October 2, 1900

“The Third Angel’s Message. Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets; and Its Relation to the Great Nations to To-day” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 40, p. 632.

WE have seen how the continuance of the Eastern question, as it has centered in Constantinople since Aug. 11, 1840, has inevitably absorbed the whole East.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.1

We have seen that, with the single exception of Austria, the same Powers that were originally involved in the Eastern question in 1840, are still the principal Powers involved in the greater Eastern question, whose chief center is just now in Peking, but whose ultimate center is always Constantinople.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.2

And though these Powers, with the exception of Russia, were originally, and are still, the chief Powers of the West; yet, as the Eastern question, with which they became connected in 1840, has continued to grow until it has absorbed the whole East, these Powers of the West have, in the natural course of things, become also the Powers of the East.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.3

There are, however, two Powers reckoned among these principal ones of the greater Eastern question, which were not connected with that question originally, but have become parties to it only lately. These are Japan and the United States.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.4

In 1895 war broke our between China and Japan. Japan was everywhere and speedily victorious. When peace was established, considerable Chinese territory was agreed upon. But Russia, France, and Germany united in a protest against the cession of the agreed territory. Since the threatening protest of these three Powers was supported by the “advice” of Great Britain to the Japanese government to yield to it, Japan, to avoid a new war, did yield to the demand of the three Powers—and the territory in question fell immediately under Russian “influence.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.5

Further: to enable the Chinese government to pay the first installment of the cash indemnity, bankers of Paris and St. Petersburg loaned about eighty million dollars to China, upon the guaranty of the Russian government. Later, China secured another loan, from English and German bankers, secured by the customs revenue of China; and, through this, Britain secured a hold upon the fortress and naval station of Wei-Hai-Wei.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.6

These transactions took from Japan all the territory that had been ceded to her by China, except the Island of Formosa, and the Japanese a determination to be revenged upon Russia at the earliest possible moment. And thus Japan became, and stands, an integral part of the Eastern question as it is to-day.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.7

In 1898, as all know, the United States became involved in a war with Spain. The American fleet, in far Eastern waters, found and destroyed, at Manila, the Spanish fleet; and, through this transaction, the United States became possessed of the Philippine Islands, and so became an Eastern Power. Being thus an Eastern Power, the United States demanded and secured in China the “open door” for herself and all the nations, to Chinese trade.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.8

In the month of June, 1900, the legations of the Powers, in China, were attacked—that of the United States equally with the others. To rescue their ministers, each of these Powers was obliged to send an army—the United States equally with the others. This brought the United States as a Power into China, and associated her there in alliance with the other great Powers, who, from the beginning, have been the material part of the Eastern question. And in a circular note to all the Powers concerned, July 3, 1900, the United States announced to the world that “the policy of the government of the United States is to seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace in China, preserve Chinese territorial and administrative ENTITY, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly Powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire.” This shows that the United States has not only become, but that she intends to remain, one of the Powers of the East, and one of the very chiefest of those concerned in the Eastern question.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.9

As was made plain in last week’s study on this subject, this Eastern question as it centers in Peking, is but the extension and enlargement of the original Eastern question as it centers in Constantinople. And this crisis, which brings all these Powers face to face in China, is but the logical outcome of the steps that were taken in 1840, in the crisis which the original of these Powers into the position of supporters of the government of Turkey. Thus the question as it relates to Turkey, is the key of the same question in its enlarged form, as just now it relates to China. Consequently, the prophecies that relate to the Turkish power in this time are the key to the understanding of the question that involves China and the world-powers.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.10

What, then, are the scriptures that relate to Turkey in this time? The last verses of Daniel 11 relate to Turkey, which, as king of the north, with its center at Constantinople, occupies, in direct descent, the place of the original king of the north in the division of the empire of Alexander the Great, as in the fourth verse and onward. And of this Power it is written: “He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” Daniel 11:45.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.11

In these studies we have seen that a number of times in the last fifty years the Turkish government would have come to an end had it not been distinctly “helped.” Indeed, we have seen that the Turkish government could not have existed at all these fifty years if it had not been distinctly “helped” by the Powers whose relations are the substance of the Eastern question. By all it is expected that the Turkish government must leave Constantinople. Many a time in these years it has been expected that the Turkish government must certainly leave Constantinople, the tabernacles of his palace will be planted in Jerusalem, “between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.” And when that time comes, which must inevitably come soon,—“at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” Daniel 12:1.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.12

This final event in the Eastern question, with its accompaniments, is further described in Revelation 16:12: “The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.13

As to the literal river Euphrates, from the beginning of history it has been crossed and recrossed, even at the flood, without any particular difficulty, by kings and their armies. It can not be, then, the literal river that is here spoken of. But since waters signify “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15), the “water” here signifies the Power which dominates the peoples that inhabit the territory of the Euphrates—and that is the Turkish power, which is to come to his end when none helps him.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.14

And this occurs “that the way of the kings of THE EAST might be prepared.” But, with the exception of the United States and Japan, these “kings of the East” are the identical kings that have been the principal cause and substance of the Eastern question, from its origin, Aug. 11, 1840, unto the present hour.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.15

How, then, can the Turkish government come to its end? How can thus this “water” of “the great river Euphrates” be “dried up,” except by the action of these very Powers?ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.16

These “kings of the East,” whose way is to be “prepared” by the fall of Turkey, are the very Powers who are altogether responsible for Turkey.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.17

How, then, can Turkey possibly come to her end, except by the direct action of these Powers which now are “the kings of the East”?—Plainly, this is the only way in which Turkey can come to her end—the only way in which the water of the river Euphrates can be dried up.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.18

It is plain, therefore, that these Powers which are now “the kings of the East,” and which are in a vortex, whose immediate center is China, but whose original and ultimate center if Turkey, will reach the point where they will remove the Turkish government from Constantinople, and allow it to be planted in Jerusalem. And shortly after that, they will let the Turkish power “come to his end.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.19

And when that is done, whatever the Powers may intend in it, the end of it all is that they shall be gathered at Armageddon, to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. For it is written: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.... And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Revelation 16:13-16.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.20

Notice here the striking statement in the association of the two expressions in these verses of Revelation 16: The Turkish power comes to its end,—the water of the Euphrates is dried up,—“that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared;” and these “kings of the East” are said to be “the kings of the earth and of the whole world.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.21

Now, it is the truth that three of these Powers that created the Eastern question in 1840, with Germany and the United States, do actually control practically the whole world. And with these five Powers—Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and the United States—all the lesser Powers are, in some way, associated. So it is altogether true that “the kings of the East” are now indeed “the kings of the earth and of the whole world.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.22

And these Powers, in centering their interests in the East, and planting their armies in the East, are but arraying themselves and marshaling their forces, in readiness to march to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And that will be when, in their distress with perplexity, the Turkish government shall by these Powers be let fall, and so “the way” be prepared for them as “the kings of the East” to be “gathered” into that place “called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.23

Thus, we have fulfilled our promise made in these columns, July 17 and 31, to show the place and work of the great nations, and all the nations, of to-day, considered from the basis of the line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets. With China as their immediate center, with Turkey as their ultimate center, their place is “the whole world,” and their work is the arraying of themselves and the mustering of their forces in preparation for the battle of that great day of God Almighty.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.24

And since this is their place and their work; and since the complication in which they are involved culminates in that time of trouble “such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time,” when there shall be delivered only those “that shall be found written in the book,” their relation to the Third Angel’s Message is that that message must now be sounded, with its loudest voice, to all the people of the whole world, calling them, by the power of the everlasting gospel, to the registry of their names in the Lamb’s book of life.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.25

All who profess to know the Third Angel’s Message, in that very profession do profess to know all these things, and to be doing just this work of calling souls to registry in the book of life, that they may be delivered in that great day.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.26

Such being undoubtedly the place and work of the nations of to-day, and this being their relationship to the Third Angel’s Message, we are thus brought again to the consideration of the Third Angel’s Message, as it is in itself, and what it is, indeed, to-day.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 632.27

The time is at hand. Get ready, get ready, get ready.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.1

“Studies in Galatians. Galatians 5:22-26” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 77, 40, p. 633.

“BUT the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.2

We have seen somewhat of the essential evil and deceitfulness of the works of the flesh. But, thank the Lord, there is a better picture.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.3

The Spirit of God, which, in his fullness, is freely given to every believer, lusteth against the flesh, so that in him who is led by the Spirit of God the flesh can not do the things that it would. In such the Spirit of God rules, and causes to appear in the life “the fruit of the Spirit,” instead of “the works of the flesh.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.4

And though it be true “that they which do such things” as we described in the list of the works of the flesh, “shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” yet in the gift of the Holy Spirit, through the grace of Christ, God has made full provision by which every soul, in spite of all the passions, lusts, desires, and inclinations of the flesh, can “inherit the kingdom of God.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.5

In Christ the battle has been fought, on every point, and the victory has been made complete. He was made flesh itself—the same flesh and blood as those whom he came to redeem. He was made in all points like these; he was “in all points tempted like as we are.” If in any “point” he had not been “like as we are,” then, on that point he could not possibly have been tempted “like as we are.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.6

He was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” because he “was in all points tempted like as we are.” When, he was tempted, he felt the desires and the inclinations of the flesh, precisely as we feel them when we are tempted. For “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts [his own desires and inclinations of the flesh] and enticed.” James 1:14. All this Jesus could experience without sin; because to be tempted is not sin. It is only “when lust hath conceived,” when the desire is cherished, when the inclination is sanctioned,—only then it is that “it bringeth forth sin.” And Jesus never even in a thought cherished a desire, or sanctioned an inclination, of the flesh. Thus, in such flesh as ours, he was tempted in all points as we are, and yet without a taint of sin.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.7

And thus, by the divine power that he received through faith in God, he, in our flesh, utterly quenched every inclination of that flesh, and effectually killed at its root every desire of the flesh; and so “condemned sin in the flesh.” And in so doing, he brought complete victory, and divine power to maintain it, to every soul in the world. All this he did “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.8

This victory, in its fullness, is free to every soul in Christ Jesus. It is received by faith in Jesus. It is accomplished and maintained by “the faith of Jesus,” which he has wrought out in perfection, and has given to every believer in him. For “this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.9

He “abolished in his flesh the enmity” that separated mankind from God. Ephesians 2:15. In order to do this, he took the flesh, and must take the flesh, in which that enmity existed. And he “abolished in his flesh the enmity,” “for to make,” in order to make “in himself of twain,” God and the estranged man, “one new man, so making peace.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.10

He “abolished in his flesh the enmity,” in order “that he might reconcile both” Jew and Gentile—all mankind who are subject to the enmity—“unto God, in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity in himself.” Ephesians 2:16, margin. “The enmity” was “in himself,” by being “in his flesh.” And there “in his flesh” he slew it and abolished it. And he could do this only by its being indeed “in his flesh.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.11

Thus Jesus took upon him the curse, in all its fullness, precisely as that curse in upon mankind. This he did by “being made a curse for us.” But “the curse causeless shall not come,” and never came. The cause of the curse is sin. He was made a curse for us, because of our sins. And to meet the curse as it is upon us, he must meet sin as it is in us. Accordingly, God “hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” And this “that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.12

And though he thus placed himself entirely at the same great disadvantage as are all mankind—made in all points like us and so, “in all points tempted like as we are,“—yet not a single tendency or inclination of the flesh was ever allowed the slightest recognition, even in thought; but every one of them was effectually killed at the root by the power of God, which, through divine faith, he brought to humanity.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.13

And thus, “as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also HIMSELF LIKEWISE took part of THE SAME; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:14-18.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.14

And this victory which Christ wrought out in human flesh, is brought by the Holy Spirit to the rescue of everyone in human flesh who to-day believes in Jesus. For by the Holy Spirit the very presence of Christ himself comes to the believer; for it is his constant desire to “grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.15

Thus the deliverance from the guilt of sin and from the power of sin, which holds the believer in triumph over all the desires, the tendencies and inclinations, of his sinful flesh, through the power of the Spirit of God,—this is wrought to-day by the personal presence of Christ Jesus IN HUMAN FLESH in the believer, precisely as it was wrought by the personal presence of Christ in human flesh eighteen hundred and seventy years ago.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.16

Christ is ever the same—“the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” The gospel of Christ is ever the same—the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever. The gospel of Christ to-day is the same that it was eighteen hundred and seventy years ago. Then it was “God manifest in the flesh;” and to-day it is the same—“God manifest in the” same flesh, the flesh of sinful men, human flesh, just as human nature is.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.17

That gospel is “Christ in you, the hope of glory,“—Christ in you just as you are, sins, sinfulness, and all; for he gave himself for our sins, and for our sinfulness. And you, just as you are, Christ has bought, and God “hath made accepted’ in him. He has received you just as you are; and the gospel, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” brings you under the reign of the Spirit of God, makes you so subject to the power of Christ and of God that “the fruit of the Spirit” appears in you, instead of “the works of the flesh.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.18

And the fruit of the Spirit is—ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.19

LOVE—the love of God which is shed abroad in the heart by the Spirit of God. And instead of hatred or any of its kin ever being allowed, even in thought, no man can possibly do anything to you that can cause you to do anything but love him. For this love, being the love of God, is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;” and loves not for reward, but for the mere sake of loving; it loves simply because it is love, and being only that, it can not do any thing else.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.20

JOY is “ardent happiness arising from present or expected good.” But in this case, the alternative “or” is excluded; for this joy is ardent happiness arising from present AND expected good; for the cause of it is eternal. Accordingly, it is everlastingly present, and is everlastingly to be expected. And therefore, it is “exultant satisfaction.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.21

PEACE—perfect peace that rules in the heart—“the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” and which “keeps the heart and mind” of him who has it.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.22

LONG-SUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH.—This faith—pistis, Greek—is “firm persuasion; the conviction which is based upon trust, NOT upon knowledge [the faith of “the heart,” not of the head; the faith of Christ, not of the creed]; a firmly relying confidence cherished by conviction, and bidding defiance to opposing contradictions.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.23

MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE.—Temperance is self-control. Thus, the Spirit of God delivers the man from subjection to his passions, lusts, and habits, and makes him a free man, master of himself.ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.24

“Against such there is no law.” The law of God is against no-thing but sin. In human lives the law of God is against everything that is not the fruit of the Spirit of God. Therefore it is certain that everything in human life that is not the fruit of the Spirit of God, is sin. And this is but stating, in another way, the eternal truth that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.25

Therefore “if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” And because we do live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit, “let us not”—yea, we shall not; yea, we can not—“be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.”ARSH October 2, 1900, page 633.26