p. 3 | It Is No Fable by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 2, 1902

It Is No Fable

By Editor

Editorial

It Is No Fable

THE idea of the coming of the Lord in power and great glory is not the imagination of a disordered mind nor a willfully contrived deception. “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This voice was heard on the mount of transfiguration when the writer of this epistle was present, and saw his glory. On that occasion “Jesus was clothed with the light of heaven, as he will appear when he shall come ‘the second time without sin unto salvation.’ For he will come ‘in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ . . . Upon the mount the future kingdom of glory was represented in miniature.” The glory of the second coming of Christ is based upon the testimony of an eyewitness who has himself seen the glory. Those who saw this revelation saw “the kingdom of God come with power.” Our hope is resting upon a solid basis. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” Let us continue to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Let our attitude still be that of those “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.”

One Thing

THERE is danger of thinking that the gospel consists of a great number of distinct principles or ideas which must be studied and mastered before one can be sure of salvation. It is well to remember the words of the Master, “One thing is needful.” The psalmist understood this when he said, “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.” An abiding fellowship with God is the one thing needful. To dwell in the house of the Lord means to be on familiar terms with the Lord,—in constant communion with him. This is that fellowship which means that “we dwell in him, and he in us.” This experience includes all other experiences. Not to know this experience is to miss the very essence of Christianity. This was the fatal flaw in the experience of the rich young man. “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” Fellowship with God means the fellowship of his life, and his life constantly flows out in streams of blessing. With God to live means to give. The lives of those who are in real communion with him will be marked by the same characteristic. A selfish withholding of what we are able to minister to others, a sense of private ownership of those gifts and blessings which have been placed in our hands, and of which we are the stewards only, are the indications that we lack the one thing needful,—the abiding fellowship with the life which gives itself for the benefit of others. This was the real difficulty with the rich young man. The direction of his life current had always been inward,—a getting of possessions for himself. He had not experienced that change in the new creation which turns the direction of the life current outward,—a giving freely to others. This is the law of the life. “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This is “the simplicity that is in Christ.” Do not neglect the one thing.

Receiving the Gift

It is not sufficient for our salvation simply to know the fact that the Lord has given to us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” There must be an actual appropriation of the Lord’s gifts. We may consent to the fact that Jesus, the divine Son of God, has come into the world to seek and to save the lost; we may acknowledge that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him; we may admit that the Bible is the word of God, divinely inspired and intended to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path; we may affirm all this and much more, and yet utterly fail of salvation because we do not lay hold upon the heavenly gift. It does not satisfy a hungry man simply to read the bill of fare, even though it should be a very liberal one; it does not save the drowning man simply to know that a life preserver has been thrown to him; when every fiber of the being is crying out for water, it is not sufficient to stand on the bank of a sparkling stream and watch its onward flow. The hungry man must eat. The drowning man must seize the life preserver. The thirsty man must drink. So it is with spiritual things. The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;” and to no others. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” The Bereans are commended as “more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind.” The testimony of John was, “Of his fullness have all we received.” When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, it was those “that gladly received the word” who made up the company of three thousand converted souls. All this shows that we must actually take the gifts which God has provided for us. “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” The return which is acceptable to the Lord is to take what he gives, and then call for more. Of course we shall let our requests be made known with thanksgiving, and thus with continual praise we receive the continual stream of his gifts, and this settles the whole question of salvation; for “whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me; and prepareth a way that I may show him the salvation of God.”

“I take salvation full and free, Through him who gave his life for me, He undertakes my all to be— I take—he undertakes.

“I take him as my holiness, My spirit’s spotless heavenly dress, I take the Lord, my righteousness— I take—he undertakes.

“I take the promised Holy Ghost, I take the power of Pentecost, To fill me to the uttermost— I take—he undertakes.

“I take him for my daily guide, Secure—whatever ill betide— Since he is ever at my side, I take—he undertakes.

“I simply take him at his word, I praise him that my prayer is heard, And claim my answer from the Lord— I take—he undertakes.