The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 79
June 3, 1902
“Forewarned—Forearmed” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 79, 23.
E. J. Waggoner
The memorable battle of Arbela, that resulted in the overthrow of the Persian kingdom, is one of the most remarkable of all history. The Persians under Darius numbered over one million, while the Macedonians under Alexander were only forty-seven thousand. The attack of the Macedonians seemed but madness, the odds were so heavy against them; but Alexander knew his strength, and the secret of this self-confidence lay in the fact that, on the eve of the engagement, there fell into his hands full and complete details of the plans of the approaching attack of Darius, and by this foreknowledge, he was enabled so to place his army that the Persian forces were routed, and he gained the victory that made him monarch of all the then known world. ARSH June 3, 1902, page 11.3
There is no more unequal struggle in all history than that of the man who endeavors to cope with the devil without the help of Jesus Christ. But Christ knows all the wicked plans of the archenemy of souls, and these He has revealed to His children. “But ye brethren are not in darkness,” for God has been faithful in giving due warning of any judgments that were to come upon the world, that all who would might escape. Noah preached a coming flood for one hundred and twenty years; Lot was warned of the destruction of Sodom; and the Christians knew years before, of the overthrow of Jerusalem, and so definite was the sign given of the latter event, that when the time came, every Christian within the walls of that doomed city knew it and escaped. ARSH June 3, 1902, page 11.4
But merely because we are “the children of light”-because we know these things theoretically,-that alone will not save us. Lot’s wife knew of the destruction of Sodom, but that did not save her from being turned into a pillar of salt; and the Saviour in speaking of what would take place in the end of the world, and the danger there would be of even the elect being deceived and turned out of the way, uses these significant words, “Remember Lot’s wife.” What did she do? Simply “looked back,”-that is all, but that meant her destruction. She desired to escape the doom of the city, but while her body was on the plain, her heart was in Sodom. There is in this a lesson of a special importance for those who live in the last days, for “as it was in the days of Lot ... even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28, 29. “Come out from among them, My people,” are the Lord’s words to His children, and “be ye separate.” There can be no compromise. Some of the Lord and a little of Sodom or Babylon will never save us. ARSH June 3, 1902, page 11.5
The struggle is a fierce one; but with all the secret plans of Satan laid bare, for “we are not ignorant of his devices,” and with Jesus as our commander and leader, we are ten thousands times more sure of victory, in this conflict, than was Alexander the Great; and he who is faithful to the end, who overcomes, will reap as a reward, a never-ending life in the kingdom of God. -Present Truth. ARSH June 3, 1902, page 11.6