General Conference Bulletin, vol. 4

SERMON

A. G. DANIELLS

April 14, 7 P. M.

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence. And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength. Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast labored: But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”—Isaiah 62:1-12. GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.2

Those are wonderful words. They convey a wonderful message from God to us. It is very easy to see the time when these words have a special application. Notice the eleventh verse; “Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world.” What is proclaimed? “Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” The people to whom this chapter applies will be living just before the Lord Jesus shall come in the clouds of heaven. Therefore, the words of this chapter and the wonderful facts set out in it apply especially to that people who shall see God when he comes in all his glory. We believe that we are near the second coming of Christ. We claim to be living in the very closing scenes of this world’s history. Therefore we must believe that the sixty-second chapter of Isaiah is addressed to us, and, believing that, let us give it a little study to-night, and see what the message is. GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.3

Let me read the tenth verse. “Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people: cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.” Oh, what a work is here committed to the people of God! The next verse says, “Behold, the Lord will come with his salvation and his work before him.” But when we are on the very verge of that event, when it is about to come upon us, we have a work to do. What is it? “Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people. Gather out the stones: cast up a highway and lift up a standard for the people to rally under.” GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.4

“Go through the gates.” That does not mean to shut ourselves up, to enjoy ourselves as best we can with the comforts and blessings of pleasant homes. “Go through the gates.” You see what the expression signifies. It presents to us the idea of labor, of going out among the people and coming into personal touch with them. “Prepare ye the way of the people.” That is what we are to go through the gates for. That is what we are to leave our homes for. That is why we are to leave our country, our kindred, and our father’s house to go into a land which God shall show us. It is that we may prepare the way of the people of the whole world. Well, now, what are we to do? “Cast up, cast up the highway.” People are confused; they are running hither and thither in dark and devious paths. They have no knowledge of where they are going. They have no clear way in which to travel. There are so many roads, so many ways, that they are all confused. Now, God says to his people, “Go through the gates, prepare ye the way of the people, and cast up a highway.” Make a plain path. “Gather out the stones,” the things that are causing the people to stumble; the things that lead the people astray. Therefore gather out everything that causes the people to fall. “Lift up a standard for the people. There are many false standards lifted up by the enemy. False banners are unfurled everywhere. God wants a true banner unfurled for the people. He wants us to lift up a standard that shall be so clear, so plain, so evident, that are the people of the world will recognize it, and will find rest and peace and gladness in rallying under that standard. GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.5

God has given us a message that will enable us to do all that he here tells us to do. He has given us light and truth, has given us a grand system of Bible truth that will enable us to go to all the people of the world and prepare the way of the people. “Cast up a highway; gather out the stones, and lift up a standard, “so that men and women shall know where they are. Oh, how many times I have seen this scripture fulfilled in my experience in distant regions during the last fourteen years! GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.6

I have pitched my tent in a town where no Seventh-day Adventist minister had ever spoken, or ever set foot, and have endeavored to place before the people the third angel’s message. From the very start. I have seen the light break in on their minds, so that they would experience a sense of satisfaction, and say to themselves, This is the word of God, the light of heaven. As the meetings progressed, I have seen those individuals casting aside one error, and then another, and finding their way along the road, until their feet were planted solidly upon the highway of truth. There is no work that a man can do in this world that brings such large returns; no work that brings such grand satisfaction to a man’s own heart; nothing we can do that will bring such unspeakable joy and riches to man. God has committed this work to our hands. He has given us the privilege of doing this work. I bless his name for it. GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.7

I have seen those individuals, after grasping the standard, with the fullest assurance that God was leading, march out into the realms of the enemy, and into the dark places of his territory, to hold the standard aloft, and point the people to the way they had found. We know that this is what God wants his people to do all over the world. There are light enough, wisdom enough, and power enough in God to give his people glorious success in his effort to do this work. GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.1

God is able to make our work effectual. I do not believe that he wants us to go out and labor without effect. He is able to call out the latent powers with which he has endowed us, and make them effective. He is able to endue us with that which we do not possess, with talents that we do not have by nature and inheritance. Let me tell you, brethren, if you go out into distant, neglected, needy fields, you may go with the assurance that God is able to give you victory. He is able to cause you to triumph always, in every place where he may send you, and in all that he may give you to do. GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.2

Now notice the first part of this chapter. We have seen from the eleventh verse to what time the chapter refers, and from the tenth verse we have seen the leading idea, the real thought, in the chapter. But let us go back and notice the first part of it: “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.3

I sincerely pray that the spirit of this Scripture shall take possession of our hearts. It presents to us the ever-living attitude of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “For Zion’s sake.” Zion is the church. Jerusalem is the church, the people of God. Jesus really says that for the church’s “sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.4

Jesus ever lives to make intercession. His whole life is given up to this lost world; and he is exerting his infinite power to cause his righteousness and his light to go forth to the people of the world. In this he presents what ought to be the spirit and the attitude of his followers, his people. If we would only catch that spirit, if we would only feel that mighty power moving us we would manifest the life that is expressed here. For Zion’s sake, for the church’s sake—the church to which I belong, the people with whom I am connected, the cause that God has permitted me to be connected with—for the sake of that people, for the sake of that work, for the sake of that glorious truth, I will not hold my peace, I will never rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. What a power God’s people might be in the world if they would take this position; if they would take this attitude! GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.5

We are now living on enchanted ground. We are living in a time when Satan is paralyzing the powers of men; we are living in a time that is spoken of in the third chapter of Revelation, in these words: “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.6

“Because thou art lukewarm.” That is an unfeeling condition, a paralyzed condition. This letter applies to this time and to this people, and yet do we not all feel that somehow there is paralysis upon us? Do we not realize that somehow there is something that binds and holds us? We know that we have wonderful light, an important truth, a mighty message. We know that it is world-wide, and that great power is to accompany it before it closes. We know all this, and yet we are conscious of weakness, we are conscious of some paralysis. We know that to-day we do not see the power attending this message that we ought to see attend it. It is not going to the world as it ought to go, and it is not doing the work for men that it ought to do. We know it. We know that we ought, as ministers of Jesus Christ, to carry our credentials with us in the work we are doing for men. I do not refer to a piece of paper that we call credentials given to us by some Conference Committee. Every man that God has made an ambassador has the privilege of carrying with him the credentials that God has given him. He has the privilege also of letting the people of this world know that he has such credentials. We need to get our credentials from God, and the world needs to know that we have them. We go out telling the world that we have the last warning message to give; that God has sent us, and I tell you power and authority ought to attend our words that will convince men and women of our ambassadorship. GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.7

But what is it to be an ambassador of the King of all the kings of the universe? What is it? O brethren! it is the highest honor that can be conferred upon a human being. When God bestows that honor upon man, no other man or set of men, no combination or organization can bestow honor upon that man. Could we fully realize this, how little and how mean the honors of this world would appear to us; how mean and trivial offices would appear to us! Do you know that no office that man can vote upon you can confer any honor upon you when God has given you the honor of ambassadorship? GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.8

Over in Australia, our greatest statesman was Sir Henry Parkes. For many years he battled for the rights, the liberties, and the freedom of the people. While Premier of New South Wales, he was called to Great Britain for some state purpose. Before this he was plain Mr. Parkes, and as such had been a stanch supporter of the principles advocated by Mr. Gladstone. Mr. Gladstone never would receive a knighthood from the queen,—never would receive any title. While in England, Mr. Parkes was offered a knighthood, and accepted it. He came back to Australia a knight, and was then known as Sir Henry Parkes. Some one asked him why he departed from the course of his great leader, the man whom he so greatly admired,—Mr. Gladstone. Well, said he, GCB April 16, 1901, page 271.9

Mr. Gladstone and I have occupied very different positions. Mr. Gladstone was enthroned in the hearts of a nation; and was honored by the people to such a degree that no knighthood could confer an honor upon him: no gift from the sovereign of the people could confer an honor upon him. I occupied no such position, and I felt that the queen could honor me. GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.1

Whether his logic was right or not, does not matter. But here is the point: The man upon whom God has bestowed ambassadorship stands where no other power; or all other powers put together, can bestow honor upon him. God calls upon his people to understand what he has done for them. He says, “Thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,” therefore, “I will spew thee out of my mouth.” It is evident from this that we do not understand our position; we do not understand what God has called us to; we do not understand the liberty there is in Christ Jesus, and the power there is in the gospel for us to give our fellow men. We are on the enchanted ground: we are in the lukewarm period and condition, and God calls upon us to get away from this. I have hoped with all my heart, that a mighty quickening would take place for this people, and at this Conference. I believe that God longs to set us free, to quicken us with his mighty life, his infinite power. Why, I know it. Here is what Jesus says: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see.” “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” That will cure the whole thing. That will do for us all that needs to be done. Now, dear friends, what is his attitude? He looks upon us, as in our lukewarm, weak, powerless, paralyzed condition, we see freedom beyond, but do not experience it; talking power, but failing to get it; always looking into the future, always almost grasping it, but not getting it. He sees that, and now he says, Come, come, and get help,—the gold, the raiment, the eyesalve. Be zealous and repent. Behold, I am standing at the door and knocking to come in. GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.2

Jesus Christ is all that any man wants; all that anybody needs. He satisfies every desire of the human hearts, and if he were only enthroned in the heart, he would work out through us, and by us, all that he wants to do. “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace.” O, that God would break our silence! O, that God would touch our lips with a live coal from off his altar! For Zion’s sake, for the sake of the church of Jesus Christ, for the sake of God’s blessed people and blessed cause among men, I will not hold my peace, I will not keep silence until the righteousness thereof—that righteousness we have talked so much about during the last ten or twelve years—go forth as a lamp that burneth. I can not help but fear that while we talk about that righteousness, somehow we have not laid hold of it as we might, as we ought to. I fear that it has been too much in theory! But I know there is blessed power in it. GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.3

May I give you just a little experience that I had in Australia when this message began to be preached here. It was at the Conference of 1891, when the ministers who were preaching that message gave such stirring sermons and messages here in this Tabernacle. Do you know that the mighty pulsations of your meeting here in this Tabernacle were felt all around the globe? We felt them in Australia, and when we got the BULLETINS, and began to read, our hearts were stirred, and I have seen our brethren sit and read those messages with the tears streaming down their cheeks; I have seen them fairly convulsed with the power there was in the message, even though only printed in the BULLETIN; I felt it myself. Just before the BULLETINS came, my mind was very powerfully called to this ninth chapter of Romans. “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” That scripture was sent to my mind for days and days before the first BULLETINS came. It was all the time before me, and when the BULLETINS came, and we began to read the message, O, how that message took hold of us. Our brethren used to get up very early in the morning, long before daylight, and take the BULLETINS, and study those talks and Bible studies. Although they had not had their attention called to the message before, as they read the BULLETINS, they went down on their knees, and found the righteousness which is of faith. Yes, they found it, and God blessed their hearts. They have since been rejoicing in that glorious message all the way along. I am glad to tell you, there are not two classes in Australia regarding this glorious message of righteousness by faith. GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.4

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation as a lamp that burneth.” There is power in that message. God wants us to get hold of that power. He wants us to get the righteousness, the activity, the earnestness, the burden of soul, that will not let us rest until the whole earth is lightened with the glory of this message. Our weakness, our crippled condition, God is able to take away. He longs to join himself to his people, that they may go forth conquering and to conquer, always bearing off a glorious victory. GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.5

It all rests with us, whether we will have this experience. You will say, “I want to be earnest, to be active, to be on the alert, to stand where all the fibers of my being will be quickened. I want to be there, but I am not there; I am paralyzed, I am powerless to do what I know I ought to do.” There are scores in this congregation who feel that way. But it is not a question as to whether God can do for us what we need. It is a question as to whether we will let God do it; as to whether we will permit him to do it. He is able to do it. But what can we do to bring this change to set us free, to quicken us into new life? God has given wills to every one of us. He has given us the power of choice. He has given us a word of life, and of infinite power, and it is our privilege to connect with that mighty power that is able to quicken us into new life. We must make this choice. I will not attempt to explain the thing, but there is something in that word, dear friends, that is able to generate in us life and zeal and holiness and power for the service of God. It is a mighty power. GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.6

Some weeks ago, when I was in Hanover, Germany, some of the brethren took me out to a cemetery to see a wonderful grave. It was composed of nine stones. Four of them were laid on the ground for a foundation, in the form of a square, each side of which was six feet. Four others were laid on top of these, but they were shorter and drawn nearer together, narrowing the space which was made by the foundation stones. On top of the eight stones was a large block that covered the space, weighing perhaps a ton and a half. On the foundation stone was inscribed this statement: “This grave is purchased for eternity. It shall never be opened.” GCB April 16, 1901, page 272.7

Yet the grave is open, so that you can look into it. It has been opened by nature. In some way a little poplar seed was deposited in the ground, before the stones were put together. That seed sprouted and grew up, and the little tender twig crawled along the bottom of the large block of stone to a little crevice where light and air penetrated. It then pressed its little point through a crevice out into the light. It must have been very small at the time. It could not have been larger than a knitting-needle, I judge. But it came out into the open air, and grew up the side of the big block of stone. The tree has grown until it is about eighteen inches in diameter. It has rent that tomb asunder. Four of the stones composing it were fastened together with strong iron bands. These have all been broken, and every stone in the grave has been moved from its original place, and the block weighing a ton and a half has been lifted up on its edge, so that you can look down into the grave. Notwithstanding the defiant inscription, the grave was opened. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.1

What was there in the power of that little twig to do that work?—The power of God, the life of God. But how did that life get into that little twig? How was power transmuted from God to the tree?—By his word. [Voices: Amen!] God spoke the tree into existence, and he spoke his life into the seed, and into the tree. The word enshrined the life of God into that object, and there we may see that mighty life manifesting itself. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.2

The life of that seed was the word that transmuted power to the seed, [Voices: Amen!] The same word has power to roll away every stone that Satan has built about us [Congregation: Amen!], and it has power to break every band that the devil has bound us with. [Congregation: Amen!] There is power in the word of God to set every man free, and make him free indeed. [Congregation: Amen!] The life of the Almighty God is in that word, and that life is in there for you and for me. [Voices: Amen!] One great reason why we are so powerless in our ministry and our battling with the enemy, is because we do not connect as we should with this current of life, with this mighty power that God has placed within our reach. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.3

There is power in this message, as Brother E. W. Farnsworth (many of you know him) wrote me by the last mail. He had just attended an excellent camp-meeting in New Zealand. He had instituted inquiry meetings, and held them all through the large camp-meeting, with strangers. These came to the meeting, were stirred by the message, and when an invitation was given for them to come to the inquiry meeting, they came, and sought God, several took their stand for the truth before the camp-meeting closed. In writing of it to me, Brother Farnsworth said, “Arthur, there is power in the third angel’s message when the current is turned on.” [Congregation: Amen!]. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.4

Dear friends, there is a mighty power in this message, and we want to become connected with that current as we have never been before. But how can we have that power, when we have so little connection with the divine word of the living God? Jesus Christ is enshrined in that word; but it is a sad fact that many of us give that word altogether too little study. [Voices: True!] Many will read almost anything quicker than the Bible. Many of our brethren seem to find time to read the daily paper, when they do not find time in a whole day to read the Word of God. I do not say that it is wicked to look into a daily paper. Do not go away and misunderstand me, but I do say that every day we need to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear his word. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.5

Jesus said to Martha, “But one thing is needful.” That one thing is an absolute necessity. There is but one thing without which you can not live. You may get along without any other thing, but this one you can not do without. “Mary hath chosen that good part.” What had she chosen? “Mary ...sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.6

My brother, my sister, God has given us the power to choose what we shall do. Every morning when we are awakened into life by the Lord himself, we can there and then choose what we shall make of that day. We can choose whether we will open our hearts to God or to the enemy; and if every day we open our hearts to our Lord, we shall be gathering strength more and more to fit us for his service. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.7

No experience that you had last month will do you to-day. What a mistake we sometimes make! We get a blessing by earnest prayer and careful Bible study, and then settle down to live on that experience for may days to come. But that is a mistake. We must have a fresh supply every day. We are like a plant that is growing up. The life that a plant absorbed yesterday has only increased its capacity to receive more to-day. We can not, at the beginning of the summer give a plant water and food enough to keep it green all through the summer. All that we did last month or last year was good for the time, but the necessities and demands only increased our capacity to receive more, and I want to tell you that the man who goes from this Conference, without getting more than he ever had before, will make a sad mistake. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.8

My brethren in the ministry and in the church, shall we not lay hold of God’s boundless grace here to-night, and every day from this on, and get what we need. Bless God, it is offered to us. It rests with us whether or not we will take it. May we let God help us. GCB April 16, 1901, page 273.9