The Keynote by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 18, 1902

The Keynote

By Editor

Editorial

The Keynote

We have no hesitancy in saying that the keynote of this message must be, “The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” And it is time that the keynote should sound with positiveness and strength. Let this cry ring out through all the lands. Let the evidences of the second advent of our Lord as an imminent event be clearly presented. Let the prophecies be studied with a fresh interest, and with the expectation that a new light will shine forth from them; and with a mighty faith in the fulfillment of God’s word let the messengers declare to the people, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The Spirit of God will witness to his truth, and we shall hear the multitude asking, “What must I do to be saved?” The call of the hour is for every one who believes that this people has been raised up to give the advent message to the world in this generation to rally with a loyal heart to do this work quickly. “The return of Christ to our world will not be long delayed. Let this be the keynote of every message.”

The Unfailing Word

The certainty of all things which we regard as certain depends upon the certainty of God’s word. The regular recurrence of days and seasons and years is the fulfillment of the promise, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” The order in the universe of God, which is sometimes attributed to the reign of law, is the constant testimony to the faithfulness of him who cares for his own works, “upholding all things by the word of his power.” The so-called operations of nature are simply the outworking of his word. “He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.” “When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.” “He saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; likewise to the shower of rain.” All visible things and all visible operations are the revelation to us of the working of the invisible word, and their constant message to us is, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” “Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” And when these visible things pass away, the invisible word still remains. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: . . . but the word of our God shall stand forever.” We can rest upon God’s word with unwavering confidence. His promises are sure. “He abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Then away with doubt and fear. Refuse to be worried by the artful suggestions of the enemy. Not one word of all the good promise of God has ever failed or ever will fail; and he says to every one of his children, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage.”

A Great Lesson

There is a great difference between forgetting those things which are behind and pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and that other experience of always being dissatisfied with our circumstances and surroundings. The one leads to a growth in grace and knowledge of the truth; the other will destroy peace of mind, and unfit for any useful service. There is a valuable lesson for us in the experience of the apostle Paul. Writing to the church at Philippi in acknowledgment of their remembrance of his needs, he said, “I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have revived your thought for me; wherein ye did indeed take thought, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.” The only trouble which can ever do us any harm is the trouble which is harbored within us. When we have peace within, we can be victorious over the most forbidding circumstances. “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me.” We are sometimes discontented with the particular work which we are doing, and are led to question seriously whether the Lord ever called us to it; but a little honest study of the situation may reveal to us that it is the selfish thought for our own pleasure which is prompting us, rather than zeal for the glory of God. It frequently happens that the enemy works in this way to discourage us and to defeat the work of God. We should not be ignorant of his devices. We are to learn how to be the masters of circumstances. We are not to permit circumstances to rule us. Adverse circumstances, created by Satan and permitted by the Lord, may be overruled so as to deepen and broaden our Christian experience, and bring to us a solidity of character previously unknown. “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.” “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Primitive Christianity

With the memory of the bodily presence of Jesus still fresh in their minds, and strong in the assurance of his continued presence with them in the power of his Spirit, the early disciples went forth to preach Christ and him crucified. Their message was a reality to them. They did not teach by precedent, as the scribes and Pharisees did, but they spoke of those things which they had seen and personally knew. The body of the individual Jesus had been taken from the world, but the same works which had been wrought through his individual body during his ministry were still being wrought through his body, the church.

This is genuine Christianity. The divine Christ should be revealed to the world in his body, the church, the “habitation of God through the Spirit.” The Spirit of Christ should be found in the church. The words of Christ should be spoken in the church. The works of Christ should be done in the church. And this is not an impossible ideal. Jesus “came to the world to display the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by his restoring power. God was manifested in him that he might be manifested in them. Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in him. His perfect humanity is that which all his followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as he was.” What a blessed possibility! How few experience it! How far the church has fallen from its high privilege! But to-day there is a call to return to primitive Christianity. The message which is to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord is the message of a Saviour already come in our flesh, and who in the person of the Holy Spirit sets up his kingdom in the heart and reveals himself in the life. It is by the power of his presence that sin is conquered. It is by the power of his presence that the same mighty works are wrought through the flesh now as during his ministry of old. This is the whole secret of primitive Christianity. And this experience is not attained by the acceptance of a creed or the adoption of a resolution, but by the individual submission of the will to God and individual faith in his faithfulness to his promises. O that each member of the church would heed the invitation to buy the gold and the white raiment! O that each one would open his heart to the indwelling Christ and the experience of primitive Christianity!