THE expression “the Third Angel’s Message” has reference to the message borne by the third in a series of three angels, each one bearing a message, in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. The messages of these three angels blend and culminate in the third, which does not cease to sound until the harvest of the earth is ripe, and made ready for the coming of the Lord to reap it.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.2

The Third Angel’s Message itself, as it is announced in the words of the third angel, separated from the other two, is as follows: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.3

This is the Third Angel’s Message, as it would stand separated from the other two. But, in fact, it can not be regarded as separate, and can not be made to stand apart as if it alone were a single, separate message to the world; for the very first words concerning it are: “The third angel followed THEM.” Thus, by the very first words of the message itself we are referred not only to the one, but to the two which preceded it. And the Greek word translated “followed” signifies not following apart, nor only following, but “following with,” as soldiers follow their captain, or servants their master; therefore, “to follow one in a thing; to let one’s self be led.” When spoken of things, it signifies to follow as a result; to follow “as a consequence of something which had gone before.” Thus, as to persons, the third angel follows with the two which have preceded; and his message, as a thing, follows as a result, or consequence, of the two which have gone before.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.4

Of the second one also it is written: “And there followed another angel.” As with the third angel following him, so it is with the second angel following the first. And of the first one it is written: “And I saw another angel fly,” etc. This is the first in this series of three. There follows with him another; and the third angel follows with them. There is a succession in the order of their rise; but, when the three have in succession risen, then they go on together as one. The first one sounds forth his message; the second one follows and joins with the first; the third follows them, and joins with them; so that, when the three are joined, and go on together in their united power, they form a mighty threefold, loud-voiced message. It takes all to make the Third Angel’s Message complete; and the Third Angel’s message can not be truly given without the giving of all.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.5

What, then, is the threefold message in its respective parts?—Here is the first: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.6

Here is the second: “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.7

And here is the third: ““And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.8

A glance at the wording of each of these messages will discover that thought in the Greek word “followed, which signifies “following as a consequence.” The first bears the everlasting gospel, to preach to every creature, calling upon all to fear God and give glory to him, and to worship him, because the hour of his judgment is come. The rejection of this message produces a condition of things which is described as the consequence of such rejection, in the words of the second angel, which followed. And, because of the rejection of the first message, and because of the consequences of that rejection, as announced in the second, a condition of things is produced as a further consequence, which requires that the third angel shall follow them, proclaiming with a loud voice his dreadful warning against the terrible evils that have been produced as the double consequence of the rejecting of the first message.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.9

And that the voice and work of the third angel blend with that of the first, is plain from his closing words: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” because this is ever the object of the preaching of the everlasting gospel. It is the substance of fearing God and giving glory to him, and or worshiping “him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” And the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus is the only thing that will enable any soul to stand in the hour of his judgment, which the first angel declares “is come.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.10

Immediately following the closing words of the third angel is “heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the death which die in the Lord from henceforth”—from this time forward; and immediately following this, are the words: “And 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. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.11

And Jesus himself said, “The harvest is the end of the world.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.12

Again: the third angel particularly warns all people against the worship of the beast and his image, whatever these may be; and, from Revelation 19:11-21, we find that the beast and his image are “alive” when the Lord comes in the clouds of heaven, and are “both” destroyed with the brightness of his coming.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.13

These facts show that the Third Angel’s Message is a mighty, threefold, loud-voiced message, which goes forth to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people, just before the coming of the Lord; which ripens the harvest of the earth; and which makes a people prepared for the Lord. And so, it is the last, the closing, message of God to the world.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.14

Such, in a word, in form, in arrangement, is the Third Angel’s Message.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.15

“The Third Angel’s Message. What Is It as to Babylon?” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6, p. 88.

“AND there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.1

As we have before remarked, this word “followed” signifies not to follow alone one who has gone on before, but to arise and accompany one who is already on his way, and thus really, “to follow with,” or “to go with.” A good illustration of the thought is found in 1 Corinthians 10, where, speaking concerning Israel in the wilderness, it says: “They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them [“went with them,” margin]: and that Rock was Christ.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.2

Thus the angel of the everlasting gospel goes forth proclaiming that gospel to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Afterward the angel with the announcement concerning Babylon joins the first angel, and goes with him.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.3

The word “Babylon,” with the idea conveyed by it, is from “Babel.” And the word “Babel” comes to us from the tower described in Genesis 11. And from the confusion of tongues created there, on account of the tower, the word now signifies “confusion.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.4

But this was not the original meaning of the word “Babel.” This was the name of the city and the tower when the people began to build it, before their language was confused, and therefore before their language was confused, and therefore before the word signified “confusion.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.5

It is written that the people said one to another: “Let us build us a city and a tower.” And the name which they then gave to the city was “Babel.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.6

At that time the meaning of the word “Babel”—its original meaning—was “Gate of God.” Accordingly, they said: “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.7

But, because of their pride and self-exaltation, their whole enterprise was turned so utterly into confusion that the word “Babel” lost its original meaning of “Gate of God,” and bore only the meaning of “confusion.” And thus, that which originally meant the “Gate of God” became only the symbol of “confusion.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.8

And this original meaning of “Babel”—“Gate of God”—with its new meaning of “confusion,” carries a lesson all the way through the whole subject of Babylon. It has its lessons now, in the phase of the Third Angel’s Message which speaks of Babylon and her fall.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.9

Accordingly, next week we shall notice how that which, in the Christian dispensation, originally was the “gate of God” became “confusion,“—“Babylon the great, the mother.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.10

“The Millennium” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6, pp. 88, 89.

“AND when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” Revelation 20:7. This, because, the thousand years being finished, “the rest of the dead lived,” and this releases him. It was the taking away of all people from the earth, by the resurrection and translation of the righteous, and the slaying of all the wicked, at the beginning of the thousand years, which put a bond upon Satan, in that he is left utterly without resource. There is thus none upon whom he can exercise any of his wiles or faculties in any way whatever. And being confined to this earth in its utterly wasted, desolate, broken-down, dark, and dismal condition, it is a horrible and gloomy prison, indeed.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.1

But when the thousand years are expired, and the rest of the dead all live, in the resurrection of the unjust,—the second resurrection,—then Satan is loosed. Now he has something to do: now he has subjects upon whom he can work: now he can be active once more in all his satanic ingenuity.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.2

Accordingly it is written of him that immediately when he is loosed, he goes “out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” Revelation 20:8. And this battle, into which, by his deception, he leads this multitude to engage, is a bat- tle against the camp of the saints and the beloved city, for “they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 88.3

They are enabled to do this because, in Zechariah 14, it is declared that when the Lord Jesus comes, at the end of the thousand years, “his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley.... and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” Verses 4, 5. Thus the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, the camp of the saints, is brought down upon the earth at his coming to the judgment of the wicked. And this is how it is that Satan can gather all the nations of the wicked, who have then been raised from the dead, against this camp of the saints and the beloved city.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.1

And how easy it will be for him to deceive them all in this, however much he has deceived them before! What a vast multitudes of the wicked dead of the ages have died in battle! And even when Jesus comes to gather to him his saints at the beginning of the thousand years, the kings of the earth and their armies are gathered together to make war against him that sits “upon the horse,” and his army, and, in this warlike mind and spirit, they are slain by the brightness of his coming. And now, when all these awake from the dead, it is to them just as if they had awaked in the midst of the battle and turmoil in which they went down. It is, indeed, in their minds, almost a continuation of the scenes in which they perished in the beginning. And now Satan and his armies are there, with his spirit reigning supreme, to seize their minds in this crisis and in this spirit of war, and to draw them up to battle against the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And so “they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.2

And thus, and at that time, the Son of man sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him are “gathered all nations,” and they are separated one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: the sheep—the righteous—are at “his right hand,” in the city, and the goats—the wicked—are at “his left hand,” outside the city. Matthew 25:31-33.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.3

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [“the grave,” margin] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” Revelation 20:11-13.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.4

These are all the wicked dead; for the righteous dead all lived a thousand years before. And mark: these are judged out of the things “written in the books;” not out of the things written in the book. These books are the records of their lives. The book of life is there as the witness that they might have had their places in that book, and so might have had all the records in “the books” blotted out, and they have lived at the beginning of the thousand years, and be reigning now with Christ. But they would not have their place in “the book of life,” and so they must now meet the record in “the books,” exactly as that record is, “according to their works.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.5

And now all the books are opened; and every soul of that vast throne, as it stands compassed about “the camp of the saints and the beloved city,” sees his life exactly as it was lived. He sees all the blessedness and the joy that he might have had. He sees “the book of life,” in which he might have had his name. But, alas! it is too late. They are judged out of those things written in the books, “according to their works.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.6

“There all flesh is at once in the sight of the Lord,
And the doom of eternity hangs on his word.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.7

And every soul of them, seeing all this, and, in the light of the judgment of the just Judge,—seeing that it is all just, every knee bows to Christ, and every tongue confesses to God that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11. Thus, all they “that go down to the dust shall bow before him;” yet, as each one has chosen his way in spite of all that the Lord could possibly do, now “none can keep alive his own soul.” Psalm 22:29. Then to those on his left hand the awful word goes forth, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:41, 46.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.8

“It is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.” “The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.” “And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.9

“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire.” “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” And “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.10

“O mercy! O mercy! look down from above,
Great Creator, on us, thy sad children, in love;
When beneath to their darkness the wicked are Driven,
May we find a reward and a mansion in heaven.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.11

“Studies in Galatians. Galatians 3:19” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6, p. 89.

IT will be noticed that the word “serveth” is a supplied word. It really adds nothing to the sense. The question stands just as strong and just as plain to read. “Wherefore then the law?” Another translation is, “Why then the law?”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.1

This was the ready argument of “the Pharisees which believed,” against all the gospel which was presented by Paul. And this, because the gospel presented justification by faith of Christ, and not by works of law. And wherever this was presented, “the Pharisees which believed,” who had no conception of justification in any other way than by works of law, raised this inquiry, “Wherefore then the law?” “What is the use of the law?” In their estimation, this objecting question was a sufficient refutation of all that might ever be said as to justification by faith, without any deeds of any law.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.2

And, indeed, this same argument, in this same superior, self-assertive way, is used for this same purpose by “the Pharisees which believe” to-day. Let the claims of the law of God, precisely as God wrote it, be presented to-day in any part of this whole land, or even in any other land, and immediately professed ministers of the gospel will arise, all bristling with objections, and will oppose every claim of the law of God upon them, because it “never could justify anybody.” They will single out, and search out, every expression they can find in the Scriptures, such as, “By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified;” and, “Whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace,” etc.; and with strong voice will ring forth and then vigorously demand, “What is the use of such a law? What is it good for? It can not justify anybody.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.3

The scene here described is perfectly familiar to thousands upon thousands of the readers of the REVIEW AND HERALD, and especially to the preachers of the gospel, in the Third Angel’s Message, which calls all people to the keeping of “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.4

It is worthy of notice, however, that in the ancient days this objection was never raised by the Gentiles, but only by “the Pharisees which believed:” never by the plain, simple sinner, who knew that his works could not justify him, and who therefore longed for justification indeed; but only by those who professed to know God, and to know justification, but who knew only justification by their own works of law. And so it is even now.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.5

Therefore, this inquiry—“Wherefore then the law?”—is present truth, and will be present truth forever. To a person whose conception of justification is altogether justification by works, such an inquiry, presented in objection, is a sufficient refutation of all the claims of the law of God; and no stronger proof could ever be given by any one that his only conception of justification is altogether by works, than that he should raise against the law of God, this objecting inquiry, “Why then the law?” “What is the use of the law?” This because such an objection certifies that in his estimation, there can be no possible use for law of any kind unless it will justify a man, even the transgressor.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.6

But every one who knows justification in truth, which is justification by faith, knows full well, and can see with perfect plainness, that there may be abundant use for law, altogether apart from any idea of justification by it. And thus there is a place for this question, in sober inquiry.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.7

“Why then the law?” The answer is—ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.8

1. “By the law is the knowledge of sin:” “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful,” in order that men, knowing the enormity of sin, may be able to appreciate the greatness of the salvation that God has sent in the gift of his Son.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.9

Even so, it is said in another place. “The law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.10

2. When the sinner, having learned by the law the greatness of his sin, and having found in the Lord Jesus a salvation so great as to save him from all sin, and a righteousness so complete as to reign in him against all the power of sin, he still finds a second grand use for the law in its witnessing, in his behalf, to the righteousness of God, which he obtained without the law. And so, it is written: “By the deeds of the law 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.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.11

Such, and so far, is, Wherefore then the law?ARSH February 6, 1900, page 89.12

“Editorial” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 77, 6, p. 90.

IN the account of the woman brought to Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees (John 8:3-11), it is said that Jesus “stooped down, and wrote on the ground.” What did he write? has ever been a question. The Spirit of Prophecy told us long ago that he wrote the sins of the accusers of the woman. And now Professor C. R. Gregory, of Leipsic University, Germany, has found three manuscripts of the Gospel of John in which are readings which say that he wrote their sins. The published account is as follows:—ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.1

We are told, referring to the scribes and Pharisees who brought the woman to Jesus, that he wrote “the sins of each one of them.” The people noticed first what he was writing; and this led the scribes to press forward to read for themselves.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.2

First came Eldad, and read: “Eldad slew his companion Modar in the wilderness.” On seeing this he slunk away.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.3

Then Horan read: “Horan devoured the house of Bunan’s widow;” and Horan crept away.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.4

Next Mamun read: “Arned’s wife must yield to the power and influence of Mamun.”ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.5

Thus one after another the scribes were convicted and fled. Jesus pardoned the woman, and she alone went away in peace.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.6

Professor Gregory adds: “The picture of this scene was indelibly engraved upon the souls of the spectators;” and though we know not how it came into John’s Gospel, it is a true picture of a historical scene.ARSH February 6, 1900, page 90.7

January 30, 1900

February 13, 1900