The Third Angel's Message: 1893

Tonight I propose to take up a kind of summary of what we have had through the week, and then a further lesson from that. The first night after the report of the hearing was given, which laid the foundation for all our following study ─ Tuesday night that was ─ we took up and noticed three particular points; on Wednesday night three more, and last night one more. The three points of the first night you remember shut us up to the giving of the third angel's message now as it reads in words. "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." And that of itself shows that the time has come when the image is there, and that the mark is to be received, because the warning is against the worship of the beast and his image, and receiving his mark in his forehead, or in his hand.

The first of the three points was that we are shut off now from work as we have been conducting it hitherto, and in the work of the message, are shut up to the preaching of that message itself, as it is in words. The second, that this shows that the image is made, and that that brings all earthly power into the hands of the enemy of the third angel's message and the cause of God, to be wielded against the people of God and the work of God. And therefore whoever would stand for God, must have a power greater than all the power of the world. Then the third point was, that in citing the fourth commandment in the legislation, and interpreting that commandment to mean the first day of the week commonly called Sunday, thus putting Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, it is just as literally true that the Protestant churches of this country, by the power of this government, have made void the law of God, as far as earthly power can, as was the action of the papacy the original apostasy, in joining herself to the government to do the same thing. And when that is done, God has put into our mouths these words: "It is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law." And that brings to view the further thought, that as all the power of earth is set against God and His Sabbath and His people who keep it, that this people, in order to stand at all, must have a power that is greater than all the power of the earth, and that brought us to that verse, "It is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law." Therefore we need the power of God. Our daily prayer is, Lord, it is time for thee to work now; we cannot do anything at all.

Then the first point in the succeeding lesson was that this message is given in view of the fact that the plagues are to come upon those who reject the message, "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." The first plague is poured out upon those who receive the mark of the beast; and under the sixth plague the kings of the earth are gathered together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. In the time of that battle the Lord comes and the end of the world. "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great."

Then the next was that in the history of the nations that have gone before, when a nation would no longer seek the Lord, but would turn their backs upon God, and set themselves against God, then there was no more place for them in the world. Ruin was the only thing that followed. As this government has done that, ruin is the only thing to follow here.

By the way I was looking through Special Testimonies this evening, and there is a passage so expressive on this point that I turn and read it here. It is on page 16 of Special Testimony to Ministers and Conference Committees. It is this:

"The Christian world has accepted the child of papacy, and cradled and nourished it, thus defying God by removing his memorial and setting up a rival sabbath."

When was that done? That was done when they removed His memorial; defying God by removing His memorial, and setting up a false sabbath. Now here is the word we read the other day:

God's memorial has been torn down, and in its place a false sabbath stands before the world.

But that was done by the churches securing the power of this government to make their work effective. Then what has this nation been dragged into doing, by the apostate Protestant churches of this country? into defiance of God. When Belshazzar defied God by taking the sacred vessels of the house of God and prostituted them to his lascivious worship, then there was no more use for that government in this world. Then this government has been brought into the same place, and ruin is the next thing that comes here. But the ruin of this nation is the ruin of the world, because the influence of the nation affects the world, and that ruin is accomplished at the coming of the Lord, and the coming of the Lord is when that great battle is fought. And we are right in the presence of that.

And then the next was that the apostate Jewish church joined herself to Caesar in order to get rid of the Lord. The apostate Romish church joined herself to Caesar in order to get rid of the Sabbath of the Lord; and the apostate churches now have joined themselves to Caesar in order to get rid of the Sabbath of the Lord. And the only thing that God could do for the apostate Jewish church when she joined herself to Caesar was to destroy it. But before He destroyed it He called out all who would be His. The Jewish church was church and nation in one, so that when that was destroyed, the lesson was set before the world, for both churches and nations. It was the Jewish nation and the Jewish church both, turning the back upon God. When the Jewish church put God out of the way, that was the Jewish nation doing the same thing. Now when that was done, the nation was to be destroyed, but the church was to be destroyed too; and so the effect of this thing upon the church and the nation was the same thing; it was ruin.

When the Roman Church followed in the same way, that ruined the Roman Empire; and when this nation has gone in the same way the only thing that remains is ruin, and ruin for the nation is ruin for the church too. But before this impending ruin, the message goes, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues."

The last night we noticed the papacy, that her work is to get all nations back under her influence; and when she has got all nations there, and congratulates herself, saying, "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow," then what is it that comes right away? The plagues.

Then the same thing will happen to this nation that happened to other nations when they turned away from God; and we are right in the whirlpool of the events that bring all this. The same thing is soon to come, here, that came upon the other nations when they forgot God.

There are seven distinct points, each one of which brings us to the events of the third angel's message, which is to save the people who will be saved before the world ends. They are not manufactured points either; not a single one of them is manufactured; each one of them is simply the consequence of things that stand before the eyes of everybody in this world. That was the text to start with, you know; "The people who will now see what is soon to come upon us by what is being transacted before us, will no longer trust in human inventions and will feel that the Holy Spirit must be recognized, received, presented to the people." So all I have attempted to do in these lessons that we have had, is to take what stands before us in the world, and see what is soon to come upon us; not simply what is to come upon us, but what is soon to come upon us and it is bound to do it. There is no escape from the things that everybody in the world can see, and must see, whether their eyes are open, or not; whether they believe what is coming ─ that is not the question; they can not help seeing what they see. There is no escape for them but by the third angel's message.

Now let us follow that a little further, as to what it means to us. We have found that all the power of this earth is now under the influence of the papacy. You see that it is. But who is running the papacy? Who is working against the church of God? Satan. By whom did he work when Christ was on the earth? The dragon. By whom did he work when the church was in the wilderness? The beast. by whom does he work against the remnant? By the image. By the dragon, by the beast, and by the false prophet, the image. These are the three instruments through which he makes war against the church of God, from the birth of Christ until the end of the world.

Then all the powers of this earth are in the hands of Satan to wield against the church. Then how long do you suppose it is going to be before that verse is fulfilled, in which it is said that Satan works with all power? He has got it, hasn't he? All the power that earth knows, all the power that is in the realm where Satan is, all the power that is in this earth, this is now in his hands. He is going to work with all power. "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." What has he that power for? Is it not to use it? Then do you suppose he is going to stand idle very long, especially when God's people are calling upon God and consecrating themselves to Him? That is what makes Satan so mad; the commandments of God are kept, and the testimony of Jesus Christ is manifested.

Then there is that power in his hand to wield against the church of God, against God, His Sabbath, and those who respect the Lord and His Sabbath, because that is the sign of allegiance to the Lord.

Well then anybody who is going to be faithful to God, I say again, has got to do that in the face of all the power that there is in the world, all the power that the world knows of every possible kind. Then, brethren, the thing for you and me to decide right now is, whether we are going any further, or not. We are to decide, whether we are going any further or stop right here. Just as certainly as we decide to stand by the profession we have made, just as certainly as we decide to stand by the law of God and faithfulness to our profession, we have to decide it in the face of all the power that this world knows, with Satan in possession of this power and using it. Then we are to maintain our allegiance to God and His law, against all consideration of any earthly support or protection. Does it not become the people who are to stand by the law of God, that they depend alone upon God, for there is nothing else under the sun to depend upon.

We are to warn the people of the world against this power, and against the working of it, and to draw them away from it unto God. Now can I do that with any force at all, if I have any connection with the world or worldliness? [Congregation: "No."] If I may partake of a worldly spirit, and a worldly disposition and inclination, I want to know how I am going to warn the people to separate from the world utterly? How is there going to be enough force in my words to get anybody to do it? Can you tell? Can you tell how you can do it? I do not care whether you are a minister or not, if you are only a Seventh-day Adventist, or even only a professed Seventh-day Adventist; you need not be a minister but only a professed Seventh-day Adventist to answer this question. I want to know how you are going to make the profession worth anything, or have any power at all upon people of this world, if you are in any way connected with this world in spirit, in mind, in thought, in wishes, in inclinations? No sir. A hair's breadth, a connection with the world as thin as a hair, will rob you of the power that there must be in this call that will warn the world against this evil power of the world, so that they shall be utterly separated from it.

Then, brethren, if there is going to be any power to our message from this time forth, what are we to do? We are to just cut loose from everything that this world knows. Are you ready? Nor is it enough to ask if you are ready? but I want to ask, Is it done? Is it done? [Congregation: "Yes."]

That is a splendid picture that Brother Porter read awhile ago; that the prophet looked for those who give this message, but looked too low. Said the angel, "Look higher." Thank the Lord, they are above the world. That is where they belong. Above the world, upon a foundation which God has established for them to walk upon. And every one who is down so low that any one has to look to the world to see them ─ such as these cannot give the third angel's message. We are to be above the world. Then cut loose, brethren.

Then, brethren, the time has come as never before in this world when there must be a separation from the world. "I have chosen you out of the world," says Jesus. Now that He has chosen us, Oh let us seek him day by day that He may ordain us. Christ said to His disciples, "I have chosen you, and ordained you." Now He has chosen us. Let us see that He has ordained us to the work that He has for us; and the work is, to carry the word of God against all the power that this world knows, and to separate a people from the world, so entirely separated unto God, that they will disregard utterly the power of this world and all its connection.

That brings us to consecration again doesn't it? Thank the Lord that it does. And we can hold to the third angel's message, we cannot stand by that, we cannot have the spirit of it or do the work of it without just that consecration.

Now there is another thing. The people who stand by the law of God are not going to be thought very well of, all the way through. No, sir. They are not going to be praised and petted and made much of and courted and palavered over. No, sir. Perhaps I had better read a passage here on that. I will read from Great Controversy, Vol. IV, p. 590:

"The great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors. It will be declared that men are offending God by violation of the Sunday-sabbath, that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced, and that those who present the claims of 1893 GC Bulletin – A.T Jones Sermons on the Third Angels Message the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated, upon grounds equally well established. 'And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and hast followed Baalim.' As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false charges, they will pursue a course to God's ambassadors very similar to that which apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah."

Again we read on page 592, as follows:-

"Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words, and the worst construction will be put upon their motives."

In Testimony No. 32, p. 208, I read a testimony that was given in 1885 ─ seven years ago:

"While men are sleeping, Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord's people may not have mercy or justice."

How could it be expected that we should have mercy or justice when all the power of the governments on the earth is in the hands of the papacy and being run by Satan? How could you expect justice? And how could you expect justice when all the power of this earth is set against the people of God by Satan himself? That is not justice. We could not expect it. That brings us to the point that we are to be so utterly cut loose from this world that we will not expect any protection; we will not expect any justice, any mercy even, from it. If it comes it will be only the mercy of God that draws it in spite of themselves. When we are in a position that the only mercy that we can expect of the earth, is what God draws from them, then where is our dependence? In God only.

We are not going to be petted and made much of at all. Then, this being so, every kind of reproach will be manufactured and spread against us. I want to know how anybody is going to stand faithful to the third angel's message and do the work of that message who cares particularly what people say about him and has much respect for reputation or puts his dependence upon reputation? He cannot do it. But thank the Lord, God has something a great deal better for us to depend upon, and that is character. Let us not forget that Jesus, our example in this world, "made himself of no reputation."

Now then that settles it that the people who are to give the third angel's message and to stand faithful to God in the world are to do it with respect to character only and no question of reputation can ever come into the calculation. No question of reputation, as to how or what men may think or say, can ever come into our calculations any more. Never. Because reputation will not save a man. If he is going to have any respect to reputation, if that is going to come into his mind at all, then he would better give up the whole thing because he cannot have it if he stands by the third angel's message.

Then right now, tonight, brethren, is the time to give up all such professions, because in doing that you will be a relief to your brethren. If you are going to compromise with this thing at all, you had better do so right now, because the farther you go, and then compromise, the harder you will make it for your brethren. Therefore, unless you are going clear through, just stop tonight and go the other way and be done with it and let the others that are going straight ahead be free. We have come to the parting of the ways and let every one decide in view of no dependence on anything that is in this world that no consideration that this world can present, can come into the calculation. No question of reputation or of what men will think, ever comes into the calculation. When all the power of the world stands against those who will maintain their allegiance to God, then the character of Jesus Christ is worth ten thousand times ten thousand reputations that anybody can manufacture anyway.

But reputation is a big thing in the eyes of the world: with God a reputation does not amount to anything. A reputation is all that Satan has to offer. It is all he has to build on. And that statement that is often quoted is correct enough from the man into whose mouth it is put by the writer who preached it: "The dearest treasure that mortal times afford is spotless reputation." That was well enough for him, for reputation was all he had. Then he went on to say he had lost his and he was very much grieved, saying: "O my reputation, my reputation! I have lost my reputation." And when he had lost that, of course, he had nothing to support him. He was out entirely. He did not have character you see, but only reputation to depend on. That sentiment comes from him very properly, from the character into whose mouth it was put by him who write it; but it is a lie; it is a lie. The dearest treasure that mortal times afford is not spotless reputation: the dearest treasure that either mortal or immortal times afford is spotless character, and the only spotless character that ever appeared in this world is the character of Jesus Christ. And that character He comes and gives to you and me, a free blessed gift from Him who made it.

Then brethren, let all questions of reputation to to the winds; that is where they belong. For reputation is as unstable as the winds, while character is as fixed as eternity. Then let all questions of reputation go. Let us have character; let us have that character that will fit us for the judgment. Then, though Satan with all his power might succeed in saddling upon us the worst reputation he can invent, thank the Lord we have got a character that will stand in the judgement. Then we can afford to let the world and reputation both go. In Jesus Christ we have something better.

That is not all. There is another phase of it. The time is coming when anybody who stands by the third angel's message, the Sabbath of the Lord, and maintains his allegiance to that, cannot buy anything or sell anything in this world. Then every one who professes to be a Seventh-day Adventist, who has a profession of the third angel's message, needs to decide now as to whether he is going to stand by that message against all questions and considerations of property or possessions in this world.

No question, no calculations as to property, or business interests in this world, can come into our calculations or into our work, now. No question of that kind can enter into the calculations of any Seventh-day Adventist from this time on. If it does, he might as well stop right here; for if I am going to let questions as to whether I can have so much or how this business affair is going to come out and whether I am going to lose by that means or gain by this, if I stand by the Sabbath ─ if I am going to let such questions come into my calculations, then I had better let property interests have full place and go with it and be done with it. But where is that business, this property going, that I am questioning and hesitating about? It is all going to destruction. Then if there is any string that binds me in sympathy with that thing, when it goes, where will I go? I will go with it, of course. Suppose that string is only the size of a silken hair, will it take me with it? Yes. Then, brethren, it is time to cut loose. So we have come to the parting of the ways again.

Henceforth he who stands in allegiance to the third angel's message must do it and he will do it with no calculation at all that any question of profit, money, or property, or anything of the kind will ever bear the weight of a feather or the weight of a hair as to how he is going to act with respect to the third angel's message. That is so. That is in it. For there is the statement that "No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand." He need not believe in it at all. But the law says, "Keep Sunday"' and if he does, then what? He has compromised with Satan and he has accepted the sign of Satan, instead of Christ. He has put Satan above Christ and is obeying the power of the world and not the words of Christ. And how much power over the world is that man going to have to save him?

The man who compromises with Sunday laws to the extent that he will stop work and observe Sunday because the law says so, while still thinking that he is keeping the Sabbath, has put Satan above Christ. He is putting dependence upon earthly power; but in whose hands is that power? In the hands of Satan. Then is he not, according to his own profession and actions, depending on Satan just as much as upon Christ? Are they partners? No sir. Well then let us not let him come into the partnership, brethren. No man who holds his allegiance to the third angel's message will allow Satan to come into such a partnership as that.

Isn't the Sabbath a sign of what God is to a man? Isn't it a sign of the true God, and is not God what He is? Then is it not a sign of what God is as well as that he is? Then the Sabbath being a sign of what God is as well as that He is, what is He? Oh, He is the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. He is our life.

Good. Then the Sabbath is the sign of what God is to the man who believes Him. But where do we find God? Where alone can anybody find God? In Jesus Christ. "No man knoweth the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Then to us Christ is God. To this world and to all intelligent creatures, Christ is God. Then is not the Sabbath the sign of what Christ is to a man? Then when we observe it, it is the sign of what Christ is to us. Then for me to keep Sunday because the law says so is to say that Sunday is just as much to me as the Sabbath is: Oh well that is only to say that Satan is as much to me as Christ is. And when that is so, Christ does not amount to much to me. When Christ is so little to me that I will put the sign of the power of the papacy, which is only the sign of the power of Satan, on a level with the sign of what Christ is to me, then Christ isn't anything to me. If Christ is not all, what is He? "He is all and in all." If He is not all to me, then what is He to me? He is nothing. That brings us again to the fact that now, brethren, we have got to stand to this sign against every consideration that earth can mention.

That is not all yet. There is another thought in that verse:

"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."

Then, the time will come when he who stands to his allegiance to the third angel's message will have the penalty of death pronounced upon him; his life will be forfeited and declared forfeited by the powers of this earth in whose reach he is. Then can any question of life come into our calculations now? Can it, brethren? shall a man weigh up what his life is worth now and have that to weigh anything in his calculations in the third angel's message, as to whether he is going to stand by it or not? These things are worth thinking of. That is what they mean. If I am going to allow my life to weigh anything at all in my calculations of allegiance to the third angel's message, then what is the use of my going any farther with this message? Why not stop right here tonight? The fact is as stated there, that this life will be forfeited if I stand by the message. So, if we are to let that question weigh anything with us, we had better stop right here and be done with it.

And don't you know that the penalty of death is, in itself, in every step, even the first step, that is taken in persecution? It is certainly there. It is not there in words ─ it is not there in a pronounced penalty ─ but it is there, because when the government undertakes to enforce religious laws, it is always to save the government, always for the salvation of the government ─ this Sunday act of Congress has already been declared to be for that purpose. Now, people who do not obey the Sunday laws, of course, are fined and they don't pay their fine ─ Sabbath-keepers don't of course. They have to go to prison to satisfy the fine, and they serve out the time and they are tuned out. Then they go to work on Sunday again. And then they are fined again, and are imprisoned to serve out the fine, and then turned out again. They go to work on Sunday again, of course, when it comes, then the fine is made heavier, 1893 GC Bulletin – A.T Jones Sermons on the Third Angels Message and that makes the imprisonment longer. But none of it stops the Sunday work, which is the one thing aimed at. Therefore don't you see that as heavier penalties are laid on without reaching what the government is after, it will simply have to reach the heaviest penalty at last, and that is death. Then the penalty of death is in every Sunday law that was ever made on this earth, in itself, just as certainly as the law is to be enforced and carried into effect. For this reason the historian Gibbon told the world more than a hundred years ago that:

"It is incumbent on the authors of persecution previously to reflect whether they are determined to support it in the last extreme. They excite the flame which they strive to extinguish, and it soon becomes necessary to chastise the contumacy, as well as the crime, of the offender. The fine, which he is unable or unwilling to discharge, exposes his person to the severity of the law, and his contempt of lighter penalties suggests the use and propriety of capital punishment."

Therefore the historian called the attention of nations and rulers everywhere that before they entered into the line of persecution they should consider whether they were ready to support it with capital punishment. If they were not, they had better not start with it. That is so in the nature of things and there stands the record that that is going to be so in the practice of things.

Then is it not plain from these words that the people who will stand faithful to the third angel's message, faithful in allegiance to the law of God and his Sabbath, will have to do it without any calculations of life itself coming into their account? Isn't that so? [Audience: "Yes."]

Another thing: When all earthly support and protection are taken away, when all questions of reputation, which the world think so much of, are taken away; when all questions of property or business of any kind are taken away and when all questions of life are taken away, how much is left? How much of worldly things or worldly interests is there connected with that man? When he has reckoned up the account and has set aside all considerations of earthly protection, even of mercy or justice; when he has reckoned up the account and set aside all questions as to what men think or say upon the subject; reckoned up the account and set aside all questions as to whether property can be had or whether he can buy or sell or do this, that, or the other; reckoned up the account and set aside all questions of calculation as to whether his life shall be dear unto him or whether it shall come into the account in any way ─ when all these things are cast out of the account, then how much of the world is in that man's calculations? [Audience: "None."]

Then has not the Bible, the word of God, brought every Seventh-day Adventist face to face with that reckoning and called upon him to make that calculation and that decision? [Audience: "Yes."] Then it is time for every one of us to begin to think very seriously indeed. But thank the Lord, we need not be a bit afraid of our enemy. The Lord will never allow you or me to be shut up in a place where he does not expect to take us out a great deal more gloriously than if we had never got in there. The Lord does not call upon you or me to enter upon a course that calls for the forfeiture of anything but that in the place of that which is forfeited He will give us that which is worth infinitely more. When He calls upon us to stand in allegiance to His truth, which shuts off from us all considerations of earthly support or protection, then He simply says, "Here is all the power of heaven and earth for you." "All power is given to me in heaven and earth" and "I am with you"; here is the covering of the Almighty drawn over you. Come with me. "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms"; "Be not afraid." That is His word, is it not? Let us read it a little more fully so as to get the direct reference upon it. In Isaiah 51 we find a prayer that the Lord tells us to speak to Him:

"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab [Egypt], and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."

How are they going to go to Zion? With singing. Then let us begin it now. Why the Lord doesn't want us to go with our heads bowed down and skulking around as though we were afraid to be seen and had no place in the world. "Look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh!" said Jesus. We belong in this world, every one of us, until God is done with us, and Satan himself cannot do us any damage until the Lord is done with us, and even then he cannot do us any damage. Let us go on our way with singing then. Let us be glad of it.

"I, even I, am he that comforteth you; who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of man which shall be made as grass?"

And we profess to believe in God! We are standing by the law of God and we have the Sabbath of the Lord and that reveals to us who God is, that He is the true God, He is the living God and everlasting King. At His wrath the earth shall tremble, and by His word He can bring worlds into existence, and by His word shake them to pieces, and here are some men that are just like grass and will vanish in a little while, and they say that if you do that you shall go to prison, and if you persist in it to the last you shall be put to death. And we get scared at that! Why, isn't the Lord right in asking just such a question as that? "Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die?" That is what He wants to know. Is not that a fair question? "I, even I, am he that comforteth you; who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass?" Don't you see the very insult of the idea that any one who professes to believe in the Lord should act in that way? The Lord says that isn't depending on Him.

Let us read some more. "And forgettest the Lord, thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?" Thank the Lord. Just now it is so that the fury of the oppressor is about to break forth. Well, why should we fear before him as though he were able to destroy? Was not Elijah attacked and driven out and had to flee for his life? But when he had gone a long journey and was weary and lay down to rest and fell asleep from weariness, behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and touched him and said, Arise, Elijah, and eat. And he found a cake baken on the coals and a cruse of water at his head. Thank the Lord.

Was not Elijah perfectly safe? Brethren, isn't it worth being driven out, in order to have an angel do that? Which would you rather, not be driven out or not have the angel come and stand by you like that? Let us not be afraid then. Elijah laid down and went to sleep again, just like Peter when he was condemned to be killed. Well, why not? What was the use of worrying? Elijah laid down and went to sleep, and the angel came and awakened him the second time, and ministered to him. Again he said, Arise, Elijah, and eat, for the journey is too great for thee! Brethren, God will give us bread for the journey. If the journey is too great, he will give us bread twice before we start. I tell you, brethren, it is time to begin to trust the Lord. Let us do it now. He says so. In another place he says, "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." It is so.

"The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit nor that his bread should fail. But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." Isa. 51:14-16.

Then brethren, let us receive it. And then we need not be afraid of oppression or difficulties, or whether we can buy or sell anything at all, because the Lord has something so much better.

Then about the reputation. Let that go. He gives a character ─ a character which He Himself wove from infancy to the grave ─ that is complete in every respect; and He says, "Take it and put it on, and you shall come to my wedding supper." That is the character, and that is the covering that he draws over His people so that the plagues cannot touch them, and no power of the enemy can overcome or defile it. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness." Isa. 61:10. Thank the Lord.

And about the life. When He calls upon you and me to take a position in allegiance to His law, which will forfeit our lives, that will put our lives in jeopardy so that some earthly power would deprive us of it. what then? Well, He simply says, Let that life go. It will vanish away in a little while anyway. Here is one that will last through all eternity. When He asks you and me to take a course of allegiance to His law that will put into jeopardy and forfeit this vapory, vanishing, mortal life, He says, "Here is eternal life to begin with." "He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life." "This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Has He given it to us? "He that hath the Son" is going to have life some time? [Congregation. "No."] He that hath the Son hath life." How in the world can we have the Son without it? Is Christ dead? No. He is alive. So, when we have Him, we have the life that is in Him.

Just see what it brings us to, when a man who professes to have Christ, does not believe that He has the life which is in Christ, which is eternal life. What kind of Christ is He? A Christ with no life in Him? No. Christ isn't dead. Is not that what has been rung in our ears over and over for years by the voice that has been speaking so long for the Lord? "Brethren, Christ is not in Joseph's new tomb with a great stone rolled at the door of the sepulcher. No. He is risen! He lives! He lives! Tell it with tongue and pen."

Then as He lives and does nothing but live forever more, when I have Him, I have a living Saviour. "He that hath the Son hath life." what kind of life is in Him? Eternal life only. Then when I have Him, I have the life which is His, and that is eternal life, just as He says. But, as Brother Haskell has brought before us in his lessons, we cannot have that life without yielding up this one. In doing that we meet Jesus Christ. That was the lesson today, don't you see? Yield up this life and you will get one that is a great deal better. Now is the time. But if I cling to this life, when it is gone, what have I left? [Congregation: "Nothing."]

Therefore the man or woman who has only this life to start with, need not start with the third angel's message, because when the test comes that this life is at stake, he will stick to it. That's the danger. A man can't go through what the third angel's message is to go through, with only this life that he has. He can't do it. Because it is all he has, and he will stick to it, when it is brought into jeopardy. But he will let this life go, count it worth nothing and take that life that measures with the life of God, that life which is the life of God, will have a life that can never get into jeopardy. That man is safe. He can go wherever the message calls him. For He who is the life of the message is the life of him who will maintain his allegiance to this message.

Then, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death." Is not that so from this time forth? Is it not a living truth from this time forth, that those who stand by the third angel's message are always "delivered unto death," just as certainly as the apostles were themselves? Always "delivered unto death," and that is in all our calculations. We live face to face with it all the time.

Then brethren, instead of the power of earth that we cannot depend upon, and which is decidedly set against us, God gives us the power of God.

Instead of reputation God gives us character.

Instead of earthly things ─ earthly riches, houses, lands, property, business considerations or anything of the kind, God gives us Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and "Ye are complete in him." God hath appointed him to be heir of all things, and we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified together. He is heir of all things, and we are joint heirs. Then how much belongs to us? [Congregation: "All things."] Then what have we? all things that God has. Then are we not rich?

Instead of this life which the powers of earth would take away God gives us His life. When He asks us to take a position in allegiance to Him and His cause, the Lord simply says, "Here is eternal life to start with."

Then brethren has not the Lord fully armed us? O, then let us have on the armor of God now. That is what is wanted ─ to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

That is where the Lord wants us to stand, and that is what he wants us to do. And he says, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." That's where we are. Now what are you going to do? "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve," and which course you will take.