p. 11 | Everything or Nothing by John M. Hopkins

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 21, 1905

Everything or Nothing

By John M. Hopkins

JOHN M. HOPKINS

The third angel’s message is everything, or it is nothing. It is the most solemn, the most important thing in all the world, or it is absolutely unworthy of the least attention. The threefold message of Revelation 14 proclaims the judgment hour, the fall of Babylon (the moral and spiritual fall of the many professed Christian churches), and the denunciation of heaven against the worship of the beast and his image. The fourteenth chapter of Revelation, in the most intimate connection with this great threefold proclamation tells of the coming of Christ, and the end of all earthly hopes and prospects. It speaks in the most positive terms of the consummation of the Christian’s hope,—the resurrection of the righteous dead, and the translation of the living saints, and the utter destruction of sin and sinners.

Now what can be of greater importance than such wonderful declarations as these? It seems to me that they should arrest and hold the attention and engage the most earnest efforts of every intelligent person. Every person of every tribe and nation in all the world has an interest in these solemn events, whether he realizes it or not. Every man, woman, and child in all the world, will, in a very few years, be saved in the kingdom of God, or else be swept out of existence by the judgments of God. There is absolutely no alternative. There is no escape. It is the life or death message, the life or death warrant from the throne of God, to every living creature on the earth. So we repeat and emphasize: The truths contained in the great threefold message of Revelation 14 are everything, and our souls should be stirred to their very depths by them. Those professing to believe these things, to be consistent, should devote all their time, energy, and means to their proclamation. Everything they do should be done with reference to this message, for it concerns all they do. It is to the world a savor of life or of death. It will most certainly save or condemn every man and woman on earth. It is everything, or it is nothing.

Reader, which is it to you? We know it is true. We know it is God’s truth, his message for the world now. We know that in a very short time, a few years at the longest, the plagues will be poured out upon the earth, which for one thousand years will be one vast desolation inhabited only by Satan (Revelation 20), the antitype of the scapegoat, the Azazel of Leviticus 16, margin; that cities, mansions, wealth, and finally the very earth itself, will be burned up. 2 Peter 3. This is just what this message of warning means to the inhabitants of the world. Friend, what is it to you? Everything? or nothing? Do you wisely accept, live, and obey it? or do you, to your eternal ruin, reject it? This is just what it means to you personally, and you can not by any possible means evade it. In a short time you will be rejoicing with the redeemed of all ages in the city of God, or you will be swept out of existence by the terrible destruction that will be the portion of all the ungodly. Which will it be? You will make the decision yourself. Acceptance means life, rejection means death, and that quickly.

Be admonished, for your own sake, for the sake of those who are dear to you, for the sake of everything worthy a moment’s consideration, be admonished to accept and obey this message, and through the merits of the crucified One, receive the forgiveness of sin, and a home in the soon-coming kingdom. It is everything or nothing.

Villard, Minn.