CHRIST OUR ONLY HOPE by E. B. Saunders

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 7, 1880

CHRIST OUR ONLY HOPE.

By E. B. Saunders

We often hear the remark, "I want to do better," "I mean to try to please the Lord," "I want to do all I can so that he can save me," etc. But with all our resolves and trying, we make no progress. Those who do this, hope they are Christians, they hope to be saved, hope the Lord will be merciful to them; but if they will look over their lives they will find themselves no nearer overcoming than a dozen years ago; in fact, a slight temptation will overcome them, for they are in perfect bondage to the ways, lusts, and customs of this world. Gal. 4:3; Col. 2:20.

Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), and he does not easily relinquish his hold on our hearts. No mere effort of ours to "be good," will break the charm that holds us in his grasp, nor will God do the work for us without an intense, longing desire in us for his help. The poor soul in such a state of uncertainty,—with trials to perplex, Satan to discourage, a fruitless past, a hopeless future, with no ray from the

sanctuary to cheer,—is in a terrible condition, the fear of the violated law hanging over him, and at times feeling as if within its very grasp. To be justified before God, is the great desire of the sin-burdened soul; but how to obtain that justification, is the question. Then instead of the heart being filled with love to God, we have the fear of his justice; instead of joy and delight, we have fear and trembling at the thought of the nearness of our returning Lord.

The burdened heart is thus shut in on every side by the sins of the past, and thus the law holds us in its iron grasp till we find the only door of escape, Christ. He is the only way, he is the one hope. It is not by a merely general idea that Christianity is true, or that the third angel's message is true, or that the advent is near, nor by the fact that we are members of the church, or that by outward acts we seem to be Christians, that we find Christ. We do not find the door of escape until the heart is laid on God's altar, without reserve, humble, penitent, earnestly desirous for Jesus to come in and dwell there by his Spirit.

The law, as a mirror, holds our sins before us, and our terror of the consequences compels us to seek Christ as the way of escape. St. Paul illustrates it by the figure of a school-master, to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Gal. 3:24. After we thus seek for pardon through faith in Jesus, and when the pardoning voice we hear, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, and we feel like new creatures; old desires pass away, the desire to sin is gone, we feel renewed from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet. God then seems like a loving Father, and our one desire is to glorify him. The burden of sin is gone; light-hearted and free from the penalty of the law, we feel that we "are no longer under a school-master," but are the free children of God through faith in Christ, and we hasten to obey the ordinance by which we outwardly put on Christ.

Being thus freed from the penalty of violated law, we delight to do the will of God, not from fear of the consequences, but because we love him. The heart being purified from sin, and the spirit of this world being cast out, the Holy Spirit comes in to dwell in us, and thus we become the temple of the living God. How careful we are then to walk uprightly; how pained when we discover wrong in ourselves, for we feel that the dear Saviour is pleading for us, that he has indeed become security before God for our good behavior, and that any sin in us only wounds afresh that dear Being who gave his life for us.

Having thus obtained pardon, and received the spirit of adoption, we know that we are children of God, and that he is our loving Father. Doubts are gone. His love fills our hearts, so that it is no longer a mystery how to love God with all our heart. Matt. 22:37. Then worldly objects—wealth, honor, fame, seem like vile rubbish, while Heaven, immortality, and the favor of God seem of priceless value. Then we feel that we have a treasure that cannot be taken from us; floods, fire, false friends, may rob us of other treasures, but once gained, the peace of God that passeth understanding is safe as long as we guard it with watchfulness, and prayer, confession, humility, and faith. How sweet then to testify of the goodness of God, and to say to others, "I love him." What honor to praise him, and how precious the assembly of the saints.

Dear reader, this joy is for you and me, if we but open the door of our hearts, and welcome the Master in. Rev. 3:20. E. B. SAUNDERS.