The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 77

November 20, 1900

“Editorial” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47, p. 744.

THE arrangement of affairs in China, by the Powers, up to Sunday, November 11, as reported by the China correspondent of the London Times, is as follows:— ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.1

Pressed by the common desire for a speedy termination of present conditions, the foreign envoys have finally agreed to the following terms, to be presented in a conjoint note, which, subject to the approval of the governments, will be pressed upon China as the basis of a preliminary treaty:— ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.2

China shall erect a monument to Baron von Ketteler on the site where he was murdered, and send an imperial prince to Germany to convey an apology. She shall inflict the death penalty upon eleven princes and officials already named, and suspend provincial examinations for five years where the outrages occurred. In future all officials falling to prevent anti-foreign outrages within their jurisdiction shall be dismissed and punished. (This is a modification of Mr. Conger’s proposal.) ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.3

Indemnity shall be paid to the state, corporations, and individuals. The tsung II yamen shall be abolished, and its functions vested in a foreign minister. Rational intercourse shall be permitted with the emperor, as in civilized countries. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.4

The forts at Taku and the other forts on the coast of Chi Li shall be razed, and the importation of arms and war material prohibited. Permanent legation guards shall be maintained and also guards of communication between Peking and the sea. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.5

Imperial proclamations shall be posted for two years throughout the empire, suppressing Boxers. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.6

The indemnity is to include compensation for Chinese who suffered through being employed by foreigners, but not compensation for native Christians. The words “missionary” and “Christians” do not occur in the note. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.7

From this it is plain that henceforth the government of China is to be only by the Powers in China; and thus the greater Eastern question becomes a fixed condition, the ending of which will be but the ending of all things earthly, as God hath declared unto his servants the prophets. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.8

“Editorial Note” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47, p. 744.

TWO years ago, when it was first proposed that the United States government should enter upon the task of assuring to the Filipinos the “blessings of good government and American civilization,” the question was asked many times in Congress and throughout the country, “What will be the model of good government that will be assured them? Will it be that of the corrupt city governments of the United States and of the State bosses?” The answer is now being given with an emphasis. The Independent, November 8, publishes a long article from Harold Martin, the representative of the Associated Press in the Philippines, which gives indisputable evidence that the government in the Philippines is but the reproduction of the worst city governments in the United States. Upon a long list of facts, he says:— ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.1

We have cried to the, “We will give you a clean and good government,” until the words are become a habit, and we can hardly speak officially without using them. Yet the two branches of the municipal administration of this city [Manila] that most directly reach and touch the common people are woefully corrupt, incompetent, and dishonest; and the result of the contrast which is thereby forced to the minds of the superstitious and unreasonable natives, none too well disposed to us at best, is almost disastrous to the great work of winning the confidence and affection of the Filipinos. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.2

And the body of the article shows just as conclusively that this corruption in government is not at all confined to the municipal government of Manila. The shirt of Nessus has been put on, and it will do its dreadful work now as surely as before. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.3

“The Third Angel’s Message. The Faith of Jesus” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47, p. 744.

THE sum and the substance, the beginning and the ending, the all in all, of the faith of Jesus is in the following statement of scripture:— ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.1

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.2

The Revised Version of the phrase translated “made himself of no reputation,” is “emptied himself.” This is in truth the literal meaning of the Greek word eiknosen ekenosen, from ktnous keno-o “to empty out.” It is the same word which in Romans 4:14 is translated “made void,” in the words: “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect;” and also translated “made void,” in 1 Corinthians 9:15. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.3

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who ... emptied himself.” This—the emptying of self—is the secret of all Christianity; for it is the exaltation of self that has made Christianity necessary. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.4

It was through self-exaltation that sin entered the universe; for, of that “anointed cherub,” Lucifer, who sinned, and in whom iniquity was first found, it is written: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Ezekiel 28:17. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.5

Being “perfect in beauty,” he looked at himself instead of to him who gave him this perfect beauty, and began to contemplate himself, and to admire himself. Then, as the consequence, he grew proud of himself, and began to think that the place he occupied was too narrow for the proper, profitable, and full display of the ability which he now gave himself the credit of possessing. He concluded that the place he occupied was not fully worthy of the dignity which now in his own estimation merged in him. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.6

True, he did have the perfection of beauty, fullness of wisdom, and height of dignity. But he had received it all from God, through Jesus Christ, who had created him. He had nothing, to his very existence itself, which he had not received. And when he would boast of it as if he had not received it; when he grew proud of his beauty, and gave himself credit for it as if it were inherently of himself,—this, in itself, was but to ignore his Creator, and put himself in his place. Yea, more, when he boasted of that which he had received, as if he had not received it; when he exalted himself because of that which he was, as if it were inherently of himself,—this was only to argue for himself self-existence. And this was, in itself, only to make himself, in his own estimation EQUAL WITH GOD. And when it is in opposition to God, to claim equality with God is only to claim to be above God. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.7

It is this mind which that self-exalted one gave to our first parents in Eden. Before the woman he set this same thought, and to her insinuated this same ambition. When she said to him, concerning the tree: “God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die,” Satan replied, as expressed in the Hebrew, the Revised Version, and the Jews’ translation: “God doth know, that, on the day ye eat thereof, your eyes will be opened and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.8

This is not only the literal reading, but the true meaning, of the original words. This gives the very thought that was put before the woman. It was not that you shall be as gods, in the common acceptation of the plural term gods. It was literally the very thought and ambition of Lucifer himself which he now put before her—ye shall be as God. He would lead her away, and inspire her with this mind which was in him, to be equal with God. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.9

The woman accepted his statement, yielded to his insinuation, and accepted his ambitious aim: the man went the same way; and thus sin entered into this world by the entering into our first parents of the mind which is not of God,—the mind which is not in Christ Jesus,—the mind which is enmity against God, and which is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,—the minding of self, self, and only self. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.10

And that this is the universal mind of man as he is in the world, is shown in the exhortation of God to man, in the words: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God?” Micah 6:8, margin. Thus it is shown that in order for a man to walk with God, it is, of all things, essential that he humble himself to do so. This of itself shows that in his own estimation, in the mind which is the natural man, he is above God. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.11

Such is the natural mind; such is the mind of the natural man. But such is not the mind that is in Christ Jesus; such is not the mind which alone is becoming to the Christian. This mind, instead of being the exaltation of self, is the emptying of self; it is the mind which willingly humbles self to be obedient unto God, even though it be at the cost of death, and that even the death of the cross. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.12

This is yet further shown in the words of Jesus to all, forever, who will be his disciples: “If any man will come after me,” the first of all things is “let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” The denying of self, the emptying of self, precedes the taking up of the cross; and the taking up of the cross precedes the following of the Lord Jesus. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:23, 24. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.13

This is precisely the course which Christ took. He denied himself, he emptied himself, and took up the cross, holding not back himself from death, even the death of the cross. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.14

And this is the way of the Christian. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.15

This is the faith of Jesus; this is the way of the faith of Jesus, who is “the Way.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.16

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who ... emptied himself.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.17

“Editorial Notes” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47, p. 744.

A PROTESTANT missionary in the Philippines writes that Protestant missionaries there find themselves in “a somewhat peculiar position:” “There is the church at home urgently anxious for their success, while officials are hesitant as to whether they are not going to ‘complicate matters,’ and on the whole would be rather glad if they kept away, in which they are cordially supported by the Roman Catholic priests. At Iloilo the mission work began very successfully. Then came the priests, who put studying English under the ban of the church, and gave out that the Americans would soon return to their own country, and that then all Protestants would be killed.” He says that the Protestant missionary “is looked upon as an unavoidable nuisance by certain officials, and as a pronounced enemy of the priesthood.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.1

So reports the Independent. All these “officials” are officials of the United States government. And it is plain to be seen that in their sympathies, in their influence, and in their fear that Protestants will “complicate matters,” they are also officials of the Catholic Church. And it is certain that the Catholic priesthood will leave no stone unturned to make the work of Protestant missionaries “complicate matters,” and so turn to her own account these fears of the officials. It is perfectly plain that in the Philippines there is a union of the United States government and the Catholic Church. And what the next four years shall bring forth, no man can imagine! ARSH November 20, 1900, page 744.2

“Prophecy or Politics—Which?” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 47, p. 745.

FROM 1120 B. C. to 800 B. C. a mighty empire was built up by the kings of Assyria. Many nations were overrun, plundered, and laid under tribute. Thus vast sums of treasure were brought into the coffers of the kings of Assyria and into the hands of the Assyrians, especially in the capital city—Nineveh. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.1

This long-continued flow of wealth carried in its train corresponding luxury. With luxury came love of ease. With luxury and love of ease inevitably came vice. And at last their wickedness became so great that it reached to heaven and deserved vengeance. The Lord sent Jonah to warn them of the coming destruction. “And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.2

And in that proud city,—the leading city of the world,—wicked as it was, and though the word came to the king upon the throne, Jonah was not accused of disturbing the peace; he was not put in the lock-up; he was not taken to the station-house—not even to “protect him from the mob;” he was not accused of inciting insurrection; he was not charged with being an enemy of the country. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.3

Instead of any such thing as that, “the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.4

And nobody has ever charged that in this procedure Jonah was taking part in politics, nor that he was speaking against the government, nor that he was in any way disrespectful to the authorities. And if anybody had ever charged him with any of this, it would have been false; and by it the one making the charge would have shown that he did not know any distinction between religion and politics: and in that he would have shown that he did not know anything in reality of religion, but only politics. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.5

Later, Israel itself became a kingdom, and the leading world-power; and it went in the same course precisely as that which had been taken by Assyria. Again and again God sent to them his messengers the prophets, even “rising up early and sending them.” But, unlike Nineveh, the words were unheeded. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.6

When the iniquity had grown so great that it was about to culminate in the ruin of the nation, one prophet who bore the message of warning was put to death by the king and the people. And when the evil had grown so that the time had actually come when the ruin was to be wrought, and the forces by which that ruin was to be accomplished were around the capital city and actually besieging it, the prophet who was then in the city delivering daily the message of God to the people—that the city was doomed, and the only escape was to surrender to the besieging army—was accused of treason: he was charged with aiding and abetting the enemies of his country, especially doing this by weakening the hands of his own people, through his preaching that the people should not fight, but should surrender. Here is the record:— ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.7

“Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.8

“Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.9

“Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.” Jeremiah 28:2-6. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.10

Yet all that Jeremiah had said was the truth: it was the message of God to the people. And in delivering that message he was not guilty of treason: he was not an aider and abetter of the enemy. He was, indeed, in the fullest sense of the word, seeking the welfare of that people, and not their hurt. And all those who listened to his words, and disregarded the pleas and charges of the politicians against him, found it to be well with them; while all those who disregarded the message that he gave, and the warnings that he urged, perished in the ruin that he proclaimed would certainly come upon them as the inevitable consequence of the course the nation was pursuing. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.11

In the same course of conquest, wealth, luxury, ease, and vice, even to the danger of ruin, Babylon followed. One day a man walked into the broad street of Babylon, and took a position on the bank of the Euphrates, which flowed through the midst of the city. And there, as the vast crowds of the busy and pleasure-loving city passed and repassed, he read, with a loud voice, a long arraignment of Babylon for her pride, her oppression, and her great wickedness; and also the doom of destruction that certainly would come. When he had read the whole account, he tied a stone to the scroll of what he had read, and plunged it into the river, and exclaimed, “Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.12

And in that proudest and wickedest of cities the man was not arrested nor charged with anarchy nor with any other disturbing practices or mischievous intent. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.13

But, unlike Nineveh, Babylon paid no attention to the warning. In a few years her doom came, in all that the man had read from the book. In the midst of a drunken and lascivious feast the judgment was written, and spoken, “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.... Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.... Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” And before the judgment was spoken, he who interpreted it said to the king,—citing the example of the king’s grandfather, how he was taught “till he knew that the most high God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will,—And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; ... and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.” ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.14

And instead of that man being punished as a disturber of the peace, or as an inciter to insurrection, or being charged with meddling in politics, he was rewarded with the highest honors a king could possibly bestow. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.15

The Lord Jesus himself came and lived among his own people, and sought to bring them to God. They rejected his counsel, and would not receive his message. He knew that national ruin could be the only result. And he told them so: woes that would reduce them to ruin and bring them even down to hell, he proclaimed against Capernaum, Chorzin, and Bethsaida. He declared that Jerusalem should be compassed with armies; that she should be laid low, even in the dust, and her children within her; and that the temple, which was their pride and their trust, should be so ruined that not one stone would be left on another. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.16

He was charged with high treason. In the condemnation proceedings, his saying that the temple should be ruined was produced against him and perverted, by a false witness, into the charge that he had said that he would destroy the temple. Yet at the time, everybody knew, and ever since everybody has known, that the charge of high treason, or treason of any other kind, was false, as well as every other charge. And these charges of treason, although made by the chief religionists, were in reality made only by the chief politicians; which is to say that their religion was only politics. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.17

His disciples went everywhere, preaching the word of the gospel. Paul reasoned with the people out of the Scriptures, “opening and alleging, that Jesus must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” And in so doing he told them of the certain ruin of the Roman Empire; of the establishment of ten new kingdoms in its place; then the coming up of another, which would destroy three of the ten, and establish itself “the man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” “the mystery of iniquity;” and that in the time of this one and of the remaining seven of the ten, Christ would come the second time, and the world would end. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.18

And when Christianity had been spread throughout the Roman Empire, the Christians were always expecting the fall of Rome, and were talking of it, and were prepared for it when it came. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.19

It is true that the early Christians and the later Christians in the Roman Empire were charged with undermining the state; and, like Jesus, were condemned and put to death upon the charge of high treason. But everybody knows that all such charges against them were false; that all these things that the Christians said were coming on the Roman Empire were true; and that to be faithful to their trust in the world, and to their fellow men, the Christians must say these things. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.20

And God’s word stands to-day with instruction and warning to the nations of to-day, as truly as it ever did to Assyria, Babylon, Judea, and Rome. That word will be spoken to the nations of to-day as really as it ever was to those of old. The United States to-day is a subject of prophecy as really as was Babylon, Judea, or Rome; and in the same way and for the same reasons precisely. The United States is to-day in full career on a course that leads inevitably to ruin, as certainly as ever was Babylon, Judea, or Rome. This is distinctly a matter of prophecy; and it is not politics, but prophecy, to proclaim it as the message of God in the word of God. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.21

Fifteen years ago the very Spirit of Prophecy itself wrote of the apostasy of the United States from every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government. That was prophecy, and not politics, then; and it is prophecy, and not politics, now. For thirteen years it was prophecy, and not politics, to proclaim it; for the last two years it has been, and it now is, prophecy, and not politics, to proclaim that this was and is steadily being done; that now it is prophecy being actually turned into fact. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.22

And now what follows? This prophecy, even the Spirit of Prophecy, says:— ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.23

When ... our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.24

As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.25

And as this was prophecy, and not politics, when, fifteen years ago, it was published, it is prophecy, and not politics, now, to-day, to proclaim it while it is steadily being turned into fact before the eyes of all people. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.26

It is true that now, as in the days of Jeremiah, Jesus, and Paul, and the later Christians of the Roman Empire, the politicians, even among the professed people of God, will charge with “disrespect of authority,” “treason,” “meddling with politics,” etc., etc., those who proclaim that the prophecy is being fulfilled. Nevertheless the truth of God will be spoken, the prophecy will be proclaimed, the message will be given, the people will be warned; and those who listen and heed the warning will escape. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.27

Yet there is a striking contrast between the treatment of the messengers in Nineveh and Babylon and of those in Judea and Rome and the United States. However, as in the United States is to be found the Image of the Beast, it can not be expected that the messengers and the message of God should be treated differently than they were treated in Rome. The world is not better than it was, nor is it getting better. ARSH November 20, 1900, page 745.28