Our Safety by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 10, 1914

Our Safety

By F. M. W.

SELF-ASSURANCE will prove the downfall of many. Says the apostle, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” It takes but little in the way of success to exalt the human heart. A successful business venture, the preaching of a sermon which elicits praise, the winning of a few souls, an unusual record in the sale of our publications, the attainment of a degree, — these and a multitude of other means may be used by the enemy of all righteousness to lead the human agent to feel that he in himself is sufficient for all things.

This is an age of the exalting of the human. It is believed by many that human salvation can be wrought out through eugenics; that by environment and education the soul can be refined and elevated; that every man may become his own savior. All this is false logic. Of himself, so far as human effort is concerned, man is without God and without hope in the world. He is lost and undone, with natural tendencies continually seeking a lower level. It is only as God implants in the human heart a spark of his divine enmity against sin, and only as the Holy Spirit seeks to fan that spark into a living fire and the individual responds to this work of grace, that the human soul can be regenerated. We cannot save ourselves by our own efforts. The most we can do is to consent to be saved; to allow God to work in us and through us, transforming us by his Holy Spirit. We may place our will on the side of God’s will, and to this extent cooperate with him; but of ourselves alone we are powerless to accomplish a single good thing.

We have no reason for boasting, for emulation, for pride. If we have done one good thing in our lives, it is because God has given us the power and the inclination to do it. All our successes are directly attributable to him and to his mercy. Our failures are due wholly to our own perverseness and sinfulness.

“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jer. 9: 23, 24.

Just as surely as others have backslidden through trusting in themselves, so we shall backslide if we trust in ourselves. Just as surely as others have separated from God by cherishing sin, so we shall come to that same separation if we cherish evil in our hearts. How strange it is that we cannot learn from the experiences of those who have gone before us. God has left a record of their experiences in the Word for our benefit. Peter followed the Lord afar off, and this led to his denial of the blessed Master. If we follow the Lord afar off in our experience, we shall be led to the place of denial the same as was Peter. David, although occupying a high and exalted station in the church of God, committed a terrible sin against God and his fellows, doubtless because for years before the outbreak of sin he had cherished in his heart the love of iniquity. King Saul of Israel was led to seek the life of David as a result of the spirit of jealousy which he had long cherished toward him. Jealousy in our hearts today, and the cherishing of impurity, will lead in our lives to the same disastrous results as they did in the lives of Saul and of David. We are no stronger than our fellows. We possess the same natural tendencies; and unless our hearts are renewed by the grace of God and we are upheld and kept by his power, we shall go down to ruin the same as others who have preceded us.

And this principle is true as applied to our relationship to this work and to this movement. In the past men have rejected some of the leading doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, believing that they still could stand for that which they recognized as truth; but they have failed. Some have rejected the spirit of prophecy. They have charged that human influence inspired the Testimonies. They have said, “We will reject this doctrine, but we will hold to the others.” But the result has been that in rejecting

one part of the truth they have been led eventually to allow the real spirit of the entire message to go out of their lives. Whatever may be our life work or whatever position we may occupy, the rejection of any cardinal feature of this movement will be attended by the same results in our lives. We need to be watchful in our experience. We need to take heed lest there be in any of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Says the apostle: “Exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Heb. 3: 13.

The great war which is now being waged in Europe does not consist in a single battle. There will be a series of engagements and a number of victories and marches. There will be defeats and failures. The wave of battle will advance and recede. Victory will turn on the side of skill and endurance, greater numbers, more efficient armament, etc. The Christian warfare is in many respects similar. It does not consist of a single battle, but in a series of conflicts, a battle and a march, a conflict today and another tomorrow, and we shall be made “partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” The victory is not to him who wins today, but it is for him who wages the warfare to the finish; and in the conflict God is the captain of our salvation. He is our mighty helper. Unlike the commanders in human conflict, he has never lost a battle. If we keep close to him, loyal to his cause, submissive to his words, faithful and true to the principles of his kingdom, victory will be assured to us, and we shall effect a glorious triumph over all the forces of evil.

F. M. W.