A. T. JONES
NOW I wish you to consider for a little while what really is sin: what it is in essence. You know the divine definition: “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Now I wish you to consider what it is to transgress the law. Is it only the positive doing of something that is evil?—No; it is the COMING SHORT of positively doing that which is good. Is it not written that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all”? ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.1
In another word, sin is the coming short of the righteousness of God. To come short of the righteousness of God is to transgress the law. Then, whatever righteousness I may present, whatever deeds I may do, as obedience to the law of God as it stands in his word, which, in any sense at all, or to any degree at all, comes short of the righteousness of God, that is sin: it is indeed transgression of the law. This is emphasized by the fact that both in the Hebrew and in the Greek the word that God selected by which to convey to the minds of men the root-thought of what is sin, of what is transgression of the law, is the word that means to “miss the mark;” and to miss the mark by coming short. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.2
It was in the time when they used bows and arrows that the word was selected. A man, with his bow and arrow, shooting at a mark, would aim most carefully, and would do his very best, to hit the mark: all his intentions were good; his purpose and his endeavor were of the best; but yet he could not reach the mark. He missed the mark by coming short. He was not strong enough to give to the arrow that impetus which would carry it so that it would hit the mark. Remember he did not miss the mark by overshooting, but by coming short of it. That is the root-thought in the word which God chose, both in the Hebrew and in the Greek, to convey to mankind the idea of what sin is. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.3
Now no man in the world is strong enough, doing his very best, to hit the mark of the law of God, which is only the righteousness of God; for “all have sinned, and come short.” That mark is too high as well as too far away for us to hit it. But, bless the Lord, “when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” And in Christ alone we find the hitting of the mark. Therefore, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14. In Christ it is, only in Christ, that we find the righteousness of God, which is the keeping of the law of God. Only in Christ do we find the keeping of the law of God. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.4
Come then, look with me at that law. By it is the knowledge of sin. That covers everything. All there is in sin is covered by that. Suppose you and I look into the law of God and get the brightest, clearest possible view that a man can get of that law. Suppose I see its demands, in the greatest breadth that a man can; and that we actually fulfill, to perfection, all the breadth of it that we see—have we really fulfilled it? Think of that. Have you? Have you then fulfilled the law as God fulfills it? as God would if he were in your place?—Oh, no. We have fulfilled only what we could see. But have we seen it all, in its intensity of righteousness?—We have not. No one but God can, for it is only the law of God. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.5
That law being the law of God, only God’s righteousness is truly manifest in it: it expresses only that; so it is the reflection of what God is, in character. And that being so, nobody but God can see the true measure of the righteousness that is in the ten commandments. And there is the fallacy of our thinking that we can do true righteousness by keeping the ten commandments. We can not grasp the righteousness of the ten commandments. If we were able to grasp it, we might do it. But that would require that we be infinite in understanding. But there is none infinite but God. Therefore none but God can grasp the infinity of the law of God. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.6
There is another phase of this: I look into that law, and I see to the greatest height and breadth that I can; and I do to perfection all that I see—whose is the doing?—It is only mine. I have done it to perfection according to my understanding. I have done all that I can see. But the seeing is only mine, not God’s; and the doing is only mine, not God’s; therefore all the righteousness of such doing is but mine, not God’s. Now put this with that. The only righteousness that any man can ever see in the law of God is his own righteousness. And God can see in the law his own righteousness. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.7
Therefore, I state the principle in a broader way: The only righteousness that ANYBODY, God or man, can see in the law of God is his own righteousness. But when God sees in the law of God his own righteousness, it is all right: for it is the righteousness of God; it is holiness; it is the genuine. But when we see in the law of God our own righteousness, it is only “filthy rags;” it is only self-righteousness; it is only sin. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.8
Therefore it is written, in the lesson that you will have for next Sabbath, and don’t forget it when you come to it: “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21. To nobody in the wide universe does righteousness come by the law. Righteousness, to angels as to men, as the gift of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the universe, with God. Consequently, there is no righteousness that comes to anybody but by the faith of Jesus Christ. And when the cross was set up on Calvary, it became the center of the universe. The cross of Christ contains the whole philosophy of the plan of salvation: it is the seal of salvation to the angels who never sinned; it is the sign and seal of salvation to men who have sinned. To the angels who never sinned, the cross of Christ is the seal of certainty that their righteousness will abide forever, that they will never sin; to sinful men, it is the sign and seal that they will be saved to the uttermost from all sin, and held in righteousness for evermore. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.9
So, then, righteousness cometh to the world only as the gift of the Lord Jesus. “Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, ... even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.” He is the One through whom it comes; he is the One who paid the price of it, who took upon him the curse; the One who bore the penalty and paid all the claims of sin and death, upon every soul. And to him belong the glory, the honor, and the majesty for all the righteousness of men who have sinned; and for the security in righteousness of angels who never sinned. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.10
This is the gospel, and this is the salvation which the Lord Jesus brought. And this gives a glimpse of the mighty thing that sin is, and of what a fearful depth it is to which sin has plunged us, in plunging us into death—when it took such a gift, and such a price, to deliver us. But, thank the Lord, the deliverance in righteousness and life is as high on that side as the loss in sin and death is deep on that side. And so it is written: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me”—may have, or maybe shall have, everelasting life? Is that it?—No, no. To you it is written; to me it is written; listen: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life [listen more], and shall not come into condemnation; but [listen yet more] IS PASSED from,—what? All who know the word, say it. [Voices: “Death.”] “Is passed from death.” Then where was he before he believed?—He was in death. Where is the man who to-day hears the words of Jesus Christ, and does not believe them? Where is he, whoever he may be or wherever he may be? Suppose he belongs to the church? [Voices: “He is in death.”] And has his name on the church book; but does not believe? [Voices: “He is in death.”] Comes to meeting on Sabbath, hears the word of God which Jesus brought, and yet does not believe on him? [Voices: “He is in death.”] Look at it. And Again: “He that loveth not his brother abideth”—abideth, abideth—“in death.” 1 John 3:14. Where is he, then?—He is in death, in the power of death: death is his shepherd. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.11
That emphasizes what we had at the beginning, and all the way through—that death is the only portion of anybody in this world who is outside of Jesus Christ. They are subject to death; death is their ruler, sovereign, and shepherd, who attends them as they go here, there, and everywhere. But, thank the Lord, there is salvation to every man in the world; for he who came CONQUERED DEATH. He conquered death; bless his name. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.12
And note the power that is in him to conquer death, and the power that was displayed in him in the conquering of death. He gave himself up, bodily and wholly, to the power of death. He went into the enemy’s prison-house; he allowed himself to be locked up there, in the bonds of death, and a great stone was rolled unto the mouth of the sepulcher, and the sepulcher was sealed with the seal of the Roman Empire. So, both by the chief of the spiritual powers and by the chief of the temporal powers of this world, the Lord Jesus was locked in the power of death. But, being dead, he broke the power of death! ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.13
It is a little enough thing that one who is alive should break the power of death. But, oh, the majesty, the divinity, the infinity of the power of him who, being dead, could bread the power of death! That is the majesty of our Saviour, of the Lord who has bought you and me, and who is able to, and who does, set us free from the power of death. And when this “vapor” vanishes away, and we lie down, Christ will say, as of Lazarus, He “sleepeth.” True, he was, and we may be, locked in the bonds of death. But what does that amount to when our Lord has so completely conquered all the power of death? Therefore it is written: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I [I who was dead] am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of heel and of death.” Revelation 1:18. That is the power of our Saviour. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 659.14
Look at it again. He came forth from death. Why?—“Because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” Think of it! All the power of death exerted to the fullest extent of all temporal and spiritual powers of this world,—all that power could not possibly hold in death him who was DEAD. Bless the Lord! [Voices: “Amen.”] What has he, the Mighty One, to fear from death even? Oh, death is conquered, and the victory is ours to-day, who believe in Jesus. For it is written: “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but IS PASSED FROM DEATH unto LIFE.” Thank the Lord! ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.1
Oh, then, rejoice in the life which is life indeed. Stand up as Christians, holding up the head. Take the long, deep breath that belongs to him whose life comes from the depths of the Eternal. This is the salvation which the Lord Jesus brings, and gives, full and free, to every soul. Then drink it in, and rejoice in it for evermore. Tell it to those who are dead. Carry the good news to those who are lost,—that here is salvation—salvation from sin—salvation from death; for he, being dead, conquered death, and manifested the divinity of his power. And rejoice for evermore in it all. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.2
And now let us sing that blessed hymn, never too old, never too familiar, No. 123. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.3
“O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth,
Which in my Saviour shine!
I’d soar and touch the heavenly strings,
And vie with Gabriel while he sings
In notes almost divine. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.4
[Would you not? Then, as we sing it, let the spirit that is in it be in you and in me, in thankfulness, in praise, and in gladness.] ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.5
“I’d sing the precious blood he spilt,
My ransom from the dreadful guilt
Of sin and wrath divine!
I’d sing his glorious righteousness,
In which all-perfect heavenly dress
My soul shall ever shine. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.6
“I’d sing the character he bears ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.7
[It is his character that is my hope], ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.8
And all the forms of love he wears,
Exalted on his throne;
In loftiest songs of sweetest praise,
I would to everlasting days
Make all his glories known. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.9
[It will take to everlasting days to do it; and, bless the Lord, we have everlasting days in which to do it.] ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.10
“Well, the delightful day will come ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.11
[when we shall have the chance. It begins now, it is true; but now, with our weak, harsh voices and trembling lips, we can not make all his glories known, and can not sing them becomingly. Yet, bless his dear name, “the delightful day will come”] ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.12
When my dear Lord will take me home,
And I shall see his face;
Then, with my Saviour, Brother, Friend,
A blest eternity I’ll spend,
Triumphant in his grace.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 676.13
SINCE 1898 there has been in this nation a systematic repudiation of the truth—the fundamental national principle—that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. For years before this was thus systematically begun, as well as since, we have called attention to the truth that it could not be done without the planting of a despotism; and that in this case it would certainly be a religious as well as a civil despotism. This, because for a generation there has been here the steadily growing National Reform combination, ever insisting that governments do not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, but only from God. The Outlook has been one of the leading influences in the present national repudiation of the fundamental principle of the nation. And now the Outlook, being called upon by its readers to tell what then is the source of governmental power, answers thus, October 6:— ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.1
“Just government rests neither upon the edict of a few strong men nor upon the consent of the many; it rests upon the law of God. No government is just that does not conform to the law of God.” “Just governments rest on conformity with the laws of God.” “Human governments are, or ought to be, attempts to ascertain what these laws are, and to adapt the life of the community to them.” “Righteous democracy is simply one way of ascertaining what are the laws of God, and of conforming the life of the community to them.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.2
That defines and sanctions all that the papacy ever was. It is exactly what, from the beginning, the National Reform combination has proposed. This change in the fundamental principle of this nation is the very change that the National Reform Association has always advocated. Therefore nothing short of the direct enactment of a positive Sunday law, by this nation, could be more directly the making of the Image of the Beast than is this national repudiation of the fundamental principles of the nation as stated in the Declaration of Independence. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.3
AT the late General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, David H. Moore was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church for Eastern Asia. August 29 Bishop Moore sailed from San Francisco to Nagasaki, Japan. Before he started, he received the following letter of introduction:— ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.1
To the Naval and Military Commanders of the United States in China or on the Asiatic Station: This will present the Right Rev. David H. Moore, bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church for Eastern Asia. He is one of the most distinguished divines in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and worthy of the highest confidence. I bespeak for Bishop Moore any courtesy which can consistently be shown him. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.2
WILLIAM MCKINLEY.
Upon this the Christian Advocate remarks: “One so occupied as the President—especially in times like these—must often have to avail himself of an amanuensis or typewriter. No doubt this accounts for a title in the letter which is unknown to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Moore we know, and love to honor; but Right Rev. Bishop Moore we know not.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.3
The insertion of this title, unknown among Methodists, makes it certain that the actual writing of that letter was not done by William McKinley, who is a Methodist. The insertion of that title also makes it practically a certainty that the amanuensis or the typewriter who did actually write the letter is a Catholic. Who but a Catholic—one who from infancy had been trained to speak of a bishop as “Right Rev.”—could possibly have attached to a Methodist such a title? To one to whom the principal thing known of a bishop is that he is “Right Rev.,” it was easy to conclude, if he thought at all, that since Mr. Moore is a bishop, he must be “Right Rev.;” and to such a one it would be perfectly natural, if he did not think, to write inadvertently the phrase “Right Rev.” in connection with the title “Bishop.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.4
And this almost certainty that the said amanuensis, typewriter, or secretary, who is so close to the President of the United States that he can frame for him the wording of his letters, is a Catholic, carries with it also some very important considerations. If that is a certainty, then it is also a certainty that the Catholic Church has, in the most inner circle of official confidence of the President of the United States, the means of knowing what is passing in that innermost circle. And if this is not the certainty that thus is caused to appear, then it is one of the most peculiar mysteries of the day how, in a letter from William McKinley, a Methodist, there could have been written concerning a Methodist bishop the words “Right Rev.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.5
IN the matter of the duty of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, it is not to be understood that the two can for a moment be separated. The commandments can not be kept acceptably to God except by faith in Jesus Christ; and faith in Christ amounts to nothing—is dead—unless it is manifested, made perfect, in good works: and these good works consist in keeping the commandments of God. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.1
Christ kept the commandments of God: “I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15:10. By his obedience it is that many must be made righteous. “For as by one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Christ’s] shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:19. But these are made righteous only by faith in him, thus having “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:22, 23. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.2
All have sinned; and “sin is the transgression of the law.” As all have thus transgressed the law, none can attain to righteousness by the law. There is righteousness in the law of God; in fact, the Word says, “All thy commandments are righteousness;” but there is no righteousness there for the transgressor. If righteousness ever comes to one who has transgressed the law, it must come from some source besides the law. And as all, in all the world, have transgressed the law, to whomsoever, in all the world, righteousness shall come, it must be from another source than from the law, and that source is Christ Jesus the Lord. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.3
This is the great argument of Romans 3:19-21: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.4
Then the question comes in, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Notice, he had already said that although this righteousness of God is “without the law,” and by faith of Christ, yet it is “witnessed by the law and the prophets.” It is a righteousness that accords with the law; it is a righteousness to which the law can bear witness, it is a righteousness with which the law in its perfect righteousness can find no fault: it is indeed the very righteousness of the law itself; for it is the righteousness of God, and the law is only the law of God. It is the righteousness of God, which in Christ is wrought out for us by his perfect obedience to the commandments of God, and of which we become partakers by faith in him; for “by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” Thus we become the children of God by faith in Christ. By faith in him the righteousness of the law is met in us. And we do not make void, but we establish, the law of God, by faith in Christ. In other words, in Christ is found the keeping of the law of God. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.5
This is shown again in Galatians 2:17: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.” To be found sinners, is to be found transgressors of the law; for “sin is the transgression of the law.” Then since the Lord has set his everlasting “God forbid” against any suggestion that Christ is the minister of the transgression of the law, it follows as certainly that Christ ministers the keeping of the law. The believer in Jesus finds in Christ the keeping of the commandments of God—the law of God. Whosoever therefore professes to be justified by faith in Christ, and yet claims the “liberty” to disregard the law of God in a single point, is deceived. He is only claiming that Christ is the minister of sin, against which the Lord has set his everlasting “God forbid.” Thus faith, justification by faith, establishes the law of God; because faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, is the only means there is by which the keeping of the commandments of God can ever be manifested in the life of anybody in the world. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.6
This is yet further shown in Romans 8:3-10: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.7
What was it that the law could not do? ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.8
1. The law was ordained to life (Romans 7:10), but it could not minister life, because “all had sinned”—transgressed the law,—and “the wages of sin is death.” And this being so, all that the law can possibly minister is death. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.9
2. The law was ordained to justification (Romans 2:13), but it will justify only the doers of the law: but of all the children of Adam there have been no doers of the law: “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.10
3. The law was ordained to righteousness (Romans 10:5), but it can count as righteous only the obedient: and all the world is guilty of disobedience before God. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.11
Therefore, because of man’s failure, because of his wrong doings, the law could not minister to him life, it could not justify him, it could not accept him as righteous. So far as man was concerned, the purpose of the law was entirely frustrated. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.12
But mark, “What the law could not do in that it was weak through the sinful flesh,” God sent his Son to do, in the likeness of sinful flesh. What the law could not do, Christ does. The law could not minister life, because by transgression all had incurred its penalty of death; the law could not give justification, because by failure to do it, all had brought themselves under its condemnation; the law could not give righteousness, because all had sinned. But instead of this death, Christ gives life; instead of this condemnation, Christ gives justification; instead of this sin, Christ gives righteousness. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.13
And for what?—That henceforth the law might be despised by us?—Nay, verily! But “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.14
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill,” said the holy Son of God. And so “Christ is the end [the object, the aim, the purpose] of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” Romans 10:4. For of God, Christ Jesus “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.15
In Christ, by faith of Christ, the believer in Jesus finds the keeping of the commandments of God, which is the righteousness of God. Thus the keep- ing of the commandments of God is the gift of God: it is the “free gift” of the righteousness of God “which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” And this is the Third Angel’s Message: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 680.16
“BEAR ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Thus it is seen that the law of Christ is self-sacrifice to serve others; the spending of self to help others. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.1
And so it is written in another place: “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” And again: “Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.2
And this because “even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.” Romans 15:1-3. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.3
Again: this law is expressed thus: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory: but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than themselves.” Philippians 2:3. When each esteems the other better than himself, it becomes a pleasure to serve the other: it is more of a pleasure to serve the other, by helping him, than it is to serve self. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.4
So in truth each can please himself more, in pleasing his neighbor for his good, by serving and helping him, than he can in seeking to please himself by serving only himself. This is the true Christian joy, because it was “for the joy that was set before him” that Christ “endured the cross, despising the shame” and the reproach which must be, and which were, endured to deliver us from our shame and reproach. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.5
Therefore, again this law of Christ is expressed in the words: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Philippians 2:4. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.6
And that all may know for certain that this is precisely the law of Christ, and that the observance of it is therefore the keeping of all the law of God,—yea, even the keeping of all the law and the prophets,—Jesus himself spoke for all mankind this law of Christ. And here are the words: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.7
Notice, it is not, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do” that to yourself. Nor is it to have them do that to you; but it is “do ye even so to them.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.8
Thus the knowledge of this law of Christ is the easiest of all knowledge to attain, and the observance of this law is the easiest of all observances, to him who really has the heart to do it. To know what the law of Christ is, all that is required is that I shall simply think of what I would have any man do to me. In this transaction, at this particular moment, what would I choose that that man should do to me, if I were in his place, and all these circumstances applied to me? And whatsoever that may be, I know that that is the thing that it is right for me to do to him just at that moment, in that particular transaction, and in those circumstances. And since it is always perfectly easy for any man to know what he would that another should do to him in given circumstances, it is thus easy for him to know, at any moment, just what is the law of Christ; just what is the law of God; just what is “the whole duty of man.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.9
And just as easy as it is to know it, just so easy it is to do it, when I have the heart to do it; when I have Christ before me, instead of myself; and when I have his law in my heart, instead of my own self-seeking. But it is plain that this requires the utter emptying of self, and the appearing of Christ in the life; because none of this is the way of self; and self will never go that way. That is the way of unselfishness; that is the way of the crucifixion of self; the utter death of self, and the living of Christ. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.10
Therefore immediately following the word, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others,” the sum of all is written: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God: thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.11
Certainly it is true that without the mind of Christ no man can fulfill the law of Christ. Then wherever there is a lack of fulfilling the law of Christ, a lack of esteeming others better than ourselves, a lack of looking on the things of others, it is evident that the cause of the failure is in not having the mind of Christ. And the remedy is to receive and to retain the mind of Christ. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.12
If this law of Christ were fulfilled daily by individuals, by the managers of our Conferences and our institutions, the loud cry of the Third Angel’s Message would shortly fill the earth, the gospel of the kingdom would speedily be preached to all the world, and very soon the end would come. “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” ARSH October 23, 1900, page 552.13
THE United States minister to Spain says that the Filipinos “have made three attempts to open negotiations with the Vatican, all of which were refused.” Now the Filipinos are Roman Catholics. The Catholic Church claims them as hers, and resents any suggestion of Protestants working among them. The Filipinos, then, being Catholics, why does the Vatican refuse to recognize them or to accept any overtures from the, and insist on dealing with them only through the United States government? The reason is plain enough—to get into her net, and to hold and use as her tool there, the United States government, is of infinitely more importance to the papacy than are any of the concerns of the Filipinos. ARSH October 23, 1900, page 688.1