The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 77

January 9, 1900

“The Third Angel’s Message. What Is It in Spirit and in Truth?” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2, p. 24.

WE have found that in word, in form, and in arrangement the Third Angel’s Message is a great threefold message, which ripens the harvest for the end of the world, and makes ready a people prepared for the Lord. And now we are to study what that message is in spirit and in truth. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.1

In the first place, it is the everlasting gospel; and that gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” It “is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is “God manifest in the flesh.” “Therein [in the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” And it calls men to the worship of “him that made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.2

This preaching of the everlasting gospel, which is the third angel’s message, is, therefore, the preaching of “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” It is the preaching of God manifest in the flesh. It is the preaching of the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.3

And since the gospel is the “power of God unto salvation” to them that believe; since Christ dwells in the heart, and God is manifest in the flesh, only “by faith;” since the righteousness of God is “by faith of Jesus Christ,” and is revealed only “from faith to faith;” and since true worship of God is only of faith, because “without faith it is impossible to please him,” it is perfectly plain that the Third Angel’s Message, in spirit and in truth, is all of faith. And since whatsoever is not of faith is sin, then whatsoever is of faith is righteousness. And since the Third Angel’s Message is all of faith, the Third Angel’s Message is righteousness by faith. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.4

Further: this everlasting gospel is preached, calling all people to the worship of God, in view of the fact that “the hour of his judgment is come.” And since men are to be judged by the law of God, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to the gospel (Romans 2:12, 16), it is certain that this preaching of the everlasting gospel in the Third Angel’s Message, in warning all men concerning the judgment, is to prepare for that judgment every soul who is willing to be prepared. And since the only preparation for the judgment is perfect harmony of life, in body, soul, and spirit, with the law of God, this message inevitably calls all people to the keeping of the commandments of God. And, in very truth, the sole purpose of the gospel, which is altogether of faith, is the keeping of the commandments of God; for in Christ Jesus nothing avails but faith, which worketh by love,—the love of God: and “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments;” and “love is the fulfilling of the law.” And so the closing words of the third angel are but the sum of the great threefold message, so far as it pertains to the saints and to those who are prepared to meet the Lord, in its declaration: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” And thus the beginning words, and the closing words, and all between, of the Third Angel’s Message, as it pertains to the saints, is summed up in the three words “righteousness by faith.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.5

Thus, justification by faith is the Third Angel’s Message: the preaching of righteousness by faith is the preaching of the Third Angel’s Message. It is true that this threefold message announces the fall of Babylon, and calls out of her God’s people. It is true that this message also warns people against the worship of the beast and his image. But what could the announcement of the fall of Babylon, and the warning against the worship of the beast and his image, amount to, simply as such, without the power of God to save the people from Babylon, and from the worship of the beast and his image? Therefore the everlasting gospel, the preaching of righteousness by faith, is the Third Angel’s Message in spirit and in truth; because this is the very thing, and the only thing, that can make effective the announcements and warnings of the message. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.6

Will it, by any, be thought too strong a statement that justification by faith is the Third Angel’s Message. Lest, by any possibility, any should think thus, we set down here some statements of authority, as to that truth. In the first-page article of the REVIEW of April 1, 1890, are the following words:— ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.7

Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the Third Angel’s Message; and I have answered, “It is the Third Angel’s Message in verity.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.8

In a Testimony, dated Hobart, Tasmania, May 1, 1895, and published Nov. 18, 1896, are the following words:— ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.9

The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. ¹ This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the Third Angel’s Message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.... This message of the gospel of his grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ.... ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.10

It has been Satan’s determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the Third Angel’s Message, in clear, distinct lines..... ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.11

This is the testimony that must go throughout the length and breadth of the world. It presents the law and the gospel, binding up the two in a perfect whole. See Romans 5 and 1 John 3:9 to the close of the chapter. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.12

Thus it is plain, and is repeatedly confirmed, that the Third Angel’s Message in spirit and in truth, is righteousness by faith; the everlasting gospel; the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith in the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.13

A person may announce to the world the fall of Babylon, and may proclaim the warning against the worship of the beast and his image; and yet, if that person is not justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, and has not in him and upon him the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, he himself will be a part of Babylon, and will worship the beast and his image. The Third Angel’s Message is not a message in mere word: the message consists in the spirit and the truth of the gospel of God, which is righteousness by faith: the very keeping, in heart and life, of “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” And when he who would preach the Third Angel’s Message has that message in his life, and when that message is his life; when he is justified by faith, and lives by faith, and is clothed with the righteousness of God, which is by faith, and THEN announces the fall of Babylon and the warning against the worship of the beast and his image, there will be power in his message to deliver souls from Babylon, and to hold them back from worshiping the beast and his image. In his message there will be power to deliver souls from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, which is the only true religious liberty. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.14

And this is why the book of Galatians is so fully a part of the Third Angel’s Message. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.15

“The Millennium” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2, pp. 24, 25.

THE word “millennium” is composed of two Latin words, mille, “a thousand,” and annus, “a year,” and signifies “a thousand years.” Any period of a thousand years is a millennium; but that period of a thousand years designated and understood universally as “the millennium” is a certain thousand years mentioned and measured off in the Scriptures. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.1

The particular scripture which defines the thousand years—the millennium—is Revelation 20:1-7. The connection in which this thousand years is set is such that from it can be certainly known, not the date of its beginning, but the event that marks its beginning. Also the connection in which it is set is such that from it can be certainly known what the character of that millennium is to be. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.2

In that scripture it is said that Satan is to be bound and shut up for a thousand years, and that the saints live and reign with Christ a thousand years. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [living of the saints] is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.3

By these words we know that the event that marks the beginning of the millennium is “the first resurrection,“—the resurrection of the “blessed and holy,“—the resurrection of “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.” And this resurrection of the saints, this “first resurrection,” is at the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for it is written: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.4

And again: “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.5

And again: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Verses 22, 23. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.6

There are many other scriptures to the same purpose, but these are enough to settle it as the truth of God that the second coming of Christ marks the beginning of the millennium, because the second coming of Christ brings the resurrection of the just, of the blessed and holy; and this resurrection, the first one, marks the beginning of the thousand years—the millennium. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.7

Here, then, at the beginning of the millennium, is the resurrection of all the righteous dead; the translation of all the righteous living; and these all are caught away from the earth. They meet the Lord, not on the earth, but “in the air;” and as all the resurrected and translated ones hitherto have done, they ascend to heaven with Christ their Lord, where they reign with him upon the thrones of judgment for a thousand years. Thus the righteous. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 24.8

What, then, of the wicked at the beginning of the thousand years, and during the thousand years? What occurs to them at the coming of the Lord? Read: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8. They call for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them “from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 6:14-17. They are slaini by the “armies which were in heaven,” but which follow “Him upon white horses,” and by the “sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Revelation 19:11-21. As it is written in another place: “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jeremiah 25:30-33. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.1

Now, since it is the truth of the word of God that the resurrection of the righteous—the first resurrection—marks the beginning of the millennium; since that resurrection is caused by the second coming of the Lord; and since at his coming all the righteous, dead and living, are taken away from the earth, and all the wicked upon the earth are slain, it is certain that the earth is at that point left desolate. And as the saints do not return to the earth for a thousand years, and the wicked dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished, it is certain that the earth is left desolate during that thousand years. And that is to say that, during the millennium, this earth is to be utterly desolate. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.2

This is certain from the texts here given. But next week it will be shown more fully; because there is must involved in the subject—much more than simply the desolation of the earth. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.3

“Editorial” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2, p. 25.

BECAUSE of the indorsement of the extreme higher criticism by the Episcopal Church in receiving Dr. Briggs into the Episcopal ministry, Benjamin F. Da Costa, D. D., felt himself logically obliged to leave that church and go over to the Catholic Church. He says that “all those forces of science, which it was once thought would be fatal to her [the Catholic Church], are now, in a way which constitutes one of the great surprises of history, so grouping themselves as to afford her a new foundation.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.1

Fifteen years ago it was published that “a day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the success of popery. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages, when men were without God’s word, and without the knowledge of the truth, their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes become dazzled by the glare of human speculations, ‘science false so-called;’ they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if blindfolded.... Thus the false science of the nineteenth century, which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages.”—“Great Controversy,” chapter on “Character and Aims of the Papacy.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.2

That thing is now being demonstrated; and it may be expected that soon there will be seen a perfect tide of these “intellectually great,” flowing into the Catholic Church; and all only the result of the apostasy of Protestantism from the word of God to “science false so-called,“—evolution, ect. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.3

“Studies in Galatians. Galatians 3:15” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 2, pp. 25, 26.

“BRETHREN, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.1

Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. How much more, then, shall it be so with God’s covenant? Then, since the making of God’s covenant with Abram, there has never been, and never could be, anything added to it, nor anything taken from it. Let us notice God’s covenant with Abram, and what it included. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.2

In Genesis 11:29-32 is recorded Abram’s leaving his native country because that “the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” At that time God also said to Abram: “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2. At that time also God preached the gospel unto Abram, saying: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.3

After Abram had lived in the land of Haran, and had come into the land of Canaan, God said to him: “Unto thy seed will I give this land; and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” Genesis 12:7. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.4

The Lord had said that he would show to Abram the land which was to be his. And, though he was in the land of Canaan, yet the Lord had not showed to him the land that he said he would give to him: and he could not yet show it to him, because Lot, of his kindred, was yet with him; and the first condition of the promise was, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” Abram was separated from his father’s house, but so long as Lot was with him, he was not yet separated from his kindred: and so long as that was so, God could not show him the land. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.5

But after a while, their flocks and herds increased so that “the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together;” and so, by mutual agreement, and as “brethren” they separated, Lot choosing “all the plain of Jordan.” Then, “after that Lot was separated from him,” the Lord said to Abram, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Genesis 13:14-16. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.6

And the land which Abram then saw, and which was promised to him, included the world; for this promise was “the promise that he should be the heir of the world.” And since that is a world that includes “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11), and which God “hath prepared” for him and his children; and since it is “a better country” than any on the earth, even “an heavenly,” it is certain that the land which Abram then saw, and which included the world, was, and is, “the world to come.” And more: since this was promised to Abram and his seed—to neither without the other, but to both together; since this promised seed “is Christ;” and since while Abram was in this world, he never received any “inheritance in it,” no, not so much as to set his foot on (Acts 7:5), it is certain that the inheritance then promised to Abram, and which he then saw, and which included the world, is only “the world to come.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.7

This is further confirmed by that which Abram next met in his experience; for it is written that when Abram had returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, he met “Melchisedec king of Salem,” who “brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” “And he [Melchisedec] blessed him [Abram], and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth.” Genesis 14:18, 19. Thus the priest of the Most High, Melchisedec, who “was the voice of God in the world,” recognized Abram. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.8

In this connection there is another important element to be noticed, that is, that Abram now meets and recognizes “Melchisedec,” “the priest of the most high God,” and in him recognizes the Melchisedec priesthood. He received blessing from this priest of the Meschisedec priesthood; and yet further recognized this priesthood in that “he gave him tithes of all.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.9

Several times, now, in Abram’s experience, the Lord has referred to that “seed” of Abram. And now Abram makes definite inquiry about this “seed,” saying to the Lord: “Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.” Genesis 15:3-7. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.10

Abram had now received from God, in promise, the blessing of God which would make him a “blessing to all nations;” he had received the promise of the world for an inheritance; he had received the promise of a seed in whom all nations should be blessed; he had received the benefit of the priesthood of the most high God; and he had received the righteousness of God, fitting him to enter of right into that eternal inheritance. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.11

And now Abram asks: “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” And here and now, in pledge to Abram that he shall inherit all that has been promised, God made a covenant with Abram: “And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him... And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” Genesis 15:9-12, 17, 18. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.12

Now it is a truth laden with meaning that in these animals and birds which he brought and offered, there was included every animal sacrifice that was ever allowed or commanded to be offered to God. And when Abram, as directed, had divided all these except the fowl, and had laid them in their pieces, one against another, “behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.” And “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.13

The Lord did this because in ancient times “it was the custom of those who entered into a covenant with each other to take a heifer and cut it in two, and then the contracting parties passed between the pieces.” And the reason of this was that the contracting parties agreed, and thus expressed the agreement, that if either of them broke that covenant, he submitted himself to be cut in two just as was the sacrifice between the parts of which they passed. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.14

But Abram did not pass between the parts of these victims: only God passed through. This because this is not a covenant of agreement between two persons in which each is equally responsible; but it is a covenant of promise from God, in which he alone is the responsible party. Consequently, God alone passed between the parts of the slain victims, in the making of this covenant. And, in that act, God agreed, and thus expressed his agreement, that that covenant could no more fail than that he himself could be severed in twain. Thus the Lord pledged himself, in his very life, that all the promises which he had made to Abram should be fulfilled, and that not one of these promises could fail; that this covenant to fulfill the promises could not fail any more than that God should cease to live. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 25.15

Thus, that covenant of God with Abram was confirmed even there, by the sacrifice of Him who made the covenant. And when Abram, not yet fully comprehending the greatness of the blessed promises of this covenant, slipped, the Lord, in his mercy, even repeated himself, and again pledged himself,—“interposed himself”—swearing by himself, and thus by his oath confirmed his covenant that his promises should not fail. Hebrews 6:17. And thus again that covenant was “confirmed.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 26.1

Therefore, since “though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto,” how much more shall this be so of God’s covenant with Abram, which is doubly confirmed? Therefore, that covenant could never be disannulled, nor could anything ever be added to it. In that covenant at that time was all that ever has been since, or that ever can be to anybody. And whoever has that covenant, has everything in heaven and earth,—everything in the wide universe, to all eternity. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 26.2

That is the Abrahamic covenant, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” which is made sure by that covenant. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 26.3

“Editorial Note” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 2, p. 27.

IN the matter of the W. C. T. U. and the right resolution, which their convention rejected, the evidence which we have presented is conclusive, that not only have lines of work of the N. W. C. T. U. been used, but the N. W. C. T. U. itself has been used, to give not only aid and comfort but influence and power “to those who, through ignorance, prejudice, or malice, would enact or enforce such laws as can be made to serve the purpose of persecution;” and which can in every way be made to interfere with all “liberty of conscience concerning days and the manner of their observance.” The evidence is conclusive that, to put it in the mildest possible way, the N. W. C. T. U. has been made a tool, in the machinations of men who are ambitious of power, to enforce religious dogmas upon all people. So entirely is this so that these men publicly acknowledge that the W. C. T. U. is their main dependence—in fact, that their success must come through the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.1

And it was the machinations of these men in their use of the W. C. T. U. and its lines of work,—it was this that was aimed at in that resolution, “That as a National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union we protest against any such interpretation or use of any lines of our work as shall give aid or comfort,” etc. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.2

The one who introduced that resolution knew what “use” these men had been making of the W. C. T. U. and its lines of work all these years; and how, as the consequence, the W. C. T. U. was being dragged down from its true place and high and pure purpose, and made to serve in the train of designing men. And knowing this, she longed to have the deliver itself from this injurious connection, and stand free once more to carry on its original work according to the original purpose. But the ladies in the convention did not take time to look calmly at the resolution, and to inquire after and consider its plain import: they allowed themselves to be stampeded from this to an issue that was altogether foreign to the intent of the resolution, and so placed the N. W. C. T. U. in the false position of declaring that it is an objectionable thing for the union to be asked to protest against the use of its lines of work to serve the purposes of persecution. Surely every well-wisher of the W. C. T. U. can only ask it now to consider this question calmly and fairly, and clear itself from this false position. And it is perfectly plain that the only way that the union can clear itself is by adopting in the next national convention the amendment to its constitution that will come regularly before the convention. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.3

And while those excellent women are considering this matter, there is another point inseparably connected therewith that is worthy of their most careful consideration. And that is, With what propriety can men take part in, and seek to mold and give direction to, the work of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union? What can men do in women’s work? What but to spoil it? There was a work that needed to be done, that the men had never done when they had all the field. It was, and is, a work that men could not do. It was, and is, a work that can be done only by woman’s ministry. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union—an organization of women—was, under God, called out and organized to do this work of women. But the women have allowed unmanly men to insinuate themselves into this work which is woman’s. And, as could only be expected, these men have spoiled the whole thing. We speak of them as unmanly men, because who but an unmanly man could think that he could do woman’s work? ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.4

Now let the W. C. T. U. be in truth a Woman’s Christian Temperance Union: not a woman’s and man’s Christian temperance union. Let the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union positively exclude men from all the councils, conventions, and work of the union. And let the women go on grandly to the blessed ministry to which, as women and as a woman’s organization, God called them at the first, and to which he still calls them. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.5

This is written by a man, as his firm conviction; but let all the women and all the men, yea, let all the people, say, Amen. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.6

“Editorial Notes” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 2, p. 27.

HOW the world views the situation of the British Empire is expressed by the New York Tribune, December 15. It says that all “must be” changed in South Africa “before long” “unless the world is to see the greatest political cataclysm of modern ages.” It also says:— ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.1

It is true that, as the London papers are saying, not merely South Africa, but the world-wide British Empire, is at stake. Perhaps that fact was not realized as clearly before the war as it is now. At the present time it is seen by all as clearly as the noonday sun. If Great Britain were defeated by the Boers, she would be driven out of South Africa altogether. And what then?—Why, she would be a third-rate power. India would be lost in a twinkling. The United States of Australia and the Dominion of Canada would probably reckon further connection with her a source of weakness and peril, rather than of safety and strength. And the greatest and most beneficent empire the world has ever seen would become a thing of the past. That is the tremendous realization that now dawns upon the British mind. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.2

And the London Times, the most nearly official of any paper in England, says:— ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.3

Neither the Crimean War nor the Indian mutiny gave rise to greater dangers to the empire than that with which we are now menaced, nor at either of those critical periods was Great Britain so isolated politically or regarded with such dislike and suspicion as are now almost everywhere apparent. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.4

Unless the calmness which impresses the foreign observer proceeds only from apathy or a want of sufficient imagination to realize the imminent danger to the whole fabric of our empire, the great efforts now urgently required will surely be made before it is too late to retrieve the situation. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.5

We are fighting not merely for supremacy in South Africa, but for our position as a great power. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.6

It is possible that the world may not be compelled to witness this awful cataclysm just yet; though the fact that the British press and publicists should so openly confess and discuss this as the only alternative shows that the danger is real. And it all shows, in a most impressive way, by how small and thin a thread even the mightiest of earthly dominions hangs. We know from the whole field of the prophecies of the word of God, that we are in the time when all earthly dominions shall go to pieces and be utterly wasted; and the people of God must be prepared for any such thing, in any case, at any time. The Christians of the Roman Empire in the fifth century saw the like in the ruin of that empire, the “mightiest monument of greatness built by human hands,” and it was an awful thing to contemplate. Yet the Christians of these last times can only expect to see a more awful ruin than was even that at Rome. There is now perplexity of nations; and it is exceedingly doubtful whether there will ever be any less. And soon the sign of the Son of Man will appear. “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” ARSH January 9, 1900, page 27.7

“Back Page” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 2, p. 32.

IN referring to heresy trials and the evils accompanying them, the Interior (Presbyterian) says: “Our ecclesiastical law was taken over bodily from the Roman Church.... We preserve in our forms of discipline precisely the attitude of the inquisitors who brought men to the stake, which assumes that those who differ with us in some theological matter are criminals. ‘Are you guilty or not guilty?’ If the accused is found to hold the views charged, the verdict is ‘guilty.’ This link ties us fast to a post which is too horrible to contemplate.” This is all too true, as is clearly demonstrated in the career of John Calvin, who brought over bodily from Rome this system of ecclesiastical law. Then the Interior very properly declares, “Some better way of administering discipline must be found.” Why not take the “better way” shown in the words of Christ? This way is as much better than that as Christ is better than Rome. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 32.1

CARDINAL VAUGHAN, of England, sent to the Catholic Mirror “A New-year’s Greeting to the American People,” in which he says that “one can not fail to see that it may be in the providence of God to use the American Republic and the British Empire in furtherance of his designs of mercy and salvation for the human race;” and that “the Catholics of both countries have a distinguished and exalted mission. They are the leaven in the lump. I hope we shall ever remember this, and mold our thoughts and lives accordingly. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 32.2

FOR some time there has been emphasized in the REVIEW AND HERALD the necessity of understanding the distinction between true divine healing and false divine healing. This necessity is illustrated in an advertisement of a professed “wonderful divine healer,” that has been sent to us. He declares: “It does not make a bit of difference whether you believe in divine powers or not: Mr. ---- cures unbelievers, skeptics, scoffers, infidels, atheists, and revilers.” And being “healed,” they can of course go on in their unbelief, skepticism, scoffing, infidelity, atheism, and reviling. It is perfectly plain that all the divinity that there can be about such healing as that, can be only satanic. And we have received an inquiry, “Can we trust him?” Would you trust a preacher who would preach forgiveness of sins to unbelievers, skeptics, scoffers, infidels, atheists, and revilers, without calling on them for any amendment of life? ARSH January 9, 1900, page 32.3

THE “great” example and advocate of the “higher criticism,” Prof. Charles A. Briggs, D. D., has said that “if the Roman Catholic will recognize the authority of the Bible, as he ought to; and Protestants will recognize the authority of the church, as they should, the two will find themselves so near together that they can shake hands.” The truth is that the Catholic does now recognize the authority of the Bible precisely upon the principle represented by Dr. Briggs, only with the pope instead of Dr. Briggs as the grand representative of the principle. And Dr. Briggs is doing perhaps more than any other person to draw Protestants into accepting the authority of the church. And whoever follows his lead will very shortly find himself shaking hands with the Catholic Church. And on the popular tide of science, false to called, of which the higher criticism is but the logical outcome, professed Protestantism is fast approaching the point where she shall clasp the hand of the Roman power. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 32.4

MORE than once last year in these columns we called attention to the great probability that the Catholic Church would push herself upon the United States in immense claims for “damages to church property” in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines. And now she has already begun it. And this is only the beginning, too. And when that is only the beginning, and only in Cuba, what will it be when she has finished for Cuba and the Philippines? In Cuba hardly any damage at all was done, while in the Philippines churches have been great damaged, if not actually destroyed. And since the Methodist Episcopal Church South got four hundred and eighty-four thousand dollars from the government for the occupancy of only one building belonging to that church, and not a church building, what will the Catholic Church be likely to get for the many buildings in payment for which she will enter claims, which are actually church buildings? The colonial career of the United States is a harvest of gold, as well as a golden harvest, for Rome. ARSH January 9, 1900, page 32.5