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IS IT SO?

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 30, 1867

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 29, No. 21.

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IS IT SO?

By W. S. Foote

An eastern friend writes: “We are all aiming at the same thing.” Is it so? It is undoubtedly so in part; but I would divide the religionists of the day into two classes, who are something like two men, who, with fire arms, are aiming at a mark. One has a gun in first rate order, well charged, and calculated to do good execution; the other has a gun, which may appear as well, but is entirely empty, and consequently every exertion of his to hit the mark will prove abortive.
My friend means, that all have a desire to exchange this world of sorrow for one of joy at death. This is as most persons would have it; but as it is not the Lord’s way, and as many of us, at the present time, think that the Lord’s way is altogether the best, i. e. that eternal life or immortality will be conferred upon the Christian at the coming of Christ, therefore we do not agree, and in this matter are not “aiming at the same thing.” If our religion consists mainly in a desire to get to Heaven, we are worshiping the idol self, and not the “God who made the heavens, the earth, and seas, and all things therein.” The greatest object which the true Christian has in view, is to love and obey God. The love of God in sending Jesus into the world, fallen, and ruined by sin, to rescue us from impending destruction, will lead the Christian to destroy all his idols, and worship (not self, but) Him “who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth!” I have heard some ask, “How in the midst of so many diverse opinions, or religious creeds, can we decide which is the right way?” Such persons are referred to the “testimony of Jesus,” “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me; If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” John vii, 17. Is it not the will of God that we keep his commandments? Although all may be aiming at the attainment of eternal happiness in another state of existence, yet in the preparation for it, there is a disagreement worthy of our consideration. There is but one way which is marked out in the word of God, and a mistake here will prove fatal. If with the light we have, our walk and conversation is not in strict conformity to the “testimony of Jesus,” all our efforts to obtain eternal life, will be of no avail. How often the people are told, “We are to walk by faith alone.” In Isa. ii, 20, it is said, “faith without works is dead, being alone.” The true convert from sin to holiness, will just as surely inquire “Lord what wilt thou have me to do,” as did the apostle Paul. He will dig for the truth, as for hid treasure, and having found it, will follow its teachings. He is not a Christian because he does good deeds, but he does them because he is a Christian. He will “fear God and keep his commandments,” because he loves him supremely, who first loved us. He possesses a martyr’s spirit; and neither “death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, nor things to come, height, depth, or any other creature, can separate him from the love of God,” or keep him from walking according to his law. The professed church, at the present time, numbers its antinomians by the thousand, and the number is increasing rapidly, and wherever the doctrine of the Second Advent of Jesus is proclaimed, and the preparation necessary for that event, the great mass of religionists of every name, reject the law of the Lord; and although many are convinced that we have the truth, they fall back upon their old creeds, and follow those, who “teach for doctrine the commandments of men.” The spirit of God leaves them, and their religion becomes one of dry forms and ceremonies; the love of the world, its fashions and follies predominate, and unless a miracle of mercy shall interpose to save them, they are forever lost.
If we are not aiming aright, in the preparation for meeting our Saviour at his coming, shall we have any share in his kingdom? If we would be saved from sin and from the wrath to come, we must aim at, and labor for, that “holiness, without which, no man shall see the Lord.” It is those who keep the commandments of God, who have “a right to the tree of life.”
W. S. Foote.