I REFERRED in the beginning of our consideration of this question to some peculiarities of the time. “In the last days perilous times shall come.” This message should point out these perilous times and the cure for them. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” This message should point out what constitutes iniquity, and how the love which is becoming cold may be renewed. The Scripture warns us against being spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit. This message should point out the true, divine philosophy, and that which will be the cure for all this deceit which is after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Approaching religious truth from the side of science and a purely scientific investigation, rather than from the side of the Scriptures, and the revelation that God has made of himself in the Scriptures, scientists in this day have formed an idea of a power which can not be explained simply as a natural law, and to that power which some have spoken of as unknowable, they give the designation of God, but that idea of God is practically as far away from the true idea of God as were the pagan ideas of old.
And it is just as essential that there should be a clear presentation of the true conception of God, the true character of God to-day, as when the disciples preached to the heathen in their day.
And furthermore, it requires a most clear view of the teaching of the Scripture,—and that not simply on an intellectual basis,—it requires a most clear experience with the principles of the Scripture concerning the revelation of God, in order to preserve us in this generation from being swerved aside from the true idea of God.
In this scientific idea of God there is no salvation. In this scientific idea of God simply as a force, simply as a power, even though it is a purposive force, a force acting for certain ends, and in an intelligent way, there is no salvation from sin. In salvation from sin we have to deal personally with power. Now, granting that it may be the very same power that is displayed in the works of nature, yet there must be an acquaintance with this power and with the revelation of this power, apart from the works of nature; that is, it must be dealt with through the gospel fact, and the gospel truth of God manifest in the flesh.
I may see and acknowledge the working of power in the things about me, and I may call that God, yet that power must come to me through the ordained channel of the gospel, and that is in Jesus Christ in the flesh, and there is no other channel to God and his throne except through Jesus Christ in the flesh. Now to distinguish this truth clearly and correctly, and to be able to deal with it, and to help others to deal with it,—that is the gospel of salvation, and that gospel of salvation is in this message.
I do not regard it as in any way boastful to say that God in his providence has connected us with such a message as this, and that he has committed such a message as this to us with the privilege of proclaiming it. Not many wise men, not many mighty men, are chosen; it is not in the instrument, it is not in the organization, it is in the one thing—and that is the truth itself. That is the thing to be exalted, and God is to be glorified for such a wonderful truth as he has given to us.
To this people, to us as a part of this people, God has committed a most wonderful truth. I do not think we half4appreciate the real nature and value of this simple, heaven-sent message. Are you willing to take the ground with me that this is the only complete message of salvation to the world in this generation; and, with so many false teachings in the world as there are, with such an influence tending to sweep everything before it into paths of error, that this message is the only complete message that is to save people from all these things, and to prepare them for the immediate soon coming of Christ?
This message means something; and it is a wonderfully solemn responsibility that rests upon those who profess to believe this message, and have received it to give to the world.
The greatest power that this message will have in its work among the people, will be found in the simple foundation truths that called out this people. And it will be, too, not in some wonderfully striking, intellectual, far-fetched way of presenting the message; it may be in the simplest way, in a way that a child will understand it. But when it lives as a real thing in the hearts of those who give it, there will be a power that will convict of the truth; and apart from personal experience with it, the most intellectual presentation of it will not save people from sin. And as we come into these days of difficulty, and to the time of this wonder-working power against the truth, more and more shall we see our utter helplessness with this message, except it is a part of our very life, and the power of God is with us.
My hope concerning this work, and the teaching of this message in this generation, in order that it shall triumph and prepare a people for the coming of the Lord, will be in the personal experience of the messengers with the fundamental gospel truths of the message. Let us be practical in the application of it. There should be in the experience of this message, by every one of us professing it, that power which will save us from the exhibition of evil traits in our own characters and experiences. If there is not in it as a practical experience that which will enlighten and quicken our minds, that which will give us clear views of the present situation, as set forth in the prophetic word, that which will give to us a spiritual perception that we may discern between the true and the false, and that which will give us a personal power that will preserve us amid all these experiences of temptation, difficulty, and every wind of doctrine blowing,—if it will not do that for us, on what ground shall we present it to others? I believe, first and foremost, that we ourselves, ministers and people, need to have a new experience with the truths of this message. Consider our situation, and our experiences of the last fifteen years, which have culminated in our experience of the last year, and let me ask any one who knows about this matter if it does not speak in very loud tones to us concerning our need of a new experience with this message. There certainly needs to be a new experience among ourselves over this matter, else how shall we be able to go with positiveness and with assurance to carry God’s special message for this generation to the people?
I would like to say in this connection that my thought concerning this heaven-sent message, and our taking it to the people, goes beyond the idea of learning to present certain views from a book, and learning to adapt text to text, making it teach a certain doctrine. And in saying that, I do not mean to say a word against adapting text to text, and teaching certain doctrines with assurance and plainness; but I do mean this, that this message is a living entity; I mean that it is more than to present uncommon views of fact or truth. I mean that it is an experience of the life which we are to minister; it is to be ministered in these truths. That certainly is so. That is the divine setting given to it, and the experience is to be ministered, in these truths, and through these truths. But when we limit our ministry to the work of ministering to the intellect, to convince the intellect of the teaching of a book, we do not teach the third angel’s message to the people as God would have us teach it.
Now let us look a little further. I would like to follow up with you that thought about the sanctuary question, and its relation to this message. Of course we know that those words in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation are not the only words that are to be used in presenting this message to the people; and we know that every phase of truth is not specifically mentioned in those words. But that threefold message in its very words gives a setting to this message, and, in the words spoken, involves all the truth of this gospel, in the very setting that is given to it in the sanctuary question.
You have doubtless asked yourselves this question, Is there any other body of Christian teachers who teach the gospel from the standpoint of the sanctuary, as the Seventh-day Adventists teach it? There are others who use those texts, and who talk about the sanctuary; but is there any other body that presents to the world a message of salvation, which is based upon the gospel of the sanctuary and its services?—I do not know of any. Beginning back after that time of disappointment in 1844, this people were brought out by that question. It was when the sanctuary question was presented, and the law of God was seen in connection with it, that the Sabbath question came forward.
Now see how the facts of the experience of this people fit into and have a relation to the facts of the sanctuary teaching. The experiences of the gospel work in heaven and the experiences of the gospel work on earth have a very close relationship. It seems to me that no one can intelligently do the work of God as a minister for God on earth now who does not understand and act in harmony with God’s great Minister in heaven, the Minister of the true sanctuary, which the Lord pitched, and not man. That is, I do not see how the true gospel for this time can be taught as it should be taught, and leave out of the question the ministry in the sanctuary above; because we are not doing a work of ourselves, and we are not the only ones connected with this work of salvation. We are simply the humanity through which other ministers reach humanity. We stand, as it were, between heavenly beings and men and women on the earth to make the connection; and humanity is sent to humanity to bear the heavenly message that heavenly beings have provided and minister to it.
To carry forward this work, as intelligent ministers of the gospel, we must take into account the work of our great High Priest in this generation; and it appears to me from the study of the Scriptures, that that wonderful day marking the close of that long, prophetic period when the twenty-three hundred years came to an end, and when the ministry in heaven changed from the holy to the most holy place, marked a change that every true minister of the gospel on earth must take into account in his ministry; and that one who knows of that, yet who ignores it in his ministry, is not prepared to, and in the very nature of the case can not, teach to the people in this generation the gospel, the heaven-sent message that God would have to go from his throne in the sanctuary, to save sinners in this generation.
Then note the connection between these things in heaven and things upon the earth. Previously to 1844 there was sent forth a message spoken of as the first angel’s message; and the cry was, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come;” and the immediate personal coming of Christ was taught; and the day was set definitely when he would appear. Was that movement of God? Do we cast aside that movement in the teaching of the third angel’s message in this time?—No, not by any means.
The second message followed, saying, Babylon is fallen, and the midnight cry joined that in that summer, and the disappointment followed on the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844. Do we cast that aside? Is not every step of it an integral part of this very work that we are doing now? Do we not come in to5build on that, to give the right interpretation to that, and to unite it all in one straightforward message? Is not that the work that we are to do?
These are facts of history; some here have known them as experiences. But is there any connection between those experiences and the work of this message and the ministry in heaven? It seems perfectly clear that these steps on earth fit into the work of Christ, our High Priest in heaven; and even though those who were doing the work did not understand with clearness the full bearing of their work, nevertheless God was directing that work to accomplish his purpose; and looking back upon it from our standpoint, we can see how it moved along under the divine guidance.
What was the personal effect of the first message upon the people to whom it was taught? That message was not simply to prove by figures that Christ’s coming was near. It taught that, but it taught a blessed personal preparation for his coming; and those who know of the experiences of that time know that there was wondrous power to lead men to repentance for sin,—a power which broke down barriers before it,—a power in the simple presentation of truth by unlearned men which brought conviction to the hearts of people, and led them to repent, to confess their sins, and to be right with God. That was the force of the message in its personal relation to their experiences.
Every message and every step was the same. What was that experience doing?—It was preparing those who received it for the further development of divine truth under this message; and those who gave themselves up to confession of sin, and received the Holy Spirit as the reprover of sin, were guided in a way that they knew not, so that every step they took fitted in exactly with changes in the heavenly ministry, and a people was brought out ready to build upon that work in harmony with the heavenly ministry.
And here we have the third angel’s message. What does it mean?—It means that each of these different steps has its relation to this teaching of the sanctuary question, and can not be separated from it; that while these different movements, or different steps in this one movement, were not fully understood by those who were teaching them, yet it was doing for this people such a work in their own experience as prepared them step by step for the fulness of divine truth as it comes out in the light of this message. And so it is that they were led along in their teaching where they were prepared to receive the truth of the change of the ministry from the holy to the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary; and in this generation, and under this specific movement, that teaching and the light connected with it have brought out the people called Seventh-day Adventists.