p. 4 | Raised to the Kingdom for Such a Time as This

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 14, 1910

Raised to the Kingdom for Such a Time as This

By David Paulson

(Concluded)

DAVID PAULSON, M. D.

A Remedy for Spiritual Anemia

A robust, vigorous, aggressive type of Christianity is sadly lacking to-day because spiritual anemia is so prevalent. This condition suggests the need of a more regular and more nourishing spiritual diet.

In the old dispensation the showbread that was provided for the priests was renewed every Sabbath day. Lev. 24:8, R. V. That bread represented the true bread from heaven, and the Sabbath was the only day when it could be secured in all its freshness. So to-day God has spiritual bread for us on the seventh day that we do not receive in the same richness on other days.

Perhaps on your birthday a friend provided a surprise-party for you. God wants us to have a spiritual surprise-party every Sabbath. That will naturally lead us to “call the Sabbath a delight,” but for that to be so we must remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Many remember the Sabbath day only to rest on it. God wants us to rest on Sabbath, but he also wants us to rest enough each night so that we can sit down at God’s table on the Sabbath and appreciate what he has for us on that day.

God tells us to “honor the Sabbath by refraining from thy accustomed work, from seeking thy own gratification and ordinary conversation.” Isa. 58:13, Spurrell’s translation. He who does this will delight himself in the Lord. He will begin to “ride upon the high places of the earth” in this life, and the satisfaction that he will experience from this kind of Sabbath-keeping will help to cure his spiritual anemia and also his spiritual

rheumatism, and it will be such a powerful argument for true Sabbath-keeping that ten men of different nations will take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew (that is a Sabbath-keeper), saying, “We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” Zech. 8:23.

But such an experience can not be attained by merely “keeping Saturday for Sunday.” No matter what kind of wilderness we may have had to wander in through the week, when the hours of the Sabbath come to us, we have a right to expect that God will in a special manner prepare for us “a table in the wilderness,” and if we do look for this, we shall never be disappointed. God’s Word will have a special flavor to us on that day, and telling truths will so burn themselves into our souls on that day that they will glow on the altars of our hearts during the entire week.

Week-Day Christianity Prepares for Holy Sabbath-Keeping

Those who experience the blessing of true Sabbath-keeping as pointed out in Isa. 58:13 will live during the week the first twelve verses, for they are the steps that lead up to it.

That means to deal thy bread to the hungry, to take the poor that are cast out to thy house, not to some institution; when thou seest the naked that thou cover him, not refer him to some charity; to draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul. With eyes anointed to see such opportunities, and hearts willing to step into them during the week days,—in other words, translating into every-day life the first twelve verses of Isaiah 58,—then we shall have the Sabbath experience of the thirteenth verse as certainly as spring follows winter.

As a people we have had special light on the significance of Matthew 24. And the special antitoxin for that commercial spirit that is sweeping the world to-day like a pestilence, crushing and blighting all noble ideals before it, is a clear-cut vision of the time in which we are living.

I want to call attention to the fact that there are many who overlook the special significance of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew following the twenty-fourth chapter.

The twenty-fourth chapter points out the signs of Christ’s coming; the twenty-fifth chapter brings to view the every-day Christianity of those who really understand these signs. They feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and are interested in prison work. Matt. 25:35-39. And no one will present Matthew 24 in so thrilling a manner that a careless generation will hear and feel the solemnity of the judgment hour unless God is inspiring him to live Matthew 25. “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

So it naturally follows that every true Seventh-day Adventist who has a genuine message for his fellow men is also the good Samaritan type of Christian.

The work of representing the Master in genuine helpfulness toward our fellow men is a part of this closing movement just as reform in Sabbath-keeping is.

Another Sign of Christ’s Second Coming

The world has had signs in the sun, moon, and stars, but among the signs that are to appear on earth will be a company of men and women walking among their sin-cursed associates, reflecting the image of Christ fully.

To-day Christ stands in the heavenly sanctuary saying to the Father, “Look not upon these erring children; look upon me. Look not upon their filthy garments; but look upon my spotless righteousness.” And the Father accepts Christ’s perfection for our imperfect lives. “Ye are complete in him.” Col. 2:10.

To-day, thank God, in spite of all of our failures Christ says of us, “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” 2 Cor. 8:12. By accepting his righteousness, if we should die, we should come up in the resurrection as righteous, complete in his imputed righteousness.

“Thy Saving Health Among All Nations”

Paul looked down the ages and prayed for those who should be candidates for translation: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. 5:23, Rotherham.

It is for this reason that health principles are a part of this closing message just as much as Sabbath reform, or the antitoxin for Spiritualism, or the second coming of Christ. It is another spoke in this great wheel of present truth of which Christ is the hub, and any health principle that does not have Christ for its foundation will never be used of God to prepare a people for this special experience. That is why a purely worldly presentation of health principles, no matter how extensively agitated, can never take the place of a heaven-born and heaven-inspired presentation of the subject of health. May God set our souls on fire with a realization of this fact before it is too late.

The physical deterioration that is undermining the race in all civilized countries is arousing the attention of thoughtful men and women everywhere, and the world is perishing not simply for health instruction but for a gospel of health, which is the true antitoxin.

We may properly rejoice in the fact that God has committed to us these great truths to keep alive in the earth, but we should, in deep humility of soul, ask ourselves, Are they keeping us alive?

We are living in a thrilling time. A wonderfully interesting work has been committed to us. I would like to have lived when at Elijah’s word the fire of God dropped from heaven and consumed the sacrifice. I wish I could have lived when all Judah and Jerusalem flocked out to hear that simple but eloquent John the Baptist preach his heavenly message at Jordan’s water side. Yea, I would also like to have lived when courageous Luther planted again in the earth God’s divine truth until it shook the very Vatican and changed, so to speak, the entire map of Europe.

Nevertheless I would rather live in the year of our Lord 1910, when I can see fulfilling before my very eyes the events that sages and seers and prophets in all ages have looked forward to, when great truths from God, accepted in human life, will create such transformations as will cause even the angels of light to look on in wonder and astonishment. This is our day of opportunity. May we be faithful to the charge entrusted to us.

Hinsdale, Ill.