very bishop who had invited Constantine to come from Gaul to the rescue of oppressed Israel under the Pharaoh, Maxentius; and who thus early began to reap in imperial and joint authority, the fruit of that episcopal-political endeavor. And, thus, one of the very first steps in that union of church and state, was that "the bishop of Rome sits, by the imperial authority, at the head of a synod of Italian bishops, to judge the disputes of the African Donatists."–Milman. The council met Oct. 2, A.D. 313.

Of course, the council decided in favor of the Church of Rome. The defeated party appealed again to the emperor, asking for a larger council to consider the matters involved. Again their appeal was heard, and a council composed of "many bishops" was appointed and held at Arles, in Gaul, August, A.D. 314. This council confirmed the decision of the previous council, in favor of the Church of Rome as the Catholic Church.

The defeated party again appealed–this time for a decision from the emperor himself. Constantine held a consistory, listened to their plea, and, in harmony with the councils already held, pronounced in favor of the Church of Rome as the Catholic Church.

The course of the positive growth, in favor and distinction, of the Catholic Church, throughout this whole procedure, is distinctly and most suggestively marked in the expressions used by the emperor in the successive documents which he issued in connection with the question.

As we have seen, in the edict of Milan, March, A.D. 313, "the whole body of Christians" were included, without any distinctions or any suggestion as to any distinction.

But, when the issue was raised that only those of the Catholic Church were Christians, the next edict ran, in the same month: "The Catholic Church of the Christians."

Next, in his epistle summoning the first council, in the autumn of A. D. 313, he calls it "the holy Catholic Church."

Next, in the summer of A. D. 314, in his epistle summoning the second council, he referred to the doctrine of the Catholic Church as embodying "our most holy religion."

Then, at last, when the controversy had run its course of appeal to where it came to him in person, and he had rendered the final decision, a document, issued A.D. 316, granted money, and announced the imperial favor, to the "ministers of the legitimate and most holy Catholic religion."

This final document also gave to Cecilianus and to the party who, with him, were in communion with the bishop of Rome, authority to call upon the imperial officers of the province, to enforce conformity upon those who "wished to divert the people from the most holy Catholic Church by a certain pernicious adulteration;" and commanded him: "If thou seest any of these men persevering in this madness, thou shalt without any hesitancy proceed to the aforesaid judges, and report it to them, that they may animadvert upon them, as I have commanded them when present."

Thus was formed the union of the church and state, out of which came the Beast, and all that the papacy has ever been, or ever can be. And it all grew out of the interpretation of a governmental document that was perfectly just and innocent in itself.

Next week we shall set down here events in the likeness of this which have already appeared in the United States, and which go that far to show here the making of the Image of the Beast.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 4:1-7" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 19 , pp. 296, 297.

"NOW I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

"God sent forth his Son," "made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." As we have seen abundantly, to be under the law is to be under the dominion of sin. And such are all men of themselves, because "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," and "what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God."

Now, it is these people who are under sin: who are under the curse: who are condemned to death, because "the wages of sin is death;"–it was them whom God sent his son to redeem. And in order to redeem them, it behoved him to be made in all things "like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Neb. 2:17. Therefore, that he might meet men just where men are and be a complete Deliverer, he himself came to men where they are, and was made like to men where they are. Therefore, he was even made to be sin. 2 Cor. 5:21.

He took the place of the transgressor: he became flesh, just as is the transgressor: he was made to be sin, just as the transgressor is sin: he bore the sins of men, "for the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." He took the condemnation, because the sins of the transgressor were imputed to him. And, as to the transgressor himself, the consciousness of sin is accompanied with the consciousness of guilt and condemnation; so when these sins were imputed to him who knew no sin, it was the sin indeed, with its accompanying sense of guilt and condemnation. He bore the curse, for sin brings the curse; and he bore the curse even unto death, because sin brings the curse even unto death.

297

Thus, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Thus he redeems them that are under the law. All the penalty, all the curse, all the wrath, all the condemnation, that the law can work upon the transgressor met upon him. And, in the divine sacrifice which he thus made, there was rendered all that the law can ever demand of the transgressor. So that everything that can possibly stand between the transgressor and God is swept away in the sacrifice of Christ.

In this, God has reconciled the world unto himself so completely that he can not impute their trespasses unto them (2 Cor. 5:19); and thus is extended freedom–absolute freedom–to every soul in the wide world. And every soul can have it, to the full and to all eternity, merely by accepting it. And, in accepting this redemption from under the law, every soul receives "the adoption of sons;" for, "as man as received him, to them gave he power ["the right, or privilege" margin] to become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:26.

And then, being sons of God, and "because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son then an heir of God through Christ."

Before this deliverance, we "were in bondage under the elements of the world." The only elements of the world that there are, are the elements of sin; for "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:16. But, when delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, we "have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;" but "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself" bearing "witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Rom. 8:15-17.

"Joint heirs with Christ." That is, all that he had falls
also to each one of the other sons. The inheritance is not divided up in equal shares among all the sons, as if they were equal
heirs. No; all the inheritance belongs to each one of the sons,
because they are joint heirs. This because God has no favorites
among his sons; but all that belongs to any one, belongs equally
to every other one. Accordingly, all that falls to Christ the Son
and heir falls also to each and every other son and heir. And this
wonderful truth Jesus wants the world to know; for, in his great
prayer for us all, he prayed, "That the world may know that thou
has sent me and has loved them, as thou hast loved me." John 17:23.

And, this wonderful fact: that God has no favorite nor preference among his sons, but that all are equal, and, therefore,
that each redeemed soul is, in his estimation, equal to Jesus, and
takes his stand on a plane, and in the reward, equal in all things
to Christ: it is this wonderful fact that caused John, in beholding it, to exclaim: "Behold, what manner of love the Father has
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. . . .

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall se him as he is." 1 John 3:1, 2.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 19 , p. 298.

IN New York City there has been organized and set in operation a religio-political combination called the "American Union," which announces its principal designs as follows:–

The union is a political organization, based on political principles. The members are all voters, and a majority are taxpayers. You can rest assured that their power will be felt in the coming election, and, in fact, in all elections. We will send delegations to the candidates whom we expect to indorse, and learn if they approve our principles. If they do, all well and good; if not, then we can not give them our votes. We shall not, however, put any candidates in the field for office. Each lodge, of which there are seventy-six at the present time, has one representative on the executive committee. The members of the union will be expected to support the candidates selected by the executive committee.

Other objects of the Union are:–

To enforce the law demanding the reading of the Protestant Bible each day at school-opening to or in the presence of all scholars, in a tone of voice that shall be audible to all.

To resist the appropriation of public funds for sectarian purposes.

To resist the appropriation of public funds for private use.

To oppose sectarian discrimination in the personnel of the board of education, superintendents, teachers, etc., in public schools.

To oppose governmental aid in favor of sectarian appropriations for religious or educational purposes in the newly acquired countries or territories now governed by the United States.

How that organization can enforce the reading of "the Protestant Bible each day at school-opening," or anywhere else, and at the same time "resist the appropriation of public funds for sectarian uses," and "oppose governmental aid in favor of sectarian appropriations for religious or educational purposes," etc., etc., can perhaps be explained by just such a religio-political order as this is; but it is certain that no such antagonistical things can ever be done.

May 15, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Making of the Image" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 20 , pp. 312, 313.

AS before stated, the Edict of Milan, March, A. D. 313, granted "to the Christians, and to all, the free choice to follow that mode of worship which they may wish." It decreed "that no freedom at all shall be refused to Christians to follow or to keep their observances or worship, but that to each one power be granted to devote his mind to that worship which he may think adapted to himself." This freedom was "absolutely granted to them." It was "also granted to others to pursue that worship and religion they wish. . . . that each may have the privilege to select and to worship whatsoever divinity he pleases."

As freedom of religion and worship, without any interference whatever on the part of the State, was thus decreed, and absolutely granted, this act was the formal surrender of the Roman imperial power to the principle announced by Jesus and maintained by his disciples through two hundred and eighty years, against all the power that the Roman empire could employ to suppress it–the principle of the total separation of religion and the State: the rendering to Cesar only that which is Cesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

It is perfectly plain, therefore, that, at this point, upon this question, the Roman State stood exactly as the United States stood at the formation of the national government with its total and Constitutional separation of religion and the State. Here, as there, the supreme law of the State disavowed any authority in matters of religion and worship. That is the only instance of such a thing in ancient times: this of the United States is the only instance of such a thing in modern times. It is true that in that ancient instance, the principle was immediately subverted, and the good intent and proper results of that supreme law were destroyed by the apostate church being able, through the political necessity of the State, to force herself upon the State.

It is likewise true that, though in this modern instance the freedom guaranteed in the supreme law of the State has continued longer than that anciently was allowed to continue, yet it is equally true that here, also, the principle has been subverted. In that ancient instance, as we have seen, the principle was subverted by interpreting into the supreme law a meaning which, on its face, was not there; and in this modern instance the principle has been subverted also, by interpreting into the supreme law a meaning, which not only on its face was not there, but which, by its positive terms, was entirely excluded.

The supreme law of the United States said that "no religious test" should "ever be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the United States;" that Congress should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" and that "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded upon the Christian religion." By an interpretation, Feb. 29, 1892, the Supreme Court of the United States declared it to be the "meaning" of the Constitution of the United States that it is "the voice of the entire" people of this nation, speaking in "organic utterances" that "this is a religious nation;" that, therefore, "this is a Christian nation;" and that "the establishment of a Christian religion was one of the purposes" of those who made the Constitution and formed the nation.

As we saw in last week's study of that ancient course of procedure which made the Beast, the supreme authority of the State was shortly required to decide who were Christians, and the decision was that only those of the Catholic Church were Christians, in the eye of the State; and that next, the State was required to decide that only those were Catholic Christians who were in communion with the bishop of Rome.

These points have not, in actual fact, been brought yet to a decision in the United States. But that things are swiftly shaping unto the point where these steps will have to be taken, is plain. And this has been in progress here ever since the Supreme Court declared this to be "a Christian nation."

In a very short time after that declaration was made by the Supreme Court of the United States, a letter from the Vatican, announcing the plans of Leo XIII respecting the United States, said that "what the Church has done in the past for others, she will now do for the United States."

Then very shortly after this announcement from the Vatican, a permanent apostolic delegate was sent from the Vatican, and established at the capital of the United States, with the assurance before hand, under the seal of "the fisherman's ring," that whatever he does shall be confirmed by the pope.

Then, within a year from that, Sept. 5, 1893, at the World's Catholic Congress, Chicago, this same apostolic delegate–Satolli–delivered to "the Catholics of America" the following message from Leo XIII:–

In the name of Leo XIII I salute the great American republic; and I call upon the Catholics of America, to go forward, in one hand bearing the book of Christian truth, and in the other the Constitution of the United States. . . . Bring your fellow-countrymen, bring your country, into immediate contact with that great secret of blessedness–Christ and his church. . . . Here you have a country which will repay all effort not merely tenfold, but aye! a hundredfold. And this no one understands better than the immortal Leo. And he charges me, his delegate, to speak out to America words of hope and blessing, words of joy. Go forward! in one hand bearing the book of Christian truth,–the Bible,–and in the other the Constitution of the United States.

The real secret and true inspiration of this message of the pope can be discerned from the following consideration. In the Catholic World, the representative Catholic review in this country, for the month of September, 1871, was printed a leading article, in which the Constitution of the United States was referred to in the following words:–

As it is interpreted by the liberal and sectarian journals that are doing their best to revolutionize it, and is beginning to be interpreted by no small portion of the American people, or is interpreted by the Protestant principle, so widely diffused among us. . . . we do not accept it, or hold it to be any government at all, or as capable of performing any of the proper functions of government; and if it continues to be interpreted by the revolutionary principles of Protestantism, it is sure to fail. . . . Hence it is, we so often say, that if the American republic is to be sustained and preserved at all, it must be by the rejection of the principle of the Reformation, and the acceptance of the Catholic principle by the American people.–Page 736.

Contrast that now with Leo's command by Satolli "to the Catholics of America" to "go forward" on their "hundredfold" rewarded mission, "bearing in one hand the book of Christian truth,–the Bible,–and in the other the Constitution of the Untied States;" and inquire, What has caused this change of the attitude of Rome toward the Constitution?

The principle upon which the Constitution was founded in its total separation of religion from the notice of the national government, was definitely and intentionally the Protestant principle. In the discussions which led up to the making of the Constitution as it reads in this respect, and in the discussion upon the Constitution in the conventions which made it, this point was especially dealt with, and the Protestant principle was the one chosen and made the principle of the Constitution. In the documents of that time, and which are an essential part of the history of the Constitution, this was the crucial point considered; and the Protestant principle was made the principle of the Constitution. In fact, it was plainly said not only that "it is impossible for the magistrate to adjudge the right of preference among the various sects which profess the Christian faith, without erecting a claim to infallibility, which would lead us back to the Church of Rome;" but it was also said that "to judge for ourselves, and to engage in the exercise of religion agreeably to the dictates of our own consciences, is an unalienable right which, upon the principles on which the gospel was first propagated and THE REFORMATION FROM POPERY CARRIED ON, can never be transferred to another."

Therefore it is the undeniable truth of the only history on the question, that the Constitution of the United States was founded upon the Protestant principle. And while it was held so, no Catholic was ever commanded by any pope to take that Constitution in one hand and the Bible in the other for any purpose under the sun. On the contrary, they openly declared that so long as the Constitution was held to that principle, Catholics did "not accept it," nor hold this government "to be any government at all."

But as soon as the Supreme Court of the United States had interpreted the Constitution by the papal principle,–the principle of "the establishment of the Christian religion,"–as soon as the Supreme Court thus rejected "the principle of the Reformation," and accepted "the Catholic principle:–

First, Then it was, and not till then, that there was published to the Untied States the purpose of Leo XIII, that what the Church has done for other nations, she will now do for the United States.

Second, Then it was, and not till then, that Leo XIII, pope sent his permanent apostolic delegate here in his name, to "call upon the Catholics of America to go forward, in one hand bearing the book of Christian truth, and in the other the Constitution of the United States," upon their hundredfold rewarded mission to bring this "country into immediate contact with the Church" of Rome.

Immediately following this, in the same month, Sept. 24, 1893, it was declared, in the Chicago World's Congress of Religions, that the United States is "a nation that shall find its perfection in Catholic christianity."

In less than a month after that, Oct. 18, 1893, at the jubilee of Cardinal Gibbons, celebrated in Baltimore, Archbishop Ireland exclaimed:–

I preach the new, the most glorious crusade. Church and age! Unite them in mind and heart, in the name of humanity, in the name of God. Church and age! . . . Monsignor Satolli, the church, and the age. Rome is the Church; America is the age.

Sept. 21, 1894, Bishop Keane, on his return from Rome, announced that:–

The policy of the pope, in view of the late overtures in Italy, is the union of the Church with the great democratic powers of the future–that is, America and France. This is his hope, and toward it all his remarkable energies are bent.

Three days later, September 24, the newspaper dispatches stated that Bishop Keane was "the bearer of a rescript from Pope Leo XIII," of which the import was the following:–

The papal rescript elevates the United States to the first rank as a Catholic nation. Heretofore this country has stood before the church as a missionary country. It had no more recognition officially at Rome than had China. . . . By the new rescript the country is freed from the propaganda and it declared to be a Catholic country. . . . The importance, not only to Catholics, but to all citizens of the United States, of this radical change in the relations to Rome of the Church in America, can scarcely be overestimated.

Much more to this same effect might be quoted; but this is enough for the present, to show the aims of Rome, and how ready she is to repeat here, and now, the very thing which she did yonder in the fourth century. And it is evident that such progress can not be much further made before a decision shall be drawn forth as to just what is the Christianity of this "Christian nation." And this is made even the more certain just now, since the

313

United States has taken possession of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, which are solidly Catholic, and in connection with which there must inevitably arise, sooner or later, and sooner much rather than later, an issue which will call for a decision. This is peculiarly the situation, and the present prospect, in the Philippines.

Bear in mind that, when such a decision shall be called forth, we do not say that the decision will be that Roman Catholicism is the Christianity of this "Christian nation." The decision may, indeed, be in favor of Protestantism; but, which way the decision may go, is not material; for, whichever way it shall be decided, it will be in the perfect image of the making of the Beast, and will be a mighty Beast.

And it there be soon no actual decision of that question, it is perfectly plain that at the past and present rate of progress of Rome in the affairs of the United States, and especially with her now great advantages through the affairs of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, Rome will be in a position where, even without an actual decision, she can assert her claims with such advantage and power as to amount practically to a decision in her favor.

In any event, therefore, it is perfectly plain that the making of the Image of the Beast is steadily progressing before the very eyes of the whole people of the United States and the world.

This is plain from only this one item; but there are others equally as marked, yet to be noticed.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 4:8-11" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 20 , p. 313.

"HOWBEIT then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto ["were in bondage to," R.V. and Greek] them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggerly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."

The Galatians, having been Gentiles, knew not God, and, accordingly, were in bondage to them which by nature were no gods at all. To them the gospel had been preached. They had believed the gospel, and so were delivered from bondage, and had received the adoption of sons of God, and were, therefore, no more bondmen, but sons; and, being sons, were heirs of God, through Christ. But the Pharisees which believed, knowing nothing of true faith and freedom which Christ gives, had come among the Galatians, with their perverted gospel, which was not the gospel at all, had confused them, and turned them from faith to works; from the Spirit to the flesh, as the means of justification, and the hope of salvation. Gal. 3:1-3

This is certain from the very words of the text, in the inquiry; "But now, after ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggerly elements, where-unto. ye desire again to be in bondage?" The apostle had just stated that before they knew God, they were in bondage unto them which by nature are no gods, and now, having been turned from God, they turned AGAIN to those things, and AGAIN to that bondage. And, as seen in the former lesson, these elements whereunto they were formerly in bondage, and to which they were now AGAIN in bondage, were "the elements of the world," and the only elements of the world are "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," the works of the flesh–in a word–are only sin.

Among these things in which they had formerly done service unto them which be nature are no gods, were the observances of certain days, and months, and times, and years, to the very things of the heathen which the Lord, even in ancient times had condemned, as it is written: "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are a abomination unto the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect; ["upright, or sincere" margin] with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners; but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee to do so." Deut. 18:9-14.

In the Galatian backsliding some of these things had entered; for the text says: "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years." Well enough, therefore, might Paul write, "I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain."

The one great lesson in this particular phase of the experience of the Galatians, is that there is no power but that which is in the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, that can save man from the evil that is naturally in him: there is no half-way ground between the way of the Spirit and the way of the flesh. Every man is either in the freedom of the Spirit and of the righteousness of God, or else in the bondage of the flesh and of sin.

May 22, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Place of Sunday Legislation in the Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 21 , p. 328.

BY the whole history of the case, we have seen that by their perversions of the truth, and their accommodating their teachings to the ways of the heathen, the self-exalted teachers and leaders in the apostasy had secured to themselves a host by reason of transgression. And when that church succeeded in forming a union with the Roman State, that "host" was infinitely increased, since it took in practically the whole mass of the people, without any change of life whatever. The State and the Church became practically one and the same thing; and that one thing was a solid mass of hypocrisy.

Upon this we have the plain, forceful, and indisputable words of the authoritative church historian, Schaff:–

By taking in the whole population of the Roman Empire, the Church became, indeed, a Church of the masses, a Church of the people, but at the same time more or less a Church of the world. Christianity became a matter of fashion. The number of hypocrites and formal professors rapidly increased: strict discipline, zeal, self-sacrifice, and brotherly love proportionally ebbed away; and many heathen customs and usages, under altered names, crept into the worship of God and the life of the Christian people. The Roman State had grown up under the influence of idolatry, and was not to be magically transformed at a stroke. With the secularizing process, therefore, a paganizing tendency went hand in hand.

Just here the Church encountered a difficulty upon which she had not reckoned: she found herself unable to control by any power legitimately hers, this mass of transgressors. She found that her discipline was impotent to restrain the evil "host" which she had by transgression gathered to herself; and if Church discipline were to be maintained with this "host," it could be maintained only by the power of the State. This power, however, the Church was not only willing, but glad, to employ; because it was a step which would only increase her power: and power was the sole aim in every stage of this procedure, from the first steps taken, and the first words spoken in speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

The principal thing which had characterized the Church of Rome, from the beginning of the apostasy–and, indeed, the chief thing in the apostasy–was the exaltation of Sunday. This was her sign of authority; this was the key of her ambition and of her power. And now the power of the State was gladly seized upon by the Church, to accomplish the further, and even the supreme, exaltation of Sunday; and, by this, to enforce Church discipline, not only upon those who were adherents of the Church, but also upon all who were not. By this means, she could enforce the authority of the Church, and a submission to the authority of the Church, upon those who were in no wise connected with the Church.

This, at one stroke, gave to her power over all; and this power was held by her, and was confirmed by the State, as the power of God; because "there had in fact arisen in the church a false theocratical theory," which aimed at "the formation of a sacerdotal State, subordinating the secular to itself in a false and outward way." "This theocratical theory was already the prevailing one in the time of Constantine; and. . . the bishops voluntarily made themselves dependent on him by their disputes, and by their determination to make use of the power of the State for the furtherance of their aims."–Neander.

This false theocratical theory, and the formation of a sacerdotal State–a false theocracy–is the foundation and the explanation of the whole course of things in the making of the Beast, and of the place of Sunday legislation in the making of the Beast.

A true democracy is the government of God. A false theocracy is a government of men in the place of God. True theocracy is the kingdom of God itself; false theocracy is a government of men in the place of God, passed off upon men as the kingdom of God.

In a previous study, we have seen how that the Church in Rome claimed to be Israel oppressed by the new Pharaoh, Maxentius; and that Constantine was the new Moses, "called by God" to deliver Israel from Egypt and the oppressions of Pharaoh. And when that deliverance had been wrought, the bishops of the Church claimed, and insisted, that the kingdom of God as prophesied by Daniel was come.

In the system now being formed, the State was not only to be subordinate to the Church, but was to be the servant of the Church to assist in bringing all the world into the new kingdom of God. the bishops were the channel through which the will of God was to be made known to the State. Therefore the views of the bishops were to be to the government the expression of the will of God; and whatever laws the bishopric might deem necessary to make the principles of their theocracy effective, it was their purpose to secure.

Accordingly, no sooner had the Catholic Church made herself sure of the recognition and support of the State, than she secured from the emperor an edict setting apart Sunday especially to the purposes of devotion. March 7, A.D. 321, Constantine, playing into the hands of the new and false theocracy, issued his famous edict, which, both in matter and in intent, is the original and the moderl of all the Sunday laws that have ever been made. it reads as follows:–

Constantine, Emperor Augustus, to Helpidius: On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations, the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time.)–Schaff's translation from the Latin, "History of the Christian Church," Vol. II, sec. 75, par. 5, note 1.

All know that, when the original Israel had been delivered indeed from Egypt by the Lord, the Sabbath was given to them, and by a law, to be observed in that government of God, that true democracy. And the establishment of Sunday observance by law, in the new, false theocracy of the fourth century, was simply another step taken by the creators of this new theocracy, in imitation of the original. This setting apart of Sunday in the new theocracy, and its observance being established and enforced by law, was in imitation of the act of God in the original theocracy in establishing the observance of the Sabbath. This view is confirmed by the testimony of one of the leading bishops of his day, as well as one of the principal bishops engaged in the making of the Beast. These are the words:–

All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's day.–Eusebius, "Commentary on the Psalms," 92.

Thus at the very first examination of the subject it is seen the change of the Sabbath–the rejection of the Sabbath of the Lord, and the substitution of Sunday–is the essential feature, the chief instrumentality, in the making of the Beast.

And there is yet more to be told, which only the more confirms this truth: confirms it to the extent that makes it impossible for any one honestly to deny it.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 4:12-20" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 21 , pp. 328, 329.

"BRETHREN, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you."

Where is then the blessedness ye spake of?"–not the blessedness ye SPEAK of; but past tense: "ye spake of." It was a blessedness which they had had, and had lost; and so it was no more a blessedness which ye speak of, but only which "ye spake of."

This was the blessing of Abraham–the blessedness of justification by faith; for they had received the true gospel; they had believed in Christ, and thus they knew that Christ had redeemed them from the curse of the law, that the blessing of Abraham might come on them through Jesus Christ, and that they might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. All this they had experienced. But, by the delusions of the false gospel of "the Pharisees which believed," they had been "bewitched" and driven back from the purity of faith unto justification by works.

This is plain from Paul's appeal, in the first verses of the third chapter: "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?. . . He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

But "to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Rom. 4:5-8.

This "blessedness" is the blessedness which the Galatians had known when they were Christians; but from which they had been drawn away. And now, it was only a memory: only a blessedness which they had spoken of, but which they could not, as a present thing, speak of. This, because faith, and all that is of faith, is only a living, present thing. Faith is the breath of the spiritual life; and when faith is gone, that spiritual life is gone. It must be constantly present, in constant, active motion, to avail for any soul.

This "the Pharisees which believed" did not know; for they had not true faith: they knew not what it is to live by faith. The thought that justification by faith consisted in forgiveness and justification of the sins that are past; but that, being once thus justified, they must live by works. They thought that justification is obtained by faith, but is kept by works. And into this delusion and loss of faith they had persuaded the Galatian Christians, but with the dreadful result of the loss of the blessedness of righteousness by faith, and their relapse into the darkness of heathenism–into the bondage of sin and the works of the flesh.

And that experience is illustrative of the everlasting truth,–and it is written for the instruction of all the people as to that everlasting truth,–

329

that righteousness by faith, true justification by faith, is righteousness and justification by divine, ever-living, present faith, "and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

While the Galatians enjoyed this blessedness, its fruit appeared in the love which they showed to Paul. This love was the very self-sacrificing love of Christ–the abundant love of God shed abroad indeed in the heart, by the Spirit which they had received. Seeing the apostle in need of eyes, they would gladly have plucked out their own and given them to him, if such a thing could have been done.

But now, what a change! From that height of blessedness they are driven back into such a condition that he is obliged to appeal to them: "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

And this is yet the mark of the Galatian, wherever he may be–the mark of the man professing Christianity, but who is not justified by faith, who has not the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. Whoever tells him the truth, in that becomes his enemy, and is so counted by him. This, because he does "not obey the truth:" he is not in the way of truth; he does not know the truth. Therefore, truth can not be to him the sole standard and the supreme test: only himself in his own personal preferences and ambitions, and his own self-righteousness, can be the standard. And whoever tells him the truth, especially if it be unpleasant, is counted as making a personal attack on him, and is therefore counted only an enemy.

But the man who is the Christian, who is, indeed and in truth, justified by faith of Jesus Christ; who lives by the faith of Jesus Christ; who is righteous only by the faith of Christ, and the righteousness of God, which is by faith–such a one will always count as his friend, or his brother, the one who tells him the truth. However far it may show him himself to be wrong, however directly he himself may be involved, yet he will thankfully receive the truth, whatever it may be, however it may come, and by whomsoever it may be told to him. This, because the truth is his whole and his only salvation. It is the truth which makes him free. The truth is the only Way he has in which to walk. The love of the truth is his only incentive, the Spirit of truth, his only guide.

But, as we have seen, this blessed condition–this condition of "blessedness"–the Christians of Galatia had lost, and so had again become only Galatians, because they had lost true faith, and had been turned from faith to works as the way of life and salvation. And this loss of true faith was the loss of the Christ within; for he dwells in the heart by faith. Eph. 3:17. And because of their forlorn condition, which they did not realize, Paul longed for them as a mother for her children; and, in the depth of his longing, expressed their deep need: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." The Christ within is what they had lost. To the experience of Christ within they must be restored, or they were lost. And this is simply the gospel, which, in itself, is "Christ in you the hope of glory."

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 21 , p. 330.

ARCHBISHOP IRELAND has written a letter to the Duke of Norfolk, who is president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, urging a united Catholic movement on the part of all English-speaking Catholics in the world. As the grand basis for such a movement, he cites the fact that the English language is fast encircling the globe, and that English-speaking countries are gaining a world-wide influence. Thus he writes:–

It is a broad, plain fact in the geography of the world–a fact daily becoming broader and plainer–that the English language is encircling the globe, that English-speaking countries are constantly growing with speed that nothing seems able to arrest, in territory and influence. I certainly shall not belittle the spheres of influence of languages other than the English, or deny in the least the importance to the church of countries speaking those languages; let due place be given to all agencies in the great work of religion. But, this said, the truth is before us, that in the present, and more yet in the future, the minds of peoples spread over immense regions of the globe are to be reached only through the English language, and that very much of the missionary work of the church is to be done under the egis of English-speaking countries.

That mission is to attune anew the English language to the harmony of Catholic truth, which was its charm before the days of the schism of the sixteenth century–the most woeful disaster which ever befell Christendom; to make the English language the bearer of Catholic verities to the hundreds of millions who speak and read it; to build up for the Catholic Church public and social influences in English-speaking lands, so that there their power, instead of being against her, be for her; so to establish her in those lands that she be seen to be, as in fact she is, thoroughly in unison with the political institutions and the social aspirations that dominate these lands, so that the argument for such institutions be an argument, too, for the church herself–in fine, so to place the church as to enable her to win over to herself the great English-speaking world and turn to her own profit and to the profit of Christian civilization the wondrous potencies of that world.

Shall not the people to whom the Third Angel's Message is committed see this truth as to the spread of the English language, and act upon it now?

"'A Needed Educational Reform'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 21 , p. 330.

THE Outlook of April 21, 1900, describes and urges "A Needed Educational Reform." This reform is one that will make it possible that "religion can be preserved and promoted while education is being acquired." Thus says the Outlook:–

One problem of education sorely needs to be taken up by our educators, which we are persuaded has not yet sufficiently occupied their attention. It is sometimes considered under the aspect of education and religion–the problem how religion can be preserved and promoted while education is being acquired–but the problem is really larger than this.

That which makes this reform so sorely needed, is the present educational processes. These are most aptly described by the editor of the Outlook; who on this subject is thoroughly qualified to speak. He says:–

The educational processes of our time–possibly of all time–are largely analytical and critical. They consist chiefly in analyzing the subjects brought to the student for his examination, separating them into their constituent parts, considering how they have been put together, and sitting in judgment on the finished fabric or on the process by which it has been constructed.

Thus all or nearly all study is analytical, critical,–a process of inquiry and investigation. The process presupposes an inquiring if not a skeptical mood. Doubt is the pedagogue which leads the pupil to knowledge.

Does he study the human body?–Dissection and anatomy are the foundations of his study. Chemistry?–The laboratory furnishes him the means of analysis and inquiry into physical substances. History?–He questions the statements which have been unquestioned heretofore, ransacks libraries for authorities in ancient volumes and more ancient documents. Literature?–The poem which he read only to enjoy he now subjects to the scalpel, inquires whether it really is beautiful, why it is beautiful, how its meter should be classified, how its figures have been constructed. Philosophy?–He subjects his own consciousness to a process of vivisection in an endeavor to ascertain the physiology and anatomy of the human spirit, brings his soul into the laboratory that he may learn its chemical constituents.

Meanwhile the construction and synthetic process is relegated to a second place, or lost sight of altogether. Does he study medicine?–He gives more attention to diagnosis than to therapeutics, to the analysis of disease than to the problem how to overcome it. Law?–He spends more time in analyzing cases than in developing power to grasp great principles and apply them in the administration of justice to varying conditions. The classics?–It is strange if he has not at graduation spent more weeks in the syntax and grammar of the language than he has spent hours in acquiring and appreciating the thought and the spirit of the great classic authors. It has been well and truly said to the modern student that he does not study grammar to understand Homer, he reads Homer to get the Greek grammar. His historical study has given him dates, events, a mental historical chart; perhaps, too, it has given him a scholar's power to discriminate between the true and the false, the historical and the mythical in ancient legends; but not to many has it given an understanding of the significance of events, a comprehension of, or even any new light upon, the real meaning of the life of man on the earth. Has he been studying philosophy?–Happy he is if, as a result of his analysis of self-consciousness, he has not become morbid respecting his own inner life, or cynically skeptical concerning the inner life of others.

It is doubtless in the realm of ethics and religion that the disastrous results of a too exclusive analytical process and a too exclusive critical spirit are seen. Carrying the same spirit, applying the same methods, to the investigation of religion, the Bible becomes to him simply a collection of ancient literature, whose sources, structure, and forms he studies, whose spirit he, at least for the time, forgets; worship is a ritual whose origin, rise, and development he investigates; whose real significance as an expression of penitence, gratitude, and consecration he loses sight of altogether. Faith is a series of tenets whose biological development he traces; or a form of consciousness whose relation to brain action he inquires into; or whose growth by evolutionary processes out of earlier states he endeavors to retrace; forgetting meanwhile what is the meaning of the experience itself as a present fact in human life, what vital force and significance it possesses.

Vivisection is almost sure sooner or later to become a post-mortem; and the subject of it, whether it be a flower, a body, an author, or an experience, generally dies under the scalpel. It is for this reason that so many students in school, academy, and college lose, not merely their theology, which is perhaps no great6 loss, but their religion, which is an irreparable loss, while they are acquiring an education.

When the destructive nature of the educational processes of the present day are thus so clearly set forth by one who is not only friendly to that system, but is himself a part of the system; and when in view of this even he urges "a needed educational reform;" surely that people whom God has made the light of the world in these last days should not need to be urged to this "sorely" needed educational reform. And where any of these should need to be urged to it, the measure of the urging could be only the measure in which these themselves are blindly imbued with love of these destructive processes.

May 29, 1900

"The Sermon. Rome in the Book of Daniel" ⁵1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 22 , pp. 338, 339.

A. T. JONES

I HAVE been asked to take up to-day the subject that we had the last time I spoke here–a continuation of the review of the Berean lessons in the book of Daniel, which most of you have been studying. You will remember that that review closed with the sixth chapter. That would require that the review to-day should begin with the seventh chapter.

The great subject, you will all remember, in the first six chapters, is Babylon, and the service of God in Babylon, in spite of all Babylon's sinfulness. The great subject from the beginning of the seventh chapter to the end of the book is Rome. The two subjects in the book of Daniel are Babylon and Rome. And, in the book of Revelation, these are united in one: Rome under a new form, which is Babylon as well as Rome; for, in Revelation 17, we read of the vision of a woman,–a harlot,–sitting "upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, . . . having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth."

And that power,–that church controlling the State,–using the power of the State, is described further with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration,"–great astonishment. That scene in the book of Revelation is the two thoughts in the book of Daniel united in the form that existed in the times of the book of Revelation. You have studied Babylon in the book of Daniel, and we have reviewed it. You have studied the latter half of the book of Daniel, and you have found that in that more is said of Rome than of all other things besides; and so you have studied Rome, and now our review comes to that to-day.

The seventh chapter first: You will remember that four great beasts are seen by the prophet, coming up out of the sea, rising from the commotions of the winds–the four winds striving upon the great sea. And when Daniel had described these as he saw them, the angel of God came to tell him what it all meant. And the angel, in his first words, indeed in his words describing the whole scene, explains these symbols briefly by saying: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings [kingdoms, nations, powers], which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." And there the angel stopped. He had told the meaning of all that Daniel had seen. And when Daniel asked for a further understanding of the particulars, and when the angel had described it more fully, he closes at the same point precisely: "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever."

When the angel had first ceased speaking, Daniel began to inquire for more knowledge and understanding of what he had seen. But where does he begin to ask for the further information? Concerning what does he particularly inquire?–He says: "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast." Why did he not ask concerning the other three? Why did he not want particulars of those? Look again at the vision, and see how much space is devoted to each of the three, and then how much is devoted to the fourth in comparison. Once verse to each of the first three, then comes the seventh verse with its description of the fourth beast; and it takes the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh verses to describe the fourth one. More verses, and longer ones, too, are needed to describe the fourth one, than all the others put together: fully twice as much space.

That would suggest a reason as to why Daniel, when he asked for more particulars, should say: "I would know the truth of the fourth beast." Since so much space is given to that one in the vision, it must be that that is more important than the others. Consequently he says, "I would know the truth of the fourth beast." Since so much space is given to that one in the vision, it must be that that is more important than the others. Consequently he says, "I would know the truth" of that one. Then after Daniel has again described it, with more particulars, the angel occupies about as much space in explaining it as is occupied in the description of it in the vision. Thus, three times in the seventh chapter of Daniel there is given as much space to that fourth beast as to all the other three put together: in other words, three times as much space is given to the fourth beast as is given all three of the others put together.

Next is the eighth chapter. There is the vision of the last three of these same four powers–the first one is dropped because it has passed away. Here is seen a ram, a he-goat, and a little horn which waxes exceeding great. And in this vision more space is given to the third one, which corresponds to the fourth in the previous vision, than to the others put together.

Again I say: The third power in the eighth chapter is the same as the fourth one in the seventh chapter. Then, when the angel tells the meaning of what had been seen, again more space is given to the third one than to the others put together: I mean that with reference merely to the powers as seen in the vision. But there is a portion of time belonging to the time of the fourth one in the seventh chapter and the third in the eighth chapter; and the ninth chapter is occupied with the explanation of that time. Five long verses in the latter part of the ninth chapter are occupied with the angel's explanation of this time. Thus it takes one third of the space of the ninth chapter, and more of the eighth chapter twice repeated, to explain the symbol concerning Rome, than is given to all the others put together in that vision.

When we come to the eleventh chapter, we find the same peculiarity. The eleventh chapter is a prophecy in detail from Daniel's day unto the end of the world: first is a sketch of the Medo-Persian kingdom up to the invasion of Grecia; then a sketch of the Grecian kingdom until the rise of the Roman Empire, the Roman Republic in its place in the fourteenth verse. Then the angel says: At that time shall many stand up against the king of the south, but the

339

children of robbers "shall exalt themselves to establish the vision." Thus, in the seventh and eighth chapters, the great subject is Rome. When the angel comes to sketch the history of the world himself in his own words, and he reaches the time when Rome enters upon scene, he pauses to say that that power comes upon the stage of action "to establish the vision." This emphasizes, then, the truth that appears in the other two chapters: that Rome is the great subject in the last half of the book of Daniel, as Babylon is the great subject in the first half of the book.

Now, glance again at the seventh chapter and that fourth beast. Open your Bibles, if you choose, and read, looking at it as I read:–

"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." Verses 7-10.

Now note: First, he describes the beast, then notices the ten horns coming up; then another, "little," one coming up among these, rooting up three, and having eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things.

Now, read the eleventh verse: "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake." What is he now describing? I am asking you to study particularly this eleventh verse. What is Daniel describing? "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake." Now look: "I beheld even till"–the little horn was broken?–No. What?–"I beheld even till the BEAST was slain." What has the beast to do with the little horn? Mark: "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake;" and I beheld in this very thing "till the beast was slain." Are not then the beast and the little horn in that vision and in that place, only different forms of the same thing? [Voices, "Yes."] For, beholding the horn, he beholds till the beast is slain. That shows beyond all question that the "little horn," and what is represented in the little horn, is simply another phase of what the "beast" is to begin with. And that conclusively shows that the "beast" and the "little horn" are the same thing, in different forms. In other words, the little horn is only the continuation of the beast in a different shape: the same characteristics are there: the same spirit is there; the same thing that is the beast continues through all the time of the little horn until its destruction comes, and when the destruction of the little "horn" comes, what is destroyed?–It is the "beast." Then it is essentially the beast all the way through, only in a different form.

(To be concluded.)

"The Third Angel's Message. The Place of Sunday Legislation in the Making of the Image of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 22 , p. 344.

THE Beast was made in the Roman Empire. It was made in the union of an apostate Church with the Roman State.

In our studies of this subject, we have seen that the only place where the Image of the Beast could be made, is in the United States; and the Image of the Beast, when made, will be a union of an apostate Church with this American State.

In last week's study we saw that in that apostate Church in the Roman Empire, there had "arisen in the Church a false theocratical theory," which aimed at "the formation of a sacerdotal State, subordinating the secular to itself in a false and outward way," and that the bishops who held this false theocratical theory were determined "to make use of the power of the State for the furtherance of their aims."

For the past thirty-seven years there has been, in the United States, an organization of Church leaders holding precisely this same "false theocratical theory;" and, precisely as those of old, determined "to make use of the power of the State for the furtherance of their aims."

This organization, from its beginning, has been known as the National Reform Association. They hold that–

"Every government, by equitable laws, is a government of God; a republic thus governed is of him, through the people, and is as truly and really a theocracy as the commonwealth of Israel. The refusal to acknowledge this fact is as much a piece of foolish impiety as that of the man who persists in refusing to acknowledge that God is the author of his existence."

The qualifying phrase "equitable laws" in that statement signifies only laws that conform to the will of these National Reformers. They declare that "a true theocracy is yet to come, . . . and humanity's weal depends upon the enthronement of Christ in law and law-makers;" and that "Christ shall be this world's king,–yea, verily, THIS WORLD'S KING in its realm of cause and effect,–king of its colleges and cloisters,–king of its customs and its constitutions. . . . The kingdom of Christ must enter the law through the gateway of politics."

In a previous study we saw that, in the making of the Beast, when the bishops had succeeded in getting the power of the State fully under their control for the furtherance of their aims, they held that the kingdom of God had come. The Church leaders in this nation to-day, who hold this same "false theocratical theory," hold, likewise, that, when they succeed in getting the power of the State under their control, to be used at their will, for the furtherance of their own aims, the kingdom of God will come. For, they hold that: "When we reach the summit. . . . the train will move out into the mild yet glorious light of millennial days, and the cry will be raised, 'the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.'"

These leaders in the false theocratical movement of to-day, also, like those in the fourth century, are determined "to make use of the power of the State for the furtherance of their aims." Consequently from the inception of their movement, they have called for, and worked for, an amendment to the United States Constitution that would place all of what they call "Christian laws, institutions, and usages, upon an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land;" and then, having "inscribed this character on our Constitution," by the national power "enforce upon all who come among us the laws of Christian morality."

And while calling for a Constitutional amendment, by which to make their purposes effective, they have been ready at all times to secure the recognition and the power of the government, by whatever means, Constitutional or unconstitutional, it could be accomplished.

Accordingly, when, in 1892, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that "this is a Christian nation," the National Reform combination instantly and gladly seized upon it, and made use of it in every possible way, for the furtherance of their aims. They declared, with glee, "'This is a Christian nation.' That means Christian government, Christian laws, Christian institutions, Christian practices, Christian citizenship."

As in that original apostasy and false theocracy that made the Beast, the chief thing ever held in view was the exaltation of Sunday; so in this modern apostasy and false theocracy, the exaltation of Sunday has ever been the one chief aim. And as in the making of the Beast, Sunday legislation was the means by which the Church secured the power of the State by which to enforce upon all, even those that were not of the church, submission to the doctrine and discipline of the Church; so, in this making of the Image of the Beast, Sunday legislation is employed for precisely the same purpose, and I precisely the same way.

Accordingly, when, by the Supreme Court declaration that "this is a Christian nation," the national government was brought so entirely into accord with their will, they exclaimed at once: "This decision is vital to the Sunday question in all its aspects. . . . And this important decision rests upon the fundamental principle that religion is imbedded in the organic structure of the American government–a religion that recognizes, and is bound to maintain, Sunday as a day of rest and worship."

As in our previous study, we saw that, in the original false theocracy, no sooner was there made sure to the Catholic Church the recognition and support of the State, than she pushed herself upon the State with her demands for the establishment and enforcement of Sunday by law, and all in opposition to the Sabbath of the Lord; so, in this modern false theocracy, no sooner was published the declaration of the Supreme Court that "this is a Christian nation," than these pushed themselves upon the national government, and under threats of political perdition upon all who refused, this false theocracy secured here the recognition and establishment of Sunday, and all in opposition to the Sabbath of the Lord.

FOR, July 10, 1892, in the regular proceedings of the United States Senate, the Fourth Commandment was read from the Bible, as giving "the reasons" for the legislation under consideration, with respect to the Chicago World's Fair: "for the closing of the Exposition on the Sabbath day." The proposed legislation was that day adopted. But, for fear that the Exposition would be really closed on the Sabbath, instead of on Sunday, two days afterward that which had been adopted was amended, so that the words, "Exposition on the Sabbath day," were stricken out, and, in their place, were inserted the words, "the mechanical portion of the Exposition on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday."

And this was done expressly, in the words of the legislation, that in the application of the fourth commandment to the closing of the Exposition on the Sabbath, this amendment was to decide that they should close the Exposition, not "on the last day of the week, in comformity with that observance which is made by the Israelites and the Seventh-day Baptists;" but "should close it on the first day of the week generally known as the Christian Sabbath." This legislation passed into law by the approval of the House of Representatives and the executive of the nation.

Thus, as in the work and establishment of that false theocracy of the fourth century, Sunday was by legislation, and by law, substituted for the Sabbath of the Lord; so in the work and establishment of this false theocracy of the nineteenth century, there has been, by legislation and by law, the substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath of the Lord. That, in the fourth century, and in the Roman State, was the making of the Beast. This, in the nineteenth century, and in this American State, is, step by step, and point by point, precisely like that of the fourth century: the very repetition of it; and is, therefore nothing else than the making of the Image of the Beast.

At the beginning of this article we stated that "the Image of the Beast, when made, will be a union of an apostate Church with the American State." And now that all may see for themselves how certainly it is apostasy for Protestants to be engaged in this which we have related, we quote the following authoritative statements as to what Protestantism truly is in "the very essence:"–

The principles contained in the celebrated Protest of the 19th of April, 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith; the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate; and the second, the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these abuses Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the word of God above the visible church. In the first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says with the apostles and prophets, "We must obey God rather than man." In the presence of Charles the Fifth it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ."–D'AubignÈ, "History of the Reformation," Book XIII, chapter 6, par. 18.

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-31" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 22 , p. 344.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount-Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that barest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."

"These are the two covenants." Then what are the two covenants?–These two women; because since the covenant from mount Sinai is represented by Hagar, the other covenant is represented by Sarah. The Revised Version of verse 24 reads: "For these women are two covenants."

These two women were the mothers of the two sons of Abraham. One son was by a bondwoman: the other was by a freewoman. Hagar was the bondwoman: Sarah was the freewoman. The two sons of these two women represent the children of the two covenants.

"These are the two covenants." It is then settled that the subject of the Two Covenants began in the family of Abraham.

"These are the two covenants." Whoever, therefore, would study the Two Covenants, must study these.

"These are the two covenants." Any study therefore, of the Two Covenants, that is not a study

345

of these, is not truly a study of the Two Covenants.

"These are the two covenants." With these the subject of the Two Covenants begins, and whoever would study the Two Covenants must begin where the subject begins. Therefore this is where we shall begin the study of the Two Covenants.

And that we may all begin it together to the best advantage, we ask that all will read between now and this time next week Genesis 15, 16, 17, and 21:1-21–at least seven times.

June 5, 1900

"The Sermon. Rome in the Book of Daniel" ⁶1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 23 , pp. 354, 355.

A. T. JONES

(Continued.)

IN 2 Peter 1:16-19, where the apostle is recalling the fact that they saw the kingdom and glory of God in the transfiguration of Jesus on the mount, of which they were eye-witnesses, you remember these words: "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts," as well as everywhere else. The object of prophecy, then, is to give light in the dark.

You know, likewise, that it is written that "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people;" and that is the time of the world in which we are now living. You know also of that expression in Ephesians 6, touching "the rulers of the darkness of this world." Darkness does cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but God has caused his light to shine in this darkness. And the light that particularly shines in the darkness of this world, to give light to those who are in the darkness, is "prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place."

You know also: you have found in your lessons, over and over, that the prophecies of the book of Daniel are written especially for the last days. He who revealeth secrets maketh known "what shall be in the latter days." "It shall be for many days." "At the time of the end shall be the vision." "Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end." Then, the book of Daniel, being prophecy written especially for the time of the end, and the prophecy being as a light shining in a dark place; in that, it is the prophecy that is particularly to give light in the time of the end. But the book of Daniel, I repeat, discusses principally only two great powers–babylon and Rome.

The history of Babylon of old–that of Rome of old–has instruction in it–through the book of Daniel–that must be, and will be, light to the people who are living in the time of the end, and who are in, and surrounded with, the darkness of this world. We know that in one phase of Rome, it is particularly a prophecy of these times, and that is in the characteristic of the little horn–the union of Church and State, the changing of God's law, the persecuting of God's people, etc. All this is spoken of in the last times, and we have studied that particularly all these years.

Eight years ago, only a little later than this, I spoke from this pulpit one Sabbath, on the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the likeness of Rome in our day in the uniting of religion and the State in the United States government. We ourselves have seen this done, in spite of the Constitution, in spite of all principle, in the declaring this to be "a Christian nation;" and in the changing of the Sabbath of the Lord to Sunday. This was done when in Congress the fourth commandment was read as expressing the reasons for the pending legislation, and then was so interpreted that "the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday," must be the Sabbath that is meant in the fourth commandment, and shall be meant in the United States, so far as legislation goes, and the power of the United States shall go, to cause respect for it. In the study of that procedure we saw the very likeness of what had been before, when the Church, in the fourth century, united herself with the Roman State, and exalted Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord, and put under a curse all who presumed to work on Sunday, and who did not work on the Sabbath. I need not further review that.

But there is more to Rome than just that,–a good deal more. And all of it is to show us that, in this time in which we live, that which was Rome in its day is instruction to us in our day. What Rome did in the course of her going away from God, and leading the world away from God, is instruction to us in our day, when we see the like thing carried on, in the same way precisely, and for the same purpose precisely. As I have often said on this subject: Two things that are so much alike in the making, must be alike when they are made.

It will be impossible for any power on the earth more certainly to change the Sabbath, so far as any power can change it, than the United States government has done, in exact likeness of the papacy before it. It is a principle in governmental procedure, recognized as such in law, and so regarded in history, that for a subordinate government to re-enact, especially with changes, a law made by the supreme authority, for the government of the subordinate state, is "tantamount to a declaration of independence" on the part of the subordinate government. And any power, whatever it might be, however it might be organized, and wherever it might be on the earth, that would presume to take the law of God, and incorporate it, in legislation, with changes, would in that, declare itself independent of God. The papacy did that when, by its working, the Sabbath was incorporated in legislation; and yet all that pertained to it was transferred to another day, thus incorporating the law of God in the legislation, with changes. That was the assertion of independence of the power of God. And when the United States government incorporated the fourth commandment of the law of God in its legislation, and then in its legislation deliberately changed the Sabbath of that commandment to Sunday, after the very example of the papacy, in that thing, this government asserted its independence of God, in the very likeness of the papacy.

In that respect we have things in this day exactly in the likeness of Rome. In that course the United States has followed and is following in the steps of Rome in her day.

But that later phase of Rome, which is symbolized by the "little horn" of Daniel 7, was produced by the union of Church and State–the union of the apostate Christian Church with the Roman State. And that is in the prophecy which was sealed up till the time of the end, then to shine forth, to be light to the people in the darkness of the time of the end.

What kind of State was it, with which this union of the church was made that caused that same power of Rome in Daniel 7, to take on a different form in the prophecy, and in the world?–The record says that it was "diverse from all kingdoms,"–"diverse from all that were before it;" and not only that, but "diverse from all." Wherein was Rome diverse from all?–In that Rome was a republic, while all the others were kingdoms. When the Church, then, united with that State, it was a union of the Church with a republic,–or rather with that which had been a republic, but which had become an imperial power.

I need not follow that particular phase of this subject farther just now. I did that a little later than this two years ago, when from this pulpit I called your attention to the course of Rome from the point at which she entered upon the stage of action in the prophecy. At that time you saw Rome, being a republic, reaching out beyond her own proper home territory, sending her navies and her armies across the seas, to fight the battles of struggling peoples who longed for liberty, to set them free–all only for the love of humanity.

This I say was reviewed nearly two years ago; I do not need to follow that further just now. And this especially because there is now another phase of that history to which I must call your attention in this review. And, as in that study nearly two years ago, all I shall need to do will be to read to you the authentic, the indisputable, history of Rome. Indeed that is all that I shall do; because, if it id more, some might think that I was going out of the right way as a minister of the gospel, preaching in the pulpit. But it can not be out of the way for me, a minister of the gospel, a minister of the Word of God, in the pulpit, studying the prophecy of Daniel concerning Rome, to read the history of Rome, in the fulfillment of the prophecy. That never can be out of place in the pulpit.

Here is a book that I bought twenty-one years ago. So nobody can say that it was made up for the occasion. It is a sketch of Cesar and his times, and the Roman State in the time of Cesar. I shall read only a few sentences, that you may see what Rome was in her day. A few sentences, plainly read and understood, will be enough to demand of all that we seriously ask ourselves whether there is not something in it that is suggestive in connection with what is occurring now, before the eyes of all people.

Thus I read–

To the student of political history and to the English student above all others, the conversion of the Roman republic into a military empire commands a peculiar interest. Notwithstanding many differences, the English and the Romans essentially resemble one another. The early Romans possessed the faculty of self-government beyond any people of whom we have historical knowledge, with the one exception of ourselves. In virtue of their temporal freedom, they became the most powerful nation in the known world; and their liberties perished only when Rome became the mistress of conquered races, to whom she was unable or unwilling to extend her privileges.

Rome's liberty perished, the Roman republic failed, only when she became the mistress of conquered races, to whom she was unwilling to extend the privileges of the Roman republic and of Roman law. Because she was not "unable." She was able to do it: she COULD have done it, but she was UNWILLING to do it. And when a thing is refused because of unwillingness only, then that is INTENDED so to be. But why was it that Rome was unwilling to extend the privileges of the Roman government, the Roman Constitution, the Roman law, the Roman Republic, to these conquered peoples?–Only because in Rome's estimation they were incapable of governing themselves. That is all. And, being "unfit for self-government," it was not meet that they should be placed upon an equality with Romans, and to come up to the capital and legislate for US.

The next sentence:–

355

If there be one lesson which history clearly teaches, it is this; that free nations can not govern subject provinces.

That is where Rome failed; and Rome is in the prophecy. And the course of the Roman republic is portrayed in the prophecy as a light to shine in the darkness, in "the time of the end," to give us light by which we may walk. The Roman Republic–a government of the people–failed, and became a one-man power, the greatest civil despotism ever known. And when the religious power–the apostate church–seized that one-man civil power, and turned it to a one-man religious power, it became the greatest despotism of any kind that ever existed. It was then the "man of sin," "the mystery of iniquity," "the Beast." And the repetition of that history will be a reproduction of the greatest despotism that the world has ever seen.

And, if there is to be no repetition of that history, then why is that history put into the prophecy and closed up and sealed till "the time of the end," and then opened, to shine there as a light to the people in the time of the end? By that very fact it is settled beyond all reasonable question that, in "the time of the end," that history will be so nearly repeated that the people living at that time will need this prophecy, and what is in it, as a light, to save them from ruin like that which came upon Rome, in the way that she went.

(To be concluded.)

"The Third Angel's Message. The Place of Sunday Legislation in the Making of the Image of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 23 , p. 360.

AS is well known by all, in the Sunday legislation throughout the United States to-day the claim is made that it is only in behalf of the "civil" Sabbath.

No more baseless claim was ever presented for anything than this in behalf of Sunday as a civil Sabbath. Sunday, as a rest day, has not anywhere about it any suggestion of anything civil. Its present standing, its whole genealogy, its origin–all demonstrate the truth that Sunday legislation can not possibly be anything else than religious.

The Sunday movement of to-day is but a revival, or a continuation, of that which has been. All the Sunday legislation of the newer States has been in imitation of that of the original States which at first were the colonies. And the colonies had Sunday legislation because they all (except Rhode Island, which, too, did not have Sunday legislation) had a union of religion and the State.

In such legislation the colonies only continued that same thing from their original homes in Europe. Their original homes in Europe inherited it from the time when the Papacy rule Europe. And the Sunday legislation at the time when the Papacy ruled Europe, was but the continuation of the Sunday legislation that was originated in the making of the Papacy, in the fourth century.

Since, then, the Sunday legislation of to-day connects, by its undisputed and unbroken genealogy, with the Sunday legislation of the making of the Papacy in the fourth century, it is perfectly plain that the nature of that original legislation marks the character of Sunday legislation forever. Accordingly, the study of that question in the days of the making of the Beast is also, and in itself, a study of the Sunday legislation of the present time, and of the making of the Image of the Beast.

In a previous study we saw how that, in the false theocratical scheme of the bishops of the fourth century, when the church had been exalted in imperial favor, and had become one with the State, this was held to be the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth. And, because of this, Sunday was set up in this false kingdom of God, in imitation of the establishment of the Sabbath among the people of Israel, after their deliverance from Egypt and the establishment of that true theocracy. And, "all things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we," said the bishops, "have transferred" to the Sunday.

All this shows that Sunday legislation was, in its very essence, and in its every idea and purpose, religious, and only religious. There are, however, several items that are worth mentioning, which show this yet more fully. One of these appears in an oration which Eusebius, one of the principal bishops of that day, and especially one of the principal bishops in the uniting of Church and State, delivered, "in praise of Constantine," and in his presence, on the thirtieth anniversary of the emperor's reign. He declared that God gave to Constantine the greater proof of his beneficence in proportion to the emperor's holy services to Him, and, accordingly, had permitted him to celebrate already three decades, "thirty years," and that now he was entering upon the fourth one. He related how the emperor at the end of each decennial period had advanced one of his sons to a share of the imperial power; and now in the absence of other sons, he would extend the like favor to other of his kindred. Then he gave the meaning of all this as follows:–

The eldest, who bears his father's name, he received as his partner in the empire about the close of the first decade of his reign; the second, next in point of age, at the second; and the third in like manner at the third decennial period the occasion of this our present festival. And now that the fourth period has commenced, and the time of his reign is still further prolonged, he desires to extend his imperial authority by calling still more of his kindred to partake his power; and, by the appointment of the Cesars, fulfills the predictions of the holy prophets, according to what they uttered ages before: "And the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom."–Eusebius, "Oration in Praise of Constantine," chapter 3.

Then, as the sun was the chief deity in this new kingdom of God, the bishop proceeds in draw for the edification of the Apollo-loving emperor, the following picture of him as the sun in his chariot traversing the world; and positively defines the system of government as a "monarchy of God" patterned after the "divine original," as follows:–

Lastly, invested as he is with a semblance of heavenly sovereignty, he directs his gaze above, and FRAMES HIS EARTHLY GOVERNMENT ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN OF THAT DIVINE ORIGINAL, feeling strength in its CONFORMITY TO THE MONARCHY OF GOD.–Id.

The system of government there established being considered as in very fact the kingdom of God itself, the laws enacted in promoting the interests of that kingdom would, necessarily, be religious. And even so Eusebius plainly declares, in the following words:–

Again, that Preserver of the universe orders these heavens and earth, and the celestial kingdom, consistently with his Father's will. Even so, our emperor, whom he loves, by bringing those whom he rules on earth to the only begotten Word and Saviour, renders them fit subjects of His kingdom.–Id., chapter 2.

And the Sunday laws were the very chief of all the laws that were ever enacted in the interests of this "kingdom of God." For, by it, the authority of the Church was extended over those who did not belong to the Church, equally with those who did; and this is not true of any other law. Consequently, the Sunday law was the chief means by which men were brought "to the only begotten Word and Saviour," and rendered "fit subjects of his kingdom."

This is fully confirmed by the fact that the purpose of the first Sunday law that ever was enacted, was "that the day might be devoted with less interruption to the purposes of devotion" (Neander) and "that God should be served with prayers and supplications."–Sozomen.

And, of the second Sunday law, Eusebius gives the intent in his declaration, "in praise of Constantine," that "he commanded, too, that one day should be regarded as a special occasion for religious worship." And, again: "Who else has commanded the nations inhabiting the continents and islands of this mighty globe to assemble weekly on the Lord's day, and to observe it as a festival, not indeed for the pampering of the body, BUT FOR THE COMFORT AND INVIGORATION OF THE SOUL, BY INSTRUCTION IN DIVINE TRUTH?"–"Oration in Praise of Constantine."

Such is the true character, and the real purpose, of Sunday legislation, in its origin, and ever since. And whatever may be claimed for it, the character and purpose of Sunday legislation never can be anything else than just that.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 4:21-24" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 23 , p. 328.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bond-age, which is Agar."

Thus the two covenants were in the family of Abraham. For "these women are two covenants." Verse 24, R.V.

But how did the two covenants get into the family of Abraham, and one of these even the covenant from Mount Sinai? "For these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."

Since Hagar is one of the two covenants,–the one from Sinai, and the one which genders to bondage,–the story of Hagar in the family of Abraham is the story of the covenant from Sinai.

But God had made a covenant with Abraham himself, before ever Hagar was heard of. And this covenant was confirmed in Christ, before ever any mention was made of Hagar.

This covenant was the covenant of God's promise to Abraham and to his seed–not "seeds, as of many: but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." This was the covenant of God's righteousness,–the righteousness of God which is by faith,–for when God had made promise to Abraham, Abraham "believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness."

This promise was to Abraham, that in him should "all families of the earth be blessed,–that to his seed would he give the land of promise, which is the world to come; and that his seed should be as the stars of heaven.

This seed, to whom the promise was made, being Christ, this covenant was made in Christ; and, when Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, this covenant was confirmed in Christ. This is, therefore, the everlasting covenant, which answers to Jerusalem which is above; for, in that covenant, because of that promise, Abraham "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

All this came to Abraham when as yet he had no child; and the promise was to be accomplished in his seed. Several years had passed after the first mention by the Lord of Abraham's seed when as yet he had no child. Abraham was already old when the thought of his seed was first suggested, and was growing older without seeing any seed. Accordingly, he said: "Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thee hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

"And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shalt come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shalt thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." Gen. 15:2-7.

And when Abram asked: "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" the Lord "said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pig-

361

eon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not." Then it was that the Lord, by passing between those pieces, "made a covenant with Abraham," a blood covenant, in which he pledged himself to the fulfillment of every promise that had yet been made to Abraham.

Here, then, was God's own heavenly, everlasting covenant, made and confirmed with Abraham, with God's own life pledged that everything promised should be accomplished, so that nothing promised could any more fail than that the Lord should cease to exist.

But still the time passed, and no child was seen; for "Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children." But Sarai "had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her." Gen. 16:1, 2. Thus Hagar comes upon the scene, and is brought into the story.

But how was it that Hagar was brought into the story at all? Was it by trusting the promise of God?–No. It was altogether because of distrust. Was it by faith?–No. It was altogether because of unbelief. This is confirmed by the fact that when this part of the program had all been carried through, it all had to be repudiated, and the promised seed had still to be expected by Sarah herself, and "through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." Heb. 11:11.

This being so at the last, why was it, then, AT THE FIRST, that "Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children"?–It was simply because of her unbelief, and her not judging "him faithful who had promised."

Then it was that, in this distrust of God, this unbelief, Sarai invented the scheme which brought in Hagar. And this scheme, springing from distrust of God, and unbelief in him, was altogether a scheme of the natural mind–an invention of the flesh–to fulfill the promise of God.

The important consideration in this scheme of Sarai's, is that it was to fulfill the promise of God. The thought was not merely that the Lord had not fulfilled his promise; but that he had refused to fulfill it. For Sarai said plainly, "Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing." This straightly charged unfaithfulness on the part of the Lord. And since it was held that the Lord had failed to fulfill his promise, it was naturally concluded that they were to fulfill it themselves, by an invention altogether of their own, springing from distrust and unbelief in God.

And even Abram swerved from his trust in God, from his faith in the Lord's promise. Abram fell in with this scheme of distrust and unbelief, this invention of the flesh. "Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai."

"And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived." "And Hagar bare Abram a son." Gen. 16:3, 4, 15.

"But he who was of the bondwoman was born after THE FLESH." How could he be born of anything else? The whole scheme by which he was ever born at all, was altogether of the natural mind, in distrust and unbelief of God,–an invention of the flesh.

"Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia."

The covenant, therefore, for which Hagar stands,–the covenant from Mount Sinai,–is a covenant in which people, in distrust of God and unbelief of his promise, knowing only the natural man and the birth of the flesh, seek by their own inventions, and their own efforts, to attain to the righteousness of God, and to the inheritance which attaches to that righteousness.

But the righteousness of God, with the accompanying inheritance in all its fullness, is a free gift.

"The Church of Rome and Protestantism" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 23 , p. 363.

THE following editorial article in the Christian Advocate of March 29, 1900, is worthy of consideration everywhere. It presents anew, and in a forcible way, the truth that should always be emphasized that the only way in which Catholicism and Protestantism can possibly unite is by the apostasy of Protestantism–by Protestantism ceasing to be Protestant. And, indeed, when Protestantism ceases to be Protestant, it is Catholic, even though it still be called "Protestantism," for Catholicism is simply naturalism under the name and forms of Christianity–"the form of godliness without the power." The Christian Advocate says:–

A few weeks ago the New York Sun denied the allegation that its very able editorials, religious, are written by a Roman Catholic. Justice Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, who has appeared several time in the role of a prophet, but on close inspection appears, like many modern prophets, to be predicting merely what it would please him to have happen, says, "It is not unworthy of notice that the ancient enemies, Catholicism and Protestantism, are drawing closer together," and declares that "the history of the past should be ignored, and each should shake hands and join in the common effort to further the common cause of a common Master."

Upon this the Sun says, editorially:–

"The Church of Rome, surely, has neither abandoned, nor in any degree lessened, its claims; it still offers to Protestantism no possibility of unity with it, except on the condition of yielding to its authority and rendering allegiance to the papal supremacy. Within a very few years the pope, by refusing to accept the validity of the Anglican orders, has practically pronounced the whole Church of England heretical, schismatic, and destitute of an apostolic foundation for its ministry. The only terms Rome offers in the nineteenth century are the same as those offered in the eighteenth century–unconditional surrender.

"The present pope, Leo XIII, is not one step closer to Protestantism in 1900 than was Pius VII in 1800. Nor is Protestantism in its spirit, distinctive features, its very genius, any closer to Catholicism now than it was then. The strongest Protestant tendency at present seems to be to an even wider separation than in the past, for the new school of Biblical criticism, now so powerful in Protestant theology, tends logically to the exclusion of all such supernatural authority as the Church of Rome asserts. Protestantism is growing more rather than less distinctively Protestant; it is more insistent on the right of private judgment and more intolerant of the domination of church authority. Meanwhile Catholicism insists not less stoutly on that authority than it did in the days of the Reformation: it has shown no shadow of yielding. Individual Protestants, craving such spiritual control, may pass over to the Church of Rome, but Protestantism, in the exercise of its asserted private judgment, is now further from it than ever.

"The difference is deep and radical, full of great significance, and, as we have said, can not be bridged over by any gush of sentiment. The two can never come together except by Protestants' yielding and becoming Catholics, or Catholics' turning into Protestants. You might as well try to mix oil and water as to attempt to bring these two radically conflicting and diametrically and essentially opposing religious systems into harmony, without the complete surrender of the one to the other; and the twentieth century will not lessen that impossibility by one whit."

This is absolutely true, and such sentiments as those of Justice Brewer, though quite common, are of the same sort as those which have betrayed a large part of Protestantism, at the other extreme, into the hands of the Unitarians, anti-supernatural Biblical critics, and even avowed agnostics.

If the twentieth century obliterates distinctions between Protestants and Roman Catholics, the latter will swallow up individual Protestants in ever-increasing numbers; while at the other extreme, agnosticism will flourish, and many of the most spiritually minded Protestants, distracted, will react into variant, forms of fanaticism; and worse, though different, forms of confusion than those that have marked the well-defined conflicts of the past will leave a large majority of the population of adult years drifting into worldliness or agnosticism, protected from suspicion and unpleasant embarrassment by a politic silence.

This is not prophecy, but conclusions based upon an "if." To say that if dynamite is ignited, there will be an explosion, is not prophecy, but truth.

June 12, 1900

"The Sermon. Rome in the Book of Daniel" ⁷1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 24 , pp. 354, 355.

A. T. JONES

(Concluded).

I READ again the sentence just quoted, and the next one with it:–

If there be one lesson which history clearly teaches, it is this, that free nations can not govern subject provinces. If they are unable or unwilling to admit their dependencies to share their own constitution, the constitution itself will fall in pieces from mere incompetence for its duties.

That is the one lesson that history teaches. Free nations can not govern subject provinces, and themselves remain free. And wherever they are unable or unwilling to admit their dependencies to share their own constitution, the constitution itself will fall to pieces. Rome thought to preserve the constitution, by not extending it to the subject provinces. But in that very thing, Rome destroyed her constitution. The real damage done was not to the provinces, but to the home government that would not extend to her subject provinces the privileges which Rome had, which Rome enjoyed. Therefore this writer further says:–

For these reasons, the fall of the Roman Republic is exceptionally instructive to us. A constitutional government, the most enduring and the most powerful that ever existed, was put on its trial, and found wanting.

Again I read:–

With such vividness, with such transparent clearness, the age stands before us of Cato and Pompey, of Cicero and Julius Cesar: the more distinctly because it was an age in so many ways the counterpart of our own, the blossoming period of the old civilization, when the intellect was trained to the highest point which it could reach; and on the great subjects of human interest, on morals, and politics, on poetry and art, even on religion itself and the speculative problems of life, men thought as we think, doubted where we doubt, argued as we argue, aspired and struggled after the same objects.

It was an age of material progress and material civilization; an age of civil liberty and intellectual culture; an age of pamphlets and epigrams, of salons and of dinner parties, of senatorial majorities and electoral corruption. The highest offices of state were open in theory to the meanest citizen; they were confined, in fact, to those who had the longest purses, or the most ready use of the tongue on popular platforms. Distinctions of birth had been exchanged for distinctions of wealth. The struggles between plebeians for equality of privilege were over, and a new division had been formed between the party of property and a party who desired a change in the structure of society.

The rich were extravagant, for life had ceased to have practical interest, except for its material pleasures; the occupation of the higher classes was to obtain money without labor, and to spend it in idle enjoyment. Patriotism survived on the lips, but patriotism meant the ascendancy of the party which would maintain the existing order of things, or would overthrow it for a more equal distribution of the good things which alone were valued. Religion, once the foundation of the laws and rule of personal conduct, had subsided into opinion. The educated, in their hearts, disbelieved it. Temples were still built with increasing splendor; the established forms were scrupulously observed. Public men spoke conventionally of Providence, that they might throw on their opponents the odium of impiety; but of genuine belief that life had any serious meaning, there was none remaining beyond the circle of the silent, patient, ignorant multitude. The whole spiritual atmosphere was saturated with cant,–cant moral, cant political, cant religious,–an affectation of high principle which had ceased to touch the conduct, and flowed on in an increasing volume of insincere and unreal speech. . . .

Tendencies now in operation [twenty-one years ago, bear in mind] may a few generations hence land modern society in similar conclusions, unless other convictions revive meanwhile and get the mastery of them; of which possibility no more need be said than this, that unless there be such a revival in some shape or other, the forces, whatever they be, which control the forms in which human things adjust themselves, will make an end again, as they made an end before, of what are called free institutions. Popular forms of government are possible only when individual men can govern their own lives on moral principles, and when duty is of more importance than pleasure, and justice than material expediency.–"Cesar: A Sketch," by J. A. Froude, chap. 1.

Here is a history that was written a good deal more than twenty-three years ago, written by one of the first historians of the world, Professor Mommsen, of Germany. At the place where I shall read, he writes of Rome after the time at which the prophecy mentions Rome as entering upon the scene, "to establish the vision." This tells of the time when the republic had made her conquests, and when, as the book from which I have already quoted says, wealth flowed into the city "in rolling streams of gold," so that riches was untold, boundless–individual wealth as well as governmental wealth. This writer discusses "The Government and the Governed," and he says that those who were in power in the state–

not only usurped in substance the government, but also remodeled the constitution according to their own views. It was part of their policy, with a view to keep up the number of these as little as possible, and to keep it far below what was required by the extension of territory and the increase of business.

That is to say, The state had expanded; but they did not allow the government to expand with it, and the governmental machinery broke down.

Yet these who set aside the constitution did not definitely alter the constitution.

They changed not the letter, but merely the practice, of the existing constitution.

The constitution stood as it had, in the letter; but it was applied in a different way.

The earlier law of Rome knew nothing of tributary subjects. The conquered communities were either sold into slavery, or merged in the Roman commonwealth, or admitted to an alliance which secured to them at least communal independence and freedom from taxation. But the Carthaginian possessions in Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain, as well as the kingdom of Hiero, had paid tithe and tribute to their former masters: if Rome was desirous of retaining these possessions at all, it was in the judgment of the shortsighted, the most judicious, and undoubtedly the most convenient, course to manage the new territories entirely in accordance with the rules heretofore observed. Accordingly the Romans simply retained the Carthagino-Hieronic provincial constitution [did not extend the Roman constitution to those provinces, but continued the provincial laws, under a Roman governorship], and organized in accordance with it those provinces also, such as Hither Spain, which they wrested from the barbarians. It was the shirt of Nessus which they inherited from the enemy.

The expression "the shirt of Nessus" is a mythological reference. In the myth a shirt of Hercules was secretly tinged with the blood of the dying Nessus, which, when Hercules again put it on, caused his ruin. And the thought of the historian is that when Rome would not extend her constitution, the privileges of her own government, to her provinces; but held them as subjects ruled by foreign laws, and taxed them besides, in that she took upon herself what corresponds in the myth to "the shirt of Nessus." And as, in the myth that shirt ruined the one who wore it, so this colonial system ruined Rome.

Beyond doubt at first the Roman government intended, in imposing taxes on their subjects, not strictly to enrich themselves, but only to cover the cost of administration and defense; but they deviated from this course, when they made Macedonia and Illyria tributary without undertaking the government or the guardianship of the frontier there. The fact, however, that they still maintained moderation in the imposition of burdens was of little consequence as compared with the conversion of their sovereignty into a profitable privilege at all; the FALL WAS THE SAME, whether a single apple was taken of the TREE WAS PLUNDERED.

The fall of what?–He is writing of the fall of the Roman Republic, the fall of the Roman state, not the fall of the provinces. "The fall" of the republic "was the same, whether a single apple was taken or the tree was plundered." He says that the Roman Republic fell when it levied taxes upon subject provinces, even though the money was spent in and on the provinces themselves; and that the fall of the republic was the same, whether it levied a tax of a cent or of millions. What followed?

Punishment followed in the steps of wrong. [I am not putting in anything. I am simply reading.] The new provincial system necessitated the appointment of governors, whose position was absolutely incompatible not only with the welfare of the provinces, but with the Roman constitution.

Then what?

As the Roman community in the provinces took the place of the former rulers of the land, so the governor appeared there in the position of A KING.

What then?

But it was not practicable for any length of time to be at once REPUBLICAN AND KING.

That was written forty-five ago, concerning Rome two thousand years ago. I leave it to you to decide whether it concerns only Rome. I will read those sentences again"–

The new provincial system necessitated the appointment of governors, whose position was absolutely incompatible not only with the welfare of the provinces, but with the Roman constitution. . . . As the Roman community in the provinces took the place of the former rulers of the land, so the governor appeared there in the position of a king. . . . But it was not practicable for any length of time to be at once republican and king. . . . Playing the part of governors demoralized the Roman ruling class with fearful rapidity. Haughtiness and arrogance toward the provincials were so natural in the circumstances as scarcely to form matter of reproach against the individual magistrate. But already it was a rare thing–and the rarer because the government adhered rigidly to the old principle of not paying public officials–that a governor returned with quite clean hands from his province; it was already remarked upon as something singular that Paulius, the conqueror of Pydna, and not take money.

What follow?–Haughtiness and arrogance were held by the governor toward these people who were counted "not capable of self-government." These peoples had been formerly ruled by kings. The governor went there to govern them, and stood in the place of king, and governed them as king. And when he came back home to Italy, he carried home with him that same air and spirit of haughtiness and arrogance, and held toward the people of the home government the same attitude that he had held toward the people of the subject province. Those who had governed abroad as kings remained such in air and spirit when they came home. Thus the refusal to extend the constitution abroad ruined the government at home. That is wherein "punishment followed in the steps of wrong;" and wherein the "demoralization of the Roman ruling class" followed "with fearful rapidity." I read right on:–

The governors ruled virtually as sovereign; and the most important of the institutions serving for the latter purpose, the census of the empire, was extended to Sicily alone, not to any of the provinces subsequently acquired. This emancipation of the supreme administrative officials from the central authority was more than hazardous. The Roman governor, placed at the head of the armies of the state, and in possession of considerable financial resources; subject to but a lax judicial control, and practically independent of the supreme administration; and impelled by a sort of necessity to separate the interests of himself and of the people whom he governed from those of the Roman community, and to treat them as conflicting, far more resembled a Persian satrap than one of the commissioners of the Roman senate at the time of the Samnite wars. The man, moreover, who had just conducted a legalized military tyranny abroad, could with difficulty find his way back to the common civic level, which distinguished between those who commanded and those who obeyed, but not between masters and slaves. Even the government felt that their two fundamental principles–equality within the aristocracy, and the subordination of the

371

power of the magistrates to the senatorial college–began in this instance to give way in their hands.

The aversion of the government to the acquisition of new provinces and to the whole provincial system; the institution of the provincial questorships, which were intended to take at least the financial power out of the hands of the governors; and the abolition of the arrangement–in itself so judicious–for lengthening the tenure of such offices, very clearly evince the anxiety felt by the more farseeing of the Roman statesment as to the fruits of the seed thus sown. But diagnosis is not cure. The internal government of the nobility continued to follow the direction once given to it, and the decay of the administration and of the financial system–the precursor of future revolutions and usurpations–steadily pursued its course, if not unnoticed, yet unchecked.

They themselves recognized what was going on; but the tide was too strong: they could not stem it. They had taken the step, and they could not turn back. They believed that destiny was upon them; and so they went on, one step after another in that direction, until–you know–the world knows–the prophecy has recorded it–there came the greatest civil despotism, then the greatest despotism of any kind,–a religious despotism,–and then the greatest ruin that ever was wrought in governmental affairs, in this world–the ruin of the Roman Empire.

Now, I ask again, Why was so much said of Rome in the book of Daniel?–"To be a light in that time of the end;" for prophecy is as "a light that shineth in a dark place," "whereunto ye do well that ye take heed." If it had been written only for the time of Rome, and had applied only to that time, it would have been a light for the people then. But it was not written especially for that time: it was not sealed up until that time; it was sealed up to this time, "the time of the end." Then, as certainly as prophecy is a light that shines in the darkness of this world, so certainly that prophecy concerning Rome, written so fully, and then closed up and sealed "to the time of the end," is a light whereunto we, in this time, do well that we take heed. And upon what can it possibly be a light, except the things which in this time are like those of that time? That then was an essential element in the making of the beast; this now that is so like it is an essential element in the making of the image of the beast.

All this relates to the time in which we live, and to the place where we live. Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people; but thank the Lord for the light of prophecy. Oh, let us study it as never before, and walk in the light of it, that we may be "children of light, and children of the day."

"The Third Angel's Message. The Place of Sunday Legislation in the Making of the Beast" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 24 , pp. 376, 377.

IN the union of Church and State in the Roman Empire, in the making of the papacy, the kingdom of God was held to have come. But that kingdom was a kingdom of this world, dependent solely upon worldly means for its existence.

The only power known to the kingdoms of this world is force. In established governments this force is exerted through law, enforced by pains and penalties. And we have seen that in this new kingdom of God it was by means of the Sunday laws and the power of the State that those who dwelt on the earth were rendered "fit subjects" of this kingdom of God.

At every step in the course of the apostasy, at every step taken in adopting the forms of sun-worship, as well as against the adoption and the observance of Sunday itself, there had been constant protest by all real Christians. Those who remained faithful to Christ and to the truth of the pure word of God, observed the Sabbath of the Lord according to the commandments, and according to the word of God which sets forth the Sabbath as the sign by which the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is distinguished from all other gods. These accordingly protested against every phase and form of sun-worship. Others compromised, especially in the East, by observing both Sabbath and Sunday. But in the West, under Roman influences and under the leadership of the Church and the bishopric of Rome, Sunday alone was adopted and observed.

Against this Church-and-State intrigue throughout, there had been also, as against every other step in the course of the apostasy, earnest protest by all real Christians. But when it came to the point where the Church would enforce by the power of the State the observance of Sunday, this protest became stronger than ever. And additional strength was given to the protest at this point by the fact that it was urged in the words of the very arguments which the Catholic Church had used when she was antagonized, rather than courted, by the imperial authority. This, with the strength of the argument upon the merit of the question as to the day which should be observed, greatly weakened the force of the Sunday law. But when, in addition to these considerations, the exemption was so broad as to allow all who dwelt "in the country, freely and at full liberty" to pursue their regular avocations on Sunday, and when those who observed the Sabbath disregarded the Sunday law, its effect was largely nullified.

Since any disrespect to Sunday, or any weakening of its standing would, in the nature of things, hinder people from attaining to the place of "fit subjects" of this "kingdom of God," it became necessary for the Church to secure legislation extinguishing all exemption, and prohibiting the observance of the Sabbath, so as to quench that powerful protest of the Sabbath-keepers. And now, coupled with the necessity of the situation, the "truly divine command" of Constantine and the Council of Nice, that "nothing" should be held "in common with the Jews," was made the basis and the authority for legislation utterly to crush out the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord, and to establish the observance of Sunday only, in its stead. Accordingly, the Council of Laodicea enacted the following canon:–

CANON 29–Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday ["Sabbath," in both Greek and Latin], but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out ["accursed," Greek and Latin] from Christ.–Hefele, "History of the Church Councils," Laodicea.

The report of the proceedings of the Council of Laodicea is not dated. A variety of dates has been suggested, of which A.D. 361 seems to have been the most favored. Hefele allows that it may have been as late as 380. But whatever the date, before A.D. 380, in the political condition of the empire this could not be made effective by imperial law. in 375 the emperor Valentinian died, and was succeeded by his two sons, one aged sixteen, the other four years. In 378 Theodosius, a Spanish soldier, became emperor of the East. In 380 he was baptized into the Catholic Church; and immediately an edict was issued in the name of the three emperors, commanding all subjects of the empire, of whatever party or name, to adopt the faith of the Catholic Church, and assume the name of "Catholic Christians."

As now "the State itself recognized the Church as such, and endeavored to uphold her in the prosecution of her principles and the attainment of her ends" (Neander); and as Theodosius had already ordered that all his subjects "should steadfastly adhere to the religion which was taught by St. Peter to the Romans, which faithful tradition" had preserved, and which was then "professed by the pontiff Damasus," of Rome, and had now ordered that they should all "assume the title of Catholic Christians," it was easy to bring the imperial power to the support of the decrees of the Church, and make the Laodicean canon effective.

Now was given the opportunity for which the Church had waited so long, and she made use of it. At the earliest possible moment she secured the desired law; for, "by a law of the year 386, those older changes effected by the emperor Constantine were more rigorously enforced; and, in general, civil transactions of every kind on Sunday were strictly forbidden. Whoever transgressed was to be considered, in fact, as guilty of sacrilege."–Neander.

As the direct result of this law, there soon appeared an evil which, under the circumstances and in the logic of the case, called for further legislation in the same direction. The law forbade all work. But as the people had not such religion as would cause them to devote the day to pious and moral exercises, the effect of the law was only to enforce idleness. Enforced idleness only multiplied opportunity for dissipation. The natural consequence was that the circuses, the theaters, and other places of dissipation throughout the empire were crowded every Sunday.

The object of the Sunday law, from the first one that was issued, was that the day might be used for the purposes of devotion, and that the people might go to church. But they had not sufficient religion to lead them to church when there was opportunity for amusement. Therefore, "owing to the prevailing passion at that time, especially in the large cities, to run after the various public shows, it so happened that when these spectacles fell on the same days which had been consecrated by the Church to some religious festival, they proved a great hindrance to the devotion of Christians, though chiefly, it must be allowed, to those whose Christianity was the least an affair or the law and of the heart. Church leaders. . . were, in truth, often forced to complain that in such competition the theater was vastly more frequented than the church."–Neander.

And the Church was now in a conditioin in which she could not bear competition. She must have a monopoly. Therefore the next step to be taken, the logical one, too, was to have the circuses and theaters closed on Sundays and other special Church days, so that the churches and the theaters should not be open at the same time.

There was another feature of the case which gave the bishops the opportunity to make their new demands appear plausible, by urging in another form the selfish and sophistical plea upon which they had asked for the first edict respecting Church days. In the circuses and the theaters, large numbers of men were employed, among whom many were church-members. But, rather than give up their places, the church-members would work on Sunday. The bishops complained that these were "compelled to work," and were "prohibited to worship;" they pronounced it "persecution," and demanded more Sunday laws for "protection."

As a consequence, therefore, and in the logic of the situation, at a council held at Carthage, in June, A.D. 401, the following canon was enacted:–

CANON 5.–On Sundays and feast-days no plays may be performed.

That this canon might be made effective, the bishops in the same council passed a resolution, and sent up a petition to the emperor Honorius, praying "that the public shows might be transferred from the Christian Sunday and from feast-days, to some other days of the week."–Neander. The reason given in support of the petition was not only, as already stated, that those who worked in government offices and employments at such times, were persecuted, but that "the people congregate more to the circus than to the church."–Id.

In the logic of this theory, there was one more step to be taken. To see how logically it came about, let us glance at the steps taken from the first one up to this point: First, the Church had all work on Sunday forbidden, in order that the people might worship. But the people would not worship; they went to the circus and the theater instead of to church. Then the Church had laws enacted closing the circuses and the theaters, in order that the people might attend church. But even then the people would not be devoted, nor attend church; for they had no real religion. The next step to be taken, therefore, in the logic of the situation, was to compel them to be devoted–to compel them to attend to things divine.

This was the next step logically to be taken, and it was taken. The theocratical bishops were equal to the occasion. They were ready with a theory that exactly met the demands of the case, and one of the greatest of the Catholic Church Fathers and Catholic saints was the father of the theory, thus:–

It is, indeed, better that men should be brought to serve God by instruction than by fear of punishment or by pain. But because the former means are better, the latter must not therefore be neglected. . . . Many must often be brought back to their Lord, like wicked servants, by the rod of temporal suffering, before they attain the highest grade of religious development.–Augustine.

Of this theory, the author who, of all the Church historians, has best exposed the evil workings of this false theocracy, justly observes that "it was by Augustine, then, that a theory was proposed and founded, which. . . contained the germ of that whole system of spiritual despotism of intolerance and persecution which ended in the tribunals of the Inquisition."–Neander.

The history of the Inquisition is only the history of this theory of Augustine's. But this theory is only the logical sequence of the theory upon which the whole series of Sunday laws was founded. In closing his history of this particular subject, Neander says, "IN THIS WAY THE CHURCH RECEIVED HELP FROM THE STATE FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF HER ENDS."

This statement is correct. Constantine did many things to favor the bishops. He gave them money and political preference. He made their decisions in disputed cases final, as the decision of Jesus Christ. But in nothing that he did for them did he give them power over those who did not belong to the Church, to compel them to act as if they did, except in the one thing of the Sunday law. In the Sunday law, power was given to the Church, and who were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Church, to obey the commands of the Church. In the Sunday law there was given to the Church control of the civil power, so that by it she could compel those who did not belong to the Church to act as if they did: so that thus they might be more "fit subjects" of that false kingdom of God. The history of

377

Constantine's time may be searched through and through, and it will be found that in nothing did he give to the Church any such power, except in this one thing–the Sunday law. Neander's statement is literally correct, that it was "in this way the Church received help from the State for the furtherance of her ends."

That this may be set before the reader in as clear a light as possible, we shall here summarize the facts stated by Neander, in their direct bearing. He says of the carrying into effect of the theocratical theory of the apostate bishops, that they made themselves dependent upon Constantine, by their disputes, and "by their determination to use the power of the State for the furtherance of their aims. Then he mentions the first and second Sunday laws of Constantine; the Sunday law of A.D. 386; the Cathaginian Council, resolution, and petition of 401; and the law of A.D. 425, in respose to this petition; and then, without a break, and with direct reference to these Sunday laws, he says; "In this way the Church received help from the State for the furtherance of her ends."

She started out with the determination to do it: she did it; and "IN THIS WAY" she did it. And when she had secured control of the power of the State, she used it for the furtherance of her own aims, and that in her own despotic way, as announced in the inquisitorial theory of Augustine. The first step logically led to the last. And the theocratical leaders in the movement had the cruel courage to follow the first step unto the last, as framed in the words of Augustine, and illustrated in the horrors of the Inquisition during the fearful record of the dreary ages in which the bishopric of Rome was supreme over kings and nations.

Thus was made the Beast. Thus was Sunday legislation the chief means, the very key, in the making of the Beast. And before the eyes of all people to-day Sunday legislation is being employed in the same way precisely, which is nothing else, and can not possibly be anything else, then the making of the Image of the Beast.

In a word, the Beast signifies attainment to righteousness, to salvation, and to the kingdom of God, by force,–by law and works of the flesh; and Sunday is the sign of it.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 24 , p. 377.

PRESIDENT PATTON, of Princeton University, has lately defined the United States as being, in brief, "simply a larger Britain." That is strongly confirmed by the following parallel presented by the Yale Review:–

Townsend Revenue Act, 1767, one of the causes of the American Revolution.

All the moneys that shall arise by the said duties. . . shall be applied. . . in making a more certain and adequate provision for the charge of the administration of justice and in the support of civil government, in such of the said colonies and plantations where it shall be found necessary; . . . the residue of such duties shall be paid into the receipt of his majesty's exchequer, and shall be entered separate and apart from all other moneys paid or payable to his majesty; . . . and shall be there reserved, to be from time to time disposed of by Parliament toward defraying the necessary expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the British colonies in America.

Porto Rican Bill, enacted by the American Congress, 1900.

The duties and taxes collected in Porto Rico in pursuance of this Act, . . . and the gross amount of all collections of duties and taxes in the United States upon articles of merchandise coming from Porto Rico, shall not be covered into the general fund of the treasury, but shall be held as a separate fund, and shall be placed at the disposal of the president, to be used for the government and benefit of Porto Rico until the government of Porto Rico herein provided shall have been organized.

And since the United States has thus become "a larger Britain," how stands the nation with respect to the principles upon which the nation was founded, and for which it stood in the world?–Plainly these principles are abandoned. And when these principles are so abandoned, then, in the estimation of those who have abandoned those principles, what could have been the character, and what could have been the use, of the American Revolution? Yet the worst feature of this case is, not that the United States is a Britain either larger or smaller, but that it is so completely another Rome. If in this career of apostasy, the United States would stop with being as is Britain, the evil would not be so great; but when she becomes not only what Britain was, but goes on and becomes what Rome was, then the evil can be only such as came to Rome–irretrievable ruin.

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-25" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 24 , p. 328.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia."

Hagar represents the covenant from Sinai. Hagar was a bond-woman, and an Egyptian. Her son, therefore, was a bondson. He was a bondson, by whatsoever means he might have been born: because his mother was a bondwoman. As we have seen, the means by which Hagar's son was born was altogether out of distrust of God and of unbelief in his promise–was only a scheme of the flesh; and, therefore, "he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh." But, "The minding of the flesh, the carnal mind, is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh can not please God." Rom. 8:7, 8, margin.

Accordingly, the covenant for which Hagar stands–the covenant from Mount Sinai–is a covenant in which people, knowing only the natural man and the birth of the flesh, seek, by their own inventions and their own efforts, to attain to the righteousness of God, and to the inheritance which attaches to that righteousness. This, because, as we have also seen, Sarai and Abram had the fullness of the promise of God, and of his righteousness, in God's covenant confirmed in Christ, before ever the scheme concerning Hagar was invented. And this scheme was invented, and could be invented, only by forsaking that promise and covenant. And to forsake that promise and covenant was to trust only in the flesh.

Did, then, the people at Sinai have any promise of God, or any covenant, in which they could trust, before they entered into the covenant of Sinai?–They had. They had the Abrahamic covenant, exactly as had Abram and Sarai before they entered into the scheme which brought in Hagar.

Not simply did they have this covenant with Abraham, as a far-distant thing, bedimmed by the lapse of time between Abraham and them: but they had it repeated to them, directly by the Lord, and made with them, as with Abraham; and all this before they ever left Egypt at all. Read, "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Issac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, TO GIVE THEM THE LAND OF CANAAN, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have REMEMBERED MY COVENANT.

"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: and I WILL TAKE YOU TO ME FOR A PEOPLE, and I WILL BE TO YOU A GOD, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I DID SWEAR ["lift up my hand," margin] to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I WILL GIVE IT TO YOU FOR AN HERITAGE; I am the Lord." Ex. 6:2-8.

Here was given to the children of Israel, in Egypt, all that was ever given to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. The same covenant precisely that was "made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac," and which was "confirmed" unto Jacob, was made with Israel, WHILE THEY WERE YET IN EGYPT, when God came down to deliver them from Egypt.

How, then, could it come about that Israel must enter into a covenant at Sinai?–Just as the scheme concerning Hagar had come about. How could another covenant be brought in at all?–Just as Hagar was brought in–altogether because of distrust of God's covenant; altogether because of unbelief of the promise of God confirmed by his oath. For if they had trusted the promises of God which he had made to them in Egypt, they would have had all that Abraham or any other person ever could have, they would have had the righteousness of God, his everlasting salvation, and the inheritance promised to Abraham: and this ALL IN CHRIST; for this is how Abraham had it.

True, they had sung the song of triumphant faith at the Red Sea, after crossing; and if they had continued in this faith, they would have continued in God's everlasting covenant which he gave them in Egypt: and there never would have been any covenant at Sinai.

But they did not continue in that faith; for, immediately afterward, when in their journey they came to Marah, they murmured against the Lord. And when the Lord had delivered them from their fears of that place, and they came into the Wilderness of Sin, "the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured" again. "And the children of Israel said unto them [Moses and Aaron]. Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, and when we did eat bread to the full: for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Ex. 17:3. And when the Lord had delivered them from their fears that time, and they had left the Wilderness of Sin, and had come to Rephidim, again they murmured, and said: "Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me." Ex. 17:3, 4.

All this shows confirmed distrust of God, and unbelief of him, on the part of Israel. And this distrust and unbelief hid from them the blessings and the power given to them in the covenant with Abraham, which God had given to them when they were in Egypt.

They could not trust God for the inheritance to which they were coming, not for the righteousness which alone would entitle them to that inheritance. This they thought that they themselves could earn. And, that they might see how far short of earning it they would come, the Lord gave to them the widest possible opportunity to try. Accordingly, he said: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice INDEED, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine; and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. ["So shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." Jer. 11:4.] These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

"And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, all that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord." Ex. 19:4-6.

They had not yet heard his voice; but, when they did hear it, the ten commandments were spoken. And so they had agreed to obey the ten commandments indeed. And, even after they had heard his voice in such majesty that they feared and "removed and stood afar off," they declared, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Ex.

378

24:7.

But they corresponded to the child of Hagar the bondwoman, who "was born after the flesh." They knew only the birth of the flesh; and so had only the mind of the flesh, which "is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;" and they could no more obey that law "indeed" than Ishmael, the child of the flesh in the family of Abraham, could fulfill the promise to Abraham. In that condition they could no more keep God's covenant than the scheme of Sarai in bringing in Hagar was the keeping of that covenant.

How, then, could such a covenant ever be brought in? Why did they enter into such a covenant?–"They had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, IN THEMSELVES, to render obedience to God's law, and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught. . . .The people did not realize THE SINFULNESS OF THEIR OWN HEARTS, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; AND THEY READILY ENTERED INTO COVENANT WITH GOD. Feeling that they were able to establish THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, they declared, 'All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.'"–"Patriarchs and Prophets," pages 371, 372.

They were already in the bondage of sin and self-righteousness; and in that bondage, with minds "not subject to the law of God," and which indeed could not be, they promised to obey the law of God "indeed." But in the condition in which they were, it was inevitable that they would break their promise: they simply could not keep their promise. It was not in them to do it. Thus, in that covenant, they were breakers of the law, and BREAKERS OF THEIR PROMISE not to break the law.

And this is all that they could be, in that covenant, or by virtue of anything in that covenant. Accordingly that covenant, AS HAGAR, gendered, and could gender, only to bondage. And this, all simply because of their distrust of God and their unbelief of his promise as revealed in the covenant with Abraham, which covenant was given to them directly, before they ever started from Egypt at all.

"These are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above IS FREE, which is the mother of us all. . . Now WE, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 24 , p. 379.

IN the Outlook of May 26 the editor, Dr. Lyman Abbott, in an attempt to state, "as an illustration," how the second and third chapters of Genesis "are characterized, not by the spirit of a scientific investigator into problems of anthropology, but by a naÔve, childlike, yet divine imagination," cites, among other things, that "in the garden are two trees of which they may not eat!"

Now Genesis itself says, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: BUT of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of IT."

It would seem that any one criticising the Scriptures as being not scientific, ought himself to be sufficiently scientific to read straight, and report correctly, what is said in the very scripture that he is criticising.

June 19, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message: What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 25 , p. 392.

THE Third Angel's Message is, first of all, a warning against the worship of the Beast and his Image.

In the studies of several weeks ago, we have abundantly seen what is the Beast. And in the nature of things, whatsoever is like it, is the Image of the Beast.

In these studies we have likewise seen that, in this nation and before the eyes of all people to-day, there is abundance of effort revealing a perfect likeness to the efforts which were the making of the Beast; and which, therefore, in the nature of things, can result here only in the making of the Image of the Beast.

Now, while it is true that the Third Angel's Message is a warning against the worship of the Beast and his Image, and this upon the basis of the keeping of the commandments of God, it is equally true that the law of God forbids the making of images, just as really as it forbids the worship of them. Indeed that law forbids, first of all, the making of images; and, plainly, if no images were ever made, no images would ever be worshiped.

Therefore, when the awful warning of the Third Angel's Message is spoken against the worship of the Beast and his Image, and this upon the basis of the law of God, it is certain that this Message warns just as much against the making of the Image of the Beast as it does against the worship of that Image.

Accordingly, it is just as certainly the giving of the Message, it is just as certainly the work of the people who must give that Message, to warn all people against the making of the Image of the Beast, as ever it can be, when that Image stands fully made, alive and active in its dreadful work, to warn them against the worship of the image.

Simple Christian regard for mankind requires that the people shall be warned against the making of the Image; because thousands of persons will take part in the making of the Image of the Beast who would have no part at all in it if they knew what they were doing.

Consequently, if they to whom is committed the giving of this Message to the world, really care for the spiritual welfare, and, in this time, even the temporal welfare, of their fellow men, surely they will be as earnest and active, while the Image is being made, to make known to all people, by every possible means, what is the making of the Image of the Beast, as they will have to be earnest and active in making known what is the Image of the Beast, and in warning against its worship, after it is made.

This is yet further emphasized in the truth that whoever, professing to have that Message of warning, does not warn against the making of the Image, will not be likely to warn anybody against the worship of the Image when it shall have been made. How can he? If he is unable to discern the movements that enter into the making of the Image, will he be likely to discern the Image that is made by those movements, and which simply results from those movements which he is unable to detect?

And yet further this is emphasized by the fact that the Third Angel's Message was opened to the world by the Lord long before the Image was made. Now, if the Message is a warning only against the worship of the Image, and not just as much against the making of the Image, then why should the Message ever has been opened up before the Image is made? Surely, it can not be worshiped until it shall have been made. Then, if the warning against the worship of the Image is the only true bearing and strength to the Message, there can be no place for that Message of be preached until after the Image shall have been made.

But, instead of that, the Third Angel's Message was opened to the world more than fifty years ago–long before any of these definite steps had been taken toward the making of the Image of the Beast. This very fact makes it certain that the message must be given in warning against the making of the Image, just as certainly as against the worship of it after it shall have been made.

In these studies we have called attention to the falling away from the gospel, in Christianity in this nation, just as there was a falling away in Christianity in the Roman Empire. And, as the result of this falling away in Christianity in this nation, we have traced, step by step, her theories and practices in the exact likeness of those that appeared in the falling away in Christianity in the Roman Empire. And from these things, no one who sees them can fail to see that there is being made here, to-day, the Image of the Beast. That is as certain as that those things that occurred in the Roman State were the making of the Beast.

Six to ten years ago, Seventh-day Adventists, throughout this whole nation, were wide-awake and active in discerning the making of the Image of the Beast, and in warning people against it. Why are they not so active now? Have all the efforts ceased that were then being made in the formation of the Image of the Beast?–It is hardly possible that any person even thinks that those efforts have ceased. And if it were possible that there should be any who so think, it is certain that they would be thinking wrongly; because it is the truth that there has been not only no cessation of those efforts, but that all continue which were then in vogue, and many others have been added. And these new efforts are no less powerful in their working, and no less portentous in their meaning, than were the others; yea, they are even more portentous, because of the added strength of the original efforts, by the lapse of time; and because of this lapse of time itself, which brings us so much nearer the great culmination.

The efforts which, six to ten years ago, were rife in the making of the Image of the Beast, and to which we were all so alive at the time, are summed up in the words–the repudiation by this nation of the principle of Protestantism.

But the National Reform system–that combination which accomplishes the formation of the Image of the Beast–does not end with the repudiation of the principles of Protestantism: it includes also the repudiation of the principles of republicanism. The repudiation of the principles of both these was inherent in the National Reform movement from the beginning. The repudiation of republican principle inheres in the repudiation of the Protestant principle. This the National Reformers knew. Not only did they know it, but they proclaimed it. They said openly, and published it to the world, that "to appeal to divine authority in our legislation would be to fundamentally change the law of our land, or the principle adopted by our fathers when they said that all governments drive their just powers from the consent of the governed. I for one do not believe that as a political maxim. I do not believe that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. And SO the object of this movement is AN EFFORT TO CHANGE THAT FEATURE OF OUR FUNDAMENTAL LAW. . . . And I see in this reform a providence teaching us the necessity of recognizing something else besides the will of the people as the basis of government."

It has been a repeated declaration of representative men of the Nation Reform movement, that "governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Accordingly the abandonment by the government of the United States of the fundamental principle of the nation, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, is not at all a new thing except in the mere acts in which the thing is manifested in practice. This practice is only the fruit of the evil seed diligently sown all over the land for more than thirty-five years by the National Reform organization.

All these years their organization has been working and aiming definitely to turn the Untied States government into a government of another form. Accordingly that organization has denied and repudiated the fundamental principles of this nation as the nation was founded.

All these years this organization has had its agents traveling throughout the length and breadth of the land, diligently teaching these principles, which are antagonistic to the principles of the nation. These agents have had unquestioned entry into the academies and colleges of the whole country; they have been prominent on the programs of Chautauqua assemblies; they have had the sympathy and support of the churches, and of religious and temperance organizations, everywhere. And all these opportunities they have employed to the uttermost.

Now, in the discussion of this question in national circles to-day, it is recognized that it is the younger generation of public men who are leading in the path of world-glory at the expense of the fundamental principles of the nation; while the old men are the conservatives, and call for allegiance still to these principles wherever the jurisdiction of the nation may be extended.

This is the truth. And this younger generation of public men of to-day were the boys in the academies and colleges of the country twenty to thirty years ago–in the time when the National Reformers were sowing that evil seed in the colleges and academies everywhere. These were the boys who in those academies and colleges were inoculated in those years with this virus of the National Reformers–that governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. And now when those boys, as the men of the younger generation in public affairs to-day, meet a crisis in which it must be decided whether the fundamental principles of the nation shall be adhered to or repudiated, they are prepared, and have long been prepared, to repudiate these principles in the interests of a will-o-the-wisp of "the empire of the Son of God," and in order to the execution of "his will"!

This is the secret and the true philosophy of this national repudiation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the nation to-day,–the repudiation of the principles of republicanism.

Thus this national repudiation of the principles of republicanism to-day, is just as certainly an element in the National Reform movement, is just as certainly a part of that movement, as was the national repudiation of the principles of Protestantism seven to eight years ago. This to-day is just as certainly an element in the making of the Image of the Beast, as was that of seven to eight years ago. Is it possible that there are any who profess to know the Third Angel's Message, who can not see that this is so? And if this be possible, then is it not high time for them to awake out of sleep, and look diligently lest they themselves shall be found taking part in the making of the Image of the Beast?

To-day, while it is called to-day, is the most thrilling and the most critical time that the people of the Third Angel's Message have ever seen. Who is awake to this time and its work? Who is studying the Third Angel's Message as for his life? Who is proclaiming the Third Angel's Message, as that message is to-day, for to-day?

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 25 , p. 392.

LAST year there was held, in the city of Rome, the Plenary Council of Latin America. The acts and decrees of this council have only lately been issued, in Latin. The Independent of May 10 presents a translation of some of the items of these acts and decrees. In the title, "On Catholic Faith," says the Independent, "it very severely attacks the civil indifferentism which would allow the state to take no care of religion. It declares, following the Pius IX Syllabus of Errors, against public schools in which religion is not taught, and insists that "they are totally in error who say that there must be a separation between church and state." It condemns "those who either reject the notion of revelation, or who, practically withdrawing all revelation from society and all authority of God and the church, declare for a separation of church from state, and a political atheism bewitched by a show of refinement and progress."

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-25" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 25 , p. 328.

"Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants."

Ishmael was the son of Abraham, born after the flesh. And what was his disposition? Before he was born the Lord described it: "He will be a wild ass man." The Revised Version translates it: "He shall be as a wild ass among men." "His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him."

Remember that this child of Hagar, this son that was born after the flesh, this "wild ass among men," was the fruit of the invention of Sarai's, which sprang from her distrust of God and unbelief of his promise to give a son. Accordingly, bear in mind that this son was intended by Sarai to fulfill the promise of God. It was really intended, and even expected by Sarai, and even by Abraham, that this child of the flesh, this wild man, should be accepted by the Lord as the son whom he intended in his promise; and that the promises to Abraham should be fulfilled in him. This is certain, by the fact that, afterward, when the Lord told Abraham that he would give him a son by Sarai, Abraham answered; "O that Ishmael might live before thee!"

Now remember that Hagar, the mother of this "wild ass man," represents the covenant from Sinai; and her son, who was born after the flesh,–this wild man,–represents the children of that covenant from Sinai. And just as, in the invention which brought forth Ishmael, it was intended that he should fulfill the promise of God, and that the Lord's covenant with Abraham should be fulfilled through him, so these children of the covenant at Sinai, like Ishmael, born after the flesh, expected that they could fulfill the promise of God, and that the Lord's covenant with Abraham should be accomplished in its fullness through them; that is, through the flesh.

But Abraham kept the commandments of God. The righteousness of God is an essential part of the covenant with Abraham; for, without it, no one can attain unto the inheritance given to Abraham in the covenant. But how would Ishmael, born after the flesh, keep the commandments of God, when the minding of the flesh is only enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, and neither indeed can be? How could that wild ass man keep the commandments of God, with his hand against every man, when one of the two principles of the whole law of God is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"?

And this child of Hagar the bondwoman corresponds to the children of that covenant at Sinai, which gendereth to bondage. As Ishmael, they know only the birth of the flesh, and only "the minding of the flesh," which is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, they covenanted to keep the law of God "indeed"!

But Ishmael was not the son intended by the Lord: he could not fulfill the promise of God, nor could the promise of God be fulfilled in him. So far as God's promise was concerned, and God's covenant with Abraham, Ishmael's birth was no more than as if he had never been born at all.

Accordingly, when Abraham said to the Lord: "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" "God said, Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year." Gen. 18:19-21, R. V.

At this time Sarai had become a believer in God's promise, and trusted God alone, and the Lord had changed her name to Sarah. And so, "through faith Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed;" and according to the promise Isaac was born.

Now what was Isaac's disposition?–It is illustrated in his conduct at the time that Abraham and he supposed that he was to be offered as a sacrifice. He submitted, as a lamb, to be offered. It is further illustrated in the record in Genesis 26: After Abraham had died, and Isaac was the heir of the covenant, he dwelt for a time in the land where the Philistines were. "Now all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

"And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water." Gen. 26:15-19, R. V.

These wells were doubly Isaac's. Abraham had digged them, and they therefore belonged to Abraham. And when Isaac became heir of Abraham, these wells became his by inheritance. And now he had digged them again, which was the same as if he had digged them new. Thus they were doubly his. Yet by even more than this they were his, because the Philistines, when the wells were open, had filled them with earth, showing in the strongest possible way that they did not wish them at all.

Yet the Philistines come now to Isaac, and say of the wells which he had opened, and which, by such full right, were his: "The water is ours." Verse 20. Isaac let them have it. But what would Ishmael have done? And what would you do? Which of the "two sons" of Abraham are you? "These are the two covenants." Of which covenant are you?

Isaac "digged another well," and the Philistines "strove for that also." But Isaac, instead of striving with them for this, which was by such large right altogether his own, "removed from thence, and digged another well." But what would Ishmael have done? And what would you do? Which of the "two sons" of Abraham are you? "These are the two covenants." Of which covenant are you?

When Isaac had digged this last well, for it the Philistines "strove not: and he called the name of it Rohoboth: and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land." Verse 22.

But how was it that the Lord made room for him?–Simply by Isaac's refusal to strive with the Philistines, by his yielding to them all that they claimed, even when it was his by every possible right. But could the Lord have ever "made room" for Ishmael and those Philistines? Does the Lord "make room" for you and the envious opposers? Which of the "two sons" of Abraham are you? "These are the two covenants." Of which covenant are you?

"And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants digged a well."

"Then Abimelec went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phicol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee. . . Thou art now the blessed of the Lord." Verses 28-29. But it was only by Isaac's continual yielding before them that they ever had any opportunity to see that the Lord was with him, and that he was the blessed of the Lord. But what would Ishmael have done? And what would you do? What do you do? Which of the "two sons" of Abraham are you? "These are the two covenants." Of which covenant are you?

And so "it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory; for these are the TWO COVENANTS: the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bond age, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." "Now WE, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." Are you?

"Protestants and Catholics" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 25 , pp. 394, 395.

JUNE 5 we reprinted, from the Christian Advocate, an editorial on "The Church of Rome and Protestantism," which closed with the following excellent words:–

If the twentieth century obliterates distinctions between Protestants and Roman Catholics, the latter will swallow up individual Protestants in ever-increasing numbers; while at the other extreme, agonosticism will flourish, and many of the most spiritually minded Protestants, distracted, will react into various forms of fanaticism; and worse, though different, forms of confusion than those that have marked the well-defined conflicts of the past will leave a large majority of the population of adult years drifting into worldliness or agnosticism, protected from suspicion and unpleasant embarrassment by a politic silence.

This is not prophecy, but conclusions based upon an "if." To say that if dynamite is ignited, there will be an explosion, is not prophecy, but truth.

These words are worth reprinting again for the truth which they contain; and this especially in view of what further we have not to present; for the Christian Advocate is pre-eminently the church paper of the Methodist denomination.

The Methodist General Conference always prints a Daily Christian Advocate, giving full proceedings of the Conference. The editor of the Daily Christian Advocate is chosen by the General Conference, at each session. At the late session of the Conference, Levi Gilbert, D.D., was editor of the Daily Christian Advocate. By the Conference he was also elected editor of the Western Christian Advocate, an official paper of the denomination, for the Cincinnati district. In the Daily Christian Advocate of May 28, there is an editorial on "Protestants and Catholics." This editorial is written with reference to the statement of Justice Brewer, and of the New York Sun in commenting upon it, which we reprinted June 5. After referring to the statement of Justice Brewer, and the article of the Sun, the editor of the Daily Christian Advocate says:–

But the true position of religious bodies, either in their relation to the truth, to the age, or to each other, can never be learned accurately from an examination simply of their dogmas. Pastors in the field can better report the practical situation. They know that there is a better entente cordiale [French for "cordial understanding"] between the two great sections of Christianity than there was fifty years ago. The old bitterness and rancor is somewhat subsiding. There is, perhaps, owing to a larger and more sympathetic study of history, a better understanding of each others' position and a better appreciation of the great work being done by each. At least this is so in the Protestant pulpit. It is true that the Protestant minister still thinks that Rome has very much superstition and misleading ceremonialism to eliminate before she can become a truly apostolic church; but he no longer identifies that church with the "scarlet woman" or thunders against Babylon. Rather he sees very much good working with and underneath the evil,–the good overbalancing the evil,–and he prays that more and more that great church may free itself from abuses and errors, and come, purified, into a clearer faith. He fraternizes not infrequently with Catholic priests. He is glad to sit side by side with them in public meetings, such as those conducted by the Anti-Saloon League, and to speak on the same program. He welcomes the growing spirit of Americanism shown by their great prelates, like Keane, Ireland, and Gibbons. He reverences the memory and deeds of such brave and good priests as Father Malone and Dr. McGlynn and Father Damien. He is glad to admit that the Church of Rome to-day is not what Luther found it; that Pope Leo is not another Borgian, but a leader of high

395

character, piety, and intellectual genius; that the church in the United States is not what it is in Spain and Mexico–that it is involuntarily affected by the atmosphere and institutions of freedom, and this process will go on wherever spreads in the lands of absolution.

From this it is plain that even in the Methodist Church there are influential persons who are "obliterating distinctions between Protestants and Roman Catholics," and so are helping forward the time when the Catholic Church "will swallow individual Protestants in ever-increasing numbers."

It must be borne in mind also that all of this "better understanding" and "better appreciation" is on the side of the Protestants. And what is peculiar about it is that these Protestants think they know more about Rome than Rome herself knows; they insist that Rome is better than she used to be, while Rome herself insists that she is not–that "Rome never changes." They declare that "the Church of Rome to-day is not what Luther found it," while the Church of Rom herself declares that she is to-day exactly what she was before "the so-called Reformation."

June 26, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 26 , p. 408.

OF the papacy, the Beast, as one of the three items which mark his exaltation against God, it is written that he should "think to change the times and the law" of the Most High.

This the papacy did, as far as it lies in any power to do it, when it set aside the Sabbath of the Lord, and, under a papal curse, condemned its observance, and exalted Sunday in its stead.

In these articles we have given quite fully the evidence that demonstrates the fulfillment of that prophecy which said that he would "think to change the times and the law" of the Most High.

It is this attempted change of the Sabbath which, more than anything else, reveals that feature of the papacy by which the word of God distinguishes the papacy as "the man of sin"–"transgression of the law"–and "the mystery of lawlessness." Greek and R.V.

This, because it is a principle in governmental procedure, recognized as such in law, and so regarded in history, that for a subordinate government to reenact, especially with changes, a law made by the supreme authority for the government of the subordinate State, is "tantamount to a declaration of independence" on the part of the subordinate government. And any power, whatever it might be, however it might be organized, and wherever it might be on the earth, that would presume to take the law of God and incorporate it in legislation, with changes, would, in that, declare itself independent of God. The papacy did this when, by its working, the Sabbath was incorporated in legislation, and yet all that pertained to it was transferred to another day, thus incorporating the law of God in the legislation, with changes. That was the assertion of independence of the power and government of God. That was the assertion of independence of the power and government of God. And that could be nothing less than the very pinnacle of the arrogance of lawlessness.

Now, as has already been pointed out in these studies,–in the REVIEW of May 29,–the government of the United States has exactly repeated that action of the papacy. When the United States government incorporated the fourth commandment of the law of God in its legislation, and then in its legislation deliberately changed the Sabbath of that commandment to Sunday–in that thing the government of the United States asserted its independence of the power and government of God, in the very likeness of the papacy. It would be impossible for any power more certainly to change the Sabbath, so far as any power can change it, than the United States government has done in the exact likeness of the papacy before it.

And this action of the United States was performed at the bidding of an apostate church, just as the change was originally made in the Roman Empire. From 1888 until 1892, the whole National Reform combination tried its best to get Congress and the whole government of the United States to do what the leaders of that combination knew to be an unconstitutional thing; that is, for the government of the United States to decide the Sabbath question by law, and fix it to Sunday as the American sabbath.

While the National Reform combination was making this endeavor, as Congress did not respond readily enough to suit them, they added threats to their "petitions and their other efforts. These threats of the combined religious elements of the country were to the effect that they pledged themselves and one another that they would never again vote for, nor support for any office or position of trust, any member of Congress, either senator or representative, who should refuse to do their bidding to pass the church-instituted provision closing the Columbian Exposition on Sunday–the "Christian sabbath," the "Lord's day," etc. And everybody knows, or at least has had an opportunity to know, that Congress surrendered to these threats, and publicly advertised that it did not "dare" to do otherwise.

And when an effort, based upon the Constitution, was made to have Congress undo its unconstitutional action, and place itself and the government once more in harmony with the Constitution, and with the sound fundamental principles of the nation, this same religious combination renewed its former threats, and added to these such others as best suited its purpose. The result was that the Congressional committee that had the matter in charge, and that thus acted for the whole Congress, definitely excluded the Constitution from its consideration, and deferred exclusively to the demands of that religious combination. And this, as declared by representatives in Congress, because not to do so only resulted "in stirring up animosity toward the fair, and in creating antagonism on the part of the church people."

And, as declared by a United States Circuit Court:–

By a sort of factitious advantage, the observers of Sunday have secured the aid of the civil law, and adhere to that advantage with great tenacity, in spite of the clamor for religious freedom, and the progress that has been made in the absolute separation of Church and State. . . . And the efforts to extirpate the advantage above mentioned, by judicial decision in favor of a civil right to disregard the change, seem to me quite useless. . . .

Christians would become alarmed, and they might substitute for the stars and other symbols of civil freedom upon the banners of their armed hosts, the symbol of the cross of Christ, and fight for their religion at the expense of their civil government. They have done this in times that are passed, and they could do it again. And he is not a wise statesman who overlooks a possibility like this, and endangers the public peace. . . .

The civilian, as contradistinguished from the churchman, though united in the same person, may find in the principle of preserving the public order a satisfactory warrant for yielding to religious prejudice and fanaticism the support of those laws, when the demand for such a support may become a force that would disturb the public order. It may be a constantly diminishing force, but if it be yet strong enough to create disturbance, statesmanship takes account of it as a factor in the problem.–The U. S. Circuit Cout for the western district of Tennessee, 1891.

Thus, by the confirmed lawlessness of the National Reform combination–the apostate Protestantism of the United States–the government of the United States was driven into the course of declaration independence of the power and government of God–the course of lawlessness marked out originally by "the mystery of lawlessness" itself. And by that example, from that day to this, lawlessness has risen and spread like a mighty tide in this nation, and now is being further followed by the nation itself, as such, in its repudiation of the Declaration of Independence, and its abandonment of the Constitution of the nation in its present practice of "governing without the Constitution."

And these things we expected and mentioned at the time. Six years ago we wrote and published the following words: "Multitudes of people in the United States are wondering and perplexed in beholding how widespread and how persistent is the spirit of violence and lawlessness throughout the land. To those, however, who have been carefully considering public movements in the last two or three years, there is nothing to wonder at not to be perplexed about in all this, or even more than this, that has appeared. Indeed, to those who have been carefully studying the public movements of the last two or three years, this widespread spirit of violence and lawlessness has been expected; and now, instead of expecting it to end at the limits that it has reached, widespread though it be, it is expected to become universal."

We then recounted the facts, as to the change of the Sabbath by this nation, and further said that in all this "they have demonstrated that they have no respect for any law but such as their own arbitrary will approves. For without the slightest hesitation, yea, rather, with open persistence, they have knowingly disregarded and overridden the supreme law–the Constitution–of the United States. They have set the example, and established the principle, of absolute lawlessness.

"These facts demonstrate that instead of their being truly the law-abiding portion of the people, these men are among the chiefest law-breakers in the land–the most lawless of all the nation. Nor is this at all to be wondered at. For, in order to accomplish this their had purpose, they 'gladly joined hands' and hearts with the papacy–that power which the Lord designates as the 'lawless one' and as the very 'mystery of lawlessness' itself. 2 Thess. 2:3, 7 R.V. In view of such an example as this, should it be thought surprising that lawlessness would be manifested by others throughout the whole country as never before, and that violence would cover the land from ocean to ocean?

"It was because of this lawless example of 'the best people of the land,' this principle of violence and lawlessness, forced upon the government by the combined churches of the country,–it was because of this that we have expected nothing else than that violence and lawlessness would spread through the land, and that we still expect it to become universal.

"This is not to say that the particular phases of lawlessness that have of late been manifested in so many parts of the country, have been carried on by the human actors therein in conscious and intentional pursuance of the example of lawlessness set by the churches; but it is to say that there is a spirit of things that must ever be taken into account. There is the Spirit of order, and there is the spirit of disorder. And when the Spirit of order has been so outraged, and the spirit of disorder chosen and persistently followed instead, as it has been in this case,–and that too by the very ones who profess to be the representatives of the Spirit of order in the earth,–then things are given over to the spirit of disorder and lawlessness, and nothing remains but that this spirit shall prevail and increase until it becomes universal."

It is the truth that, in the change of the Sabbath, this tearing down of God's memorial and exalting in its place the papal counterfeit by the government of the United States, in 1892-93, under the threats of the apostate Protestantism of the National Reform combination, the government of the United States was delivered over to the spirit of disorder and lawlessness, as really as was the Roman Empire in the fourth century. And that lawlessness, individual and national, will here increase, as it did in the Roman Empire of the fourth century, until it shall swallow up in ruin this nation, as it swallowed up in ruin the Roman Empire.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 26 , p. 408.

A RELIGIOUS paper, deploring the growing abandonment of the Greek and Latin classics in the schools, says: "The study of natural history is a study of matter, the study of the classics is a study of mind. . . . They throb with the mightiest passions and thoughts of the human mind." Yes, and that is just the essential evil of them; they do throb with the mightiest passions and thoughts of the human mind; and these are the altogether human passions and thoughts of the human mind, which "is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." What mankind needs to study is not the human mind at all, much less its mightiest passions and thoughts, but the divine mind. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."

To study the mightiest passions of the human mind is but to study the mightiest sins of human kind: to study the "mightiest" thoughts of the human mind is but to study the impotence of the human mind. This is abundantly illustrated in the Greek and Latin classics. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind;" "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." "We have the mind of Christ." "Think on these things."

"The Epistle to the Galatians" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 26 , p. 409.

SABBATH, July 7, begins in all the Sabbath-schools the study of the book of Galatians. The following article, contributed by Brother L. A. Reed, will be so helpful to all, as preliminary, that we lay over for this week the regular "Study in Galatians: the Two Covenants," to give place to this article.

"That 'Needed Educational Reform' Again" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 26 , pp. 409, 410.

IN the REVIEW of May 22 we printed the Outlook's statement and ground of "A Needed Educational Reform." We reprinted the Outlook's analysis of the present educational processes, by which students lose their religion while they are acquiring an education, which is summed up in these two sentences:–

The process presupposes are inquiring, if not a skeptical, mood. Doubt is the pedagogue which leads the pupil to knowledge.

In religion, the Outlook, as a matter of course, refers only to Christianity. And since Christianity is absolutely and pre-eminently the religion of faith, it is impossible for a process of education in which doubt is the pre-eminent thing to do anything else than to cause students who are subject to such process, to lose their religion while acquiring their education.

The Outlook described the process of education in the schools in general. It might be supposed that in theological schools the process would not be the same; that there, instead of doubt being the guide to knowledge, faith would be recognized, and given that place. But such supposition would be altogether a mistake. The same process is employed in the theological schools as is so fully described in our quotation from the Outlook, in the REVIEW of May 22.

That this is true, is put beyond all possibility of controversy, by an article in the North American Review of April, 1900, entitled "The Scientific Method in Theology," by Frank S. Hoffman, professor of philosophy in Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., who was educated at Amherst and Yale, and spent two years in philosophical study in Germany, and from 1883-85 was instructor of philosophy in Wesleyan University. Thus every circumstance of the article is a pledge that it is authoritative. Professor Hoffman says:–

Every man, because he is a man, is endowed with powers for forming judgments, and he is placed in this world to develop and apply those powers to all the objects with which he comes in contact. In every sphere of investigation he should being with doubt, and the student will make the most rapid progress who has acquired the art of doubting well. . . . We ask that every student of theology take up the subject precisely as he would any other science; that he being with doubt.

Bear in mind that this is concerning the study of theology; and theology is "the science concerned with ascertaining, classifying, and systematizing all attainable truth concerning God and his relation to the universe; the science of religion; religious truth scientifically stated." With this, remember also that the Lord himself has spoken, declaring that "without faith it is impossible to please him," and "whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

These things, therefore, simply show that in the schools of to-day, in which is taught particularly the science of the knowledge of God, the process is directly the opposite of that which is stated by the Lord himself. God has said that "he that cometh to God must BELIEVE that he is, and [must believe] that he is a rewarder of them that deligently seek him." The process of education to-day, in the schools which teach the science of God, is, inevitably, that he who comes to God must doubt that he is, and must doubt that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The result of such a process can be nothing else than that each mind shall create its own god, according to the dictates of its own reason. Nor is this simply a deduction from the quotation already made, though it is clearly deducible from that quotation. It is actually stated in the sentences immediately following the one quoted. And here they are:–

We ask that every student of theology take up the subject precisely as he would any other science; that he begin with doubt, and carefully weigh the arguments for every doctrine, accepting or rejecting each assertion according as the balance of probabilities is for or against it. We demand that he

410

thoroughly "test all things," and thus learn how to "hold fast that which is good."

We believe that even the teachings of Jesus should be viewed from this standpoint, and should be accepted or rejected on the ground of their inherent reasonableness.

Thus, reason being set above God, and above Jesus Christ, to analyze, to criticize, and to judge, becomes, itself, the god. In this process, as thus authoritatively defined, it is proper enough that doubt should be pre-eminent, because, as has been truly said, "The highest effort of reason he is to produce doubt."

Let us, then, follow this process a little, in its direct working. Again we quote:–

The great and distinctive element in all induction is the formation of the hypothesis, and there can be no inductive science formed, of any sort, where this is not the chief feature.

When, then, is to be understood by a hypothesis, and what is the process the mind goes through in bringing it to view?–A hypothesis is a supposition, a guess or conjecture, as to what the general fact is which includes the given particular facts, or what the cause is which has brought about the given effects. . . .

Much might be said about the conditions most favorable for making a good hypothesis; but the chief thing that concerns us for our present purpose is the fact that every hypothesis, however formed, is always a product of the constructive imagination. All previous acts are simply by way of gathering material for the imagination to rearrange and recombine into a new creation.

In a certain sense, the mind takes a leap into the dark. It literally passes, per saltum [by a leap], from the realm of the known to the realm of the unknown. From all the material that the memory places at its disposal it makes a guess, or conjecture, as to what will best meet all the exigencies of the situation.

It is for this reason that men of science, in all realms and in all ages, have always been men of powerful imaginations. The Greeks were the first great scientists of the race, because they were far more highly endowed than any other people with great imaginative powers. What they saw excited these powers, and urged them to conjecture, to reason about things, and try to explain their nature and cause.

How could this process be more clearly or more fitly described than it is in Rom. 1:21, 22? "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." And the rest of that description will follow as certainly as this process shall be followed. For, even in the quotation made, it is admitted that this process is identical with that of old, of which the Greeks, "the first great scientists of the race," were the exemplars, "because they were far more highly endowed than any other people with great imaginative powers."

But let us follow the process farther, and see what is the ground upon which it finally lands, as to knowledge:–

Given the hypothesis, the next step in the scientific process is to verify it; and this is done by making the hypothesis the major premise of a deductive syllogism, and noting the results. If the conclusions obtained coincide with the observed facts with which we started, the hypothesis is probably a correct one [italics here are the author's], and, other things being equal, may be accepted as an established truth.

From this outline of the scientific method we see that no induction can be established beyond a high degree of probability; that is, no one can ever be absolutely certain that the hypothesis he assumes is a veritable truth. All generalizations in every science thus have their logical basis in the theory of probabilities.

When Bishop Butler asserted that "probability is the very guide of life," he might have added, "and we have no other." . . .

Great thinkers, from Thales, Plato, and Moses, have had their theologies,–their explanations of the origin and nature of the universe, as they understood it,–and many of these explanations have been of extraordinary merit; but even St. Paul himself could never have been certain that his explanation was more than a probably true one.

As to knowledge, then, the result of this process is exactly described in 2 Tim. 3:7: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." And, as if he would make it absolutely certain that this is the sole ground, as to knowledge, which can ever be reached by this process. Professor Hoffman really goes to the limit, and declares:–

Whether there ever existed on the earth such a person as Jesus, and what he experienced, are purely matters of historical evidence. And as everything that is a matter of evidence is a matter of probability, this must be also.

And thus the process of education as it is to-day, ends, as well as beings, only in doubt. Its beginning, its course, and its end, is doubt, and only doubt. And instead of doubt being indeed, as is professed, the pedagogue to lead to knowledge, upon the authority of its own masters it is seen to be what it is in truth–the positive and chosen obstruction to all knowledge. Is it any wonder that students lose their religion while they are getting that education? In real truth, Christianity has to be abandoned in order to get that education; for Christianity is faith that knows, while that education is only doubt that never can know.

Surely, there is needed, and sorely needed, to-day, an educational reform. And since the educational process of to-day is one in which doubt is the beginning, the course, and the end, it is certain that the only true educational reform for to-day is one in which faith is the beginning, the course, and the end: and that faith, the faith of Jesus Christ–the faith which enables him who exercises it to "comprehend," to "understand," and to "know" the truth, and only the truth–the truth as it is in Jesus.

It is the truth that, in the change of the Sabbath, this tearing down of God's memorial and exalting in its place the papal counterfeit by the government of the United States, in 1892-93, under the threats of the apostate Protestantism of the National Reform combination, the government of the United States was delivered over to the spirit of disorder and lawlessness, as really as was the Roman Empire in the fourth century. And that lawlessness, individual and national, will here increase, as it did in the Roman Empire of the fourth century, until it shall swallow up in ruin this nation, as it swallowed up in ruin the Roman Empire.

July 3, 1900

"More on that 'Needed Educational Reform'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 27 , pp. 424, 425.

ON the subject of the "Needed Educational Reform," we have given, on authority, the process of education in general, to the effect that "doubt is the pedagogue that leads to knowledge," with the consequence that students "lose their religion while gaining an education."

We have seen that, in the realm of education in theology, the process is still one in which doubt is the means of attaining unto knowledge, and that he makes the most progress who has best learned the art of doubting well; and the admitted consequence is that the one who follows this course, never really knows that he knows anything.

There is yet one other field that is worthy to be noticed, and that is the field where the children are taught until they become old enough to enter upon a course of education, to be finished, perhaps, in theology. And the statement with respect to this field we have upon the highest authority; that is, the authority of the United States Commissioner of Education, Hon. W. T. Harris. In his annual report for the school year, 1896-97, he says:–

The secular school gives positive instruction. It teaches mathematics, natural science, history, and language. Knowledge of the facts can be precise and accurate, and a similar knowledge of the principles can be arrived at. The self-activity of the pupil is before all things demanded by the teacher of the secular school. The pupil must not take things on authority, but, by his own activity, must test and verify what he has been told. He must trace out the mathematical demonstrations, and see their necessity. He must learn the method of investigating facts in the several provinces of science and history. The spirit of the secular school therefore comes to be an enlightening one, although not of the highest order. But its enlightenment tends to make trust in authority more and more difficult for the young mind.

On the other hand, religion, which gives the net result of the wisdom of the race in the form of authority, omits, and must omit, the long lines of proof which have established it. The experience of thousands of years shrinks to a mere point, and is stated in the dogmas which seem to be immediate spiritual facts resting on external authority, the substructures of thousands of years being almost entirely concealed. Not only are these long periods of experience kept out of sight, but also the vast labors of religious thinkers who have grappled with psychology and philosophy, and assisted in making the religious results systematic and without contradiction. Religious education, it is obvious, in giving the highest results of thought and life to the young, must cling to the form of authority, and not attempt to borrow the methods of mathematics, science, and history from the secular school. Such borrowing will result only in giving the young people an overweening confidence in the finality of their own immature judgments. They will become conceited and shallow-minded. It is well that the child should trust his own intellect in dealing with the multiplication table and the rule of three. It is well that he should learn the rules and all the exceptions in Latin syntax, and verify them in the classic authors; but he must not be permitted to summon before him the dogmas of religion, and form pert conclusions regarding their rationality.

All this is an excellent reason why religion can not be taught in the public schools.

To make up for this lack, the Sunday-school has been employed in this field where the children are

425

taught. But instead of the managers of the Sunday-school really employing the true process of religious education, and so holding the children in the field of religion, they actually adopted the methods of the public school, and made them the process in the Sunday-school; they adopted the secular method in religious education. This, with its results, is also well stated by Commissioner Harris:–

With the spectacle of the systematic organization of the secular schools and the improvement of methods of teaching before them, the leaders in the church have endeavored to perfect the methods of the religious instruction of youth. They have met the following dangers which lay in their path; namely, first, the danger of adopting methods of instruction in religion which were fit and proper only for secular instruction; secondly, the selection of religious matter for the course of study which did not lead in a most direct manner toward vital religion, although it would readily take on a pedagogic form.

Against this danger of sapping or undermining all authority in religion by the introduction of the methods of the secular school, which lay all stress on the self-activity of the child, the Sunday-school has not been sufficiently protected in the more recent years of its history. Large numbers of religious teachers, most intelligent and zealous in their piety, seek a more and more perfect adoption of the secular school methods.

On the other hand, the topics of religious instruction have been determined largely by the necessities of the secular school method. That method is not adapted to teach mystic truth. It seeks everywhere definite and especially mathematical results. But these results, although they are found everywhere in science and mathematics, are the farthest possible from being like the subject-matter of religion. Hence it has happened that in improving the methods of the Sunday-school, greater and greater attention has been paid to the history and geography of the Old Testament, and less and less to the doctrinal matters of the New Testament.

And thus the professed Christian church, instead of employing the Christian process in her teaching in the schools designed especially for religious instruction, has adopted and drawn into these schools the secular process. Instead of keeping herself in her own distinct field of religion, and upon her own sure Christian foundation, and teaching religion by a distinctly religious process, the church abandoned all that, and stood only on the worldly foundation, and employed a process in religious instruction which is "the farthest possible" from being like the process in religious instruction. and this being so on the part of the church even in the teaching of the children, it is not by any means to be wondered at that it should be continued through the higher education, even to its culmination in the theological seminaries.

Since, therefore, it is upon the highest authority made evident that neither in the public school nor in the Sunday-school do the children receive truly religious teaching, it is equally evident that, for the children, and in the field of the education of the children, there is a sorely needed reform, just as certainly as in the higher education, in the theological colleges and seminaries, there is a much-needed reform, in education.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 27 , p. 426.

IN the Independent, Mr. Albert Gardner Robinson, writing of the present situation in the Philippines, says:–

In no other place in the islands are America and American rule so unpopular as in the city of Manila, the place of longest experience. . . . Personally, the mass of Americans, as individuals, makes no favorable impression on the mass of Filipinos. The same is the case in Porto Rico, in Cuba, and in Hawaii. It is somewhat humiliating, but it is a fact.

Politically, we have given the Filipinos nothing that was really better than that which they had before. We have promised something unofficially, and offered something–with a string tied to it. The old system of Spanish laws has been continued, with few, if any, modifications; while some, petty but notably objectionable, have been enforced where Spain had allowed them to fall into disuse. The same applies in the matter of taxes and tariffs.

The United States officials have obtained from an impoverished people a greater sum, by taxation, than was obtained by Spain in their more prosperous days.

And since this was written, it has been most impressively confirmed, especially as to Cuba, by the exposure of a complicated system of robbery that had been conducted by United States officials in the postal service in that island for more than a year. Of this the Independent says:–

We undertook to organize for the Cuban people a complete postal service, in which, as the postmaster-general said only a few weeks ago, there should be a substitution of American integrity for the old corrupt administration. . . . What are the American people to say to the Cubans who have been told so many times that they should learn from our example the difference between American honesty and Spanish corruption?

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-31" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 27 , pp. 425, 426.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."

The scheme invented by Sarai, and agreed to by Abram, which brought forth Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, who was born after the flesh, proved unsatisfactory to the whole company, from the first step taken toward carrying it out.

"And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes." Gen. 16:3, 4. And although, as the record says, Sarai was the first to propose this plan, and that "Sarai. . . took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, . . . and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife," yet, as soon as she found herself despised by Hagar, and this because of the success of Sarai's own plan, she turned in reproach upon Abram, and said: "My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes." Verse 5.

"But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee." And Sarai dealt so "hardly with her" that Hagar ran away. And though the Lord told Hagar, "Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands," it is evident that all was not peaceful and pleasant afterward.

Further, as we have seen, when, after Ishmael was born, Abram said to the Lord, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" he was not heard; but Ishmael was plainly set aside, and Abram was told that Sarai his wife should bear him a son indeed, and that he should call his name Isaac; "and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." Gen. 17:18, 19.

"Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him." "And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Gen. 21:2, 8-12.

But not yet was the record clear. Abraham had swerved from the clear promise of God, and had put dependence in the flesh; and not only must the bondwoman and her son be cast out, but every item of that whole scheme which had brought in the bondwoman and her son must be utterly renounced and abandoned. Accordingly, the Lord said to Abraham: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a brunt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Gen. 22:2.

Isaac was the child of promise. There was no other promise of a child, there could be no other such promise; and there could be no other child without another promise. And now for Abraham to offer Isaac for a burnt offering was, so far as could be seen, to take away all that had been promised. But when Abraham had looked thus far, he looked yet further, even back to the original promise of God, and trusted and expected that when he should offer Isaac, God would certainly fulfill his promise by raising him from the dead–by bringing him back from the ashes when he should have been burned in sacrifice.

This call of the Lord, therefore, to Abraham to offer Isaac for a burnt offering, brought Abraham back to the night of the original promise, when God had said to him: "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him. So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Gen. 15:5, 6.

Thus Abraham was brought to depend upon and trust in the naked promise of God alone, for all that the promise contained. And if Abraham had stood there from the first and refused Sarai's suggestion with regard to Hagar, there would have been no such family trouble as came between Sarai and Hagar; Ishmael never would have been born; and Abraham would never have been called to offer Isaac. Had he from the first "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief" (Rom. 4:20), but been strong in faith, giving glory to God, fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform, righteousness might have been imputed to him throughout.

"These are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar." The covenant at Sinai was the fruit of the flesh, of distrust and unbelief in God, just as was the plan that introduced Hagar and brought forth Ishmael. And just as Hagar and Ishmael, the bondwoman and her son, had to be cast out, and the whole scheme that brought them in had to be utterly repudiated, so the covenant from Mount Sinai had to be cast out, and all that brought it in had to be utterly repudiated.

As Abraham and Sarah had to cast out Hagar and Ishmael, and repudiate the whole scheme that had brought them in, and themselves come back to the original promise of God, to depend wholly upon that for all that was in it, so must the covenant from Sinai be cast out, and all that brought it in must be utterly repudiated by Israel and everybody else, and God's original covenant with Abraham be depended upon and trusted in, wholly and alone, for all that it promises. And so we read:–

In delivering them from Egypt, God sought to reveal to them his power and his mercy, that they might be led to love and trust him. He brought them down to the Red Sea–where, pursued by the Egyptians, escape seemed impossible–that they might realize their utter helplessness, their need of divine aid; and then he wrought deliverance for them. Thus they were filled with love and gratitude to God, and with confidence in his power to help them. He had bound them to himself, as their deliverer from temporal bondage.

But there was still greater truth to be impressed upon their minds. Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God; of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts; their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's law; and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught.

426

God brought them to Sinai; he manifested his glory; he gave them his law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience: "If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then . . . ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Ex. 19:5, 6. The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. FEELING THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, they declared, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Ex. 24:7.

They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken, and NOW, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel THEIR NEED OF THE SAVIOUR REVEALED IN THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. NOW by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. NOW they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of THE NEW COVENANT.–"Patriarchs and Prophets," pages 371, 372.

July 10, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message: What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 28 , p. 440.

LAST week, under this head, we referred to warnings that had been given to this nation concerning the evils that must follow the doing, by the nation, of the things that the national authority was asked to do.

These warnings were given not only with respect to the setting up of Sunday in place of the Sabbath, in a union of religion and the state; they were given likewise with respect to the abandonment of the Constitution and the repudiation of the Declaration of Independence.

We are going to give in this study only an illustration on each of these points. We say only an illustration, because whole pages could be filled with it.

First, as to the abandonment of the Constitution by the national authority. In Congress, and everywhere else in the country, much has been said within the last two years about the national authority governing "without the Constitution." We ourselves have had somewhat to say concerning the principle. And that is now the established policy of the national administration, in, as yet, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and Alaska. Yet as far back as May 7, 1891,–more than nine years ago,–the writer of this article, in reviewing a decision of the United States Supreme Court, published in the American Sentinel, under the heading, "The New American Revolution," the following words:–

"This [decision] at once creates [in these United States] a sovereign power [apart from the people], and clothes it with paternal authority. And if this doctrine shall be maintained, so that it becomes a principle of American law, and shall become established as a principle of government here, then the revolution backward is complete; government of the people is gone; and that of a sovereign parent of the people is put in its place. THEN the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution is subverted, and the doctrine of sovereignty, absolutism, and paternalism is established in its stead."

And concerning these consequences of that decision, and other things akin, we wrote, one week later, in the American Sentinel of May 14, 1891, these words:–

"So long as the American principles of government shall prevail, all such wild schemes will amount to nothing. But let the European and the Roman principles of government supplant the American, then what is to hinder the carrying into full effect every item of the different schemes proposed and advocated? This is why we say that the Supreme Court decision under consideration, means vastly more just at this time than the mere enunciation of the principle which it has adopted."

That word is now being fulfilled to the very letter, in very deed in the government of the United States: and that very decision of the Supreme Court which we were then reviewing, is now used as the justification of what we then said would be, and that which now is, a "revolution" in the order of government in this nation.

Second, as to the repudiation of the principles of the Declaration of Independence: This, too, has been largely discussed in Congress and everywhere throughout the country. This, too, has become the policy of the national administration. This goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the Constitution. And on this also the writer of this article wrote in the American Sentinel more than nine years ago, and as definitely as we can write to-day so far as the principle is concerned.

In an article in the American Sentinel of June 11, 1891, under the heading "There Is Mischief in It," we discussed certain issues that were then current. In that discussion it became necessary to consider and note the principle and development of a one-man power, a civil despotism, in the Roman Republic; and the turning of it by the church power into a religious despotism. And what we said then, by and for the American Sentinel, is just as fresh and true and appropriate now in the REVIEW AND HERALD. Here is what we said then, in the Sentinel, and what we can say now, and with an emphasis, in the REVIEW AND HERALD:–

"[Thus there was developed] more and more the despotism of the many, till it was merged into a despotism of three,–the first triumvirate,–which ended in the despotism of one, whom they murdered, which was followed immediately again by a despotism of three,–the second triumvirate,–which ended again in the despotism of one,–Cesar Augustus,–and the final establishment of the imperial despotism, the most horrible civil despotism that ever was, and which continued until Constantine and the political bishops turned it into the most horrible religious despotism that ever was.

"That was the end of that story then and there; and the perfect likeness to it will be the end of this story now and here.

"And this answers the query of one of our correspondents,–What business has the Sentinel, a religious paper, to touch this question which is political? We are persuaded that the Sentinel has not missed its calling, nor spent its efforts in vain in this respect. The Sentinel is a religious paper, that is true; and it exists for the sole purpose of exposing to the American people the movement for the establishment of a religious despotism here, AFTER THE MODEL OF THE PAPACY.

"But no religious despotism can ever be established over a free people. It were literally impossible to establish a religious despotism over the royal freemen who made the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.

"This gradual but steady perversion and subversion of the genuine principles of this government as established by our forefathers, this steady inculcation of the principles of paternalism, is but sowing the seeds of a despotism,–whether of the many, of the few, or of one, it matters not,–which at the opportune moment will be joined by the political preachers; and out of the wicked alliance thus formed there will come the religious despotism in the perfect likeness of the one which was before, and against which the continuous efforts of the American Sentinel have ever been, and ever shall be, directed.

"And that is the reason, and the only reason, yet reason enough, why the American Sentinel, a religious paper, touches this otherwise political question.

"It may be that our correspondents will not agree with us just now; but that matters nothing to us. Five years ago [1886], when the Sentinel first called attention to the movement to establish a religious despotism, we were criticized and pooh-poohed for that, more than we are now for calling attention to this surest forerunner of it. But the Sentinel knew then just what it was doing; and it knows now just what it is doing, just as well as it did then. Those who objected then, know now that we were right then; and those who object now may know some time that we were right now: and we shall have known it all the time. . . .

"And we are perfectly willing to trust to the event to demonstrate that the coming religious despotism will be established substantially in the manner here outlined."

And now, in 1900, this which in June, 1891, we said would come–a one-man power–is coming as fast as the days go by. That which in June, 1891, we were "willing to trust to the event to demonstrate," is now, in 1900, being constantly demonstrated before the eyes of the whole world by the steady progress of events.

And in all this there is also demonstrated the truth that we are now occupying exactly the same position that we have always occupied, and are speaking precisely the same things that we have always spoken, when, in proclaiming the Third Angel's Message, we call attention to the abandonment of the Constitution of the United States and the repudiation of the Declaration of Independence by this nation; and when, in warning, we point out the evils which must inevitably come upon the nation as the result of such a course.

In 1891 this was the Third Angel's Message. In 1900 it is still the Third Angel's Message. For the sure result of these things in this nation will be the Image of the Beast in its full, active power. And whatever points out the making of the Image of the Beast, and warns against it, is, so far and in its place, the Third Angel's Message.

"'In Ten Years'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 28 , pp. 440, 441.

UNDER the heading the Springfield Republican of June 26 compares the situation ten years ago with what it is to-day, with respect to the reign of peace on earth. The comparison proves, in fact, to be a mighty and most ominous contrast. It should be published everywhere; and, therefore, to do our part we send it along. The editor says:–

To see how fast we are moving, it is necessary sometimes to cast a short backward glance. One grows so quickly accustomed to daily news of war that it is easy to forget how new a thing it is in our time. To-day it seems hardly believable that only a few years ago the world was at peace, and peace lovers were not without excuse for believing that a brighter, sweeter era was at hand than any this blood-soaked planet had ever known. War seemed a remote possibility; peace seemed the normal and natural thing. To see how far we have moved from that tranquil time, it is only necessary to turn back to a newspaper of, say, ten years ago, and compare it with one of to-day. The contrast is overwhelming, appalling.

The Republican of Wednesday, June 25, 1890, was not so large as the paper of the present day, but it gave in compact form the news that was of most import. The only item of Old World news which was sufficiently important to be given a place in a crowded paper, ten years ago yesterday, was a fourline paragraph to the effect that Mme. Sarah Bernhardt had accidentally taken an overdose of chloral. Nor did any of the editorials mention any foreign topic, except the action of Newfoundland in regard to the purchase of bait. How dull and disappointing such a day's news would be to the reader of to-day, whose appetite is whetted with daily horrors from all quarters of the world!

To complete the contrast, it is only necessary to analyze the contents of yesterday's Republican. The principal news page was given up almost exclusively to war–to four different wars. We read of "North China Ablaze," of Minister Wu's opinions on the war, of the supposed safety of our people in Peking, of the rise of the Boxers in Canton, of the rumored killing of a missionary, of the shipping of vast stores of ammunition to China, of the departure of marines from Washington, of the part of England and the United States in the war, and that of Germany and Russia, of the sailing of the Sixth Cavalry, of the killing of four Americans in an ambuxcade, of the sailing of the cruiser "Brooklyn," of the transfer of the headquarters of the Asiatic squadron, of the plans of the War Department, of our ex-minister's views on the war, of the rescue of a missionary, of the sailing of a Russian cruiser, and the augmentation of the Indian army bound for China, of pressure brought to bear on Turkey, of England's war with the Ashantees, of General Buller's progress in South Africa, and the raids of the Boers, of the departure of Boer envoys, of the war with a mob in St. Louis, of General MacArthur's dealings with the Filipinos, and the movements of American garrisons in the Island of Samoa. There is barely room in this appalling record of bloodshed for a brief statement to the effect that about nineteen million persons are starving to death in India. There is much peaceful news, too, baccalaureate sermons, sermons from local pulpits, the happenings of the day; but the dominant note is war, one sensation topping another. . . .

The contrast between the two snap-shots of the world in 1890 and 1900 throws a strong light on the pace at which the world has been moving. The view ten years ago showed a placid, smiling river; now we see the boiling rapids of a torrent plunging toward what abyss no one knows. War has followed war with swift succession, the scene shifting from Greece to Cuba, from Cuba to the Sudan, from the Sudan to the Philippines, from the Philippines to South Africa, from there to China. What the next stroke will be, who shall say? The record of ten

441

years ago was dull and humdrum, but the world was moving steadily forward toward the ideal of the wise men of all ages. Can as much be said for the record of to-day?

And at the present rate of the plunging torrent extended ten years further, what mind can contemplate any other result than the "abyss" here suggested, and which the whole field of prophecy foretells? The day of the Lord cometh, it is nigh at hand. "Get ready, get ready, get ready."

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-24" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 28 , p. 441.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants: the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."

The covenant from Mount Sinai is the covenant that God made with the children of Israel when he took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt.

That covenant was faulty. "For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second." Heb. 8:7.

That covenant was faulty in the promises: for the second covenant is "a better covenant" than that, in that it "was established upon better promises." Heb. 8:6.

The fault in that covenant was primarily, in the people. "For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold the days come, saith the Lord when I will make a new covenant." Heb. 8:8.

Therefore, since the fault of that covenant was in its promises, and the fault was primarily in the people themselves, it follows that the promises upon which that covenant was established were primarily the promises of the people.

What, then, were these promises?–They are in the covenant which was made with them when they came forth out of Egypt, and here is that covenant:–

"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." Ex. 19:4-6, 8.

In this agreement, all the people promised to obey the voice of the Lord. They had not yet heard what that voice would speak. But in the twentieth chapter, they heard that voice speaking the words of the ten commandments, to which, when the Lord had spoken, "he added no more." And when they had heard this, they solemnly renewed their promise: "All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient."

That this is the covenant that the Lord made with them when he took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, is made certain by the following words:–

"For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices; but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, AND I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." Jer. 7:22, 23.

And this certainly is confirmed in the following words: "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." Jer. 11:3, 4.

Note carefully each of these three statements of the covenant, and see how the promises lie. The first one runs, on the part of the Lord: "IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN. . . ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation," etc. By this the Lord's promises could not come in until they had fulfilled their promises; for the covenant begins with an "if." "IF ye will" do so and so, "THEN" so and so.

This is the arrangement also in the second statement, "Obey my voice AND I will be your God, AND ye shall be my people." According to this agreement, he was not to be their God, nor they his people, until they had done what they promised; until they had obeyed his voice, as they had promised.

The third statement stands the same: "Obey my voice and do them, according to all which I command you: SO shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." This makes it perfectly plain, not only that none of the Lord's part could come in until they had done what they had promised; but that the Lord's part was to come in BY THE DOING of what they had promised. "Obey my voice," "and do;" "SO [in this way, by this means] shall ye be my people, and I will be your God."

Since, then, in this covenant the Lord's part, what the Lord could do, the Lord's promises, could come in only in the secondary way as a consequence of the people's doing what they had promised, it is perfectly plain that that covenant rested, was established, only upon the promises of the people.

What, then, were these promises of the people worth? What had they promised? They had promised to obey the voice of the Lord indeed. They had promised to obey his law,–to keep the ten commandments, indeed.

But what was their condition when they made these promises?–It corresponded to the condition of Ishmael in the family of Abraham. They corresponded to Ishmael: they had been born only of the flesh, and knew only the birth of the flesh, and so had only the mind of the flesh. But "the minding of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither in-deed can be." "They that are in the flesh can not please God."

This being their condition, what could be the worth of any promises that they might make to keep the ten commandments indeed?–Any or all such promises could be worth simply nothing at all.

Accordingly, in that covenant, the people promised to do something that it was simply impossible for them to do. And since the Lord, with his promises, could not, in that covenant, come in until they had fulfilled their promises; until they had done what they agreed, it is certain that, for any practical purpose which the people discerned, or designed, that covenant was worth nothing at all, because the promises upon which it rested were worth nothing at all.

In the nature of things that covenant could only gender to bondage; because the people upon whose promises it rested were themselves already subject to the bondage of the flesh, the bondage of sin; and instead of keeping the commandments of God indeed, they would break them. And not only would they break the commandments, which they had promised not to break, but they would inevitably break the promises that they had made not to break the commandments. This simply because they were in a condition in which they were not subject to the law of God and could not be.

And this was demonstrated immediately. For, when Moses had gone up into the mount, to receive a copy of the law, which they had promised to "obey indeed," he had been gone but forty days when they exclaimed: "Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Ex. 32:1. And they made themselves a golden calf–the god of Egypt–and worshiped it, after the manner of Egypt; which shows that, in heart, they were still in Egyptian bondage, and were indeed as Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian, "born after the flesh."

And though all this is written for the understanding of all people who should come afterward, and for our admonition "upon whom the ends of the world are come," it is a singular fact that even to-day there are persons who, knowing only the birth of the flesh, not having been born again, not knowing the birth of the Spirit, yet will enter into exactly such a covenant; and will sign to it, to keep all the commandments of God indeed. But the trouble with these is just the trouble that was with the people at Sinai, as it is always the trouble with people at Sinai: "They had no true conception of the holiness of God; of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts. . . Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, THEY DECLARED: 'All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient.'"

Of course the questions arise here, Why, then, were they allowed of the Lord to enter into such a covenant? Why did the Lord make such a covenant with them? The answer to these questions will be given next week.

July 17, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 29 , p. 456.

LAST week we showed that more than nine years ago, from what was then in sight, we called attention to the prospect that there would be a revolution backward in the principle of government in this nation; that the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would be subverted, and that Europeans and Roman principles of government would supplant the American.

All this has now come to pass. The European and Roman principles of government have now been adopted as the principles of government of the United States, in all territorial and island possessions except Hawaii.

Nine years ago we said that, if such things should come, the result would be the perfect likeness of the course of Rome which developed the Beast, and which, therefore, repeated here, would be only the Image of the Beast. And now, since that which we then contemplated has come to pass, and is being steadily practiced, nothing else than the Image of the Beast can be rightly expected as the result of the course upon which this nation has entered, and is now steadily pursuing.

This revolution backward, the apostasy from the fundamental principles of this nation, and the actions of the nation in consequence, are, and will be, but elements in the making of the Image of the Beast. The Third Angel's Message is a warning against the making of the Image of the Beast, as certainly as it must be a warning against the worship of the Image of the Beast when that Image shall have been made. Accordingly, it is now the work of all those to whom the Third Angel's Message has been committed to note the working of these elements that go to make the Image of the Beast; to avoid any entanglement or alliances with them; and carefully and consistently to points out to others the inevitable result of all these things.

This must be done, because the Third Angel's Message must be given; and it is just as much our duty to do all that we can to save the people of this nation from the fearful evil that incurs the wrath of God, as it is to do what we can to save the people of the other nations from the day of ruin.

The crisis in the course of this nation comes in in the completion of the making of the Image of the Beast, and giving life to that Image, and, by means of it, enforcing upon all the worship of the Beast and his Image. The nation is now in the power of the tide that will inevitably carry her to this goal marked in the prophecy. We do not say that it will reach the crisis in a year, nor in any specific time. We only say that the nation has entered upon the course, and is in the power of the tide, that will inevitably bring her to that crisis, and consequently to ruin. And all that anyone needs to do, so fully to know this that he shall be able to recognize any feature of the Image of the Beast that may appear, is simply to study the course of Rome, which culminated in the formation of the Beast and the consequent ruin of that nation.

Calling attention to these things from time to time, as events have occurred that demand such notice, is what we have been doing in these columns of the REVIEW for the last two years; and this is what we must continue to do as certainly as we continue to give the Third Angel's Message in its warning concerning the Image of the Beast.

Some have thought, in the things which we have had occasion to say concerning the apostasy of this republic, that we have been attacking the present administration; but this is a mistake. We have had nothing at all to do with the present administration as such, nor has any mention of it been made because it is the present administration. All that we have done is to call attention to the facts, and to that nature and the bearing of those facts, with respect to the making of the Image of the Beast. This we shall be obliged to continue to do, because events will continue to occur, bearing the same meaning, and to which it will be necessary to call attention, as elements which mark the fulfillment of the prophecy. And this will be so, whatever administration may be in power. If the present administration were to cease to-day, and another one were to take its place, we should be obliged to call attention to facts that would just as certainly be elements in the making of the Image of the Beast as any that so far have occurred.

This being the year of a presidential campaign, there are just now multitudes of people who hope, and are deliberately working, to bring about a change of administration. We do not pretend to any knowledge as to whether there will be, nor as to whether there should be, a change of administration. But we know that, even though a change of administration may be accomplished, there will be no check in the progress of the elements that go to the making of the Image of the Beast. If there should be a change in administration, much would be expected in the way of checking the present tide of imperialism. And, in such event, something might be done to check the present, particular phase of it. But where this particular phase might be checked, others would be established, and would progress just as swiftly toward that goal as the present course has been, or will be, progressing.

This thing consists not in administrations. It in no wise depends upon administrations, nor change of administrations. Neither change nor no change of administration can affect it; except, perhaps, to check some, while hastening other, features of the general apostasy of the republic. The evil is in the whole nation. The nation has lost the principle and the spirit of a republic: it has lost the faculty of self-government. And the force or effect of a change of administration, whether this year or later, can be fitly expressed in the words of Cicero, at the death of Cesar (which death, indeed, was accomplished to effect a change of administration, and so to have the Roman Republic from imperialism), when he exclaimed: "We have killed the king, but the kingdom is with us still. We have taken away the tyrant; the tyranny survives."

The Roman Republic did not reach the confirmed imperial despotism of a one-man power, in a straight, uninterrupted course. There were many changes of administration. There were many political reforms accomplished in the many changes of administration. But not one of these changes nor one of these "reforms" checked the general tide. Not one of these reforms was in any sense a true reform: it was merely political reform; selfishness and imperialism in one phase being supplanted by selfishness and imperialism in another phase.

From the start that has been made by this republic in the downward course of the Roman Republic, it now is perfectly easy to know what will come in this republic, simply by reading carefully what did come in the Roman Republic. For it was the union of the apostate church with that republic which had degenerated into an imperial despotism, that made the Beast. And the Beast is presented in the prophecy as the standard of comparison by which alone we shall be able to know what is the Image of the Beast.

And now, since in our study of that phase of the Third Angel's Message which relates specifically to the Beast and his Image, we are brought into the very whirl of the events daily occurrent, all of which tend to the making of the Image of the Beast, we shall not follow this phase of the subject further in these studies. This phase of the Third Angel's Message will be now before us constantly in the course of current events; and these events will be noted, in specific items, as they occur.

And for our set studies on the Third Angel's Message, we shall next take up that phase of it in which the place and work of ALL THE NATIONS are comprehended. These studies will begin week after next.

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-31" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 29 , pp. 456, 457.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free."

The first covenant was faulty. It was faulty in the promises; because it rested primarily upon the promises of the people wherein the people promised something that it was impossible for them to do.

Why, then, were they allowed of the Lord to enter into such a covenant? Did he not know that the people could not do what they promised?–To be sure, he did.

But the people did not know it. "Living [in Egypt] in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God; of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts; their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's law; and their need of a Saviour. ALL THIS THEY MUST BE TAUGHT. God brought them to Sinai; he manifested his glory; he gave them his law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience. . . . The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, 'All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.'"

Since the people did not know these essential things concerning themselves;–"their utter inability, etc.;--since they would not believe God, so that they could know;–and since "all this they must be taught,"–the only sure means by which they could be caused to learn this which they did not know was to have them try, and fail; and so learn by experience that they could not of themselves establish their own righteousness as the righteousness of God. Then they would be willing to accept by faith God's righteousness, which is established by faith.

This is all perfectly plain from the circumstances of the case.

As we have seen in a former study, before they left Egypt the Lord had said: "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God." Now is it not perfectly plain that if they had believed this, they would never known that was already the Lord their God (Ex. 6:7), would they have needed to enter into any bargain to get the Lord to be their God, and to make themselves his people?

If they had believed, by his own word, that he was already their God, and that so they were already his people; and if they had known that he was already the Lord their God (Ex. 6:7), would they have needed to promise that they would keep his law "indeed" so that they might be his people, and he be their God?–Plainly, no.

If they had believed that the Lord would "give" to them "for an heritage" the inheritance that he had sworn to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (Ex. 6:8), could there ever have been found any place for a bargain into which they would enter,

457

and according to which they would, by works, earn that inheritance?–Plainly, no.

In other words: If they had received God, by faith, in these things which he had promised to them before they left Egypt, would they have needed to undertake to win him to the in those things, by their own works?–Plainly, no.

In other words: If they had known, and had been in, God's covenant with Abraham, the everlasting covenant, would they have ever needed to know, or to enter into, this other covenant at Sinai, which in substance was only their own, because it rested only on their promises?–Plainly, no.

Following back the thought to its original in the parallel, in these verses in Galatians, the parallel question is,–

If Sarai and Abram had believed God's promise, and had held fast only to that, would Ishmael ever have found a place in the family of Abraham? Would two sons ever have been born to Abraham?–Plainly, no.

Plainly, then, there never was any need of Abraham's having more than one son, the son that God had promised. Yet, "these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."

And just as there was never any need of Abraham's having but one son,–the son that God had promised,–so there was no need for Israel ever to have but the one covenant–the covenant of God with Abraham–the everlasting covenant.

Just as there was no need of those two sons, so there was no need of the two covenants.

And as, through unbelief and distrust of God, Hagar and Ishmael were brought in on the side; just so, through unbelief and distrust of God, the covenant at Sinai was brought in on the side.

And as Hagar and Ishmael never had any recognition at all in the promise that God made to give Abraham a son, just so the covenant at Sinai never had any recognition at all in God's promise of salvation to mankind.

As Hagar and Ishmael had to be cast out, and all that had brought them in had to be utterly repudiated, in order that the son whom God had promised should have the place that belonged to him; just so the covenant at Sinai had to be cast out, and all that brought it in had to be utterly repudiated, on the part of the people, upon whose promises alone that covenant rested, in order that God's original covenant–the covenant with Abraham–the everlasting covenant–should have the place that belongs to it, in the life and salvation of men.

Yet, as the troubles and the failure of Sarai and Abram in the scheme that brought in Hagar and Ishmael, were instrumental in bringing them at last to the point where they did trust implicitly in the promise of God alone; so the trouble and the dismal failure that Israel experience in the first covenant brought them to the point where they appreciated, and implicitly trusted in, God's original covenant,–the covenant with Abraham,–his everlasting covenant,–which he had given them before they left Egypt at all.

For, as we have seen, Israel broke both the law of God and their covenant not to break it. And when Moses came down from the mount, having in his hands the table of the law that they had covenanted to obey "indeed," and saw what they had done, "he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount" (Ex. 32:19), "thus signifying that as they had broken their covenant with God, so God had broken his covenant with them."–"Patriarchs and Prophets," page 320.

They thus found themselves stranded, and utterly helpless, with all their resources utterly exhausted. For "they could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant, and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant."–Id., page 372.

Thus the covenant from Sinai brought them to the covenant with Abraham. The first brought them to the second covenant. The old covenant brought them to the new covenant. And thus the law, which was the basis of that covenant,–the broken law,–was the schoolmaster to bring them to Christ, that they might be justified by faith.

Please study this study closely and carefully; for, in the next studies, we pass from this to the study of the new covenant.

July 24, 1900

"The Failure of Republics" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 30 , p. 472.

EUROPEAN writers are expressing and discussing "a decline of belief in the value of the republican for of government." In this discussion, of course, the United States forms a prominent item. This is altogether a pertinent question.

A republican form of government being "a government of the people, by the people, for the people," is simply self-government. The people govern themselves by themselves for themselves. And as each individual, as far as he personally is concerned, is the people, a republican form of government–self-government–is that in which each individual governs himself by himself–by his own powers of self-restraint exercised upon himself–for himself, for his own best good in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And so long as that is done, a republic anywhere is a success. But, in a republic, just as soon as a single individual fails to govern himself by himself for himself, that republic has begun to fall; and so far as that individual is concerned, a republican form of government is a failure.

Just as soon as two individuals fail to govern themselves, the republic is just so much more of a failure. Yet so long as the majority of the people composing a republic, do individually govern themselves, by themselves for themselves, the government will be a success; because they, being the majority, are able to protect themselves from the infringements of those who fail to govern themselves, and have to be governed.

But just the moment the majority turns to the other side, the moment the number failing to govern themselves crosses the line and becomes greater than the number of those who do govern themselves,–that moment republican government has failed. And though the name may continue for a time, the thing is gone; the government is no longer a republic. At that point, however, the failure does not so palpably appear as when the majority–those who fail to govern themselves–has become larger and yet larger. But when that majority that fails to govern itself, each by himself, becomes so great that its influence is felt upon all the procedure of the government–then republican government has failed utterly; it is no longer a republic in any true sense: it is a despotism–not indeed a despotism of one, nor of a few, but of the many. And a despotism of the many–of the majority–is not at all the least of despotisms. Yet, then, it is only a question of time when the despotism of the many will merge in a few, then in a very few, and finally in a despotism of one,–and that is monarchy.

Wherever in a republic there is found a man who fails to govern himself by himself, in that man there is found an open bid for a monarchy. And when that man becomes a majority, a monarchy is certain. It may indeed be an elective monarchy, but it is none the less a monarchy.

Thus it is literally true that in government there are just two things, one or the other of which people much consider–republicanism and monarchy; self-government or government by another; liberty or despotism. What is the republic of France to-day, but the former monarchy only under another name?

Now anyone who for any number of years has read and thought, knows full well that in the United States the number of those in all phases of society who fail to govern themselves is very great, and is rapidly on the increase. Notice the startling increase of crime. Notice the strikes that so frequently occur, and at times almost cover the country, invariably accompanied with violence and often with rioting. Notice the electoral corruption–municipal, State, and national. Notice the procedure in State legislatures, especially in the electing of organizations and combinations in different fields, which are constantly being formed for protection, and to beat back that which they know is certainly coming to grind them under. But all these combinations, organizations, and associations are composed only of men who have failed and do fail as individuals to govern themselves. And a combination of men for the purpose of governing themselves and others, who, individually, have failed to govern themselves, is just as much of a failure as to a republic, as in the case of the individuals before forming the combination.

Since a republican form of government is only self-government, and since all these things are a universal testimony that the great mass of the people of the United States are failing to govern themselves, it is perfectly plain that this great example of republican government in the world is certainly failing. And when such is the truth which is forced upon the attention of the world, and which the outside world is seriously discussing, what is there left for the world to contemplate other than that which, with foreboding, is mentioned by the London Spectator?–

The peoples consider only monarchy and republicanism; and, for the reasons we have indicated, the favor of republicanism declines, with a grave result, we fear, in an increase of political hopelessness, and therefore a decrease of political energy.

And the outcome of that can be only that monarchies, and even society itself, shall fail and perish in their own corruption. Thus has it ever been with the nations; thus only will it ever be. And the end hastens.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 30 , p. 472.

THE following words from an editorial in the Detroit News-Tribune of May 27 will describe the present situation of the world:–

There is now a general feeling, which can be referred to no particular facts, nor explained on any rational theory, that we are approaching a period of greater combats [than those of the preceding century], a world-struggle, in which the tremendous machinery which has been organized for war is to be put to a full test between the rival Powers who are grasping at the earth, or all of it that remains unattached to the great empires. There has certainly been no period in the past when the ambitions for conquest were so keen and so widespread as at present; when so many powers, armed to the teeth, were watching with jealousy every movement of their neighbors, and looking about with so little scruple for compensations.

"The nations" are "angry;" and soon there must burst upon the world that "time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation." "Get ready, get ready, get ready."

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-24, 28" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 30 , pp. 472, 473.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants. . . Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

As Ishmael was born altogether of the flesh, without any promise of God, but from distrust and unbelief of the promise of God, so was the first covenant–the covenant from Sinai.

And as Isaac was born altogether of the promise of God, solely from dependence upon that promise, so is the new covenant–the everlasting covenant.

The first covenant rested upon the promises of the people, and depended solely upon the efforts of the people. The second covenant consists solely of the promise of God, and depends upon the power and work of God.

The first covenant runs: "If YE will" do so and so. The new covenant has neither "if" nor any of men's doing, but is altogether the doing of the Lord. Look at them as they stand together:–

THE OLD COVENANT

"If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." "Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people." "Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: SO shall ye be my people, and I will be your God." Ex. 19:5, 6; Jer. 7:23; 11:4.

THE NEW COVENANT

"I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people, and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. 1:10-12.

Let us read the new covenant, beginning with at "If ye will," etc.: "If ye will put my laws into your minds, and write them in your hearts, then I will be your God, and ye shall be my people." "Put my laws in your minds, and write them in your hearts, that I may be your God, and ye may be my people."

If the new covenant read thus, how many persons could ever become the Lord's people? and of how many persons could He ever be the God?–None at all; because no person can write the law of God in his heart; no person can put the law of God into his

473

mind; for "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Nothing short of the power of God alone, through the eternal Spirit, can ever put the law of God in anybody's mind, or write it in his heart.

Yet, to do just this, was practically what the people of Israel agreed to do at Sinai, in the old covenant. For they agreed to keep the law of God "indeed," which no person can do without that law being put into his mind, and written in his heart. They agreed to keep the law of God "indeed," SO that, in order that, they could be his people, and he be their God. Their agreement, therefore, was plainly in effect that they themselves would put the law of God in their minds, and write it in their hearts; and this when, as yet, they knew only the birth of the flesh; when, as yet, they had only the carnal mind, which "is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Thus it was by their own efforts that they were to be righteous; and by this righteousness they were to make themselves God's people, and win him to be their God.

Thus that covenant was altogether one of works; of righteousness by works; of winning the favor of God by works; of salvation by works.

It was a covenant in which, because of their works, the re-ward was to be not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

It was a covenant by which there was no such thing as the forgiveness of sins: it was of bondage, and gendered only to bondage.

And this is why that covenant is brought into this letter of instruction to the Galatians. The Galatians were seeking righteousness by works, by their own efforts. They were seeking to be "made perfect by the flesh." But whatsoever Christian seeks righteousness, or to be perfect, in that way, has fallen from grace. He has indeed forsaken grace; because "to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." And "if it be of works, then it is no more grace." Rom. 4:4; 11:6.

This was the position and the condition of "the Pharisees which believed," who had led the Galatians astray. Into a system of righteousness by works, and of seeking to be made perfect by the flesh, the Pharisees that believed had turned everything that God had given them to save them from the bondage of self-righteousness and the works of the flesh; and they would even have perverted to that false system the very gospel of Christ itself.

On the other hand, the new covenant is wholly of grace, and of the work of God by grace.

It is a covenant in which the work is solely the work of God, and righteousness is the righteousness of God.

It is a covenant in which every one who shares it is born of the Spirit, and who thus receives a new mind and a new heart, in which mind the law of God is put, and upon which heart that law is written by the Spirit of the living God.

It is a covenant in which, by the creative power of the promise of God, each one who submits to that promise is created a child of God. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10

It is a covenant in which, solely because of the mercy of God, and by his promise, there is obtained forgiveness of sins, full and free: the sins and iniquities to be remembered no more forever.

It is a covenant by which indeed forgiveness must be found for the sins of the people even under the first covenant. For "he [Christ] is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." Heb. 9:15.

Note, again, that in the new covenant there is no mention of any doing on the part of the people. The doing is all of God: "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." "I will be to them a God." "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

In the new covenant it is God who is the worker. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. It is "through the blood of the everlasting covenant," that "the God of peace" makes "you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ." who is the "surety" of this "better testament." Heb. 13:20, 21; 7:22.

The only way in which the people come into this covenant is passively: the must submit themselves unto the righteousness of God. Rom. 10:3. They "yield" themselves unto God and their "members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Rom. 6:13.

Thus, whoever is partaker of this covenant in any way whatever, is partaker of it wholly by the promise of God; and so becomes, "as Isaac was," a child of promise.

There is no other way to be a partaker of the new covenant than by the promise of God: for there is nothing in the covenant but the naked promises of God. There is no way to be a child of God, but by the promise of God: that promise accepted by faith. Our sins are forgiven, our unrighteousness is pardoned, because God says it, and by the word of that promise we know it. He who accepts and depends only on the promise of God is of the people of God because God has said it. God is his God, because God has said it. The law of God is in his mind, and is written upon his heart, because God has promised that he will put it in his mind and write it on his heart; and he has submitted himself to God to have it done by God. And having so submitted himself to the righteousness of God, he rests securely in the promise of God in Christ, who is the mediator and the surety of the new covenant. And "this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

The old covenant consisted, and ever consists, of the promises and the works, of the righteousness, of people who know only the birth and the mind of the flesh. The new covenant consists forever of the promises and the works of righteousness of God in those who know the birth of the Spirit by the promise of God.

July 31, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , p. 488.

WE are now to study the place of the great nations of the earth, in their relation to the Third Angel's Message, considered from the basis of the line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets in Revelation.

The first thing in order, therefore, is to discover that the Third Angel's Message really has a basis in the Seven Trumpets. This, however, will be easy; for it is made perfectly plain in the Scriptures.

Let us begin with the Third Angel's Message,–Rev. 14:2,–and follow backward its direct connections.

The first words in the wording of the Third Angel's Message are: "And the third angel followed them." This shows that some have gone before, whom the third angel "followed."

Take, then, the preceding verse: "And there followed another angel." This shows that an angel has also preceded this one, which, when this one follows, makes it "another."

Go back now to the sixth verse: "And I saw another angel." This also certifies that an angel has gone before, which causes this one, as he flies in the midst of heaven, to be "another."

Following back in the book of Revelation, we find no angel, except the seventh trumpet angel, until we come to the first verse of chapter ten; and there we read: "And I saw another mighty angel." This expression, as before, certifies that, before this, there is an angel, which, when this one comes forth, causes him to be spoken of as "another."

Following further back, we find no angels, except the sixth and the fifth trumpet angels, until we reach the last verses of chapter eight; and there we reach the primal, and read: "And I beheld, and heard an angel"–not "another angel," but, primarily, "an angel."

Thus, beginning with Rev. 8:13, there is a series of angels connected by the word "another," straight through to the third angel with his message. Thus:–

"I beheld, and heard an angel." Rev. 8:13.

"And I saw another mighty angel." Rev. 10:1.

"And I saw another angel." Rev. 14:6.

"And there followed another angel." Verse 8.

"And the third angel followed them." Verse 9.

But now notice: That angel in Rev. 8:13, the first in this series that connects straight through to the third angel,–this angel comes in right in the midst of the series of the Seven Trumpets.

The first four trumpets sound in Rev. 8:7-12. Immediately following the fourth, between that and the fifth trumpet angel, comes in the first one in this other series of angels that connects straight through to the Third Angel's Message.

And this angel of Rev. 8:13 not only comes in in the midst of the seven trumpet angels, but his word relates directly to the remaining three of the seven trumpet angels. Thus reads the whole verse: "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the three angels, which are yet to sound!"

These three woes belong with the last three trumpets, one with each. This is certain by the fact that, when the fifth angel's work is ended, it is written: "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter." Rev. 9:12. And when the sixth trumpet is ended, "the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded." Rev. 11:15.

1st Trumpet–8:1

2nd Trumpet–8:8

3rd Trumpet–8:14

4th Trumpet–8:11

"An Angel"–Woe, Woe, Woe. 8:13

5th Trumpet–9:1-11. First woe.

6th Trumpet–9:11 to 11:13. Second woe.

7th Trumpet–11:13-19. Third woe.

"Another mighty angel." 10:1.

"Another angel." 14:6.

"There followed another." 14:8.

"The third angel followed them." 14:2.

Thus, it is plain that the three woes pronounced by the primal angel, who comes in in the midst of the Seven Trumpets, are expressive of the character of the last three of the Seven Trumpets. Then, just at the end of the sixth trumpet, and before the sounding of the seventh, we find the words: "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven," etc. And this angel gives his message before the seventh trumpet sounds, because he speaks directly of the seventh trumpet as yet future, in the words: "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound," etc. Rev. 10:7.

Then, when the seventh angel does sound, it is written: "And the seventh angel sounded. . . . And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great." Rev. 11:15-18.

Thus, under the sounding of the seventh trumpet angel, there comes "the time of the dead, that they should be judged;" and along with this comes that "other angel," in Rev. 14:6, 7, "having the everlasting gospel to preach, . . . saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment IS come." Rev. 14:6, 7.

"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen." "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God." Rev. 14:9, 10. And of the events that occur under the sounding of the seventh angel, one is, "Thy wrath is come."

Further: the Third Angel's Message is followed immediately by the coming of the Lord; for it is written: "I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14:14. It is at the coming of the Lord that the saints of God are rewarded. For he says: "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. And one of the events that occur under the sounding of the seventh trumpet is "that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great."

Thus, by every consideration of the word of God on the subject of the Third Angel's Message and the Seven Trumpets, it is certain that the Seven Trumpets are a basis of the Third Angel's Message.

This being so, it is certain that the Third Angel's Message is held in view from the very first of the Seven Trumpets, unto the last one. Therefore, in studying the Seven Trumpets, from beginning to end, we are studying the Third Angel's Message, from its foundation unto its end.

"Studies in Galatians. The Two Covenants. Gal. 4:21-31; 5:1" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , pp. 488, 489.

"TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now, we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

The first covenant depended upon the promises of a people, who knew only the birth of the flesh. These promises were that they would keep the ten commandments "indeed." But, knowing only the birth of the flesh, they were, at the time, transgressors of the law of God, and so were in bondage to sin. And knowing only the birth of the flesh, and having only the mind of the flesh, their promise to obey the law of God "indeed," was worthless, because "the minding of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

If they had made no promise at all to obey the law, they would have broken it; because they knew only the birth of the flesh, and "they that are in the flesh can not please God." Therefore, without any promise to keep the law, without the new birth, they would have continued in the bondage of sin. And when they promised to keep the law "indeed," and then broke their promise (which, having only the mind of the flesh, it was inevitable that they would do), this brought them only yet deeper into bondage, because to "vow a vow unto the Lord," and then "slack to pay it," is "sin in thee." Deut. 23:21.

Therefore, that covenant being entered into by those who were already in bondage, and being a covenant which, by its terms, gendered to bondage, it was only a covenant of bondage–a covenant in which their very efforts to deliver themselves from the bondage in which they already were, brought them only deeper into bondage, the bondage of sin, the bondage of their own works and broken promises, which were only sin.

Consequently, all that was seen, or could be seen, in the first covenant was, and is, the broken law. And that this should be forever so plain that no one could fail to see it, when Moses came down from the mount and saw their idolatry, he, having the tables of the law of God in his hands, "cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." Ex. 32:19.

They were at first breakers of the law. They promised never-more to break the law. They again broke both the law and their promise not to break it.

489

And when, therefore, because of this, Moses cast out of his hands the tables of the law of God, and broke them, this was to give to them, and to all people forever, a divine object lesson, that in the first covenant, in all their efforts at self-righteousness, and in all their promises not to break the law, no one can ever see anything but THE BROKEN LAW.

But, there was then and there present the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of faith, God's everlasting covenant, to deliver them from the bondage and the yoke of bondage that was upon them because of the covenant of works, of unbelief, into which they had entered. "They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken"–through a covenant in which nothing could be seen but the broken law of God. "And now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour, revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings."

It was the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob which Moses pleaded to God, for mercy to the people worshiping the golden calf at the foot of the mount, while he was yet in the mount, before he had come down the first time. Notice: in Ex. 32:1-6 is given the account of the people's making the golden calf and worshiping it. In verse seven "the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it. . . . Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them." Verses 7, 10.

"And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou halt brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? . . . Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people." Verses 11-14.

Thus it was the Abrahamic covenant, God's everlasting covenant, that saved the people from the bondage and the curse of their sins, in the first covenant. And so it is ever. Heb. 9:15.

Then Moses came down from the mount, with the tables of the law in his hands, and cast out of his hands the tables of the law, and broke them, thus "signifying that as they had broken their covenant with God, so God had broken his covenant with them;" and signifying that in that covenant there was nothing to be seen but the broken law; and that they "could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken." And "now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant, and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant."–"Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 373.

Thus the covenant from Sinai brought them to the covenant with Abraham. The first covenant brought them to the second covenant. The old covenant brought them to the new covenant. And thus the law, which was the basis of that covenant,–the broken law,–was the schoolmaster to bring them to Christ, that they might be justified by faith.

Thus "the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these table the words that were in the first tables, which thou breakest." Ex. 31:1. And, says Moses, "I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." Deut. 10: 3-5.

There was then established among the people the sanctuary service, with "the Saviour shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings;" and with Christ, "the Mediator of the new covenant," the "one Mediator between God and men," represented in the high priest in his ministration in the sanctuary. To that sanctuary they brought, in penitence and faith, their offering, and confessed their sin. The blood of their offering was taken by the high priest into the sanctuary, atonement was made for them, and the sin was forgiven. And in the great day of atonement the blood of the offering for all the people was sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy seat, which was upon the top of the ark, over the tables of the law.

Thus between the sinner and the law there was always the sacrifice, representing Christ (and which, in his faith, was Christ, the Surety of the "better testament"), by which was brought to the sinner the forgiveness of sins, and the righteousness of God, which satisfied all the demands of the law. And thus, through faith in Christ, in this covenant in which Christ is Mediator, and of which he is the Surety, there is seen only the unbroken law.

Such was, and is, the true meaning of the new order of things at Sinai, after the breaking of the table, and after the complete nullification of the first covenant. It was the way of faith, the way of the "righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe."

But, behold, in their unbelief Israel afterward turned all this into a system of works, precisely as was the first covenant. And those sacrifices and offerings, and the ceremonies connected therewith, were given by the Lord to be altogether the expression of faith. But Israel, in their unbelief, missed all this, and made it only a system of works, of ceremonialism. Instead of righteousness coming by faith, and the sacrifices and offerings being but the expression of the faith, they expected righteousness by means of the offering itself, and because of their good work in making the offering.

Thus it was in the time of Christ on earth, and in the time of Paul and the Galatians. Thus it was with "the Pharisees which believed," who had confused the Galatians and driven them back from righteousness by faith to righteousness by works and ceremonialism. And, therefore, Paul could write, and did write, "that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children."

Thus the very means that God had given to deliver them from the bondage of the old covenant they, through unbelief, had turned into a system of bondage, which corresponded exactly to that bondage of the old covenant. They had, indeed, perverted the new covenant as then expressed, into the very principle of the old covenant–righteousness by works. That which was the gospel as expressed in the sacrifices, offerings, and ministry of that time, they perverted to the bondage of righteousness by works, and ceremonialism, exactly as among the Galatians the "Pharisees which believed" were perverting the gospel as expressed in the sacrifice and ministry of Christ himself.

And just as Hagar and Ishmael were cast out, that God's covenant with Abraham might be fully enjoyed; and just as the covenant at Sinai had to be repudiated and cast out, that the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, the new covenant, might be enjoyed; so when Christ came, and, by the sacrifice and offering of himself and by his own ministration, brought in the fullness of the gospel,–in order that this should be fully enjoyed, there must be repudiated and cast out that system of ceremonies and ceremonialism, that system of righteousness by works, into which Israel had perverted that which in its time was indeed the expression of the true gospel, of righteousness by faith. "Jerusalem which now is. . . is in bondage with her children. . . Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." "Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. . . Now, we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

And thus was cast out forever the very principle of ceremonialism,–the very principle of the bondage of righteousness by works in whatever form it might present itself; and there was established it its place the principle of divine liberty in righteousness by faith. "So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free." And because of this there is sounded to all people forever the blessed rallying cry, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

The old covenant, the covenant from Sinai, is summed up in the word "SELF." The new covenant, the everlasting covenant, is summed up in the word "CHRIST."

The old covenant is self and his righteousness. The new covenant is Christ and the righteousness of God.

The old covenant is self and the bondage of sin and works of law. The new covenant is Christ and the liberty of righteousness which is by faith.

The old covenant–self–must be cast out, and utterly repudiated, that the new covenant–Christ–may have its proper place and may manifest its saving power, for the son of the bondwoman can never be heir with the son of the free.

August 7, 1900

"The Sermon. The Sabbath-school Work" ⁸1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , pp. 499, 500.

A. T. JONES

I HAVE been appointed to speak to-day on the Sabbath school work, especially as it is at the present time–its present work in the studies now before the school. The Sabbath-school work is, plainly enough, school work–school work for Sabbath. It is a school that is held on the Sabbath, in which instruction is given, as in a school, by teachers.

So far, then, a part of the subject that was presented here the last time that I spoke, is present instruction for to-day,–as to what is teaching; as to what is the work of a school, and of teachers in school. I may refer to that for a few minutes, to recall the thought of what is true teaching. To teach is to show; to show how; to lead the way, in the doing of things. So teaching is not theorizing at all: it is substantial, concrete–the actual, practical "showing how" to do things.

In the Sabbath-school, of course, the teaching is showing the way to God; is teaching the truth; is showing the way of truth to people who do not know it. You remember the definition I read, of teaching, that other day, from the French,–"To show the shortest way out of the wood to those who have lost their way." I then quoted several expressions of Scripture, showing that all mankind have gone out of the way, and have lost their way in the darkness, the mist, and the maze of the wood of iniquity, and transgression, and sin.

When mankind had thus gone out of the way of God, they were indeed like lost sheep: they could not find the way back. It is the peculiarity of a lost sheep that he does not know which way to turn. Other animals may get lost, and find their way out and home; but a sheep, lost, is utterly confused: he is lost for good: he does not have the first idea of how to get home. Therefore, the Scripture puts it: "All we like sheep have gone astray." Isa. 53:6. "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant." Ps. 119:176.

When mankind had all, thus, like sheep, gone astray, and were utterly unable to find the way out of the woods and home, God, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, sent to us a Teacher to teach us the way to God: and he is a true teacher, one who shows the way. Consequently, when he was sent to be, indeed, the Great Shepherd of his sheep in the world, to lead us back home, he did not attempt to do that in any other way than by coming here, and putting himself just where we are; and then finding the way out–being led out by God unto the home of all, to his place at the right hand of God. And having so done, he now says to all mankind, Come now, "learn of me;" this is the way: "I am the Way;" come, "take my yoke upon you, and learn of me," and you shall know the way.

So he started from just where we are; and he found "the shortest way" to the throne of God, and to the sure place at the rightr hand of God forevermore. And there he is ever since, our Teacher, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, who gathereth the lambs and carrieth them in his bosom, and leads us all, all the way. He asks no one to take a step that he himself has not first taken. He knows perfectly the way, having gone over it; and he does not ask us even to go over the way alone, which he has gone over before us; but, having gone before us all the way to the throne of God, he comes to us again, and goes over the way WITH US, hand in hand, taking us with him to the throne of God at the right hand of God, where we, with him, shall sit down amid the pleasures that he has prepared for us forevermore.

That is the lesson that is sent to us, to be taught, to be studied, and to be learned, in this school for the Sabbath day, the Sabbath-school. And since he has gone away from the world in person, bodily, as he was when he was here first, he has left others in his stead to call men to God; to be in the world as he was, and as he is in the world; to be teachers.

But we must all be sure that we learn the lesson, or else we can not teach it. He can not teach who has not first learned. You and I can not teach; we can not show the way to God; we can not show the people how to find the way, nor how to walk in the way when they have found it; until we ourselves have learned the lesson of how to find the way to God, and how to walk in the way after having found it. We can not teach these until we have learned them; and we can not learn them except from him who is "the Way," and who is the original Teacher of the way.

And, having learned these things, then it is the sole work of the school for the Sabbath to teach these things. There is nothing else to be taught. And anything that has not that lesson in it, anything that has not in it the elements of showing how–of showing the people the way out of darkness into light, and then the way of light after they have got into light–anything that is not that, has no place in the school for the Sabbath, has no place in the Sabbath-school.

Now the work of the Sabbath-school, at this present time, is exactly that; and that in a certain sense, more definitely than it ever was before in our Sabbath-school work. I mean the study of the book of Galatians. This is not to say that any of the former Sabbath-school lessons did not teach the way of salvation, nor that those who have been teaching those lessons have not been teaching the way and giving instruction concerning how to get into the way of salvation. But this is to say that, in the studies now before the Sabbath-school, the way of salvation is, in a certain sense, more definitely made known, and especially how to walk, being in the way, than it ever was in the Sabbath-school lessons before. This, simply because it is the study of Galatians.

That you may see this, I cite a verse in the first chapter, over which you have gone. You remember this expression: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel; which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." And then, to make it certain that that is a deliberately formed and thoughtout statement, he repeats it: "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Verses 6-9.

That is not, in itself, the putting of a curse upon any one who would do that; but anybody who does that shows by it that he is already under the curse. Nothing but the gospel saves from the curse. He who has not the gospel can not be saved from the curse; and hence he has the curse. There are only two things in the world–the gospel and the curse.

Now, notice that the gospel–that is, the way of God–the way of God's salvation–is so set forth in the book of Galatians that, though "an angel from heaven" were to come down to-day and preach the gospel in the Sabbath-schools, he could not preach to you a single thing that is not there; he could not do it any better than it is done there.

Then, when there is given to us a letter from God,–a treatise given by the Lord, in which he has presented the gospel so certainly, so clearly, so positively, that an angel from heaven could not better it if he tried,–when to swerve from it, to teach differently from it, would only be to put one's self under the curse,–then has not the Lord, in that thing, given to us the gospel in a way, and in a sense, that is not found in any other way or in any other book?

The Sabbath-schools are now studying that epistle which God has so given–his own gospel, given in such a way–that, though so long ago given, if, to-day, an angel from heaven were to try to preach the gospel, and were to differ from what is there given, he would not preach the gospel at all, but would only bring himself under the curse, with all the people who should go that way with him. Then, that being so, when God has so brought it around that all the Sabbath-schools are studying that gospel there given, is it not true that the work of teaching these lessons in the Sabbath-schools is in that sense such as we never had before? It is exactly the work of Christ, which he did in the world when he came. It is showing mankind the way unto God,–the shortest way out of the wood in which we are lost,–and the way of righteousness, after we have got into it.

Then, in order to teach that lesson, what is essential, first of all?–To learn the lesson. In order to show people that way, every one who is to teach must first of all know that way, as it is shown in the book of Galatians.

Yet it is true that already–though only the first chapter has been covered–there have been found those who think that it is "dry," "very dry."

What is it that is so dry? Is it the gospel given in such sincerity, in such fullness and perfection, that an angel from heaven could not preach it any differently? Is that "very dry"? If that should prove to me "very dry," would that fact not prove that I do not have that gospel? More than that, would it not prove that I do not have any confidence in it? When the gospel, which is the gospel of salvation of God, given by the Lord himself, is given to me for my salvation; and it falls to me to teach lessons in which that gospel is to be set forth, and I find the lessons, and the whole arrangement, "very dry,"–then what can the Lord possibly do for me? The gospel is the only means he has of saving anybody. I profess to be in the way of salvation; I profess to have received the gospel. I am called upon to teach the way of the gospel which I profess, and in which I profess to walk; and that part of God's great lesson book is given to me in which he himself puts that gospel before me, and in a way that an angel could not give it any differently and still preach the gospel. I have it so, and yet to me it is "very dry;" it does not seem that I can get

500

anything out of it; it is "too tedious." That is a sad showing for me; not for the gospel, nor for the Sabbath-school lessons, nor for the book of Galatians; but for ME.

In that case, the thing for me to do–the first of all things, and the only thing, for me to do–is to get into the place where the gospel of God's salvation will be to me salvation indeed. And when that is so, it is written–written for everlasting, for it is everlastingly true–that "with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Isa. 12:1-3. [Voice: Amen.] He who has the salvation of God; he who knows the gospel of God, and what is this salvation–instead of its ever by any possibility being to him "dry," much less "very, dry," it is simply the wells of salvation eternally flowing; and he is ever drinking to the full.

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , p. 504.

IN last week's study we found that the Third Angel's Message certainly has a basis in the line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets; that the Third Angel's Message is held in view from the very first of the Seven Trumpets until the last one; and that, therefore, in studying the Seven Trumpets, from beginning to end, we are simply studying the Third Angel's Message, from its foundation unto its end.

But the Seven Trumpets themselves have a basis. The line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets is a consequence. The events foretold therein occur because of certain things that have been done, and these certain things are shown in the first three steps in each of the two preceding lines of prophecy in the book of Revelation–the Seven Churches and the Seven Seals. Therefore, to find the basis of the Seven Trumpets, we must glance at these things, which are their cause.

The line of prophecy of the Seven Churches is composed of seven letters addressed by the Lord to his church in the seven phases of her experience, from the first advent of Christ unto his second. In each of these seven letters, not only is counsel given in the way of right, but there are pointed out the dangers and evils that beset the church, against which she must be especially guarded, and which, in order to remain pure, she must escape.

To the church in her first stage–"the church of Ephesus"–he says: "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works." Rev. 2:4, 5. This points definitely to the "falling away" that is mentioned by Paul to the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:30), and that is dwelt upon especially in 2 Thessalonians 2; which falling away, when continued, developed "that man of sin," "the son of perdition," "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 2:3, 4.

The letter to the church in her second phase is wholly commendatory. This shows that, while individuals had continued in the apostasy mentioned in the first letter, yet the church herself had heeded the counsel given by the Head of the church, and had repented, and returned to "the first works." The time of this phase of the church's experience is definitely suggested in the word that she should "have tribulation ten days." Rev. 2:10. This refers to the ten years of persecution in the reign of Diocletian, from A.D. 302-312; which was ended by the Edict of Milan, issued by the two emperors Constantine and Licinius, March, A.D. 312.

Then comes the third phase of the church, in which the counsel from Christ mentions with commendation the fact that she had held fast his name, and had not denied his faith, "even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr." Rev. 2:13. This word "Antipas" is not a person's name, but is a term characteristic of the times. It is composed of two Greek words,–anti anti, and papas pappas. anti anti signifies against, and pappas pappas, which is our English, and also the universal, word for "papa." The word "papa" is simply the repetition of the original root word "pa." And this word "papa" is the original word "pope."

Therefore this word "Antipas"–"against 'pas,' or 'papas,'"–shows the growth of the papa-cy in the period immediately following A. D. 312. This was the period of Constantine, and onward, in which the papa-cy itself was distinctly made, and began openly to assert its authority. And in that time the history records that while the other principal bishops of the church bore the title of "patriarch," "the bishops of Rome studiously avoided the title of 'patriarch,' as placing him on a level with other 'patriarchs.' He always preferred the title of 'papa,' or 'pope' (Schaff); and this, because 'patriarch' bespeaks an oligarchical church government, that is, government by a few; whereas 'pope' bespeaks a monarchical church government, that is, government by one."–"Two Republics," page 485. Thus the history and the word of the counsel of Christ unite in marking, as the characteristic of that phase of the church, the formation of the papacy, and the assertion of the authority of the pope.

This definitely brings us to the time of the making of the papacy; and corresponds exactly, in point of time, to the facts of history following the Edict of Milan, which put an end to the "tribulation" mentioned in the previous letter to the church.

Thus the "falling away," the leaving of the "first love," mentioned in the first letter, had, in this time of the third letter, culminated in the papacy.

Now this same course is marked in the first three steps of the line of prophecy of the Seven Seals. There, under the first seal, was seen going forth a white horse (Rev. 6:2), corresponding to the church in her first phase, in her purity. But the counsel of Christ in his first letter said that there was a falling away from her first love; and this is signified in the second seal, under which "there went out another horse that was red." And under the third seal "I beheld, and lo a black horse." Rev. 6:5. Thus the symbols in the seals, passing from white to black, mark the course of the apostasy from the first love, in which Christ was all in all, in the first stage, to the third stage, in which, "where Satan's seat" was, and where Satan dwelt, a man was put in the place of God, in the temple, the church, of God (Eph. 2:21), showing himself that he is God. Verses 20-22.

Now, the effect of this apostasy, which developed the papacy in the Roman Empire, was the complete ruin of the Roman Empire. And this consequence of the apostasy marked in these first three steps in the two lines of prophecy of the seven churches and the seven seals, is marked in the line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets. The trumpet is herein used as a symbol, because the trumpet is the symbol of war; and it was by the war of the floods of barbarians from the north that there was swept away that mass of corruption that was heaped upon the Roman Empire by its union with the apostate church in the making of the papacy.

Thus the Third Angel's Message has a basis in the Seven Trumpets. The Seven Trumpets have their basis in the apostasy noted in the first and third of the Seven Churches, and the first three of the Seven Seals. And thus, through the Seven Trumpets, the Third Angel's Message finds its basis in the apostasy noted in the first and third of the Seven Churches and the first three of the Seven Seals. This, because that apostasy made the Beast; and the Third Angel's Message rises in the time of the making of the Image of the Beast, and utters its warning against the worship of the Beast and his Image. And, in the nature of things, the Image of the Beast finds his original in the Beast.

The result, to the Roman Empire, of the making of the Beast in the Roman Empire and by the Roman Empire, was the utter ruin of that empire. This ruin was accomplished by the mighty armies of the peoples of the north marching forth under the first four of the Seven Trumpets. And the result, to the world, of the making of the Image of the Beast, and the worship of the Beast and his Image, in the world and by the world, will be the utter ruin of the world, by the mighty armies of another people marching forth under the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, accompanied by the mighty notes of "the last trump."

And concerning this, it is written: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" Joel 2:1-11.

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

Next week we shall study the time and events of the first four of the Seven Trumpets.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , pp. 504, 505.

THE principle of government "without the Constitution "has become established, and is now employed, in the territorial possessions of the United States. Our readers will remember that more than once we have queried how long that principle could be applied in Porto Rico, the Philippines, and Alaska, before it would be applied even within the United States? And now comes the Macon Telegraph, speaking for many more than simply itself, and says:–

In our hearts we know it is our desire and determination to govern negroes outside of the Constitution, just as the Indians, the Kanakas, and the Filipinos are being governed outside of the Constitution. We can afford to be consistent in some things–consistent in that which makes no other pretext than to

505

confess our adhesion to the imperialistic doctrine which declares that we will govern all off-colored races wherever the flag floats, outside of the Constitution–the negro, the Indian, the Kanaka, and the Filipino.

And when the principle shall have been carried that far, what assurance can there be that everybody under the jurisdiction of the United States shall not be governed without the Constitution? Where, short of that point can logically stop that which has already begun, and which has already gone further than anybody could have believed two years ago?

"'Through His Policy Also He Shall Cause Craft to Prosper in His Hand'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , p. 505.

WHEN the United States declared war against Spain, April 18, 1898, she also declared that "the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent."

The national party and administration, June 20, 1900, declared that "to Cuba independence and self-government were assured in the same voice by which war was declared, and to the letter this pledge shall be performed."

In the declaration of war against Spain, it was also declared "that the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said islands, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people."

About July 20, 1900, a plan was announced to the country and to Cuba, by the national administration, according to which, if Cuba accepts it, a new form of government will be established in Cuba. But that it is to be far from independence for Cuba can be seen from the following facts:–

First, a constitutional convention is to be held in Cuba, the latter part of this year; the election of delegates to be about September 15; the delegates to assemble in convention shortly afterward.

Secondly, if this convention shall frame a constitution fully satisfactory to the United States,–the administration and, perhaps, Congress,–then the military government now in control will be withdrawn. But if this convention does not frame such a satisfactory constitution, then the military government now in control will remain until Cuba can present a constitution that shall be so satisfactory.

It is perfectly plain that in that plan there is no suggestion of the independence of Cuba nor of her people. That would be so, even if this as here presented were all of the plan. But that is not all of the plan. The plan further requires that whatever constitution Cuba may frame, it must contain the following perpetual reservations dictated by the United States, fixing the perpetual control of Cuba by the United States. These reservations are as follows:–

1. The foreign relations of Cuba to be managed through the American government at Washington.

2. Cuba to have no power to declare war without the consent of the United States.

3. The United States government to have a veto power over legislation increasing the Cuban debt beyond certain limits to be set forth in the new constitution.

4. The United States to have a certain well-defined superivision over the Cuban treasury.

5. The United States to retain, for a period of years, if not indefinitely, control of the fortifications which command the port of Havana and other important cities of the republic.

The first two of these almost exactly correspond to the relations between Britain and the Transvaal, before the present war; and neither the Transvaal, nor Britain, nor the world at large counted the Transvaal an independent republic. And the last three of these reservations by the United States carry the power of the United States infinitely further over Cuba than was the British power formerly over the Transvaal.

In short, these reservations dictated by the United States for adoption by Cuba, forever exclude Cuban independence, and forever assure United States control of Cuba. And this is exactly what the reservations, and the plan as a whole, are intended to do. This is made perfectly plain by an administration correspondent in Washington, in announcing the plan. The following is his explanation:–

WASINGTON, July 20,–Cuba is likely to become nominally an independent republic, with certain reservations that will virtually make the island a self-governing colony of the United States, within six or eight months from this date.

"Nominally an independent republic "is an independent republic in name only; because "nominal" means "existing in name only; not real; ostensible; merely so-called;" "a consideration so trivial in comparison with the real value as to be substantially equivalent to nothing." And so "nominally an independent republic, with certain reservations that will virtually make the island a self-governing colony of the United States,"–that is the independence to which "the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be," in the possession and enjoyment of; that is "the independence and self-government" that were "assured" and pledged to Cuba, and which assurance and pledged "to the letter shall be performed"!

The correspondent then tells of the constitutional convention that is to be called, the time of it, etc., and further says (Italics ours):–

As to whether or not the United States is to withdraw from Cuba at an early date, much depends upon the sort of constitution which this convention may think it wise to adopt. If it adopts a constitution which, in the opinion of the administration or of congress, insures the carrying out of the pledge given by the United States to see that a stable government is established in Cuba, and the establishment of a stable government follows, the United States will retire during the coming winter or early in the spring, and turn the control of the island over to the Cuban people.

The significant part of the program lies in the conditions which the administration is disposed to insist upon in the new constitution. While sovereignty is to be nominally vested in the Cuban people, and the republic is, in name at least, to be free and independent, there are certain reservations which the United States, in case Congress upholds the President, will insist upon.

Then are inserted the five reservations already printed: and the correspondent further says:–

If the people of Cuba see to it that delegates are chosen to the constitutional convention who are willing to embody these reservations of American control in the magna charta of the new republic, the dream of "Cuba" libre" may be realized within six or eight months.

Members of the administration argue that the United States is pledged to give Cuba a stable government before retiring from control of the island, and that this pledge must be carried out to the letter.

It is obvious, they say, that Cuba should not be given the power to make treaties that might be injurious to the United States, nor to carry on foreign relations which might involve the new republic in war, nor to unduly increase the republic's debt, nor to have full control of the fortifications which command the sea-ports, and which might tempt the cupidity of world-grabbing Powers.

The general idea of the administration and of the property-holding and most influential classes of Cuba is to try local self-government as a sort of war or colony of the United States, subject to wholesome restraints; and if that works well, gradually to assume a status more closely approximating true independence.

In other words, Cuba should, for a time at least, become nominally a republic, but really a self-governing American colony, occupying relations to the United States similar to those sustained by Canada or Australia or New Zealand to Great Britain.

It is understood that in the event of the Cuban constitutional convention's failing to adopt a constitution containing sufficient provision for American check and control, the military government now in operation there will be continued for some time longer, or until public opinion in Cuba shall have been education up to the proper point.

Thus, instead of its being intended that Cuba shall ever see true freedom and independence, or see herself anything more than "nominally a republic," it is intended that she shall forever see herself "really a self-governing American colony." While "disclaiming any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof," and asserting "its determination when that [pacification] is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people," the United States government proposes to insist upon the incorporation in the Cuban constitution–its organic fundamental law, where they shall remain forever–provisions by which the United States shall forever "exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction," and "control over said island."

Maybe it will be asked, "But what is all this to us?"–Just nothing at all–EXCEPT that it so plainly shows the fulfillment of the prophecy of the "national apostasy" of the United States; nothing–EXCEPT that it marks so plainly the progress of this nation in fulfillment of the prophecy that this nation would "repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a republican government" as well as of a "Protestant" government; nothing–EXCEPT that it shows how fully this republic is following in the course to monarchy and ruin, the identical course by which the Roman Republic descended to monarchy and to ruin.

No other principles of government than the Roman and the British are now recognized by the United States. This is not to say anything against the British principles of government for Britain; but they are not the principles of a republic. Britain has never pretended to be anything but a monarchy; and being a monarchy, her principles and system of government are perfectly consistent. And it was revolt against that system that made the United States government. That was a revolution. And now for the United States to return to British principles and the British system of government, can not possibly be anything else than a revolution backward–national apostasy–from republic to monarchy.

If this apostasy were only from the American to the British system of government, to be conducted truly as is the British system, that would be "national apostasy" true enough; but there would be yet in it some elements of safety. But this apostasy is to Roman principles as well as to British, and to Roman far more than to British. Indeed, it is to the British only in form, while it is to the Roman in form, in feature, and in very life–even to Rome's peculiar "policy" of fair promises and smooth pretensions only to be evaded on occasion, by which he caused "craft to prosper in his hand," and "by peace" destroyed many. Dan. 8:24, 25. That was the way of the Beast. This is the very repetition of it, and is the way of the Image of the Beast.

It is not by any means pleasant to be obliged to write these things. But the truth compels. And it would be far worse not to do it. for the Scripture has pointed to these things as signs of the end; and if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, when the sword does come and takes away any, his blood shall be required at the watchman's hand.

The Third Angel's Message contemplates the making and the work of the Image of the Beast. The Beast was made by the union of an apostate republic with an apostate church. The making of the Image of the Beast is being carried on before the eyes of all the people.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 31 , p. 505.

AT a national convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, held lately in Boston, Bishop McFaul told them that "if Catholics were organized, they would get their religious rights better than they do." And the things in which he claims that the Catholics have not had their rights, are suggested by his further words: that if they had those religious rights, "those prejudiced against Catholics would not have been selected to investigate and report on the affairs of the church in the Philippines; the Indian schools would not have been treated so unjustly; and there would have been more Catholic chaplains." What he refers to as the unjust treatment of the Indian schools, is simply that the United States government ceased to make appropriations of the public money to the Catholic Church, for the support of her mission schools among the Indians; in other words, the United States ceased to make appropriations to the Catholic Church for her church work among the Indians. But this speech only renews the old, old principle of Rome, that wherever she can not have full sway, in all things, to do exactly as she pleases, and enforce her will by the power of the state, her "religious rights are invaded," and she is "oppressed" and "persecuted."

August 14, 1900

"The Sabbath-school Work" ⁹1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 32 , p. 514.

A. T. JONES

IT has also been said, already, that these lessons "are too tedious–ask a question, and then answer the question by perhaps one or two words in a verse, and over and over so, before you get through a single verse. Why, to get the lessons the way that the lesson pamphlet requires, we should have to go over it fifty times a day!" Well, suppose you should. Is it a dreadful thing, a toilsome, burdensome thing, to drink in eternal life "fifty times a day"? "Oh, well, it does not seem like that to me." No, of course not! That is why it is so tedious. There is nothing tedious, there is nothing toilsome, there is nothing monotonous at all, in drinking in eternal life by the word of God, even in the book of Galatians, "fifty times a day." And in the book of Galatians you have the eternal life which comes by the word of God in a way that an angel could not better. And in receiving this eternal life, there is nothing monotonous, there is nothing wearisome, in any sense whatever. It is simply joy, joy, joy–"joy unspeakable and full of glory." [Voice: "Good!"]

Then, if to me it is a task, if it is a weariness, if it becomes so monotonous as to grow dull; and I can not stand it to go over that thing fifty times a day, to get the Sabbath-school lesson, so that other persons who do not know it may have it,–then it is not eternal life at all to me: I have not yet found the fountain; I am not drinking at the fountain. I am away off on the dry mountains: I am away in the desert, where that lost sheep is.

However, that is not particularly against me, if I will only listen to the call of the Shepherd, and become a found sheep. It is nothing against a man that he is a lost sheep; for the Lord has sent Jesus to seek and to save us. But it becomes a terrible thing for a man to stay lost, when Jesus has come to save, and when that man is actually in a position where he is required to read over and over every day the lesson of salvation.

I call your attention to these things, not for the things themselves, but for illustration. These statements that the lessons are "very dry" and "so tedious," when the lessons are simply the very words of Scripture itself–this illustrates exactly the evil which the book of Galatians is given to correct. It illustrates exactly the condition of things that is considered and refuted, and annihilated by the book of things as that–a condition of things in which a people professing to be Christians were not Christians–a condition of things in which a people professing to be in the way of God knew not the way of God. It was a condition in which all was only formalism: their profession was a form; what they did was a form; all their service to God was a form; it was formalism and ceremonialism altogether. That is how it is that there came "some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

What is the gospel of Christ?–It is God's free salvation to every soul in the wide world. It is the power of God to lift a man up from deadness in trespasses and sins, and make him a partaker of that salvation, to hold him in the way of that salvation, and to work out the righteousness of God through him. This is what the people in Galatia had received in receiving the gospel, concerning which it is said that if even an angel should preach any other, he would be under the curse. But here were those who had gone down to Galatia, and had confused–yes, had even "bewitched"–the people, and would have perverted the pure gospel that the Galatians had first heard and received by the Holy Spirit.

These troublers of the Galatian Christians were "Pharisees which believed." Remember they were "Pharisees which believed." They had come from among the Pharisees into the church of Christ. They professed to believe in Jesus, professed to have received the gospel, professed to be Christians. But they were Pharisees before; and they were still Pharisees, after they professed to be Christians. They were formalists before, when they were only Pharisees; and now, when they became "Pharisees which believed," they were still only formalists: even their belief was only a form. And these were opposed to the gospel. Indeed, it was such a "dry thing" that they could not be content until they had followed Paul everywhere that he went, turning the people away from this gospel that he preached, which was "so dry." And in perverting the gospel of Christ, they were presenting "another gospel," another way of salvation. Therefore the Word says: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel."

"Another gospel"! What is the gospel?–It is "the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth," "for therein is the righteousness of God revealed." What I wish to impress upon you just now is not particularly that the gospel is "the power of God," but WHY it is the power of God. Why is the gospel the power of God unto salvation?–The reason is given in Rom. 1:16, 17. In the sixteenth verse the statement is made that the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The reason is given in the seventeenth verse; and that reason is that "therein is the righteousness of God revealed."

That is to say, the power of the gospel lies in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. The power that comes by the gospel to the sinner,–that power that changes his life; that puts in him the new way, and holds him in that way,–that power comes to him in the righteousness of God. And the gospel is the power of God because the righteousness of God revealed therein imparts the power. So the power of God in the gospel lies in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel; and that righteousness is revealed only to faith, and "from faith to faith."

Well, here come those "Pharisees which believed," preaching "another gospel." These who professed the true gospel become confused, and turned aside unto this "other gospel." Another what?–"Another gospel;" another way of salvation; another power unto salvation. And this other power unto salvation must derive from some sort of righteousness whatever power it may have. But what other power can there be to work salvation, than the power of God?–None but my own. So far as my salvation is concerned, there is nobody but God and me. And in this God is dealing with me, and I must deal with God, just as if there was nobody in the universe but God and me. And the true gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Another gospel would be another power unto salvation; and that could be only my own power–the power of self.

Further: since the true gospel derives its power from the righteousness of God therein revealed, "another gospel" must derive whatever power it may have, from some sort of righteousness. It can not derive its power from the righteousness of God, because it is "another gospel." Being "another gospel," it must derive its power from another righteousness. And as in this there is no other power than my own, so in this there is no other righteousness than my own. Therefore the only righteousness that could possibly be revealed in this "other gospel" would be self-righteousness. But self-righteousness is sin. Whosoever has self-righteousness is under the curse. Consequently "another gospel" is indeed "not another," because it is no gospel at all. It is no gospel at all, because it is no power at all: it is wholly impotency, and is simply the way of perdition.

Such was the question among the Galatians–a question as to whether the true gospel is the one in which the righteousness of God is revealed, or one in which self-righteousness is revealed. That is the question that called forth the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians was written especially to show the utter fallacy, the utter destructiveness to all who might receive it, of anything claiming to be the gospel that does not reveal the righteousness of God which is by faith.

(To be continued.)

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 32 , p. 520.

THE trumpet is the symbol of war; as it is written: "Thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war." Jer. 4:19, "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" 1 Cor. 14:8. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain." Joel 2:1.

We have found that the Seven Trumpets prophesy the consequences of the making of the Beast, which grew out of the great apostasy from Christianity. The Beast was made in the Roman Empire by the union of the apostate church with that republic which had degenerated into an imperial despotism; and the result to the Roman Empire, of the making of the Beast, was the utter ruin of that empire. This ruin was accomplished by the mighty armies of the peoples of the north, which, in a succession of mighty tides, overflowed the western empire of Rome, in the time covered by the first four of the Seven Trumpets.

At that time, and for five hundred years before, the Roman Empire, as a whole, had "filled the world."–Gibbon. "Coming last among what are called the great monarchies of prophecy, it was the only one which realized in perfection the idea of a monarchia, being (except for Parthia and the great fable of India beyond it) strictly coincident with the civilized world. Civilization and this empire were commensurate; they were interchangeable ideas and coextensive." And when that empire perished, to those unenlightened by the word of God it really seemed, in the violence of the times, that the world was at its end. No man can imagine the terror of the times. Of the fall of that empire it has been said that–

Never had the existence of a nation been more completely overthrown; never had individuals had more evils to endure and more dangers to apprehend. Whence came it that the population were dumb and dead? How is it that so many sacked towns, so many ruined positions, so many blasted careers, so many ejected proprietors, have left so few traces. I do not say of their active existence, but only of their sufferings?–Guizot.

Although it was not the end of the world, yet, like the fall of Babylon of old, the fall of Rome is full of lessons that indicate exactly the things that will be at the end of the world. For that, with all its terrors, was the consequence of the evils heaped upon society by the making and the working of the Beast. And when the world shall really end, that, with the terrors that accompany it, will be but the consequence of the evil that is heaped upon the society of the world at this time, by the making and the working of the Image of the Beast. And as the Beast itself is the standard of comparison in all things respecting the making and the working of the Image of the Beast, so the state of society and the affairs of the empire and nations of that time of the Beast are a faithful standard of comparison by which to read correctly the course and condition of the nations in these times of the Image of the Beast.

A brief sketch of the condition of society at that time will therefore be of double value just here. The same corruptions that had characterized the former Rome were reproduced in the Rome of the fifth century.

The primitive rigor of discipline and manners was utterly neglected and forgotten by the ecclesiastics of Rome. The most exorbitant luxury, with all the vices attending it, was introduced among them, and the most scandalous and unchristian arts of acquiring wealth universally practiced. They seemed to have rivaled in riotous living the greatest epicures of pagan Rome when luxury was there at the highest pitch. For Jerome, who was an eye-witness of what he writ, reproaches the Roman clergy with the same excesses which the poet Juvenal so severely censured in the Roman nobility under the reign of Domitian.–Bower.

Everything was determined by auguries and auspices; the wild orgies of the Bacchanalians, with all their obscene songs and revelry, were not wanting.–Merivale.

And now the criminal and frivolous pleasures of a decrepit civilization left no thought for the absorbing duties of the day nor the fearful trials of the morrow. Unbridled lust and unblushing indecency admitted no sanctity in the marriage tie. The rich and powerful established harems, in the recesses of which their wives lingered, forgotten, neglected, and despised. The banquet, theater, and the circus exhausted what little strength and energy were left by domestic excesses. The poor aped the vices of the rich, and hideous depravity reigned supreme, and invited the vengeance of heaven.–Lea.

The pagan superstitions, the pagan delusions, and the pagan vices, which had been brought into the church by the apostasy, and clothed with a form of godliness, had wrought such corruption that the society of which it was a part could no longer exist. From it no more good could possibly come, and it must be swept away.

The uncontrollable progress of avarice, prodigality, voluptuousness, theater-going, intemperance, lewdness; in short, of all the heathen vices, which Christianity had come to eradicate, still carried the Roman Empire and people with rapid strides toward dissolution, and gave it at last into the hands of the rude, but simple and morally vigorous, barbarians.–Schaff.

It is impossible that it should be otherwise. By apostasy that gospel had lost its purity and its power in the multitudes who professed it. It was now used only as a cloak to cover the same old pagan wickedness. This form of godliness, practiced not only without the power but in defiance of it, permeated the great masses of the people, and the empire had thereby become a festering mass of corruption. When thus the only means which it was possible for the Lord himself to employ to purify the people, had been taken and made only the cloak under which to increase unto more ungodliness, there was no other remedy; destruction must come.

And it did come, by a host, wild and savage, it is true, but whose social habits were so far above those of the people which they destroyed, that, savage as they were, they were caused fairly to blush at the shameful corruptions which they found in this so-called Christian society of Rome.

A writer who lived at the time of the barbarian invasions, and who wrote as a Christian, exclaims:–

"The church, which ought everywhere to propitiate God, what does she but provoke him to anger? How many may one meet, even in the church, who are not still drunkards, or debauchees, or adulterers, or fornicators, or robbers, or murderers, or the like, or all these at once, without end? It is even a sort of holiness among Christian people to be less vicious." From the public worship of God, and almost during it, they pass to deeds of shame. Scarce a rich man but would commit murder and fornication. We have lost the whole power of Christianity, and offend God the more, that we sin as Christians. We are worse than the barbarians and heathen. If the Saxon is wild, the Frank faithless, the Goth inhuman, the Alanian drunken, the Hun licentious, they are, by reason of their ignorance, far less punishable than we, who, knowing the commandments of God, commit all these crimes.–Schaff.

You, Roman, Christians, and Catholics, are defrauding your brethren, are grinding the faces of the poor, are frittering away your lives over the impure and heathenish spectacles of the amphitheater. You are wallowing in licentiousness and inebriety. The barbarians, meanwhile, heathen or heretics though they may be, and however fierce toward us, are just and fair in their dealings with one another. The men of the same clan, and following the same king, love one another with true affection. The impurities of the theater are unknown amongst them. Many of their tribes are free from the taint of drunkenness, and among all, except the Alans and the Huns, chastity is the rule.

Not one of these tribes is altogether vicious. If they have their vices, they have also their virtues, clear, sharp, and well defined. Whereas you, my beloved fellow provincials, I regret to say, with the exception of a few holy men among you, are altogether bad. Your lives from the cradle to the grave are a tissue of rottenness and corruption, and all this notwithstanding that you have the sacred Scriptures in your hands.

In what other race of men would you find such evils as these which are practiced among the Romans? Where else is there such injustice as ours? The Franks know nothing of this villainy. The Huns are clear of crimes like these. None of these exactions are practiced among the Vandals, none among the Goths. So far are the barbarian Goths from tolerating frauds like these, that not even the Romans who live under the Gothic rule are called upon to endure them, and hence the one wish of all the Romans in those parts is that it may never be necessary for them to pass under the Roman jurisdiction. With one consenting voice the lower orders of Romans put up the prayer that they may be permitted to spend their life, such as it is, alongside of the barbarians. And then we marvel that our arms should not triumph over the arms of the Goths, when our own countrymen would rather be with them than with us.–Salvian.

These events of the Seven Trumpets are important in another sense also; that is, that the peoples by whom was wrought "the divine judgment of destruction upon this nominally Christian, but essentially heathen, world," are, in their descent, the great nations of to-day; and are to-day the living subjects of the prophecies relating to our times.

In the destruction of the Western Empire there were planted, in its place, the ten kingdoms of the seventh chapter of Daniel, of which the seven that remain after the rooting up of the three before the papacy, are the kingdoms in whose "days," according to Dan. 2:44, "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

The first four trumpets are not, however, an account of the planting of the ten kingdoms. These are prophetic pictures of the most terrible of the mighty invasions by which Western Rome was ruined, and through which the ten kingdoms were planted. There were more than ten nations engaged in the invasion and ruin of the Roman Empire. Indeed, there were more than fifteen of those nations; and, out of this number, ten kingdoms, no more, and no less, divided among themselves the territory of Western Rome.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:2-4" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 33 , p. 521.

"BEHOLD, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

Through unbelief and distrust of the promise of God in his covenant with Abraham, the eyes of Sarah and Abraham were hidden from the truth and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, God's everlasting covenant. Therefore, the real truth and spirit of that covenant they must be taught. Through the disappointing experience of Sarai's scheme in bringing in Hagar and her son Ishmael, Sarah and Abraham were brought to sincerely trust in the promise of God by which they received the child of promise; and by which Abraham was enabled to see the day of Christ, and, in seeing it, to rejoice and be glad. John 8:56.

Through the darkness of Egypt, which was upon their minds and hearts,–the darkness of unbelief and self-righteousness,–Israel at Sinai could not discern the truth and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. "All this they must be taught." By their experience in the covenant at Sinai, they were brought to the knowledge of themselves, of "their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings," and "were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant."

Through the darkness of Egypt, which was upon their minds and hearts,–the darkness of unbelief and self-righteousness,–Israel before Calvary, and at Calvary, and "the Pharisees which believed" after Calvary, could not discern the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings–the blessings of the new covenant. All this they must be taught. And by Stephen, and especially by Paul; and by the church in council at Jerusalem, and especially by inspiration in the epistle to the Galatians, they were taught that there was not to be put upon the necks of Christians the yoke which neither their fathers nor themselves were able to bear; but that Christians are to stand fast in the freedom of the Abrahamic covenant,–God's everlasting covenant,–"the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."

Therefore it is written: "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing."

It is the truth that Timothy was circumcised, and it is also the truth that Christ did profit Timothy unto the very fullness of the salvation of God. How, then, can it be true that "if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing," and yet Timothy be both circumcised and profited by Christ?

The key to this problem lies in the purpose for which circumcision was employed. The Pharisees which believed, who had confused the Galatians, and were making this contention against Paul, "taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye can not be saved." Acts 15:1. With them, then, circumcision was the means of salvation; and to be saved was the object in the circumcision. And how entirely salvation was made to depend upon circumcision is shown in the fact that this was said to persons who were already saved by the faith of Jesus Christ.

The Galatians had heard the gospel in its purity, preached by Paul. They had believed the gospel; and in that they had believed on the Lord Jesus, and had received him as their Saviour. Thus, they were already saved by faith in Christ; for by that they received the gospel, which is "the power of God unto salvation [working salvation] to every one that believeth." And it was to these Christians who were already saved by Christ, through the faith of Christ,–to these it was that "the Pharisees which believed" had said, "Except ye be circumcised. . .ye can not be saved."

This was, therefore, nothing else than to put circumcision above Jesus Christ as the way of salvation. It was to set Christ aside as the Saviour, and to put circumcision in his place as the savior. Therefore it is perfectly plain, in itself, that whosoever was circumcised under that scheme and for that purpose, Christ would profit him nothing; because, in the very process, he set Christ aside for circumcision; he repudiated Christ as the Saviour, and took circumcision as his savior.

And while that controversy was going on, as yet unsettled, Paul would not give countenance for a moment to any suggestion to circumcise Titus, or anybody else. But when the controversy had been settled by the Holy Spirit, and the decree had been published by the Holy Spirit from the council at Jerusalem, that people are saved by Christ, without circumcision, and where there was no question of salvation in the circumcision that was performed,–then Paul circumcised Timothy, so that a wider door should be open to both Paul and Timothy in the preaching of the gospel without circumcision.

Now, with those "Pharisees which believed" circumcision was the badge, the seal, the very pinnacle of works, of self-righteousness, and of salvation by works of self-righteousness. And these works included the law,–all law, moral and ceremonial, which the Lord had given,–and the ceremonies which the Pharisees had heaped upon all that the Lord had given. So that the scheme meant justification, salvation, by "law" and works of law, by ceremonialism, not by Christ and the faith of Christ. Therefore exactly as he wrote of circumcision, so now he writes of law: "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by law; ye are fallen from grace." The Greek is nomo law, in general: not ho nomou, the law, in particular.

In this controversy the question was not whether it is right or wrong to keep the law of God. The question is whether or not men are justified, saved, by works of law, whatever law it may be. These people were already saved by Christ, and by faith in him; and now, to those who were saved by Christ, and by faith alone in him, these "Pharisees which believed" insisted that these must be circumcised, and keep the law, in order to be saved.

This was putting the law, the keeping of the law, above Christ. It was, in fact, the setting aside of Christ as Saviour, and putting in his place as the Saviour their own works of law. And therefore, plainly enough, in the very fact of so doing they were "fallen from grace." For, for any one to turn from Christ, for any purpose whatever,–and, above all, for the purpose of being saved,–is most definitely to fall from grace.

And all this is true forever. Men are never saved by any of their own works in the keeping of any law. They are saved alone by Christ, and the faith of Christ: saved to the uttermost.

"Yet More on that 'Needed Reform in Education'" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 33 , pp. 521, 522.

IN considering the system of education of the present day, we have found, upon the highest authority on the question, that, from the common school to the university and the theological seminary, it is a system in which doubt is the beginning, the process, and the end. This at once marks it as exactly the Greek system of education reproduced.

That this may be plainly seen, we present a statement of the Greek system as originated by Socrates and perpetuated by Plato. Here it is, as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, article on Socrates:–

Socrates was not a "philosopher," nor yet a "teacher," but rather an "educator," having for his function "to rouse, persuade, and rebuke."–Plato, Apology, 30 E. Hence, in examining his life's work, it is proper to ask, not, What was his philosophy? but, What was his theory, and what was his practice, of education? He was brought to his theory of education by the study of previous philosophies, and his practice led to the Platonic revival.

Socrates' theory of education had for its basis a profound and consistent SKEPTICISM.

Taking his departure from some apparently remote principle or proposition to which the respondent yielded a ready assent, Socrates would draw from it an unexpected but undeniable consequence, which was plainly inconsistent with the opinion impugned. In this way he brought his interlocutor to pass judgment upon himself, and reduced him to a state of "doubt," or "perplexity." "Before I ever met you," says Meno in the dialogue which Plato called by his name, "I was told that you spent your time in doubting and leading others to doubt; and it is a fact that your witcheries and spells have brought me to that condition. You are like the torpedo: as it benumbs any one who approaches and touches it, so do you."

In the application of the "dislectical" or "maieutic" method, two processes are distinguishable,–the destructive process, by which the worse opinion was eradicated; and the constructive process, by which the better opinion was induced. . . . Of the two processes, the destructive process attracted the more attention, both in consequence of its novelty and because many of those who willingly or unwillingly submitted to it stopped short at the stage of "perplexity" [or doubt]. But to Socrates and his intimates the constructive process was the proper and necessary sequel. It is true that in the dialogues of Plato the destructive is not always OR EVEN OFTEN followed by construction.

Let any one take up the RVIEW of May 22 and read the statement of the Outlook, under its own heading of "A Needed Education Reform;" then take up the REVIEW of June 26, and read the statements of Professor Hoffman, as originally made in the North American Review, on "The Scientific Method in Theology;" then take up the REVIEW of July 3, and read the statements of the Hon. W. T> Harris, United States Commissioner of Education; and he can readily see that the system of education of the present day and that of Greece, as stated in the foregoing quotation, are, in principle and in method, identical.

The result of such an education among the Greeks has been defined by Inspiration. And, knowing that, we can know for certain what the result of the identical thing must be to-day. Of the result of this system of education among the Greeks, the word of God says that by it the world was caused to know not God. 1 Cor. 1:21. This, however, is plain enough on its face; because when the process is altogether enough on its face; because when the process is altogether one of doubt, how is it possible to know God?

The word of God not only defines the results of that sort of education, but tells what is the remedy.

And, so, it is written: "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." 1 Cor. 1:21.

And what is it that is preached?–"We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Verses 23, 24.

Thus, against that Greek system of education, God sets the preaching of the cross of Christ,–the power of God. And against the Greek method, which is doubt, God sets the divine method, which is faith.

Thus there is set before us, by the word of God, the gospel as the true principle and method of education; for the gospel is "the power of God" to every one that believeth, because in it "is the righteousness of God revealed, from faith to faith." Rom. 1:17, 18.

Since, then, there is confessedly a sorely needed educational reform, and since true education is that alone of which the gospel is the source and substance, it follows that there must be presented to the world now a system of education, of which the gospel shall be the source and substance. And exactly to meet this demand, there is now due to the world that message from God,–"the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."

As the worldly method is one only of doubt, and as against this God sets the true method, which is only of faith, so there is just now due to the world that mighty Third Angel's Message, preaching the everlasting gospel to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, calling upon them to "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." "Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."

And just now there is a people in the world who profess to be the people to whom is committed this great threefold message of the everlasting gospel, which calls all people to "the faith of Jesus."

522

It is, therefore, as certain as the word of God, and as plain as A B C, that to the people to whom is committed the Third Angel's Message, in that, there is committed this sorely needed reform in education, for which so many in the world are calling, and which the world must have if it shall ever be saved from the fate of knowing not God.

This reform in education–this establishing of thoroughly Christian education–this education of faith, in faith, by faith,–this education is the Third Angel's Message.

Now is the time, and in this work of Christian education it is, when the promise of God is to be fulfilled: "I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man." Zech. 9:13, R.V. And this "in the time of the latter rain." Zech. 10:1.

August 21, 1900

"The Sermon. The Sabbath-school Work" ¹⁰1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 34 , pp. 530, 531.

A. T. JONES

THE book of Galatians is God's protest of the true gospel against salvation by formalism; against salvation by self-righteousness; against salvation by our own works. It is God's protest forever against all formalism, against all ceremonialism of whatsoever sort.

And that book of Galatians, of all the books in the Bible, is present truth to-day, to Seventh-day Adventists. [Voice: "Amen."] Do you suppose that it is a mere make-up, to fill time with something only to be doing on Sabbaths, that these lessons have been arranged? Do you think that it is a mere happen-so that the book of Galatians should be brought before Sabbath-schools throughout the world now, to be studied itself, within itself, for just what it says? Do you think that it has come about without any of God's thought at all? [Voice: "No."] I do not suppose you do. I believe that you believe that the Lord has brought it about, that this portion of the Scriptures should be studied now." [Voice: "Amen."]

Well, then, that itself shows that it is present truth now; because–do not make the mistake of thinking that all the ceremonialism in the world was forsaken when they of the Pharisees and of the Jews, in Paul's day, were left behind. Seventh-day Adventists can be formalists and ceremonialists, just as really as could those "Pharisees which believed" back yonder. I say, They can be. A man can turn Sabbath-keeping into ceremonialism just as really as they did. True, they had other, and more, ceremonies than we have; but that makes no difference. We have ceremonies just as really as they had, even though not so many. Have not we the ceremony of baptism? Have not we the ceremony of the Lord's Supper? Have not we the forms of worship–going to church on Sabbath, prayers, singing, etc.? Now, we can turn all that into formalism and ceremonialism, just as really as those other folks did. The principle is the same now as ever.

Bear in mind also that the book of Galatians was not given to correct simply a particular form of ceremonialism; it was given to correct the THING. If it had been given to correct only some particular form of ceremonialism, and that was corrected at the time, what then would be the use of that book at the present time? It would not fit any other particular form or ceremony. But when the book deals only with the thing itself; when it strikes at the very root of ceremonialism in whatever form it could possibly appear,–then the book is forever present truth, and is applicable everywhere and to all people.

Indeed, ceremonialism is the culmination of things in the world, in our day. Therefore the book of Galatians is not only present truth to us, but is likewise present truth to the whole world. What do the Scriptures say shall come in the last days?–"In the last days perilous times shall come." There is a cause of these perilous times. What is the cause? There are nineteen or twenty causes mentioned; but one of them is that men are "lovers of pleasures mores than lovers of God," and another is that they have a "form of godliness," but deny "the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3:1-5. With the Pharisees in Paul's day–the "Pharisees which believed," and confused the Galatian Christians–the trouble was that they had the forms of godliness but not the power.

The gospel is "the power of God." It is right to have the forms which God has ordained, when we first have the power of God. But it is only perdition to have only the forms.

First of all in the gospel of God is the power of God. First of all in that "other gospel" are forms and ceremonies. In that "other gospel" the way is, Do this, do that, do the other, and you will be all right. The first thing in the gospel of God is, BE all right, THEN do this, that, or the other thing, as God calls you to do.

And right here is where even Seventh-day Adventists are in danger of making a mistake in these times, and with relation to this very thing that is given to us to preach to the world. You have heard it said that "righteousness is right doing." It is no such thing–except as a consequence. If you have had the idea that, rightly speaking, primarily and in itself, "righteousness is right doing," please abandon that idea before you leave the house. [Voices: "Amen," "amen."] Righteousness is not that. Listen! consider something familiar: you speak of sweetness. Now, in speaking of sweetness, do you, did you ever in your life, mean, or expect, to be understood that sweetness is sweet doing? Is sweetness sweet doing? [Voice: "No."] True. What is it? [Voice: "It is the thing itself.] It is sweet being. Richness–is that rich doing? As a consequence the doing comes, just as the quality of sweetness will impart sweetness to other things. But sweetness itself is not sweet doing; no more is righteousness itself right doing.

The very construction of the word itself excludes the idea of righteousness being in itself right doing. Is the word "righteous-ing"?–No; it is righteous-ness. Does the suffix "ness" signify action?–No; never. It signifies quality. The suffix "ing" signifies action. Sweeten-ing tells of doing something. Sweet-n-ess tells only of being something. Right-n-ess is being: that signifies quality, essence. For the word "righteousness" is only the lengthened form of the word right-ness, which has descended from "right-ness" through "right-wise-ness" to "right-eous-ness." Do you not all now see that there is a difference between righteousness and right doing? It is just the difference between being right and then as a consequence doing right, and being wrong and then trying to do right in order to be right.

There is danger of Seventh-day Adventists falling into the idea that right doing is itself righteousness, rather than its being only the consequence of righteousness; and then going about to do right things, in order to be righteous. And that is exactly the case of the "Pharisees which believed," who had confused the Galatians Christians, removing them from the true gospel, "unto another gospel,"–righteousness by works,–righteousness by doing things,–"which is not another," because

532

it is not a gospel at all. For, of course, if righteousness is to come to me by my doing of things, then, in the nature of things, the more things I do, the more righteousness I shall have. But in all the doing I find not rest nor peace. And so the things that I must do in order to be righteous pile up, and up, until it is so much that I see with despair that I can not do them all. Then, all that I can say is, "Well, I know I have not the peace of God: I know that I am not what I ought to be. but I have done my best, and that is the best that I can do. And if that is not enough, I can not help it; for I can not do any better." And that is precisely the Laodicean condition: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." "Because," in pride of self-righteousness, "thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3:15-17.

But that will never do. Therefore to the people to-day, in those Sabbath-school lessons in the book of Galatians, as really as in the book of Revelation, it is said: "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed." Rev. 3:18. What is the white raiment?–"The righteousness of saints:" it is the righteousness of God by faith which makes saints. He says, Get it of me. You can not get it by your doing anything. It does not come that way. It is the righteousness of God, not of men. It is essence, quality; the character, the nature, of God. Get it of God by receiving it, the free gift of God. Get this righteousness, and it will impart its blessed quality, its character, to all that God calls upon you to do. Sweetness will impart its quality to whatsoever needs it. And so the righteousness of God, which is the very essence of righteousness, will impart its blessed quality of righteousness to whatsoever it touches in the heart and life of him who needs righteousness. Oh, let this righteousness touch your heart! Yea, let it dwell in your heart and life by faith. Then righteousness will be imparted to every action you perform, and to all the deeds that come from God to you to do; and thus the righteousness of the law of God will be fulfilled in you, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [Voice: "Praise the Lord!"] Yes: let all the people say, Praise the Lord.

(To be continued.)

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 34 , p. 536.

"THE first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth; and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." Rev. 8:7.

The time covered by this prophecy is from 395 to 419 A.D., and related to the invasions of the Visigoths, especially under Alaric, and the great horde of barbarians under Radagaisus, in which wide regions, "which were covered with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms, . . . were suddenly changed into a desert, distinguished from the solitude of nature only by smoking ruins," causing "a secluded old man of Verona pathetically" to lament "the fate of his contemporary trees, which must blaze in the conflagration of the whole country [note the words of the prophecy–"the third part of the trees was burnt up"]."

"The public devotion of the age was impatient to exalt the saints and martyrs of the Catholic Church on the altars of Diana and Hercules. The union of the Roman Empire was dissolved; its genius was humbled in the dust; and armies of unknown barbarians, issuing from the frozen regions of the north, had established their victorious reign over the fairest provinces of Europe and Africa."

"The last word, Africa, is the signal for the sounding of the second trumpet. The scene changes from the shores of the Baltic to the southern coast of the Mediterranean, or from the frozen regions of the north to the borders of burning Africa. And, instead of a storm of hail being cast upon the earth, a burning mountain was cast into the sea."

"And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." Rev. 8:8, 9.

The period covered by this trumpet is from 428 to 476. "The history illustrative of the sounding of this trumpet evidently relates to the invasion and conquest of Africa, and afterward of Italy, by the terrible Genseric.

"The word Vandalism has become commonplace among historians. In speaking of the decline of Rome, it is recorded that 'Vandalism desolated her classic fields.' The hero of Vandal aggression and destruction was Genseric.

"His conquests were, for the most part, NAVAL, and his triumphs were 'as it were a great mountain burning with fire, . . . cast into the sea.' What figure would better, or so well, illustrate the collision of navies, and the general havoc of war on maritime coasts?"

"In the spring of each year they [the Vandals pirates] equipped a formidable navy in the port of Carthage, and Genseric himself, though in a very advanced age, still commanded in person the most important expeditions. His designs were concealed with impenetrable secrecy till the moment that he hoisted sail. When he was asked by his pilot what course he should steer, 'Leave the determination to the winds,' replied the barbarian, with pious arrogance; 'they will transport us to the guilty coast whose inhabitants have provoked the divine justice.'" Thus the terrible Genseric became "the tyrant of the sea;" and "before he died, in the fullness of years and of glory, he beheld the final extinction of the Empire of the West."

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Rev. 8:10, 11.

The period covered by this trumpet was brief, as "a burning star," 441-453. Of this Albert Barnes in his Notes, says: "That there would be some chieftain, or warrior, who might be compared to a blazing meteor whose course would be singularly brilliant; who would appear suddenly, LIKE a blazing star, and then disappear like a star whose light was quenced in the waters; that the desolating course of that meteor would be mainly on those portions of the world that abounded with springs of water and running streams; that an effect would be produced as if those streams and fountains were made bitter; that is, that many persons would perish, and that wild desolations would be caused in the vicinity of those rivers and streams, as if a baleful star should fall into the waters, and death should spread over lands adjacent to them and watered by them."

This trumpet describes the work of the terrible Attila, with his Huns and allies. "While the Vandals under Genseric [the "great burning mountain"] for forty years were destroying the Roman power by sea, there were other clans of barbarians confederating in order to strike a decisive blow against the same power by land. All Europe and a part of Asia had been aroused to the great struggle for the mastery. Many tribes are rallying to the standard of Atilla, and the Romans are preparing to repel their terrible foe. Atilla anticipates that his best trophies are beyond the Alps. At the sound of his war-cry, all Europe musters to arms. Since Xerxes led his immense army against the Greeks, no greater body of warriors had ever assembled to act a part in the fulfillment of prophecy. The engagement that succeeded [the battle of Chalons] is recorded as one of the four decisive battles of history.

"The nations from the Volga to the Atlantic were assembled on the plain of Chalons. The number of the slain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand, or, according to another account, three hundred thousand persons; and these incredible exaggerations suppose a real or effective loss sufficient to justify the historian's remark that whole generations may be swept away by the madness of kings, in the space of a single hour."

"The course of the fiery meteor was changed, not stayed; and, touching Italy for the first time, the great star, after having burned as it were a lamp, fell upon the 'third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.' Neither the spirit, nor the forces, nor the reputation of Attila, were impaired by the failure of the Gallic expedition. He passed the Alps, invaded Italy, besieged Aquileia with an innumerable host of barbarians. The succeeding generation could scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia. After this dreadful chastisement, Attila pursued his march; and, as he passed, the cities of Altinum, Concordia, and Padua were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes.

"Attila advanced not further into Italy than the plains of Lombardy and the banks of the Po. He reduced the cities, situated on that river and its tributary streams, to heaps of stones and ashes. But there his ravages ceased. The great star which burned as it were a lamp, no sooner fell upon the fountains and rivers of waters, and turned cities into ashes, than it was extinguished. Unlike the great mountain burning with fire, the great star that fell from heaven, after suddenly scorching a part of Italy, rapidly disappeared. One paragraph in the 'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' describes 'the invasion of Italy by Attila, A.D. 452.' Another is entitled, under the same date, 'Attila gives peace to the Romans.' The next paragraph describes the 'death of Attila, A.D. 453;' and the very next records, without any interval, the destruction of his empire."

"And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." Verse 12.

This trumpet illustrates the closing up of the Roman government. Sun, moon, stars are evidently symbols that denote the rulers in the government–its emperors, consuls, and senators.

The sun sends forth light of itself–the decree of the emperor is law. The moon shines with a borrowed light–the authority of the consul was dependent in some measure on the will of another. The stars shine when the night comes–the wants of the people demanded attention, and then the senate acted.

"The sun was smitten." Odoacer caused the title of emperor to cease. But one-third part only is affected–the jurisdiction of Rome then extended over only the middle division of the empire, as ceded by Constantine to his three sons. One-third part of the moon was smitten; the effect of this political calamity had the same extent as the former. When the consulship was taken away, Rome had ceded all her territory beyond the Alps.

"The power and the glory of Rome, as bearing rule over any nation, became extinct. The name alone remained to the queen of nations. Every token of royalty disappeared from the imperial city. She who had ruled over the nations sat in the dust, like a second Babylon, and there was no throne where the Cesars had reigned. The last act of obedience to a Roman prince, which that once august assembly performed, was the last emperor of the West, and the abolition of the imperial succession in Italy.

"Neither, at last, was the whole sun smitten, but the 'third part.' The throne of the Cesars had for ages been the sun of the world, while other kings were designated as stars. But the imperial power had first been transferred to Constantinople by Constantine; and it was afterward divided between the East and the West. And the Eastern Empire was not yet doomed to destruction. Even the Western Empire was afterwards revived; and a more modern dynasty arose to claim and maintain the title of emperor of the Romans. But, for the first time, after sudden, and violent, and distinctly marked and connected convulsions, the imperial power in Rome, where for so long a period it had reigned triumphant, was cut off forever; and the third part of the sun was smitten.

"But though the third part of the sun was smitten, and the Roman power imperial power was at an end in the city of the Cesars, yet the moon and the stars still shone, or glimmered, for a little longer in the Western hemisphere.

"But in their prophetic order, the consulship and the senate of Rome met their fate, though they fell not by the hands of Vandals or of Goths. The next revolution in Italy was its subjection to Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of the East. He did not spare what barbarians had hallowed. 'The Roman Consulship Extinguished by Justinian, A.D. 541, is the title of the last paragraph of the fortieth chapter of Gibbon's 'History of the Decline and Fall of Rome.' 'The succession of consuls finally ceased in the thirteenth year of Justinian, whose despotic temper might be gratified by the silent extinction of a title which admonished the Romans of their ancient freedom.' The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars.

"In the political firmament of the ancient world, while under the reign of imperial Rome, the emperorship, the consulate, and the senate, shone like the sun, the moon, and the stars. The history of their decline and fall is brought down till the two former were 'extinguished,' in reference to Rome and Italy, which so long had ranked as the first of cities and of countries; and finally, as the fourth trumpet closes, we see the 'extinction of that illustrious assembly,' the Roman senate. The city that had ruled the world, as if in mockery of human greatness, was conquered by the eunuch Narses, the successor of Belisarius. He defeated the Goths (A.D. 552), achieved 'the conquest of Rome,' and the fate of the senate was sealed.

"The calamities of imperial Rome, in its downfall, were fold to the very last of them, till Rome was without an emperor, a consul, or a senate."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:3" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 34 , p. 537.

"FOR I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."

"Debtor to do the whole law." It is curious that men, in considering this statement, have made it mark a distinction between two laws, and have made it exclude the law of God from the subject under consideration, by allowing to the word "debtor" only the sense of "obligation."

They know, by the scripture, that it is the whole duty of man to fear God and keep his commandments. They know that there can not be any other scripture to contradict that. They know that every man is under obligation to keep the whole law of God, whether he is circumcised or uncircumcised. And, allowing that this term implies only obligation,–that if he is circumcised, he is under obligation to do the whole law,–they conclude that this must exclude the law of God: they conclude that it must be some law that no person is under any obligation to do unless he be circumcised; and that therefore the "whole law" here under consideration must be only the whole ceremonial law of sacrifices and offerings.

On the other hand, there are those who hold themselves under no obligation whatever to keep the law of God, who bring in this text to support them in their disobedience and opposition. They will have it that only those who are circumcised are under any obligation to keep the law of God, and that it was only by being circumcised that the obligation comes; and they know that they are not under any obligation to be circumcised. From this they argue that they are under no obligation to keep the ten commandments.

But both of these are wrong; both of them fail to see the thought that is in this verse. And the cause of this failure is in their allowing to the word "debtor" only the sense of "obligation."

It is true that the word signifies "obligation." But, in this place, and in every other place in its connection with men's moral obligations, the word has a meaning so much broader and deeper than that of mere obligation that the sense of mere obligation becomes really secondary.

The word "debtor" in this verse–Gal. 5:3–signifies not only that a person is in debt, and under obligation to pay; but that, beyond this, he is overwhelmingly in debt, with nothing at all wherewith to pay. If a man is debtor, and so under obligation, to pay one thousand dollars, and yet has abundance, or even only the ability to pay the one thousand dollars, that is easy enough. But if a man is debtor, and so under obligation, to pay fourteen millions of dollars ($14,000,000) and has not a single cent wherewith to pay, and is in prison besides, and has no ability whatever to make a cent wherewith to pay his debt, to that man the word "debtor" signifies a great deal more than mere "obligation to pay."

And that is precisely the case here. That is the thought in this verse. That is the meaning embodied here in the word "debtor." This because the word "debtor," when used in connection with morals, implies, and can imply, only sin: that the man is a sinner.

This word "debtor" in Gal. 5:3 is precisely the word that is used in Luke 13:4,–"Those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?"–where the word "sinners" is in the text, is "debtors" in the margin.

It is the word used in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:12). "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;" and which, in Luke's version of the prayer, plainly expresses the thought of sin, in the words: "Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us." Luke 11:4.

It is the same word also that is used by the Saviour in Luke 7:41, 42: "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they nothing [with which] to pay, he frankly forgave them both."

It is the same word also that is used in the parable in Matt. 18:23-35. Indeed, from the verse, Luke 13:4, where the word "sinners" is used in the text and "debtors" is in the margin, the reference is direct to this parable in Matthew 18. That is the parable in which it is said that when a certain king "had begun to reckon" with his servants, "one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents,"–about fourteen million four hundred thousand dollars,–and he had nothing with which to pay. Then the lord "forgave the debt." But, when the servant found one of his fellow servants who owed him about fifteen dollars, he would not forgive him the debt, but cast him into prison until he should pay the fifteen dollars. Then the king called up his debtor, "and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matt. 18:23, 35.

That thought of delivering the debtor to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to his lord, belongs with the word; for "the use of the word involves the idea that the debtor is one that must expiate his guilt." And "sin is called hopheilema, because it involves expiation and the payment of it as a debt, by punishment and satisfaction."

From these scriptures the attentive reader can begin to see that in the words of Gal. 5:3,–"he is debtor to do the whole law,"–there is far more suggested than that he is merely under obligation to accept the claims of the law upon him, and do his best to meet them. All this shows that he is not only under obligation to recognize the binding claims of the law of God, but that he is actually debtor to render to that law all the claims that it has upon him. And in this it is further shown that, of himself, he must everlastingly be debtor; because he has absolutely nothing wherewith to pay, and of himself has no means of acquiring anything with which to pay.

And this indebtedness lies not only in his obligation to do the law from this time forward; it also lies in obligation to make satisfaction for all that is past,–for all the accumulations of the past, up to the present time.

Accordingly, of himself, every man is everlastingly a debtor in all that is implied in this thought in Gal. 5:3, and the kindred texts that we have here cited; because "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And whosoever would be circumcised in order to be saved and thus seek to be saved by works of self-righteousness, thereby takes upon himself the obligation to pay to the law of God his whole debt, from the beginning of his life unto the end of it. And in that, he also takes upon himself the obligation to expiate all the guilt attaching to his transgressions, and accumulated thereby.

That is what it is to be "debtor to do the whole law." That is what is stated in the words: "I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law." He is not only debtor; but, by that transaction, he himself voluntarily assumes of himself to discharge all that is involved in his indebtedness.

Now it is true that every man in the world is, of himself, that kind of a debtor. It is also true that any man to-day who seeks justification by his own works, even in the doing of the ten commandments, or of anything else that the Lord has commanded, does thereby assume, and bind himself to pay, all that is involved in the indebtedness. But he can not pay. There is not with him the first element of any possibility, in himself, to pay any of the debt. He is overwhelmed and lost.

But, thanks be to God, whosoever has the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, whosoever depends only on the Lord Jesus and that which Jesus has done, though he be of himself debtor just like any other man, yet, in Christ, he has wherewith abundantly to pay all the indebtedness. Christ has expiated, by punishment and satisfaction, all the guilt of every soul; and by the righteousness of God which he brings, Christ supplies abundance of righteousness to pay all the demands that the law may ever make in the life of him who believes in Jesus.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, believe it! Oh, receive it! Poor, overwhelmed, lost "debtor," "buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed." "Yea, come, buy. . . without money and without price."

August 28, 1900

"The Sermon. The Sabbath-school Work" ¹¹1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 35 , p. 547.

A. T. JONES

OUR time is so nearly gone that I can call attention only to another phase of this subject. But I hope that this to which I have called your attention will encourage every soul here to get the principle so that we can have it, every one, every day, as we come into the school, or into the church. Let us not continue for a moment in a way that any of the Sabbath-school lessons, in the book of Galatians, or in any other part of the Bible, will be in any sense dry or tedious. If it has been so with any, let it not be so longer.

There is a philosophy in bringing to us now this great principle of the book of Galatians. This is in order that we may be able to show to the world the way to the power of God. That is what the Third Angel's Message is. We must learn it ourselves, before we can give it to the world.

There is not only a philosophy in the bringing of the study of this book to us now, but there is a philosophy in the book itself–in the way it is put together in presenting the gospel as it is, and that which annihilates all ceremonialism, root and branch.

Look at it. The first thing in the book, after the greeting, is: "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ." Thus speaks that word always to every soul. Can anybody ever grow weary of drinking in the grace of God and his peace, which are poured out from heaven in a mighty stream? Then accept that word, and drink in of the grace of God, and his peace, in all its fullness,–the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. Then that peace will keep your hearts, and will keep your minds, through Christ Jesus. Many persons are distressed in keeping their minds where they would like to have them. They are anxious, and toiling, to keep their heart in the right way. Oh, just take in the grace and the peace of God, which are given to you in the very first thought of the book of Galatians, and that "peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Then thy peace shall be "as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea."

What is the next thought?–Oh, it is that he "gave himself for our sins,"–gave himself for our sins. For what did he give himself?–For my sins? He paid the price for all the world? Did he buy the sins of all the world?–He did. Then to whom do the sins of the world belong?–To him.

Let us leave out the great world now, and count those in this house. To whom do all the sins of all the people in this house to-day belong?–To him.

Now let us leave out all the others, and let only you and me be counted. To whom do all your sins belong to-day? Whose are they?–They are Christ's. All mine are his; every sin that I ever had, every one that the Lord himself could find in me now,–and he could find a host,–whatever sins could be found by the mighty searching of the Lord, belong to the Lord Jesus, because he paid the price for them–he gave himself for my sins. He paid such a price that I could not ask him to forego what he paid. He gave himself for my sins; and in that he gave himself for me, sins and all.

That is where many persons mistake. They get it into their heads, somehow,–it is from Satan, of course,–that the Lord will receive them, if only they will separate themselves from their sins, and come to him without sin. But that is a satanic delusion. We can not separate ourselves from our sins. We can choose to have it so; but he is the only One who can take away our sins. He bought us and made us his own, sins and all. You belong to him, sins and all. We all belong to him, sins and all. And he can cleanse us from all sin. Only he can do it. We never can. We have all tried it. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked," because the sin is still there, and he (the wicked) can not get rid of it. But when the Lord takes away the sin, and puts his own righteousness in the place of the sin, do you not see that that righteousness, being the very essence, the very quality of God's own character, imparts righteousness to the believer in Jesus? And through him it is manifested to others. That is just what the Lord Jesus can do; that is what he does, for everyone who will let him have what he bought–himself, sins and all.

And what did he do it for?–"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world." Oh, who would not wish to be delivered from this present evil world? Who would not be glad, and who is not glad, if he can be delivered from this present evil world? There is deliverance for every soul in the world. Christ has paid the price. He has done the work. And when we allow him to have what he has paid for, he does deliver. [Voice: "Praise the Lord!"] Then let every soul in the house take this deliverance to-day, and let the Lord do what he will with his own. He makes us fit to dwell with him–fit "to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." He "hath delivered us from the powers of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."

Then he gives us this precious gospel, which an angel from heaven could not improve. And that comes to us "by revelation." By next Sabbath every teacher can come before his class with that genuine gospel taught to him by revelation of God. it can not be taught to you by men: "they shall all be taught of God." It must be taught by revelation–the direct revelation of Jesus Christ to the soul.

And how is it done?–Oh, "it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son IN me,"–"Christ in you, the hope of glory,"–Christ in the life, the power of God,–Christ in the life, the wisdom of God,–Christ in the life, "all the fullness of God." That is this gospel.

And it is all put into the first chapter, to prepare you to see and to receive the truths in the following chapters. And, I pray you, do not pass by the first chapter of Galatians without finding the power of God. If you do, you will not be prepared to receive the truths in the chapters that follow, and you will be at sea all the way through. God has put that book together in such a way that you and I, going through the book, shall be brought into the way of God,–into the way in which he wishes us to go,–to be delivered forever from the very principle, root and branch, of ceremonialism, in whatever way it may manifest itself in the world.

Then, for your soul's sake, brethren and sisters,–for the sake of the sifting that will come to this whole denomination, through the very study of this book of Galatians,–let every one seek the Lord with all the heart, and receive the truth that is given in the lessons before you in the first chapter. Do not go into the second chapter,–do not think of going there; you are not prepared to go there,–until you have received what God has for you in the first chapter. Then, having received the gospel as given in the first chapter; having received the power of God to deliver from this present evil world; having found God revealing his Son in you,–then you can with joy and ever-increasing light go through the following chapters of the book.

Then let there be such an awakening in this time as God calls for, in this time when the world is sunk in the condition of formalism, of the form of godliness without the power of God. God has raised us up to convey to the world the message of the true gospel,–that gospel which is indeed the power of God, because in it the righteousness of God is revealed. If that is not what we are here for, then we have no place at all. But how can we do that unless we ourselves have in very truth that true gospel, that power unto salvation?

Therefore, to prepare us for the loud cry, the crisis of the message that must be sounded to a world sunk in the form of godliness without the power, the Lord sends to us these studies in Galatians, this gospel that is so pure and true that even an angel from heaven could not improve it, that we may first be completely delivered from the form of godliness without the power.

Let us accept and study this gospel. And when it shall be allowed to reign in our everyday lives in everything, our lives will be filled with the power of the Lord in all his grace and all his goodness, and we shall be saved from all formalism. Christ in us, the hope of glory, will be revealed; and "the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 35 , p. 552.

IN the events of the first four of the Seven Trumpets, the Western Empire of Rome was completely blotted out.

Out of the tribes of barbarians, which, like mighty tides, in succession overflowed the territory of Western Rome, ten established themselves in ten independent kingdoms, and there stood as independent kingdoms in A. D. 476, when the last vestige of the Roman Empire had vanished.

The Western Empire of Rome was gone, and just ten nations stood in her territory, in her stead. The ten stood thus:–

1. The Alemanni in North Switzerland, Swabia, Alsace, and Lorraine.

2. The Franks in all Gaul north and west of the Moselle.

3. The Burgundians in west Switzerland and the valleys of the Rhone and Saone in southeast Gaul.

4. The Suevi in that part of Spain which is not Portugal.

5. The Vandals in North Africa, with capital at Carthage.

6. The Visigoths in Spain and southwest Gaul.

7. The Angles and Saxons in Britain.

8. The Ostrogoths in Pannonia–what is now Austria.

9. The Lombards in Norcum, between the Ostrogoths and the Alemanni.

10. The Heruli in Italy.

The details of this any one can trace out, any day, on any map that he will but hold before him and mark as he reads the history of the fall of the Roman Empire.

These ten kingdoms were first mentioned in the prophecy of Daniel, especially in the "ten horns" of the "fourth beast." Dan. 7:7, 24. They are referred to later in the book of Revelation, in the description of the dragon, and also of the Beast, having "seven heads and ten horns." Also, in the prophecy of Daniel it is related that there would come up among these ten another one, and by it three of the ten would be "plucked up by the roots." The three which were plucked up, were the Heruli, who occupied Italy; the Vandals, who occupied North Africa; and the Ostrogoths, who had been instrumental in rooting up the Heruli, and who occupied Italy in their place. That "other one," before whom these three were rooted up, is described as having "eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things;" and was, and is, the papacy.

Take three from ten, and seven are left. And these seven of the original ten kingdoms that divided Western Rome are in that territory to-day, and are the Powers of Western Europe to-day. The Saxons, the Franks, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, the Visigoths, the Suevi, and the Lombards are the powers respectively of Britain, France, Germany (in the French language, and with the French people of to-day, the Germans are only Allemands, and Germany is only Allemagne), Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and Italy of to-day. For after the plucking up of the third of the three kingdoms, the Lombards removed from their place on the Danube, and established their kingdom in Italy, and to a considerable portion of that country "communicated the perpetual appellation of Lombardy." In the middle ages, Lombardy "was, indeed, for a time, the name for Italy itself." Thus the Powers of Western Europe to-day are as definitely pointed out by the prophecy as they could be without specifically naming them.

Of these seven, some are very powerful, such as Britain, France, and Germany; while others are weak, such as Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal; while Italy stands, as it were, between strong and weak. So these seven of the original ten, stand just where Daniel, from the dream that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, said they would stand. They stand there in precisely the condition in which that prophecy said they would stand–"partly strong, and partly broken," or weak. Britain, France, and Germany have spread their power over the whole world, and have so intertwined themselves in the affairs of the whole world that what touches the world touches them, and what touches them touches the world.

And these kingdoms, with the papacy, are the elements that compose the Beast and his power, against whose work, with that of the Image of the Beast, the Third Angel's Message utters its solemn warning.

Thus, in one way, through the Seven Trumpets we find the place of the great nations of Western Europe, as they are to-day. And, in another way, we thus find, through the Seven Trumpets, the basis of the Third Angel's Message.

And, in yet other ways, we shall find these same things through the remaining three of the Seven Trumpets.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:5" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 35 , pp. 552, 553.

"FOR we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."

Notice, it is not that we wait for righteousness by faith. This is the free gift of God, always open to every soul in the world, and does not have to be waited for a moment. Rather, it waits, in the longsuffering of God, for men to awake to receive it.

The word is, We "wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." That is, righteousness by faith is the foundation of a "hope" not yet realized, but which is certain to be realized.

What, then, is this hope?–It is the inheritance, which none can receive except they have eternal life. And none can have eternal life–the life of God–who have not eternal righteousness–the righteousness of God.

This hope was referred to by Paul in his answer before King Agrippa: "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promises our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews." Acts 26:6, 7. The promise made of God unto the fathers was the promise to Abraham, which embraces the world, even the world to come. As it is written: "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. 11:9, 10.

Paul said that it was for this "hope's sake" that he was accused of the Jews, when he made his answer before King Agrippa. But before Paul was brought before Agrippa, he had also stood before Festus the governor; and before that, he had made answer before Felix the governor. And in his word before Felix, he said, I "have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24:15.

But even before this, Paul had been obliged to stand before the Sanhedrin and answer; and there "he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." Acts 23:6. Of the hope of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead; that is, even the dead have hope, if they be of the righteousness of faith; for it is written: "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death." Prov.14:32. Therefore again it is written: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 1 Cor. 15:19. Not only in his life, but in his death, he who is in Christ has hope; and, being dead, his flesh rests in hope as did that of him in whom all the hope and promises of God are yea and amen.

The resurrection of the dead is an essential part of "the hope" which rests on righteousness by faith–this hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Indeed, the resurrection is the essential means of receiving "the hope." For, though God promised to Abraham the land in which he sojourned, yet "he gave him none inheritance in it, no not so much as to set his foot on," though "he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet ye had no child." Acts 7:5.

And even at that time, the Lord taught Abraham that it was through the resurrection of the dead that he was to receive the inheritance. For, in his call to the offering of Isaac, in whom was called the promised "seed," he was brought to the point wherein he accounted "that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Heb. 11:19.

It was through the seed only that Abraham was to receive the promised inheritance. And thus, in his receiving that seed "from the dead," "in a figure," upon his accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, he was taught the resurrection of the dead.

There is another bright element that enters into this hope which is begotten by righteousness by faith. Without the coming of the Lord there can be no resurrection of the dead. For he said to his disciples: "Wither I go, ye can not come." (John 13:33); but, "let not your heart be troubled. . . I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3.

And so all the fathers, "having obtained a good report through faith," "died in faith, not having received the promises," "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Heb. 11:39, 13, 40.

Therefore, "this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

Thus the second coming of the Lord is the crowning essential in "the hope of righteousness which is by faith." We can not have the inheritance without the righteousness of God, we can not receive the inheritance without the resurrection of the dead. And having the righteousness of God, and the hope of the resurrection of the dead, there can not be the resurrection of the dead without the coming of the Lord in power and great glory.

Therefore, they who have the righteousness of God, which is by faith, are ever "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13.

And, so, it is the present truth forever that "we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 35 , p. 553.

IN the note of July 3, announcing to the world the policy of the United States in regard to China, it is declared:–

The policy of the government of the United States is to seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace in China, preserve Chinese territorial and administrative ENTITY, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly Powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire.

Study that statement clause by clause, and you will get a glimpse of the mighty task which this nation has assumed in Asia. As a leading journal remarks:–

Here the administration has conceded that its policy means the entrance of the United States into Asiatic politics. For no one can suggest how America can work actively for the ends outlined, without plunging into the politics of Asia up to the neck. The United States can no more preserve the "entity" of China without being a force in the complications of Oriental politics than it could set out to preserve the "entity" of Turkey without entering the politics of Europe.

That the program is somewhat colossal will not be seriously disputed. In the first place, the United States is to seek for "permanent safety and peace" in China. Now a state of "permanent safety and peace" is manifestly an impossibility in the most advanced and well-governed of Western nations. The alien nation that seeks to keep China in a condition of perpetual peace must always be in China, prepared to prevent or put down civil war. To preserve Chinese "entity," you must be ready to do a great many other things such as enter foreign alliances that mean business. To keep China's territorial domain as it is, you must be prepared to oppose the Slav coming down from the north, and the German pushing in from the sea. And when you "safeguard for the world," instead of for the United States alone, the principle of equal and impartial trade, you pass beyond the realm of national interests, which alone concern properly the statesman. Just why the United States should set out to "safeguard the world's" trading interests in China is a mystery. If the United States safeguards its own trade, it will do its full duty.

It is not enough now to say that the United States is one of "the kings of the East;" but that she is, or at least proposes to be, the very chiefest of these. And so there are now no kings of the East, except the kings of the West; and these are "the kings of the earth and of the whole world."

September 4, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36 , p. 568.

THE first four of the Seven Trumpets, as we have seen, mark the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome, and the planting, in its place, of the peoples that formed the nations of Western Europe to-day.

The fifth and sixth trumpets, likewise, mark the ruin of the Eastern Empire of Rome, and introduce the peoples by whom that ruin was accomplished, who are the modern nations of Eastern Europe and of Asia.

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon ["that is to say, a destroyer," margin]." Rev. 9:1-11.

This trumpet covers a period of eight hundred and seventeen years,–A.D. 632-1449,–and shows the rise and work of the Mohammedans in the destruction of Eastern Rome–first the Arabian Mohammedans and later the Turkish Mohammedans. Of this Albert Barnes remarks that, "with surprising unanimity, commentators have agreed in regarding this as referring to the empire of the Saracens, or to the rise and progress of the religion and the empire set up by Mohammed." We can not see how any one who will ready the prophecy, and Gibbon's history of Mohammed and his successors in the light of it, can disagree with the application of the prophecy to the Mohammedans.

The term "bottomless pit," which denotes the place of their rise, is from the Greek word abussos, and signifies a waste, desolate region. And to any one who will read Gibbon's chapter L, paragraphs 2-5, the significance and aptness of the term as applied to Arabia will readily be discerned.

The vast hordes of the Mohammedans are shown under the symbol of a cloud of locusts; and in verses 7-9 the meaning of the symbol is made plain by the words, "The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; . . . and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle."

As to that which was "commanded them," the history witnesses thus: "Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression, consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the battle of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no palm trees nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor burn their monasteries. And you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohammedan or pay tribute."–"Decline and Fall," LI, par. 10.

And, says the Scripture, "Their power was to hurt man five months." Five months are one hundred and fifty days; this, being prophetic time,–a day for a year,–equals one hundred and fifty years, during which they were to hurt men.

This one hundred and fifty years is to be counted from the time that they had a king over them, as says verses 11: "They had a king over them. . . . whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon ["a destroyer," margin]." For more than six hundred years the Mohammedans had no regularly organized government, and recognized no such dignitary as that which answers to the title of king. Each tribe, under its own chief, was independent of all the others, and came and went as it pleased. While this was the case, it is evident, and it is the fact too, that their character as "a destroyer," was not, and could not be, such as it was after they were solidly united in one government, under the sway of a ruler recognized by all.

This is made more apparent when it is seen what was to be destroyed by this "destroyer." The first four trumpets show the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome; and the fifth relates to the destruction of the Eastern Empire. And it is in the character of the destroyer of the last remains of the Roman Empire that this power acts. It was not as a destroyer of men as such, for of them it is said "that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months," "and their power was to hurt men five months." It is evident, then, that this character and work as "a destroyer," relates to the final destruction of the Roman Empire, which was then represented in the Eastern Empire, with the capital at New Rome–Constantinople.

Othman was the caliph who established the organized government of the Mohammedans, and from him descended the name and title of the Ottoman Empire. It was under the organized power of Othman that the work of the destroyer began. In closing his account of the devastating rage of the Moguls and Tartars under Zingis Khan and his generals, Gibbon says:–

In this shipwreck of nations [A.D. 1240-1304], some surprise may be excited by the escape of the Roman Empire, whose relics, at the time of the Mogul invasion, were dismembered by the Greeks and Latins.–Id., chap. 64, par. 13.

But the decline of the Moguls gave free scope to the rise of the Moslems, under Othman. Of this the historian says:–

He was situate on the verge of the Greek Empire; the Koran sanctified his gazi, or holy war, against the infidels; and their political errors unlocked the passes of Mount Olympus, and invited him to descend into the plains of Bithynia. . . . It was on July 27, A.D. 1299, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster.–Id., par. 14.

Several points in this quotation must be noticed:–

1. Othman was the man who succeeded in bringing the disjointed elements of the Mohammedan power into a compact and distinctly organized governmental shape. From him, consequently, comes the term that still attaches to the government of the Turks, namely, the Ottoman Empire. From him dates the time when, as never before, "they had a king over them."

2. Note the expression of the historian–"the destructive growth of this monster." Thus he distinguishes the very characteristic of "destroyer," which is predicted of it in the Scriptures.

3. The historian emphasizes "the singular accuracy of the date." In the original documents from which he drew his material, he found this date made so specific that he himself is forced to remark its "singular accuracy." Yet, to those who recognize God's dealings with the nations and kingdoms, and who consider that from the time when these had a king over them, a period of a hundred and fifty years is given in which to do a certain work, it is not surprising that the date should be indicated with such singular accuracy.

The work of destruction, then, which was to subvert the last remains of the Roman Empire, began July 27, 1299, and never ceased till the imperial power passed into the hands of Amurath, July 27, 1449.

And "one woe is passed; and, behold there come two woes more hereafter."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:6" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36 , p. 569.

"FOR in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."

This is the climax of Paul's argument in answer to the "Pharisees which believed," who preached to those who were saved by faith of Jesus Christ, that "except ye be circumcised and keep the law, ye can not be saved."

The force of it is more fully discerned when there is understood just what was claimed for circumcision, and what it represented to those who there preached it. By them it was held that "so great is circumcision, that, but for it, the Holy One, blessed be he, would not have created the world:" that "but for circumcision, heaven and earth could not exist;" "it is as great as all the other commandments;" and "how great is circumcision, since it is equivalent to ALL the commandments of the law?" Thus, in their estimation, he who was circumcised had, in that, all the keeping of all the commandments. How this emphasizes the weight of that sentence of Paul's: "I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law." Instead of his having in circumcision all the keeping of the commandments, he had by that none of it at all; but was still in debt to do the whole law, with nothing at all wherewith to pay.

From the value which they gave to circumcision, it is easy to see how the "Pharisees which believed" could insist that persons who believed in Jesus, and so were saved by the faith of Jesus, must yet be circumcised in order to be saved. This was so, and was so easy, simply because to them circumcision was greater than was Jesus; and because to them, in every sense, circumcision stood exactly in the place that Christ in truth occupies.

Thus the question involved between Christianity and "the Pharisees which believed," the question which was settled by the Holy Spirit, and which is made plain in Galatians, is: Are men saved by faith of Christ, or by something else? Is Christ the true Saviour, or is something else the savior?

Yet, in reality, though that was the question, it did not stand exactly that way. Notice: the people to whom came preaching the "Pharisees which believed," were already believers in Jesus; and the "Pharisees which believed" did not say that men should not believe in Jesus. They admitted that it is proper to believe in Jesus. The themselves professed to believe in Jesus. But they insisted that the faith of Jesus is not enough to save: salvation must be by the faith of Jesus and something else.

Therefore the question in reality stood: Is Christ alone sufficient for salvation? or must salvation be by Christ and something else?

Does faith in Christ alone, save the soul? or must salvation be by faith in Christ and something else?

Is it by Christ alone? Or is it by Christ and circumcision?

It is by Christ alone? or is it by Christ and penance?

Is it by faith of Christ alone? or it is by faith and works?

Is it by faith which comes from God as the gift of God, and therefore itself works the works of God? or is it by a so-called faith which springs from mere assent of the mind, is thus "of yourselves," and therefore must be supported by the works of the law in self and self-righteousness.

Is it by faith which works? or is it by faith and works?

And to this question, in all the various and subtle ways of insinuating self in place of Christ, the divine answer stands full and complete forever, in the single mighty sentence, "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."

"In Christ Jesus"–that is, with whomsoever believeth in Jesus–"neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith."

"In Christ Jesus"–with whomsoever believeth in Jesus–"neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,"–neither works, availeth anything, nor no works,–"but faith WHICH WORKS."

"In Christ Jesus"–with whomsoever believeth in Jesus–"Neither circumcision. . . nor uncircumcision"–neither keeping the commandments availeth anything, nor not keeping the commandments; "but FAITH WHICH worketh by LOVE"–FAITH WHICH keepeth the commandments of God; for "this is the LOVE of GOD, that we keep his commandments." And he who has Christ, and is in Christ, has IN CHRIST all the keeping of all the commandments.

Even as it is written in another place in Galatians: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but A NEW CREATURE." Gal. 6:15. And this, simply because "if any man be in Christ he IS a new creature." 2 Cor. 5:17. If he is not a new creature, his profession of being in Christ is only a profession, and is in vain.

And as it is written yet again in another place: "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping of the commandments of God" is something. But this only when the man "is a new creature;" only when the keeping of the commandments is the result of faith, which is of God, and which therefore works the works of God; only when the keeping of the commandments is the effect, of which the sole cause is "faith WHICH worketh BY LOVE"–faith which is of God and worketh by the love of God, which love in itself is expressed and can be expressed only in the keeping of the commandments of God, and which therefore is the keeping of the commandments of God; all of which is because of Christ within,–"Christ IN YOU the hope of glory,"–by whose obedience alone every believer in Jesus is made righteous.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36 , p. 569.

THE Advance says: "In this country the church has led all other agencies in the promotion of classical education. It founded the first college, and has multiplied the number. In these Christian colleges the study of Greek and Latin has heretofore held the principal place. But now a rapid change is passing over our institutions of learning. The classics are going. Not a shred of Greek is left in some of the new courses, and Latin is left more and more to the tender mercies of 'the electives.'" The classics ought to go. Especially from every school that makes any pretensions to being Christian. For how is it possible for a study of pagan literature to be of any benefit to any Christian student? How can Christianity be learned from paganism?

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 36 , p. 576.

THE Independent confesses that for world-politics of the kind now occupying the United States with the other world-powers, "popular or representative governments are ill fitted. Question of foreign policy can not be made the subjects of party controversies. When the administration has taken a stand, . . . the opposition can do nothing but support it. . . . An aristocracy or a despot may maintain a permanent foreign policy; but so long ago as when Thucydides wrote, it was understood that a democracy was incompetent to govern dependencies." It is now fixed that the United States will have a permanent foreign policy. Since such can be maintained only by an aristocracy or a despotism, and since there is here no aristocracy, it remains inevitable that this permanent foreign policy can be maintained only by a despotism. That despotism has begun, and is growing as steadily as the clock ticks.

IN the Treaty of Paris, which transferred the Philippine Islands and people to the sovereignty of the United States, this nation bound herself, by first allowing herself to be bound, "to observe the standing and rights accorded by custom to the religious corporation in the Philippines." And now a representative of the Associated Press in the Philippines publishes, in the Independent of August 30, that "according to Archbishop Chapelle, these measures were indirectly introduced into the treaty by Chapelle himself." Thus in that treaty the United States was bound by Rome to the interests of Rome, forever.

IN the order issued by the United States for the Cuban Constitutional Convention, it is said that this convention shall "meet in the city of Havana, at twelve o'clock noon, on the first Monday of November, in the year 1900, to frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and, as a part thereof, to provide for and agree with the government of the United States, upon the relations to exist between that government and the government of Cuba." Note that this orders that the convention shall "adopt" the constitution as well as "frame" it, for the people of Cuba. And there are to be thirty-one delegates.

September 11, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 37 , p. 584.

"AND the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men." Rev. 9:13-15.

In the year 1449, at the death of the emperor of the Eastern Empire of Rome, that empire had dwindled almost to the very walls of the capital itself. And so certain did it seem that the capital itself must shortly fall, that the successor to the throne would not accept the place without the knowledge and permission of Amurath, the sultan of the Turks. And thus that empire at that time really passed under the control of the Turkish power; and all that remained to complete the blotting out of the empire in every respect, was the actual taking of the capital, which was accomplished in 1453.

Thus the time of the sixth trumpet began immediately upon the expiration of the fifth, July 27, 1449; and was to continue "an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year." Counting 30 days to the month, according to the Scriptural mode of computing time, a year is 360 days; and taking "each day for a year" (Eze. 4:4-6), we have 360 years. A month–30 days–is 30 years. A day is 1 year. These, added together, give 391 years. From July 27, 1449, the 391 years reach to July 27, 1840. But there is "an hour" more. An hour is the twenty-fourth part of a day; and (a day for a year) this would be the twenty-fourth part of a year, or fifteen days. Fifteen days, from July 27, extend to August 11. Therefore Aug. 11, 1840, this period of an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, would expire. For this length of time, and to this date, the power of the Ottoman Empire was to continue.

And as that power, in the place of Eastern Rome, was made complete by the voluntary surrender to it of the authority of Eastern Rome; so, when the end of the time had come which was marked for its continuance, that power itself, as an independency, should be expected to cease. And on that very day the actual power of the Turkish government passed into the hands of the great Powers of Europe, and from that day to this, the very existence of the Ottoman Empire has been solely dependent on the support of these great Powers.

Before the expiration of that time, the light of this prophecy was seen; and in 1838 it was announced to the world that Aug. 11, 1840, the independence of the Turkish power would cease. For several years there had been discontent on the part of Egypt and her pasha, which were subject to the Turkish power. In 1839 actual hostilities were begun, and the forces of the pasha of Egypt were victorious, the sultan's army was destroyed, and his fleet was captured and taken into Egypt.

According to all regular order of human events, this matter should have ended in the breaking away of Egypt from the Turkish power, and the establishment of her independence of that power. But instead of this, the four Powers–Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia–entered upon the scene, interposed their united authority, and determined, themselves, to settle the controversy. And the way in which it was settled was that the pasha of Egypt must again yield himself in subjection to the defeated sultan, whose standing and authority these Powers assured, and for which they became responsible. And this arrangement, by which the authority of the Turkish Empire passed into the hands of the Powers of Europe, was completed Aug. 11, 1840, the very day to which the time marked in the prophecy continued, and the very day which, in the light of that prophecy, had, two years before, been named for this very result.

Several times since 1840 the Turkish government would have ceased to be, had it not been upheld in this way. In a little pamphlet on the Turkish-Armenian question, published in 1895 by the Armenian Society in London, the following statement is made concerning England's connection with this matter:–

We are responsible for Turkey. We saved the Turk twice at least from the doom which he richly merited. The Duke of Wellington sixty years ago lamented that the Russians had not entered Constantinople in 1825 and brought the Ottoman Empire to an end. We have much more reason to lament that it was not destroyed in 1853, and again in 1878. On both these occasions we interfered to save it. But for us there would be no sultan on the Bosporus.

On the same page is a quotation from an article by the Duke of Argyle, in the Times, in which the duke says:–

It is not too much to say that England has twice saved Turkey from complete subjection since 1853. It is largely–mainly–due to our action that she now exists at all as an independent Power. On both these occasions we dragged the Powers of Europe along with us in maintaining the Ottoman government.

We do not reproduce these statements for the purpose of attaching blame to England, or to any other Power; but solely for the purpose of making clear the fact that the Ottoman Empire, since 1840, has not existed by its own power, but wholly by the action of other Powers. In accordance with this fact, the pamphlet truly says:–

It is impossible to talk of the Ottoman Empire as it if were a nation, like the United States, or like Holland. It is an artificial. . . creation of treaties, that is kept in existence by the Powers for their own convenience.

Thus, Aug. 11, 1840, the time set by the Scripture for the existence and work of the Ottoman Empire, as such, expired; on that day the sixth trumpet ceased to sound, and the second woe ended; and of the seventh trumpet–the third woe–we read: "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."

Note the expression as to the coming of the third woe–it "cometh quickly." It did not come immediately upon the expiration of the sixth, as the sixth came immediately on the expiration of the fifth: there was a little space between the expiration of the sixth trumpet and the beginning of the seventh, which space is announced, and its shortness signified, by the word "quickly." And in this short space between the sixth and seventh trumpets, that mighty angel of Revelation 10 came in with his message, which was to sound over sea and land.

And that this is the place of that angel, is made certain by the fact that he refers to the beginning of the trumpet of the seventh angel as future. For that angel which stood "upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." Rev. 10:5-7.

And when that mystery of God shall be finished, the kingdoms of this world "become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." This is at the coming of Christ; and the coming of Christ brings the end of the world. The first four trumpets mark the downfall of the Western Empire of Rome; the fifth and sixth mark the destruction of the Eastern Empire of Rome; and the seventh trumpet marks the downfall of all empires, all kingdoms, and all nations; for when the God of heaven sets up his kingdom, "it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms." Dan. 2:44.

The woe of the fifth trumpet was called by Gibbons the "shipwreck of nations;" but the woe of the seventh trumpet will be not only the shipwreck of nations, but of the great globe itself; for, in Rev. 11:19, among the events of the seventh trumpet–the third woe–are that earthquake by which every mountain and island are moved out of their places, and that great hail, both of which come in the seventh plague, when God "ariseth to shake terribly the earth," and the great voice is heard out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done." Rev. 16:17-21.

The events of the seventh trumpet will be considered next week.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:7-15" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 37 , pp. 584, 585.

"YE did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you."

Verse 8 here ought to make plain to all who is the one, in chapter 1, verse 6, that called them into the grace of Christ. Some are inclined to hold that Paul refers to himself in that scripture, in the words, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel." They think that Paul is marveling that the Galatians should be so soon removed from himself, because they think that Paul was the one who called the Galatians into the grace of Christ. But this is a mistake. Paul did not draw men to himself: and this for the simple reason that he did not preach himself. He preached Christ–Christ and him crucified, and Christ crucified in every place where Paul preached. Consequently, men saw Christ instead of Paul–Christ with themselves, just where they were. And Christ, being thus lifted up in person, drew men to himself. And since, even in that, it is forever true that no man can come to Christ except the Father draw him, it is evident that in this work of the grace of Christ it is God who called these people into the grace of Christ. And when men come to them, preaching another gospel, which was not another, but was a perversion of the gospel of Christ, as many as trusted in that false gospel were, by that, removed, not from Paul, but from Christ, who had drawn them to himself; and from God, who had called them into the grace of Christ, which drew them to himself.

And thus verse 8 of the present study–"This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you"–shows that it could not refer to Paul, because he had not been near to them, so that the persuasion could be an alternative between them and the others. But God was present with them, with his persuasion and his calling, so that whatever persuasion and calling were against that gospel which they had at first heard, could not possibly come from him who had called them, who was God.

"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgement, whomsoever he be. And I, brethren, it I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you."

As we saw in last week's study, if he had preached circumcision, it would have been but to put circumcision in the place of Christ; and that, in itself, would have been to reject the grace of Christ, Christ and him crucified; and so the offense of the cross would have ceased, and the persecution with it, in the preaching of circumcision.

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not the liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Every soul, in being called unto Christ, is called to liberty; and every soul who receives Christ is delivered from bondage, in to the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Jesus Christ came into the world only to set men free, and to plant in their souls

585

the genuine principle of liberty. And this liberty with which Christ made men free is liberty actuated only by love. It is a liberty too honorable to allow itself to be used as an occasion to the flesh, or as a cloak of maliciousness. It is a liberty led by a conscience enlightened by the Spirit of God. It is a liberty in which he who has it, is made free from all men, yet it makes him who receives it so gentle by love that he willingly becomes the servant of all, in order to bring them to the enjoyment that same liberty. This is freedom indeed: this is the freedom which Christ gives to whomsoever believes in him: for "whom the Son makes free is free indeed."

And thus "all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This, because all that law, of which this "one word" is but one of the two great principles upon which the whole hangs,–that law is itself "the law of liberty."

This is Christianity: this is the gospel and the liberty of the gospel. "But if ye bite and devour one another,"–if so ye repudiate the gospel and deny the liberty which it brings: if ye be critical, narrow, and intolerant,–"take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." For that is the only consequence that can come of such a course, with utter destruction at the last.

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 37 , p. 592.

A DISPATCH from Manila, August 5, says: "On September 1 the commission headed by Judge Taft will become the legislative body of the Philippines, with power to take and appropriate insular moneys, to establish judicial and educational systems, and to make and pass all laws." And yet that commission is "the personal representative of the President of the United States," who of right has no legislative power at all. How can the commission represent the President in making laws, when the President has no authority whatever to make any law?–It simply can not be done. Then, instead of representing the President, the commission merely represents the person who is President. And since the commission represents this person, who is not present, in things in which he would have no authority but his own personal will if he were present, the sum of it is that the commission represents merely its own will. And all this under the jurisdiction of the United States! Where in that is there any recognition of the Constitution?–It would be impossible to abandon the Constitution more completely than is done in this arrangement.

THE international problem in China is as perplexing as ever. Not one of the Powers knows what is the best thing to do. And only one of the Powers–Germany–seems to know certainly what she will do. Germany knows that she is going to stay in Peking, for the present anyhow. Russia presented a proposal that she would leave–not China, but–Peking, if the other Powers would do so. The United States caught this as a cue, and presented to the world the proposition; but neither Germany nor Britain would trust Russia, and so the scheme could not carry. It is therefore settled just now that the Powers will all stay in Peking; but what for, and what they shall do there, no one of them knows. The pretense presented by the United States for staying is "to protect her interests and the native Christians." But what call she has to protect native Christians in China, any more than in Russia or the Philippines, nobody has explained. But the United States setting herself up as the special champion of Christians in China, or anywhere else, is another distinct and long stride in the making of the Image of the Beast. For how long shall she be the special champion of Christians abroad before she will be the same thing at home?

September 18, 1900

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:16-18" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 38 , p. 600.

"THIS I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: for these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye can not do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."

"If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law;" because "as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." As sons of God, these have the mind of the Spirit, the mind of Christ; and so with the mind they "serve the law of God." Accordingly, whosoever is led of the Spirit of God, and thus has the mind of Christ, fulfill the law; because, by that Spirit, there is shed abroad in the heart the love of God, which, in itself, is the fulfilling of the law, in whomsoever has it.

On the other hand, whomsoever is led of the flesh, and so has the mind of the flesh, does the works of the flesh, and so serves the law of sin.

And the two ways, the way of the Spirit and the way of the flesh, are always open before every man. As certainly as the flesh is there, it "lusteth against the Spirit;" and as certainly as the Spirit is there, it "lusteth against the flesh." Whosoever is led of the flesh can not do the good that he would; he serves the law of sin, and so is under the law. But whosoever is "led of the Spirit is not under the law."

And every man is always free to choose which shall be his way–the way of the Spirit, or the way of the flesh. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Rom. 8:13.

Note that, in the text of Galatians now under consideration, and its kindred texts in Romans and also in Colossians, it is stated in words, and constantly held in view, that the flesh, in its true, fleshly, sinful nature, is still present with him who has the Spirit of God; and that this flesh is warring against the Spirit.

That is, when a man is converted, and is thus brought under the power of the spirit of God, he is not so delivered from the flesh that he is actually separated from it, with its tendencies and desires, so that, by the flesh, he is no more tempted, and that with it he has no more contest. No; that same degenerate, sinful flesh is there, with its same tendencies and desires. But the individual is no longer subject to them. He is delivered from subjection to the flesh, with its tendencies and desires, and is now subject to the Spirit. He is now subject to a power that conquers, and brings under, crucifies, and keeps under, the flesh, sinful as it is, with all its affections and lusts. Therefore, it is written that "ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body." "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. 3:5. Note that all these things are there in the flesh and would live and reign if the flesh were to rule. But since the flesh itself is brought into subjection to the power of God, through the Spirit, all these evil things are killed at the root, and thus prevented from appearing in the life.

This contrast between the rule of the flesh and the rule of the Spirit, is clearly shown in Rom. 7:14-24 and in 1 Cor. 9:26, 27. In the seventh of Romans is pictured the man who is under the power of the flesh, "carnal, sold under sin," who longs to do good, and wills to do good, but is subject to a power in the flesh that will not let him do the good that he would. "For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do." "I find them a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law IN MY MEMBERS, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" That describes the man who is subject to the flesh, "to the law of sin" that is in the members. And when he would break away from the power of the flesh, and would do good, that power still brings him into captivity, and holds him under the dominion of the flesh, the law of sin, which is in his members.

But there is deliverance from that power. Therefore, when he cries out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" there is given instantly the answer: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." There is the way of deliverance; for Christ alone is the Deliverer.

And now this man, though he is thus delivered, is not delivered from A CONTEST: he is not put into a condition where he has no fighting to do with the flesh. There is a fight still to be carried on; and it is not a make-believe fight; it is not the fighting of a phantom. Here is the man of 1 Cor. 9:26, 27: "So fight I, not as one that beateth the air." What does he fight? What does he beat? Read: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Thus, in the battle that the Christian fights, is his body, is the flesh, with its affections and lusts. The body is to be, by the Christian, kept under, and brought into subjection, by the new power of the Spirit of God, to which he is now subject, and to which he became subject when delivered from the power of the flesh and the law of sin.

This is made yet more expressive by the fuller rendering of the Greek word translated "keep under," in 1 Cor. 9:27: "I keep under my body." It means literally, "to strike under the eyes, hit and beat the face black and blue." Accordingly, Conybeare and Howson translate this passage thus: "I fight not as the pugilist who strikes out against the air; but I bruise my body and force it into bondage."

Thus the seventh of Romans shows the man subject to the power of the flesh and the law of sin that is in the members, but longing for deliverance. The ninth of first Corinthians shows the flesh subject to the man through the new power of the Spirit of God. In the seventh of Romans, the flesh is ruling, and the man is under. In the ninth chapter of Corinthians, the man is ruling, and the flesh is under.

And this blessed reversal of things is wrought in conversion. By conversion the man is put in possession of the power of God, so that, by that power, he is made ruler over the flesh, with all its affections and lusts; and, through the Spirit, he crucifies the flesh with the affections and lusts, in his fighting "the good fight of faith."

Men are not saved by being delivered utterly from the flesh; but by receiving power to conquer and rule over all the evil tendencies and the desires of the flesh. Men do not develop character (in fact, they never could) by being delivered into a realm of no temptation; but, by receiving power, in the field of temptation exactly where they are, to conquer all the temptation.

If men were to be saved by being delivered utterly from the flesh just as it is, then Jesus need never have come to the world. If men were to be saved by being delivered from all temptation, and set in a realm of no temptation, then Jesus need not have come into the world. But never, by any such deliverance as that, could man have developed character. Therefore, instead of trying to save men by delivering them utterly from the flesh, just where they were, Jesus came to the world, and put himself IN THE FLESH, just where men are; and met that flesh, JUST AS IT IS, with all its tendencies and desires; and by the divine power which he brought by faith, he "conquered sin in the flesh," and thus brought to all mankind that divine faith which brings the divine power to man to deliver him from the power of the flesh and the law of sin, just where he is, and to give him assured dominion over the flesh, just as it is.

Instead of Jesus' trying to save men in a way in which they would be limp and characterless, by setting them in a realm of no temptation, he came to man, just where man is, in the midst of all his temptations. Jesus came in the very flesh such as man has; and in that flesh, he met all the temptations known to that flesh, and conquered every one of them; and by that conquest brought victory to every soul in the world. Bless his name.

And every soul can have in its fullness that victory, who will receive and keep "the faith of Jesus." For "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets: the Time of the Seventh Trumpet" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 38 , pp. 600, 601.

SAID the angel: "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." Rev. 10:7. This refers to the last of the seven trumpet angels, and the third woe, as shown last week, was to come "quickly" after the ending of the sixth trumpet and the second woe. Rev. 11:14. These being prophetic days,–each day for a year,–the expression says: In the years of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound. As will be seen further on, the seventh trumpet, the third woe, covers all the woe that will ever be on this earth from the time when this trumpet begins to sound. But the mystery of God is to be finished in the years when it begins–not at the latter part, nor at the end, but in the beginning. Whenever, therefore, the seventh angel begins to sound, the finishing of the mystery of God is close at hand.

But what is the mystery of God?–The mystery of God is the gospel. Proof: in Eph. 3:3 Paul says, "By revelation he made known unto me the mystery." And in Gal. 1:11, 12, he says, "The gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Here we have the statement that the gospel was given him by revelation, and also that by revelation there was made known to him "the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. . . . Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now. . . might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. . . . That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Eph. 3:3-11, 17-19; Col. 2:2.

From these texts it is evident that the eternal purpose of God, which he purposed in Christ for us; that the unsearchable riches of Christ, which are brought to the children of men; that the immeasurable love of Christ and of God, for man; that the love of Christ and of God, which passeth knowledge, is the mystery of God. But this is nothing else than the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is only the effort of God to reveal this mystery, and to bring its depths to the comprehension of men.

Again: in Eph. 6:19 Paul calls preaching the making known of the mystery of the gospel, saying: "Praying. . . for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds." To the Colossians likewise he said: "Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds." Col. 4:3. And to the Romans: "Now unto him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." Rom. 16:25, 26. There can be no question that the mystery of God is the gospel of God, that the mystery of Christ is the gospel of Christ; for it is called the "gospel of God" as well as the "gospel of Christ." 1 Peter 4:17; 1 Thess. 2:2, 9; 1 Tim. 1:11. And properly enough so, for Christ is "God with us" (Matt. 1:23), and "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Cor. 5:12.

The mystery of God being the gospel, when the angel said that the mystery of God should be finished, he was but saying, according to these scriptures, that the gospel should be finished. Paul said that the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation;" therefore to say that the mystery of God–the gospel–should be finished, is but to say that the power of God for the salvation of men will cease to be exercised. Again, the mystery of God is God manifest in the flesh, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The finishing of that mystery will be God alone manifest, Christ in his completeness revealed, in the flesh in those who believe in him.

So then, according to the explanation given in these scriptures, the angel of Rev. 10:7 says, In the days–the years–of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the gospel should be finished, the power of God for the salvation of men shall cease to be exercised; and the work of God in Christ in those who truly believe in him, will be completed unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ, "as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."

The sanctuary of the Levitical law was a figure of the sanctuary of the gospel. Heb. 9:9, 11, 23. That was on earth, this is in heaven. That was made with hands, and was pitched by man; this was made without hands, and was pitched by the Lord. Heb. 9:9, 23, 24; 8:2; 9:11. The service of that sanctuary was by the men of the Levitical priesthood, and with the blood of beasts; the service of this sanctuary is by Christ the Lord, of the Melchisedec priesthood, and with the blood of Christ himself. Hebrews 7; 9:6, 9, 12-14, 22-26; 8:1. The service of that sanctuary was completed once a year; the service of this, when completed, is once for all. Heb. 9:25, 26; 10:3, 10.

The last work of the annual service in that sanctuary was upon what was called the day of atonement; and the service was called the cleansing of the sanctuary–the taking away of all the sins that had been conveyed into the sanctuary by the service of the priests at the confessions and sacrifices of the people during the year that then ended. Lev. 23:27-32; 16:2-34. The last work of the once-for-all service of the heavenly sanctuary will be the great day of everlasting atonement; and the service will be to take away forever all the sins that have been borne by our High Priest, at the confession of believers, and the offering of Him by faith as our sacrifice, as he offers himself in fact in our behalf.

This also is called the cleansing of, not the earthly, but the heavenly sanctuary. As the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was the last work for that year in behalf of that people, so the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary will be the last work forever in behalf of any people. As the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was the very last day of that annual round of service, so, whenever the world shall have reached the time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the world will then have entered upon the very last days of the work of the gospel. And when the sanctuary shall have been cleansed, the gospel–the mystery of God–will have been "finished as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."

Now, when, according to the Scriptures, should the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary begin? In Dan. 8:14, from a certain time, it is said, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." This also being prophetic time, each day stands for a year, and is, therefore, two thousand three hundred years.

From what time?–"From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Dan. 9:25. Seventy weeks–four hundred and ninety years–were cut off from the two thousand three hundred, and appropriated to Daniel's people, the Jews; and the beginning of the four hundred and ninety years is the beginning of the two thousand three hundred. This beginning, as quoted above, was at the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, which was in the year 457 B.C. Ezra 7.

Although Ezra, with the decree, started from Babylon in the first month, it was not till the fifth month that he reached Jerusalem. And as the decree was to the treasurers "beyond the river" Euphrates and in Palestine, it was of no force till he reached that country; so about half the year was gone before the decree could be said to go forth to restore and build the city, which would make it about the middle of the year 457, or four hundred and fifty-six and one-half years before Christ.

Two thousand three hundred years from 456Ω B.C. brings us to 2300–456Ω=1843Ω after Christ. Eighteen hundred forty-three and one-half years after Christ carries us into the year 1844 A.D. Then it was, the angel said to Daniel, that the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary should be: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

That this can not be applied to the earthly sanctuary is made certain by the statement, in Dan. 9:26, that after the cutting off of the Messiah, the people of the prince that should come (the Romans) "should destroy the city and the sanctuary." And Christ said that when these should be destroyed, Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Luke 21:24. As that city and that sanctuary were to be destroyed, and were destroyed but a few years after the expiration of the four hundred and ninety years, it is impossible that that should be the sanctuary that was to be cleansed at the expiration of the two thousand three hundred years. Consequently, the sanctuary that was to be cleansed at the end of the two thousand three hundred years was the heavenly sanctuary, because it is the only one that was then in existence. Therefore, it is certain that the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began in A.D. 1844. (For an extended and thorough treatment of the subject of the sanctuary and connected dates, see "Looking unto Jesus," for sale at this Office.)

The cleansing of the sanctuary, the work of the atonement under the Levitical law, was a work of judgment. For, said the scripture, "Whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people." Lev. 23:39. Whoever did not make confession of sin that day, could have no part in the atonement that was made that day; and when the sanctuary had been cleansed, and atonement made, he was to be cut off without mercy–he had no other chance, his probation was gone.

So, likewise, in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, in the atonement made once for all, whosoever shall not confess his sins, and be partaker of the intercession of Christ, can have no part in the atonement of Christ; and when that sanctuary shall have been cleansed, and that atonement made, he will be cut off without mercy–he will have no other opportunity, his probation will be ended. Of such it will be said, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still." No longer will the precious, cleansing blood be applied. These are they who shall wring out and drink the dregs of the cup that is in the hand of the Lord (Ps. 75:8); these are they who "shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." Rev. 14:10.

This cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began in A.D. 1844, and, in the very nature of the case, must soon close. We are now living in the great day of atonement. Now is the time when it is urgent upon every one to confess his sins, to put away all his transgressions, to be a partaker of the

601

intercession of Christ, to wash his robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. For since 1844 the seventh angel has been sounding; soon the mystery of God will be finished, the work of the gospel will be closed, and the unmixed wrath of God and the Lamb will be poured upon all the wicked of the earth.

More of the events in the sounding of the seventh trumpet will be studied next week. We are in that time, and these things are present truth.

September 25, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message: Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets. The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 39 , p. 616.

WHEN the seventh angel sounded, the prophet's attention being drawn to heaven, he heard "great voices" there, saying: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." And, presently, when his attention is turned to the earth, the first thing mentioned is, "The nations were angry."

In our study last week, we saw plainly that the time when the seventh angel began to sound, was in 1844 A.D. And during all the time that has passed since that date, it has been true that "the nations were angry." And the Turkish power–that power which is the last remains, in its descent, of what was at first the Eastern Empire of Rome–is the pivot upon which, during all these years, has turned the peace of the world. In a previous study we gave the authoritative statement that, except for the Great Powers of Europe, the Turkish power would have vanished long ago.

But it is not simply that Turkey has been kept in existence all this time, by these Powers–this has been for a purpose. The Turkish power has been thus maintained, expressly to avoid, as acknowledge by the Powers, a universal war. The cause, as stated by Lord Salisbury, Nov. 5, 1895, is as follows:–

Turkey is in that remarkable condition that it has now stood for half a century, mainly because the great Powers of the world have resolved that for the peace of Christendom it is necessary that the Ottoman Empire should stand. They came to that conclusion nearly half a century ago. I do not think they have altered it now. The danger, if the Ottoman Empire should fall, would not merely be the danger that would threaten the territories of which that empire consists; it would be the danger that the fire there lit should spread to other nations, and should involve all that is most powerful and civilized in Europe in a dangerous and calamitous contest. That was a danger that was present to the minds of our fathers when they resolved to make the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire a matter of European treaty, and that is a danger WHICH HAS NOT PASSED AWAY.

But what must be the real spirit of these great Powers, when they can thus agree, for more than half a century, in holding in existence the Turkish power, to keep themselves from fighting, when they can not agree not to fight? Why can they not agree not to fight among themselves, as easily as they can agree to keep this Power there as a preventive against their fighting among themselves? What could possibly more aptly express the true condition of things among these Powers than that word, "the nations were angry"?

This situation clearly reveals that these Powers are subject to a spirit which, when once loosed, will carry them utterly beyond themselves; and that they themselves recognize that this is so. And recognizing that this is the truth of the situation, all that they pretend to be able to do, is, by maintaining the Turkish power as long as possible, to restrain as long as possible this unruly spirit, which, when once let loose, must sweep them all away from themselves, into that dreaded and terrible vortex, involving "all that is most powerful and civilized in Europe in a dangerous and calamitous contest."

But what Powers are these? This is an interesting inquiry. In a previous study we saw that, according to the prophecy, the actual governmental power should pass from the Turkish government on the eleventh day of August, 1840; and that accordingly, it was so: that on that day the actual power of the government of Turkey did pass into the hands of the four Powers–Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. It will be remembered that, also in a previous study, we made the statement that one object of this study of the Seven Trumpets as a basis of the Third Angel's Message, is to see the place of the great nations of to-day, especially in their relation to the Third Angel's Message. And it is seen that, in this transaction of the eleventh day of August, 1840 A.D., these four great Powers at least are brought before us, and, by this, have been before us ever since, and are before us now, as vitally connected with this original Eastern question.

Before that time, Russia had more than once appeared in the history of the Eastern Empire of Rome. But in these articles we can not enter fully enough into the whole history to give all these details. Since 1840, Austria has fallen to the grade of a third- or fourth-rate Power; but France stands fully in her place as one of the four great Powers controlling in the affairs of Turkey, though Austria is still involved in the question. France indeed became connected with that Eastern question in 1798; so that she must be counted with these others.

Now there comes in another important thought. Why is it that these Powers are so certain that they will fight among themselves if the Turkish power should be let fall, that they will spend all their united time, day and night, for more than half a century, to keep that Power from falling?–Here is the answer: When the Turkish power shall fall, there will be most valuable territory to be possessed by some Power. Only a few days ago the London Economist said that that territory "might and ought to be one of the most flourishing regions on the face of the earth." And since each one of these Powers is determined to have all that it can grasp of these territories, it is simply impossible for them to agree upon a division. And, therefore, they know that there must inevitably be a war among them all, as surely as the Turkish power shall be allowed to fall.

This being the universally recognized condition of things, and these Powers dreading the inevitable war that must come over the division of the territory involved, they hold the Turkish government in life, to ward off this time of division, which must bring war; and, at the same time, each Power works every possible scheme, to the verge of war, to increase its power and its holdings in the East, so that, when the inevitable moment, which must come, shall have come, it will have the largest possible basis upon which to urge its claims, in the actual and final division of the spoil.

This, in its turn, has caused each of these great Powers to spread its power over as much as possible of the whole East, until now, in this present hour of our own day, these Powers, in their grasping of power and influence in the East, have so far absorbed the whole that they all meet face to face in the extreme East, at the capital of China. Thus it is strictly true that the China tangle, as it is to-day, is the direct resultant of the original Eastern question that began Aug. 11, 1840. And this greater Eastern question as it is to-day, is but the enlarged outcome of the original Eastern question as it has centered in Constantinople for the last half-century. And, in the nature of the case, there can be no solution of the greater Eastern question as it centers in China, which shall not involve the original Eastern question as it centers in Turkey. This, because the greater Eastern question as it centers in Peking (except only the United States and Japan) are the identical Powers of the original Eastern question as it centers in Constantinople.

This is as far as we have space to follow the subject this week. But even this is far enough to enable all to see that all the principal Powers involved in the Eastern question, whether in its original form or in its present enlarged form, are the great nations of to-day; and, with the exception of Russia, the United States, and Japan, are the Powers of Western Europe; are indeed the strong ones of those that arose upon the ruin of the Roman Empire, the division of the fourth kingdom, as in the second and seventh chapters of Daniel.

The remaining stages of this mighty and world-absorbing question, and how the United States and Japan come into it, will be considered next week.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:19-21" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 39 , pp. 616, 617.

"NOW the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Fornication, uncleanness, and lasciviousness are but different forms of the practice of adultery; as Jesus said: "Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matt. 5:27, 28.

Thus, adultery begins in the unclean thought, the lascivious desire. Indeed, truly and strictly speaking, it begins in any thought which, if carried to it ultimate extent, could possibly lead to adultery. This is why it is that the commandments of God are "exceeding broad." Each of the commandments of God forbids the ultimate act, by forbidding the imagination of the thought, which, if followed up, could possibly lead to the ultimate act. And thus the law of God, with its eternal "Thou shalt not," forbids all unrighteousness of men, and asserts the righteousness of God.

Idolatry is the having of other gods before the Lord. And anything that, in the estimation of any one, stands, to him, before the Lord, is an idol; and he who so allows such a thing is an idolater. Perhaps the clearest and most comprehensive statement of what is idolatry, is that by John: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 1 John 2:15-17. As expressed by James, it is "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4.

The world, with its ways, is not of God, but is of Satan; for it is written: "The whole world lieth in the wicked one." 1 John 5:19, R.V. And it is "the god of this world" who blinds "the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 4:4. Accordingly, any way of this world that is followed by any one in preference to the way of God–that is idolatry to that person, and he is an idolater.

Witchcraft is, literally, sorcery; and in other translations is mostly rendered sorcery. The original word is pharmakeia, which means "the preparing or using of medicine," and is the original of the present English word "pharmacy," the art of compounding medicines and drugs. From the original meaning of "the preparing of medicine," the word was applied to "the using of any kind of drugs, potions, or spell." Hence, it signifies "the use of super natural knowledge or power gained in any manner, especially through the connivance of evil spirits, magic art, enchantment, witchcraft, spells, charms."

And how natural a work of the flesh is that tendency to divination! How many persons there are who like to know their fortune; and who, therefore, are always ready to respond to the invitations of a gypsy or a crone. And how ready people naturally are to wish to feel the experience of

617

being mesmerized, or hypnotized! All these things come under the heading of this word pharmakeia, witchcraft, or sorcery. They are all works of the flesh. And bear in mind that it is written that "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." In the eternal righteousness, the eternal life, and the eternal promises, which God has given in Jesus Christ our Lord, the Christian already knows his fortune, even to the depths of all eternity; and he needs no pharmacy, no drugging, no charms, spells, witchcrafts, or sorcery, at any time, not in any way whatever.

Hatred, being the opposite of love, all the following-named works of the flesh–"variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders"–are but variations of it, just as we have seen that fornication, uncleanness and lasciviousness are simply various forms of adultery. So the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not kill," and which, in that, forbids hatred, which is, in itself, murder. For "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." As defined in the sermon on the mount, the thought stands: "Ye have heard that is was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matt. 5:21, 22.

However, it is well to look at each of these words, that we may get as clear a view as possible of the subtlety and deceitfulness of sin in the works of the flesh. This, because few persons realize that they hate a person unless they actually do regard them "with a strong and passionate dislike, or aversion," or "with extreme ill-will." But when there is borne in mind the principle that the law of God in forbidding the ultimate act of evil, forbids the very imagination of the thought which, if carried out, could possibly lead to that ultimate act; and when it is borne in mind that, according to the Lord's own definition, to hate a person, or to speak ill of a person, is to break the commandment that says, "Thou shalt not kill,"–then it can be easily under-stood that hatred can be indulged without that direct and extreme ill-will and aversion to the presence, or even the thought, of the person hated, which alone is commonly recognized as hatred.

"Variance" suggests "difference," especially "difference that produces disagreement or controversy; dispute; dissension; discord." The original word signifies "strife, quarrel, debate, wordy wrangling, disputation, contention." The spirit and tendency, therefore, of "variance," is a readiness to differ and to raise questions, and then hold tenaciously to personal views, and run the difference into debating and dissension; then to ill-will, which, in itself, is hatred, which, in itself, in turn, is the breaking of the commandment that says, "Thou shalt not kill."

It is not in vain that, in the Scriptures, debate is catalogued with "envy, murder," "deceit," and "malignity," and is placed definitely between murder and deceit. Whoever, therefore, would avoid murder must avoid hatred; and whoever would avoid variance must diligently avoid the spirit that raises questions and indulges differences that lead to controversy, debate, and its further train of evils, which continues unbroken unto hatred, which itself is murder. And this thought is worthy of special attention everywhere in the study and recitation of the Sabbath-school lessons.

"Emulation" is the "love of superiority; desire or ambition to equal or excel others;" "the desire and the resulting endeavor to equal or surpass another, or others, in some quality, attainment, or achievement." It is the expression of sheer love of self-superiority, and inability to endure the thought that another should be superior. The original word is, literally, "jealousy;" and in other translations it is so rendered; and the declaration of the word of God, as to jealousy, is that it "is cruel as the grave." Its synonym is "envy;" and envy is "a feeling of uneasiness, mortification, or discontent, excited by the contemplation of another's superiority, prosperity, or success, accompanied with some degree of enmity or malignity, and often, or usually, with a desire or an effort to discomfit or mortify the person envied." Emulation appears first, and aims to attain to a standing of superiority over another. And when that can not be attained, then envy sweeps in with its tide. When emulation has obtained its aim, it is succeeded immediately by exaltation at the defeat of the foe. When emulation in itself is defeated, it is immediately followed by envy, which, being "enmity prompted by covetousness," waits in secret for an opportunity to vent its malignity, which, it itself, is hatred.

It is easy to see how, in association with variance, emulations, and envyings, there should also appear "wrath, strife, seditions [a going apart], heresies [a choosing for one's self]," and, finally "murder," which is but the ultimate of any one of the works of the flesh named in this list, beginning with "hatred" and ending with "murders."

Drunkenness and revelings are simply all manner of intemperance, which, in itself, is idolatry, and carries in its train a multitude of the evils already described in the dreadful works of the flesh.

"And such like" of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD."

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 39 , p. 624.

IN the Chicago American of September 9 Mr. W. T. Stead, the noted London publicist, reports a visit that he lately made to a French witch,–"seeress," he calls her,–who told him, concerning the China tangle, that "the time will come, perhaps at the end of a year, when the Japanese will retire very well pleased with themselves, and they will take no more part in the war with China. Then you will think there is going to be peace; but there will not be peace, for the war, which has begun in the east, will begin again in the west, of China; and this time the Turks will be in, and the fate of Constantinople will be decided. It will be a great war, and a terrible war." Mr. Stead is moved to remark that what she has told him will "justify some degree of uneasiness as to whether or not the battle of Armageddon may not be nearer to us than any one has ventured to believe." This may be so with those who get their information from witches; but not with those who are instructed by the Bible. For all this is told in the Bible; and those who have read it as it is, have known these things for a long time: and Armageddon is not nearer than those have ventured to believe. How singular it is that men will believe witches more readily than they will believe the word of God. It is not strange that this witch should know these things; for it is the spirits of devils which go forth to gather these very nations–the kings of the East, which are the kings of the earth and the whole world–to the battle of Armageddon.

NOW that the United States is making herself the special champion of Christianity in China, Christian patriotism will one of these days, become a watchword and an issue. Therefore the pamphlet "Christian Patriotism" is present truth, and is timely. Let it be spread everywhere just now, before the actual crisis comes, so that the people may be informed.

October 2, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets; and Its Relation to the Great Nations to To-day" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 40 , p. 632.

WE have seen how the continuance of the Eastern question, as it has centered in Constantinople since Aug. 11, 1840, has inevitably absorbed the whole East.

We have seen that, with the single exception of Austria, the same Powers that were originally involved in the Eastern question in 1840, are still the principal Powers involved in the greater Eastern question, whose chief center is just now in Peking, but whose ultimate center is always Constantinople.

And though these Powers, with the exception of Russia, were originally, and are still, the chief Powers of the West; yet, as the Eastern question, with which they became connected in 1840, has continued to grow until it has absorbed the whole East, these Powers of the West have, in the natural course of things, become also the Powers of the East.

There are, however, two Powers reckoned among these principal ones of the greater Eastern question, which were not connected with that question originally, but have become parties to it only lately. These are Japan and the United States.

In 1895 war broke our between China and Japan. Japan was everywhere and speedily victorious. When peace was established, considerable Chinese territory was agreed upon. But Russia, France, and Germany united in a protest against the cession of the agreed territory. Since the threatening protest of these three Powers was supported by the "advice" of Great Britain to the Japanese government to yield to it, Japan, to avoid a new war, did yield to the demand of the three Powers–and the territory in question fell immediately under Russian "influence."

Further: to enable the Chinese government to pay the first installment of the cash indemnity, bankers of Paris and St. Petersburg loaned about eighty million dollars to China, upon the guaranty of the Russian government. Later, China secured another loan, from English and German bankers, secured by the customs revenue of China; and, through this, Britain secured a hold upon the fortress and naval station of Wei-Hai-Wei.

These transactions took from Japan all the territory that had been ceded to her by China, except the Island of Formosa, and the Japanese a determination to be revenged upon Russia at the earliest possible moment. And thus Japan became, and stands, an integral part of the Eastern question as it is to-day.

In 1898, as all know, the United States became involved in a war with Spain. The American fleet, in far Eastern waters, found and destroyed, at Manila, the Spanish fleet; and, through this transaction, the United States became possessed of the Philippine Islands, and so became an Eastern Power. Being thus an Eastern Power, the United States demanded and secured in China the "open door" for herself and all the nations, to Chinese trade.

In the month of June, 1900, the legations of the Powers, in China, were attacked–that of the United States equally with the others. To rescue their ministers, each of these Powers was obliged to send an army–the United States equally with the others. This brought the United States as a Power into China, and associated her there in alliance with the other great Powers, who, from the beginning, have been the material part of the Eastern question. And in a circular note to all the Powers concerned, July 3, 1900, the United States announced to the world that "the policy of the government of the United States is to seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace in China, preserve Chinese territorial and administrative ENTITY, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly Powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire." This shows that the United States has not only become, but that she intends to remain, one of the Powers of the East, and one of the very chiefest of those concerned in the Eastern question.

As was made plain in last week's study on this subject, this Eastern question as it centers in Peking, is but the extension and enlargement of the original Eastern question as it centers in Constantinople. And this crisis, which brings all these Powers face to face in China, is but the logical outcome of the steps that were taken in 1840, in the crisis which the original of these Powers into the position of supporters of the government of Turkey. Thus the question as it relates to Turkey, is the key of the same question in its enlarged form, as just now it relates to China. Consequently, the prophecies that relate to the Turkish power in this time are the key to the understanding of the question that involves China and the world-powers.

What, then, are the scriptures that relate to Turkey in this time? The last verses of Daniel 11 relate to Turkey, which, as king of the north, with its center at Constantinople, occupies, in direct descent, the place of the original king of the north in the division of the empire of Alexander the Great, as in the fourth verse and onward. And of this Power it is written: "He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." Dan. 11:45.

In these studies we have seen that a number of times in the last fifty years the Turkish government would have come to an end had it not been distinctly "helped." Indeed, we have seen that the Turkish government could not have existed at all these fifty years if it had not been distinctly "helped" by the Powers whose relations are the substance of the Eastern question. By all it is expected that the Turkish government must leave Constantinople. Many a time in these years it has been expected that the Turkish government must certainly leave Constantinople, the tabernacles of his palace will be planted in Jerusalem, "between the seas in the glorious holy mountain." And when that time comes, which must inevitably come soon,–"at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time." Dan. 12:1.

This final event in the Eastern question, with its accompaniments, is further described in Rev. 16:12: "The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared."

As to the literal river Euphrates, from the beginning of history it has been crossed and recrossed, even at the flood, without any particular difficulty, by kings and their armies. It can not be, then, the literal river that is here spoken of. But since waters signify "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. 17:15), the "water" here signifies the Power which dominates the peoples that inhabit the territory of the Euphrates–and that is the Turkish power, which is to come to his end when none helps him.

And this occurs "that the way of the kings of THE EAST might be prepared." But, with the exception of the United States and Japan, these "kings of the East" are the identical kings that have been the principal cause and substance of the Eastern question, from its origin, Aug. 11, 1840, unto the present hour.

How, then, can the Turkish government come to its end? How can thus this "water" of "the great river Euphrates" be "dried up," except by the action of these very Powers?

These "kings of the East," whose way is to be "prepared" by the fall of Turkey, are the very Powers who are altogether responsible for Turkey.

How, then, can Turkey possibly come to her end, except by the direct action of these Powers which now are "the kings of the East"?–Plainly, this is the only way in which Turkey can come to her end–the only way in which the water of the river Euphrates can be dried up.

It is plain, therefore, that these Powers which are now "the kings of the East," and which are in a vortex, whose immediate center is China, but whose original and ultimate center if Turkey, will reach the point where they will remove the Turkish government from Constantinople, and allow it to be planted in Jerusalem. And shortly after that, they will let the Turkish power "come to his end."

And when that is done, whatever the Powers may intend in it, the end of it all is that they shall be gathered at Armageddon, to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. For it is written: "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. . . . And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Rev. 16:13-16.

Notice here the striking statement in the association of the two expressions in these verses of Revelation 16: The Turkish power comes to its end,–the water of the Euphrates is dried up,–"that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared;" and these "kings of the East" are said to be "the kings of the earth and of the whole world."

Now, it is the truth that three of these Powers that created the Eastern question in 1840, with Germany and the United States, do actually control practically the whole world. And with these five Powers–Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and the United States–all the lesser Powers are, in some way, associated. So it is altogether true that "the kings of the East" are now indeed "the kings of the earth and of the whole world."

And these Powers, in centering their interests in the East, and planting their armies in the East, are but arraying themselves and marshaling their forces, in readiness to march to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And that will be when, in their distress with perplexity, the Turkish government shall by these Powers be let fall, and so "the way" be prepared for them as "the kings of the East" to be "gathered" into that place "called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

Thus, we have fulfilled our promise made in these columns, July 17 and 31, to show the place and work of the great nations, and all the nations, of to-day, considered from the basis of the line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets. With China as their immediate center, with Turkey as their ultimate center, their place is "the whole world," and their work is the arraying of themselves and the mustering of their forces in preparation for the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

And since this is their place and their work; and since the complication in which they are involved culminates in that time of trouble "such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time," when there shall be delivered only those "that shall be found written in the book," their relation to the Third Angel's Message is that that message must now be sounded, with its loudest voice, to all the people of the whole world, calling them, by the power of the everlasting gospel, to the registry of their names in the Lamb's book of life.

All who profess to know the Third Angel's Message, in that very profession do profess to know all these things, and to be doing just this work of calling souls to registry in the book of life, that they may be delivered in that great day.

Such being undoubtedly the place and work of the nations of to-day, and this being their relationship to the Third Angel's Message, we are thus

633

brought again to the consideration of the Third Angel's Message, as it is in itself, and what it is, indeed, to-day.

The time is at hand. Get ready, get ready, get ready.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 5:22-26" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 40 , p. 633.

"BUT the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another."

We have seen somewhat of the essential evil and deceitfulness of the works of the flesh. But, thank the Lord, there is a better picture.

The Spirit of God, which, in his fullness, is freely given to every believer, lusteth against the flesh, so that in him who is led by the Spirit of God the flesh can not do the things that it would. In such the Spirit of God rules, and causes to appear in the life "the fruit of the Spirit," instead of "the works of the flesh."

And though it be true "that they which do such things" as we described in the list of the works of the flesh, "shall not inherit the kingdom of God," yet in the gift of the Holy Spirit, through the grace of Christ, God has made full provision by which every soul, in spite of all the passions, lusts, desires, and inclinations of the flesh, can "inherit the kingdom of God."

In Christ the battle has been fought, on every point, and the victory has been made complete. He was made flesh itself–the same flesh and blood as those whom he came to redeem. He was made in all points like these; he was "in all points tempted like as we are." If in any "point" he had not been "like as we are," then, on that point he could not possibly have been tempted "like as we are."

He was "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," because he "was in all points tempted like as we are." When, he was tempted, he felt the desires and the inclinations of the flesh, precisely as we feel them when we are tempted. For "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts [his own desires and inclinations of the flesh] and enticed." James 1:14. All this Jesus could experience without sin; because to be tempted is not sin. It is only "when lust hath conceived," when the desire is cherished, when the inclination is sanctioned,–only then it is that "it bringeth forth sin." And Jesus never even in a thought cherished a desire, or sanctioned an inclination, of the flesh. Thus, in such flesh as ours, he was tempted in all points as we are, and yet without a taint of sin.

And thus, by the divine power that he received through faith in God, he, in our flesh, utterly quenched every inclination of that flesh, and effectually killed at its root every desire of the flesh; and so "condemned sin in the flesh." And in so doing, he brought complete victory, and divine power to maintain it, to every soul in the world. All this he did "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

This victory, in its fullness, is free to every soul in Christ Jesus. It is received by faith in Jesus. It is accomplished and maintained by "the faith of Jesus," which he has wrought out in perfection, and has given to every believer in him. For "this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith."

He "abolished in his flesh the enmity" that separated mankind from God. Eph. 2:15. In order to do this, he took the flesh, and must take the flesh, in which that enmity existed. And he "abolished in his flesh the enmity," "for to make," in order to make "in himself of twain," God and the estranged man, "one new man, so making peace."

He "abolished in his flesh the enmity," in order "that he might reconcile both" Jew and Gentile–all mankind who are subject to the enmity–"unto God, in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity in himself." Eph. 2:16, margin. "The enmity" was "in himself," by being "in his flesh." And there "in his flesh" he slew it and abolished it. And he could do this only by its being indeed "in his flesh."

Thus Jesus took upon him the curse, in all its fullness, precisely as that curse in upon mankind. This he did by "being made a curse for us." But "the curse causeless shall not come," and never came. The cause of the curse is sin. He was made a curse for us, because of our sins. And to meet the curse as it is upon us, he must meet sin as it is in us. Accordingly, God "hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." And this "that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM." 2 Cor. 5:21.

And though he thus placed himself entirely at the same great disadvantage as are all mankind–made in all points like us and so, "in all points tempted like as we are,"–yet not a single tendency or inclination of the flesh was ever allowed the slightest recognition, even in thought; but every one of them was effectually killed at the root by the power of God, which, through divine faith, he brought to humanity.

And thus, "as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also HIMSELF LIKEWISE took part of THE SAME; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. 2:14-18.

And this victory which Christ wrought out in human flesh, is brought by the Holy Spirit to the rescue of everyone in human flesh who to-day believes in Jesus. For by the Holy Spirit the very presence of Christ himself comes to the believer; for it is his constant desire to "grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:16-19.

Thus the deliverance from the guilt of sin and from the power of sin, which holds the believer in triumph over all the desires, the tendencies and inclinations, of his sinful flesh, through the power of the Spirit of God,–this is wrought to-day by the personal presence of Christ Jesus IN HUMAN FLESH in the believer, precisely as it was wrought by the personal presence of Christ in human flesh eighteen hundred and seventy years ago.

Christ is ever the same–"the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." The gospel of Christ is ever the same–the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. The gospel of Christ to-day is the same that it was eighteen hundred and seventy years ago. Then it was "God manifest in the flesh;" and to-day it is the same–"God manifest in the" same flesh, the flesh of sinful men, human flesh, just as human nature is.

That gospel is "Christ in you, the hope of glory,"–Christ in you just as you are, sins, sinfulness, and all; for he gave himself for our sins, and for our sinfulness. And you, just as you are, Christ has bought, and God "hath made accepted' in him. He has received you just as you are; and the gospel, "Christ in you, the hope of glory," brings you under the reign of the Spirit of God, makes you so subject to the power of Christ and of God that "the fruit of the Spirit" appears in you, instead of "the works of the flesh."

And the fruit of the Spirit is–

LOVE–the love of God which is shed abroad in the heart by the Spirit of God. And instead of hatred or any of its kin ever being allowed, even in thought, no man can possibly do anything to you that can cause you to do anything but love him. For this love, being the love of God, is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;" and loves not for reward, but for the mere sake of loving; it loves simply because it is love, and being only that, it can not do any thing else.

JOY is "ardent happiness arising from present or expected good." But in this case, the alternative "or" is excluded; for this joy is ardent happiness arising from present AND expected good; for the cause of it is eternal. Accordingly, it is everlastingly present, and is everlastingly to be expected. And therefore, it is "exultant satisfaction."

PEACE–perfect peace that rules in the heart–"the peace of God, which passeth all understanding," and which "keeps the heart and mind" of him who has it.

LONG-SUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH.–This faith–pistis, Greek–is "firm persuasion; the conviction which is based upon trust, NOT upon knowledge [the faith of "the heart," not of the head; the faith of Christ, not of the creed,]: a firmly relying confidence cherished by conviction, and bidding defiance to opposing contradictions."

MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE.–Temperance is self-control. Thus, the Spirit of God delivers the man from subjection to his passions, lusts, and habits, and makes him a free man, master of himself.

"Against such there is no law." The law of God is against no-thing but sin. In human lives the law of God is against everything that is not the fruit of the Spirit of God. Therefore it is certain that everything in human life that is not the fruit of the Spirit of God, is sin. And this is but stating, in another way, the eternal truth that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

Therefore "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." And because we do live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, "let us not"–yea, we shall not; yea, we can not–"be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another."

October 9, 1900

"The Sermon. The Sabbath-school Work" ¹²1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 41 , pp. 643, 644.

A. T. JONES

If on this occasion I can say something to enable you to see the fullness of the truth expressed in the Sabbath-school lesson that you have studied and recited, I shall be satisfied. I do not know whether in this hour I shall get beyond the first verse of your Sabbath-school lesson. It will make no difference if I do not, because to know the truth, with its consequences, that is expressed in that verse, is to know everything. Indeed, all the verses that follow but express the consequences of the truth of that verse.

That verse reads: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.

Whosoever believes that, and grasps the fact there stated, is prepared to understand the fullness of the salvation that the Lord Jesus brought to the world. And whosoever does not so grasp that which is stated in this verse as to recognize it constantly, can not grasp, in its truth, in its sincerity, the salvation that Christ has brought.

All have sinned: and death came by sin. But all of us have sinned as the consequence of that which was brought to the world,–because of our being in that vortex into which the world was plunged by the sin of that "one man" to whom God gave the world in the beginning. "By one man sin entered in the world." When sin had so entered by that one man, it was impossible for any of his, of themselves, to rise above that which he had entailed. It was impossible for any of us to receive from him more than he had. And after he had sinned, sin only was that which he had. Consequently, he sunk the human race under the power of sin–in the sea of sin; and because of that sin we all have sinned; and so death has passed upon all. When that one man sinned, death passed upon him; and he never could draw any of us, any of his posterity, higher than he was. Consequently, when he became subject to death, by sin, we all became subject to death, because, being thus crippled, we all have sinned.

But it is the great problem, to begin with, to get mankind to realize that each one is the subject of death,–that only death is that which belongs to us, as we came into the world, and as we are naturally in the world. If each person in the world would hold upon his heart, would hold in his very consciousness, the truth that death has hold on him,–that to death he is subject, as expressed in the Scripture, though not in our translation: "Death is their shepherd,"–that death is the watchman over all mankind,–that death is to deach one as a shepherd herding his flock,–there would be a universal readiness to believe the gospel. But by thousands, even of the people who fear the Lord, and who have a heart to serve him, that truth is not recognized, and by the vast multitudes of people it is not believed at all. And that is why the gospel is allowed so little place in the lives of men.

The deception of thinking that they have life in themselves has been for ages, and is still, the bane of mankind. This deception is couched in the conception of the immortality of the soul. Vast multitudes of the human race, and indeed the whole human race, naturally, as it is, have come under the power of that deception–of thinking that they have life themselves so certainly that even the Lord himself can not deprive them of it. Through the deception in which they are involved, they have come to believe that a part of themselves is "immortal," and, logically enough, that, therefore, it is "a part of God"–and then the conclusion, "How can God destroy a part of himself?" By that argument they convince themselves that the Lord himself could not destroy them, if he wished to.

The whole human race is naturally under that deception. And the way in which they came under this deception is precisely the way in which they came under the deception of sin. It is a part of the original deception: yea, rather, it is the very kernel of the original deception. For what was it that the deceiver said to the woman, to get her to depart from God into sin? What was it?–"Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be like God." You will be like the divine, and not subject to death. That was the original proposition in the original deception that brought us under sin; that was the original deception into which the race went by that "one man," by whom came sin and death; and it is not strange that this deception of men's thinking that they have life in themselves should be as widely disseminated as is sin. The two things came in together; and they belong together forever.

But the Lord spoke otherwise. Before this deceiver spoke, the Lord had said: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2:17. And this was the truth. It was the truth when he spoke it; it was the truth the day they ate of the tree; and it is the truth forever. And the only reason that Adam and Eve did not die in the very hour that they ate, is that Jesus Christ stepped in between, and took upon himself the curse of sin, and its penalty of death. And this he did in order that mankind might be delivered from the death into which they had been plunged by that "one man." Therefore, since the Lord Jesus stepped in between, and himself received the stroke of death that must come upon the man the day he sinned; and since the Lord Jesus did this solely in order that the man might have the opportunity to receive life instead of death, it became essential, and in the gift of Christ that day it was given, that the man and all mankind should have sufficient space in which to breathe to allow them to live long enough to fix each his choice of life or death.

That is the origin, that is the source, and that is the philosophy, of the life which now we have in the breath that we draw moment by moment. It all lies solely in the gift of Christ: it is indeed Christ, and only Christ. Each person to-day and ever is directly indebted to Christ for the life which he has in the breath that he draws moment by moment.

But now, this which we have, which mankind call life,–this is not in reality true life. The Scripture has defined it: the word of God has named it, not in a figure, but in a statement of truth in answer to the ever-pertinent inquiry, "What is your life?" And you know the answer. "It is even A VAPOR, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14.

This life which we have is truly only a vapor. It is given merely as a breath,–"for a little time,"–in order to extend to us the opportunity to seize upon life indeed. Without this life which is but a vapor, we should have no opportunity, man himself anywhere never would have had any opportunity, to partake of life indeed. Surely, if it were not that this life, even though it be truly a vapor, were given us, mankind would never have had any opportunity to breathe at all after Adam sinned. And let it be repeated, for it can not possibly be repeated too often, this breath itself is given us by the gift of the Lord Jesus; and for the breath drawn moment by moment, every soul in the world to-day, and ever, is dependent upon the gift of Christ, which he made when man had sinned.

The word that Jesus spoke, therefore, is literally true,–true in every sense,–when he spoke of himself as "the living bread which came down from heaven," and "giveth life unto the world." For all the life that the world has to-day, is because the Lord Jesus gave himself to receive the stroke of death that otherwise must have come upon the man at the beginning, because of the sin that he had sinned. And, in another place, Christ himself said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Oh, that tells the whole story again! When did Jesus come, in the meaning of that text? When was his coming? When was he offered? At what time was the offering of Christ made? He is the Lamb "slain from the foundation of the world." The offering of Christ, in its very substance, was when, in the beginning, the man had sinned, and had become subject to death because of the sin. Then and there Christ gave himself: there he set himself forth as the offering. Though not actually appearing in flesh, as afterward, though not actually dying the death, yet there he gave himself: the gift was as certainly made then as it is now. Consequently, when he came thus at the beginning, he came that mankind might have life; because just then mankind needed life.

Adam and Eve needed life from that day in the garden; for if Jesus had not then offered himself, if he had not then thus "come," death would have come to them the day that they sinned. But the Lord Jesus came and gave himself, and thus took upon himself all that was to fall upon them, or upon us, that Adam and Eve might receive what was better. And in the nature of things, they must have breath to enable them to live long enough to give them time to choose that which God had brought,–the gift of himself, which is life. consequently, at that point he came, that mankind might have life. Then, whosoever will take the proper advantage of this breathing space, of this life which is but a vapor, which is given to us solely that we may choose that which is life indeed,–life eternal,–receives life more abundantly. At the moment when the man had incurred death, He came that we might have life, even life enough to allow us to breathe, in order that we might make use of this breathing spell of life in such a way that we should have life more abundantly, even the life which is eternal substance, even as the fullness of the life of God.

So, you can see that this life which all men have for the mere passing moment, is not real life: it is "even a vapor." And this death that we meet when that vapor "vanisheth

644

away" is not real death: it is a sleep. Only that life which is the life of God is life indeed; and only that death from which there is no resurrection, from whose power there is no possible deliverance,–only that is death indeed. This life which is but a vapor, and this death which is but a sleep, form for mankind a valley of decision between the life which is life indeed and the death which is death indeed. And this life which is life indeed, is the life, and that death which is death indeed, is the death, referred to in the gospel of Christ, in the word of God, in calling us unto himself, and in giving the gift to deliver us from the curse under which we are: "I have set before you life and death. . . . Choose life that you may live."

So, then, death has passed upon all men: death is the master, death is the sovereign, death is the shepherd, of the human race. But thanks be to God, who gave his only begotten Son; and blessed be the name of the only begotten Son, who gave himself, that we might have life, and that the death might not fall upon us without our deliberate choice.

And behold! in the abundance of his mercy and the greatness of his grace, God gave not merely a single breath to breathe; not haply an hour in which to live; but has given to every one in the world, time upon time, time upon time, hour extended upon hour, day upon day, of this breathing spell, so that, if by any means in the long-suffering of God, each one might receive the gift and lay hold upon life indeed, instead of receiving death indeed at the last, as that which he has fixedly chosen.

"The Third Angel's Message. The Time" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 41 , pp. 648, 649.

WE have shown that the sixth of the seven trumpet angels ceased to sound Aug. 11, 1840; and that then, as says the Scripture, "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly." Rev. 11:14. The third woe and the seventh trumpet are identical.

When "the seventh angel sounded," said the prophet, "there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever." And now is the time.

The prophet also said, "The nations were angry." This we have seen fulfilled in the nations since 1844, even to the present hour–the nations that are now in the distress and perplexity of the China entanglement.

The prophet further said: "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev. 11:18, 19.

Now we wish it to be clearly seen, and it may be, that the events here named are identical with those of Rev. 14:6-20–the threefold message–and 16:1-21–the consequences of rejecting that threefold message; that the events of Rev. 14:6-20 and 16:1-21 are but an explanation in full of those mentioned in Rev. 11:18, 19. To make this plain, we shall here bring together the statements of Rev. 11:18, 19, and the corresponding ones of chapters 14 and 16.

1. "And thy wrath is come." Rev. 11:18. The third angel says, "If any man worship the beast and his image. . . . the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God." 14:9, 10. And in the seven last plagues is filled up the wrath of God. 15:1, 6-8; 16.

2. "The time of the dead, that they should be judged." Rev. 11:18. "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven. . . . saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." 14:6, 7.

3. "That thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great." Rev. 11:18. This time of reward is at the coming of Christ; for he says: "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." 22:12. Again he said: "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:14. But his coming follows immediately the Third Angel's Message; for, says the prophet, "I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." "And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." Rev. 14:14, 16. This harvest is the end of the world." Matt. 13:39.

4. "And shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." Rev. 11:18. "Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God." Rev. 14:17-19.

Here are shown two reapings. One is by the Son of God, reaping the harvest of the earth, gathering the wheat into the garner of God. The other is to gather together those who are to be cast into the wine press of the wrath of God. The former are the fruits of the true Vine, Jesus Christ. For he says: "I am the true Vine." "I am the Vine, ye are the branches." This is the Vine of heaven; for Christ, the true Vine, came down from heaven to do his Father's will; and of this Vine the "Father is the Husbandman." All who abide in Christ, the true Vine, will be gathered by the angels into the kingdom of God, when he comes on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth. The others are called the clusters of the vine of the earth. Those have no connection with the heavenly Vine, but are of the earth, earthy. And when the clusters of this vine are gathered, it is only to be cast into the wine press of the wrath of God.

This same result is shown by John the Baptist under another figure: "He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:11, 12.

5. "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11:19. Why is this called the ark of his testament?–Because within it is his testimony, as there was in the earthly temple, which was a pattern of the heavenly. "In the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee." Ex. 25:21.

But what was the testimony, or testament, that was put in the ark? "He gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex. 31:18. "And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." 32:16.

These tables Moses broke when he came down from the mount and found the people given up to idolatry. Then said the Lord to Moses: "Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark." Then, said Moses: "I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." Deut. 10:1-5.

This ark was called the ark of the testimony, or testament, because in it were the tables of the testimony which God gave to Moses, and that testimony was the ten commandments. It is this alone that gave it the title of the ark of the testimony.

Now we have shown that this sanctuary, or temple, on the earth was only a pattern, or figure, of the sanctuary, or temple, in heaven. Therefore, that testimony, which gave to the ark of the earthly sanctuary the title of the ark of the testament, must be identical with the testimony that gives to the ark in heaven the title of the ark of his testament; that is, the ten commandments. Now this temple of God in heaven is opened at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. There is shown the heavenly ark of his testament; and connected directly with this stands Rev. 14:12,–the Third Angel's Message,–saying, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God."

6. "And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev. 11:19. This is identical with the record of the events of the seventh plague. For, says the Scripture, "The seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. . . . And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Rev. 16:17-21.

But the seven last plagues comprise the wrath of God. This wrath is poured upon those who worship the Beast and his Image, upon those who refuse to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And the Third Angel's Message is to warn men against that worship, that they may escape this wrath; and it calls them especially to "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

These things show that these three messages of Revelation 14, and the wrath which is foretold by the third of these, and the coming of the Lord, which follows the third, represent events referred to as occurrent when the seventh angel shall sound. It is therefore absolutely certain that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Third Angel's Message of Revelation 14 is due to the world.

Here we must refer again to Rev. 10:7, where the angel declares with an oath that "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished." We have shown that the mystery of God is the gospel, and that the gospel if the power of God unto salvation, and that therefore in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound, the power of God for the salvation of man will be finished in those who believe, and in behalf of those who will not believe. Note especially that this is in the days when the seventh angel begins to sound.

From the texts presented in former articles, as well as those already given in this, it is plain that the events connected with the Third Angel's Message end with the end of the world. Therefore, the Third Angel's Message is the means by which God makes his last effort for the salvation of men; and by which he perfects forever all who shall meet him in peace when he comes in glory. Eph. 4:13; 5:25-27; Col. 1:27. Thus it becomes of the utmost importance to the children of men to know when the Third Angel's message is due to the world.

In our article of September 18, in discussing the subject of the mystery of God and its finishing, we cited the sanctuary and its services of the Levitical law, and showed that they were typical of the heavenly sanctuary, and the work of Christ in his priesthood. We showed that the services ended with the cleansing of the sanctuary, and that Christ's priestly service ends at the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, and we showed that this cleansing began in 1844. Therefore this last service of the gospel, the finishing of which is identical with the finishing of the mystery of God, began in 1844.

Again: we showed that the cleansing of the sanctuary was really a work of judgment. It was so understood by those who performed the service; and it was so intended to be understood by the Lord, who established the service. This is made certain by the fact that whosoever was not a partaker of the services that day was cut off without mercy when the services closed. He had no further chance. His probation was gone. This was but typical of the work of Christ once for all, and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary must be likewise a work of judgment. This answers exactly to the words which describe the scenes of the seventh trumpet when it begins to sound, that then was come "the time of the dead, that they should be judged." And as we have seen, this cleansing of the sanctuary, this work of judgment, this "time of the dead, that they should be judged," began in 1844.

649

But this time of the dead, that they should be judged, is the same time referred to in Rev. 14:6, 7, in that message which carries still the everlasting gospel to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, yet saying with a loud voice to all, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." Paul preached this same gospel, but not that the hour of his judgment was come, but simply a judgment to come. Acts 24:25; 17:31. But when the time comes when the seventh angel shall begin to sound, then it is declared, in accordance with the same gospel, the hour of his judgment is come. But this, as we have shown, is identical with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, which began in 1844.Ttherefore it is certain that the seventh angel began to sound in 1844.

That this "hour" of judgment is not the great day of Judgment, which comes at the end of the world, but is a time that precedes the end of the world, answering to the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, is shown by the fact that two other messages follow this one before the coming of the Lord and the end of the world. But these two do follow this one, and the third of these is the Third Angel's Message, which warns all men against the worship of the Beast and his Image, and against receiving his mark, under the dreadful penalty of having to drink the wine of the wrath of God; and which at the same time calls all to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

This wine of the wrath of God is the seven last plagues, with the last of which come the lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, which come at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. These commandments are the testimony of God, which was brought forth prominently when the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.

All these things are but the events that occur in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound. And as we have found that this seventh angel began to sound in 1844, then it was, and onward, that the Third Angel's Message is due to the world. When this message is finished, the mystery of God will have been finished. When this message closes, the work of the gospel will be closed. And when the seven last plagues, which are pronounced by this message against those who worship the Beast and his Image, shall be poured out upon them who have the mark of the Beast, and upon them who worship his Image,–with the pouring out of the last of these comes the end of the world.

Therefore, now is the time when there is danger of being drawn into the worship of the Beast and his Image. The people now living are the ones who are concerned in this. The people now living are they who will be called upon to make an image to the Beast, and to worship the Beast and his Image. These are also the people who will be warned by the message of God against all those things, under penalty of suffering the seven last plagues, and will be called to the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus because "the hour of his judgment is come."

Now is the "hour." "Get ready, get ready, get ready."

October 16, 1900

"The Sermon. The Sabbath-school Work" ¹³1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 42 , pp. 659, 660.

A. T. JONES

NOW I turn to the other consequence. You could not live at all to-day except for the sacrifice made by the Lord Jesus. But there is more to this text. Therefore let us read two verses together, in the fifth chapter of Romans: "By one man sin entered into the world, and eath by sin." "Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." The thought is: By one man sin came; and therefore by one Man righteousness must come: by one man death came; therefore by one Man life must come. And as certainly as I became an heir of sin by that one man at the beginning, so certainly I must become an heir of righteousness by that one Man who hath appeared "in these last days." As I became subject to death, possessed by death, by the sin of that one man at the beginning of the world, so I must become heir of life, and possessed of life, by that other one Man "in these last times."

There is no hope of righteousness to any soul except by that one Man,–thank the Lord,–the last Adam. True, he is the second Adam; but the Scripture calls him "the last Adam; but the Scripture calls him "the last Adam," and that is better; for, if it had been only "the second Adam," there might have been a chance for the suggestion, "There may be a third Adam, and that will give me another chance." But that will never do: there will be no third Adam. The last Adam who can ever come has come. And whosoever shall not be delivered by that last Adam is forever lost. "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." The first Adam sinned; and by him we became heirs of sin. The last Adam sinned not; and therefore by becoming heirs of him, we become heirs of sinning NOT. The first Adam brought death to us all; and the second Adam, by not sinning, brought life to us all. And do not forget that he is the LAST ADAM.

Thus you can see that life and righteousness must come from one source, precisely as death and sin came from one source. And that source must be not myself. Neither sin nor death entered the world by me, but by that one man. There is the means, though not the source. The source, of course, is in the one who stood back of the man, and persuaded him to go that way; that is, Satan. So Satan is really the cause of sin and death, while that one man is the channel through which he plunged this upon the world. On the other hand, God alone is the source of life and righteousness; and that one man, Christ Jesus,–the last Adam,–is the channel through whom life and righteousness are poured upon the world, in abundance, even to "all the fullness of God."

Therefore you can see that just as certainly as, to find the source of sin and death, we must look beyond ourselves; so, to find the source of righteousness and life, we must look beyond ourselves. And as, to find the source of sin and death in this world, we must look to Satan through the first Adam; so, to find the source of life and righteousness, in this world and in the next, we must look to God through the last Adam, always, always, always.

Look at it on the other side again–on the side of sin. How many sins have appeared in your life that were not there the day that you were born? Is that saying too much? Have you and I accumulated something new, brought something new into the world, in the way of sin, that was not there before we were?–No. All that has ever appeared in you and me is what was in you and in me before it appeared; and it matters not how long in our lives it was before that thing appeared–it was there. True, it was latent; but it was there. But I need not argue upon that: I simply wish to draw your attention afresh to the reality of it, so that each can bring it home personally to himself, that there never has been anything in your life, or in mine, in the way of sin, that was not in us when we were born, and that did not come to us from the first Adam, who brought sin into the world.

But the time came, thank the Lord, when you and I were born again. And remember we are to be born "from above;" born of God; the children of the last Adam; for he, the Child that was born to us, is "The everlasting Father" as well as "The Prince of Peace."

Then there is a second Father, the last Adam. And since you and I were born again, born from above, created of God in Christ Jesus new creatures, there never has appeared in our lives anything good, and there never can appear anything good, that was not there the day we were born again, and that does not come from him who caused us to be born again.

Then, as certainly as the first Adam is the source of all the sin that ever appeared in us, the last Adam is the source of all the righteousness that ever can appear in us. Therefore, there comes the next verse in the fifth chapter of Romans, the nineteenth verse: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the OBEDIENCE OF ONE shall many be made righteous." Just so. As by that one man's disobedience you and I were made sinners, so by that other one Man's obedience you and I are made righteous. No man was ever made righteous by his own doing. You and I were not made subject to sin, not made heirs to sin, by our own sinning; it was in us before we had time to sin. That which appeared in us was what was in us–even the leading thing in us: and that is the truth forever. Never will anything appear in you but that which was in you before–and it the leading thing in you.

So then, since Jesus is the source of all righteousness, his obedience is that which makes us righteous. Therefore we read on now, in the third chapter of Romans, as to Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin, and all subject to sin. Nineteenth verse: "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:" so that they shall know what sin is; for "by the law is the knowledge of sin," "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Not to make men guilty,–the law never came to make men guilty,–but to show to men that they are guilty. Neither the law nor anything that is connected with it, is sent to make men guilty; but that men may see that they are guilty,–that they may see where they are, what their condition is,–that they are lost, and need to be saved.

It is not straight; it is not fair; it is not a true presentation, nor representation, of things, to say to persons who are yet sinners, that they "will be lost." They ARE LOST. They do not realize it; they do not believe it; but it is the truth. God wishes them to find out that it is so, that they may be saved; for "Jesus came to seek and to save"–what? That which might be lost?–No, sir; but to seek and to save "that which was lost." Listen again: "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that ARE LOST." 2 Cor. 4:3. Then he to whom the gospel, in its power, in its saving grace, is hidden is lost.

"If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Verses 3, 4. And it is the bounden determination of the god of this world to keep men so blinded that the light of the gospel may never reach them; while it is the longing purpose of God that the knowledge of his law may reach all men, that they may know, in the light of it, that they ARE LOST; and that there also shines the light of the glorious gospel of Christ that they may be saved; and by it, when they believe, they ARE saved. Thus "the law entered that the offense might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference." Rom. 3:20-22.

Who are those that are lost?–They are those "in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." The lost ones are those who believe not. The saved ones are the ones who believe in Jesus Christ the Saviour. So then, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" but "all them that believe" are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness [God's righteousness] for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness [God's righteousness]: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:22-24.

Now notice how continuous that is: men are justified by faith; saved by the righteousness of God, "without the law." It is true forever, to all people, in every moment of the life of anyone who believe in Jesus. Listen: "NOW the righteousness of God without the law is manifested." Is that word "now" thrown in there merely as a catchword, as we sometimes use the word "now"?–No. That is not the way the Scripture uses words. That word "now" is used in this place because it means just now–at this present time. This is made emphatic in the twenty-fifth verse: "To declare, I say, AT THIS TIME his righteousness." Put the two verses together: "NOW the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. . . to declare, I say, AT THIS TIME his righteousness: that he might

660

be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

So, then, you see that that "now" is an everlasting word. It was "now" when Paul wrote it; it was "now" when Luther believed it and preached it; it is "now" yet. Nobody can ever get away from that "now." "Now"–"at this time"–it is that the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. So no righteousness can ever come to anybody in this world, by any person, or by any means, but by Jesus Christ; and that, as the free gift of God.

And as life must come from the same source as does righteousness, and this must be life that stands over against the death that lasts forever, so it must be a life that stands forever. And so it is written: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

And since it is only righteousness that goes with life,–and this life is eternal life,–it is only eternal righteousness that can ever go with eternal life. And since eternal life must come from God to me, or I shall never have life that is life indeed; and since I must have eternal righteousness in order to have eternal life,–it follows only that eternal righteousness must come from God to me, or I shall never have either righteousness that is righteousness indeed or life that is life indeed.

"The Third Angel's Message. Its Extent and Purpose" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 42 , p. 664.

HAVING shown that now is the time–from A.D. 1844, and onward–when the Third Angel's Message is due to the world, it remains to study the import of that message. It is a world-wide message; for–

1. The first of the three angels (Rev. 14:6, 7) spoke with a loud voice "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people;" the second angel followed this one; and the third angel followed them. As, therefore, the first one was to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, and as the third one follows, the third likewise must go to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.

2. The third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any man worship the beast and his image," etc. This phrase, "If any man," shows that this word is spoken to all men; that it is a universal message.

3. Of the Beast it is said: "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:8. And the work of the Image of the Beast is but to cause the worship of the Beast. True, he compels men to worship himself–the Image of the Beast; but, as he derives his authority, and draws his inspiration, from the Beast, the worship of the Image is but indirectly the worship of the Beast. Now, as the worship of the Beast is to be by "all that dwell upon the earth;" as the Third Angel's Message is the warning against the worship of the Beast and his Image; and as obedience to this warning is the only means of escaping that worship and the wrath of God,–therefore the Third Angel's Message must go to "all that dwell upon the earth:" the warning must be as extensive as is the worship. It is therefore evident that this thing will not be done in a corner.

This message says: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." We have before cited the scriptures which show this wrath to be the seven last plagues, and which show that with the seventh of these plagues comes the end of the world.

But all do not worship the Beast and his Image. There are some who get "the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name;" and these are seen standing "on the sea of glass," before the throne of God, having the harps of God, and they sing a song which none can learn but they, and it is the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Rev. 4:6; 15:2, 3.

How do these get the victory? Notice: the message not only warns all men against the worship of the Beast and his Image, but it tells how to avoid that worship; it not only tells men what they shall not do, but it tells them what to do; it not only calls men to the conflict with the Beast and his Image, but it tells them how to get the victory; and this is contained in the words, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.

Here, then, is a message which is now due, which is to go "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," calling upon all to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The purpose of this message is to gather out from "all that dwell upon the earth" a people of whom it can truly be said, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;" and that so, such may escape the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.

This makes it incumbent upon all now to study the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus as they have never studied these before, asking themselves the question, Am I one of whom this scripture speaks? Am I one who truly keeps "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus"? And, as this message is world-wide, these considerations plainly show that under the power of the Third Angel's Message there must be, and there will be, such a world-wide study of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus as there has not been since holy John stood on the Isle of Patmos.

What, then, is meant by "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus"?

First, as to the commandments of God. In a certain sense, there is no doubt that every injunction of the Bible is a commandment of God; for the Bible is the word of God. Yet, besides this, there is a certain part of the Bible that must be admitted to be the commandments of God above every other part. That certain part is the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Whereas, in giving all other parts of the Bible, "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21), in giving the ten commandments "God spake all these words." The whole nation of Israel was assembled at the base of Sinai, and "Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire;" "and all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet," "and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." And there, amid those awful scenes, God personally spoke the ten commandments, with a voice that shook the earth. Heb. 12:26.

Nor was that all. After having spoken these great words unto all the people, "The Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. . . . And Moses went up into the mount of God." Ex. 24:12, 13. "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex. 31:18. "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Ex. 32:15, 16.

When Moses came down to the people, he found they had made a golden calf, and were worshiping it after the manner of Egypt; "and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." "And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai." Ex. 34:1, 2. Then, Moses says: "I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly." Deut. 10:3, 4.

Thus we find not only that God spoke the ten commandments, but that he wrote them twice upon tables of stone. Although holy men of God, when moved by the Holy Ghost, could speak the message of God, none could be found holy enough to speak the words of the ten commandments in their deliverance to the children of men. Although the Spirit could say to the holy prophets, "Write," no such word could be given to any man when the ten commandments were to be given in tangible form to the children of men. But, instead, God said, "I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written." And again the second time, when these tables were broken, "I will write. . . the words that were in the first tables."

Nor was this all. God did not come down upon Mount Sinai alone; but thousands upon thousands of the holy angels were with him there. "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them." Deut. 33:2. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." Ps. 68:17. This array of angels is that to which Stephen referred when he said to his persecutors that they had "received the law by the disposition of angels." Acts 7:53. The Greek word here rendered "disposition" signifies "to set in order; draw up an army; posted in battle order."–Liddell and Scott.

When, therefore, God came down upon Mount Sinai to deliver the ten commandments, he was surrounded with the heavenly host of angels, drawn up in orderly array. Four-faced and four-winged cherubim, six-winged seraphim, and glorious angels with glittering, golden chariots,–all these, by the tens of thousands, accompanied the Majesty of heaven as in love he gave to sinful men his great law of love. Deut. 33:3. Than at the giving of the law of ten commandments, there certainly has been no more majestic scene since the creation of the world. Well, indeed, might Paul name "the giving of the law" among the great things that pertain to Israel. Rom. 9:4.

In view of all these things, it is assuredly the truth that the ten commandments of God, above every other part of the Bible; although all the Bible is the word of God. This is according to that word itself: "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son's sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they may teach their children. . . . And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:9-13.

In impressing upon the people the things they should diligently remember, "specially" to be remembered were the day that God came down upon Sinai, and the words that were then heard. And those words were the ten commandments.

This is of equal importance to the world to-day; for all is summed up by Solomon when he says: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter [margin, "the end of the matter, even all that hath been heard, is"]: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14.

Men are to be judged by the law of God; that law is the ten commandments; and the words of Solomon are emphasized in the First and Third Angel's Messages of Revelation 14. The first angel says: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come;" and the third angel follows, saying: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

The Third Angel's Message embraces Sinai and Calvary; the law of God and the gospel of Christ; God the Father and God the Son. And when this message ends, the work of God for the salvation of men–the mystery of God–will be finished.

Reader, are you keeping the ten commandments, with the faith of Jesus? Read them carefully and see. Read them earnestly and prayerfully, for God is now bringing every work into judgment: and every work that will not bear the test of the ten commandments will be "found wanting."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 6:1" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 42 , p. 665.

"BRETHREN, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

Note that when a man is overtaken in a fault, the only thing that the Scripture commands the Christians to do is to "restore such an one." There is no commandment to condemn him, to set him at naught, to ostracize him, to talk about either him or his fault; but only to "restore" him.

This is the only spirit that there is in Christianity; for "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." Condemnation is not what anybody needs in this world; for everybody is already condemned over and over, by his own sins, and by his own knowledge of his own faults. And, surely, it could be nothing but an essentially vindictive spirit that would crowd more condemnation upon a person who is, already, and many times, doubly condemned. And Christianity is not of such spirit: Christianity is the spirit of love, of the very love of God; and God's love is manifest in his sending of Christ, not to condemn the world, but to save it. Such alone is the spirit of Christianity, everywhere, and forever.

This is shown also in the text, in directing that "ye that are spiritual restore such a one." There is no direction to anyone who is not spiritual to make any attempt to restore such a one: and this for the simple reason that any such one could do it. The first consideration, therefore, when the Christian receives the knowledge that one is overtaken in a fault, is that that one is to be restored. The next is, Am I spiritual, so that I can hope to restore him? This brings the one who is to attempt the restoring, face to face with himself and God, in an examination of his own standing before God, as to whether he is truly spiritual.

And when this is found to be so, when one has found himself truly spiritual, then, in the spirit of meekness, which is only the spirit of Christ, and which can be only in him who is truly spiritual, seek to restore the one overtaken in the fault: at the same time "considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted;" putting yourself in his place, asking yourself how you would like to be approached, how you would like to be treated, if you were in the fault in which the brother has been overtaken.

Bear in mind also that it is the man who is "overtaken" in the fault who is to be restored–not one whom you imagine to have committed a fault; not one whom you think has done what you think to be a fault. This word gives no countenance whatever to any spirit of fault-finding, or of searching for faults in a brother. It is counsel to be followed and applied only when one is "overtaken in a fault;" when it has become apparent that there is actually a fault. Then, and only then, is the matter to be touched; and then only "ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."

Jesus has also given specific directions as to how Christians shall go about to "restore" the one overtaken in a fault. He says: "Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." Matt. 18:14. In all the word of God there is no counsel plainer than this of the Lord Jesus; yet what counsel of his is more, and more positively, disregarded by those who profess to be his?

It is the truth well known to all, that the majority of professed Christians do go and tell anybody, and almost everybody, else than the one who has committed the fault. But how can they do so and be a Christian? Such a course is natural to the natural man, because it is natural to each man in the world to think every other man his enemy, and, consequently, to have no confidence in him; and then he concludes that it would do no possible good for him to go and tell the man his fault, because it would only make the man still more his enemy.

But it is not so with Christians. The believer in Jesus is sure that all other believers in Jesus are not his enemies, but are his brethren; he counts them as such; he has confidence in them as such. Therefore, he who is really a Christian has confidence in his brother, that his brother will listen to him and will hear him in what he has to say, even though it be to tell him his fault "between thee and him alone."

Therefore, it is lack of confidence in a brother's sincerity in the fear of the Lord, which is the cause that any professed Christian will not go and tell his brother his fault "between thee and him alone." But lack of Christian confidence is only the mark of the lack of brotherly love, which in itself, is a lack of Christianity. So the true analysis of such a course shows that it is simply the lack of Christianity that causes any professed Christian to tell it to anybody else than the one in fault, and not to "go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." But go as a Christian, as a brother, and "tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." To "gain" him, to "restore" him, is all the purpose of your going to him at all.

And when one is not a Christian, there is indeed no need for him to go and tell a man his fault, because he is not in a condition to be able to tell it in a way that will do the man any good; for even when one is a Christian, and is spiritual, and "in the spirit of meekness" goes and tells a man his fault, between the two alone, it is possible that even then the man will not hear him. And "if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every work may be established." Matt. 18:16. Not that you are to go and tell one or two more, but you are to take one or two more, and go and tell him, in their presence as witnesses.

"And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Verse 17.

He who, against all this attempt to restore him, holds on his own way, rejecting all attempts of his brethren to help him, has demonstrated that he has not the spirit of Christian brotherhood, and has separated himself from the company of the brethren. And then all that the church can do is to recognize the truth of the situation thus developed, and "let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." As it is written in another place; "A man that is an heretic [one who chooses for himself, against the word of God. against all considerations of brotherhood] after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." Titus 3:10, 11.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 42 , p. 665.

NOT content with attending real negro minstrel shows, it is said that "society is in possession of a new fad in the form of negro minstrel entertainments." The queer part about it all is that the "negro minstrels" are white persons with blackened faces. The popular church organizations, such as the Epworth Leagues, Christian Endeavorers, King's Daughters, etc., have all "fallen in with the prevailing spirit, and are resorting to minstrel shows as a means to replenish their treasuries." It is further stated, and upon good authority, that "society belles and the most aristocratic young men do not hesitate to blacken their faces and assume the characters of negro performers on the amateur stage," because it is "the thing" to do so. And the songs that are sung "either appeal to the senses or tend to arouse the sentiment of pathos, through which evil is oftener wrought than is generally known." Further: "The results of this fad are even now coming to the front. In one city in an adjoining State, six fashionable young ladies, leaders in society, have fallen victims to the blandishments of a negro who was secured to train them in the divine art" of singing "darkey songs." Thus the popular churches, having discarded tithing, God's plan for filling the church treasury, and having abandoned the aid of the power of God, the Holy Spirit, are obliged to resort to carnal methods of raising money. "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." "Come out of her, my people."

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 42 , p. 672.

IN an interview in London, October 1, Archbishop Ireland said:–

In one of the audiences which he granted me, the pope said: "We are well pleased with the relations of the American government to the church in Cuba and the Philippines. The American government gives proof of good will, and exhibits a spirit of justice and respect for the liberty and rights of the church. You will thank, in my name, the President of the republic for what is being done." . . .

Furthermore, Cardinal Rampolla said that on no less than three different occasions petitions had been sent to the Vatican, in the name of the Filipino leaders, asking that direct, official relations be opened between them and the Vatican, but the Vatican has always refused to listen to such petitions, out of consideration for the American government.

Of course it is a good deal better for the papacy for her to leave the United States through which to deal with the Filipinos, than to deal with them herself direct. And that the United States is filling the place so satisfactorily to the pope, is a matter of deep interest in itself.

October 23, 1900

"The Sermon. The Sabbath-school Work" ¹⁴1 Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 43 , pp. 659, 660.

A. T. JONES

NOW I wish you to consider for a little while what really is sin: what it is in essence. You know the divine definition: "Sin is the transgression of the law." Now I wish you to consider what it is to transgress the law. Is it only the positive doing of something that is evil?–No; it is the COMING SHORT of positively doing that which is good. Is it not written that "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all"?

In another word, sin is the coming short of the righteousness of God. To come short of the righteousness of God is to transgress the law. Then, whatever righteousness I may present, whatever deeds I may do, as obedience to the law of God as it stands in his word, which, in any sense at all, or to any degree at all, comes short of the righteousness of God, that is sin: it is indeed transgression of the law. This is emphasized by the fact that both in the Hebrew and in the Greek the word that God selected by which to convey to the minds of men the root-thought of what is sin, of what is transgression of the law, is the word that means to "miss the mark;" and to miss the mark by coming short.

It was in the time when they used bows and arrows that the word was selected. A man, with his bow and arrow, shooting at a mark, would aim most carefully, and would do his very best, to hit the mark: all his intentions were good; his purpose and his endeavor were of the best; but yet he could not reach the mark. He missed the mark by coming short. He was not strong enough to give to the arrow that impetus which would carry it so that it would hit the mark. Remember he did not miss the mark by overshooting, but by coming short of it. That is the root-thought in the word which God chose, both in the Hebrew and in the Greek, to convey to mankind the idea of what sin is.

Now no man in the world is strong enough, doing his very best, to hit the mark of the law of God, which is only the righteousness of God; for "all have sinned, and come short." That mark is too high as well as too far away for us to hit it. But, bless the Lord, "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." And in Christ alone we find the hitting of the mark. Therefore, "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:13, 14. In Christ it is, only in Christ, that we find the righteousness of God, which is the keeping of the law of God. Only in Christ do we find the keeping of the law of God.

Come then, look with me at that law. By it is the knowledge of sin. That covers everything. All there is in sin is covered by that. Suppose you and I look into the law of God and get the brightest, clearest possible view that a man can get of that law. Suppose I see its demands, in the greatest breadth that a man can; and that we actually fulfill, to perfection, all the breadth of it that we see–have we really fulfilled it? Think of that. Have you? Have you then fulfilled the law as God fulfills it? as God would if he were in your place?–Oh, no. We have fulfilled only what we could see. But have we seen it all, in its intensity of righteousness?–We have not. No one but God can, for it is only the law of God.

That law being the law of God, only God's righteousness is truly manifest in it: it expresses only that; so it is the reflection of what God is, in character. And that being so, nobody but God can see the true measure of the righteousness that is in the ten commandments. And there is the fallacy of our thinking that we can do true righteousness by keeping the ten commandments. We can not grasp the righteousness of the ten commandments. If we were able to grasp it, we might do it. But that would require that we be infinite in understanding. But there is none infinite but God. Therefore none but God can grasp the infinity of the law of God.

There is another phase of this: I look into that law, and I see to the greatest height and breadth that I can; and I do to perfection all that I see–whose is the doing?–It is only mine. I have done it to perfection according to my understanding. I have done all that I can see. But the seeing is only mine, not God's; and the doing is only mine, not God's; therefore all the righteousness of such doing is but mine, not God's. Now put this with that. The only righteousness that any man can ever see in the law of God is his own righteousness. And God can see in the law his own righteousness.

Therefore, I state the principle in a broader way: The only righteousness that ANYBODY, God or man, can see in the law of God is his own righteousness. But when God sees in the law of God his own righteousness, it is all right: for it is the righteousness of God; it is holiness; it is the genuine. But when we see in the law of God our own righteousness, it is only "filthy rags;" it is only self-righteousness; it is only sin.

Therefore it is written, in the lesson that you will have for next Sabbath, and don't forget it when you come to it: "If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. 2:21. To nobody in the wide universe does righteousness come by the law. Righteousness, to angels as to men, as the gift of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the universe, with God. Consequently, there is no righteousness that comes to anybody but by the faith of Jesus Christ. And when the cross was set up on Calvary, it became the center of the universe. The cross of Christ contains the whole philosophy of the plan of salvation: it is the seal of salvation to the angels who never sinned; it is the sign and seal of salvation to men who have sinned. To the angels who never sinned, the cross of Christ is the seal of certainty that their righteousness will abide forever, that they will never sin; to sinful men, it is the sign and seal that they will be saved to the uttermost from all sin, and held in righteousness for evermore.

So, then, righteousness cometh to the world only as the gift of the Lord Jesus. "Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, . . . even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ." He is the One through whom it comes; he is the One who paid the price of it, who took upon him the curse; the One who bore the penalty and paid all the claims of sin and death, upon every soul. And to him belong the glory, the honor, and the majesty for all the righteousness of men who have sinned; and for the security in righteousness of angels who never sinned.

This is the gospel, and this is the salvation which the Lord Jesus brought. And this gives a glimpse of the mighty thing that sin is, and of what a fearful depth it is to which sin has plunged us, in plunging us into death–when it took such a gift, and such a price, to deliver us. But, thank the Lord, the deliverance in righteousness and life is as high on that side as the loss in sin and death is deep on that side. And so it is written: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me"–may have, or maybe shall have, everelasting life? Is that it?–No, no. To you it is written; to me it is written; listen: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life [listen more], and shall not come into condemnation; but [listen yet more] IS PASSED from,–what? All who know the word, say it. [Voices: "Death."] "Is passed from death." Then where was he before he believed?–He was in death. Where is the man who to-day hears the words of Jesus Christ, and does not believe them? Where is he, whoever he may be or wherever he may be? Suppose he belongs to the church? [Voices: "He is in death."] And has his name on the church book; but does not believe? [Voices: "He is in death."] Comes to meeting on Sabbath, hears the word of God which Jesus brought, and yet does not believe on him? [Voices: "He is in death."] Look at it. And Again: "He that loveth not his brother abideth"–abideth, abideth–"in death." 1 John 3:14. Where is he, then?–He is in death, in the power of death: death is his shepherd.

That emphasizes what we had at the beginning, and all the way through–that death is the only portion of anybody in this world who is outside of Jesus Christ. They are subject to death; death is their ruler, sovereign, and shepherd, who attends them as they go here, there, and everywhere. But, thank the Lord, there is salvation to every man in the world; for he who came CONQUERED DEATH. He conquered death; bless his name.

And note the power that is in him to conquer death, and the power that was displayed in him in the conquering of death. He gave himself up, bodily and wholly, to the power of death. He went into the enemy's prison-house; he allowed himself to be locked up there, in the bonds of death, and a great stone was rolled unto the mouth of the sepulcher, and the sepulcher was sealed with the seal of the Roman Empire. So, both by the chief of the spiritual powers and by the chief of the temporal powers of this world, the Lord Jesus was locked in the power of death. But, being dead, he broke the power of death!

It is a little enough thing that one who is alive should break the power of death. But, oh, the majesty, the divinity, the infinity of the power of him who, being dead, could bread the power of death! That is the majesty of our Saviour, of the Lord who has bought you and me, and who is able to, and who does, set us free from the power of death. And when this "vapor" vanishes away, and we lie down, Christ will say, as of Lazarus, He "sleepeth." True, he was, and we may be, locked in the bonds of death. But what does that amount to when our Lord has so completely conquered

676

all the power of death? Therefore it is written: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I [I who was dead] am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of heel and of death." Rev. 1:18. That is the power of our Saviour.

Look at it again. He came forth from death. Why?–"Because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." Think of it! All the power of death exerted to the fullest extent of all temporal and spiritual powers of this world,–all that power could not possibly hold in death him who was DEAD. Bless the Lord! [Voices: "Amen."] What has he, the Mighty One, to fear from death even? Oh, death is conquered, and the victory is ours to-day, who believe in Jesus. For it is written: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but IS PASSED FROM DEATH unto LIFE." Thank the Lord!

Oh, then, rejoice in the life which is life indeed. Stand up as Christians, holding up the head. Take the long, deep breath that belongs to him whose life comes from the depths of the Eternal. This is the salvation which the Lord Jesus brings, and gives, full and free, to every soul. Then drink it in, and rejoice in it for evermore. Tell it to those who are dead. Carry the good news to those who are lost,–that here is salvation–salvation from sin–salvation from death; for he, being dead, conquered death, and manifested the divinity of his power. And rejoice for evermore in it all.

And now let us sing that blessed hymn, never too old, never too familiar, No. 123.

"O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth,
Which in my Saviour shine!
I'd soar and touch the heavenly strings,
And vie with Gabriel while he sings
In notes almost divine.

[Would you not? Then, as we sing it, let the spirit that is in it be in you and in me, in thankfulness, in praise, and in gladness.]

"I'd sing the precious blood he spilt,
My ransom from the dreadful guilt
Of sin and wrath divine!
I'd sing his glorious righteousness,
In which all-perfect heavenly dress
My soul shall ever shine.

"I'd sing the character he bears

[It is his character that is my hope],

And all the forms of love he wears,
Exalted on his throne;
In loftiest songs of sweetest praise,
I would to everlasting days
Make all his glories known.

[It will take to everlasting days to do it; and, bless the Lord, we have everlasting days in which to do it.]

"Well, the delightful day will come

[when we shall have the chance. It begins now, it is true; but now, with our weak, harsh voices and trembling lips, we can not make all his glories known, and can not sing them becomingly. Yet, bless his dear name, "the delightful day will come"]

When my dear Lord will take me home,
And I shall see his face;
Then, with my Saviour, Brother, Friend,
A blest eternity I'll spend,
Triumphant in his grace."

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 43 , p. 680.

SINCE 1898 there has been in this nation a systematic repudiation of the truth–the fundamental national principle–that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. For years before this was thus systematically begun, as well as since, we have called attention to the truth that it could not be done without the planting of a despotism; and that in this case it would certainly be a religious as well as a civil despotism. This, because for a generation there has been here the steadily growing National Reform combination, ever insisting that governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, but only from God. The Outlook has been one of the leading influences in the present national repudiation of the fundamental principle of the nation. And now the Outlook, being called upon by its readers to tell what then is the source of governmental power, answers thus, October 6:–

"Just government rests neither upon the edict of a few strong men nor upon the consent of the many; it rests upon the law of God. No government is just that does not conform to the law of God." "Just governments rest on conformity with the laws of God." "Human governments are, or ought to be, attempts to ascertain what these laws are, and to adapt the life of the community to them." "Righteous democracy is simply one way of ascertaining what are the laws of God, and of conforming the life of the community to them."

That defines and sanctions all that the papacy ever was. It is exactly what, from the beginning, the National Reform combination has proposed. This change in the fundamental principle of this nation is the very change that the National Reform Association has always advocated. Therefore nothing short of the direct enactment of a positive Sunday law, by this nation, could be more directly the making of the Image of the Beast than is this national repudiation of the fundamental principles of the nation as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

"Editorial Notes" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 43 , p. 680.

AT the late General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, David H. Moore was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church for Eastern Asia. August 29 Bishop Moore sailed from San Francisco to Nagasaki, Japan. Before he started, he received the following letter of introduction:–

To the Naval and Military Commanders of the United States in China or on the Asiatic Station: This will present the Right Rev. David H. Moore, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church for Eastern Asia. He is one of the most distinguished divines in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and worthy of the highest confidence. I bespeak for Bishop Moore any courtesy which can consistently be shown him.
WILLIAM MCKINLEY.

Upon this the Christian Advocate remarks: "One so occupied as the President–especially in times like these–must often have to avail himself of an amanuensis or typewriter. No doubt this accounts for a title in the letter which is unknown to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Moore we know, and love to honor; but Right Rev. Bishop Moore we know not."

The insertion of this title, unknown among Methodists, makes it certain that the actual writing of that letter was not done by William McKinley, who is a Methodist. The insertion of that title also makes it practically a certainty that the amanuensis or the typewriter who did actually write the letter is a Catholic. Who but a Catholic–one who from infancy had been trained to speak of a bishop as "Right Rev."–could possibly have attached to a Methodist such a title? To one to whom the principal thing known of a bishop is that he is "Right Rev.," it was easy to conclude, if he thought at all, that since Mr. Moore is a bishop, he must be "Right Rev.;" and to such a one it would be perfectly natural, if he did not think, to write inadvertently the phrase "Right Rev." in connection with the title "Bishop."

And this almost certainty that the said amanuensis, typewriter, or secretary, who is so close to the President of the United States that he can frame for him the wording of his letters, is a Catholic, carries with it also some very important considerations. If that is a certainty, then it is also a certainty that the Catholic Church has, in the most inner circle of official confidence of the President of the United States, the means of knowing what is passing in that innermost circle. And if this is not the certainty that thus is caused to appear, then it is one of the most peculiar mysteries of the day how, in a letter from William McKinley, a Methodist, there could have been written concerning a Methodist bishop the words "Right Rev."

"The Third Angel's Message. The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 43 , pp. 680, 681.

IN the matter of the duty of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, it is not to be understood that the two can for a moment be separated. The commandments can not be kept acceptably to God except by faith in Jesus Christ; and faith in Christ amounts to nothing–is dead–unless it is manifested, made perfect, in good works: and these good works consist in keeping the commandments of God.

Christ kept the commandments of God: "I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10. By his obedience it is that many must be made righteous. "For as by one man's [Adam's] disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Christ's] shall many be made righteous." Rom. 5:19. But these are made righteous only by faith in him, thus having "the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:22, 23.

All have sinned; and "sin is the transgression of the law." As all have thus transgressed the law, none can attain to righteousness by the law. There is righteousness in the law of God; in fact, the Word says, "All thy commandments are righteousness;" but there is no righteousness there for the transgressor. If righteousness ever comes to one who has transgressed the law, it must come from some source besides the law. And as all, in all the world, have transgressed the law, to whomsoever, in all the world, righteousness shall come, it must be from another source than from the law, and that source is Christ Jesus the Lord.

This is the great argument of Rom. 3:19-21: "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Then the question comes in, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Notice, he had already said that although this righteousness of God is "without the law," and by faith of Christ, yet it is "witnessed by the law and the prophets." It is a righteousness that accords with the law; it is a righteousness to which the law can bear witness, it is a righteousness with which the law in its perfect righteousness can find no fault: it is indeed the very righteousness of the law itself; for it is the righteousness of God, and the law is only the law of God. It is the righteousness of God, which in Christ is wrought out for us by his perfect obedience to the commandments of God, and of which we become partakers by faith in him; for "by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous." Thus we become the children of God by faith in Christ. By faith in him the righteousness of the law is met in us. And we do not make void, but we establish, the law of God, by faith in Christ. In other words, in Christ is found the keeping of the law of God.

This is shown again in Gal. 2:17: "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid." To be found sinners, is to be found transgressors of the law; for "sin is the transgression of the law." Then since the Lord has set his everlasting "God forbid" against any suggestion that Christ is the minister of the transgression of the law, it follows as certainly that Christ ministers the keeping of the law. The believer in Jesus finds in Christ the keeping of the commandments of God–the law of God. Whosoever therefore professes to be justified by faith in Christ, and yet claims the "liberty" to disregard the law of God in a single point, is deceived. He is only claiming that Christ is the minister of sin, against which the Lord has set his everlasting "God forbid." Thus faith, justification by faith, establishes the law of God; because faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, is the only means there is by which the keeping of the commandments of God can ever be manifested in the life of anybody in the world.

This is yet further shown in Rom. 8:3-10: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

What was it that the law could not do?

1. The law was ordained to life (Rom. 7:10), but it could not minister life, because "all had sinned"–transgressed the law,–and "the wages of sin is death." And this being so, all that the law can possibly minister is death.

2. The law was ordained to justification (Rom. 2:13), but it will justify only the doers of the law: but of all the children of Adam there have been no doers of the law: "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

3. The law was ordained to righteousness (Rom. 10:5), but it can count as righteous only the obedient: and all the world is guilty of disobedience before God.

Therefore, because of man's failure, because of his wrong doings, the law could not minister to him life, it could not justify him, it could not accept him as righteous. So far as man was concerned, the purpose of the law was entirely frustrated.

But mark, "What the law could not do in that it was weak through the sinful flesh," God sent his Son to do, in the likeness of sinful flesh. What the law could not do, Christ does. The law could not minister life, because by transgression all had incurred its penalty of death; the law could not give justification, because by failure to do it, all had brought themselves under its condemnation; the law could not give righteousness, because all had sinned. But instead of this death, Christ gives life; instead of this condemnation, Christ gives justification; instead of this sin, Christ gives righteousness.

And for what?–That henceforth the law might be despised by us?–Nay, verily! But "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill," said the holy Son of God. And so "Christ is the end [the object, the aim, the purpose] of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." Rom. 10:4. For of God, Christ Jesus "is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. 1:30, 31.

In Christ, by faith of Christ, the believer in Jesus finds the keeping of the commandments of God, which is the righteousness of God. Thus the keep-

681

ing of the commandments of God is the gift of God: it is the "free gift" of the righteousness of God "which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." And this is the Third Angel's Message: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 6:2" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 43 , p. 552.

"BEAR ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Thus it is seen that the law of Christ is self-sacrifice to serve others; the spending of self to help others.

And so it is written in another place: "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves." And again: "Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification."

And this because "even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me." Rom. 15:1-3.

Again: this law is expressed thus: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory: but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than themselves." Phil. 2:3. When each esteems the other better than himself, it becomes a pleasure to serve the other: it is more of a pleasure to serve the other, by helping him, than it is to serve self.

So in truth each can please himself more, in pleasing his neighbor for his good, by serving and helping him, than he can in seeking to please himself by serving only himself. This is the true Christian joy, because it was "for the joy that was set before him" that Christ "endured the cross, despising the shame" and the reproach which must be, and which were, endured to deliver us from our shame and reproach.

Therefore, again this law of Christ is expressed in the words: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Phil. 2:4.

And that all may know for certain that this is precisely the law of Christ, and that the observance of it is therefore the keeping of all the law of God,–yea, even the keeping of all the law and the prophets,–Jesus himself spoke for all mankind this law of Christ. And here are the words: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12.

Notice, it is not, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do" that to yourself. Nor is it to have them do that to you; but it is "do ye even so to them."

Thus the knowledge of this law of Christ is the easiest of all knowledge to attain, and the observance of this law is the easiest of all observances, to him who really has the heart to do it. To know what the law of Christ is, all that is required is that I shall simply think of what I would have any man do to me. In this transaction, at this particular moment, what would I choose that that man should do to me, if I were in his place, and all these circumstances applied to me? And whatsoever that may be, I know that that is the thing that it is right for me to do to him just at that moment, in that particular transaction, and in those circumstances. And since it is always perfectly easy for any man to know what he would that another should do to him in given circumstances, it is thus easy for him to know, at any moment, just what is the law of Christ; just what is the law of God; just what is "the whole duty of man."

And just as easy as it is to know it, just so easy it is to do it, when I have the heart to do it; when I have Christ before me, instead of myself; and when I have his law in my heart, instead of my own self-seeking. But it is plain that this requires the utter emptying of self, and the appearing of Christ in the life; because none of this is the way of self; and self will never go that way. That is the way of unselfishness; that is the way of the crucifixion of self; the utter death of self, and the living of Christ.

Therefore immediately following the word, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others," the sum of all is written: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God: thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil. 2:5-8.

Certainly it is true that without the mind of Christ no man can fulfill the law of Christ. Then wherever there is a lack of fulfilling the law of Christ, a lack of esteeming others better than ourselves, a lack of looking on the things of others, it is evident that the cause of the failure is in not having the mind of Christ. And the remedy is to receive and to retain the mind of Christ.

If this law of Christ were fulfilled daily by individuals, by the managers of our Conferences and our institutions, the loud cry of the Third Angel's Message would shortly fill the earth, the gospel of the kingdom would speedily be preached to all the world, and very soon the end would come. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 43 , p. 688.

THE United States minister to Spain says that the Filipinos "have made three attempts to open negotiations with the Vatican, all of which were refused." Now the Filipinos are Roman Catholics. The Catholic Church claims them as hers, and resents any suggestion of Protestants working among them. The Filipinos, then, being Catholics, why does the Vatican refuse to recognize them or to accept any overtures from the, and insist on dealing with them only through the United States government? The reason is plain enough–to get into her net, and to hold and use as her tool there, the United States government, is of infinitely more importance to the papacy than are any of the concerns of the Filipinos.

October 30, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 44 , p. 696.

"THE law is spiritual," and "the carnal mind [the natural mind, the minding of the flesh] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh can not please God." Rom. 7:14; 8:7, 8.

How then shall we please God? How shall we become subject to the law of God? The Saviour says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh;" and we have just read in Romans that "they that are in the flesh can not please God." But the Saviour says, further, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Therefore it is certain that except we are born of the Spirit, we can not please God; we can not be subject to the law of God, which is spiritual, and demands spiritual service. This, too, is precisely what the Saviour says: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God."

We know that some will say that the kingdom of God here referred to is the kingdom of glory, and that the new birth, the birth of the Spirit, is not until the resurrection, and that then we enter the kingdom of God. but such a view is altogether wrong. Except a man be born of the Spirit, he must still remain in the flesh. But the Scripture says, "They that are in the flesh can not please God," And the man who does not please God will never see the kingdom of God, whether it be the kingdom of grace or of glory.

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God." The kingdom of God, whether of grace or of glory, is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17. Except a man be born again, he can not see, nor enter into, the peace of God, which passes all understanding; and except he be born of the Spirit of God, how can he see, or enter into, that "joy in the Holy Ghost"?

Except a man be born again–born of the Spirit–before he dies, he will never see the resurrection unto life. this is shown in Rom. 8:11: "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

It is certain, therefore, that except the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, we can not be raised from the dead to life. But except his Spirit dwells in us, we are yet in the flesh. And if we are in the flesh, we can not please God. And if we do not please God here, we can never see the kingdom of God, either here or hereafter.

Again: it is by faith that we are the children of the first Adam; and if we shall ever be children of the last Adam, it must be by a new birth. The first Adam was natural, and we are his children by natural birth; the last Adam is spiritual, and if we become his children, it must be by spiritual birth. The first Adam was of the earth, earthy, and we are his children by an earthly birth; the last Adam is the Lord from heaven, from above; and if we are to be his children, it must be by a heavenly birth, a birth from above.

"As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy." The earthy is "natural"–of the flesh. And "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;" "because they are spiritually discerned," and "they that are in the flesh can not please God." Such is the birthright, and all the birthright, that we receive from the first Adam.

But, thank the Lord, "as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." The heavenly is spiritual; he is "a life-giving Spirit;" and the spiritual man receives the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned. He can please God because he is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; for the Spirit of God dwells in him. He is, and can be, subject to the law of God, because the carnal mind if destroyed, and he has the mind of Christ, the heavenly.

Such is the birthright of the last Adam, the one from above. and all the privileges, the blessings, and the joys of this birthright are ours when we are born from above. "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born from above." "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he can not see the kingdom of God." With the argument of this paragraph, please study 1 Cor. 15:45-48; John 3:3-8; 1 Cor. 3:11-16; Rom. 8:5-10.

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor. 5:17. As a new creature he lives a new life, a life of faith. "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." But it is a faith that works; for without works faith is dead.

In Christ nothing avails but a new creature; he lives by faith; it is a faith that works, and the work is the keeping of the commandments of God. Thus saith the Scripture:–

1. "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Gal. 6:15.

2. "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." Gal. 5:6.

3. "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." 1 Cor. 7:19.

Again: it is "faith which worketh by love," that avails; and "this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." 1 John 5:3. And "love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. 13:10. Therefore, in Christ Jesus the faith that avails is the faith that keeps the commandments of God, the faith that fulfills the law of God.

Once more: "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10. "Created in Christ Jesus," is to be made a "new creature" in Christ Jesus. But we are created in him "unto good works," and these good works are those which God had before ordained that we should walk in them.

That is to say, God before ordained good works in which we should walk. But we have not walked in them. Now he creates us anew in Christ, so that we may walk in these good works in which before we failed to walk. These good works are the commandments, the law, of God. These commandments express the whole duty of man, but man has failed to do his duty; "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But now Christ is manifested to take away our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5:21.

We are made new creatures in him, that in him and by him we may perform acceptable service, and do the duty, keep the commandments of God, which before we failed to do, and which, out of him, all must ever fail to do. For he himself said, "Without me ye can do nothing." This is according to that which we have before shown: "What the law could not do," "God sending his own Son" did, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4.

Therefore when the Third Angel's Message calls, as it now does call, upon all men to "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus," it simply calls all men to the performance of the whole duty of man–as he now exists. And when, under this message, we urge men to keep the commandments of God strictly according to the letter, we mean that they must be kept strictly according to the spirit, too. When we press upon all the obligation of keeping the commandments of God, it is always the obligation of keeping them the only way in which they can be kept, that is, by faith of Jesus Christ; it is always the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus; it is that all must be made perfect by his perfect righteousness; and that all our righteousness must be the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, and that righteousness witnessed by the law and the prophets.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 6:3" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 44 , pp. 696, 697.

"FOR if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."

It is bad enough for a man to be deceived by another; but it is worse to be deceived by himself. But this verse gives the true corrective and preventive of self-deception–and it is found in a man's thinking himself truly what he is; that is, nothing.

But this is not natural. The natural thing is for each one to think himself something; and then continue so to think until he becomes more and more something, and the chiefest of all. That is simply the secret and the spirit of self-exaltation.

But the truth is that of himself man is nothing; and the true way for any man to find this truth is to confess that be is nothing. That is simply the way of self-abnegation.

And then he can become something.

Now the reason of all this is that man is separated from God; and this separation was accomplished by his accepting the suggestion, and following the way, of the one who originally in his self-exaltation, declared; "I will be like the Most High." And the end course, with that one, is that he shall be absolutely nothing. For of him at the end of his course it is written: "Never shalt thou be any more." Eze. 28:19. And when he entered upon that course which inevitably ends only in his being absolutely nothing, then it is certain that at the beginning of it he practically made himself nothing, and that all through his course he was truly nothing.

It is so also with the man who accepted the leadership, and followed in the way, of this one. By this the man made himself nothing. And so it is written: "All nations before him are as nothing: and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." Isa. 40:17. And "they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught." Isa. 42:12.

Yet the original leader, and, from him, all who are led in this course, really think themselves to be something, when, in very truth, they are nothing.

Now there is a way out of this nothingness into that which is something, and in which each one shall be truly something. And this was in the way of Christ–the way of the cross. Christ is the example: he has led the way; for "he emptied himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Thus he gave himself up to be, and to become, lost and nothing, that he might redeem those who are lost and nothing.

Therefore all are exhorted: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [a thing to be seized upon and to be held fast] to be equal with God: but emptied himself," and became nothing. And because he did this, and through his doing it, "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things under the heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:9-11.

Therefore the first of all things for any man to do to help himself, to set himself in the way of deliverance from nothingness, is to recognize truly that he is nothing. Then, in Christ he becomes something, and shall be something, even though, in himself, he is ever nothing. As it is written: "In nothing am I behind the very apostles, though I be nothing." 2 Cor. 12:11. This, because

697

we are not "sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." 3:5. "As God hath said, I will dwell in them and they shall be my people." 6:16. This is "the mystery of God;" God manifest in the flesh: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

And these things are written "that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" 1 Cor. 4:6, 7.

When it is true of every man that he has nothing, absolutely nothing, even to his existence, which he did not receive from God; then, without God, what is he?–Plainly, he is nothing. And that is just the condition of men as they are in the world, naturally, "without God in the world." Eph. 2:12.

Thus, it being strictly true, in the nature of things, that, without God, any creature is nothing; man, being without God, is truly nothing. Then, when, in this condition, man thinks himself something, in that very thing he asserts self-existence–equality with God. And this is true of man in his condition of sin and separation from God; because that was the very thing which was asserted to him and expected by him when sin entered: "Ye shall be like God."

But self-existence is not true of any creature: self-existence is true only of God. All persons and things are from him, and by him; and in him all things "live, and move, and have their being:" each in itself nothing, but in him something, according as his mind, his will, his purpose, is manifest therein.

Thus the self-deception of a man in his thinking himself to be something, when, in absolute truth, he is nothing, is the worst and most destructive of all deceptions, because it is the deception of asserting of himself self-existence,–divinity; "showing himself that he is God,"–the only end of which is to become, indeed, absolutely nothing, in the awful consummation that is declared. "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." Ps. 37:10.

But only let a man accept, in his heart and life, the truth that he is nothing; let him accept the manifestation of Christ, which alone can ever hold him in the place where he shall know that, in truth, of himself he is nothing; let Christ live in him; let God be manifest in his flesh; let the mind, the will, the purpose, of God thus be manifest in him,–and of him it will be also true that, because of this, "God also hath highly exalted him." For it is written: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 3:21. Jesus said, "Without me ye can do nothing." This is so because, without him, ye are nothing. For to be without Christ is to be "without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12); and to be without God is to be nothing.

Only the way of Christ, the way of the cross, is the way of life, the way of something. Any other way is only the way of death, the way of nothing.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who . . . emptied himself."

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 44 , p. 697.

IN the Rock River (Ill.) M. E. Conference, October, Bishop Thoburn, speaking on "expansion," said:–

God's manifest plan is to do away with all small nations, and build up great empires. The time is coming when there will be only a few great nations. I predict that within one hundred years the world will embrace only six or seven great empires. Among them will be the great United States of America, which I might say will extend from Cape Horn to the north pole. There will be the United States of Europe, the empire of Germany and Austria, the Russian Empire, the empire of Great Britain, the empire of Africa, the empire of eastern Asia, and the empire of western Asia. When this point in the world's progress is reached, the petty strifes of nations will cease. It will be a time when nations will learn no more of war. Such a condition is only possible when the petty small nations are absorbed by the big empires.

Is it true that it has been only the "petty small nations" that did the fighting throughout history? Has it not been the great and mighty nations–the world empires–that have invariably gone to ruin?

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 44 , p. 698.

IN 1890 the present Emperor William called a congress of educators in Berlin, and directed it to prepare a schedule for the high schools of Germany, which would make the pupils "not good Greeks or good Romans, but good Germans." The immediate result was a reduction of the Latin course by twenty per cent. and of the Greek by ten per cent. The emperor would not send the crown prince to a classical school, but sent him to a technical school. And now the young man is to enter the University of Bonn, "without any knowledge of Greek, and with but little of Latin." And finally, up to date, only a short time ago two conventions were held in Germany, "attended by the leading schoolmen from the whole of Germany," both of which demanded that graduates from the high schools and the scientific schools shall be admitted to full university privileges and examinations without classical standing, and even without any knowledge of Latin or Greek, except candidates for the theological courses. "Thus," says the Independent of August 30, from which this information is gathered, "practically the entire educational world of Germany, at least officially, favors a more or less radical innovation in the direction of non-classical preparatory work for the universities." If only people would observe and think, they might without much difficulty detect the secret of Germany's clear and powerful leadership among the nations, which has been so rapidly attained, and is so strongly held, under the reign of the present young emperor.

November 6, 1900

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 45 , p. 712.

AT the dedication, a few days ago, of a Y. M. C. A. building on Governor's Island, N. Y., for the United States soldiers, one of the most prominent men of the nation said: "Every soldier who marches under our flag must understand and be taught that when he lands upon other shores, American civilization, American humanity, and American Christianity will be measured by the standard he establishes in that far-off land." This idea that Christianity has become, or could possibly become, American, is one of the greatest deceptions and most mischievous things of these deceptive times. Christianity is not a national religion. To make it national is to abandon it in its reality, and is to substitute for it sheer human and nation prejudices and characteristics. In Christianity "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcisioin," Filipino nor American, Chinese nor British, Japanese nor Russian, French nor German, "barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." In Christ all are one. And if any profess to be in Christ, and yet are not one, then they are not in Christ at all; and such is not Christianity at all. National religions are always idolatrous, despotic, and persecuting; and "American Christianity," once confirmed, will be nothing else.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 45 , p. 712.

ARCHBISHOP IRELAND continues to tell, and the Associated Press diligently to publish, that the pope is "well pleased with the relation of the American government to the church in Cuba and the Philippine Islands." In an interview published in the Chicago Times-Herald, October 24, the archbishop not only reiterated that, but added the following words from Cardinal Rampolla, the papal secretary of state:–

The church needs in Cuba and the Philippines the co-operation of the American government for the protection of its rights and liberties; as indeed the American government needs the co-operation of the church for the pacification of those countries.

And to all this he adds the following words of his own:–

As a plain matter of fact, the only safety which the Catholic Church at the present time has in the Philippines for the possession of her property and for the lives of her priests is the protection afforded by the American flag, and this is fully understood and fully recognized at Rome.

Thus it is certain that the papacy has now in Cuba and the Philippines the United States government as her support and stay, as really, even if not yet so thoroughly, as she had any government in the Middle Ages. And that is why the relation of this government to the papacy is so "well pleasing" to the pope. And if the relationship were not that, it would not be in any sense pleasing to the pope. And what a position that is for a nation which was founded "upon the principles on which the gospel was first propagated and the Reformation from popery carried on"!

"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It to Keep the Faith of Jesus?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 45 , pp. 712, 713.

WHEN the young man came to Jesus, asking, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Jesus answered, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments," and cited the second table of the ten commandments. The young man replied: "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

As the record says that Jesus "looking upon him loved him," and as Jesus asked him to follow him, it is evident that the young man was a person of good intentions and honesty of purpose, and he undoubtedly supposed that he had really kept the commandments. But it is not our own estimate that is the standard of what constitutes obedience to the law; it is God's estimate that is the standard. We might conform so strictly to the law that, according to our own estimate, we could see no point of failure; yet when our actions should be measured by God's estimate, weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, we should be found utterly wanting.

It is not according as we see, but according as God sees, that the question of our keeping the commandments of God is to be decided. And as God sees it, it has been recorded: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." No doubt the young man, when measured by his own standard, stood at the full stature of moral character. But God's standard declares that he had "come short."

Even granting all the righteousness that the young man might claim by the keeping of the commandments alone,–and there are yet many like him,–yet to him to all who, like him, expect righteousness by the law, the word of Christ is, "One thing thou lackest yet." All such lack the justifying blood: they lack the sanctifying power of the perfect obedience of the Son of God. In short, they lack "the faith of Jesus;" and so must ever come short until, by accepting Christ, they attain to the righteousness of God which is by faith.

It is in Christ alone that man can reach the full stature of moral character in the sight of God. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Eph. 4:13. However hard a man may strive for righteousness by keeping the law, yet, until he accepts Christ and finds in him the righteousness which is of God by faith, against him the word will ever stand, Thou hast "come short of the glory of God," "one thing thou lackest yet."

So we see that Jesus taught that those who would be his disciples must keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Again: in his sermon on the mount, Jesus said, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:19, 20.

Happily we have the record of the best Pharisee that ever lived, and in his experience we have the inspired illustration of these words of Jesus: Paul says of himself, "As touching the law, a Pharisee; . . . touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." Yet this was not enough; for as he says in another place, "I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord." 1 Cor. 4:4. So even though he might, so far as he could see, be blameless, yet that was not proof that he was justified; for it is God who judges: it is God's standard of righteousness, and not our own, that we must meet, to be justified; and that standard is the righteousness of Christ, to which we can attain only by faith.

So Paul says, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: . . . and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Phil. 3:7-9. This is a righteousness which he had not when he was a Pharisee. This, then, is the righteousness which exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees: and this righteousness of faith we must have while doing and teaching the commandments. In his sermon on the mount, therefore, Christ positively taught the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

James says, "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. . . . If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said ["that law which said," margin], Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. . . . What doth it profit, my brethren, thou a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? . . . Even so faith, if IT hath not works, is dead, being alone."

Thus James shows that the faith of Jesus is manifested in works, and that these works are the keeping of the law of God. He excludes the very idea that anyone can have the faith of Jesus with respect of persons; and respect of persons he declares to be sin, the transgression of the law. Therefore the faith of Jesus can not be held with the conscious breaking of the commandments of God, even in a single point. In other words, James teaches as strongly as it is possible to teach, that those who have the faith of Jesus keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

John says: "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the workd, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:1-5. The beloved disciple therefore also teaches that Christianity, the love of God, is the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

The Lord Jesus himself, referring to God, said: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do HIS [God's] commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:13, 14. He also said, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Christ said, "If thou wilt enter into life, kept the commandments;" he also said, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."

The Third Angel's Message, the last message from God that the world will ever hear, embodies in a single sentence these sayings of Christ: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

The Third Angel's Message is the embodiment of the very gospel of Christ, wherein "is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Rom. 1:16, 17.

When the Third Angel's Message shall be finished, then the mystery of God–the gospel–shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

And those who truly obey the Third Angel's Message will get the victory over the Beast and over his Image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name; they will, at the last, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God; and they will be without fault before the throne of God. And it will all be through "him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Unto him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

We thank God for the message which calls upon all men to "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 6:4-10" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 45 , p. 713.

"BUT let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another."

The word "prove" here signifies, as to the thing proved, the test put upon metals by the assayer; and it is well known that such a test is the most thorough that can be employed. It goes even so far as to the testing by fire to such an extent that the fire itself shall be through and through the metal; so that the very metal itself shall be so fairly on fire that everything that is not of the metal itself, is utterly consumed.

As relates to the person who does the proving, the word signifies "to scrutinize," "to keep an eye upon," "to watch narrowly," "to play the spy upon," "to examine intently."

This is what every Christian is particularly called upon to do respecting his own work–respecting the things he does, and which, from mere impulse, he finds himself apt to do.

The same thought is expressed in 2 Cor. 13:5, and is applied to the whole person himself, and not only to "his own work:" "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves."

Let each one test his own work, and himself, in all things, in the light of the word of God, illuminated by the Spirit of God, thus holding himself and all his work up to the judgment of God. And to all who do so the blessed promise will be found sure: "Then shall he have rejoicing." For of this same thing it is written in another place: "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." 1 Cor. 11:31.

All this is to say that in Christianity, in the faith of Christ, God gives to every man in this world the opportunity safely to pass the judgment. And everyone who will thus enter into God's judgment, who will put himself through the severest tests that the law of God can ever demand, and will thus judge himself in the light of God's countenance, he thus passes the judgment, and has nothing to fear "when God riseth up."

And all such have God's promise that they shall "have rejoicing," and that they have nothing to fear in the great day of judgment itself. This, because they live constantly in the presence of the judgment of God. Their constant prayer is, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thought: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Ps. 139:23, 24. And they find it all so; and, so, shall surely be led only in the way everlasting.

He shall have "rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another." The parallel thought is in Prov. 14:14: "A good man shall be satisfied from himself." "The sentiment is that he will find in himself a source of pure joy. He will not be dependent on the applause of others for happiness. In an approving conscience; in the evidence of the favor of God; in an honest effort to lead a pure and holy life, he will have happiness. The source of his joys will be within; and he will not be dependent, as the man of ambition, and the man who thinks of himself more highly than he ought, will, on the favors of a capricious multitude, and on the breath of popular applause.

"Here is the true secret of happiness. It consists (1) in not forming an improper estimate of ourselves; in knowing just what we are, and what is due to us; in not thinking ourselves to be something, when we are nothing; (2) in leading such a life that it may be examined to the core, that we may know exactly what we are without being distressed or pained; that is, in having a good conscience, and in honest and faithful discharge of our duty to God and man; (3) in not being dependent on fickle applause of the world for our comfort.

"The man who has not internal resources, and who has no approving conscience; who is happy only when others smile, and miserable when they frown is a man who has no security for enjoyment. The man who has a good conscience, and who enjoys the favor of God and the hope of heaven, carries with him a source of perpetual joy. He can not be deprived of it. His purse may be taken, and his house robbed, but the highwayman can not rob him of his comforts. He bears about with him an unfailing source of happiness when abroad, and the same source of happiness abides with him at home; he carries it into society, and it remains with him in solitude; it is his companion when in health, and when surrounded by his friends, and it is no less his companion when his friends leave him, and when he lies upon a bed of death."

"For every man shall bear his own burden."

This is the plain conclusion from all the thought of the preceeding verse; and the whole thought on both sides is expressed in Prov. 14:14, complete: "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself." And, again, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins [the conscience], even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. 17:10.

Every man is free to choose. To every man the Lord has said, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." God has made most abundant provision, even to all the fullness of God, for everyone grandly to succeed who chooses the service of God; and the burden of him who so chooses is only a burden of rejoicing and gladness, for evermore. But he who chooses not the way of the Lord, but his own way, against all the call of the Lord,–he, too, must bear his burden; it is the burden which he has freely chosen to bear, but it is a burden which can not be borne, and only works his undoing.

"Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things."

This word "communicate" means much more than simply to talk or write to a person: it means "to have things in common," "to be partakers or equal partakers in things." It is the same word and the same meaning as that given in 1 Cor. 10: 16, 17. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." So those who are taught in the word count him that teacheth equal partners with themselves, count all other things common with him, and communicate unto him "in all good things."

And so it is written in another place: "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" 1 Cor. 9:11. And also in yet another place: "Now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things." Rom. 15: 25-27.

And, upon all this, the exhortation in the four verses, which follow is sufficient, and sufficiently forcible, without any further enlargement or explanation: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soeth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 45 , p. 720.

THE school in Battle Creek College this year is the best that I have ever seen there in the twelve years of my acquaintance with it. there is without exception the best class of young people, and the best school. All young persons in the Battle Creek College district who should be and could be in this school, and are not, are losing what they can never regain.
ALONZO T. JONES.

November 13, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Faith of Jesus: What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 46 , p. 728.

IN briefest outline we have studied the great central thought of the Third Angel's Message–"Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

We have studied, What are the commandments of God that must be kept to keep the faith of Jesus? and have found them to be nothing else than the ten commandments, which God spoke from heaven with a voice that shook the earth, and which he twice wrote with his own hand on two tables of stone.

We have studied, What is the faith of Jesus that must be kept to keep the commandments of God? and have found it to be nothing else than the faith which brings into the life of the believer in Jesus the righteousness, the virtue, the very character, of God–the faith that brings into the life of the believer the power of God to perform there the will of God.

The power of God comes to us in no other way than through the righteousness of God. The gospel is "the power of God," only because that "therein is the righteousness of God revealed." This righteousness reaches the believer only through faith, because it is revealed only "from faith to faith." Rom. 1:16, 17. And this faith is the faith of Jesus which he brought to the world, which he tested victoriously to the uttermost in every species of temptation that can ever be known to man, and which is freely given to every man in the world as the gracious gift of God. Eph. 2:8-10.

The righteousness of God, being the character–the very quality–of God, is nothing apart from the very personality of God himself, and can not be had apart from the personality of God himself. Thus in Christ, by the faith which he exercised in the world, it was God who was manifest in the flesh, and who was reconciling the world unto himself. And in the believer in Jesus, in him who keeps the faith of Jesus, it is still God manifest in the flesh; for it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory," and it is only God that is found in Christ.

Thus the faith of Jesus is that which brings God to men and men to God: it is that which joins the divine to the human, making men "partakers of the divine nature:" it is that by which God dwells in the heart and works in the life, "working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight;" working in you "both to will and to do of his good pleasure:" it is that by which "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

This, and this alone, is the faith of Jesus that must be kept in order for a person to be indeed a keeper of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus," in order to be a true believer of the Third Angel's Message.

And now it comes before us to study this great and important question of How to Keep the Faith of Jesus.

Since the commandments of God can be kept only "by faith of Jesus Christ," the whole question of the Third Angel's Message as it is in truth, the whole question of the real keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, turns indeed upon the keeping of the faith of Jesus.

And since the real keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus–the real keeping of the faith of Jesus–is God manifest in the flesh, is Christ in you the hope of glory, the great and important thing for every believer of the Third Angel's Message to know is, How is God manifest in the flesh? What is "Christ in you, the hope of glory"?

This is the great and important thing to know, because for anyone to be a true keeper of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, God must be manifest in his flesh: Christ must be in him the hope of glory.

And in order to know this great and important thing it is essential for us to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." He is the answer to those all-important questions; he is the solution of this great problem; for he is the revelation of the mystery of God; he is God manifest in the flesh; he trusted in God with a faith that wrought the keeping of the commandments of God. Heb. 2:13; John 15:10.

Accordingly, next week we shall begin a study of the faith of Jesus as it is in Jesus himself, a study of God manifest in the flesh, as in Jesus himself.

And this is a study of the Third Angel's Message as it is in truth; it is the study of the mystery of God which should be finished "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound." Rev. 10:7.

Come, let us study it all together.

"Studies in Galatians. Gal. 6:11-18" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 46 , p. 728.

"YE see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand."

This is, literally, "with what large letters;" relating to the size of the letters which he was obliged to make because of his defective eyesight.

This itself was an appeal which would tenderly touch the Galatians, and revive in them the memory of the blessedness of their first days in Christianity; for, in the fifteenth verse of the fourth chapter, he says: "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you redord, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." This was their love to him when they enjoyed the blessedness of the true gospel which they had received, and Paul gladly witnessed to it. But there never would have been any need, nor any ground for thought, of plucking out their eyes and giving them to him if there had not been in him a manifest need of eyes.

This defect in his eyes was the result of the consuming glory of Christ that day when the Lord appeared to him as he was on his way to Damascus; for, when the vision was past, he was unable to see; and "they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus." And there "he was three days without sight," until Ananias was sent by the Lord to put his hand on him "that he might recieve his sight." And when Ananias had so done, "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales." But forever there was thus in his flesh that mark which he calls "my temptation which was in my flesh."

And now, in his last words to the Galatians, when he says, "Ye see with what large letters I have written unto you with mine own hand," it is a delicate and touching way in which he would call their attention to this affliction which they, in their love at the first, would have remedied by plucking out their own eyes and giving them to him. This expression shows to them that he had written this whole letter with his own hand in spite of this affliction, which obliged him to write in exceptionally large letters, in order that he himself might be able to see his writing. This of itself would be a powerful testimony to them of his tender love still for them, and that, whatever he had said, in none of it was there any ill-feeling toward them, but a great fear lest they should be caused to lose the great. salvation that had been so freely given to them.

This writing of a whole letter in Paul's own hand was unusual. He usually wrote the body of a letter by an amanuensia. For instance, the actual body of the letter to the Romans was written by Tertius. Rom. 16:22. But always, Paul would sign the letter with his own name, with his own hand, as, for instance, 1 Cor. 16:21: "The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand;" Col. 4:18: "The salutation by the hand of Paul;" and 2 Thess. 3:17: "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write." This, indeed, became essential, because 2 Thess. 2:2 shows that there were those who were circulating letters as from Paul, which were fraudulent.

"As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh."

It must be borne in mind that those who had confused the Galatians and caused all the trouble there were "Pharisees which believed." They were Pharisees at first, and, still holding to their pharisaism, professed to believe in Jesus; and this had made their profession of Christianity merely pharisaism. And pure Christianity at that time, as well as in every other time, could not be made to fit well with pharisaism; because, at that time, it was a very humiliating thing to be known as a Christian outright. The One in whom all Christianity centered had only lately been crucified as a malefactor; had thus died the most disgraceful death, and by the most disgraceful means, known to mankind. In addition to this, there was persecution attached to the outright profession of Christianity, But the Pharisees, still holding to their pride, had not discerned the true glory of the cross of Christ so that they could with confidence, and even with joy, suffer persecution. But in the way of circumcision there was no persecution: that was the way of glory. True, it was worldly glory; it was pharisaic glory; it was self-glory; but that being the only glory which they knew, to them it was the true way of glory. Consequently, so long as they could hold to circumcision, they would escape persecution.

Thus the controversy centered in the question as to the true way of glory–whether it was by circumcision, or by the cross of Christ. By the pride of the Pharisees circumcision was exalted to the pinnacle of the true way of glory. The cross, as already stated, was the most degrading thing in the world. But behold here the illustration of the great truth that "that which is highly esteemed amongst men, is abomination in the sight of God." The Pharisees had made circumcision the greatest of all things, and the perfect highway to glory, while they, and all mankind, looked upon the way of the cross as the most disgraceful thing that could ever come to a man. But that way of the cross, God shows to be indeed the highway of glory. The way which men most despise is the way in which God would most manifest his glory: the way in which men most gloried is indeed the way which is most truly to be despised.

Therefore, it is the true, triumphant exclamation of the Christian everywhere and forever: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."

"And as many as walk according to this rule, peace to them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." And this is forever true; as many as walk by this rule of the cross of Christ, and of the glorying in the cross of Christ; as many as walk by this rule of being by the cross of Christ crucified unto the world, and the world unto them; as many as walk by this rule that neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but only a new creature avails in Christ Jesus,–"as many a walk according to THIS RULE, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

"From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." These marks of the Lord Jesus were those which Paul received in the scourgings, the stonings, and all of the other hardships which left their impress upon him. And another translation gives it: "I the brands of the Lord Jesus in my body bear." These things were the token to all who might see, that he belonged to Christ; these were the marks, the brands, which he bore, signifying Christ's ownership of him. And so it is with the Christian forever.

729

"Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen."

As to the additional subscription: "Unto the Galatians written from Rome," it is but proper to state that the letter to the Galatians was not written from Rome at all, but from Corinth.

"A Self-erected Obstacle" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 46 , p. 729.

IN the Evangelist, Prof. Warren Clark writes upon "The Great Obstacle to the Progress of Christianity in Heathen Countries." He declares this great obstacle to be "the inconsistency of Christians." Yet, when we come to read his article, this "inconsistency of Christians" is not indeed the inconsistency of those who profess to be Christians, but that which is counted the inconsistency of the people are not Christian at all, in their going from what are called Christian lands to what are called countries, and acting there in a way unbecoming to Christians.

He says that "to veterans long on the field [of missionary work in heathen lands] the ingenuity is taxed to know how to answer the questions of heathen converts, as to why these rich and wealthy people from Christian lands are indifferent to all religion." He speaks of having taken from Japan "two of our most earnest Christian converts on a visit to the foreign resident quarter of Yokohama," when "the first thing they saw in front of the English Episcopal church was a drunken British 'tar,' assaulting an equally intoxicated American sailor, and both of them were being arrested by a heathen Japanese policeman!" Further, he mentions a Japanese student whom he met in London, and with whom he went around to see "the sights of the metropolis," and, "returning at night along the Strand, the evidences of drunkenness and licentiousness were so glaring as to put to blush anything I had ever seen in any 'heathen' country, and my Japanese companion (whom I had been trying to convert to Christianity) was dumb with surprise and horror. 'Is not this the capital of the greatest Christian empire in the world?' he asked. 'Did you ever see such wickedness in heathen Tokio?' 'No,' was the only answer I could give. 'Then why don't your churches convert these degraded men and women here in London? You need not send missionaries ten thousand miles to find heathen when they are at your very doors. Before I left Japan,' he continued, 'our consular agent advised me against the immoralities of London, and warned me against the temptations in this great Christian city!'"

The great mistake of all this is in speaking of Britain, America, etc., as Christian lands, and of London, New York, and the like, as Christian cities. There is no such thing in the world as a Christian country, nor even a Christian city. Only those are Christians who individually and decidedly choose Christ as their life, their all in all. Whoever does not do this is as certainly a heathen as is any person in any heathen land or heathen city, who does not make such a choice of Christ. But to count these countries Christian countries when they are not such at all; and to give the people in heathen countries the idea that these are Christian countries indeed, according to the Christianity which is preached to them, and which alone they can look upon as Christianity; and then blame these people with inconsistency in not being Christians in those heathen lands when they never thought of being Christians in their own "Christian" land,–this is the greatest inconsistency of all. It is an utter misleading of the people in those so-called heathen lands.

And when the missionaries themselves so mislead the people in heathen lands, they themselves are the ones who are responsible for this "great obstacle to the progress of Christianity in heathen countries." And they can not in justice wonder that the people in heathen lands are caused to question the power and virtue of Christianity when the missionaries themselves give the people in heathen lands to understand that these others are "Christian countries," and when they teach those people to expect Christianity in the people of these "Christian countries" and "Christian cities," when in fact the vast majority of these people make no pretentions to Christianity, and care nothing for it whatever.

For the missionaries, there is a way out of this difficulty; but it is not by complaining of the inconsistency of Christians, when the people of whom they complain are more heathenish than the heathen, and are in no way connected with Christianity. The true way out of the dilemma is to get down to the truth of Christianity upon its true foundation: that Christianity is an individual thing, and that the only Christians that there ever can be, whether in America, in England, in Japan, or in China, are those people who, as individuals, have chosen, in the true Christian way, Christ as their portion forever; and along with this recognize also the truth that every person who does not do this is a heathen, whether he be an American, a Japanese, a Britisher, or a Chinese.

This conception of things would also, among the missionaries and all Christians, break down at once all national lines and race distinctions. Then the people of one country would not stand any higher in the estimation of the missionary than those of any other country, because, not having accepted Christ, all being heathen, and the missionaries having a message to all such,–the people being all alike, and the message being one to all people,–the missionaries would necessarily look upon all alike.

But the missionaries will all at once say, "It would never do to call the American people heathen." Very well, then, why call the Japanese, or the Chinese, or any other people, heathen? And if other people must all be called heathen, and the people of America and other such "Christian lands" can not be called heathen, when all know that, as a matter of fact, multitudes of these are more heathenish than are those who are called heathen,–then it is a mere matter of favoritism on the part of those who do the calling. But why should there be such favorites, especially toward those who are the worst in comparison?

We do not say that people in America and other such countries, who are not Christians, should be called "heathen." No more do we say that the people in China, Japan, and other such countries, who are not Christians, should be called "heathen." The people in America who are not Christians, are simply sinners and lost men; wherever they are, they are all alike; and there is no respect of persons with God, nor with those who are of God.

Let all the missionaries, ministers, and Christians in the world recognize everywhere the Christian truth that only those are Christians who have chosen Christ as their Saviour and their portion forever; and that all who have not so done are alike in all the world, wherever they be, and whatever they may be called. Then this "great obstacle to the progress of Christianity in heathen countries" that is here, and so much elsewhere, complained of will no longer exist anywhere in the world.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 46 , p. 729.

IT will be remembered that in the studies on the Eastern question in these columns a few weeks ago–The Sixth and Seventh Trumpets–it was made plain that the greater Eastern question as it is now in China is but the extension of the original Eastern question as it began and continues in Turkey; and that the Eastern question as it centers in Turkey is the real pivot of the greater Eastern question as it centers in China. The following extract from an address by President Washburn, of Robert College, Constantinople, published in the Hartford Seminary Record, November, well expresses the same truth:–

The world center has not been shifted to China, but is still in the nearer East–in Asia Minor, Syria, and the Balkan Peninsula–in those lands which were the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism–which have always been the battle ground of East and West. Here will be finally decided the question of Christian or Mohammedan supremacy. Here it will be settled whether the Slavic or Teutonic races are to rule the world. In its relation to the future, Constantinople is the most important city in the world. London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, are the work of man. Nature had little to do with the choice of these cities for great capitals, but nature herself has destined Constantinople to be the capital of the Old World, and some day this will be realized; and whatever Power may rule in that capital, the same races who now inhabit the Turkish Empire will still be there. War has never united them.

November 20, 1900

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47 , p. 744.

THE arrangement of affairs in China, by the Powers, up to Sunday, November 11, as reported by the China correspondent of the London Times, is as follows:–

Pressed by the common desire for a speedy termination of present conditions, the foreign envoys have finally agreed to the following terms, to be presented in a conjoint note, which, subject to the approval of the governments, will be pressed upon China as the basis of a preliminary treaty:–

China shall erect a monument to Baron von Ketteler on the site where he was murdered, and send an imperial prince to Germany to convey an apology. She shall inflict the death penalty upon eleven princes and officials already named, and suspend provincial examinations for five years where the outrages occurred. In future all officials falling to prevent anti-foreign outrages within their jurisdiction shall be dismissed and punished. (This is a modification of Mr. Conger's proposal.)

Indemnity shall be paid to the state, corporations, and individuals. The tsung II yamen shall be abolished, and its functions vested in a foreign minister. Rational intercourse shall be permitted with the emperor, as in civilized countries.

The forts at Taku and the other forts on the coast of Chi Li shall be razed, and the importation of arms and war material prohibited. Permanent legation guards shall be maintained and also guards of communication between Peking and the sea.

Imperial proclamations shall be posted for two years throughout the empire, suppressing Boxers.

The indemnity is to include compensation for Chinese who suffered through being employed by foreigners, but not compensation for native Christians. The words "missionary" and "Christians" do not occur in the note.

From this it is plain that henceforth the government of China is to be only by the Powers in China; and thus the greater Eastern question becomes a fixed condition, the ending of which will be but the ending of all things earthly, as God hath declared unto his servants the prophets.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47 , p. 744.

TWO years ago, when it was first proposed that the United States government should enter upon the task of assuring to the Filipinos the "blessings of good government and American civilization," the question was asked many times in Congress and throughout the country, "What will be the model of good government that will be assured them? Will it be that of the corrupt city governments of the United States and of the State bosses?" The answer is now being given with an emphasis. The Independent, November 8, publishes a long article from Harold Martin, the representative of the Associated Press in the Philippines, which gives indisputable evidence that the government in the Philippines is but the reproduction of the worst city governments in the United States. Upon a long list of facts, he says:–

We have cried to the, "We will give you a clean and good government," until the words are become a habit, and we can hardly speak officially without using them. Yet the two branches of the municipal administration of this city [Manila] that most directly reach and touch the common people are woefully corrupt, incompetent, and dishonest; and the result of the contrast which is thereby forced to the minds of the superstitious and unreasonable natives, none too well disposed to us at best, is almost disastrous to the great work of winning the confidence and affection of the Filipinos.

And the body of the article shows just as conclusively that this corruption in government is not at all confined to the municipal government of Manila. The shirt of Nessus has been put on, and it will do its dreadful work now as surely as before.

"The Third Angel's Message. The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47 , p. 744.

THE sum and the substance, the beginning and the ending, the all in all, of the faith of Jesus is in the following statement of scripture:–

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:5-11.

The Revised Version of the phrase translated "made himself of no reputation," is "emptied himself." This is in truth the literal meaning of the Greek word eiknosen ekenosen, from ktnous keno-o "to empty out." It is the same word which in Rom. 4:14 is translated "made void," in the words: "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect;" and also translated "made void," in 1 Cor. 9:15.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who . . . emptied himself." This–the emptying of self–is the secret of all Christianity; for it is the exaltation of self that has made Christianity necessary.

It was through self-exaltation that sin entered the universe; for, of that "anointed cherub," Lucifer, who sinned, and in whom iniquity was first found, it is written: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." Eze. 28:17.

Being "perfect in beauty," he looked at himself instead of to him who gave him this perfect beauty, and began to contemplate himself, and to admire himself. Then, as the consequence, he grew proud of himself, and began to think that the place he occupied was too narrow for the proper, profitable, and full display of the ability which he now gave himself the credit of possessing. He concluded that the place he occupied was not fully worthy of the dignity which now in his own estimation merged in him.

True, he did have the perfection of beauty, fullness of wisdom, and height of dignity. But he had received it all from God, through Jesus Christ, who had created him. He had nothing, to his very existence itself, which he had not received. And when he would boast of it as if he had not received it; when he grew proud of his beauty, and gave himself credit for it as if it were inherently of himself,–this, in itself, was but to ignore his Creator, and put himself in his place. Yea, more, when he boasted of that which he had received, as if he had not received it; when he exalted himself because of that which he was, as if it were inherently of himself,–this was only to argue for himself self-existence. And this was, in itself, only to make himself, in his own estimation EQUAL WITH GOD. And when it is in opposition to God, to claim equality with God is only to claim to be above God.

It is this mind which that self-exalted one gave to our first parents in Eden. Before the woman he set this same thought, and to her insinuated this same ambition. When she said to him, concerning the tree: "God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die," Satan replied, as expressed in the Hebrew, the Revised Version, and the Jews' translation: "God doth know, that, on the day ye eat thereof, your eyes will be opened and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil."

This is not only the literal reading, but the true meaning, of the original words. This gives the very thought that was put before the woman. It was not that you shall be as gods, in the common acceptation of the plural term gods. It was literally the very thought and ambition of Lucifer himself which he now put before her–ye shall be as God. He would lead her away, and inspire her with this mind which was in him, to be equal with God.

The woman accepted his statement, yielded to his insinuation, and accepted his ambitious aim: the man went the same way; and thus sin entered into this world by the entering into our first parents of the mind which is not of God,–the mind which is not in Christ Jesus,–the mind which is enmity against God, and which is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,–the minding of self, self, and only self.

And that this is the universal mind of man as he is in the world, is shown in the exhortation of God to man, in the words: "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God?" Micah 6:8, margin. Thus it is shown that in order for a man to walk with God, it is, of all things, essential that he humble himself to do so. This of itself shows that in his own estimation, in the mind which is the natural man, he is above God.

Such is the natural mind; such is the mind of the natural man. But such is not the mind that is in Christ Jesus; such is not the mind which alone is becoming to the Christian. This mind, instead of being the exaltation of self, is the emptying of self; it is the mind which willingly humbles self to be obedient unto God, even though it be at the cost of death, and that even the death of the cross.

This is yet further shown in the words of Jesus to all, forever, who will be his disciples: "If any man will come after me," the first of all things is "let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The denying of self, the emptying of self, precedes the taking up of the cross; and the taking up of the cross precedes the following of the Lord Jesus. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." Luke 9:23, 24.

This is precisely the course which Christ took. He denied himself, he emptied himself, and took up the cross, holding not back himself from death, even the death of the cross.

And this is the way of the Christian. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. 5:14, 15.

This is the faith of Jesus; this is the way of the faith of Jesus, who is "the Way."

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who . . . emptied himself."

"Editorial Notes" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47 , p. 744.

A PROTESTANT missionary in the Philippines writes that Protestant missionaries there find themselves in "a somewhat peculiar position:" "There is the church at home urgently anxious for their success, while officials are hesitant as to whether they are not going to 'complicate matters,' and on the whole would be rather glad if they kept away, in which they are cordially supported by the Roman Catholic priests. At Iloilo the mission work began very successfully. Then came the priests, who put studying English under the ban of the church, and gave out that the Americans would soon return to their own country, and that then all Protestants would be killed." He says that the Protestant missionary "is looked upon as an unavoidable nuisance by certain officials, and as a pronounced enemy of the priesthood."

So reports the Independent. All these "officials" are officials of the United States government. And it is plain to be seen that in their sympathies, in their influence, and in their fear that Protestants will "complicate matters," they are also officials of the Catholic Church. And it is certain that the Catholic priesthood will leave no stone unturned to make the work of Protestant missionaries "complicate matters," and so turn to her own account these fears of the officials. It is perfectly plain that in the Philippines there is a union of the United States government and the Catholic Church. And what the next four years shall bring forth, no man can imagine!

"Prophecy or Politics–Which?" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47 , p. 745.

FROM 1120 B. C. to 800 B. C. a mighty empire was built up by the kings of Assyria. Many nations were overrun, plundered, and laid under tribute. Thus vast sums of treasure were brought into the coffers of the kings of Assyria and into the hands of the Assyrians, especially in the capital city–Nineveh.

This long-continued flow of wealth carried in its train corresponding luxury. With luxury came love of ease. With luxury and love of ease inevitably came vice. And at last their wickedness became so great that it reached to heaven and deserved vengeance. The Lord sent Jonah to warn them of the coming destruction. "And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."

And in that proud city,–the leading city of the world,–wicked as it was, and though the word came to the king upon the throne, Jonah was not accused of disturbing the peace; he was not put in the lock-up; he was not taken to the station-house–not even to "protect him from the mob;" he was not accused of inciting insurrection; he was not charged with being an enemy of the country.

Instead of any such thing as that, "the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?"

And nobody has ever charged that in this procedure Jonah was taking part in politics, nor that he was speaking against the government, nor that he was in any way disrespectful to the authorities. And if anybody had ever charged him with any of this, it would have been false; and by it the one making the charge would have shown that he did not know any distinction between religion and politics: and in that he would have shown that he did not know anything in reality of religion, but only politics.

Later, Israel itself became a kingdom, and the leading world-power; and it went in the same course precisely as that which had been taken by Assyria. Again and again God sent to them his messengers the prophets, even "rising up early and sending them." But, unlike Nineveh, the words were unheeded.

When the iniquity had grown so great that it was about to culminate in the ruin of the nation, one prophet who bore the message of warning was put to death by the king and the people. And when the evil had grown so that the time had actually come when the ruin was to be wrought, and the forces by which that ruin was to be accomplished were around the capital city and actually besieging it, the prophet who was then in the city delivering daily the message of God to the people–that the city was doomed, and the only escape was to surrender to the besieging army–was accused of treason: he was charged with aiding and abetting the enemies of his country, especially doing this by weakening the hands of his own people, through his preaching that the people should not fight, but should surrender. Here is the record:–

"Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.

"Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

"Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire." Jer. 28:2-6.

Yet all that Jeremiah had said was the truth: it was the message of God to the people. And in delivering that message he was not guilty of treason: he was not an aider and abetter of the enemy. He was, indeed, in the fullest sense of the word, seeking the welfare of that people, and not their hurt. And all those who listened to his words, and disregarded the pleas and charges of the politicians against him, found it to be well with them; while all those who disregarded the message that he gave, and the warnings that he urged, perished in the ruin that he proclaimed would certainly come upon them as the inevitable consequence of the course the nation was pursuing.

In the same course of conquest, wealth, luxury, ease, and vice, even to the danger of ruin, Babylon followed. One day a man walked into the broad street of Babylon, and took a position on the bank of the Euphrates, which flowed through the midst of the city. And there, as the vast crowds of the busy and pleasure-loving city passed and repassed, he read, with a loud voice, a long arraignment of Babylon for her pride, her oppression, and her great wickedness; and also the doom of destruction that certainly would come. When he had read the whole account, he tied a stone to the scroll of what he had read, and plunged it into the river, and exclaimed, "Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her."

And in that proudest and wickedest of cities the man was not arrested nor charged with anarchy nor with any other disturbing practices or mischievous intent.

But, unlike Nineveh, Babylon paid no attention to the warning. In a few years her doom came, in all that the man had read from the book. In the midst of a drunken and lascivious feast the judgment was written, and spoken, "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. . . . Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. . . . Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." And before the judgment was spoken, he who interpreted it said to the king,–citing the example of the king's grandfather, how he was taught "till he knew that the most high God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will,–And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; . . . and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written."

And instead of that man being punished as a disturber of the peace, or as an inciter to insurrection, or being charged with meddling in politics, he was rewarded with the highest honors a king could possibly bestow.

The Lord Jesus himself came and lived among his own people, and sought to bring them to God. They rejected his counsel, and would not receive his message. He knew that national ruin could be the only result. And he told them so: woes that would reduce them to ruin and bring them even down to hell, he proclaimed against Capernaum, Chorzin, and Bethsaida. He declared that Jerusalem should be compassed with armies; that she should be laid low, even in the dust, and her children within her; and that the temple, which was their pride and their trust, should be so ruined that not one stone would be left on another.

He was charged with high treason. In the condemnation proceedings, his saying that the temple should be ruined was produced against him and perverted, by a false witness, into the charge that he had said that he would destroy the temple. Yet at the time, everybody knew, and ever since everybody has known, that the charge of high treason, or treason of any other kind, was false, as well as every other charge. And these charges of treason, although made by the chief religionists, were in reality made only by the chief politicians; which is to say that their religion was only politics.

His disciples went everywhere, preaching the word of the gospel. Paul reasoned with the people out of the Scriptures, "opening and alleging, that Jesus must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ." And in so doing he told them of the certain ruin of the Roman Empire; of the establishment of ten new kingdoms in its place; then the coming up of another, which would destroy three of the ten, and establish itself "the man of sin," "the son of perdition," "the mystery of iniquity;" and that in the time of this one and of the remaining seven of the ten, Christ would come the second time, and the world would end.

And when Christianity had been spread throughout the Roman Empire, the Christians were always expecting the fall of Rome, and were talking of it, and were prepared for it when it came.

It is true that the early Christians and the later Christians in the Roman Empire were charged with undermining the state; and, like Jesus, were condemned and put to death upon the charge of high treason. But everybody knows that all such charges against them were false; that all these things that the Christians said were coming on the Roman Empire were true; and that to be faithful to their trust in the world, and to their fellow men, the Christians must say these things.

And God's word stands to-day with instruction and warning to the nations of to-day, as truly as it ever did to Assyria, Babylon, Judea, and Rome. That word will be spoken to the nations of to-day as really as it ever was to those of old. The United States to-day is a subject of prophecy as really as was Babylon, Judea, or Rome; and in the same way and for the same reasons precisely. The United States is to-day in full career on a course that leads inevitably to ruin, as certainly as ever was Babylon, Judea, or Rome. This is distinctly a matter of prophecy; and it is not politics, but prophecy, to proclaim it as the message of God in the word of God.

Fifteen years ago the very Spirit of Prophecy itself wrote of the apostasy of the United States from every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government. That was prophecy, and not politics, then; and it is prophecy, and not politics, now. For thirteen years it was prophecy, and not politics, to proclaim it; for the last two years it has been, and it now is, prophecy, and not politics, to proclaim that this was and is steadily being done; that now it is prophecy being actually turned into fact.

And now what follows? This prophecy, even the Spirit of Prophecy, says:–

When . . . our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near.

As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God's forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.

And as this was prophecy, and not politics, when, fifteen years ago, it was published, it is prophecy, and not politics, now, to-day, to proclaim it while it is steadily being turned into fact before the eyes of all people.

It is true that now, as in the days of Jeremiah, Jesus, and Paul, and the later Christians of the Roman Empire, the politicians, even among the professed people of God, will charge with "disrespect of authority," "treason," "meddling with politics," etc., etc., those who proclaim that the prophecy is being fulfilled. Nevertheless the truth of God will be spoken, the prophecy will be proclaimed, the message will be given, the people will be warned; and those who listen and heed the warning will escape.

Yet there is a striking contrast between the treatment of the messengers in Nineveh and Babylon and of those in Judea and Rome and the United States. However, as in the United States is to be found the Image of the Beast, it can not be expected that the messengers and the message of God should be treated differently than they were treated in Rome. The world is not better than it was, nor is it getting better.

November 27, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 48 , p. 760.

"LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who. . . emptied himself."

He emptied himself so entirely that, in becoming the Saviour of the world, he did not set himself forth in a way to make himself prominent or to draw attention to himself. "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. . . . And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec." Heb. 5:1, 4-6.

He emptied himself so entirely that, in coming to the world, he did not do it in a way to make himself conspicuous, or to draw attention to himself; but in a way in which he could say, truly: "I am not come of myself, but. . .

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 48 , pp. 760.

THE commander-in-chief of the armies in the Phillippines, in his annual report, says:–

The institution of municipal government under American auspices, of course, carried the idea of exclusive fidelity to the sovereign power of the United States. All the necessary moral obligations to that end were readily assumed by municipal bodies, and all outward forms of decorum and loyalty carefully preserved. The presidents and town officials acted openly in behalf of the Americans, and secretly in behalf of the insurgents, and, paradoxical as it may seem, with considerable apparent solicitude for the interests of both. In all matters touching the peace of the town, the regulation of markets, the primitive work possible on roads, streets, and bridges, and the institution of schools, their open activity was commendable; at the same time they were exacting and collecting contributions and supplies, and recruiting men for the Philippine forces, and sending all obtainable military information to the Filipino leaders.

Wherever, throughout the archipelago, there is a group of the insurgent army, it is a fact beyond dispute that all contiguous towns contribute to the maintenance thereof. In other words, the towns, regardless of the fact of American occupation and town organization, are the actual bases for all insurgent military activities; and not only so in the sense of furnishing supplies for the so-called flying columns of guerrillas, but as affording secure places of refuge. These remarks apply with equal force to the entire archipelago, excepting only that part of Mindanao occupied by Morosa, and to the Jolo Group. There is every reason to believe that all the Moros are entirely satisfied with existing conditions, and are anxious to maintain them.

The Jolo Group, whose people are entirely satisfied with existing conditions, and are anxious to maintain them, is the Sulu Group, whose sultan and datos practice polygamy and hold slaves, and who are paid ten thousand (Mexican) dollars a year by the United States.

If the United States would pay the Filipinos ten thousand (Mexican) dollars a year, or at that rate, for maintaining an undisturbed republican government, as it pays the sultan and datos of Sulu for maintaining undisturbed a polygamous and slave government, does anybody suppose that there would be any further war even for a day? And if such a proposition had been made to them in the beginning, as the other arrangement was made with the sultan and datos of the Sulus, does anybody suppose that there would ever have been any Philippine war even for a day?

And when no such proposition was not only never made, but has been persistently repudiated and warred against, by the United States, while at the same time recognizing, and by cash payments maintaining, a polygamous and slave government in the same region, how would it be possible for the United States more plainly and forcibly to show that she absolutely repudiates the whole principle of republican government, and prefers rather a polygamous and slave government?

"Some Ancient and Modern History" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 48 , pp. 760, 761.

THE New York Sun of November 7, under the heading of "Constitution Making in Cuba," says:–

The unselfish position taken by the United States with regard to Cuba is not less majestic and magnanimous because it is not entirely without precedent in history. Repeatedly during the Persian and Peloponnesian wars was the triumph of the Athenian arms followed, not by the conquest of Greek cities, but by the liberation of them from alien or oligarchical oppression. Upon the final overthrow of Macedon the Roman victory proclaimed the restoration of the liberties of Hellas.

The challenges are worth taking up, for the mere sake of the case, and much more for the sake of the far-reaching truth that is involved. The proclamation made by Flamininus at the time referred to by the Sun, runs as follows:–

The Senate and people of Rome and Titus Quintius the general, having overcome Philip and the Macedonians, set at liberty, from all garrisons and taxes and imposts, the Corinthians, the Loerians, the Phocians, the Eubúans, the Phtihot-Aeheans, the Magnesians, the Thessalians, and the Perrhebians, declare them free, and ordain that they shall be governed by their respective laws and usages.

When that proclamation was made, the Greeks fairly went wild with joy "that there was a people in the world who, at their own expense and the hazard of their lives, engaged in a war for the liberty of other nations; and that not for their neighbors or people situated on the same continent; but who crossed seas and sailed to distant climes to destroy and extirpate unjust power from the earth, and to establish universally law, equity, and justice: that by a single word, and the voice of a herald, liberty had been restored to all the cities of Greece and Asia."

Further, on this the Sun says:–

It will at the same time be acknowledged that none of the precedents just mentioned quite measures up to the standard of disinterestedness set by the United States in its relations to Cuba.

Instead of this being true in the cited case of Rome and the Greek states, it is the reverse that is true. Rome, immediately upon her victory over Philip, published openly, to the Greeks and to all the world, that proclamation of liberty to the Greek states which we have here reprinted. More than two years have passed since the United States completed its victory over Spain, and no such proclamation, not anything akin to it, has yet been made, of the liberty of Cuba.

The Sun says: "Not long did the Romans respect those liberties of Hellas which Flamininus proclaimed." That is true. But it is also true that Rome did proclaim those liberties of Hellas, and that Hellas did enjoy those liberties, at least for a season. But no such thing has ever appeared on the part of the United States, toward Cuba: the United States has not proclaimed the liberty of the Cubans, even for a little while; the Cubans have not had one moment of the enjoyment of the liberty which, at the beginning, the United States declared "is, and of right ought to be," hers. Rome did

761

proclaim and respect the liberties of Hellas, though it was "not long;" the United States has not done any such thing at all, even for a moment, for Cuba.

In the comparison which the Outlook has challenged, and which the Sun has cited, "the standard of disinterestedness" is altogether on the side of Rome. As compared with Rome in the case cited, "the standard of disinterestedness set by the United States in its relations to Cuba" is a blank.

For the sake of the truth in this comparison to which the Outlook and the Sun challenge the world, it is proper to state the case of the United States and Cuba from the beginning up to date.

The United States declared war against Spain, April 18, 1898. That same day she also declared that "the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent."

The war with Spain, ended Aug. 12, 1898, with the United States triumphant. A treaty of peace was arranged and ratified between the two powers–all this before a year had passed from the beginning of hostilities.

In the declaration of war against Spain, April 18, 1898, it was also declared by the United States "that the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said islands, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people." And, though the war with Spain was ended Aug. 12, 1898, and the treaty of peace was ratified early in 1899, no further word was said on the subject by this nation until June 20, 1900, when in the convention of the national party, that party and the administration, in their platform, declared that "to Cuba independence and self-government were assured in the same voice by which war was declared, and to the letter this pledge shall be performed."

About the same time a plan was announced to the country, and to Cuba, by the national administration, according to which, if Cuba should accept it, a new form of government would be established there. By that plan a constitutional convention was to be called, in Cuba; and if this convention should frame a constitution fully satisfactory to the United States, then the military government now in control would be withdrawn. But if this convention should not frame such a satisfactory constitution, then the military government now in control would remain until Cuba should present a constitutional that would be satisfactory to the United States. As to what would be satisfactory to the United States in the suggested arrangement, was made known in the following announced reservations:–

1. The foreign relations of Cuba to be managed through the American government at Washington.

2. Cuba to have no power to declare war without the consent of the United States.

3. The United States government to have a veto power over legislation increasing the Cuban debt beyond certain limits to be set forth in the new constitution.

4. The United States to have a certain well-defined supervision over the Cuban territory.

5. The United States to retain, for a period of years, if not indefinitely, control of the fortifications which command the port of Havana and other important cities of the republic.

In accordance with tall this, it was announced, from Washington, July 20, that "Cuba is likely to become nominally an independent republic, with certain reservations that will virtually make the island a self-governing colony of the United States, within six or eight months from this date."

Not long afterward an order was issued by the United States government, giving directions as to the Cuban constitutional convention. Delegates were to be elected, etc., and the convention was to "meet in the city of Havana, at twelve o'clock noon, on the first Monday of November, in the year 1900, to frame and adopt a constitution for the people of Cuba, and, as a part thereof, to provide for and agree with the government of the United States, upon the relations to exist between that government and the government of Cuba."

That convention assembled, according to order, Monday, November 5, and is now in session. And according to that order it was opened by the United States Governor-General of Cuba, in the following words:–

As Military Governor of the Island of Cuba, and representing the President of the United States, I call this convention to order. It will be your duty first of all to frame and adopt a constitution for Cuba, and, when that has been done, to formulate what, in your opinion, ought to be the relations between Cuba and the United States.

The constitution must be adequate to secure stable, orderly, and free government. When you have formulated the relations which, in your opinion, ought to exist between Cuba and the United States, the government of the United States will doubtless take such action on its part as shall lead to a final and authoritative agreement between the people of the two countries to the promotion of their common interests.

All friends of Cuba will follow your deliberations with the deepest interest, earnestly desiring that you shall reach just conclusions; and that, by the dignity, individual self-restraint, and wise conservatism which shall characterize your proceedings, the capacity of the Cuban people for representative government may be signally illustrated.

The fundamental distinction between true representative government and a dictatorship is that in the former every representative of the people, in whatever office, confines himself strictly within the limits of his defined powers. Without such restraint, there can not be free constitutional government.

Under the order pursuant to which you have been elected and convened you have no duty and no authority to take part in the present government of the island. Your powers are strictly limited by the terms of the order.

Note those first two paragraphs. The first one tells them that it is their duty to frame and adopt a constitution for Cuba, and also to formulate what, in their opinion, ought to be the relations between Cuba and the United States. The second one tells them that when they shall have done these two things–then what? that then the freedom and independence of Cuba shall be proclaimed, according to the original declaration of the Congress of the United States? Is that what would follow? Is that what is intended to follow? Surely, if it were to do so, this, of all places and times in the world, was the occasion to say it. But, no. Instead of continuing that sentence to its proper, logical, and only legitimate conclusion, it suddenly breaks off in the middle, and drops to the dismal plane of shuffling and concealment. Read it again, as it actually stands:–

When you have formulated the relations which, in your opinion, ought to exist between Cuba and the United States, the government of the United States will [not proclaim the liberty and independence of Cuba, but only "will"] doubtless take such action on its part as shall lead to a final and authoritative AGREEMENT between the people of the two countries to the promotion of their common interests.

Read also again the last two paragraphs of the Governor-General's speech. Read them attentively, and not their ominous meaning to that constitutional convention,–how they are told that their powers are strictly limited, how they must confine themselves strictly within those limits; and how plainly they are told that they have neither any duty nor any authority to take part in the present government of the island.

That is the latest word on the subject, and there can be no kind of question whatever that in the comparison which the Sun has made, the advantage and the way of honor stand pre-eminently in favor of Rome.

And now, from this fact of Rome's advantage in the comparison, there is a very important conclusion which history itself has drawn, and which stands before us and all people almost as the handwriting on the way; that is, that Rome did not long respect the liberty of Greece which she had proclaimed.

On this, ancient history itself has recorded that shortly "the Romans rendered themselves the sovereign arbiters of those whom they had restored to liberty, and whom they now considered, in some measure, as their freedmen. They used to depute commissioners to them, to inquire into their complaints, to weight and examine the reasons on both sides, and to decide their quarrels; but when the articles were of such a nature that there was no possibility of reconciling them on the spot, they invited them to send their deputies to Rome. Afterward they used, with plenary authority, to summon those who refused to come to an agreement, obliged them to plead their cause before the Senate, and even to appear in person there. From arbiters and mediators, being become supreme judges, they soon assumed a magisterial tone, looked upon their decrees as irrevocable decisions, were greatly offended when the most implicit obedience was not paid to them, and gave the name of rebellion to a second resistance. . . .

"We shall hear one of the chief magistrates in the republic of the Achens inveigh strongly in a public assembly against this unjust usurpation, and ask by what title the Romans were empowered to assume so haughty an ascendant over them; whether their republic was not as free and independent as that of Rome; by what right the latter pretended to force the Achens to account for their conduct; whether they would be pleased, should the Achens, in their turn, officiously pretend to inquire into their affairs; and whether matters ought not to be on the same footing on both sides. All these reflections were very reasonable, just, and unanswerable; and the Romans had no advantage in the question but force."

And when that was the outcome of Rome's open proclamation of the liberties of the Greek states, what may be expected to be the outcome of the dealings of the United States with Cuba, in which there has been no proclamation of a single liberty of Cuba?

The prophecy declared, long ago, that "an Image to the Beast" was to come up sometime, somewhere. When is it, and where is it, to be?

"The New Order of Government. For the United States" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 48 , pp. 761, 762.

A SHORT time ago, in New York City, a professional National Reformer said:–

Congress should be the interpreter of God's law in the same sense that Congress interprets the Constitution. Nor would this result in a state church. What we desire is the union of religion and the state.

Then, in noting the objection "that Congress could not interpret the law of God so as to please members of all denominations," he answered that "it would come a little hard at first, but in the end it would work satisfactorily."

Upon all this the Outlook says:–

We agree, as we have repeatedly said, with the position that conformity to divine law is the basis of a just government, but not with the Puritan deduction, maintained by Dr. Foster, that Congress should attempt to administer a theocracy.

Yes, that is true. The Outlook does agree, and for a long time has agreed, with the position that "conformity to divine law is the basis of a just government." Oct. 6, 1900, the Outlook said:–

Just government rests neither upon the edict of a few strong men nor upon the consent of the many; it rests upon the law of God. No government is just which does not conform to the law of God.

Just governments rest on conformity with the laws of God.

At the same time it also said:–

Human governments are, or ought to be, attempts to ascertain what these laws are, and to adapt the life of the community to them.

A righteous democracy is simply one way of ascertaining what are the laws of God, and of conforming the life of the community to them. In democracy a large proportion of the community–in America about one in ten–participate in this endeavor. The other nine tenths are under the government of this one tenth. This method has two great advantages over all other forms of government.

Now, since, according to the Outlook's theory and model of just government, only "about one in ten" have really to do with the conforming of the life of the community to the laws of God, wherein does it

762

differ, in principle, from that of Dr. Foster? The difference is not in any sense one of principle.

Nor is it a difference even of operation. For Dr. Foster finds in Congress the representative body of the whole "righteous democracy," through which this "righteous democracy" expresses its will be "attempts to ascertain what these laws" of God are, "and to adapt the life of the community to them;" while the Outlook's method of operation is, not the whole body of the "righteous democracy," but only "about one in ten."

Thus, as actually stated by the Outlook, in the words before us, between the Outlook's theory of just government and that of Dr. Foster, which it criticizes, there is no difference either in principle or in operation, but solely of degree, and even that very slight.

Where can there be any real or practical difference between "one in ten" of a "righteous democracy" attempting "to administer a theocracy;" and one in ten thousand or ten hundred thousand, in a body called Congress, doing the same thing? The thing that is done is the same in both cases: the thing that is attempted to be done is the same in both cases: the theory of government from which springs the thing that is done, or the thing that is attempt to be done, is the same in both cases.

Therefore it is as plain as A B C that the Outlook believes in and advocates, both theoretically and practically, the identical form of government that Dr. Foster the National Reformer does. And the only possible ground of dissent from Dr. Foster's order of government that the editor of the Outlook really has, lies in the mere incident that the editor of the Outlook does not belong to the same church, or sub-order in the "righteous democracy," that Dr. Foster does. In other words, the editor of the Outlook could not allow that it would be exactly just government for Dr. Foster to conform the editor's life to the laws of God, nor for Congress to conform the editor's life to Dr. Foster's views of the laws of God. And there are tens of thousands of the people in Dr. Abbott's "about one in ten" in the "righteous democracy" who would likewise, and with equal reason, decidedly object to the others of that "one in ten" in the "righteous democracy" conforming their lives to the laws of God.

However, it is not necessary to follow that phase of the case any further at present. From the Outlook's own words the facts plainly appear that the Outlook believes in identically the same sort of government that Dr. Foster the National Reformer does; and that the Outlook recognizes that that form of government is definitely a "theocracy."

And from this it is perfectly plain that the Outlook, in repudiating the American principle of civil government,–"the consent of the governed,"–in repudiating the republican principle of the Declaration and the Constitution, does so solely in the interests of a man-made theocracy, precisely as the confessed National Reformers have always done.

And this again reveals the mighty fact that the repudiation of the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution, by this nation, from Aug. 12, 1898, to date, in which the Outlook has been a leading factor, is clearly in the interests of a man-made theocracy, and will as certainly be followed by that form of government as night follows day.

And that makes plain the truth that this national repudiation of the principles of the Declaration of the Constitution–the principle of government by the "consent of the governed"–is the mightiest stride that has been taken since 1892 in the making of the Image of the Beast.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 48 , p. 762.

THE New York Tribune is the leading administration paper. Its editor and proprietor was one of the commissioners who arranged the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain. Since that treaty was arranged, his speeches, his articles, and his paper, by some singular or other coincidence, have marked out exactly the course taken by the national administration. And now the Tribune has announced the result of the late election as "an overwhelming victory for imperialism." If the course of the national administration shall coincide as closely, for the next four years, with this forecast of the Tribune, as for the last two years it has coincided with the other forecasts of that paper, then by the time the four years shall be ended, the results will be so positive and decisive as to convince the most determined skeptic.

December 4, 1900

"The Third Angel's Message. The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 49 , p. 776.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man," etc. Phil. 2:5-8.

When Jesus emptied himself, he became man, and God was found in the man. When Jesus emptied himself, on the one side man appeared, and on the other side God appeared. Thus, in him God and man meet in peace, and become one; "for he is our peace, who hath made both one. . . . having abolished in his flesh the enmity. . . . to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." Eph. 3:14. 15.

He who was in the form of God took the form of man.

He who was equal with God became equal with man.

He who was Creator and Lord, became creature and servant.

He who was in the likeness of God, was made in the likeness of man.

He who was God, and Spirit, was made man, and flesh. John 1:1, 14.

Nor is this true only as to form: it is true as to substance. The text here quoted from Phil. 2:5-8 gives the truth as to the form, the fashion, of Christ: first as God, and then as man. In Hebrews, the first and second chapters, there is given the truth of this subject as to the substance of Christ: first as God, and then as man.

In Hebrews 1, Christ is set before us as God. Verse 8. In Hebrews 2, Christ is set before us as man. Verses 6, 7, 9.

In Hebrews 1, Christ is shown to us as God, and so, higher than the angels. Verses 4, 5, 6-8. In Hebrews 2, he is shown to us as man, and so, lower than the angels. Verse 6, 7, 9.

In Hebrews 1, he is described as God: of the very nature of God. Verses 4, 8, 10-12. In Hebrews 2, he is described as man: of the very nature of man. Verses 6, 9, 16, 17.

In Hebrews 1, Christ, as God, is declared to be "the very impress of his [God's] substance." Verse 3, R.V., margin. In Hebrews 2, Christ, as man, is declared to be of "the same" "flesh and blood" as is man: the very impress of man's substance. Verse 14.

Thus, in Phil. 2:5-8 and Hebrews 1 and 2, are a series of contrasted parallels concerning Christ,–Philippians relating to form, fashion; Hebrews relating to nature, substance.

Thus his being in the likeness of God, and "made in the likeness of men," is not likeness only as to form: it is not likeness as in a picture, or a representation; but is also likeness in the sense of really being like, of like quality, of like substance; like in quality or essence, as well as in form.

Please read carefully, and consider closely and carefully, Phil. 2:5-8 and Hebrews 1 and 2, from now, until this time next week, when we shall consider it further, and enter into it more fully.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 49 , p. 776.

THE Christian Advocate very appropriately remarks: "A multitude of professed Christians who have cheered themselves hoarse and spent days in drumming up voters, stirring up sluggards, convincing the doubtful, helping the hesitating to decide, and who were not ashamed to make the rafters ring with their jubilation over the victory, would be ashamed to be found making similar efforts to lead friends, neighbors, and strangers to choose Christ for their leader and the commandments of God for their platform." All of this shows that they have just that much more interest in the things of this world than they have in the things of Christ and of God. And then where is their Christianity? "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." And "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

"Another Church Federation" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 49 , pp. 776, 777.

TUESDAY evening, Nov. 13, 1900, at Syracuse, N.Y., there was taken probably the first positive step in what is announced as a "great religious movement." And, in view of the times, and the consideration of a number of other developments, it is altogether likely that this willl prove to be a part of a great religious movement.

However, this is not to say that it is a great religious movement for good. There have been, in the world's history, a number of great religious movements that were about the worst things that could ever happen to the world. There was one in the fourth century, which culminated in the making of the papacy, and all that the papacy has been and is in the world. And, though this one, enthusiastically begun at Syracuse the other day, may indeed be the first step in what may prove to be a great religious movement, it is of the same sort as that one in the fourth century. And as certainly as it grows and prospers, it will culminate, in its place and degree, exactly as did that one in the fourth century, and will develop the image of the papacy. For it is nothing else than the definite organization of a federation of the churches in the United States.

A report of the meeting says that the "church was crowded to the doors long before the opening of the services;" that "there were many noted divines present;" and that vice-president elect, Governor Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, presided and delivered an address, in which he said:–

I believe intensely in the work you are striving to further, and feel that the people who believe in the underlying principles make an unspeakable mistake when they quarrel about the boundary lines between them, when they have a common enemy to face, who demands our united attention and our united action. We can not afford to quarrel, we must be united. It is deeds which count, not words. We can not all see the truth in the same light, but we should all strive for higher ideals, and for that Christian unity which will bring us in closer touch with one another. I belong myself to the Dutch Reformed Church. Now, down at Oyster Bay, we have no church of that small denomination, and I should be opposed to establishing one of that faith there, as it would be an injury to the other churches already established. Down there, as elsewhere, we have lots to do to make things better, and I am glad to see the churches working toward this betterment. I had a hand in inaugurating a movement there which I think will be permanent. On the Fourth of July we get the Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Catholic clergymen on the same platform. There is patriotic unity, and I want to see the same kind of spirit spread through all our people. I do not think I am less a member of the Reformed Church because I attend elsewhere. When I go to Washington next spring, I shall attend the Reformed church, if there is one there.

I was one of the first to subscribe to the erection of a Catholic church at Oyster Bay; and when the first priest came there, the Rev. Father Belford. . . . I was awfully glad to help him.

In this work of church federation, I want you to be content with the little steps. Do not be discouraged if you can not take the long strides. We are not going to see unity in a day. You will meet all kinds of opposition and prejudice. There must be a spirit of broad charity. One hundred years ago rank intolerance prevailed in the colonies, but we have advanced, and this meeting to-night is an evidence of it.

All men who believe in the common virtues which underlie the foundation of our national life should come together. The church should be the center of the social and moral well-being of the community. I am more and more impressed with the truth of this.

The first regular speech of the evening was made by the Rev. David Wills, of Oswego, we said:–

Church federation is warranted. It is practical. It is not rainbow-chasing. This movement is practical, and would to God the ministry realized and knew how the people were longing to get together. Give the people a chance to work together. Church federation is imperative. It must be had as a condition of church life. it is not more money nor more men that we need, but a more honest business administration of the affairs of the church. Church federation is a step in the right direction.

The next day, at a meeting of ministers and other prominent men, the Church Federation of the State of New York was formally organized. A constitution was adopted: The material parts of that constitution are as follows:–

1. Name.–This organization shall be called the Federation of Churches and Christian Workers of the State of New York.

2. Object.–The object of this federation is the promotion of effective co-operation among the churches of the State of New York, in order that their essential unity may be manifested; that the evangelization of every community may be more systematically accomplished; that a means may be found of expressing the united Christian sentiment of the State in regard to moral issues; that the various Christian churches and Christian workers and benevolent activities of the commonwealth may be more completely co-ordinated; and that other appropriate ends may be secured.

When this constitution came before the meeting for consideration,–

It was suggested by the Rev. A. B. Coit that the work "evangelical" should be added to the designation of what churches should be permitted to join the federation.

The Rev. Dr. Hegeman, of New York, said that it would be unwise to put any word in the constitution which would offend any body of churchmen. At a meeting held in New York City Bishop Potter favored a federation. "If you put in the word 'evangelica,'" Mr. Hegeman said, "you will put something in the way which will interfere with the work. To my way of thinking, it will be impolitic."

The Rev. Dr. Zimmerman said that he was not afraid of the resolution as read. The evangelical bodies were in the majority, and he did not think that the Jew or the Unitarian would absorb them. "We want to get all we can in this federation."

The Rev. A. B. Coit was afraid that a mistake would be made if the basis of federation permitted the admission of those who denied the Messiahship of Christ. He said the success of the movement depended upon the proper solution of the article.

The Rev. E. N. Packard, D. D., said he thought that Dr. Coit was talking about a difficulty which did not exist. This movement is a simple manifestation of Christian unity. There is room in the constitution for the great bodies known as evangelical, and those known as Christian workers, such as Y. M. C. A. He said he would deplore it if the federation should be halted at the very beginning.

The Rev. Dr. Clark defined the word "evangelical." He said it had not been applied by us historically to the Roman Catholics, the Episcopalians, Unitarians, and Universalists. We can not afford to eliminate these bodies from this work. In the present constitution it would be unwise and hurtful to use the word. We can not do anything to imperil this organization.

The Rev. Dr. Zimmerman said it would be fatal to inject the word "evangelical" into the constitution, which would offend those who would co-operate with us. He cited the co-operation of the Roman Catholic Church some years ago in Syracuse in closing the saloons on Sunday. He said that the work of the federation was to be practical and not sentimental.

The Rev. Martyn Summerbell spoke on the objects of the federation, and said that when he was traveling on the cars, he did not ask who were his fellow travelers. If there is a definite exclusion of others, we raise a barrier. He did not think that the Roman Catholics would interfere or disturb the work, as the organization of the local bodies would take care of the work. It would be a mistake to exclude the men who will help you in the philanthropic and moral work to be undertaken.

The Rev. Mr. Main said that he did not believe in federation with those who deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.

The Rev. F. N. Betts said that as a Universalist, the federation would have no trouble. "We will not come into the federation until we are assured that you want us. But we are working for federation, and believe in it from top to bottom."

Others spoke on the proposition to make the second resolution incorporate the word "evangel-

777

ical" before the words "Christian churches and Christian workers."

The motion to insert the word "evangelical" was rejected by a voice of seventeen to three.

The Rev. H. H. Stebbins, D. D., of Rochester, was elected president; and Theodore Roosevelt and William E. Dodge, of New York, vice-presidents.

It should be remembered, in this connection, that only last Thursday, November 29, a great meeting of Catholics were held in New York City, to consider Catholic Federation. And thus, with Protestant Federation on the one hand and Catholic Federation on the other, interesting scenes will soon be opened to the people of the United States.

It is well to note, just now, too, at the beginning, that the Catholics start in with a great advantage; for they are expected to work in the Protestant Federation; the Protestant Federation is definitely arranged so that the Catholics will not only not be excluded, but that they will really be included, and that nothing will be done that would suggest that Catholics are not an essential part of the federation. Undoubtedly Catholic priests will work with this Protestant Federation, at least enough to check any step that might be taken which would advance purely Protestant ends. Yet, at the same time, the Catholic Church has her own distinct Federation, working with might and main for distinctly and confessedly Catholic ends.

Now, in the nature of things, that situation can not long continue. This Protestant Federation will not very long be content to work smoothly along including Catholics, and especially modifying every move it makes, that it shall not prevent Catholic co-operation; while, all the time, there is this distinct Catholic Federation working steadily and solely for Catholic ends. And thus it is certain that, before long, these two federations will not only be distinct, but in antagonism.

And when that time comes, then will be fulfilled that which is written: "Old controversies which have apparently been hushed for a long time will spring up; new and old will commingle." And when they do, then, with national prestige and political as well as ecclesiastical power and preferment, the prizes to be contended for, all the bitterness and intensity of the old controversies will be revived and manifested, and even intensified. Commotion, strife, violence, persecution, and all the evil accompaniments of rivals to establish religion will afflict and ruin the nation, even as that former thing of the kind afflicted and finally ruined the Roman Empire.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 49 , p. 777.

IN the address before the Congregational Club at Washington, D. C., lately, Justice Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, said:–

The missionary's work is not at first agreeable to the Chinaman, and it is not strange that there is a feeling against him when the Chinaman considers the treatment he is receiving at our hands. But missionary work must go on. No man is so vicious as the man who is skilled in the arts and sciences, but has not morals. The Chinaman has no morals. They only hope is to send with the man that goes to China to speculate, the man of the gospel, the man of the Bible, so as to lift him up into the ways of morality and peace.

Yes; if there were only some means of keeping morally straight the man who goes there to speculate, the chances of helping the Chinaman would be wonderfully increased. But what hope is there of keeping the speculator straight when he prides himself on belonging to a "Christian nation," and by this sanctifies all his crookedness, and despises the Chinaman as only a heathen with no morals.

"Editorial Notes" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 49 , p. 777.

THE true nature of the "scientific theory" of the present day is again made perfectly plain by a leading German professor of church history, as follows:–

No religious conception or idea, whether it be found in the Bible or in the confessions, can claim to be absolutely authoritative for all times, and consequently not for our age. It is the calling of theological professors intentionally to shake their hearers in their naÔve [childlike] faith, to lead them into doubt, and there are those who on this dangerous way are lost. Hence it is our task to endanger souls.

And the Independent, November 8, which presents this, speaks of it as even a "typical" utterance. That is what it is whether as to Germany or the United States; for now Germany is the source of "scientific theology" for the United States.

December 11, 1900

"The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 50 , p. 792.

"LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery ["a thing to be seized upon and held fast"] to be equal with God: but emptied himself."

The condescension of Christ, the position of Christ, and the nature of Christ, as He was in the flesh in the world, are given in the second chapter of Hebrews more fully than in any other one place in the Scriptures.

But the first chapter of Hebrews comes before the second chapter, and is, therefore, an essential precedent of the second chapter. The first chapter must be followed, and must be understood, unto the second chapter, in order to be able to follow and understand the second chapter.

Yet in the first chapter of Hebrews, the exaltation, the position, and the nature of Christ, as He was in heaven before He came to the world, are more fully given than in any other single portion of the Scriptures.

Therefore it is perfectly plain that an understanding of the position and nature of Christ, as He was in heaven, is essential to a proper understanding of His position and nature as He was on earth.

What, then, is this, as it is given in Hebrews 1?

First is introduced God,–God the Father,–as the speaker to men, who "in time past spake unto the fathers by the prophets," but who "hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son."

Thus the Son of God is introduced. Then of Him and the Father together it is written: "Whom He [God] hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He [God] made the worlds."

Then of Christ we read: "Who being the brightness of His [God's] glory, and the express image of His [God's] person ["the very impress of His substance"], and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

This tells us that, in heaven, the nature of Christ was the nature of God; that He, in His person, in His substance, is the very impress, the very character, of the substance of God. That is to say that, in heaven, as He was before He came to the world, the nature of Christ was in very substance the nature of God.

Therefore it is further written of Him that He was "made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

This more excellent name is the name "God," which, in the eighth verse, is given by the Father to the Son. "Unto the Son He [God] saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever."

Thus, He is so much better than the angels as God is better than the angels. And it is because of this that He has that more excellent name; the name expressing only what He is, in His very nature.

And this name "He hath by inheritance." It is not a name that was bestowed, but a name that is inherited.

Now, it lies, in the nature of things, as an everlasting truth, that the only name any person can possibly inherit is his father's name. This name, then, of Christ's, which is more excellent than that of the angels, is the name of His Father; and His Father's name is God. The Son's name, therefore, which He has by inheritance, is God. And this name, which is more excellent than that of the angels, is His because He is "so much better than the angels." That name being God, he is so much better than the angels as God is better than the angels.

Next, His position and nature, as better than that of the angels, is dwelt upon: "For unto which of the angels saith He [the Father] at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? and again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son?" This holds the thought of the more excellent name spoken of in the previous verse. For He, being the Son of God,–God being His Father,–thus hath "by inheritance" the name of His Father, which is God; and which is so much more excellent than the name of the angels, as God is better than they.

But this is dwelt upon yet further: "And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him." Thus He is so much better than the angels that He is worshiped by the angels; and this according to the will of God, because He is, in His nature, God.

This thought of the mighty contrast between Christ and the angels is dwelt upon yet further: "Of the angels He saith, Who maketh the angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever ["From eternity to eternity," German translation]."

And again: "A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."

And yet again, the Father, in speaking to the Son, says: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail."

Note the contrasts here, and in them read the nature of Christ. The heavens shall perish, but He remains. The heavens shall wax old, but His years shall not fail. The heavens shall be changed, but He is the same. That shows that He is God: of the nature of God.

Yet more of this contrast between Christ and the angels: "To which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

Thus, in the first chapter of Hebrews, Christ is revealed higher than the angels, as God; and as much higher than the angels as is God, because He is God.

In the first chapter of Hebrews Christ is revealed as God, of the name of God, because He is of the nature of God. And so entirely is His nature of the nature of God, that it is the very impress of the substance of God.

This is Christ the Saviour, Spirit of Spirit, substance of substance, with God.

And this it is essential to know in the first chapter of Hebrews, in order to know what is His nature revealed in the second chapter of Hebrews as man.

Study the first chapter of Hebrews over and over till this time next week, when we shall go further.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 50 , p. 792.

THE Peking correspondent of the London Times says that Russia's minister in China "refused to sign the demands" which the Powers supposed were agreed upon to be presented to China. Instead, he "caused to be conveyed to the Chinese envoys an intimation that Russia, ever actuated by sincere friendship for China, will insist upon an amendment to the terms in order to render them acceptable to China, the amendment being either a revision of the death clause by substituting a provision that the guilty shall be punished in a Chinese manner acceptable to the Powers, or that the terms shall not be irrevocable.

"Present Truth" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 50 , pp. 792, 793.

IN the REVIEW AND HERALD of July last, we said what was true then, what has been true ever since, what is true now, and what will always be true. What we then said is as follows:–

"Some have thought, in the things which we have had occasion to say concerning the apostasy of this republic, that we have been attacking the present administration; but this is a mistake. We have had nothing at all to do with the present administration as such, nor has any mention of it been made because it is the present administration. All that we have done is to call attention to the facts, and to that nature and the bearing of those facts, with respect to the making of the Image of the Beast. This we shall be obliged to continue to do, because events will continue to occur, bearing the same meaning, and to which it will be necessary to call attention, as elements which mark the fulfillment of the prophecy. And this will be so, whatever administration may be in power. If the present administration were to cease to-day, and another one were to take its place, we should be obliged to call attention to facts that would just as certainly be elements in the making of the Image of the Beast as any that so far have occurred.

"This being the year of a presidential campaign, there are just now multitudes of people who hope, and are deliberately working, to bring about a change of administration. We do not pretend to any knowledge as to whether there will be, nor as to whether there should be, a change of administration. But we know that, even though a change of administration may be accomplished, there will be no check in the progress of the elements that go to the making of the Image of the Beast. If there should be a change in administration, much would be expected in the way of checking the present tide of imperialism. And, in such event, something might be done to check the present, particular phase of it. But where this particular phase might be checked, others would be established, and would progress just as swiftly toward that goal as the present course has been, or will be, progressing.

"This thing consists not in administrations. It in no wise depends upon administrations, nor change of administrations. Neither change nor no change of administration can affect it; except, perhaps, to check some, while hastening other, features of the general apostasy of the republic. The evil is in the whole nation. The nation has lost the principle and the spirit of a republic: it has lost the faculty of self-government. And the force or effect of a change of administration, whether this year or later, can be fitly expressed in the words of Cicero, at the death of Cesar (which death, indeed, was accomplished to effect a change of administration, and so to have the Roman Republic from imperialism), when he exclaimed: "We have killed the king, but the kingdom is with us still. We have taken away the tyrant; the tyranny survives."

Some of our readers, not having given to this statement proper attention, have misconstrued some

793

things that the REVIEW has had to say, from time to time, of the course of the United States. They have thought that we were opposed to the present administration, and to the election of the present administration. But, from these plain words, published before the late campaign began, it is clear that any such thought is a misconstruction. We have printed is now again.

Therefore, let us say, again, that we have not, and never shall have, anything at all to do or say for or against the present or any other administration in the government of the United States. We have not, and never shall have, anything to do or say about what the present or any other administration should or should not do. But when the present, or any other administration while we live, shall have done those things which are in fulfillment of prophecy concerning the nation, we have had, and shall ever expect to have, to call attention to it as an element in the fulfillment of prophecy. And when attention is thus called to those facts,–to those things which have been done,–it is only as facts that they are mentioned, and not at all with any thought of reflection or blame upon the persons in power, who, in their place and degree, and simply because they are in place, have to do with the facts–with that which has been done.

Let us say again: The apostasy of this nation is not in administration: it is in the whole nation. The apostasy of this republic from the principles of its Constitution is not simply in the administration that happens to be at the capital of the nation: it is in the whole people that compose the republic.

The nation is a republic, a government of the people. Therefore, the only way that there could be an apostasy of the nation, an apostasy of the republic, is by there being an apostasy of the people. The individual men who happen to be in administrative office at the capital of the nation are but the representatives of the people; and what they do they do in their representative capacity. And if they do what is unconstitutional; if they do what is unrepublican; if they take a course that is the reverse of the fundamental national principle,–they do it only as the representatives of the people, and the people are responsible. And when the individuals in administrative place do unconstitutional or unrepublican things, and the people let it go so, still it is true that those things are done by those individuals strictly as the representatives of the people: in the doing of it they do represent the people.

Imperialism is not found alone, and should not be expected to be found alone, in a few men in representative place, at the capital of the nation. It is in the whole people of the nation. It is manifest in every hand. Nor is it a new thing which has sprung into existence within only the last two years. For years back of that it has been steadily growing, and steadily strengthening itself; and all that was needed was only occasion for it to show itself.

The United States is a government only of the people. And the great reason why Rome is the standard of comparison for the course of things in this nation, is that Rome is the only nation of former times that was a republic–whose government was of the people. And, bear in mind, it is always true–so universally true that it is a principle–that, in representative governments, governments of the people, whosoever occupies administrative place is the representative of the people: whatever he is, he is the representative of the people.

Does not everybody know that Julius Cesar was the pride and choice of the people? That Augustus Cesar, likewise, was lauded of the people, was officially chosen by representatives of the people, and was officially entitled "the father of the people"? That it was so with Tiberius also? Does not everybody know that Caligula was not only the pride and joy, but also the pet, of the people? that "prodigious crowds of people everywhere attending him, in transports of joy, calling him, besides other auspicious names, by those of 'their star,' 'their chick,' 'their pretty puppet,' and 'bantling'"? And everybody knows, too, that Caligula, Tiberius, and Augustus, and others before and afterward, were fairly monsters of vice and deadly cruelty. Yet, for all this, they were the representatives of the people: and they did represent the people.

And the main thing which causes it to be difficult for many of our readers to see the true bearing of what we have said and do say of the present course of things in this "government of the people," is that they have not studied as they ought to study the actual course of things in that other great "government of the people." Yet, nine years ago, the whole story was written out in full, and published, and so made easily accessible to all, in a book for the present time; that is, "The Two Republics, or Rome and the United States of America." That book was the truth when it was published; and if all the REVIEW family, if all the Seventh-day Adventists, had truly studied that book through the seven years, up to 1898, they would have had no kind of difficulty whatever in seeing the true and full meaning of all these things which have come to pass, and which are steadily going on, and more of what are surely and swiftly to come to pass. But, having neglected all that, and so not knowing any of that story, nor of the principles involved, it is difficult now for these to see any meaning whatever in these occurrences–and, of all things, in the REVIEW AND HERALD'S having anything to say on the subject.

The truth is that we are now saying, upon FACTS of daily occurrence, only that which, years ago, we said only upon PRINCIPLE and PROPHECY. We now say that the Beast is imperialism in religion; and that the Image of the Beast is imperialism in religion. We also say, now, that before there can be imperialism in religion, there must be imperialism in the State; and that therefore before there can be, and in order that there shall be, the Image of the Beast in its true working form in this nation, there must be imperialism in the State. And this is only what we said in but slightly different words, nine years, six months, and twenty-nine days ago. The exact words in which we so long ago said it are the following:–

This paper "exists for the sole purpose of exposing to the American people the movement for the establishment of a religious despotism here, after the model of the papacy.

"But no religious despotism can ever be established over a free people. It were literally impossible to establish a religious despotism over the royal freemen who made the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.

"This gradual but steady perversion and subversion of the genuine principles of this government as established by our forefathers, this steady inculcation of the principles of paternalism, is but sowing the seeds of a despotism,–whether of the many, of the few, or of ONE, it matters not,–which at the opportune moment will be joined by the political preachers; and out of the wicked alliance thus formed there will come the religious despotism in the perfect likeness of the one which was before."

Thus it is as plain as anything can possibly be that what we are saying on these things in the REVIEW is simply and exactly what in all the past years we said everywhere. In those times these things were acknowledged to be of the Third Angel's Message. And who that loves the Third Angel's Message; who that hates the Beast and his Image; who that wishes to know the process and the progress of the making of the Image of the Beast; who that wants the world to be warned against the making and the worship of the Image of the Beast?–who of these would have it that these things should not now be said in the REVIEW AND HERALD?

Please study these things; for other events are to come, other facts are to occur.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 50 , p. 794.

AT the preachers' meeting in New York City a short time ago, a paper was presented on "The Ethics of Authorship." In reporting it the regular New York reporter of the Christian Advocate calls for one on "The Ethics of the Publisher," and says:–

If an author holds himself down to clean, pure, honest writing, his manuscript is likely to be returned; whereas if he introduces something distinctly salacious, and gets it in, if possible, with the opening chapter, the probabilities are the book will be published at once, and will become immediately popular. And it is just at this point our own book concern has its most bitter competition. Never once has it descended from its high level. Its books are clean. They can be read without shame or reproach. And there are other publishing houses equally careful, but the number is few, and very few.

Yes; there is needed instruction in "the ethics of publishers," and even for professed Christian publishers. And this instruction, especially for the professed Christian publishers, must be nothing else than, to the very letter, the ethics of the sermon on the mount–the ethics of the law of God in all its broad intent.

"Back Page" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 50 , p. 800.

THE Presbyterians of the United States are discussing the proposal that their creed be revised. At its meeting in October, the presbytery of San Francisco, Cal., "agreed to the alteration of the phrasing of the sections relating to predestination, foreordination, and infant damnation. It was further recommended that the section referring to the pope as anti-christ be stricken out, and that the ban against the intermarriage between Presbyterians and papists be removed." That is the great mischief of a human creed: it mixes up indiscriminately truth and error; and then, in this confusion of things, when revision must be made, the truth is equally to be swept away. Calvin's predestination and infant damnation is a piece of as sheer satanic invention as ever was put into words by man. And that the Presbyterians should seek to close up the gulf that separates them from the papacy, is akin to it.

December 18, 1900

"The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 51 , p. 808.

"LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery ["a thing to be seized upon and held fast"] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." Phil. 2:5-7.

In the first chapter of Hebrews, as we have seen, Christ's likeness to God is set forth in greater detail than in any other one portion of Scripture.

This likeness to God, as set forth in the first chapter of Hebrews, is only introductory to the setting forth of His likeness to men, as in the second chapter of Hebrews.

His likeness to God, as in the first chapter of Hebrews, is the only basis of true understanding of His likeness to men, as in the second chapter of Hebrews.

And this likeness to God as given in the first chapter of Hebrews, is likeness,–not in the sense of a mere picture, or representation; but is likeness in the sense of being actually like in very nature,–the very "impress of His substance," Spirit of Spirit, substance of substance, with God.

And this is His likeness to men: not merely in shape, in picture, or representation, but in nature, in very substance. Otherwise, the whole first chapter of Hebrews, with all its detail of information, is, in that connection, utterly meaningless and misplaced.

What, then, is this truth of Christ made in the likeness of men, as given in the second chapter of Hebrews?

Bearing in mind the great thought of the first chapter, and the first four verses of the second chapter,–of Christ in contrast with the angels, higher than the angels, as God,–we begin with the fifth verse of the second chapter, where begins the thought of Christ in contrast with the angels: lower than the angels, as man.

So we read: "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus." Heb. 2:5-9.

That is to say, God has not put into subjection to the angels the world to come; but He has put it in subjection to man: yet not the man to whom it was originally put in subjection; for, though it was so, now we see it not so. The man lost his dominion, and, instead of having all things in subjection under his feet, he himself is now in subjection to death. And he is in subjection to death only because he is in subjection to sin; for "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. He is in subjection to death because he is in subjection to sin; for death is the only wages of sin.

Nevertheless, it stands eternally true that not unto the angels hath He put in subjection the world to come, but unto man. And, now, JESUS CHRIST is THE MAN.

For, though having been put in subjection to man, and though now we see it not so; though man was given the dominion over all, and now we see that dominion lost to that particular man; yet we do "see Jesus," as man, come to regain that original dominion. We do "see Jesus," as man, come to have all things put in subjection under Him.

That man was the first Adam; this other Man is the last Adam. That first Adam was made a little lower than the angels; this last Adam, Jesus, we see "made a little lower than the angels."

That first man did not remain in the position where he was made, "lower than the angels." He lost that, and went still lower, and became subject to sin, and, in that, subject to suffering, even to the suffering of death.

And the last Adam we see in the same place, in the same condition: "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." And again: "Both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all OF ONE."

He which sanctifieth is Jesus. They who are sanctified are men of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. And one man sanctified, out of any nation, any kindred, any tongue, or any people, is divine demonstration that every soul of that nation, kindred, tongue, or people might have been sanctified. And Jesus' having become one with these, that He might bring them to glory, is proof that He is one with mankind together; that He, as man, and all men themselves, are "all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."

Therefore, as He was, in heaven, He was higher than the angels, as God; so, as He was, on earth, He was lower than the angels, as man. As when He was higher than the angels, as God, He and God were of one; so when He was on the earth, lower than the angels, as man, He and man are "of one." So that, just as certainly as, on the side of God, Jesus and God are of one–of one Spirit, of one nature, of one substance; so, on the side of man, Christ and man are "of one"–of one flesh, of one nature, of one substance.

And so it is further written: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same." As man, Christ is of the same flesh as is that of men. As man, He is of the same blood as is that of men. He is of "the same" flesh and blood as are the children of men. They are "all of one."

And so it is further written: "Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto his brethren."

The likeness of Christ to God is in substance as well as in form. And the likeness of Christ to man is in substance as well as in form. Otherwise, there is no meaning at all in the first chapter of Hebrews as introductory to the second chapter; no meaning at all in the parallels of contrast between the first and second chapters; and the first chapter is utterly out of place, and empty, as a basis of instruction to the second chapter.

Please think carefully on these two chapters till this time next week, when they will be considered further.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 51 , p. 808.

THE Chicago Times-Herald, referring to the German emperor's decree making English a study in the German schools, remarks: "We hope it will be better English than they teach in some of our colleges." Yes, and it is safe to say that it will be. Very few of the teachers in the colleges in the United States ever learned good English, while they were students, their time being largely spent on Greek and Latin, which they do not learn to speak, and never expect to learn to speak; and having never learned good English, how can they teach it? There is no living language so rich, so strong, so precise, as is the English–good English, English rightly used.

"Catholic Federation" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 51 , pp. 808, 809.

ACCORDING to appointment, the "great meeting" to promote Catholic Federation, was held in New York City, November 29. There were "fifty delegates, representing one million one hundred thousand Roman Catholics." They decided "to form a federation of the Roman Catholics in the United Stattes." Strictly according to Catholic principle, too, these "preliminary steps toward organization were taken at a secret meeting." It was held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. These fifty delegates represent "fourteen Catholic organizations in various States of the Union."

Among the societies represented at the meeting were the Knights of St. John, Catholic Benevolent Legion, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, League of German Societies of Pennsylvania, Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, Catholic Young Men's National Union, Catholic German State Union of New York, and the General Benevolent Association.

The meeting lasted four hours. At its close it was announced that a committee of ten, with Thomas P. McKenna, of Long Branch, N.J., as chairman, had been appointed to draft plans of the proposed federation, and report to a convention to be held in Cincinnati, May 7, 1901. A Committee on Organization, with Congressman John J. Fitzgerald, of Brooklyn, as chairman, was chosen.

The federation will be a lay organization purely. While, however, the Roman Catholic hierarchy, said a delegate, takes no official cognizance of the movement, it has the entire approval of the heads of the Church.

A schedule to guide the deliberation of the leaders for federation has been drawn up by Bishop Messmer, of Green Bay, Wis., in which there is given the following items, under division:–

III. CIVIL

a. Religious rights of Catholics.

1. In State institutions (reformatories, prisons, workhouses, orphans' and insane asylums, etc.).

2. In the public schools (sectarian exercises and Bible, anti-Catholic text-books, discrimination against Catholic teachers, Catholic candidates for graduation and diplomas, compulsion to State schools, etc.).

3. Chaplains in the army and navy, veterans' homes.

b. The Catholic Indians.

c. Taxation of Church property.

d. Support of sectarian (Protestant) institutions.

e. Corruption in politics (bribery at elections, in the Legislature).

Among his remarks upon this, are the following:–

3. In our public or civil life, to vindicate our full rights as citizens under the Constitution of the United States (to this refers the civic work).

In all these we believe that we are working for the real welfare and the true interests of our country, as we see in the Catholic religion and its principles the surest guaranty of peace and happiness for a nation.

As has been continuously done by the Catholic hierarchy, in connection with this idea of federation, he next takes special pains to disavow any political object in the accomplishment of this federation; and then immediately follows the disavowal with the significant political statement:–

Yet we can not and shall not keep away from politics altogether. Catholic interests, religious and civil, are greatly affected in many of our public institutions, the management of which is subject to legislation and the ruling of public offices–whether State or federal. If it becomes necessary to claim or defend our full religious and civil rights as American citizens of those of our Catholic fellow citizens in those public institutions, it must be done through just and proper laws and lawgivers; that is, through political action or influence. Again, should the social questions and troubles of the day become a matter of public or political agitation, Catholic citizens will be bound by a duty of religion as well as of citizenship to take part in it. The foregoing political duties, however, devolve on every Catholic

809

citizen, whether he be a member of a Catholic organization or not. While, therefore, in the very nature of the case, this federation is to be, at certain times or under certain conditions, forced to exert a political influence, yet it will never do so for merely temporal, material, or purely political purposes; it will never "go into politics pure and simple."

And, behold! this Catholic Federation, made up altogether of Catholics, solely to accomplish Catholic ends,–this, the people are assured, is "not to be 'sectarian,'" especially not "in a narrow, bigoted sense."

Somewhat after the order of the Protestant Federation scheme, this federation will include–

all co-operation with non-Catholic organizations or individuals. But wherever our field is the same as theirs, and wherever we can join our efforts with theirs on the basis of a common Christian principle of morality, without the danger of scandalizing the weaker brethren, we shall gladly work hand in hand for the best of our fellow men. Anyone who looks over our program must see at a glance the many points of contact where Catholics can work together with Protestants toward a happy solution of the burning social questions, toward eliminating or lessening some social evils, toward removing many public disadvantages, disability, etc. There is no reason why a Catholic federation should not exercise its powerful influence where non-Catholic organizations have been trying to do good long before an organized effort had been made by Catholics.

Under this thing, pushed from both sides by both "Protestants" and Catholics, when the day does come in which Protestants shall reach across the gulf to clasp the hand of the Roman power, that gulf will seem to them to be very narrow–if, indeed, there shall appear to them to be any gulf at all. These are interesting times.

December 25, 1900

"The Faith of Jesus" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 52 , p. 824.

"LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery ["a thing to be seized upon and held fast"] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." Phil. 2:5-7.

In our studies of Christ as He is revealed in the first and second chapters of Hebrews, we have found that, as He was in heaven, His nature was the same as the nature of God; and that when He came to the earth, His nature was the same as the nature of man, that, whereas, on the side of God, Jesus and God are "of one"–of one flesh, of one nature, of one substance,–so, on the side of man, Jesus and man are "of one,"–of one flesh, of one nature, of one substance. "For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."

And so it is written: "In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren." The first chapter of Hebrews, in revealing that His likeness to God is not simply in form or representation, but also in very substance, in that demonstrates that His likeness to men is not simply in form or in representation, but also in very substance. It is likeness to men as they are in all things, exactly as they are. Wherefore, again it is written: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:1, 14.

And that is likeness to man as he is in his fallen, sinful nature, and not as he was in his original, sinless nature, is made certain by the word: "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." Therefore, as man is since he became subject to death, this is what we see Jesus, in His place as man.

Therefore, just as certainly as we see Jesus lower than the angels, unto the suffering of death, so certainly it is by this demonstrated that, as man, Jesus took the nature of man as he is since death entered; and not at all the nature of man as he was before he became subject to death.

But death entered only because of sin: had not sin entered, death never could have entered. And we see Jesus made lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Therefore we see Jesus made in the nature of man, as man is since man sinned, and not as man was before sin ever entered. For this He did that He might "taste death for every man."

"For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Heb. 2:10. Thus, in becoming man, it became Him to become such as man is. Man is subject to suffering. Therefore it became Him to come to the man where he is, in his sufferings.

Before man sinned, he was not in any sense subject to sufferings; and for Jesus to have come in the nature of man as he was before sin entered, would have been only to come in a way and in a nature in which it would be impossible for Him to know the sufferings of man, and therefore impossible to reach him to save him. But since it became Him, in bringing men unto glory, to be made perfect through sufferings, it is certain that Jesus, in becoming man, partook of the nature of man as he is since he became subject to suffering, even the suffering of death, which is the wages of sin.

And again: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same." Verse 14. He, in His human nature, took the same flesh and blood that men have. All the words that could be used to make this plain and positive are here put together in a single sentence.

See: the children of men are partakers of flesh and blood. Because of this He took part of the same.

But this is not all: He also took part of the same flesh and blood as that of which the children are partakers.

Nor is this all: He also himself took part of the same flesh and blood as that of which the children of men are partakers.

Nor yet is this all: He also himself likewise took part of the same flesh and blood as that of which men are partakers.

Thus the Spirit of inspiration so much desires that this truth shall be made so plain and emphatic that it shall be understood by all, that He is not content to use any fewer than all the words that could be used in the telling of it. And, therefore, it is declared that just as, just as certainly as, the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same flesh and blood.

And this He did in order "that through death He might. . . deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." He took part of the same flesh and blood as we have in the bondage of sin and the fear of death, in order that He might deliver us from the bondage of sin and the fear of death.

And therefore again it is written: "Both He which sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."

This great truth of the blood-relationship, this blood-brotherhood, of Christ with men, is taught in the gospel in Genesis. For when God made His everlasting covenant with Abraham, the sacrifices were cut in two, and He, with Abraham, passed between the pieces. By this act the Lord entered into "the most solemn covenant known to the Oriental" or to all mankind,–the blood-covenant,–and thus became blood-brother to Abraham, "a relation which outranks every other relation in life."

This great truth of Christ's blood-relationship to man is further taught in the gospel in Leviticus. In the gospel in Leviticus there is written the law of redemption of men and their inheritances. When any one of the children of Israel had lost his inheritance, or himself had been brought into bondage, there was redemption provided. If he was able of himself to redeem himself or his inheritance, he could do it. But it he was not able of himself to redeem, then the right of redemption fell to his nearest of kin in blood-relationship. It fell not merely to one who was near of kin among his brethren, but to the one who was nearest of kin, who was able. Lev. 25:24-28, 47-49; Ruth 2:20; 3:12, 13; 4:1-12.

Thus in Genesis and Leviticus there has been taught through all these ages the very truth which we find here taught in the second chapter of Hebrews–the truth that man has lost his inheritance and is himself also in bondage. And as he himself can not redeem himself nor his inheritance, the right of redemption falls to the nearest of kin, who is able. And Jesus Christ is the only one in all the universe who is able.

But to be the redeemer he must be not only able, but he must be a blood-relative. And he must also be not only near of kin, but the nearest of kin; and the nearest of kin by blood-relationship. Therefore, "as the children" of man–as the children of the one who lost our inheritance–"are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same"–took part of flesh and blood in very substance like ours, and so became our nearest of kin. And therefore it is written that he and we "are all of one." For which cause He is not ashamed to call us brethren.

But the Scripture does not stop even yet with the statement of this all-important truth. It says, further: "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren," whose blood-brother He became in the confirming of that everlasting covenant.

And this He did, in order "that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted." "For we have not an high priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. 4:15. Being made in His human nature, in all things like as we are, He could be, and He was, tempted in all points like as we are.

As in His human nature He is one with us, and as "himself took our infirmities" (Matt. 8:17), He could be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." Being in all things made like us, He felt just as we feel, and knows all about it; and so can help and save to the uttermost all who will receive Him. As in His flesh, and as in himself in the flesh, He was as weak as we are, and of himself could "do nothing" (John 5:30); so when He "bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows" (Isa. 53:4), and was tempted as we are, feeling as we feel, by His divine faith He conquered all, by the power of God which that faith brought to Him, which in our flesh He has brought to us.

Therefore, His name is called Immanuel, which is "God with us." Not God with Him only, but God with us. God was with Him in eternity, and could have been with Him even though He had not given himself for us. But man through sin became without God, and God wanted to be again with us. Therefore Jesus became us, that God with Him might be God with us. And that is His name, because that is what He is.

And this is "the faith of Jesus" and the power of it. This is our Saviour: one of God, and one of man: and therefore able to save to the uttermost every soul who will come to God by Him.

"Editorial" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 52 , p. 824.

THE following comment by the Christian Advocate on the real condition of things at the end of the nineteenth century, is a true sign of the times:–

The nineteenth century goes out in war all around the world.

The Hague Conference led some to sing "Hosanna!" and to cry, "The age of peace dawns!" We sat among the doubters; for human nature unregenerated is the same all over the world.

The Christians are still cutting one another's throats in South Africa.

The Christians are not done cutting one another's throats in the Philippine Islands.

The Christians and the pagans are but pausing for breath in China.

Clouds are rising over various parts of Northern Africa, and the shadow of revolution is upon a score of nations in South and Central America and on the Continent of Europe.

An epidemic of lynching pervades this country. Prize fighting is a great popular amusement. New York loves it, and also can breed a race riot.

Society at Newport defies conventionalities, social and religious. One of the worst phases of the situation is the development of shamelessness. "First families" rush into the courts with their matrimonial troubles, and appear not able to blush when scenes which would disgrace those born in and to vulgarity are portrayed by the sensational papers.

Those premillenarians who think that the world must get worse before Christ can come are solemnly pointing to these things as portents.

These things are portents. And why should not people think that the world will get worse before Christ comes, when the word of God says that "in the last days. . . evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived"?

The item in the Christian Advocate has the hading, "Dark Enough, but Not Midnight." No; it is not midnight: it is the darkness just before day.

"Editorial Note" Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 52 , pp. 824, 825.

THE late Latin-American Congress, held at Madrid, adopted, by almost unanimous vote, the principle of "compulsory arbitration in disputes between the American republics." And since by the Monroe doc-

825

trine all other nations are excluded from the affairs of this continent, south of the Canadian line, who but the United States can be the source of ultimate appeal, to do the compelling? "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him"–in his sight.

¹ These names are printed in the Testimony as published. In justice to both the text and context, we could not leave out the names. Besides, the statement just as it stands is so plain that none can mistake just what message it is that was and is the message of righteousness by faith.

² Preached in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath, Jan. 27, 1900.

³ Preached in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath, Jan. 27, 1900.

⁴ Preached in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath, Jan. 27, 1900.

⁵ Sermon preached in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath, May 5, 1900, and stenographically reported.

⁶ Sermon preached in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath, May 5, 1900, and stenographically reported.

⁷ Sermon preached in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sabbath, May 5, 1900, and stenographically reported.

⁸ Sermon delivered Sabbath, July 28, 1900, in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., and stenographically reported.

⁹ Sermon delivered Sabbath, July 28, 1900, in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., and stenographically reported.

¹⁰ Sermon delivered Sabbath, July 28, 1900, in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., and stenographically reported.

¹¹ Sermon delivered Sabbath, July 28, 1900, in the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., and stenographically reported.

¹² Sermon delivered at the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sept. 8, 1900, and stenographically reported.

¹³ Sermon delivered at the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sept. 8, 1900, and stenographically reported.

¹⁴ Sermon delivered at the Tabernacle, Battle Creek, Mich., Sept. 8, 1900, and stenographically reported.