The Everlasting Gospel in Old Testament Times

In what condition did the sin of Adam place the human family?
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.

How does the offer of salvation come to all?
"Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation: even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Rom. 5:18.

Is there any other way to obtain salvation?
"Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

Through what are men saved?
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8.

By what were the patriarchs to receive the promises of God?
"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed." Rom. 4:16.

What did the prophets teach concerning justification through faith?
"The just shall live by his faith." Hab. 2:4.

Through whom did the prophets teach should come the remission of sins?
"To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43.

Did Abraham possess this faith?
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Rom. 4:3. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad." John 8:56.

How did Abraham have a view of Christ's day?
"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham." Gal. 3:8.
NOTE: Gospel. -- "Glad tidings; especially the good news concerning Christ and His salvation." --Webster

Whose children are all that believe?
"Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." Gal. 3:7.

What did faith in Christ enable Moses to do?
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." Heb. 11:24-26.

From what source did the children of Israel draw spiritual life?
"And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." 1 Cor. 10:2-4.

Where must the gospel hope have been learned, before the New Testament was written?
"For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" John 5:46, 47.

Who inspired the Old Testament writers in their declarations?
"Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." 1 Peter 1:10, 11.

From what did Christ preach the gospel to His disciples when on the way to Emmaus?
"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:27.

Who is both author and finisher of the plan of salvation?
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Heb. 12:2.

The Everlasting Gospel and the Law

Of what did Paul say he was not ashamed?
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." Rom. 1:16.

What good tidings did the angels announce to the shepherds?
"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10, 11.

What did Simeon say after seeing the Saviour?
"And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold, "this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel." Luke 2:34.

To whom did Anna the prophetess speak of the Saviour?
"And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Luke 2:38.
NOTE: The words of Simeon and Anna show the general expectation of the Jewish people concerning the Messiah and His mission to the earth. They expected redemption, not through their outward forms, but through the Lord Jesus.

In his pre-announcement of Christ's birth and name, what did the angel say Christ should do?
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His flame Jesus [Saviour]; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21.

On what condition was He to save them?
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

Christ saves believers from their sins under the Christian dispensation; but does His blood atone for sins committed in the old dispensation?
"And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Heb. 9:15.
NOTE: The blood of Christ availed for believers the same in the old dispensation as it does in the new. The first promise made to man, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, was as verily the gospel of Jesus Christ as was the song the angels sung over the plains of Bethlehem, to the shepherds, as they watched their flocks by night, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will to men."

How did Abel show his faith in the coming Saviour?
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain." Heb. 11:4.
NOTE: Abel brought a firstling of the flock in faith of Christ, the great sacrifice for sin. God accepted his offering. Through the blood of the firstling, Abel saw the blood of Jesus Christ. He looked forward to Christ, and made his offering in the faith and hope of the gospel, and through it saw the great sacrifice for sin, as truly as we see the bleeding Lamb, as we look back to Calvary, through the broken bread and the fruit of the vine." --James White, in Law and Gospel.

What did the ceremonial law of the Jews contain?
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come." Heb. 10:1.

What were these "good things to come" which this law foreshadowed? "But Christ being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle." Heb. 9:11.
NOTE: The Jewish system looked forward to Christ as the world's Redeemer. "The law," says Paul, "having a shadow of good things to come." The symbolic or typical system is but the shadow. The "good things," of which Christ as a sacrifice and mediator is the center, is the body that casts its shadow back into the Jewish age. The bleeding sacrifices of that dispensation were but the shadow. Christ, bleeding on the cross, was the great reality, and the gospel was the objective point of the faith of believers under former dispensations.

Did those of the patriarchal age have a knowledge of sin?
"Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done." Gen. 20:9 (Gen. 4:7) (Gen. 13:13).

By what means must they have gained that knowledge?
"By the law is the knowledge of sin." "I had not known sin, but by the law." Rom. 3:20; 7:7.

Was there a priesthood in the days of Abraham, to minister for the sins of the people?
"For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him." Heb. 7:1.

And was the gospel preached to Abraham?
"And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham." Gal. 3:8.
NOTE: We have learned from the foregoing scriptures that from the earliest age men were convinced of sin, and that their knowledge of their sinful condition could be learned in no other way than by a moral rule, even God's law. They also had a ministering priesthood, to point them to Christ, which was the good news, or gospel, that gave them hope in a coming Messiah actually to take away their sins. When Christ came, He died for the transgressions which had been committed in the old dispensation, just the same as He did for those which would be committed under the new.

But when Christ came, did He expect to put away the law of God in order to save men?
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law "or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matt. 5:17.
NOTE. - He came to fulfill the law; that is, to carry out its design. The law was ordained to life. (Rom. 7:10.) Had man never broken the law, he would not have been a sinner, and would therefore, from the first, have lived eternally. Now Christ fulfills it, or carries its design into effect, that is, gives life to the believer in Him. Had man never transgressed the law, he would not have needed Christ; if the law could have been done away, after man had broken it, he would not then have needed Christ; for it is the law, and that only, which condemns him to death. Take away the instrument of death, and man would live. Christ could not abate a jot of that law; for His mission was to make an atonement before the law, in behalf of the sinner.

How much of the law did Christ say should remain in force?
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18.

Then if we have faith in Christ and the gospel, how does that affect the law?
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God for- bid: yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31.
NOTE: The fact that Christ is necessary to save one from eternal death, shows the law still in force. When one applies to Christ to save him, he virtually acknowledges the power of the law to slay him, and thus the law is "established." The law must exist with the gospel; otherwise the gospel were a nullity. If there is no law, the letter of which kills, there can be no lost condition from which to save one, and hence there would be no necessity for the gospel.

How many lawgivers are there?
"There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." James 4:12.

What part does Christ act in behalf of the sinner?
"If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1.
NOTE: In other words, Christ our High Priest pleads for the sinner, over the broken law of God. Without such intercession, the life of the sinner, which he has justly forfeited, could not be restored. Faith in this work is what gives us "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through faith in Him alone we have access to the grace of God, and are made to rejoice in the hope of His glory. Rom. 5:1, 2.

In the closing message to the world, how are the law and the gospel associated?
"Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.
NOTE: This says it so well:
"There is no salvation in the law. There is no redeeming quality in law. Redemption is through the blood of Christ. The sinner may cease to break the commandments of God, and strive with all his powers to keep them; but this will not atone for his sins, and redeem him from his present condition in consequence of past transgression... The hope of eternal salvation hangs upon Christ. Adam hung his hope there. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and the believing Jews hung theirs there. We can do no more, the hope of the next life depends upon Christ. Faith in His blood can alone free us from our transgressions. And a life of obedience to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be a sufficient passport through the golden gates of the city of God." --James White, in Law and Gospel


Revelation 14:6
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,
Revelation 14:7
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.

What Law Did Christ Abolish?

Did our Saviour abolish anything on the cross?
"Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances." Eph. 2:15.

What did He Himself say about the law?
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matt. 5:17.

How long did He say the law would endure?
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18 (Luke 16:17).
NOTE: It is evident, from these texts, that the abolished law was not the law of ten commandments.

What did Paul say of the law of God?
"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12.

How did he regard it?
"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." Rom. 7:22.

What does one show by keeping the commandments?
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous." John 5:3.
NOTE: A law that is holy, just, and good, and not grievous, cannot be an "enmity," as was that which Christ abolished.

Does sin still exist?
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8.

Could there be sin now, if Christ abolished the law?
"For until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Rom. 5:13.

What was made possible by abolishing the law of commandments contained in ordinances?
"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world; but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." Eph. 2:12-14.
NOTE: "He broke down the middle wall of partition, the ceremonial law, that made the great feud, and was the badge of the Jews' peculiarity, -- called the partition-wall by way of allusion to the partition in the temple, which separated the court of the Gentiles from that into which the Jews only, had liberty to enter. Thus He abolished in His flesh the enmity." --Matthew Henry.
"Breaking down that partition-wall, which had so long separated the Jews from the Gentiles; namely, the ceremonial law." --Thomas Scott.

What was the chief thing that separated the Jews and the Gentiles?
"And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them." Acts 11:2, 3.

Was circumcision done away in Christ?
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." Gal. 6:15.

After circumcision and the ordinances connected with it lost their force, what still remained of the utmost importance?
"Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." 1 Cor. 7:19.
NOTE: There are several distinct objects to which the term law is applied.
(1) The ten commandments are by themselves called a law, and are often referred to by that term in the Holy Scriptures. (Ex. 24:12).
(2) The ceremonial law of the Jews was given through Moses, and was abolished at the cross (Deut. 31:26).
(3) The five historical books of Moses, which in the classification of the Scriptures were called "the law," in contrast with the prophetical and poetical books; as in the expression, "which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me" (Luke 24:44).

None need be confused concerning these laws when considering Paul's statements as to what was done away, and what remains (Rom. 3:31; Col. 2:14). It was not the five historical books of Moses which were nailed to the cross. Conventionally, the term "the law" may still be applied to those books to distinguish them from other portions of the Scriptures. But the types, shadows, and ceremonies of the Jewish system, only, were done away; while the moral law still remains.

Christ Magnifies the Law

State the Lord's purpose concerning the law.
"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will magnify the law and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21.

Why was it necessary to magnify the law?
"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law." Ps. 119:126.

How was the law "made void" when Christ was on the earth?
"And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9 (Matt. 15:1-9).

What was Christ's attitude toward the law?
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matt. 5:17.
NOTE: "Fulfill." -- To render full; to fulfill, i.e., to perform perfectly. -- Greenfield's Greek Lexicon. (See also Webster. Christ, then, came to perform the law perfectly in all its parts).

How did He then proceed to magnify the law before His hearers?
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." Matt. 5:21, 22. (See also 1 John 3:15.)

What did He say of the seventh commandment?
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, That whoever looketh on a woman to lust after her had committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matt. 5:27, 28.

Did Christ Himself keep the commandments?
"I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John 15:10.
How long did He say the law would last?
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18.

Why did Christ come to earth?
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4.
NOTE: That is, that we might "perform perfectly" the law of God, -- a work which no one can do of himself.

In order to accomplish this, what was it necessary for Christ to do?
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. 5:6.

But if the law could have been abolished, would not that have released men from condemnation?
"Because the law worketh wrath; for where no law is, there is no transgression." Rom. 4:15.
NOTE: It is plain that if the law of God demanded the death of Christ, and had power to slay Him (Gal. 3:13), the law must still live, even after cursing the Son of God in our behalf. Then by yielding His life to the demands of the law, He magnified it in His death as well as in His life.

Christ is the End of the Law (What does that mean?)

To the believer what does Christ become?
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." Rom. 10:4.

In what sense is the word end (Greek, telos) sometimes used in the Scriptures? Object, intention, or design.
"Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord." James 5:11.

What was the object of the law?
"And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." Rom. 7:10.

What further is the end, or object, of the law?
"Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart." 1 Tim. 1:5.

What is charity, or love?
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. 13:10 (1 John 5:3).

Why did God send His Son to the world?
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. 8:3, 4.

Then what is one enabled to do through Christ?
"That the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us." Rom. 8:4 (see margin of Revised Version).
NOTE: Since obedience "unto life" is the "end of the law," and Christ is the means by which one is justified and enabled to keep the law, it is thus that He becomes the "end" or object, of the law for us.

"The end of the law was to bring men to perfect obedience, and so to obtain justification. This is now become impossible, by reason of the power of sin, and the corruption of nature; but Christ is the end of the law; the law is not destroyed, nor the intention of the Lawgiver frustrated; but full satisfaction being made by the death of Christ for our breach of the law, the end, or objective is attained -- which is justification and obedience. Christ is thus the end of the law for righteousness, for justification; but it is only to every one that believeth." --Matthew Henry

What positive statement does the apostle make concerning the law?
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight." Rom. 3:20.

What does the law do?
"I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Rom. 7:7 (Rom. 3:20, last clause).

Will the law do this work for others besides the Jews?
"Now we know that what things soever. the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Rom. 3:19.

What is the nature of God's law?
"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12.

It is manifest that a law, the office of which is to point out sin, can never justify one from the transgressions of that law. How, then, can man be justified?
"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom. 3:24.

But does the fact that we are subjects of God's grace, give us license to sin?
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. 6:15, 16.

How must those walk who would be free from condemnation?
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1.


1John 2:3-6
And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him.
He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.

The Two Types of Laws Given by GOD

By what are all men to be judged at last?
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14. "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:12.

With what other law were the people of God for a time concerned, which is not to judge them?
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; and having spoiled principalities and power, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Col. 2:14-17.

Two terms are employed by theologians, for the sake of convenience, to designate these two laws.
"The first is called "the moral law," summarily contained in the decalogue; the second is known as the "ceremonial or typical law" of the Jewish dispensation.

What is the relation of the moral law to sin?
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the taw." 1 John 3:4.

How early in the history of our world was this law applicable?
"For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived; but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." 1 Tim. 2:13, 14.

Since this law was binding on man previous to his fall, what did it cover?
His relations to God and to His fellow creatures: "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. 22:35-39.

When and for what reason were laws of a ceremonial or typical nature introduced?
They were introduced after man had sinned, and were instituted because God in mercy provided a plan of redemption or a remedial system. "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering." Gen. 4:3, 4. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." Heb. 11:4.
NOTE: The excellence of Abel's offering lays in the fact that he offered blood, which fitly typified the sacrifice of the promised Redeemer, and was the true expression of faith in Him. But the law of sacrifices, which was the central pillar in the typical or ceremonial system, would not have been enjoined upon men, had not sin made a Redeemer necessary, and had not such Redeemer been provided. This, therefore, was a derived or secondary law, brought in with the plan of salvation, and owing its existence to the presence of sin; while the moral law may be called a primary or original law, inasmuch as it existed before sin came into the world, grows out of the relation which all creatures sustain to their Maker and to one another, and would have continued just the same if sin had never come into the world. Thus the line of distinction between the two laws is immutably established, in their origin, the circumstance to which they owe their existence, their nature and the purposes they were respectively to subserve.

How was the moral law communicated to the people at Sinai?
"And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire... And He declared His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments." Deut. 4:12, 13.

How was the ceremonial law communicated to them?
"And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, if any man of you bring an offering,..." Lev. 1:1, 2. "This is the law of the burnt offering... meat offering,... sin offering,... trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings; which the Lord commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that He commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai." Lev. 7:37, 38.

On what, and by whom, was the moral law written?
"The Lord spake unto you,... and He declared unto you... ten commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:12, 13.

In what, and by whom, was the ceremonial law written?
"And commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant." (Neh. 9:14). "And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel." Neh. 8:1.

Were the ten commandments a distinct and complete law by themselves?
"These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me" (Deut. 5:22). "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written." Ex. 24:12.

Was the ceremonial law composed of rules or ordinances?
"The law of commandments, contained in ordinances." Eph. 2:15.

What is the nature of the moral law?
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19:7.

Was perfection to be secured by the ceremonial law?
"Which was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience." Heb. 9:9.

How did the prophet Isaiah say that Christ would treat the moral law when He should appear on earth as the great teacher?
"The Lord is pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will magnify the Law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21.

How did Christ fulfill this prophecy?
By opening before the people the deep spiritual nature of the law, living in perfect obedience to both letter and the spirit of all its requirements, and giving His life to save men from the penalty of its transgression. See Matt. 5:17-48; John 15:10; 1 Peter 2:22; Rom. 4:25.

How long was the ceremonial law to continue?
"Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." Heb. 9:10.

When was this time of reformation?
"But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once [once for all] into the holy place [places], having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:11, 12.

How did Christ's death affect the ceremonial law?
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Col. 2:14. "Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances." Eph. 2:15.

What was the object of the ceremonial law?
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year, continually, make the comers thereunto perfect." Heb. 10:1.

What does Paul say of the holiness and spirituality of the moral law?
"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." "For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin." Rom. 7:12, 14.

How does faith in Christ affect our relation to the moral law?
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31.

How does dependence on the ceremonial law affect our relation to Christ?
"Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." Gal. 5:2.

How long does Christ say that the moral law is to endure?
"Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18.

To which of the two types of laws does the Sabbath commandment belong?
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. 2:2, 3.
NOTE: It appears that the Sabbath belongs to the original, primary, or moral, law, because it was institued before sin came into the world, and consequently before a type or shadow, or any ordinance of a ceremonial nature, could have had an existence.

GOD's Law Given at Sinai

How does Nehemiah describe the giving of the law at Sinai?
"Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and madest known unto them Thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses." Nehemiah 9:13, 14.

What was the primary advantage possessed by the Hebrews?
"What advantage then hath the Jew?... chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Romans 3:1, 2.
NOTE: The law was not spoken at this time exclusively for the Hebrews. God honored them by making them the guardians and keepers of His law, to be held by them as a sacred trust for the whole world. The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all.
"We have already seen that, unlike the ceremonial and civil codes which were given to Israel as the chosen people and holy nation, the moral law is intended for all mankind, and it has never been abrogated nor repealed?" --William C. Procter, Moody Bible Institute Monthly (copyrighted), December, 1933, p. 160.

Before the law was given at Sinai, how did Moses render judgment to the people?
"When they have a matter, they come unto me and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and His laws." Exodus 18:16.

In the wilderness, before reaching Sinai, how did Moses explain the absence of the manna on the seventh day?
"He said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord... Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." Exodus 16:23-26.

When some of the people went out to gather manna on the seventh day, what did the Lord say to Moses?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?" Verse 28.
NOTE: lt is evident therefore that the Sabbath and the law of God existed before the law was given at Sinai. (See the last question on reading 76)

What additional evidence do we have that the moral law of Ten Commandments existed before it was proclaimed at Mount Sinai?
"By one's disobedience many were made sinners." Romans 5:19. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.
NOTE: The one man through whom sin entered into this world was Adam. Since sin is the transgression of the law, it follows that the law existed in Eden, else there would have been no transgression, noun. "In the creation He wrote it in men's hearts, and hence it is called the Law of nature. Rom. 2:15. . . . "27. Has not God revealed this law in any other way? "Yes, He gave it on Mount Sinai, written on two table. of stone." -—Epitome of Pontoppidan's Explanation of Martin Luther's Small Catechism, translated from Norwegian by Edmund Belfour (1935).

How were the Ten Commandments first presented to the people at Sinai?
"God spake all these words, saying,... Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:1-3.

How was it then written down as a permanent record?
"He gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex. 31:18.
NOTE: The law of God, as well as the knowledge of creation, the plan of redemption, and the experiences of the early patriarchs, had been handed down from father to son until this time, but not in written form. He wrote the Ten Commandments upon two tables of stone with His own finger.

How did Moses show that the children of Israel had broken their part of the covenant between them and God?
"It came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the [golden] calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." Exodus 32:19.

With what exactness did the Lord write the law the second time?
"He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me." Deuteronomy 10:4.

Where did Moses place these two tables of stone?
"I... put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me." Verse 5.

What other law was also given at this time?
"When Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished." Deut. 31:24.
NOTE: Besides the Ten Commandment law, the Lord gave to Moses instruction concerning the sanctuary service, which was ceremonial, and certain civil laws regulating the subjects of the nation. These laws were written by Moses in a book, and are called the law of Moses, whereas the other law was written on tables of stone with the finger of God. (See reading "What was Abolished by Christ?")

Why did the Lord call His people out of the land of Egypt?
"He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness:... that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws." Psalm 105:43-45.

How were they to teach the law to their children?
"Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sit test in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6:7.

What promise to Israel hinged on their keeping the instructions that He had given them?
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Exodus 19:5, 6.

Was this promise made to the Jews alone?
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Genesis 12:1-3.
If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:19.
NOTE: From these texts it will be readily seen that God had not one provision of grace and one law for the Jew and another means of salvation and another law for the Gentile; but the plan was that through Abraham's seed all the families of the earth should be recipients of divine grace and should receive the blessing through obedience.

What reveals that the Ten Commandment law, given at Sinai, is the law for the Christian?
"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:10-12.
NOTE: James, years after the Christian era began, emphasizes the obligation of the Christian to keep the law of Ten Commandments, not merely one precept, but all, and sets forth this law as the standard by which men will be judged in the great day of God. To us, as Christians, God has committed the blessed law in writing, as He did to ancient Israel. This law points out sin to us, that we may confess it and find forgiveness. And when this law is written in our hearts in the new covenant experience (Hebrews 8:10), it also becomes to us the law of life.

What is the wages of sin?
"The wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2: 17. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Ezekiel 18:4.

How did death enter this world?
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,' and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.

God is merciful, but will His mercy clear the guilty?
"The Lord is long suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty." Numbers 14:18. (See Exodus 34:5-7.)

What is the result of willfully sinning against God?
"If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Hebrews 10:26-29.

To whom is the execution of judgment given?
"Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Romans 12:19. "The Father hath... given to the Son... authority to execute judgement also." John 5:26, 27. (See Jude 14-15.)

What presumptuous way of life do many pursue?
"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Ecclesiastes 8:11.

What message has God sent to men by His appointed messengers?
"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him. "for the reward of his hands shall be given him." Isaiah 3:10, 11. "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us." 2 Corinthians 5:20. (See 2 Timothy 2:24-26.)

How can man escape the penalty of sin?
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23.
NOTE: "God threatens to punish all who transgress these Commandments: we should, therefore, fear his anger, and do nothing against such Commandments. But He promised grace and every blessing to all who keep them: we should, therefore, love and trust in Him, and gladly obey His Commandments." -—Luther's Small Catechism, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Harper), Vol. 3, p. 77.

"Through the atonement of Christ more honor is done to the law, and consequently the law is more established, than if the law had been literally executed, and all mankind had been condemned." -—Jonathan Edwards (Congregationalist), Works (1842 ad.), Vol.2, p. 369.

The Last Nation Seen in Prophecy

What symbol is introduced in Rev. 12:3?
"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and, behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads."

At what time in the world's history did this symbol apply?
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Rev. 12:1.
NOTE: In symbolic prophecy, a woman represents a church (Eze. 23:2-4; Rev. 17:3-6). The above text presents the Christian church clothed with the light of the sun (the light and glory of the gospel dispensation) and the moon (the Mosaic dispensation) under her feet. The crown of twelve stars on her head may represent the twelve apostles.

What did the dragon design to do to the child about to be born to the church?
"And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." Rev. 12:4.

What became of the child?
"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne." Rev. 12:5.
NOTE: Christ the Lord is the only one to whom the prophecy can apply (Heb. 12:2).

Who sought to slay Christ as soon as He was born?
"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." Matt. 2:16.
NOTE: Herod was a Roman governor. The dragon, then, represents the work of Satan under the pagan Roman power.

What symbol was next seen by the prophet?
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." Rev. 13:1.

From what did this government receive its seat and power?
"And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Rev. 13:2.
NOTE: It is an undisputed point in history that, when Constantine removed the seat of his empire from Rome to Constantinople, in 330 A.D., the city of Rome was given up to the bishop of Rome, who, in 538, became the head of all the churches, and the corrector of heretics, by the work of Justinian, the ruling emperor of the Romans. Thus Rome became the seat of the papacy, and the authority of the pope was derived from the decree of the dragon power. See "Croly on the Apocalypse." pages 114-115.

What was to happen to this beast?
"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." Rev. 13:3.

How was this wounding to be brought about?
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." Rev. 13:10.

Had the papacy led others into captivity?
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." Rev. 13:7.
NOTE: Many millions have been martyred by the Roman Church, because they dared to differ with her in religious opinions. See "Fox's Book of Martyrs;" "The Wars of the Huguenots;" "Buck's Theological Dictionary," art. Persecutions; histories of the Reformation, etc.

When was the papal head wounded by being taken into captivity?
In 1798, the French army under Berthier then abolished the papacy in Rome, proclaimed a republic there, and carried Pope Pius VI a captive from place to place till he died at Valence, France, August 28,1799.

At that time what additional symbol was seen by the prophet?
"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Rev. 13:11.
NOTE: Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Rev. 13, written in 1754, says of the two-horned beast; "He is not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to appear at the end ofthe forth-two months of the first beast."

The previous beast came up out of the "sea," which indicates its rise among the peoples and nations then recognized (Rev. 17:15), while this one comes up out of the "earth." This would plainly indicate that the last beast would arise where there had not before been "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues," In 1798, when the papal power was going into captivity, its territory covered the principal parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa; and the only place for the two-horned beast to develop, would be in the Western Continent. Looking to this country, we find that the United States was the only independent nation then occupying territory in the which there had not been for ages, peoples, multitudes, and established nations.

Speaking of the silent growth of this nation. Mr. G.A. Townsend in his work, "The New World Compared with the Old," page 635, says "Like a silent seed we grew into empire." On page 462 he further speaks of "the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy."

Has the United States "come up" sufficiently to warrant the application of the prophecy to this country?
The "Centennial History of the United States" says: "The extent of the conceded domain of the United States, in 1776, was not more than half a million square miles. Now (1875) it is more than three million, three hundred thousand square miles. Its population then was three million; in 1875-forty million. Today it is over two hundred ninety six million.

What do the "two horns like a lamb" represent?
A horn represents a kingdom, or a component part of a kingdom, as in Dan. 7:7, 8, 24, 25. Lamb-like horns would indicate youthfulness, innocence, and gentleness. The "two" horns may represent the two leading principles of the government, civil and religious liberty.

Notwithstanding the lamb-like pretensions of this power, what is it ultimately to do?
"And he spake as a dragon." Rev. 13:11.

What will he say?
"Saying unto them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Rev. 13:14.
NOTE: The beast "which had the wound by a sword and did live," is the papacy. That was a church clothed with the civil power. In other words, it enforced its religious dogmas by the civil power, under pain of confiscation of goods, imprisonment, and death.

When the image to the beast has been formed in the United States, what will follow?
"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." Rev. 13:15.

How are the people to be led to form the image to the beast?
"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." Rev. 13:14.

How much power will be exercised in the matter?
"And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Rev. 13:12.
NOTE: The "first beast before him" (the papal power) exercised the power of putting to death all who differed with them in religious faith.

What will the two-horned beast power try to enforce on the people?
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." Rev. 13:16.

How far is this to be carried?
"And 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." Rev. 13:17.
NOTE: That is, all who do not receive the mark are to be denied the right of citizenship. God willing we will study more on this tomorrow.

Messages Given by Three Angels in Prophecy- The Third Angel

Against whose worship are the dwellers of earth warned by the third angel?
"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." Rev. 14:9.

What beast had been seen coming up out of the sea?
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." Rev. 13:1.

What power was given to this beast?
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." Rev. 13:7

What was the result of his overcoming the saints?
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Rev. 13:8.

What did the "mother of harlots" do to the saints?
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Rev. 17:6.

And what did she succeed in accomplishing by her course?
"The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Rev. 17:2.
NOTE. - The beast of Rev. 13, and the woman of Rev. 17, are identical. They are symbols of the Roman Church. She put to death millions of saints, and finally so nearly overcame the whole world that even "the kings of the earth" were subdued, and made to pay her homage and worship.

What other beast was seen to arise after the one last described?
"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Rev. 13:11.
NOTE. - This symbol represents the United States of America. For confirmation of this, tomorrow's reading will be on "The Last Nation Noticed in Prophecy." God willing.



What is the two-horned beast to do?
"Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Rev. 13:14.

What will the two horned beast require all under its jurisdiction to receive?
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." Rev. 13:16.

What will be the result?
"And 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." Rev. 13:17.

How much power is to be given to the image of the beast?
"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." Rev. 13:15.
NOTE.- The image of the beast is to have the same power as the beast itself has had to kill those who will not obey its dogmas.

After uttering His warning by the third angel against all this, what does God offer instead, as that which will manifest the patience of the saints?
"Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.

What does the Bible set forth as the "commandments of God?"
"And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire;... and He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:12, 13.

Were these ten commandments the complete law of God?
"These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone." Deut. 5:22.

Why should the law of God be obeyed?
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.

How much of the law should one keep to be called a commandment keeper?
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10.

How does the apostle illustrate his meaning in this statement?
"For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." James 2:11.
NOTE. - If keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be proof against worshiping the beast and his image, and receiving his mark, then it is plain that those who do worship the beast do not keep the commandments. It is also established by this that the great religious controversy of the last generation is to be over the commandments of God.


Why will the remnant church be persecuted?
"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17.

Messages Given by Three Angels In Prophecy - The Second Angel

What announcement is made by the second angel of Rev. 14?
" 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." Rev. 14:8.

To whom is the term Babylon elsewhere applied?
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color... And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth." Rev. 17:4, 5.
NOTE: A woman, in prophecy, denotes a church. Eze. 23:2-4; Jer. 3:1, 14, 20; Rom. 7:4; Rev. 14:4, 5.
The word Babylon comes from Babel, and signifies mixture or confusion, which may be the result of idolatrous worship. Bush, in his Notes on Gen. 10:10, says, "Babel (i.e., confusion) is but another name for Babylon, which, from its being the primitive seat of despotical empire, and probably of idolatrous worship, has come to be employed in the Scriptures, particularly in the Apocalypse, as a typical or symbolical designation of oppressive government, both civil and ecclesiastical."

What does the apostle call the church that has become corrupted by worldly alliances?
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" James 4:4.
NOTE: Babylon is also said to commit fornication.

And what is that called which was to reveal the "man of sin," or the papacy?
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." 2 Thess. 2:3.
NOTE: If a "falling away" in this case means apostasy, the "fall" of Babylon must be a moral fall, caused by a departure from the simplicity of the gospel.

What work was this "mother of harlots" seen to engage in?
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Rev. 17:6.

What was in the hand of this woman?
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication." Rev. 17:4.

What effect had this wine (false doctrine) upon those to whom it was given?
"And the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Rev. 17:2.

This woman is said to be the "mother" of harlots. Are there any churches which have sprung from the mother church of Rome, directly or indirectly, and which resemble her in doctrine or otherwise?
"If the church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to Christ." Catholic Christian Instructed, page 18.
Mr. Hopkins, in a treatise on the millennium, says: "There is no reason to consider the anti-Christian spirit and practices confined to that which is now called the church of Rome. The Protestant churches have much of Antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed from corruption and wickedness."
"There is a powerful element of Romanism in all the larger Protestant bodies. The clergymen do not teach to the people the Bible itself in its purity and simplicity, but they require them to receive instead a system of clerical interpretations of the Bible." Literal Christian.

What confessions have been made by leading men, which show that they consider the churches to be in a fallen condition?
"A confession can be had from the lips of the pastors of most of our churches, that in our midst there are wicked, unholy, corrupt men who maintain their position, and are saved from a righteous discipline, either by their wealth or social position. It is true of this church, and it is true of many of the churches around us. If a ship should go to sea with as many rotten timbers as we have spiritually rotten members, it would go to the bottom in twenty-four hours . . . One thoughtful, intelligent layman, a ember of the church which is a leader in its denomination, said the other day, 'Our church has degenerated into a great, strong, social, fashionable organization.' " G. F .Pentecost, in Christian Statesman of Jan. 8, 1876.
Robert Atkins, also, in a sermon preached in London, said: "The truly righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart. The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink from even reproach. Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, is engraved on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did they feel it, there might be hope; but alas! they cry, 'We are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.'"
Referring to a session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, held in Belfast in 1859, the News Letter of that city, in its issue of Sept. 30, said: "Here in this venerable body of ministers and elders, we find two ministers openly giving each other the lie, and the whole General Assembly turned into a scene of confusion bordering upon a riot."

What does Paul say of the condition of the church in the last days?
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,... lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Tim 3:1-5.
NOTE: H. Mattison, D.D., appeals to his people in the folling strain: "You Methodists, who were once poor and unknown, but have grown rich and prominent in the world, have left the narrow way in which you walked twenty or thirty years ago, have ceased to attend class-meeting, seldom pray in your families or in prayer-meetings, as you once did, and are now indulging in many of the fashionable amusements of the day, such as playing chess, dominoes, billiards, and cards, dancing, and attending theaters, or allowing your children to indulge in them." --Popular Amusements, page 3. (it is obvious that this undated reference is most probably 100 years old ... can you imagine what the author would say today?)

The Christian Commonwealth, a leading religious journal of England, says: "More than once we have strongly denounced the pernicious vice of gambling, in all its varied forms, and we expect to do it again many times before the evil practice dies out. Certainly we cannot be silent when we find that even the church itself is infected with this pestilent disease. The raffling which goes on at bazaars is a species of gambling, and it is marvelous that Christian men should countenance it it any way. It is a lottery, pure and simple. How can Christian men protest against the vices of the world while their own hands are polluted?" (once again and old document, but it's truth is just as powerful today as it was then)

How does the prophet elsewhere describe the condition of Babylon?
"Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Rev. 18:2.
NOTE: "I believe that one half of the professors of the gospel are nothing better than practical infldels." --Dr. Cumming, in "Time of the End," page 183.
"The Church of England seems to be eaten through and through with sacramentarianism; but non-conformity appears to be almost as badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the faith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is honey-combed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into the pulpit, and call itself Christian." --Mr. Spurgeon, in the Record.
Many of the evils set forth in the foregoing extracts existed (though perhaps in milder form than now) in 1844, and were probably the cause of the churches' rejecting the great revival and the Advent movement of that time. Since then the cry, "Babylon is fallen," has been going to the world.

Where will many of God's people be found when this cry is at its height?
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. 18:4.
NOTE: I also think Christ has a true church on earth, but its members are scattered among the various denominations, and are all more or less under the influence of Mystery, Babylon and her daughters." --Wm. Kinkaid, "Bible Doctrine," page 294.
And I fully agree with Mr. Kinkaid.

In this can to "come out" of Babylon, what message does the Lord send to guide His people into the truth for these days?
"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... Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:9-12.
NOTE: It is worthy of notice that the first of these angels has simply an announcement to make of the judgment at hand; the second tells the condition of the religious world, and exposes its unfitness to meet its record in the judgment previously announced; while the third provides a remedy whereby the people may be made ready to meet the judgment and the coming King. This subject is treated in the next study, God willing.

Messages Given by Three Angels In Prophecy - The First Angel

Has God appointed the day of judgment?
"Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness." Acts 17:31.

To whom has this event been made known?
"Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7.

Where is the announcement of the judgment made?
"Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come." Rev. 14:7.

What does the angel preach who makes this announcement?
"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." Rev. 14:6.
NOTE: "Angel is from an original word meaning 'messenger,' and is used sometimes of ministering spirits sent of God to men with a message, tec., as in the Old Testament, Gospels, and Acts; sometimes of men so sent, as in the epistles and book of Revelation." --S.S. Teachers' Helps to the Study of the Bible, page 96.

By what is this angel accompanied before his work is accomplished?
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen... 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." Rev. 14:8-10.

What will be the effect of the united work of these three messages?
"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." Rev. 14:15. (See Matt. 13:39.)

What takes place in connection with the harvest?
"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." Rev. 14:14.
NOTE: The truths preached under these three angels, are to culminate in the Lord's advent, and the world's harvest. It is, then, clear that these messages must all go to one generation, and that generation the last one before the close of probation. No great religious movement ordained of God is ever sprung upon the world unheralded. See the work of Noah, John the Baptist, and others, in confirmation of this. So we may expect that just prior to the opening of the judgment announced by this first angel, God will have men in all parts of the world calling attention to the important time just before them.

What was the appearance of an angel seen by John, as recorded in chapter ten?
"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." Rev. 10:1.

What did he hold in his hand?
"And he had in his hand a little book open." Rev. 10:2.

And what did the angel do?
"And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth." Rev. 10:2, 3.

What was the burden of this message?
"And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer." ("Delay no longer," margin of R.V.) Rev. 10:5, 6.

The book in the hand of the angel, from which he proclaimed this time message, was said to be "open." When was the only sealed book of the Bible, that contained definite time, to be opened?
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4.
NOTE: Such a message, then, could not go to the world till "the time of the end" came; for when it is proclaimed, the little book is "open," and in the hands of those who are represented by the angel.

What does the prophet Daniel say about the judgment?
"I beheld till the thrones were cast down [placed, R.V.], and the Ancient of days did sit, . . . thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." Dan.7:9, 10.

What did Daniel see the little horn (Roman Church) do after the judgment opened?
"I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake." Dan. 7:11.

When did the angel say this judgment work, called the cleansing of the sanctuary would commence?
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. 8:14.
NOTE: lt may here be stated that Since the closing of the 2300 days, in 1844, some of the greatest words of the Roman hierarchy have been uttered. For instance, the infallibility dogma of Pius IX, propagated in 1870. It is also a remarkable fulfillment of the prophecy that just prior to the close of that prophetic period, and in fulfillment of the first angel's message of Rev. 14:6, 7, men in various parts of the world did go forth proclaiming that "the hour of His judgment is come." It will be noticed in Rev. 10:2, that the angel set one foot on the sea and the other on the land, implying that his message is a world-wide one. In fulfillment of this, Joseph Wolfe in Asia, lrving in England, and Miller in America, with hundreds of co-laborers, heralded to the world, between the years 1836 and 1844, the message of the judgment hour.

Mourant Brock, an English writer, says of the extent of that message: "It is not merely in Great Britian that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent of Europe. In America about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching 'this gospel of the kingdom;' whilst in this country about seven hundred of the Church of England are raising the same cry." --Advent Tracts, Vol. 2, page 135.

"The Voice of the Church," by D.T. Taylor, pages 342, 343, speaks thus of the work done in the different countries of the world by those who proclaimed that message: "In Wirtemberg there is a Christian colony numbering hundreds, who look for the speedy advent of Christ; also another on the shores of the Caspian; the Molokaners, a large body of dlssenters from the Russian Greek Church, residing on the shores of the Baltic, --a very pious people, of whom it is said, 'Taking the Bible alone for their creed, the norm of their faith is simply the Holy Scriptures,' --are characterized by the 'expectation of Christ's immediate and visible reign upon the earth.' In Russia, the doctrine of Christ's coming and reign is preached to some extent, and received by many of the lower class. It has been extensively agitated in Germany, particularly in the south part among the Moravians. In Norway, charts and books on the advent have bean circulated extensively, and the doctrine received by many. Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an expectation of Christ's advent about this time. English and American publications on this doctrine have bean sent to Holland, Germany, India, Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to nearly every missionary station on the globe. At the Turks islands, it has been received to some extent among the Wesleyans. Mr. Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people was a believer in Christ's soon coming. James Mac Gregor Bertram, a Scottish missionary of the Baptist order at St. Helena, has sounded the cry extensively on that island, making many converts and pre-millennialists; he has also preached it in South Africa at the missionary stations there. David N. Lord informs us that a large proportion of the missionaries who have gone from Great Britian to make known the gospel to the heathen, and who are now laboring in Asia and Africa, are millenialists; and Joseph Wolfe, D.D.; according to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845 proclaimed the Lord's speedy advent in Palestine, Egypt, on the shores of the Red Sea, Mesopotamia, the Crimea, Persia, Georgia, throughout the Ottoman Empire, in Greece; Arabia, Turkestan, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindustan, Tibet, in Holland, Scotland, and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St Helena, also on shipboard in the Mediterranean, and at New York City, to all denominations. He declares he has preached among the Jews, Turks, Mohammedans; Parsees, Hindus, Chaldeans, Yeseedes, Syrians, Sabeans, to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece, etc.; and of his extraordinary labors, the Investigator says, 'No individual has, perhaps given greater publicity to the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than has this well-known missionary to the world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the approaching advent of the Messiah in glory.'"

What did John do with the little book given him by the angel? And what effect did it have upon him?
"And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter." Rev. 10:10.

What was symbolized by his eating the book?
"Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel." Eze. 3:1.
NOTE: To eat, or fill one's self, so as to speak what the roll contained, would be to take in or understand its contents. John, representing the Lord's messengers in this important message to be given, ate (devoured) the book, which was pleasant at first to contemplate, but became bitter afterward, representing the disappointment when the time passed in 1844, and the Lord did not come, as was anticipated.

Were not the disciples disappointed in their expectations concerning Christ's work at His first advent?
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Acts 1:6. See also Luke 24:19-21.
NOTE: The disappointment of the disciples of Christ did not prove His mission false. As He rode into Jerusalem amid the shouts of "Hosanna!" from the delighted disciples, who supposed He would then take the throne of David and commence His reign, the Pharisees asked Him to rebuke the disciples. But Christ answered: "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40). And why? Because the prophecies relating to His earthly work had predicted this entry into Jerusalem (Zech. 9:9), and it must be fulfilled, even should the stones be caused to fulfill it. Then the Lord in this event suffered His disciples to be disappointed; and yet they were fulfilling prophecy. When Israel left Egypt, under the impression that they would in a few days, at farthest, enter the promised land, they, too, were disappointed. But that did not disprove the divine call of Moses, nor show that the departure from Egypt was not ordered by God. In every great movement which God has inaugurated among His people, He has suffered disappointment to come, in order to test the faith of those engaged in it. It was so in the cases of Elijah, Jonah, and others. And so it was in 1844. God suffered His people to misapprehend the intent of the prophecy, and thus their faith was tested. The disappointment was due, not to an error in locating the beginning or the end of the 2300 days, but in the nature of the event to occur at the end of those days. They supposed the cleansing of the sanctuary meant the purifying of the earth by fire, at the coming of Christ. For an exposition of the 2300 days, see reading on "A Great Prophetic Period."

What did the Lord say should afterward be done?
"And He said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." Rev. 10:11.

What message was immediately to follow the proclamation of the judgment?
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen." Rev. 14:8. For explanation of this message, study ahead and then tomorrow we will examine this, God willing.

The Seven Last Plagues

What is said of those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark?
"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." Rev. 14:9, 10.

What is the wrath of God?
"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God." "And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever." Rev. 15:1, 7.

Will there be any service in the heavenly temple while these plagues are being poured out?
"And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." Rev. 15:8.
NOTE: This shows that during the pouring out of these plagues, there will be no intercession for sinners in the temple above; hence the time of salvation will then be passed. This is the reason why it is said by the third angel that those who receive the mark of the beast will have visited on them the wrath of God "without mixture;" that is, without any mixture of mercy. It also presents the fact that the message of the third angel is to be the last special one before the close of probation.

Will probation have been closed for a period when Christ comes?
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly." Rev. 22:11, 12.
NOTE: If all, both good and bad, remain as they are from a certain time to the coming of Christ, still future (a short time called "quickly"), it follows that before He comes, there will be a space of time in which no one's condition can be changed for the better, no matter how earnestly he may desire it. As it was in the days before the flood, so it will be in this case. God did not suffer the door of the ark to remain open till the day of the flood actually came; for then thousands would have flocked into it, to be saved, who had derided Noah's message. Noah was shut into the ark some days before the flood came, even while the sky was clear. The act of shutting him and his companions in, shut all others out, and they could not afterward change their situation. So it will be in the future: probation will close even before the plagues of God begin to fall.

What will be the first plague, and on whom will it fall?
"And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." Rev. 16:2.

How many will worship the beast?
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life." Rev. 13:8.
NOTE: Then the plague will be nearly universal.

What will constitute the second plague?
"And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea." Rev. 16:3.

What will be the third plague?
"And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood." Rev. 16:4.

Why will the Lord give them blood to drink?
"For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy." Rev. 16:6.
NOTE: That is, those who have opposed the commandments of God, and in trying to drive the saints to worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, have caused their death, either actually or intentionally, will be given blood to drink.

What will the fourth plague bring?
"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat." Rev. 16:8, 9.

What will be the effect of the fifth?
"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain." Rev. 16:10.

What promise applies at this time to those who have loved the truth?
"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Ps. 91:7-10.

What takes place under the sixth plague?
"And 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." Rev. 16:12.
NOTE: It is not likely that this has reference to the literal river, for that never was a hindrance to the armies of the East. A thousand years before Christ, the kings of Assyria, in their campaigns, crossed it regularly every spring--the very time when its waters were highest. That this refers to the power ruling in the country of the Euphrates, and not to the literal river, is strengthened by the fact that Isaiah, in speaking of the king of Assyria and his armies, plainly calls the "The waters of the river strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks. Isa. 8:7.

When the seventh angel pours out his vial, what is heard?
"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." Rev. 16:17.

Whose is this voice?
"The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He shall mightily roar upon His habitation; He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth." Jer. 25:30.

What then takes place?
"And there were voices, and thunders, 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." Rev. 16:18 (Haggai 2:21) (Heb. 12:26).

What accompanies the earthquake?
"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Rev. 16:21.

What will the people of God do in this time?
"The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Joel 3:16.

To prepare the people for this terrible time, what will the Lord send beforehand?
The third angel's message.

At the expiration of this message, what will take place?
The close of probation, and the seven last plagues.

What will then come upon those who have rejected that message?
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Amos 8:11-12.

When the people shall thus cry for the bread of life, what will the Lord say to them?
"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." Prov. 1:24-26.

How does the Saviour represent the condition of such?
"When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are." Luke 13:25