I will call your attention this morning to some facts regarding the Bible, as an introduction to a few remarks I wish to make on the enlightenment of the earth with the glory of God.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.6

In the Book of books there are no meaningless words. God has a wise purpose in every expression that he has inspired holy men of old to record. His words are spirit, and they are life; every word is pure; not one is unimportant.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.7

The central theme of the entire Bible is Christ and his mediatorial work in behalf of mankind. Like the red thread running through an English navy-rope, the teaching of the inspired writers regarding Christ and his love for the human race, appears throughout.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.8

Let us study a few scriptures that reveal to us God’s purpose to fill the earth with a knowledge of his glory, as the waters cover the sea. In Revelation 18:1-6 we read that the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God in the time of the end. A voice is to be heard crying “mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.” That this enlightenment of the nations is to take place in the last days, is made plain by the context, particularly verse 24. Notice, also, that it is one voice that is lifted in warning. It is one people, united in the bonds of Christian love, speaking as the oracles of God, proclaiming one message that calls out from among the nations a people prepared for their Lord.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.9

In the fourteenth of Revelation a similar message is introduced, in the eighth verse. The second angel’s message is, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen.” This message is connected with that delivered by the first angel,—the proclamation of the everlasting gospel “unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” That which is to lighten the earth with the glory of God; is the proclamation of this gospel. Then it is that we shall see the fulfillment of the scripture foretelling that in the last days the attention of the world will be called to those “that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.10

My dear brethren and sisters, it is the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus that will be proclaimed throughout the earth, by a united people speaking as one voice, in the loud cry of the third angel’s message. Whether those who are seeking for light and truth are living in China, in the darkest portions of Africa, or in Mohammedan lands, all will hear the same message of salvation, and will be called to exalt the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.11

Let us trace for a few minutes the significant history of the promise that the whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of God. One of the earliest references to this is found in the fourteenth chapter of Numbers, where we read, “All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” The context reveals a most interesting story. The children of Israel were hesitating, doubting, murmuring, because of the evil report of the ten spies concerning the goodly land of promise. The people had reached the point of rebellion. Terrified and confused, they thought only of the “land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof,” and the “men of great stature,” in whose presence the ten unfaithful spies had been in their own sight “as grasshoppers.” They forgot the promises God had given them of deliverance. They forgot that even the giants, entrenched though they were in their strongholds, were to be driven out of the land by hornets. They thought only of their own safety, and of their seeming inability to cope with the difficulties of the conquest; and they rebelled against God and against his chosen leaders.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.12

“The Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.” Numbers 14:11, 12. In response, Moses pleaded the honor of Jehovah. “The Egyptians shall hear it,” he said; “and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land.... If thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he swear unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.” Verses 13-16.GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.13

In his love for the erring, and in his own noble self-forgetfulness, he continued his argument, pleading the promises God had made concerning his chosen people. “I beseech thee,” he urged, “let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty.... Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now..GCB May 18, 1913, page 17.14

In this plea, Moses referred to a former experience, when, in the face of open rebellion on the part of Israel, he had besought God in their behalf. While Moses had been communing with God for forty days and forty nights on the mount, apostasy had developed in the camp of Israel. In an agony of spirit over their waywardness, he had besought God most earnestly to forgive and to heal. “This people have sinned a great sin,” he acknowledged, “and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” Exodus 32:31, 32. So great was Moses’ love for those who had sinned, that he was ready to lay down his own life in their behalf.GCB May 18, 1913, page 18.1

It was in connection with this experience that Moses was given a glimpse of the glory of God. Hidden in a cleft of the rock, the man of faith beheld his Lord, “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:6, 7.GCB May 18, 1913, page 18.2

“Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. And he said, If now I have found grace in the sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” Verses 8, 9.GCB May 18, 1913, page 18.3

In response, the Lord promised to renew his covenant-relationship with Israel, which had been broken at the foot of Sinai through apostasy. And it was on the strength of this promise given at the time the glory of the Lord passed before him, that Moses afterward pleaded the long-sufferance, the mercy, the willingness to forgive, revealed by his God. His strong faith was recognized and honored. “The Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word,” and he added in this connection the wonderful assurance to which I am calling your special attention: “As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Numbers 14:20, 21.GCB May 18, 1913, page 18.4

You will recall that the face of Moses shone when he descended from the mount after beholding the Lord of glory. We have no record of any such token of divine favor at the time of his first return from the mount. It was after he had passed through special experiences, that he revealed somewhat of the glory of God in his own countenance. And, brethren, may we not expect that God will reveal himself in a marked manner through his chosen light-bearers, as they yield themselves fully to him and to his service? Those who love souls more than they love themselves, those who are jealous for the honor of God’s name in the earth, will be found at this time giving the loud cry of the third angel’s message. They will be heard proclaiming the message, “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.” The basis of their message will be the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. They will permit in their lives nothing that can separate them from the source of their power. And as they travel from place to place, in every land, their faces lighted up with the glory of God, the truths they proclaim will be accompanied by a power so convincing that all the regions of the earth will be lightened with the glory of God. Then shall the end come.GCB May 18, 1913, page 18.5

May God hasten that glad day, foretold by Moses, by Isaiah, by Jeremiah, by John the Revelator, and by many other holy men of old, whose records of God’s purpose concerning the nations of earth we may trace with great profit. That we all may share in the proclamation of the loud cry, and in the joys of the redeemed, is my prayer, for Christ’s sake. Amen.GCB May 18, 1913, page 18.6

THE DEVOTIONAL MEETING

Conference Proceedings. THIRD MEETING