THERE is something stirring, something thrilling, in the very thought of the closing message. It is the closing message, the end is in sight, and this is the last generation, and we are to live and labor with reference to the consummation of that hope which has been the hope of the church for the ages, the final, glorious coming of Jesus Christ. This is the closing message, this is the closing time, and there is something stirring, there is something thrilling, in the very idea of the closing message. And we can not talk about the closing message, we can not fix our minds with any certainty upon that idea, without sweeping over the whole line of prophecy, and coming to that declaration, “There shall be delay no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets,” and we are in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. “This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished,” and we are in the closing years of that generation, and we are to take this view of the prophecy and of the work, and to face definitely the truth that the Lord is coming in this generation. This is the closing work, and this is the movement that is to bring the coming of the Lord. It is a stirring thing, it is a thrilling thing, and when it ceases to be such unto us, we need to have our advent faith revived.
Now this last generation and this last work are most definitely the theme of prophecy. The picture is plainly set forth in God's Word, by which we may recognize that this is the last generation, and the work which is to be done in this last generation to meet the situation is set forth in the Word, and no one can rightly relate himself to the message in this closing generation except he is quickened by the word and the Spirit, through the words given unto the prophets. So we must shape the message, and we ourselves must be molded by the prophecies that set forth this time and this work. We have already suggested that there is a phrasing of the gospel work which fits all times and all circumstances, a principle which is to run through the whole message of the gospel, and that is, The life manifested for salvation from sin. This phrasing includes a great deal, and as we study this theme, it will help us to see its application by taking another view, and putting the same idea into another phrasing, and stating the same thing from another standpoint; because this is an infinite subject, and we grasp it more and more fully as we view it from different standpoints.
Now that same statement, the life manifested for salvation from sin, may be turned into this statement, The revelation of the law of God as the life of humanity. It is the same thing, only it brings into our minds a new picture of it. But the revelation of the law of God as the life of humanity must be treated as a concrete thing, not simply as an abstract idea; then it becomes the experience of the gospel, the experience of God manifest in the flesh. The gospel is the experience, the provision, the power for the revelation of the character of God in humanity. That is the salvation of humanity, but that revelation, that provision, is the science of salvation. It is the science of redemption, and that is the theme of the Bible, but it turns upon this question of the revelation of the law of God.
Now take that familiar scripture, the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, verses 6-12, and the twelfth verse shows clearly that the center of that message will be the law of God. Here is the patience, the steadfastness, of the saints, those keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. That is the result of the closing message. Then the center in the closing message is the law of God, but the law of God, not as a code, set forth not simply as a set of precepts which men are to attempt to observe, but as the very message of the gospel; and the closing message is the same everlasting gospel of God manifest in the flesh, the character of God lived in humanity, the law of God written in the heart of men. The whole controversy has been over the law of God, as to whether humanity should be obedient to it, as to whether humanity should submit to the real principle of God's law, which is his character in life. That has been the center of the controversy.
Now to see what is involved in the acceptance of God's law, in its revelation in humanity, or the rejection of God's law for humanity, we only have to take a view of the world as setting forth the results of the rejection of God's law, and a view of Christ and his work in humanity, to see the acceptance of the law. To reject God's law means more than to do certain specific things, it means more than to have it as a code interpreted by human reason, and applied by human power. The rejection of God's law means the rejection of his character. The law of God is simply the transcript of the character of God, the divine nature as applied to humanity. God does not want human beings to attempt to take his place. He does not abdicate in favor of humanity, but the law is the revelation of the character of God, the divine nature as God's original thought was for humanity when humanity was created, that humanity should be all that was in God's thought for humanity when man was created in the image of God. To reject God's law, to turn aside from God's law, is to reject God's thought for humanity, to refuse God's plan for humanity, and to receive the opposite of that in all the relations of humanity, both of man with man and of man with God, and the result of that is seen in the world apart from God. This contrast, or picture, is so wonderfully drawn in a part of the book “Education” that I will read a few paragraphs from it, and I want you to regard it as a description of things when God's law is rejected.
To reveal this ideal as the only true standard for attainment; to show what every human being might become; what, through the indwelling of humanity by divinity, all who received him would become,—for this, Christ came to the world. He came to show how men are to be trained as befits the sons of God; how on earth they are to practice the principles and to live the life of heaven.
God's greatest gift was bestowed to meet man's greatest need. The light appeared when the world's darkness was deepest. Through false teaching, the minds of men had long been turned away from God. In the prevailing systems of education, human philosophy had taken the place of divine revelation. Instead of the heaven-given standard of truth, men had accepted a standard of their own devising. From the Light of life they had turned aside to walk in the sparks of the fire which they had kindled.
Having separated from God, their only dependence being the power of humanity, their strength was but weakness. Even the standard set up by themselves they were incapable of reaching. Semblance took the place of reality.
Now that is the principle to apply. That is the philosophy of the acceptance or the rejection of God's law. Human philosophy takes the place of divine revelation. The result outwardly is that semblance, mere profession, takes the place of reality, and we have a false world, we have hypocrites instead of Christians, and we have outward show hiding an inward corruption. We have appearances without the reality. Without divine insight people are deceived by appearances, and substitute that for the reality, and think it is the reality. It is a divine life that makes it possible to distinguish the difference between appearance and truth.
From time to time, teachers arose who pointed men to the Source of truth. Right principles were enunciated, and human lives witnessed to their power. But these efforts made no lasting impression. There was a brief check in the current of evil, but its downward5course was not stayed. The reformers were as lights that shone in the darkness; but they could not dispel it. The world “loved darkness rather than light.”
When Christ came to the earth, humanity seemed to be fast reaching its lowest point. The very foundations of society were undermined. Life had become false and artificial. The Jews, destitute of the power of God's Word, gave to the world mind-benumbing, soul-deadening traditions and speculations. The worship of God “in Spirit and in truth,” had been supplanted by the glorification of men in an endless round of man-made ceremonies.
We should note the very phrasing of these sentences as the picture of that time; because it is the picture of our time. “The worship of God ‘in Spirit and in truth’ had been supplanted by the glorification of men in an endless round of man-made ceremonies,” and that is simply another way of saying that righteousness by works had taken the place of righteousness by faith. And that is a picture of our time.
As the evil passions and purposes of men banished God from their thoughts, so forgetfulness of him inclined them more strongly to evil. The heart in love with sin clothed him with its own attributes, and this conception strengthened the power of sin. Bent on self-pleasing, men came to regard God as such a one as themselves,—a Being whose aim was self-glory, whose requirements were suited to his own pleasure,—a Being by whom men were lifted up or cast down according as they helped or hindered his selfish purpose. The lower classes regarded the Supreme Being as one scarcely differing from their oppressors, save by exceeding them in power. By these ideas every form of religion was molded. Each was a system of exaction. By gifts and ceremonies, the worshipers sought to propitiate the Deity, in order to secure his favor for their own ends. Such religion, having no power upon the heart or the conscience, could be but a round of forms, of which men wearied, and from which, except for such gain as it might offer, they longed to be free. So evil, unrestrained, grew stronger, while the appreciation and desire for good diminished. Men lost the image of God, and received the impress of the demoniacal power by which they were controlled. The whole world was becoming a sink of corruption.
There was but one hope for the human race,—that into this mass of discordant and corrupting elements might be cast a new leaven; that there might be brought to mankind the power of a new life; that the knowledge of God might be restored to the world.
Christ came to restore this knowledge. He came to set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented him. He came to manifest the nature of his law.
Now is not that which we have read but a veritable picture of this day? Do we not recognize it as we read it? Does it not seem as though it were written for our day? It is a picture of our day. The same principles have brought us to the same conditions.