p. 3 | Union with Christ by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 23, 1906

Union with Christ

By Editor

Editorial

It is our privilege to realize the divine presence with us at all times. Jesus desires to be a present Saviour. The promise, “Lo, I am with you alway,” is still in force. It is wilful sin, the refusal to walk with the Lord, which deprives us of these blessings. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.”

Union with Christ

In this time when the forces of evil are asserting themselves so strongly on every hand, men feel the need of greater power in order to cope with them, and they are seeking to secure this power by making combinations with one another. In doing this they are preparing for defeat rather than for victory. While the visible actors in the conflict are men representing one set of principles arrayed against men who represent other principles, yet the real controversy is between Christ and Satan. In this long-standing controversy God has never been glorified by a show of numbers or by religio-political combinations. The great commission made no provision for obtaining any other power than that which comes from union with Christ. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The disciples of Jesus who were sent out to conquer the Roman world with the gospel under what would appear outwardly to be the most adverse conditions, were promised power only through the gift of the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In this power of the Spirit these despised Galileans, alone and single-handed, in the face of the governmental power of mighty Rome, went forth to meet the evils of their time with the gospel message. Unseen messengers from the heavenly courts were their companions in labor, and their success was wholly of God. The strongholds of heathenism were entered, and Christian churches were established in many places. But the disciples did not seek to reform the ills of society by an appeal to, or alliance with, the civil power. They relied upon the power of the gospel in the hearts of individuals. So it should be now. The antidote for the perils of these last days will not be found in federation. The forms of a false religion may be enforced by such combinations, but the interests of the kingdom of God are not advanced in this way. Union with Christ is the essential thing. “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help.”