Untitled article by F. E. B.

Pacific Press Publishing Co. · New York · December 1, 1898

The War of Principle.—No. 9.

By F. E. B.

“At any rate, Aleck, the death of Christ had the appearance of defeat. In the first place, Peter, one of his most zealous followers, denied him. In the second, Judas betrayed him; and in the third, all his disciples forsook him and fled. When his own disciples left him, it was little wonder that the priests and pharisees taunted him on the cross.”

“Yes. I grant you it did look like defeat. It had that appearance; but Satan and men both knew that it was victory. ‘Himself he cannot save,’ said the Pharisees; but they felt in their hearts that he would save others, and that the Father into whose care he committed his Spirit, would save him.”

“The appearance of defeat was a delusion; yet it did have the look of reality,” said Cecil.

“Indeed it did,” replied Aleck. “So much so that his own disciples were thrown into consternation and despair.”

“How terribly they must have felt! What a disappointment when they confidently looked for his temporal sovereignty!”

“There was one who saw through the delusion, Cecil.”

“Who was that, Aleck?”

“The thief on the cross. In that awful hour of utter humiliation, and, as it looked, loss and despair, his eyes saw Christ’s future triumph and kingdom, and he cried, ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.’”

“Why, Aleck, what sublime faith and superhuman intuition!”

“So it was. But it is still the kind of faith and intuition that will bring to us the answer he received, ‘Thou shalt be with me in paradise.’ The true Christian’s cause in every age has always looked in the eyes of the world as a losing cause; but the time of its greatest apparent defeat is the hour of its real triumph. Happy the soul who looks through faith’s telescope, and sees, when earth fails, the eternal world, the everlasting kingdom.”

“Aleck, there’s one thing that puzzles me all through the story of Christ. Why didn’t he give the people an indubitable proof of his divinity?”

“Why, Cecil, he did. What greater proof could be than his resurrection?”

“But it was only known to his disciples. The Jews to this day believe that his followers came and stole his body, and spread the report that he had risen.”

“Where did that story originate?”

“Well, I believe it originated with the priests and pharisees, who heard the story of the guards, and feared its influence on the people.”

“Yes, Cecil. That story itself is a proof of the weakness that comes from trusting in and depending on man. The guards knew Christ had risen, the priests knew it; but rather than sacrifice themselves, they sacrificed truth, because they feared the people. How much better to fear God! What upright manliness, what heroism, comes from utter reliance upon infinite power!”

“Yes, Aleck! I begin to see the force of your principle; but I also see that it means the utter casting away of self and self’s interests. I see a new meaning in the words of Jesus, ‘If any man will come after, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.’”

“Yes, Cecil, it means the casting away of self, surely; but it means more,—it means the reception of divine power.”

“Why was it, Aleck, that Christ’s disciples then did manifest the weakness they manifested? They had taken up their cross, and followed him, they had believed that he came forth from God.”

“Yes, they had been illuminated with the divine Spirit. When Peter said, ‘Thou art the Son of God,’ Christ had said, ‘Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you; but my Father which is in heaven;’ and yet this conviction that Christ was the Son of God, was not sufficient then, and is not to-day sufficient, to keep us true to the true principle.”

“Then what is, Aleck?”

“Nothing short of the indwelling Spirit of God. The very strength of Christ’s own manliness, must be in us,—‘Strengthened with all might by this Spirit in the inner man.’ But come, Cecil, let us follow the history of the disciples after Christ’s resurrection. When he meets the two on their way to Emmaus; how did he find them?”

“Very sorrowful, unbelieving, and hopeless.”

“What did Christ do to revive their hope that he was the one who would redeem Israel?”

“Let’s see. He quoted from Moses and the prophets, showing that the experience Christ had passed through had been pretold, and proved his claim to the Messiahship.”

“True, Cecil. Then their hearts burned within them, and they became prepared for the after revelation of Christ at their table. Their unbelief in his resurrection was swept away. Finally the eleven believed he had risen. Then he showed himself alive, and proved his resurrection by many infallible proofs, and at one time appeared

to five hundred brethren at once. One would have thought that such evidence would have been sufficient to have equipped them for any future trial.”

“I should think so,” said Cecil. “What more could have been necessary? It seems to me that could I have witnessed such proofs, no further doubt would have beset me, and that I should have been able to go to prison or death for his sake, so sure would I have been that divine power would have sustained me.”

“And yet, Cecil, they had still more to sustain them in this outside way; for where did Christ take them for a last interview?”

“I don’t remember, Aleck.”

“To the Mount of Olives. You have your Bible, or here is mine. Now read in Acts 1:9-11.”

“‘And when he had spoken these things, while they yet beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.’ They had the privilege of seeing Christ ascend in the clouds. They had the assurance of the angels of his return, and yet they were to wait for that which would qualify them to stand true to God in the face of the world’s opposition.”

“For what were they to wait, Aleck.”

“You may read the fourth verse of Acts 1.”

“‘And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me.’”

“Now, Cecil, what was that promise? Read the next verse.”

“‘For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’”

“Now what would this endow them with? Read the 8th verse.”

“‘And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.’”

“There you have it, Cecil. The greatest outward manifestation, the convincing of the head, is not sufficient to keep us true to the principle of utter reliance on God. But ‘ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.’ In the history of the apostles we will see the results of this power.” F. E. B.