“Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.”
Verse 8 here ought to make plain to all who is the one, in chapter 1, verse 6, that called them into the grace of Christ. Some are inclined to hold that Paul refers to himself in that scripture, in the words: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” They think that Paul is marveling that the Galatians should be so soon removed from himself; because they think that Paul was the one who called the Galatians into the grace of Christ. But this is a mistake. Paul did not draw men to himself; and this for the simple reason that he did not preach himself. He preached Christ—Christ and him crucified, and Christ crucified in every place where Paul preached. Consequently, men saw Christ instead of Paul—Christ with themselves, just where they were. And Christ, being thus lifted up in person, drew men to himself. And since, even in that, it is forever true that no man can come to Christ except the Father draw him, it is evident that in this work of the grace of Christ it is God who called these people into the grace of Christ. And when men came to them, preaching another gospel, which was not another, but was a perversion of the gospel of Christ, as many as trusted in that false gospel were, by that, removed, not from Paul, but from Christ, who had drawn them to himself; and from God, who had called them into the grace of Christ, which drew them to himself.
And thus verse 8 of the present study—“This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you”—shows that it could not refer to Paul; because he had not been near to them, so that the persuasion could be an alternative between them and the others. But God was present with them, with his persuasion and his calling, so that whatever persuasion and calling were against that gospel which they had at first heard, could not possibly come from him who had called them, who was God.
“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offense of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you.”
As we saw in last week’s study, if he had preached circumcision, it would have been but to put circumcision in the place of Christ; and that, in itself, would have been to reject the grace of Christ, Christ and him crucified; and so the offense of the cross would have ceased, and the persecution with it, in the preaching of circumcision.
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Every soul, in being called unto Christ, is called to liberty; and every soul who receives Christ is delivered from bondage, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Jesus Christ came into the world only to set men free, and to plant in their souls the585genuine principle of liberty. And this liberty with which Christ makes men free is liberty actuated only by love. It is a liberty too honorable to allow itself to be used as an occasion to the flesh, or as a cloak of maliciousness. It is a liberty led by a conscience enlightened by the Spirit of God. It is a liberty in which he who has it, is made free from all men; yet it makes him who receives it so gentle by love that he willingly becomes the servant of all, in order to bring them to the enjoyment of that same liberty. This is freedom indeed: this is the freedom which Christ gives to whomsoever believes in him; for “whom the Son makes free is free indeed.”
And thus “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This, because all that law, of which this “one word” is but one of the two great principles upon which the whole hangs,—that law is itself “the law of liberty.”
This is Christianity: this is the gospel and the liberty of the gospel! “But if ye bite and devour one another,”—if so, ye repudiate the gospel and deny the liberty which it brings; if ye be critical, narrow, and intolerant,—“take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” For that is the only consequence that can come of such a course, with utter destruction at the last.
MODERN BABYLON SUBSTITUTES PAGANISM FOR CHRISTIANITY.
By William Warren Prescott
It should constantly be borne in mind that the book of Daniel is the book of the gospel of the kingdom, and that it is the purpose of the book to show what kingdom will stand forever, and to set forth the principles upon which this everlasting kingdom is established. And this is no less true of the prophetic portion than of that which is usually called the historical portion.
We have seen that the chief subject of the prophecy in the seventh chapter is the little horn, modern Babylon, the papacy. In the brief prophetic sketch that is given of the great world-kingdoms, the outline is made with such clearness that the time of the rise of this power is definitely determined, and the divinely drawn indictment is made up under three counts: “He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change times and laws.” Dan. 7: 25.
His whole career is thus shown to be one of direct opposition against God, against the subjects of the kingdom of God, and against the law of the kingdom, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
From our last preceding study upon this subject it is evident that the intent of the papacy to change the law of the Most High involved much more than a mere change of some outward form; that it took hold upon the very foundation of the gospel. It is nothing less than Satan's chief effort to pervert the gospel of Christ so completely, by substituting a counterfeit so perfect that no merely human wisdom could ever have invented it, that the wondrous gift and sacrifice of Christ would be in vain. Only the direct inspiration of Satan, who, as Lucifer, the light-bearer, had been “upon the holy mountain of God,” could give birth to such a scheme as this, and then develop it under the outward pretense of burning zeal for the advancement of the kingdom of God in the earth.
In this study we shall look still further at the meaning of this purpose on the part of the papacy to change the law of faith into the law of works. Recognizing the papacy as the product of more than human wisdom, as the masterpiece of Satan in his long-continued warfare against the gospel of the kingdom of God, we can see in it the far-reaching purpose to nullify as far as possible all the effects of the sacrifice which he could not prevent.
It is evident that the purpose of the gospel is to deliver man and the earth from sin and the results of sin. The central thought and all the efficacy of the gospel are found in the gift of Christ to man. It is faith in the person, Jesus Christ, and the actual acceptance of him, rather than an assent to a creed, however true that creed may be, which renders the provision of the gospel of saving value to men.
These simple but fundamental principles may be stated in the exact words of the Scripture: “There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The one thing essential, and without which the plan of the gospel could not be accomplished, was that the Son of God should be manifested in the flesh. From the time that the gospel was first preached in Eden in the promise of the seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent's head, this great fact has been kept in the foreground. In the seed promised to Abraham; in the deliverances wrought through Joseph and Moses; in the promise, “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren;” in the very name of him who led the children of Israel into the promised land (the Greek form of the name of Joshua and Jesus is the same. See Heb. 4: 8 and margin); in the law that only the nearest kinsman could redeem the inheritance (see the whole book of Ruth); in the promises to David, “Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne,” and “his seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven;” in Isaiah's wonderful prophecies of Immanuel, and the Branch out of the roots of Jesse; in Zechariah's prophecy of “the man whose name is the Branch,”—in all these and in many other ways was the revelation made again and again that in human flesh was the power of salvation to be made known. Where sin abounded, in the flesh, just there must redeeming grace be made to abound. And not only so, but it must be in the very same kind of flesh in which the sin reigned that the victory over sin must be gained. Otherwise, the victory for man would not mean victory in man.
The Scripture is most explicit upon this vital feature of the gospel. “For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one. . . . Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily not of angels doth he take hold, but he taketh hold of the seed of Abraham. Wherefore it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Heb. 2: 11–17, R. V.
What was impossible by the law because of the weakness of sinful flesh was accomplished for man through the incarnation of that same law in sinful flesh, and thus the hope of righteousness was actually brought within his reach. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Thus “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” and “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,” and so divinity was clothed with humanity that “the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh.”
The experience of this genuine gospel is thus expressed: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The work of the minister of this gospel is to preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.” And the sum of it all is “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
The reality of this experience marks the difference between being in the flesh and in the Spirit. “So then they that are in the flesh can not please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Rom. 8: 8–13.
All this is simply the full revelation of the gospel of the kingdom, the kingdom within, that everlasting kingdom which will continue as long as the eternal God lives. When Jesus, the Son of God, became united to this human family by birth, taking upon himself the same sinful flesh that every son and daughter of Adam bears, he revealed in his own person that mystery which had been the hope of the church in all ages.
In him all the human family conquered sin through the power of the indwelling Spirit; in him all the human family paid the penalty of sin, “because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;” in him all the human family was raised from the dead and seated on high, since he “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;” but all this “is of faith, that it might be by grace.” No outward form, not even the observance of a gospel form when the observance is merely outward, can take the place of living faith. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”
Previously to the actual revelation in the flesh, of God's “eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Satan's counterfeit of the gospel consisted chiefly in obscuring the truth that “the Lord our God is one Lord,” and substituting for it the falsehood that “there be lords many and gods many.” The perversion of the truth that God is revealed in everything that he has made, was the foundation of all pantheistic systems, in which it was taught that everything was God. This was paganism, open and gross idolatry.
And this system of paganism found its highest expression in all lands in the worship of the sun, and in the many and varied rites and ceremonies connected with it. The day especially devoted to the worship of the sun-god was the first day of the week, which was by the heathen very properly designated as Sunday, and has since been known as “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times.”
When the children of God anciently departed from the pure faith in the one Jehovah, they invariably fell into the idolatrous worship of their pagan neighbors; and as the inevitable consequence, they violated the true Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, and paid special honor to the day devoted to sun worship, the first day of the week, now called Sunday. Thus the observance of the true Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day of the week, was a sign of the worship of the one true God, as opposed to the special honor placed upon Sunday, the first day of the week, the distinguishing mark of paganism.
After the incarnation of the Son of God was an accomplished fact, and by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension the truth was wrought out that “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” the “god of this world” attempted to crush out this truth by persecution. But as this simply opened the way for the power of the divine life to be perfectly revealed in the flesh, and resulted only in maintaining and spreading a pure gospel, it became necessary for Satan to change586his principle of warfare. Then out of the councils of darkness was brought forward that counterfeit of the gospel which afterward developed into the papacy, “a system of unrighteousness so set forth as to seem that system of righteousness which God has revealed for the salvation of the world,”—a system which “presents to the world a spiritual and saving apparatus for the salvation of men, and yet it neither sanctifies nor saves anyone.” This is the “mystery of iniquity,” which finds its incarnation in “the man of sin,” the pope, in opposition to “the mystery of godliness,” which finds its incarnation in him “who knew no sin.”
Both systems culminate not simply in forms of doctrine, but in a person. But while alike in outward appearance, as any counterfeit and genuine must needs be, the contrast between the two is in reality as great as that between light and darkness, between the divine and the human, the Spirit and the flesh.
But all this wideness of difference turns upon one pivotal point.
In the genuine gospel we have Immanuel, “God with us,” him “who was manifested in the flesh,” “born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law;” and sinful flesh becomes the dwelling place of divinity, the temple of the Holy Ghost. The whole creed is found in the one statement of the eunuch, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” This union of the divine with the human in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth, and therefore in all flesh, is the rock upon which the true church is built, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
In the counterfeit gospel, the perversion of the true, we have the self-styled “representative of Christ on the earth,” who “as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.” While assuming the titles and prerogatives that belong only to the divine Author of our salvation, he yet denies to the Christ whom he pretends to represent, that very experience which alone constitutes him the Saviour of a fallen race, the incarnation in sinful flesh.
Here is the crucial test. Here is where the counterfeit reveals itself. Here is where the divinely appointed detector will show that not the Spirit of God but the spirit of Satan is working under this mask of a pretended gospel. “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh [or confesses Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh, all flesh, and therefore in sinful flesh] is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1 John 4: 2, 3. “For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” 2 John 7, R. V.
In its doctrine of the immaculate conception, which is “the Catholic belief that the Blessed Virgin was, by special privilege, preserved immaculate, that is, free from the stain of original sin, from the first moment of her conception,” the papacy denies that Jesus of Nazareth “took human nature from a corrupt source,” and asserts that “God the Son, by assuming this perfect human nature, which he took from the Blessed Virgin, was born in the flesh.”
But this separates the divine Redeemer so far from the sinful flesh in which we live that the whole human scheme of priests, saints, and the Blessed Virgin, with good works of many kinds, become necessary in order to have communion with the divine life. In other words, man is effectually cut off from the only saving power, the only real means of salvation, the divine life working in sinful flesh to give victory over sin.
Such is the terrible outcome of this counterfeit gospel. Changing the law of faith into the law of works is simply the introduction of paganism under the form of Christianity. And the natural result of this change, as shown in the last preceding study, has been to substitute, by the authority of this counterfeit church, the observance of the first day of the week, Sunday, the chief mark of paganism, for the observance of the seventh day of the week, commonly called Saturday, the true Sabbath of the Lord, the sign of his creative power, the sign of the true gospel, which really saves from sin.
Such is the work of the papacy, modern Babylon. “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” W. W. P.
CATHOLIC FEDERATION.
ALL summer Bishop McFaul, of Trenton, N. J., has been urging the federation of all “societies of Catholic laymen in the United States.” He claims that Catholics are discriminated against politically, and are denied their rights as citizens. And the object in forming this federation that he urges is that by means of it Catholics can bring to bear at the necessary points and the opportune times, the pressure required to secure to Catholics the coveted political recognition.
What they will take when they get the power at which they aim in this federation, can be in a measure estimated by the items that he uses as illustrations of how Catholics are now deprived of their rights. One is that “several Catholic members were not appointed on the commissions to our new possessions.” Another is that public money is no longer paid by the United States government to the Catholic Church in support of her Indian schools. Another is that there are too few Catholic priests appointed to chaplaincies in the army and navy of the nation.
At a glance it will be seen that all these items signify the direct recognition of the Catholic power, and of Catholics, as such, by the national government. And this is put beyond all question by the words of Bishop McFaul, as reported in the New York Sun, August 17. In an address to the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, he urged “the necessity of federation among Catholic organizations of the country, in order that their influence may be brought to bear upon local boards, the State legislatures, and the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.” And with these points merely as items of illustration of what they, through federation, propose to take, what of governmental recognition and support may they be expected not to take when they really get their federation so organized that they can effectually use it?
With respect to the commissions appointed to Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, Bishop McFaul actually has the assurance, in the North American Review of this month of September, to insult every non-Catholic in the nation with the statement: “I do not hesitate to affirm that for a non-Catholic, even with the best disposition, it would be morally impossible to render an impartial report, or to make just recommendations.” When that is his measure of things now, what may it be expected to be when he shall be possessed of the power at which he is aiming in the federation which he is urging? “If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?”
When Bishop McFaul began his crusade, some of the strongest Catholic papers decidedly opposed it, as tending directly to create sectarian strife politically. This is plain enough; for when the Catholics thus organize for the purpose of making their power felt in and upon the government, Protestants may be expected to do the same in sheer self-defense and for self-protection.
However, that opposition on the part of the Catholic papers was soon silenced by the hearty espousal of the bishop’s cause by Apostolic Delegate Martinelli, Cardinal Gibbons, and Archbishops Ryan, of Philadelphia, and Elder, of Cincinnati. In the New York Sun of July 30, 1900, Martinelli’s letter is printed as follows:—
In a letter to John A. Kuster, of Columbus, Ohio, one of the most earnest advocates of the scheme, Mgr. Martinelli says:—
“Believing, as I naturally and sincerely do, that Catholic interests are well worth protecting and promoting for the welfare both of religion and of the civil society, and knowing the value of united effort for the protection of any interest, I do not fail to appreciate the importance and desirability of such a movement as you tell me has been inaugurated. If, however, it is absolutely necessary that any and every Catholic society, however humble, in order to have the approval and encouragement of the church, should maintain relations of filial respect, submission, and obedience to the legitimate ecclesiastical authority, for a great confederation of Catholic societies such relations become infinitely more important and necessary. I hope, therefore, that as the movement progresses, and the Catholic societies grow strong in union, they will ever remember that before numbers and before union the great source of Catholic strength is an ecclesiastical authority.”
In the same place the Sun continues the subject as follows:—
Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Ryan, of Philadelphia, Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati, and many other members of the Catholic hierarchy, have warmly indorsed the project.
It has been decided to keep up the agitation for a Catholic federation for some time yet, and then hold a national congress to perfect a permanent organization. This congress may be held in this city. Catholic societies with a membership of six hundred thousand have already announced their intention to enter the federation. The objects of the federation have been officially announced as follows:—
“To work for the general welfare of Catholic interests apart from the special object of each society, leaving each society with its own constitution, language, government, and officers, but establishing a central board for the purpose of better carrying out the principles advocated,—to vindicate the rights of Catholic citizens; to support the Catholic press, and diffuse Catholic literature; to defend Catholic principles, and protest against all measures antagonizing them.”
The Catholic Mirror, the cardinal’s “official organ,” Aug. 4, 1900, in an editorial, says:—
The development of the idea of Catholic federation is one of the most significant events of the day in America. From East and West, North and South, far and near, come reports of the growing interest in the plan, and of the activity and enthusiasm with which the idea is hailed by prelate, priest, and layman. It is to be the crusade of the twentieth century. Already, with Catholics, federation is the most important problem of the day, the central issue around which their energies should be expended.
Nobly is the plan being advanced by every legitimate effort by the pioneers in the movement, and most cordial is the response accorded to the repeated urgings of the Catholic press. The cry of “church and state,” “religion and politics,” has been raised by croakers in our midst and by adversaries without. The Catholic position has been correctly explained, however, by many in position to speak with weight of truth and sincerity; and without doubting, without faltering, the work will be advanced to a happy consummation. The success of Catholic federation will be the greatest triumph ever achieved by the Catholic press of the United States.
All this is laden with deepest meaning to us, to the nation, and to all the world. Awake, watch, work, and be ready!
PREPARATION FOR THE LOUD CRY.
By Stephen N. Haskell
Much has been said and written upon that phase of our work called “the loud cry.” Those who will have a part in the loud cry of the Third Angel’s Message are learning to humble their hearts and search the word of God, in order to ascertain their duty; and their anchor is both sure and steadfast within the veil, where our High Priest pleads his own blood in the heavenly sanctuary.
I saw that Satan was at work . . . to distract, deceive, and draw away God’s people, just now in this sealing time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet sliding, because they were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling.—“Early Writings,” page 36.
Many are looking forward for the outpouring of the Spirit of God to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord. In “Early Writings,” page 60, is the following:—
I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful, and were looking to the time of “refreshing” and the “latter rain” to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord, and to live in his sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation, therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets, and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole11truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it, and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time, the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” I saw that none could share the “refreshing” unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord, and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy, and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in his presence.
Again, on page 49, we read:—
What leisure time we have should be spent in searching the Bible, which is to judge us in the last day. . . . When you lie down, and when you rise up, let it be your meditation. Live and act wholly in reference to the coming of the Son of man. The sealing time is very short, and soon will be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure.
We should never be content with a superficial knowledge of God’s word. We should search as for hid treasure, studying the whole Bible. The plan of salvation is revealed as much in the writings of Moses as in the writings of the apostles. Christ said, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” John 5:46, 47. Again, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:31.
When the Saviour appeared to his disciples, in the evening of the day of the resurrection, he breathed on them, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” and then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. The Holy Ghost has the same power to-day: when he comes to any of us, the first thing he will do will be to open our understanding that we may understand the Scriptures. The following appeared in the first-page article of the REVIEW a few years ago, and shows that when the loud cry of the loud cry comes, and the Spirit of God is poured out in a special manner, God’s people will not run with a few favorite texts, but that they will preach Christ from every portion of the revealed word, as Jesus did when he instructed his disciples in what was “written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning himself:” —
Let every one who claims to believe the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind minds to the perils of the times in which we are now living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened as to what is truth, by the Holy Spirit, that he may know more of God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Search for truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel is already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. For it is the work of every one to whom the warning of the message has come, to lift up Jesus, to present him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples, and in the wondrous miracles wrought for the sons of men. “Search the Scriptures,” for “they are they which testify of me.”
The loud cry is not simply a state of the mind, a happy flight of feeling: it is the power that attends God’s people everywhere, as they go forth to proclaim the message. In the quotation just given, we are told that in order to engage in this work, we must be thoroughly grounded in God’s word, that not simply the ministers, but “every one to whom the warning of the message has come,” is to be able to “lift up Jesus” in the five ways mentioned, — “in types,” “symbols,” “revelations of the prophets,” — as unveiled in the lessons given to his disciples, and in the wondrous miracles wrought for the sons of men.” The Holy Spirit will not impart to us the knowledge of the Scriptures which God has been urging us for years to gain for ourselves; but the Spirit will bring to our remembrance what we have acquired, and give us wisdom to use this knowledge of God’s word mightily to the salvation of souls. The Spirit works through the word, and if we neglect to shape our lives in harmony with the word, and expect mighty miracles as a sign of power, we shall be deceived, and find too late that we have neglected to obtain the needed preparation.
The glory of God will rest upon the patient, waiting ones, and they will fearlessly give the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon. The Third Angel’s Message will do its work. The loud cry is this message given in its fullness. It is a clear-cut message, and will separate the precious from the vile. Miracles will attend the message, but mighty miracles will not be the greatest evidence that we are in the loud cry. The greatest burden will be to proclaim the WORD with all boldness, and the signs and wonders will confirm the same.
The giving of the Third Angel’s Message by God’s people will be the greatest evidence. Many will be expecting great manifestations; and as the Jews of old had their minds so set upon a Saviour after their own ideas that they did not recognize the Saviour in the humble Nazarene, but crucified him, while they were anxiously looking for the Messiah; so, many at the present day will fail to hear the multitude of voices everywhere saying, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” and will awaken to find the work has closed, while they were waiting for a display of mighty miracles.
