What Does the World See in Us? by A. C. Ames

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 26, 1907

What Does the World See in Us?

By A. C. Ames

A. C. AMES

“Ye are our epistle . . . known and read of all men: . . . manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” 2 Cor. 3: 2, 3.

Do you enjoy reading the epistles of Paul, wherein the gospel of Christ is set forth? Of course you do. But do you realize how few in the world ever read the epistles of Paul, or the gospel of Christ as set forth in any part of the Bible? What do they know of the gospel then? They know just what they read in us. “Ye are our epistle . . . known and read of all men.” Yes, all men read that “epistle . . . written not with ink, . . . not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” Is it indeed what it is “manifestly declared to be, the epistle of Christ . . . written . . . with the Spirit of the living God,” or is it a representation of the character of the fallen one? We profess to be Christians, and as such to represent Christ to the world. The world takes us at our word, and forms its opinion of the gospel of Christ as it sees it represented in our lives. If we truly represent Christ, the world has the gospel preached to it. If we do not truly represent Christ, the world thinks it knows the gospel when it does not; and how sad is the condition! What a libel we have acted out! We have represented the character of Satan, and made the world believe it to be the character of Christ. What an insult to the dear Redeemer who died that we might live!

The vast majority know nothing of the gospel of Christ except what they see in the lives of his professed followers. They know nothing of the light that shines from the throne of God, except as they see it reflected in his disciples. “Ye are the light of the world. . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5: 14, 16. We can not keep our light from shining. We are like a city set upon a hill, which can not be hid, therefore let us take heed how we let it shine. Let it “so shine before men, that they may see your good works,”—the fruit of a pure heart, a heart regenerated by the Spirit of the living God,—“and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If we let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works, and in them Christ, whose epistle is “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart,” then they will glorify, not us, but our “Father which is in heaven.”

Middletown, N. Y.