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The Gleam of Hope

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 23, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 63.

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The Gleam of Hope

By Franklin G. Warnick

FRANKLIN G. WARNICK
“The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone.” Deut. 32:36. “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.”
Such are the precious promises of our loving Heavenly Father to the unfortunate soul that has fallen a prey to the wiles of Satan. Discouraged, disheartened, tempted one, look up; there is hope for you. In “Education,” page 258, we read: “For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do his work, for any gift he has promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return thanks to God that we have received.”
“We need look for no outward evidence of the blessing. The gift is in the promise, and we may go about our work assured that what God has promised he is able to perform, and that the gift, which we already possess, will be realized when we need it most.”
“To live thus by the word of God means the surrender to him of the whole life. There will be felt a continual sense of need and dependence, a drawing out of the heart after God. Prayer is a necessity; for it is the life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have their place; but it is secret communion with God that sustains the soul life.”
When we feel the least like pleading with the Master, we should find our way to the closet, and pray until our proud hearts are broken. When we are deceived by sin and discouraged by Satan, heaven still holds out hope to us—confess! forsake! “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jer. 17:9; 1 John 1:5-9.
“When we contemplate his purity and excellence, we shall see our own weakness and poverty and defects as they really are. We shall see ourselves lost and hopeless, clad in garments of self-righteousness, like every other sinner. We shall see that if we are ever saved, it will not be through our own goodness, but through God’s infinite grace.”—“Christ’s Object Lessons,” page 159. In other paragraphs we read:—
“No outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self. But no man can empty himself of self. We can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work. Then the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is thy property. Keep it pure for I cannot keep it for thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of thy love can flow through my soul.”
“It is not only at the beginning of the Christian life that this renunciation of self is to be made. At every advance step heavenward it is to be renewed. All our good works are dependent on a power outside of ourselves. Therefore there needs to be a continual reaching out of the heart after God, a continual, earnest, heart-breaking confession of sin, and humbling of the soul before him. Only by constant renunciation of self and dependence on Christ can we walk safely.”
In “Early Writings,” page 119, we have the sad statement: “I saw that the remnant were not prepared for what is coming upon the earth;” and in the same paragraph Heaven’s urgent call, “Get ready! get ready! get ready! for the fierce anger of the Lord is soon to come.” What infinite love is couched in those solemn words! God loves us, and hastens to us with the warning message. What a privilege to hear it! what a blessing to receive it!
Our greatest need is the Holy Spirit, and he “awaits our demand and reception.” “Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.” Zech. 10:1. This precious boon will be given to those who are “of one accord.” Shall we “pick at straws” and give over to discouragement and doubt, and step off the “firm platform” down into the dark world? God’s people will “see, and flow together.” Isa. 60:5. They will be bound together in an unbreakable chain. Eze. 7:23. Their efforts will tell—yes, are telling—in the conversion of souls in every part of the earth. Isa. 60:9.
There is real peace, love, and joy in the message; and strength in being found in fellowship with our brethren. The nearer we come to Christ, the more precious they will be to us, and the language of the soul will be, Lord, make me worthy to be associated with the least of thy servants.
We can well afford to give all our perplexities, doubts, and surmisings into the hands of the Master, and run for the prize; for we read in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IX, page 286:—
“All that has perplexed us in the providences of God will, in the world to come, be made plain. The things hard to be understood will then find explanation. The mysteries of grace will unfold before us. Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken promises we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony. We shall know that infinite love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying.”
Let us kneel now, and surrender to the Lord his own.
“Just as I am, without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bid’st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
Danville, Va.