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Review and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 47.

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Earlier text: A Preparation for the Coming of the Lord

Our Message and Work To-day

By William Warren Prescott

W. W. PRESCOTT
(Reading for Tuesday, December 13)
Our message is “the everlasting gospel.” This is “the gospel of God . . . concerning his Son.” This gospel is always “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and the reason for this is that “God’s righteousness is being revealed in it.” This is the gospel of righteousness by faith—the one and only true gospel.
Our message is the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in Christ as a personal Saviour. It proclaims the unchanged and unchangeable law of God, “for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin;” and then it declares (Rom. 3:21-26) that “apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.”
This is the personal experience of the gospel of righteousness by faith. It exalts God’s law as “holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good,” and then preaches faith in Jesus as the only possible means of living a life in harmony with that law. This is the faith which establishes the law.
Our message is the threefold message of the fourteenth chapter of the book of Revelation. It declares that “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,” and it presents “the everlasting gospel” of righteousness by faith as the only preparation for the coming of the Son of man on the white cloud. It announces that the judgment hour is come, and urges the worship of the true God as revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ, the Creator and the Redeemer.
It makes known the apostasy of the professed church of Christ through its acceptance of the creeds and the traditions of men in place of “the law and the testimony,” so that it is “fitly represented by the term ‘Babylon.’”
It points out that the little horn in Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, and the ten-horned beast from the sea in John’s vision, find their fulfilment in “the man of sin” of Paul’s prophecy, who assumes the titles and the place of the true God. It warns every man against worshiping the beast or his image, and against receiving his mark “on his forehead or upon his hand.”
The result of this proclamation of the threefold message is that a people are called out who accept the revelation of God the Father which has been made in the person of his Son, who give to the Son the place which belongs to him in the plan of redemption, and who are steadfast in their obedience to the commandments of God. This is the gospel of righteousness by faith, applied to the special circumstances and needs of the last generation. In this setting, the doctrine of justification by faith will not be a mere theoretical philosophy, but it will reveal itself as “the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.” It then becomes the message of preparation for the coming of the Lord.
Our message is, therefore, “the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” It is such a revelation of the character of God in Christ and of the work of God through Christ as, when really accepted, will make men and women like Christ, and thus give them boldness in this judgment hour, and prepare them so that they will not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Our message is such a teaching of “the everlasting gospel” in its purity as will expose all the deceptions of Satan and his perversions of the truth. It will unmask all these new gospels of modern times, and will show that their advocates have taken simply the vocabulary of the gospel of Christ in which to set forth “philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” It will make it clear that the overt act of the worship of the beast and his image is only the climax of that tendency in the human heart to exalt a man (self) in place of God, and it will bring home to the experience of each individual the declaration of the gospel prophet, “All flesh is grass, . . . Behold your God.” It will translate Isaiah’s cry, “Behold your God,” into John’s words, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.” It will accept no tradition in the place of the living oracles of God, and no man as the vicegerent of the Son of God, but will take the Word of God as the source and authority of all doctrine, and will give to Jesus the eternal Son, the place which belongs to him as the true Head of the church. All this it will do in presenting the Scripture evidences of the coming of the Lord in this generation, and in making ready a people prepared for the Lord. This is the real purpose of our message.
It may help us to appreciate more fully these truths if we recall some experiences in our recent history. In the following quotation the spirit of prophecy defines the real meaning of the message of righteousness by faith, which was emphasized anew to us sixteen years ago:—
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.
The uplifted Saviour is to appear in his efficacious work as the Lamb slain, sitting upon the throne, to dispense the priceless covenant blessings, the benefits he died to purchase for every soul who should believe on him. John could not express that love in words; it was too deep, too broad; he calls upon the human family to behold it. Christ is pleading for the church in the heavenly courts above, pleading for those for whom he paid the redemption price of his own life-blood. Centuries, ages, can never diminish the efficacy of this atoning sacrifice. 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.
The efficacy of the blood of Christ was to be presented to the people with freshness and power, that their faith might lay hold upon its merits. As the high priest sprinkled the warm blood upon the mercy-seat, while the fragrant cloud of incense ascended before God, so while we confess our sins, and plead the efficacy of Christ’s atoning blood, our prayers are to ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour’s character. . . .
Unless he makes it his life business to behold the uplifted Saviour, and by faith to accept the merits which it is his privilege to claim, the sinner can no more be saved than Peter could walk upon the water unless he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon Jesus. Now 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.
From our general view of the question, and from the quotation just given, it is clear that the message of “justification through faith in the Surety,” the message of “the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God,” is “the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message.” We may, then, reverse the statement, and say that the third angel’s message is the message of “justification through faith in the Surety.” It follows then plainly enough that the only genuine message of justification by faith for this generation is the third angel’s message, and that the threefold message of Revelation 14 must be the setting in which the doctrine of justification by faith must be taught to the people in this last generation, in order that it may be the genuine message of justification by faith.
In other words, the true teaching of justification by faith for this generation means more than an abstract argument upon free grace and the gift of righteousness: it involves all that grows out of a correct understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, and of the eternal purpose of God from the making of the everlasting covenant of grace unto the establishment of the kingdom of God in the new earth. This means the restoration of the pure truth of the gospel, and will include every distinctive doctrine which has separated Seventh-day Adventists from the other denominations.
But in order that these distinctive doctrines shall constitute the third angel’s message, they must be taught as essential features of the gospel of righteousness by faith; and in order that the message of righteousness by faith to this generation may be genuine, it must be presented as the warning message of Revelation 14. On no other basis can the third angel’s message be truly given, or the doctrine of justification by faith for this generation be truly taught.
If our message is studied and understood from this standpoint, we shall be saved from the mistake of substituting some phase of the message, or some partial revelation of the truth, for the message itself. There is constant danger of doing this, since the work has been divided into several departments. The gospel message which is to prepare a people for translation must deal with the whole man, body, soul, and spirit. But in all this work there must be the revelation of the one essential experience—being made righteous by faith. Any principles which constitute a special department of our work, such as the principles of religious liberty, the principles of health and temperance, or the principles of education, are, then, a part of this third angel’s message when they are taught as one phase of the experience of justification by faith, and in their relation to the other phases of the message.
When taught on any other basis, they may be valuable as a means of bestowing some temporal benefit, but they can not be regarded as an integral part of this message. They may easily become a convenient medium for the doctrine of righteousness by works, one form of self-salvation apart from the atoning work of Christ.
Our message, then, is God’s last call to the world to accept his offer of salvation from sin, through faith in the merits and atoning work of Jesus Christ, the Son of man and Son of God. In giving this last call, the gospel in its fulness and its purity will be proclaimed “unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” All the light of past ages will be focused upon this generation until “the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
In thinking about our work, we must remember the words of Jesus, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Our first work is to believe with all the heart the very message of which we have been speaking. In recent years some have lost their faith in the message, and as an inevitable result their work has been inefficient. Those who really believe that this is the final message of mercy will make it the supreme thing in their lives. They will pray for it, they will sacrifice for it, they will labor for it. Its prosperity will be their chiefest happiness, its adversity will be their chiefest sorrow.
Furthermore, there will be united and intelligent action on the part of the believers to carry this message quickly to all the world. The message itself is the greatest incentive to carry the message. “The love of Christ constraineth us.”
In view of all these considerations, we solemnly believe that the time has fully come for Seventh-day Adventists, to whom this message has been committed, to take up their work with a holy zeal and an undying enthusiasm, and to give themselves wholly to this service until the work is finished. Earnestly and heartily, with unwavering faith and unceasing effort let us spread this warning call in the highways and in the byways: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel.”
“God of Israel, high and glorious, Let thy people see thy hand; Let the message be victorious Through the world, in every land: Come, Lord Jesus, O come quickly, And thy blessing now command.”

Incentives to Service in Social, Political, and Religious Events

By E. T. Russell

E. T. RUSSELL
(Reading for Wednesday, December 14)
Satan, knowing that he has but a short time, is working with great wrath. Rev. 12:12. He is working with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Read 2 Thess. 2:9, 10. Through his influence, the people of the world are intoxicated with the spirit of commercialism, as were the inhabitants of Sodom. Of those days the Saviour says, “They bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17: 28-30.
Church-members seem to rival worldlings in the wild, maddening rush for gain. For the worldly minded professor, living in these strenuous times, the words of Christ are fraught with deep meaning, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17: 32.
Satan is also deceiving the hearts of men by the introduction of false doctrines, and through science, falsely so-called. Through what is termed “higher criticism” the plain utterances of prophets and apostles are discredited, and the miracles of Christ are explained away. The days of creation are said to represent long periods of time, instead of literal days, thus making the Mosaic record a nullity. The facts of creation are discarded, and faith in the doctrine of evolution has supplanted faith in the Word of God. Satan is deceiving the hearts of many of God’s professed people, so that their love is waxing cold. They love pleasure more than God, and, although having a form of godliness, they deny the power thereof. Satan has so blinded the eyes of many religious teachers that they are teaching that there will be a time of universal peace, an end of the reign of sin, before the coming of Christ. Such theories plainly contradict the Word of God, since the Bible teaches that in the last days there will be perilous times, and that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. 2 Tim. 3: 1, 13.
This is not only an age of false “isms,” but it is an age of marked political and social unrest. The Lord, by the prophet, tells us that in the last days many shall say that implements of warfare will be beaten into implements of husbandry. Isa. 2: 2, 4. For years these teachings have been energetically proclaimed. Peace societies have been organized, and both national and international conventions are being held to influence nations to have all international difficulties settled by arbitration. In spite of this teaching, nearly all nations are actively engaged in preparing for war. Strange to say, many denominations, while teaching the doctrine of universal peace before the coming of Christ and his reign in glory, are, in their theological institutions, drilling young men as military cadets. And in some churches the boys connected with the Sunday-schools are organized into duly officered companies, and are drilled as soldiers. Whither are they drifting? Are old issues to be revived? Are we to expect a crusade in the near future, in which the young will take part, similar to the one conducted about the year 1212, when thousands of children throughout all Europe, inflamed with a warlike zeal, rushed with the sword to the holy land? Is it not possible that Satan is preparing the young to take part in the coming Armageddon?
Though the “peace” cry is being sounded, the prophetic word says to the nations of to-day, “Prepare war.” Read Joel 3: 9, 10. Well do they seem to be heeding this admonition, little knowing that by so doing they are fulfilling the words of prophecy. Implements of agriculture are being converted into implements of war; also almost every agency that has been employed during this wonderful age for the improvement of man, has been enlisted for his destruction. Steam, electricity, engineering skill, and mechanical inventions are being used in the science of war.
After visiting the great European armies in 1898, General Miles said, “What I have seen does not indicate that the millennium is at hand, when swords will be beaten into plowshares.” Truly the weak are saying, “I am strong.” We have seen people weak in numbers withstanding mighty powers, by virtue of modern military methods. The heathen are being awakened. Not only Japan, but China and other Oriental nations, have been preparing war. Through satanic influences the way of the kings of the East is being prepared to come up to Armageddon to the last decisive struggle that will take place in connection with the coming of Christ when he thrusts in his sickle to reap the harvest of the earth. Read Rev. 14: 14-18.

Another Omen of Evil

One of the most fierce and bitter struggles that have ever arisen between man and man is now being waged between capital and labor. One writer says: “The terrible struggles between capital and labor, with the appalling prospects of world-embracing organizations on both sides, are the darkest aspects of an irresistible tendency.” Vast concentrations of wealth are being formed on one hand to control prices, and thus to control trade, and also to counteract the influence of organized labor. On the other hand, labor unions have been formed for protection against the greed of capital, and also to control the varied departments of industry.
As a result of this controversy in this country alone, no less than two thousand five hundred strikes have occurred since the year 1882. These strikes represent a great financial loss to both employers and employees. To maintain order and protect property, State and national troops have been called out, and many lives have been sacrificed. These strikes are forebodings of the coming storm, or, as expressed by a prominent labor leader, they are “the rumbling of the coming revolution.”
Labor unions in some parts of this country have organized themselves into military companies, and, in different States, the unions have forbidden their members to join the State militia. Capital has also been calling for a larger standing army, in order that its interests may be protected. Of this the <i>Coming Nation</i> says: “We know what the capitalists are doing. We see them preparing the munitions of war to rule the masses by force of arms. But they are foolish. They are wise only in their own conceits. They are adopting the tactics of kings, but will be as chaff before the wind by and by.”
This struggle will end disastrously for the rich; misery will be their portion. Read James 5: 11. Ezekiel tells us: “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.” Eze. 7:19. There will be a sudden uprising against them, and that in the near future. Read Hab. 2: 7, 8.
At a labor convention held in 1897 a prominent labor leader said: “The time will come to incite the populace; and when that time comes, you may count on me. . . . When the people are ready,—and that time is not far off, my friends,—there will be a spontaneous uprising, the Supreme Court will be abolished, Congress dispersed, and the rights of American citizens and American freedmen will be enthroned.” The storm is soon to break, and will rage most fiercely in the great cities. They will be storm-centers, as were the cities of France in the time of the Reign of Terror. The labor troubles that afflicted Israel in the land of Egypt are a type of which the labor troubles of to-day are the antitype. Ex. 1: 13, 14; 1 Cor. 10: 11. Then God’s people were persecuted and oppressed. In this, the closing conflict between capital and labor, Satan will exercise his influence to turn the tide of evil against those who keep the commandments of God. We are not to take part in this controversy. “Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.” Amos 5: 13. Neither should we join confederacies, nor fear them. We are to trust in the Lord our God, not in any organization or organizations, neither fear them. God is to be our fear, and our trust is to be in him. Isa. 8: 12, 13.
About ten years ago nearly every labor union in this country was opposed to religious legislation in regard to the observance of Sunday. To-day they are nearly all clamoring for the enforcement of laws regarding Sunday rest. The boycott is being urged in the interest of the Sunday institution, and it will be urged more strongly in the future. As to how this may be, I will quote the words of a zealous advocate of religious legislation. Speaking of the class who will not keep Sunday, he says: “If we would say we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian sabbath.” The time is at hand described by the revelator, when only those will be allowed to buy or sell who have the mark of the beast, his number, or name. Rev. 13: 17.
The New York Independent presents the outlook thus: “The unions have erected Sunday into the Sabbath of the faithful. The trades unions embrace possibly two and a half million members. If they are to become dogmatic religionists, the days of persecution for the faithful are not over.”
As an example of the existing conditions in the world to-day, will be seen anarchy, bloodshed, and destruction. As God has committed to us a knowledge of these things, shall we be guiltless if we warn not the wicked of the coming evil? Read Eze. 3: 17, 18. If there has ever been a time in the history of the world when God’s people should earnestly endeavor to enlighten others in regard to coming events, it is now. We should individually prepare to meet our God, and we should, by God’s grace, assist others to prepare to stand when he comes. How much we need the abiding presence, the indwelling Saviour, that we may go forth and proclaim the truth with power! What the world needs to-day is present truth, as it means life to all who receive it by faith; and what we as a people most need is to be little enough in our own eyes to be used to do anything for Jesus.
“If we can not cross the ocean, And the heathen lands explore, We can find the heathen nearer, We can help them at our door; If we can not speak like angels, If we can not preach like Paul, We can tell the love of Jesus, We can say he died for all.
“While the souls of men are dying, And the Master calls for you, Let none hear you idly saying, ‘There is nothing I can do!’ Gladly take the task he gives you, Let his work your pleasure be; Answer quickly when he calleth, ‘Here am I, O Lord, send me.’”
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