The Needed Power by L. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Dec 3, 1903

The Needed Power

By L. A. S.

CHRISTIANITY is the religion of power. It is known by the manifestation of its power, and where power is not manifested, Christianity is absent, however fully the forms of godliness may be maintained.

The power of Christianity is the power that is most needed in the world. There is much power of various kinds in the world, and never was worldly power so displayed as at this time; yet never was there felt such a lack of power as now to cope with the evils which afflict mankind.

The world's power is the wrong kind of power. Its power of wealth, its power of combinations, is power which produces evil rather than good. Many of the darkest problems, the solution of which is earnestly sought by legislation or by the ballot, arise from the very fact that men have to-day more power than they were able to acquire in past times. It is useless to seek a remedy through any increase of worldly power; it would be better to decrease the power which men already possess.

Philanthropic organizations of men are earnestly seeking for the power to overcome the gigantic evils which have so threateningly risen up in the realms of industry, of society, and of government, but they are groping in the dark. They meet and discuss these evils, they rehearse the facts which prove these evils to exist, and state their views as to the causes of them, they analyze the steps involved in their development, and seem to think that somehow out of this mere knowledge will come the remedy that will set things right. Many believe that in some way things are bound to right themselves, without the necessity of the exercise of any extraordinary remedial power.

In the church, also, this same mistake is made,—the mistake of supposing that mere knowledge will supply power. The church has great light to-day, but in power she is sadly deficient. What is needed now in the church is not more light, but more power to walk in the light,—power to arise and shine with the light that has already come.

The power that is so sadly needed in the world is divine power, and this power is the gift of God. As soon as an individual yields himself to God, God gives him power. “As many as received him [Christ], to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” The power that is needed to cure the ills in society and in the political and industrial spheres is the same power that is needed to turn an individual from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. This power is the gift of God, but his gift of it is conditional. In the world vast power has come into the hands of men controlled by selfishness; but God will not bestow his power upon those who would turn it to a selfish use. The power of God is to be exercised only in the wisdom of God—only as the individual recipient of it is so yielded to God that he does all things according to the mind of God.

Christians have the power that the world needs, and for which it is blindly seeking,—the only power that can solve the problems which men are seeking to solve by politics and legislation. What is needed now is that the Christian church should get in touch with the power of God, that that power may be manifested, and that the world may see it. The church of God is to become a mighty object lesson for the enlightenment of the world. Clothed with power from on high, she is to stand forth “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” Who is seeking for power? “Ask, and ye shall receive.” L. A. S.