THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE.
HAVING shown that now is the time—from A. D. 1844, and onward—when the Third Angel's Message is due to the world, it remains to study the import of that message. It is a world-wide message; for— 1. The first of the three angels (Rev. 14:6, 7) spoke with a loud voice “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people;” the second angel followed this one; and the third angel followed them. As, therefore, the first one was to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, and as the third one follows, the third likewise must go to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. 2. The third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any man worship the beast and his image,” etc. This phrase, “If any man,” shows that this word is spoken to all men; that it is a universal message. 3. Of the Beast it is said: “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. And the work of the Image of the Beast is but to cause the worship of the Beast. True, he compels men to worship himself—the Image of the Beast; but, as he derives his authority, and draws his inspiration, from the Beast, the worship of the Image is but indirectly the worship of the Beast. Now, as the worship of the Beast is to be by “all that dwell upon the earth;” as the Third Angel's Message is the warning against the worship of the Beast and his Image; and as obedience to this warning is the only means of escaping that worship and the wrath of God,—therefore the Third Angel's Message must go to “all that dwell upon the earth:” the warning must be as extensive as is the worship. It is therefore evident that this thing will not be done in a corner. This message says: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” We have before cited the scriptures which show this wrath to be the seven last plagues, and which show that with the seventh of these plagues comes the end of the world. But all do not worship the Beast and his Image. There are some who get “the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name;” and these are seen standing “on the sea of glass,” before the throne of God, having the harps of God, and they sing a song which none can learn but they, and it is the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Rev. 4:6; 15:2, 3. How do these get the victory? Notice; the message not only warns all men against the worship of the Beast and his Image, but it tells how to avoid that worship; it not only tells men what they shall not do, but it tells them what to do; it not only calls men to the conflict with the Beast and his Image, but it tells them how to get the victory; and this is contained in the words, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. Here, then, is a message which is now due, which is to go “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” calling upon all to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The purpose of this message is to gather out from “all that dwell upon the earth” a people of whom it can truly be said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” and that so, such may escape the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. This makes it incumbent upon all now to study the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus as they have never studied these before, asking themselves the question, Am I one of whom this scripture speaks? Am I one who truly keeps “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”? And, as this message is world-wide, these considerations plainly show that under the power of the Third Angel's Message there must be, and there will be, such a world-wide study of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus as there has not been since holy John stood on the Isle of Patmos. What, then, is meant by “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”? First, as to the commandments of God. In a certain sense, there is no doubt that every injunction of the Bible is a commandment of God; for the Bible is the word of God. Yet, besides this, there is a certain part of the Bible that must be admitted to be the commandments of God above every other part. That certain part is the TEN COMMANDMENTS. Whereas, in giving all other parts of the Bible, “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21), in giving the ten commandments “God spake all these words.” The whole nation of Israel was assembled at the base of Sinai, and “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire;” “and all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet,” “and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.” And there, amid those awful scenes, God personally spoke the ten commandments, with a voice that shook the earth. Heb. 12:26. Nor was that all. After having so spoken these great words unto all the people, “The Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. . . . And Moses went up into the mount of God.” Ex. 24:12, 13. “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Ex. 31:18. “And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.” Ex. 32:15, 16. When Moses came down to the people, he found they had made a golden calf, and were worshiping it after the manner of Egypt; “and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” “And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai.” Ex. 34:1, 2. Then, Moses says: “I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.” Deut. 10:3, 4. Thus we find not only that God spoke the ten commandments, but that he wrote them twice upon tables of stone. Although holy men of God, when moved by the Holy Ghost, could speak the message of God, none could be found holy enough to speak the words of the ten commandments in their deliverance to the children of men. Although the Spirit could say to the holy prophets, “Write,” no such word could be given to any man when the ten commandments were to be given in tangible form to the children of men. But, instead, God said, “I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written.” And again the second time, when these tables were broken, “I will write . . . the words that were in the first tables.” Nor was this all. God did not come down upon Mount Sinai alone; but thousands upon thousands of the holy angels were with him there. “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.” Deut. 33:2. “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.” Ps. 68:17. This array of angels is that to which Stephen referred when he said to his persecutors that they had “received the law by the disposition of angels.” Acts 7:53. The Greek word here rendered “disposition” signifies “to set in order; draw up an army; posted in battle order.”—Liddell and Scott. When, therefore, God came down upon Mount Sinai to deliver the ten commandments, he was surrounded with the heavenly host of angels, drawn up in orderly array. Four-faced and four-winged cherubim, six-winged seraphim, and glorious angels with glittering, golden chariots,—all these, by the tens of thousands, accompanied the Majesty of heaven as in love he gave to sinful men his great law of love. Deut. 33:3. Than at the giving of the law of ten commandments, there certainly has been no more majestic scene since the creation of the world. Well, indeed, might Paul name “the giving of the law” among the great things that pertain to Israel. Rom. 9:4. In view of all these things, it is assuredly the truth that the ten commandments are very properly distinguished as the commandments of God, above every other part of the Bible; although all the Bible is the word of God. This is according to that word itself: “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son's sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. . . . And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.” Deut. 4:9–13. In impressing upon the people the things they should diligently remember, “specially” to be remembered were the day that God came down upon Sinai, and the words that were then heard. And those words were the ten commandments. This is of equal importance to the world to-day; for all is summed up by Solomon when he says: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter [margin, “the end of the matter, even all that hath been heard, is”]: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:13, 14. Men are to be judged by the law of God; that law is the ten commandments; and the words of Solomon are emphasized in the First and Third Angel's Messages of Revelation 14. The first angel says: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come;” and the third angel follows, saying: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The Third Angel's Message embraces Sinai and Calvary; the law of God and the gospel of Christ; God the Father and God the Son. And when this message ends, the work of God for the salvation of men—the mystery of God—will be finished. Reader, are you keeping the ten commandments, with the faith of Jesus? Read them carefully and see. Read them earnestly and prayerfully, for God is now bringing every work into judgment: and every work that will not bear the test of the ten commandments will be “found wanting.”