p. 3 | The Two Servants by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 29, 1902

The Two Servants

By Editor

Editorial

The Two Servants

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.”

The Complete Preparation

THE work to be accomplished in this generation is “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Such a complete transformation will be wrought by the power of the gospel that the Christians who are living when the Lord comes can be taken bodily into heaven without danger of introducing sin into that holy place. “We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” In view of this event the Lord’s purpose for us is expressed in the inspired prayer: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But before the Lord comes, there are experiences to be passed through for which a special physical preparation is necessary in order to live through them. A complete gospel is necessary in order to make a complete preparation for the coming of the Lord, and this gospel must renew the whole man. It is true that we cannot save ourselves by what we eat and drink, but it is also true that we can do much to hinder the Lord from fulfilling his purpose of salvation in us. We are to co-operate with him, recognizing and accepting his life in its purity, and doing nothing to render his gift of none effect. Those who are prepared to stand during the seven last plagues must be obedient to all God’s laws, those for the body as well as any others, and this obedience must be the obedience of faith. In that time of trouble the Lord will not work a miracle to preserve those who have neglected to walk in the light which he has given to us on the principles of physical health. The remarkable advancement which has been made in the knowledge of health principles is in itself a sign of the soon coming of the Lord. All this light is necessary for us in preparation for that great event.

The Next Call

Now that the collection for Christiania has been taken, we are ready to give attention to the next call for help in the Lord’s work. We should expect these calls to follow one another just as long as we continue to spread the gospel message as the preparation for the coming of the Lord. In his article printed in another part of this paper, Brother George I. Butler makes a further statement of his experience in connection with the work in the Southern field, and gives some of the results attending his visit to the Pacific Coast in the interest of the Southern Publishing Association. As long as the Lord gives us “power to get wealth,” we can continue to give for the advancement of his work. Earning capacity is giving capacity. The stream of giving can therefore be kept flowing as long as the Lord keeps the stream of life flowing for us. This is true of those who have no surplus. But what about those who have houses, and lands, and stocks, and bonds, and other permanent investments? Will the time ever come when they will prefer the bank of heaven above any other place of deposit? Are there not many who ought to begin to cut down their surplus, and thus supply the means needed for the more rapid advancement of this message? The South is a great missionary field right at our doors. We are debtors to them. We owe them the gospel message. Shall we discharge the obligation? Read Brother Butler’s article, and respond as the Lord may make your duty and privilege plain to you.

Food and Forgiveness

HAVE you ever noticed that in the Lord’s prayer the petition for forgiveness immediately follows the petition for daily bread? “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We are thus taught to recognize the Lord as the giver of our daily food, and as imparting through this channel his own life to sustain and build us up. But the life thus imparted to us is the very same life through which we have forgiveness of sins. “In whom we have redemption through his blood [his life], the forgiveness of sins.” The “daily bread,” the visible channel of the invisible life, is the constant reminder and the pledge of the life freely poured out for our cleansing from sin. We are absolutely without excuse. The simple fact that the Lord “giveth food to all flesh” is the constant evidence that he will abundantly pardon all those who are willing to receive the abundant life, and allow it to work his righteousness in them. The works of God preach the gospel as the power of God unto salvation, and the gifts of God are the daily object lessons of his grace. “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Only One Gospel

WE sometimes speak of “the gospel of health” just as we speak of “the gospel of salvation,” or “the gospel of God’s grace,” but we ought not to think that “the gospel of health” is a different gospel from “the gospel of God’s grace,” or “the gospel of salvation.” There is only one gospel. There is only one Saviour. He is a complete Saviour. He saves from all sin, which means that he saves from the transgression of all God’s laws as applied to the whole being. The fullness of the gospel includes health for body, soul, and spirit. It is restoration of the whole being. Nothing short of this is a complete gospel. It was this complete gospel which was taught by the Master himself. “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

And this same gospel is the one which must be preached in this day “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Through this gospel will be realized the Lord’s own will, as expressed through the beloved disciple: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” This was the experience of Daniel and his companions, as they were loyal to the truth revealed to them concerning the diet which was best for them. It ought to be the experience of the people of God in this time. We must believe in the fullness of the one gospel, and so open the way for testimony to its blessedness in our lives.