p. 12 | Who Shall Be Able to Stand? by R. A. Underwood

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 21, 1907

Who Shall Be Able to Stand?

By R. A. Underwood

R. A. UNDERWOOD

(Reading for Wednesday, December 18)

This question relates to man's fitness for heaven, as viewed in the search-light of a holy God. A feeling of uncertainty, doubt, or suspense with reference to our future is the most deplorable state of mind the human soul can experience in this life. Fear and torture haunt the person who has not found the peaceful answer to this question. This state of mind may be exchanged for the sweet experience which comes to him who has accepted the conditions that secure the infallible assurance, “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Before we accept a false hope, which can but fail us in the day when every man's work shall be tried, of what sort it is, let us carefully and prayerfully examine the conditions upon which a sure hope is founded. We are admonished: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

We are also admonished: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

We are in the time of sifting, as well as in the time when God is sealing his people for the kingdom. The angel is holding the elements of destruction from bursting upon the world till the work of sealing the servants of God is finished. Rev. 7: 1-3. In “Testimony,” No. 31, under the title, “The Seal of God,” there are some most important statements and warnings which are partially prophetic, which I can do no better than to quote here. These statements were published some twenty-five years ago:—

“The crisis is fast approaching. . . . No superiority of rank, dignity, or worldly wisdom, no position in sacred office, will preserve men from sacrificing principle, when left to their own deceitful hearts. Those who have been regarded as worthy and righteous, prove to be ringleaders in apostasy, and examples in indifference and in the abuse of God's mercies. Their wicked course he will tolerate no longer, and in his wrath he deals with them without mercy. It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws his presence from those who have been blessed with great light, and who have felt the power of the word in ministering to others. They were once his faithful servants, favored with his presence and guidance; but they departed from him, and led others into error, and therefore are brought under the divine displeasure. . . . Our own course of action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the living God, or be cut down by the destroying weapons. . . .”

“The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God—candidates for heaven.”

“Every one must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him.”

The command of God to the angel to “go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof,” is followed with the command to spare not, and to slay utterly all upon whom the seal of God has not been placed. Eze. 9: 4-6.

While justification by faith gives us a title to heaven, sanctification through the Spirit of God alone can give us a fitness for heaven. Listen to these words: “The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own character upon his church.”—“Desire of Ages,” pages 802, 803.

“The Father is all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight. The Son is all the fulness of the Godhead manifested. . . . The Comforter that Christ promised to send after he ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fulness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Series B, No. 7.

Said Christ, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” “This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train.” With all this power “awaiting our demand and reception,” why should cruel unbelief hold our feet in chains of bondage longer?

The need of receiving this regenerating personality and power is emphasized in the following from the same source:—“In my dream last night a sentinel stood at the door of an important building, and said to every one who came for entrance, Have you received the Holy Ghost? A measuring line was in his hand, and only very, very few were admitted into the building. Your size as a human being is nothing; your size as the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus, according to the knowledge you have had, will give you an appointment to sit with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and you will never know the extent of the great advantages given you in the banquet prepared for you.

“You may be tall and well proportioned in self, but none such can enter here. None can be admitted who are grown-up children, with all the habits and customs, the disposition, the characteristics, which pertain to children. You have nurtured your suspicions, your criticisms, your bad temper, your dignity, and you can not be permitted to spoil the feast. All who enter through the door have on the wedding garment, woven in the loom of heaven. Your leaven of distrust, your want of confidence, your power of accusing, closes against you the door of admittance. Within this door nothing can enter that can possibly mar the happiness of the dwellers here by marring their perfect trust in one another. Those who have educated themselves to pick flaws in the characters of others, have thus revealed a deformity of character which has made families unhappy, which has turned souls from the truth to choose fables. You can not join the happy family in the heavenly courts, for God has wiped all tears from their eyes. You can never see the King of beauty, if you are not yourself a representative of the loveliness of Christ's character. Abiding with Christ is choosing only the disposition of Christ, so that he identifies his interests with yours. When you give up your own will, your own wisdom, and learn of Christ, as he has invited you to do, then you shall find entrance into the kingdom of God. Entire, unreserved surrender he requires. Give up your life for him to order, mold, and fashion. Take upon your neck his yoke, submit to be led and taught, as well as to lead and teach. Learn that unless you become as a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Abide in him, to be and do only what he wills. These are the conditions of discipleship.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in Gospel Herald, April 23, 1902.

The last days are fraught with perils on every hand. Man's faith in a personal God in heaven will be destroyed, if possible. His hope in a personal divine Saviour, who was crucified for our offenses, raised for our justification, and is now seated at the right hand of his Father in heaven as our High Priest to make an atonement for our sins, will be assailed by philosophy, science, and every device of Satan's master mind. A personal Holy Ghost in charge of the work of grace, under God and Christ, as their representative and appointed agent, to accomplish the work of regeneration of man's soul, body, and spirit, will be discounted and made to appear only as an influence.

When faith in the trio of the Godhead is destroyed, and the One delegated with authority to resist and conquer man's foe is rejected as naught, we are left to the cruel buffetings of Satan, with no power to resist our adversary. In this way man's faith in any special work of God to be done in the earth or in the sanctuary in heaven under the threefold message of Revelation 14 is destroyed.

Man's great need is a living, abiding faith in God's Word, that knows no doubt, and fails not in the hour of darkness. With such a faith we shall place our substance, our families, and ourselves upon the altar of service to God. Having surrendered all to “him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,” having done all, we shall be able to stand.