hem that believe, for there is no difference." To every creature he has sent his
gospel, wherein is "the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith."
He has given eternal life; for it is written: "This is the record, that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life;
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11, 12. And the Son
of God says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24.
Therefore the inheritance can not possibly be of law,–of any kind of law, nor of
all kinds of law,–"for if the inheritance be of law, it is no more of promise; but God
gave it to Abraham by promise. And everything that God ever gave or ordained
after this promise, is, in the nature of things, contributory to the promise. And
whoever would use anything God ever gave after the promise, at any time or in
any way, without, in such use, holding the promise in view, frustrates every
purpose of God in the giving of those things.
Therefore even though it had been a man's covenant, yet, once confirmed, no
man could disannul it nor add thereto. Much more, being God's covenant, and
being even doubly confirmed, it could not possibly be disannuled, neither could
anything be added thereto. And since "to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made," and that seed "is Christ;" and since that covenant "was
confirmed before of God in Christ, anything that came afterward can not take the
place of the covenant, neither can it be added to the covenant.
February 6, 1900
"The Third Angel's Message. What Is It?" Advent Review and Sabbath
Herald, 77, 6 , p. 88.
[This is the reprint of the first article on The Third Angel's Message, to supply
new subscribers.]
THE expression "the Third Angel's Message" has reference to the message
borne by the third in a series of three angels, each one bearing a message, in the
fourteenth chapter of Revelation. The messages of these three angels blend and
culminate in the third, which does not cease to sound until the harvest of the
earth is ripe, and made ready for the coming of the Lord to reap it.
The Third Angel's Message itself, as it is announced in the words of the third
angel, separated from the other two, is as follows: "And the third angel followed
them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine
of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his
indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of
the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who
worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus."
This is the Third Angel's Message, as it would stand separated from the other
two. But, in fact, it can not be regarded as separate, and can not be made to
stand apart as if it alone were a single, separate message to the world; for the
very first words concerning it are: "The third angel followed THEM." Thus, by the
very first words of the message itself we are referred not only to the one, but to
the two which preceded it. And the Greek word translated "followed" signifies not
following apart, nor only following, but "following with," as soldiers follow their
captain, or servants their master; therefore, "to follow one in a thing; to let one's
self be led." When spoken of things, it signifies to follow as a result; to follow "as
a consequence of something which had gone before." Thus, as to persons, the
third angel follows with the two which have preceded; and his message, as a
thing, follows as a result, or consequence, of the two which have gone before.
Of the second one also it is written: "And there followed another angel." As
with the third angel following him, so it is with the second angel following the first.
And of the first one it is written: "And I saw another angel fly," etc. This is the first
in this series of three. There follows with him another; and the third angel follows
with them. There is a succession in the order of their rise; but, when the three
have in succession risen, then they go on together as one. The first one sounds
forth his message; the second one follows and joins with the first; the third
follows them, and joins with them; so that, when the three are joined, and go on
together in their united power, they form a mighty threefold, loud-voiced
message. It takes all to make the Third Angel's Message complete; and the Third
Angel's message can not be truly given without the giving of all.
What, then, is the threefold message in its respective parts?–Her