General Conference Bulletin, vol. 5
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE FOR TO-DAY
W. W. Prescott
Sermon by W. W. Prescott, Sunday, March 29, 7:30 P. M.
We have considered our present position in prophetic history and the call to finish in this generation the work of preparing the way of the Lord. It seems natural that we should study now what that work is which prepares the way of the Lord, and to note whether there be any special emphasis upon any special phase of gospel truth for this generation. Our greatest need is to know the purpose of God for any particular time or work, and then to be in harmony with that purpose, so that God’s purpose shall easily find expression in the earth through His church, the ordained channel through which light and knowledge shall be made known to the earth. GCB April 2, 1903, page 50.7
Now, while in different epochs of the world’s history there have been special phases of truth to be emphasized, yet there is always one truth to be emphasized all the time; and that is that the purpose of God is set for the salvation of sinners who will exercise faith in the merits of Jesus Christ. GCB April 2, 1903, page 50.8
Now, whether it be in one age of the world or another, under one outward form of organization or another, yet always there is this one purpose of God,—that is, the purpose of salvation from sin. There have been special experiences that have seemed to mark off special epochs in the history of God’s work in the earth. And there have been special phases of truth that needed to be emphasized at that time. That is, God’s truth is infinite. It is all-inclusive. It is broad enough to meet every issue. It is broad enough to meet every form of opposition that may be raised against it. All it needs is that there shall be instrumentalities, that there shall be channels through whom the right phase of the truth may be brought to the earth; through whom just those rays of light that are needed at that time shall shine forth, in order that the gospel shall be sufficient for the needs. That is, there is only one gospel, and that gospel is the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. GCB April 2, 1903, page 50.9
But that is infinite, and can be applied to every possible situation, to every possible opposition that may be brought against the gospel; and it is able to unveil every possible deception the enemy may bring to hide from men the light of God’s truth. When the flood was impending, Noah gave his message, and the Scriptures say that he was a preacher of righteousness. That is always the gospel. But Noah’s preaching of righteousness at that time meant that he should set forth clearly and distinctly that God had threatened the world with a flood, and that there must be a special preparation to escape it. That was preaching righteousness in Noah’s day. To declare to the world an impending flood, and the necessity of preparation for it, would not be God’s purpose for this day. GCB April 2, 1903, page 50.10
John the Baptist was a preacher of the gospel, raised up of God at a special time to do a special work, but the burden of his work was, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” John’s preaching of repentance at that time would not have been a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins, the message of righteousness at that time, if he had failed to make it very clear that the kingdom of God was at hand; that the time was fulfilled, and that he was the voice that was to prepare the way for the manifestation of the Messiah; and yet he preached nothing but the gospel of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. GCB April 2, 1903, page 50.11
In our own time there is only one gospel to preach,—this same everlasting gospel of salvation from sin,—but this everlasting gospel of salvation from sin must be preached in such a way in this generation that it shall declare also that the time is fulfilled, and that the kingdom of God is at hand; and such a message will prepare the way for the coming King. GCB April 2, 1903, page 50.12
Now, in order to make this clear to God’s messengers, He has given for every such special occasion and for every such need a special setting for the message for that time. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.1
PREPARING THE WAY OF THE LORD
John the Baptist took his message in a very marked way, as the scripture says from the prophet Isaiah. And when we note the scripture that is quoted as being the foundation of his message, we find that it came from the fortieth chapter of Isaiah: “Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God; Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of one that crieth. Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah, make level in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain; and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, ... but the Word of our God shall stand forever. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up on a high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold Your God. Behold the Lord Jehovah will come as a mighty one, and His arm will rule for Him, behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.” American Revised Version. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.2
Now that was the special setting for the message of John the Baptist. And his message centered in this idea: Behold your God; behold the Lord God cometh. And when that day, on the banks of Jordan, he saw Jesus of Nazareth standing in the multitude, he took up that word of the prophet Isaiah, and applied it definitely in the setting that belonged to it, in his message, and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” It was necessary that John the Baptist should rise at that time and say, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” And why?—Because God, as revealed for salvation from sin, because God, as the righteousness of His people, had been hidden from their eyes; a veil had been brought in between God and man, and man was taking the place of God; but the message took away the veil, and pointed out with distinctness the Lamb of God, the revelation of God in the flesh as the Deliverer from sin. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.3
John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord, to give knowledge of salvation in the remission of sins. But this work is not finished until the Lord comes, bringing His reward with Him. That is, the work of John the Baptist was to prepare the way of the Lord when He was first manifested to bear sin. The work of John the Baptist will not be completed until the way is prepared for Him to be manifested in glory. Therefore the very work of preparing the way of the Lord in this generation is to take up and complete the message of John the Baptist, to give knowledge of salvation in the remission of sins. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.4
THE MESSAGE OF REVELATION 14
But there is for our time an additional, a new setting, of this message of preparation, and that setting is found in Revelation 14:6-12. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.5
Let us note clearly that the gospel message to be preached in this generation, the gospel which is to be preached in all the world for a testimony to all the nations, to prepare the way for the coming King, is still the everlasting gospel of salvation from sin, and any preaching of this message of preparation in this time which does not find its sum and substance in bringing to the people salvation from sin, is not the message that will prepare the way of the Lord; and yet that message of salvation from sin is to be preached definitely in the setting that God has given for us Himself, for this generation. It is by that setting that we are to know how to deliver the message in such a way that it shall meet exactly the situation in this generation. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.6
The prophecies are clear enough to set forth that we have come to the last generation, but the mere fact is not enough. It does not save from sin or deliver from the power of sin, to know the fact that this is the last generation, to know the fact that the coming of the Lord is near; there is an experience in this fact that must be known, and that experience in this message of the coming of the Lord, the experience of this message of preparation of the way; will deliver from sin, and will make the church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.7
Let us note some of the setting of this message. It is not to be expected that in one brief hour we can unfold all this message. The first thing that is emphasized is that it is the everlasting gospel which this angel has to proclaim. And the first words spoken as the setting of the message are these: “Fear God and give Him glory; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth, and sea and fountains of waters.” GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.8
Now that is a positive message to be declared. The second message simply states a fact, and introduces a name which needs explanation. “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.” The third message is simply a further statement of fact. It is a warning against the worship of the beast and his image, introducing symbols that need explanation from some source, symbols that are not explained in these few verses. The warning is one of the most terrible warnings in the Scriptures: “If any man worshipeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger.” GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.9
Now to teach the gospel message of salvation from sin through faith in the righteousness of Jesus, the only Mediator and Saviour, and to preach it with these verses as the syllabus, is the work to be done to prepare the way of the Lord in this generation. And the very first thing to which we are introduced in the message, in the words, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come,” brings us face to face with that which sets forth in the fullest manner the whole provision of God for the salvation from sin. And that whole provision is wrapped up and revealed in the sanctuary question. And by the terms of this message, the first thing that we are brought to face when we are to preach salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ, is the whole question of God’s provision for the remission of sin as set forth in the sanctuary. GCB April 2, 1903, page 51.10
DEALING WITH SIN
And this brings us to note the real meaning of sin. What is involved in sin? Sin is such treason against God and His righteous government as means the casting down of God from His throne, and the putting of the sinner in the place of God. Every sin involves the casting down of God from His throne. That is what sin means, no matter what the particular sin be, the casting down of God from His throne, and the setting aside entirely, the annihilation, of God and His righteous government, and the establishment of the sinner and his unrighteous way in the place of God. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.1
Now how does God deal with sin which has that meaning in it? He does not abdicate His throne in favor of the sinner; but He sets forth a provision for the conduct of His government, even when that effort to cast Him down from His throne has been made. That is, He sets forth His government as adapted to subjects who are in rebellion against Him, and He makes it clear that the power by which He will rule even those who have sought to cast Him from His throne is the power of infinite love, and that by giving Himself in behalf of those who would cast Him from His throne, He would lift up those who have fallen, and give them anew a place with Him on His throne. And all this is set forth in the sanctuary question. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.2
The sanctuary and its service, as set forth in the tabernacle among Israel, and later in the temple, is the letting down upon earth of the object-lesson which sets forth God’s plan of government, and how He deals with those who have sought to dethrone Him. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.3
The Scripture makes this clear. As priest upon the throne, still king, and executing the office of priest, in dealing with sinners, He sets forth, in the provision of the sanctuary, the plan that He has devised from eternity for salvation from sin. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.4
Now notice some of the lessons that come just from the leading events connected with this history of this sanctuary question. First, when He would set forth this object-lesson upon earth through His servant Moses, He made known His purpose to His people, because God’s people are so intimately related with this question of the sanctuary that they cooperate with God in His work through Christ in the sanctuary. So that every step of the way the divine and the human cooperate; and God sent this word to His people, “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” And in Exodus, chapters 25 to 31, God gave to Moses explicit instruction concerning the building of the sanctuary and the preparation for its services. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.5
Moses was to make this known to the people, because the people had a part to act in this work. He made it known to the people, and the people acted their part in the work, and the sanctuary was built and the service was established. Now that is the first marked development upon the earth in the revelation of the truth found in the services of the sanctuary. That service went on for centuries. The real import of it was lost sight of; it was perverted into mere form and ceremony, and yet it was God’s established service. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.6
But in due time, in the development of God’s purpose, came that time when type met antitype, when everything was fulfilled, the great Sacrifice was offered, and the typical ministry ceased. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.7
There is something in these different steps in the development of God’s purpose of salvation from sin as set forth in the sanctuary and its services that makes a difference to the people of God, that they ought to know. It is God’s purpose that they should know this, and it is necessary for them to know it, in order to cooperate intelligently with the development of God’s purpose of salvation as found in this question. Therefore it was necessary that when this change was made the veil of the temple was rent, the typical service upon earth ceased, the ministry in the holy place in the sanctuary in heaven began; it was necessary that the people should know concerning it. How did they find it out? Note some steps in the development of the purpose of God, and the revelation of His truth to that people. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.8
First, John the Baptist came with his message to prepare the way of the Lord. Next, the Messiah Himself was revealed; was crucified; raised from the dead; and ascended on high. Next came the day of Pentecost. Now these events have a relationship one to another. The message of John was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. His message received would have prepared the people to receive Him. The reception of the Messiah would have prepared them to understand His work and mission. That knowledge would have prepared the way for the blessing on the day of Pentecost. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.9
On the other hand, their rejection of the Messiah when He was manifested shut away the light and the knowledge that would have enabled them to understand His work, His death, His resurrection, His ascension. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.10
How were these successive steps in the development of the purpose of God revealed?—By the messages that God Himself sent; and when on the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost came upon them, their minds were enlightened concerning the purpose of God, and they saw, and Peter, as the spokesman, set forth the fact that Jesus, the Messiah, the One who had been crucified, who had been raised from the dead, who had ascended on high, was now the high Priest in the heavenly sanctuary; and it was because of His work as high Priest in the heavenly sanctuary that they enjoyed the ministry of the blessing they had that day. And Peter made that clear, the Holy Ghost being interpreter; and you can see this by reading in the second chapter of the book of Acts. GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.11
The apostle first quotes from David this prophecy: “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on this throne: he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hades, neither His flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” GCB April 2, 1903, page 52.12
Peter saw that day what Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, so distinctly stated: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum. We have such an high Priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man;” and that was opened up to their minds that day by the Holy Spirit, and Peter, as spokesman, told them, and that they were in, as it were, a new epoch in the development of this gospel plan of salvation. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.1
Now as soon as these successive revelations are made, and the light shines clearer concerning God’s purpose, then the effort is always to pervert or hide that purpose; so the sanctuary service was perverted in the days of Israel, and so the heavenly sanctuary service was perverted. It began to be perverted in the early church. The mystery of iniquity, which began to work in Paul’s day, was simply the working out of a definite plan on the part of the enemy of God’s truth that he should hide from the people the light and the blessing and the power for salvation from sin that were revealed in this new opening up of the truth of the sanctuary question. The church and the world went into the darkness of the Dark Ages, because the light that would shine from Him who sitteth between the cherubim was shut off from them. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.2
Now, after eighteen centuries, we have come to a third step in the development of this truth, set forth in the sanctuary question, and that is this: According to the prophecy of the 2,300 days, we have come to the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary. Now mark that in the prophecies these several things all come at the same time: The cleansing of the sanctuary, as set forth in Daniel 8:13, 14: the coming of the Son of man to the Ancient of Days, as set forth in the seventh chapter of Daniel: the coming of the Lord to His temple, as set forth in the third chapter of Malachi; the coming of the bridegroom, as set forth in the parable of the virgins, in Matthew 25. All deal with the same grouping of events, and they all center in that time in 1843 and 1844. At that very time comes the message to the church concerning Him “who openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth;” and the message to the church, “Behold I have set before thee an open door which no man can shut.” GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.3
Now that was at the beginning of this message and this work,—the word that was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. When that transfer of the ministry was made from the holy to the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, as set forth in these scriptures, it marked a new step in the development of the gospel. And it marked a phase of truth that the people ought to know. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.4
Now note the history of that time. First came what we call the first angel’s message, a message that went forth to prepare the way of the Lord,—a definite-time message concerning the fulfillment of prophecy and the coming of the Lord. And in the preaching of that message the position was definitely taken that the prophecy of the 2,300 days would expire in the year 1843 to 1844. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.5
After 1843 had passed, and the Lord did not come, there was a general agreement of the Advent believers that the Lord would come in the spring of 1844, with no effort to fix a definite date, and that time also passed. And then the light came again, and they fixed upon a definite day, the tenth day of the seventh month, the twenty-second day of October, 1844. And then came in the message of the second angel and the midnight cry. And in that short time, the summer and early autumn of 1844, there went forth a message of wonderful power. But the tenth day of the seventh month came. and the Lord did not come to this earth, and they experienced that most bitter disappointment. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.6
But those whose faith held to the prophecies, whose personal experience in the message was the experience of deliverance from sin, who had found in that message personal salvation, could not believe that they were all wrong in that work, and they waited upon God, and they studied His Word for light, and light came; and what was the light that came?—It was the light on the sanctuary question. When they took up the study of the sanctuary, light was thrown upon the past, upon the present, and upon the future. And the people of God arose with new courage, with fresh hope to go forth to give the final message. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.7
Now the question is always raised. If they were so certain in their time that the Lord was coming on that day, and preached it, and He did not come, and they were mistaken about it, how do you know that you are not mistaken in preaching the message now of His soon coming? And the answer to that question is found in the study of the sanctuary. I mean not merely in the fact that after 2,300 days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed, not merely in the fact of a date, but in the nature of the work set forth in the services of the sanctuary, and that is this:— GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.8
The work of Christ as our Mediator in the atonement for sin is the work to be followed all the way through,—through His work as Mediator, through the atonement provided, we have redemption, even the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.9
But there is a difference between the forgiveness of sins and the blotting out of sin. There is a difference between the gospel being preached for the forgiveness of sins and the gospel being preached for the blotting out of sin. Always, and to-day, there is abundant provision for the forgiveness of sins. In our generation comes the provision for the blotting out of sin. And the blotting out of sin is what will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord; and the blotting out of sin is the ministry of our high Priest in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary; and it makes a difference to the people of God to-day in their ministry, in their message, and in their experience, whether they recognize the change of the ministry from one apartment to the other, or whether they recognize and experience the fact of the change. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.10
The very center and heart of the Advent message for this generation is found in the ministry which Christ, our High Priest, is carrying forward in the heavenly sanctuary in behalf of His people in this generation. That ministry began, that change in the ministry took place in A. D. 1844, according to the prophecy. It has been continued until this present time; it is to be carried forward until an end is made of sin, until it is blotted out, until all that rebellion that would cast God down from His throne, and put the creature in place of the Creator, is utterly removed from the universe, and the universe is clean, so that out of the heart of every created being has been cast even the lurking thought of that sin. And that is the ministry of our High Priest in this generation; and our cooperation with that ministry of our High Priest in this generation will prepare the way of the Lord in this generation. GCB April 2, 1903, page 53.11
A word further concerning that blotting out of sin: It is the revelation of the glory of God that blots out sin. The time for the blotting out of sin has come when our High Priest takes all the sins of the people upon Himself, and goes into the most holy place, and stands in the immediate presence of the glory which blots out sin. The sins blotted out are the sins confessed, confessed upon the Priest, not that by arbitrary act of ours we can lay our sins upon Him; God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Our confession is that we personally confess that our sins are on Him. We agree to that, and, having confessed that, and agreed to that, we let go of them; we say our sins are on Him. Our very agreement with Him, in the confession that our sins have been laid upon Him, is God’s means of removing them from us, and letting them be upon Him in our behalf. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.1
Now I want to put together the prophecies and the facts concerning this advent movement in 1843 and 1844. Note, now, the pairs of events: The first message, the second message, and the midnight cry, and the third message; and now, in our time, the message of Revelation 18 uniting with the message of the third angel. Those are definite facts in the development of this advent message in this generation. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.2
Note, on the other hand: In 1844, exactly that happened which the Scripture said would happen, and our High Priest changed His ministry from the holy place to the most holy place. The Bridegroom came at just the time the cry was raised, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.” The messages that were given were in God’s order, and they were to do just the work that God had in mind, and fulfill His definite purpose for that time. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.3
So it is with the third angel, and so it is with the union of all three and the angel of Revelation 18, in the wonderful manifestation of power that will bring the coming of the Lord. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.4
Now, is there any relation between these things?—Certainly, a most definite and clear relation. You mark the steps. The first angel’s message prepared the people for exactly the thing that did take place. It was given under God’s providence; it was under His guidance. It prepared the people, that they might unite intelligently with our High Priest in His change of ministry. They did not know it at the time, but that was God’s purpose. The midnight cry prepared them that they should step right over with the High Priest into the most holy place. The third angel’s message, with all these other messages united with it, should make perfectly clear and distinct the way into the holiest of all, and should fasten the minds of the people directly and definitely upon the present work of Christ, our Mediator and High Priest, in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary above as a definite fact. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.5
Now that should be distinctly brought cut in the third angel’s message; and with that, of course, will come the clearest revelation of the gospel ministry for this time, the blotting out of sin in this generation, thus preparing the way of the Lord. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.6
These events did not come by chance. The facts of history concerning this advent movement and the facts of prophecy come together according to God’s purpose. And we find ourselves now facing the very next and last development in these steps of experience in the Advent message; and what is that?—It is the hour of temptation, that is to come upon all the world, to try all them that dwell upon the face of the earth; and the message of Revelation 18, united with the message of the third angel, will prepare a people to stand in that hour of temptation. If the third angel’s message is understood and preached as the gospel for this day, it will bless the people in the very experience through which they are passing. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.7
Now that preaching of Christ, and Him crucified, that preaching of the righteousness of Christ as the gift of God through faith in Jesus, which does not extend to and take in these definite developments of advent history, of advent experience, and these definite developments of the truth for this generation, is not the preaching of righteousness by faith, or Christ crucified, that God would have preached to the people now. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.8
Now do not misunderstand me. I will speak in the plainest manner. You know I am not preaching against the forgiveness of sin, the righteousness of Christ, and the glory of the cross of Christ. But what I want to emphasize is this, that not by going off on one side, and ignoring all the historic truth, and all the prophetic truth, and simply preaching a general message of salvation through faith in Christ, without applying God’s message of salvation through faith in Christ to this generation, is not the preaching that God wants in this generation. (Congregation, “Amen.”) The preaching of the glory of the cross of Christ, the preaching of the light that shines from Calvary’s cross, the preaching of the righteousness of Christ as our only hope of salvation, must in this generation extend to a definite application and enforcement of these truths, in the light of advent history and advent prophecy. And when those truths are preached in the light of advent history and advent prophecy, they will save people from sin and from sinning now. They will prepare a people to stand in the hour of temptation that faces us, and will prepare a people to meet the Lord in the air, and so to be ever with the Lord; and that is the message to be preached in this generation. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.9
Let us make as clear as possible what God’s definite purpose for His work is now, that we may all unitedly cooperate with God’s purpose for this time, that there may be just as much the one voice that shall speak the one message. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the desert a highway for our God,” as was heard when the one man, John the Baptist, went forth with his message. Thus we shall not have a message of one sort on this coast, and a message of another sort on the other coast, and a message of some other sort in some other country. There will be one world-wide message, with only one voice, ever preaching salvation from sin through faith in God’s provision,—a complete deliverance from sin, the blotting out of sin, and the salvation of God fully revealed. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.10
And that is what I believe is the message for this time. We have simply looked at it; we have simply opened it up, to look at it; but I want to add that not one truth of the Bible is shut out of the third angel’s message. I want you to think of that. I mean that not one truth from the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis to the last verse of the twenty-second chapter of Revelation is in any way shut out from this message. But now let us add another thing, and that is that every truth from the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis to the last verse of the last chapter of Revelation, in this generation is to be preached in the light of those few verses of Revelation 14:6-12. Those few verses cast a light upon the whole question; and when we begin to enter into the study of it, and to find what it opens up to us, we shall find ourselves face to face with every truth of the Scriptures, with the light of all the ages concentrated, as it were, upon this time, and we shall have a message to bear that will have the power in it to save to the uttermost. GCB April 2, 1903, page 54.11