S. D. A. *(Concluded)

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 31, 1907

S. D. A. (Concluded)

Now there is another side to this whole question, to which I wish to give the chiefest emphasis, and that is the personal side, the application of these principles and these truths in daily life. All these substitutes for Christ, and these outward forms, outward organizations, find their counterpart in our own hearts. That is, it is the very essence of sin, as it originated in the beginning, to put something else, or some one else, in the place of Christ. Not to acknowledge the supremacy of Christ, was Satan's thought. Yielding to that led to his fall and to his being cast out of heaven. That is the very essence of sin; and now the purpose is to lead us to think that there is some way to be restored other than through faith in Christ.

I want to read a few scriptures and call attention to them, as showing the essential things in salvation. There are many ways in which we may reveal religion; there is only one principle in religion. There are many ways in which we may reveal our allegiance to Christ; there is one essential thing in that experience. I purpose to read a few scriptures, and call attention to their meaning. In the Gospel by John, third chapter and third verse, we read:— “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” This is expressed in another place after this manner: “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” That is, there must be a new birth; there must be a new creation; there must be a new life, from above; there must be a power from outside one's self. Salvation is not of self. When one puts himself in the place of Christ, he misses salvation. One can not be his own savior. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

Again: in 1 Cor. 7: 19: “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” That is, salvation does not come through performing a ceremony; neither is there any merit in neglecting a ceremony, simply. There is one essential thing in the experience, and that is the keeping of the commandments of God. The special application of this thought, this principle, to this time, is very obvious when we read that, as the result of this movement, this very movement of Seventh-day Adventism, in the world, in this generation, there will be called out a people of whom it was said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Again: in Gal. 5: 6: “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” And also in the same epistle (Gal. 6: 15): “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

Now put these texts together: “Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” A new birth is essential. Nothing can take the place of it. “Circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” That is one of the essential conditions. “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Nothing can take the place of faith; and that faith must be centered in Christ and his work. And again, “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

These are essential things in salvation. We may have different forms in organization; we may have different plans of work; but there are certain things which are essential, and which can not be omitted, which can not be changed, and for which nothing else can be substituted.

Now note how this same principle was applied at the time of the first advent. At that time formalism had taken the place of living experience; and when John the Baptist came to make the announcement of the coming Saviour, he said to those who prided themselves that they were the descendants of Abraham, and were therefore the heirs of salvation through the flesh, “Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father;” and to others of the Jews who were present at the baptism of Christ, he pointed him out, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!” And when Peter preached to the rulers after he and John had been put in prison because they preached Christ to the people, the resurrection of Christ, and the resurrection of the dead, Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Now see how this rebukes formalism, and points out the true way of salvation. “Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” “Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!” “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

That was the real message of John the Baptist. When he interpreted the prophecy of Isaiah, he said, “Behold your God,” and pointed out Christ, the Saviour in the flesh. The work of John the Baptist was typical of our own work; and this message and this movement must be a rebuke to formalism; and in order that it shall be in itself a rebuke to formalism, it must itself avoid formalism, and must not substitute even the true outward forms and outward ceremonies for the life.

I have often thought that there was with us a constant danger that with many enterprises, many organizations, many outward forms, many busy activities, we should become so absorbed in these things that we should neglect the real vital thing in all, and that is the living presence and power of Christ in this church and in this message.

You know, and I do not need to tell you, that many times we carry within what we should feel loath to have others know that we were carrying. You know perfectly well how the temptations beset us. You know how oft we are buffeted

and harassed. You know how oft we tremble with the doubts and the fears, which, in spite of ourselves, bring trouble into our lives. I doubt not that every Sabbath more than one comes to this place of worship needing more than ordinary help, really desiring a message of salvation from sin, and a new lease of life in resisting temptation.

I have thought often of the experience of the feast, when, after they had gone through the most elaborate ceremonies day after day, with the temple decorated in the most beautiful way, and everything in the outward form and the outward appearance to please and to gratify, and multitudes had come and gone, and not one of them had tasted the water of life during all those days, “on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” Those words meant more to some who were longing for deliverance and help than all the outward ceremonies and the forms, the glitter and the pomp.

Now we can not afford to lose out of our services, out of our preaching, out of our experience, out of our daily work, in connection with this message, this one idea, that Seventh-day Adventism must stand for the divine Saviour announced unto men. It must stand for that not only in the public proclamation by those who have been set apart for the ministry of the word, but every one who assumes the name Seventh-day Adventist should be in himself an announcement of the coming Saviour. His life should reveal that fact in the power of it; and he himself should be a preacher of that righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ; and, if every one who bears the name should thus live to the meaning of the movement, there would be indeed a power in this movement that would make itself felt against the tide of evil, of infidelity, and all this organized effort to put down Christ from the place which belongs to him. There would be such a voice heard, such a protest made, in both words and lives, that would command the attention of the world at this time. Now this message must be given in all the world for a witness, and then shall the end come. And in all these different lands where this message is getting a foothold, where this message is being taught, the one thing that must stand out above every difference in doctrine, or every difference in organization, the one thing that must stand out over all, and give beauty to all, both in the teaching and in the lives, must be this thought: that this movement in this generation, this closing generation, the movement that is to prepare the way for the coming of our Lord in person, must reveal Christ in the flesh constantly, in the person of those who receive this truth. When that interpretation is given to this message, there will be a power for righteousness in the earth that will win souls for Christ and his truth.

S. D. A. * (Concluded)

S. D. A. (Concluded)