S. D. A | AdventAI

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 24, 1907

S. D. A.

(Continued)

THE place of pre-eminence belongs to the Son of God, belongs to him not because of any arbitrary decree, not because he was simply put ahead of others, but because by his very nature and being he was there, being the eternal Son of the Father. He was of necessity above all created beings. Now all the trouble that has come upon us in this world grew out of rebellion against that divine arrangement, and the effort to

put down Christ from the place that belonged to him, and to substitute another in his place.

When the plan of redemption was announced, and the place was given to the eternal Son as the head of redemption, of necessity he was thus because only he who is head of creation could also be the head of redemption; only the Creator could create anew. From that time until the present, and especially in this last generation, the effort has been and is to obscure Christ, and to substitute some other way than the way of Christ, and to substitute some other means, some other name for salvation rather than the name of Christ, and thus to break down the whole gospel plan of salvation. That is manifested not only in the way to which I have referred among Protestants, but also by those who have openly substituted some one else in the place of Christ. I will read the prophecy which is set forth in these familiar words:—

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thess. 2: 3, 4.

He who sits in the temple and shows himself to be God, takes the name of the Vicegerent of the Son of God. We call that organization which has this man at its head the papacy. This is the chiefest plan, the best organized plan, that ever has been brought forth in the history of the world for degrading Christ from his true place, and substituting another, while professing loyalty to Christ, while professing faith in the salvation of Christ; yet using only terms and names and forms that belong to Christ, while substituting another in the place of Christ. This is the mystery of iniquity, which is Satan’s answer to the mystery of godliness.

This message for this generation therefore must stand for Christ first and last as against every substitute for Christ, and as against every so-called gospel that has some other way of salvation from sin than faith in the sacrifice, the atoning work of Christ. The words of this message (Revelation 14) contain certain terms and symbols. It speaks of the beast and his image; it speaks of the mark of the beast; it speaks of Babylon fallen; various terms used to give to this special message a setting fitting for this time.

Taking the interpretation of these scriptures, we find that this message announcing Christ as the divine Saviour is due in a generation when, above all generations in the past, substitutes will be presented for Christ. There will be not only a revival of the power of the papacy in this generation, but there will be the revealing of apostate Protestantism which works hand in hand with the papacy to the same end. Both of them really have this purpose in view,—not, I say, necessarily known to those who are the actors in the work, but known to the master mind who has been planning this apostasy all the time from the first, who has been the general in all these movements against God and his Son, and against the plan of salvation—all designed to bring upon this generation this delusion in the most masterful way, that will set aside the work of Christ, and that will make of none effect just as far as possible his sacrifice and his atoning work.

Now take this message in its relation to certain special features or doctrines. Just note the perversions of the gospel, every one of which aims at degrading Christ from his place. This message must stand for certain special, neglected, or set-aside doctrines. It must stand for the Sabbath of the Lord according to the commandment. It must stand for the nature of man as set forth in the Scriptures. It must stand for the atoning work according to the priesthood of Christ as set forth in the epistle to the Hebrews, which is an interpretation of the temple and its services. It must stand for the nearness of his coming.

Now these perversions of doctrine all take away from Christ the honor due unto him. The Sabbath is the sign of the divinity of Christ. It is the seal of the law, but it is notably the sign of the divinity of Christ. It sets forth Christ as the Creator, without whom not anything was made that was made. It is the evidence of his divinity, as manifested in the flesh, the sign that God has revealed himself in Christ for the salvation of man. To set aside the Sabbath, even though it be with such terms as “the Lord’s day” and “the Christian sabbath,” and even though the original Sabbath be stigmatized as “the Jewish sabbath,”—mark you, that behind this movement is just the one purpose, and that is to set aside Christ and his divine power.

The true teaching concerning the nature of man exalts Christ as our life; that we can not live in any way apart from him; that it is only through him that we have both the present and the future life; and then closely related with that is the further thought that belongs with it, that from our very nature we can not save ourselves. Salvation does not mean to develop the goodness within, the nature within; salvation means to receive the nature from without. From the very nature of man, he must be renewed; he must be created anew in Christ Jesus. To set forth natural immortality, life independent of Christ, is to degrade Christ from his position as the giver of life.

To refuse to believe in Christ as the high priest, the minister for us in the heavenly sanctuary, is to set him aside from his place in making effective his whole work in our behalf. Were it not for the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, the ministry of himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, of none effect would be his sacrifice on the cross. It is not merely that he died for us; but it is also that he ever lives to intercede for us, and this is what makes the whole plan of salvation through faith in Christ effective.

To put off indefinitely, and to put off entirely, any idea of the return of Christ to this earth is to degrade Christ from his true position, when his victorious work will be made manifest. Then it will be seen that he is indeed Lord of lords, and Kings of kings. But this whole scheme of self-salvation, of salvation by education, of salvation by culture, of salvation through human philosophy, of salvation by the development of the good within, putting away the work of Christ, setting aside the doctrine of his coming to complete his work, is putting down Christ from the exalted place that belongs to him, and putting another in his place.

This message, therefore, in direct terms, is to stand for the true revealing of Christ and his exaltation to the place that belongs to him,—the eternal Son, the agent in creation, the agent in redemption. Any movement which degrades him from this place, dishonors God; for it is the purpose of God that we should honor the Son, even as we honor the Father.

(To be concluded)

S. D. A. *

S. D. A.