I Come by Editor | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 21, 1902

I Come

By Editor

Editorial

I Come

So said Jesus to his disciples in his talk with them that night before his crucifixion. He had already told them that he was going away, and had stated the purpose of his going. “I go to prepare a place for you.” He had urged them not to be distressed about his departure. “Let not your heart be troubled.” And now he definitely promises, “I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you.” This promise covers the whole experience of the coming of Jesus from his resurrection to his coming “with power and great glory.” It meant the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Christ’s other self, on the day of Pentecost. It meant the coming of Jesus to abide in the heart of every believer who has been strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in his heart by faith. It meant his coming with clouds when “every eye shall see him.” It is a word of promise to every one now whose longing heart cries out, “Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly.” When Jesus comes, the end comes. This is the end of sin and sorrow, the end of woe and pain, the end of all opposition to the blessed will of God. When we are weighed down with a sense of the power of sin, remember the promise, “I come.” When sorrow presses heavily upon us, remember the promise, “I come.” When we hear in our ears the cry of the woe of the world, remember the promise, “I come.” When pain wears out the physical frame, and in the morning we wish for the night, and at night wish for the morning, remember the promise, “I come.” When the enemies of the kingdom of God in the earth enjoy an apparent triumph, and truth seems to be trodden under foot, remember the promise, “I come.” By laying

hold of this promise in every time of need we shall find that—

“God is our refuge and strength, A help in trouble very accessible.”

The presence of Jesus in accordance with this promise will be our stay amid all the experiences of this mortal life, and the coming of Jesus at the last day will be the consummation of all our hope. “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

Three Noes

An untried experience may sometimes be best described in a negative way. Pure gold may be defined by saying that it has no alloy. This is one method used in the Scripture in setting forth the glories of the new earth and the joys of the saved. In the heavenly city it is declared that there will be “no night.” The glory of the Sun of righteousness shines with such fullness that it makes no appreciable difference there whether rays of light from the sun in the heavens shine upon it or not. It is also promised that in that land of life there will be “no more death.” The purpose of the gospel will then be fully realized, and we shall have life, and have it more abundantly. It is further stated that in the New Jerusalem the prophet saw “no temple.” He who spake of “the temple of his body” will himself be the only temple in that blessed place. “No night,” “no more death,” “no temple;” Jesus, “the light of the world,” will dispel all the darkness, swallow up death, and himself be the sanctuary of his people.

“When shall I reach that happy place, And be forever blest? When shall I see my Father’s face, And in his kingdom rest?”

Perilous Times

They are a part of the experience of the last days. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” The reason for this state of affairs is plainly stated. The key to the explanation of this situation is found in the inner life of the men of the times, and there are eighteen counts in the indictment against them. The first and the last explain all the rest. “For men shall be lovers of self, . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” The law of self-renouncing love is the law of the kingdom of peace and righteousness. When the lawyer was asked by the Master, “What is written in the law? how

readest thou?” he replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Obedience to this law would be the experience of peace and prosperity, and the days of heaven would be known on the earth. “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river.” Forgetfulness of God and the gratification of the desires of the flesh are the prevailing sins of the last days. The charge made against the rich men of the last generation, who have got their riches by fraud and oppression, is this: “Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure.” This purpose to exalt self and to seek pleasure apart from God is the real cause of the times of peril upon which we have entered. It is this which steels the hearts of the rich against the poor, and leads them to waste large sums of money in following the caprices of fashionable society, until minds are taxed to invent some new form of display. It is this same evil principle which checks the activities of the church, dries up the liberalities of its members, and delays the coming of the Lord. God will not deny himself. He will not approve in his church that which he condemns in the world. There is the greatest danger lest the professed people of God shall bring these “perilous times” right into the bosom of the church. The only thing which will prevent it is that the cause of the peril shall be cast out of the heart and life. This means that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” This is our present need.

The Universal Gospel

In the epistle to the Galatians the apostle Paul first declares that there is no other gospel than the one he had preached to the churches of Galatia, and then later he defines that one gospel which is for the whole world. Note this definition: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.” When God made the promise to Abraham, “In thee shall all the nations be blessed,” he was declaring the fact that there was but one gospel for all the world, and that this gospel was the experience of justification by faith. This is the way of salvation, and it is the only way. God

has made provision “that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.” We may be made righteous by believing, and in no other way. “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.” This experience of becoming righteous by faith was in the world before the time of Abraham. “Abel . . . obtained witness that he was righteous.” “Noah . . . prepared an ark . . . and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” And when God chose a special people to be the preachers of his gospel of salvation in the earth, he made no change in his plan of dealing with the world. It was still salvation by faith. The simplicity of the gospel was hidden from the people in “the falling away,” and “the man of sin” substituted the work of man for the work of God, righteousness by works for righteousness by faith. This was accomplished by shutting the Bible away from the people. When Luther found a Bible, he found God’s way of salvation, and the Reformation was based upon the restoration of the Bible to the people. By the printing of the Bible in the languages and dialects of the world, the way is prepared that the gospel which was preached to Abraham may be declared among the nations; but unless it is the gospel of justification by faith, it is not the gospel which was preached to Abraham. The final message to the world can be no other than this one universal gospel. This will bring the coming of the Lord and the everlasting kingdom. This is the everlasting gospel which is to be preached in this generation “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” May the Lord save his people from accepting or attempting to teach any other than the one and only universal gospel of justification by faith. It is the only hope of a lost world.