SAVED BY FAMILIES by Sarah M. I. Henry

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 6, 1900

SAVED BY FAMILIES.

By Sarah M. I. Henry

MANY good persons have settled themselves down to be resigned in a life of family disagreements because of Christ’s statement that he had come to bring a sword; apparently supposing that contention in the home, if not directly of divine appointment, is at least inevitable, and in a sense desirable, since it must be a token that somebody in that house appreciates the truth to such an extent as to be ready to contend for it.

Christ came to bring the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. This sword has its mission, which is to separate every part and parcel, even to the joint and marrow, of every human being, and to make every individual know himself, and to so cut him off from every other individual that in the home and in the church each shall stand entirely alone, according to individual convictions as to what is true and right, upon every question that shall arise between man and man.

This is to be the case between husband, wife, and child, as well as between every citizen in the nation,—each standing alone with God in personal responsibility, in personal application of every revealed principle, in personal acceptance or rejection of the terms of salvation.

But this kind of separation is the shortest route to the most perfect union between honest persons; for each person, standing distinct and separate without human intermeddling, on the same living Word, by that Word cut off from all human entanglements, each seeing and loving the same truth, will think the same things, and will agree as to how every thought shall be wrought out into deeds. Each for himself sharing with all in love for the same things, having the same mind toward truth and error, they must all come into the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

It is the office of the Word—the law of God—to divide the human unit into its separate factors, that each part may be known for just what it is; and it is the work of the Spirit to unite them, placing each individual in proper relation to every other in the same body, for “there is one body; and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” All can not occupy the same standpoint toward any one thing, but each, knowing the mind and voice of the same Word and Spirit, will rejoice in all the knowledge that may be sent along the line by any watchman on the wall.

That which is meant by the unity of the Spirit is brought to light in the story of the creation of man. God made man male and female. He was of a dual nature from the start. His name was MAN, but he was only half of the human unit, and it was not good for him to be left alone; for alone he would never be anything but half of a whole.

S. M. I. H.