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A Call to Repentance

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 18, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 9.

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A Call to Repentance

By C. JENSEN

C. JENSEN
FROM the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of Isaiah to the end of the chapter the Lord speaks of the daughter of Zion as imitating the world in its pleasures, pride, and fashions; and “in that day” the worldly churches are described as seven women taking hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” Isa. 4: 1. The “one man” spoken of can be none other than “the Son of man,” who says of himself, “I am that bread of life;” “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” The “seven women,” or all the fallen churches, do not want to live by the Word of God nor be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, but desire to be governed by their own theories and traditions, and to be clothed with their own righteousness.
“In that day” when these things are observed in the pretended daughters of Zion, and the fallen churches care for no other consecration than the name and outward form of Christianity, that they be not reproached and called unbelievers, they are willing to be called by the name of the Son of man, but they are not willing to be clothed upon with the righteous life of Jesus.
“In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. . . . When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” Isa. 4: 3, 4.
“While David mused, the fire burned, then spake he with his tongue. While he mused upon the wondrous love of God, he could not but speak of that which he saw and felt.”—“Patriarchs and Prophets.” So it will be when we muse (meditate, think, or study) upon the Word and works of God; the Holy Spirit will consume the carnal mind, and write his law upon our hearts; then his glory will be seen upon us and be lived out in our lives, and we be among the remnant escaped of Israel.
When the separation has taken place in his own chosen church, and “the remnant” are escaped of Israel, there is entire apostasy, and the seven churches are then completed, and the loud cry of Revelation 18 will be given. When this message is proclaimed, there will be light and power in the camp of Israel; and as all the honest in heart are called out of the fallen churches, they take their stand with those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
In one of the most beautiful and comforting passages of Isaiah’s prophecy, reference is made to the pillar of cloud and of fire to represent God’s care for his people in the great final struggle with the powers of evil. “The Lord will create upon every dwelling place in Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for above all the glory shall be a covering. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” Isa. 4: 5, 6, margin.
Those who have taken part in the three messages of Revelation 14 will surely not want to go with the world when the last warning cry is given; and it will be a sad experience for the remnant to see their brethren and sisters in the faith leave the ranks in this solemn time and walk with the world below into utter darkness, while the faithful ones are pressing onward, and making their final struggle to reach the everlasting light and glory.
The fifty-eighth of Isaiah must be read, and studied, and obeyed before we are ready to obtain the light and glory and power promised for the last days.
What shall we say when all nations shall be gathered before the Lord, “and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats”? Shall we be among those to whom he will say, “Well done,” or shall we be among those to whom he will say, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me”?
Let us choose the Lord’s fast, and not our own way. Can we say we have “faith” and not have corresponding “works,” and be sure that we are ready for our Lord to come?
The spirit of prophecy already indicates that the loud cry of Revelation 18 is due; but how soon shall we be able to give it? Will the work outlined in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah be done individually, or will it be done through “the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all”? Eph. 1:23.
To illustrate: Before we can obey the command to make light in our dwellings, we must have oil, lamps, and fire. So we must have light and comfort in our homes before we can consistently invite others to partake of our hospitality. In like manner do we need the divine light in our homes and churches before we can consistently give the message to the fallen churches, “Come out of her, my people.” May the faith of Jesus be manifest in our lives, and we be found prepared when he comes.