AFTER the time passed, and the perplexities had come in concerning it, where did the light first begin to break in, and where did the special features appear which have marked the movement since that time? I read that from the time of the disappointment in 1844 until light began to come in concerning the truth, the people were in a state of great perplexity. At the same time, according to the testimony of Elder J. N. Loughborough, within two months after the passing of the time in 1844 first appeared the gift of the spirit of prophecy among Adventists. There were no Seventh-day Adventists then, but there was a body of Adventists, thrown into great confusion and perplexity concerning the Scriptures, the message which they had been giving. Some set it aside entirely, giving up their past experiences, but there was a body of Adventists still holding to those principles that had been taught concerning the advent. And while they were in that state of great perplexity, just two months after the passing of the time, there began to appear among Adventists the spirit of prophecy, reproving4fanatical demonstrations and wrong teachings, and strengthening their minds and hearts in the right way, and serving as a guide out of the great perplexity into which they had been thrown by this disappointment. Then light came concerning the question of the sanctuary, but that which came concerning the sanctuary did not disturb the teaching of the prophetic periods under the first message. There was never a readjustment of the application of those definite periods. That interpretation which was given them concerning those scriptures dealing with definite periods of time, was correct, and it is still correct. So far as these prophetic periods are concerned, they now rest upon exactly the same foundation that they rested upon them. We make no readjustment to fix a new application of those periods. Let that be remembered; but the light which came in concerning the sanctuary took up that question of the disappointment, cleared up every trouble, and brought in the added light which has given to us the third angel's message. That light, as you remember, was with reference to the nature of the event at the close of the two thousand and three hundred days. It says that at the end of two thousand and three hundred days shall the sanctuary be cleansed. This was fulfilled in 1844, but that fulfilment was not in the personal coming of Christ to this earth, but his coming unto the Ancient of days, and the beginning of the time of the investigative judgment. When the temple of God which is in heaven was opened, they saw in his temple the ark of his testimony; they saw in the ark the law of God, and their attention was directed to the fourth commandment. The Sabbath truth was to be a part of this movement, and that led to the teaching of the law of God, the keeping of God's commandments, and all of the other truths that cluster around the question of the law of God and the Sabbath truth. These truths that were brought out constitute that which we speak of as the third angel's message.
Now I wish to call your attention to such questions as these: What are the foundation principles of this third angel's message? What are the distinguishing features which separate this movement from every other movement? And what are those principles of truth which, when they are discarded, really set aside this message, so that without them, and without them as the leading truths of this movement,—although we may still have much that is true,—we do not teach the third angel's message, the present truth?
In the prosecution of this work, various features have grown up. We have divided and subdivided the work. In some ways we have almost become specialists in teaching the gospel, so that some have been noted as having a special interest in a certain line of work, and when that line of work needed to be presented, they were at once thought of as the ones who should do it; and others should take other lines, and others still others, so that those who have been thinking especially in these lines have perhaps allowed other things to be less prominent in their thought, their study, and their teaching, until sometimes we have almost been led to query whether the Sabbath-school work was the principal thing in the message; or whether the religious liberty work was the chief thing in the message, or the message itself; or whether the health work was the chiefest thing in the message, or was the message itself. Now all these truths belong in the message, but there must be a fundamental platform. There must be certain principles and truths which must distinguish this movement from every other movement in the teaching of the gospel.
To illustrate: while distinct points of doctrine may be taught by other people, and some who have at one time, it may be, taken a part in the proclamation of the true message, may have given up certain features, and still have held to other features, and those other features still be true, yet they can not teach the third angel's message, and they can not do the work that God wants done to prepare a people for his coming. There is something fundamental which is lacking.
If you will think a moment, you will see clearly what I mean. There has been a teaching of the Sabbath truth all through these centuries, and there was in this country, before this denomination arose, a people who taught that the seventh day was the Sabbath. Now there have been those who have received the message, perhaps have taught it, but some experience would arise that would lead them to cast aside some of the truths of the message—some that have seemed to us to be fundamental. You often have heard them say, 'I never shall give up the Sabbath.' It may be that they will go on for years, and not give up the observance of the seventh day, yet such persons can not give the third angel's message, even though they may teach the truth of the Sabbath.
The same is true in other ways, so that the third angel's message is not a borrowing of the truth of the Sabbath from the Seventh-day Baptists, and a borrowing of the truth of the unconscious state of the dead from some other Adventists, and a borrowing of the true method of baptism from Baptists, and then combining them. These are not points of faith that, when merely brought together, constitute the third angel's message. No! no! These points of truth may all be taught as points of truth, and yet one may not be giving this third angel's message, may not be teaching a message that will prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. There is something somewhere that must in some way mark this message as a definite, separate movement, so that when these different truths coalesce in this message, even these truths take on a new appearance. There must be a difference between the Sabbath truth as taught by those who do not know and teach this message and that truth as taught in this message. There must be a difference between the teaching even of those truths apart from this message and the teaching of those truths in the third angel's message.
I believe it would be profitable for us to think of that, and to ask ourselves in a very definite way for clear answers as to what really distinguishes this third angel's message from any other movement, not simply among those who do not believe in the near advent of our Lord, but even among those who do believe that truth. This movement must stand out clear and distinct, and there must be a platform upon which it rests; there must be some principles somewhere in connection with this movement which mark it as distinct from any other movement.
Let us read the definite scripture in which this message is phrased. This is a threefold message, and it is the threefold message as set forth in Rev. 14: 6-12:—
“And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he saith with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters. And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshipeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; 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 goeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image,5and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
These familiar verses contain the phrasing, the statement, of what we are wont to call the threefold message, or the third angel's message. Now note that at the very beginning this first angel had an eternal gospel, or the everlasting gospel, to proclaim. That everlasting gospel—the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in Christ—has always been the same. There is only one gospel. There never can be a new gospel. That fundamental truth—salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ, or righteousness by faith—must always be the fundamental truth of the gospel. What will make any difference in the proclamation of that gospel? The difference will be apparent just as soon as you mark this statement, that the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in Christ has a very definite application to the person and work of Christ, and the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in Christ is not a mere sentiment, a mere mental idea, but a very definite act of laying hold upon a very definite person in a very definite work. You will hear justification by faith presented on all sides, and as soon as you present that subject to any Protestant, he will say, 'I believe that. That is a fundamental teaching in our church.' But what is the real meaning of that fundamental truth of the gospel, and to what will that truth lead? The doctrine of salvation from sin through faith in Christ, in order to have a solid foundation, must lay hold upon Christ in his person, and in his definite work as set forth in the Scriptures. Just as soon as we step on that platform, it means a definite study of the person and the work of Christ; and our faith, in order to be a genuine faith for salvation from sin, must lay hold upon Christ in a definite way, in a definite work; that is to say, while in a certain sense we may say that we believe in the Christ of old, we must in a very definite way believe in the Christ of to-day. And while one may believe in a very definite way in the work of Christ at a definite time in the past, he must also lay hold upon the definite work of Christ in the present; and to slip from that foundation, and to exercise a sort of general faith which claims to believe in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, is not to have a genuine faith. That kind of belief is nothing. That so-called faith in Christ which refuses to receive the light of the Scriptures as to what that faith must be, and must mean, can not be a true faith in Christ.
If one says, I believe in Christ for salvation from sin, then, I say, let us see what the definition of sin is. 'Sin is the transgression of the law.' But as soon as I read that, he says, I do not have anything to do with the law now. That is not saving faith. He refuses the light of God concerning the experience of that faith. We must take the Word of God, not simply a few verses or sentences. We must learn from the Scriptures what faith is; we must learn from the Scriptures what it means to believe on Christ for salvation from sin; we must be willing to follow to the end, if we are to have the experience of salvation from sin through Christ. When it leads us to the law, we must not draw back from that righteousness by faith, because this is the only platform of righteousness by faith. When we find that it means the observance of the Sabbath, we must not draw back, or we shall lose our whole experience of righteousness by faith.