p. 851 | Editorial Notes by L. A. S.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 31, 1901

Editorial Notes.

By L. A. S.

IT has been years since the close of the Spanish-American war, yet the controversy which grew out of the battle fought off the port of Santiago, when the Spanish ships were sunk by the American squadron, is raging still, and was never more in evidence than it is now. It even threatens to spread from the Navy Department, in which it originated, to the army, and how much farther it might go if left unchecked, or may go in spite of all efforts to prevent it, no one can say. The affair affords a striking object lesson on the point of the world’s need of Christianity. Here is the fruit of envy and jealousy and a struggle for the mastery. From it has come bitter feelings and recriminations, estrangement between friends, animosity and trouble, which tend only to spread more widely and to go on indefinitely. In Christianity all this is unknown. Christianity would have saved the country this humiliating spectacle, if its principles, instead of the traits of the natural heart, had prevailed in the minds of the parties concerned. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Gal. 5:22, 23. It is the exemplification of these virtues that is needed in our world to-day. The world is dying for the lack of Christianity.

THE divinity of Christianity is shown in its purpose of saving people from their sins. All other schemes of salvation seek to save people in their sins; to save them from something that is not sin, as poverty, reproach, persecution, suffering, or political misrule. Naturally, men seek salvation of this sort rather than salvation from sin. No scheme that was of human origin would have undertaken to save people from their sins. But no salvation would amount to anything, would end in anything but death, which would not remove from the soul the fatal incubus of sin. This God knew, and accordingly it is at sin that His plan of salvation aims first and primarily, salvation from all other ills following salvation from sin as a logical consequence. In human schemes of salvation, any good that may be realized is quickly lost in the general destruction that follows as a logical consequence of the want of salvation of the soul.

“WILT thou be made whole?” This is the query addressed by Jesus to the impotent man. And that man is the representative of us all. We are all sick, and the question addressed to each of us by the great Physician is, “Wilt thou be made whole?” Who then will refuse? He who will not let God’s will be wrought in him, prefers sickness and death to health and life.

No one will get into the kingdom of heaven by being frightened into it; but the invitation is, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” Not fear, but love, is the motive which takes us heavenward. No one will be driven into the New Jerusalem by the terror of what is behind him, but all who enter that holy city will be drawn thither by the love of what they see before them.

WE erect a stumbling-block for our feet every time that we look away from God. No man is perfect, and it is always dangerous to turn our gaze upon human imperfections.

SOME people will spend so much time hunting for some way of getting into heaven without being a complete Christian, that they will not have time left to get into heaven by the right way when they realize their mistake. L. A. S.