General Conference Bulletin, vol. 6

The Sermon - THE DEFINITE MESSAGE

A. G. DANIELLS

Friday Evening, May 14, 7:45 P. M.

I will call your attention to a scripture found in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, beginning with the sixth verse. (Reading verses 6-14.) GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.2

This scripture constitutes the basis of the movement with which we as a people are identified. We have a well-defined purpose before us. We have a very definite work, and we have strong convictions regarding that work. We get these views and this conviction from the Scriptures, and the passage which I have just read, we might say, is the very foundation-stone of our faith. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.3

We have read this scripture and heard it read hundreds of times, and yet tonight it is just as interesting as it ever was. There are men before me who have heard this read as a sermon text for over fifty years, and it is just as precious, just as inspiring, just as thrilling as when they first heard it and understood it. Why is this?—It is because it is a present truth message, a message for the hour. This message has not become a message of the past. Therefore every time we read it we find in it life and courage and enjoyment. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.4

It is this message that has brought you here to-night. Here are men who have left their families and their homes, and have come from the uttermost parts of the world, some journeying for weeks to reach this place. What led you to turn your back on everything of interest in this world, and journey toward this place, keeping up your courage all the way?—It is this message. It is the truth set forth in these verses. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.5

The hour has come for this message to be proclaimed to mankind, and this mighty truth is to-day operating upon the hearts of men. And when that message comes to men, and they give it a respectful attention, it lays hold upon them with a grip that they can scarcely break. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.6

No doubt many if not all of you can readily go back in your recollections, and fix upon the time and place and the circumstances under which you first heard this thrilling message. It may have been in a tent, in some town far distant from here. It may have been in some school-house, on some prairie, or in some forest, or in some lecture hall or courthouse, or perchance in your own home. You can remember the time and place, and the person who brought you this message. You remember the deep impression it made upon your mind. Perhaps you can remember how you tried to throw off the convictions, and to set yourself free; but you could not do it. The message rang in your ears, it deepened in your hearts. It held you until you surrendered, and then sweet peace and joy came into your heart. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.7

This is not an imaginary experience. It is not a mere sentiment that sweeps over us. It is the word of the living God for this hour. It has no respect for nationalities. It knows no boundary lines. We have before us to-night people of many nationalities who have had this same experience. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.8

Here is a message written two thousand years ago, that has only recently begun to lay hold of the human family. This message did not do this in ancient days. It had no such effect upon the hearts of men in apostolic times. It did not operate in the time of the Reformation of the sixteenth century. It was not until 1840 that these words began to manifest this power to lay hold upon the hearts of men. And from that time to this it has been a power in the earth to hold the minds of men. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.9

Men can not stop it. Men have tried over and over again since this message began its leavening work to bind it about or to hinder it, but they could not do it. They have never been able to build a dam to keep it from flowing on, or to put bands about it to keep it from extending. But it keeps on expanding and enlarging and gathering and building all the time. Thank God for it. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.10

I want to talk this evening about the point to which we have come in this message. These words were penned by the apostle John two thousand years ago. They describe to us scenes that passed before his mind in vision on the Isle of Patmos. First, he saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven, and that angel had the everlasting gospel. It was not an appendage to the gospel, not some new thing aside from the gospel, but the blessed gospel of salvation. It is to all people that dwell on the earth. That means all the continents; it means all the islands of the sea where men dwell; it means every habitable portion of the earth. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.11

The result of the proclamation of this message to the world, to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, was revealed to John in the words, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” And then the consummation of it all is revealed: “I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” Who is that?—That is the Lord Jesus Christ coming as King of kings. This message, then; is a last-day message. It is the message given to prepare the world for the end of all things here below. For that reason it makes a man a commandment-keeper. It prepares him to dwell with God. It prepares all who receive the message to dwell in the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.12

Now, dear friends, this message is a very definite message for us to build upon. It causes us to know where we are in the world’s history. It makes us understand clearly what we are to do, and it gives definite shape to all our plans and to all our service. How very specific life became when we accepted this message and surrendered to it. We had an ideal set before us, and a definite work marked out. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.13

This message is based upon very definite revelation from God. The very first words of the message are these: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” This leads us to other scriptures definitely dealing with the judgment hour. We turn to the eighth chapter of the book of Daniel, and there we find the definite statement upon which this message is based. I will read two verses:— GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.14

“Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.15

That is a very definite statement. It gives us a definite period of time, two thousand three hundred days, prophetic days, which mean literal years to us. At the end of that period the sanctuary must be cleansed. We at once begin to ask some questions about this. What is the sanctuary? What is its cleansing? When does this prophetic period end? And still another question. When does this period begin? As we study, we find that this period begins in 457 B. C. Having found this beginning, we can easily find its termination, 1844. And further study reveals to us the Scripture teaching regarding the sanctuary. We find that it is the sanctuary in heaven, where our Lord Jesus Christ ministers, and that the cleansing of the sanctuary is the work of the investigative judgment, deciding the destiny of the human family, at the close of which Christ comes. And so we are brought, to this statement, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.16

I shall not to-night attempt to give the proofs regarding this. I am only hastily reviewing the facts with which we are acquainted. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.17

What I want to call your attention to is this, that at the very time when this definite period reached its termination in 1844, the message that was to be given began to sound. I ask you to think of that. Never before in the history of the church of God had God’s people given such a message. Solomon wrote about the judgment, and declared it would come. All the preachers of the church of early times knew about it; but not one of them declared that the hour of the judgment had then come. Paul reasoned of the judgment to come. But here is a message that declares that the judgment is come. For the first time in the history of the church this message began to sound at the termination of that long prophetic period, in 1844. From that time to the present it has not ceased to sound, not ceased to lay hold of men, and to construct something here of a visible character in the world. I like to contemplate it, for here is something tangible. There are the words written long centuries ago, but right here before our eyes is the thing itself. GCB May 17, 1909, page 39.18

That makes me then a creature of God’s providence and destiny. It makes you a creature of his providence. You are not here to-night by choice. You are not here by mere coincidence. You are here by the providence of Almighty God. For years I have looked upon everything in connection with this work in that way. In my early experiences in the tent work, I remember that the faces of many of the people who came into the tent showed that they were not there by chance. The providence of God had brought them and me together, and they were to hear a message for eternity; and that message was to speak to their hearts. O, how it strengthens a man when he knows that there is definite power working with the message that he bears! GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.1

So it was with William Miller. It was Almighty God that impressed that man, and led him to start a movement that has never stopped. When the part that he was to act in the development of the movement reached its conclusion, God began to lay hold of others. There is no doubt that Joseph Bates was taken in hand by the Lord, and held, and directed, and impressed, and led on, until God’s purpose began to be discerned, and until others were led to join him in it, and others, and others, until you and I were directed to it, and we accepted it, and began to work, and direct others into it; and so the circle has been widening until this time. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.2

This movement, like all such movements, began in feebleness. Those who first got a glimpse of this message and its destiny were very few, and very poor, and unknown in the world. They had no means. Everything of the world was against them, and everybody was against them. In fact, many times we might think that God himself could not have begun this movement in greater weakness and obscurity than he did. But God saw to all that. We can trace its growth, step by step. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.3

The point I wish to call your attention to is the position to which we have now come. Where are we to-night in this message? Sixty-five years it has been sounding. The message was to be finished in a single generation. Where is it to go?—It is to go to all the world, to every kindred, tongue, and people. I wish to point out briefly just where the message has gone. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.4

It started here in the Western Continent, not far from where we are encamped here to-night, in New England. It began to enlarge its circle, and it traveled down the coast. It crossed the line into Canada, and it journeyed westward to the Ohio River, and then to the Mississippi River. I remember myself when it first leaped across the Missouri River. I remember well when it stepped across into Nebraska and Dakota, and it kept on moving westward until it reached the Pacific Ocean. Then it flew eastward to Europe, and has passed on to Africa, Asia, South America, Australasia, and the islands of the sea. We have here delegates from all these continents, and from the island fields, representing the many peoples and tongues who have joined in this work. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.5

Again I say, look at the vast sweep have paid little attention to it, while thousands and millions of men do not understand it, know nothing about it, it is at work; it is accomplishing something in its might and in its power. And when people really stop and look at it, they are astonished. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.6

To illustrate this point: Our statistical secretary was asked by the United States Government Census Bureau to make a report. When he sent in his report, the man who had charge of it could hardly believe what was reported; so he sought a personal interview, and said: “Look here, you represent yourselves as carrying on missionary operations in about seventy countries. Do you mean that?” (I suppose he thought we meant seven.) And the secretary replied, “Yes, sir; that is it.” “Why,” said he, “I did not know there were seventy countries to carry on missionary operations in!” When our secretary assured him there were, he said, “Would you mind giving me the names?” So the names of all were given to him, and I tell you, the man was astonished with the facts. He said: “Why, you folks ought to have a better representation in our reports!” (They had jumbled the Adventist people all up in one little paragraph,—put us all together, as one fanatical sect.) And then he took an hour or two to inquire into this thing and to get information, after which he promised to write up a good, clear report regarding the beginning of this movement, its development, and its wonderful work. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.7

This movement challenges the wonder and admiration of all who become acquainted with it. I have seen something of this wonder expressed as I have talked with people who have heard of our Seminary or our Sanitarium and have come out to look around. Several times I have met such visitors just as they were entering the grounds here, and they would ask me if this was the Adventist sanitarium, and if they might have a look at it. So I would get into the automobile or carriage, or walk with them, and tell them about it; and before they would leave this place, they would express the greatest astonishment at this thing; not simply at these buildings, but at this great movement that they came to learn something about. There is something about it that certainly does impress the minds of men who stop and give it a little thought. And I believe that we, ourselves, ought to stop and look at it carefully and seriously from day to day; we ought to ponder its progress, its might, and its power. We ought to see what it is doing in the world. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.8

This message is not only making an impression upon people’s minds, but, as I have pointed out, it is laying hold of them and controlling their lives. And it goes deep down into their pockets and lays hold of their pocket-books. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.9

A little while before coming to this meeting I received a letter from a man who is to receive his discharge from the United States army, on the 27th of August. He is a sergeant in the army, with a splendid record. He says that this message came to him away off in the Philippines; and that as soon as he is discharged from the army; he will put himself and all that he has accumulated at the feet of his Master, to give his life to the proclamation of this third angel’s message. And if possible, he wants to come to the Foreign Mission Seminary GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.10

Now, what has done that? What power is it that lays hold of a man like that?—It is the power of Almighty God, revealed in the message he has sent to the world for this hour. And so it is working everywhere. As our secretary has said, this message has gone from pole to pole; it has traveled around the equator; it has penetrated all the continents and all the countries, and now it is filling in the gaps along the way. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.11

The point to which we have now come is just this: The closing up of the message. And with the schools training men and women for service, printing houses turning out literature for distribution, sanitariums all about, with anxious hearts everywhere, ready to go into service, what remains to be done is to use all these mighty facilities, under the power of God in finishing the work. O, it does seem to me that we are within sight of the end! [“Amen, amen.”] And I tell you, my friends, it does me good to know that the men who have been a long time on the journey are so confident about this, that the assurance and the confidence does not leave a man in his old age. It never leaves a man after a few years of devotion to it; it remains with him and buoys him up. I tell you, if there is anything in revealed religion, if there is anything in the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is here in this message, it is here in this movement. Never in the history of the church of God has there been more tangible evidence of the purpose and power of God than we see right here in this message with which we are identified. And if we have to give this up, if we have to abandon this, if we can not count on this, pray tell me what there is in the world that we can take hold of, or cling to, or rely upon. There is nothing. But we do not have to give it up, and we will not give it up. [“Amen, amen.”] It is hard to give it up. It is hard for a man to get away from this thing. He has to fight hard, and he has to persist in his determination in order to get away from it finally. He may become lukewarm, he may get careless and worldly, and he may think he can give it up; but I tell you that when the undertakes to step over the line away from it, he finds it very hard. And when he has stepped over the line, he is all the time haunted with the idea that he ought to step back and get into rank and into step. I thank God for this, and I pray that those who have gone over the border line will come back. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.12

I make no boasts to-night regarding individuals, but I do boast of the truth. I do glory in the message, I do rejoice in the movement itself; and I believe that we have come to the last stage in the journey. And it seems to me that this gathering here is an omen of what God wants us to do now in laying hold of his people and finishing this work. Why, my friends, this meeting here is something altogether different from anything we have ever had in General Conference. In the earlier days only those who were elected as delegates attended the General Conference, with a few exceptions. How is it that somehow as the time for this meeting approached, hundreds of people’s hearts longed to be here? How is it that people left their important work and their homes and came here to this meeting? I do not believe it was mere curiosity that brought them here; I believe it was some strong, impelling power that be of everlasting benefit to them: to get something that will make them mighty instruments in His hands in finishing this work, and that will go with them back to their friends and fellow believers and workers to give all new courage and new life in carrying forward this great and closing work. May God work this out now that we are here. And dear friends, let us this night consecrate our whole life more fully to the Lord and to his work in the earth. On this first Sabbath of our Conference let us make an unconditional surrender to God. Now let me ask you, fellow believers and brothers and sisters in this message, do you know of anything that is standing between you and God? Do you know of anything that is darkening your minds? Do you know of any evil that separates you from God? O, let me ask you to let God remove that thing this Sabbath day! I know that men, even preachers, can get great victories on such an occasion as this. I know it, for I well remember the first General Conference I attended. Somehow, the preaching of Brother Butler and Brother Haskell and those men brought terrible conviction to my heart; and I remember how I struggled until one day God took away that thing, and gave me a blessed victory. I know that on such an occasion as this preachers can get something that will help them wonderfully in the work of God. GCB May 17, 1909, page 40.13

Now, brethren, let us strike for a higher platform, for greater devotion and consecration to this work. Let us not allows this meeting to go by without our having complete and full victory in God. May God grant it for his own name’s sake! Amen. GCB May 17, 1909, page 41.1