TIMELY WORDS by M. Wood

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 14, 1877

TIMELY WORDS.

By M. Wood

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 1 Pet. 3:15. There are several prominent points presented to our notice in this scripture; and they are of great significance to those seeking a home beyond this vale of tears. Should all those who help to make up the missionary corps make a special application of these truths, we should witness a greater ingathering of souls into the ark of safety; and even in this life our hearts would be made glad by seeing recruits rallying around the standard of truth.

But in order to see fruits of our labor in the vineyard of the Lord, we must, as the apostle Peter says, sanctify the Lord God in our hearts; in other words, make the heart pure, holy, free from sin and iniquity, a receptacle for the Spirit of God, which will ever prompt us to love and to good works. With the Lord God sanctified in our hearts, there will be no time to engage in the dirty work of Satan, such as murmuring, fault-finding, backbiting, evil-speaking, or seeking to tear down another’s reputation to build up our own. The sanctified heart will be endowed with that heavenly grace, charity, which suffereth long, and is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.

Those who make such a high profession of Christianity should either desist from this soul-destroying habit of murmuring and of traducing God’s people, or seek company more congenial to their feelings. The cause of God can never prosper in any church where such blighting influences exist. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, brethren, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.” The apostle would have us become converted to the truth, sanctified through it, and made partakers of the divine nature, before attempting to impart unto others that which we have not received ourselves. With a sanctified heart, a conscience void of offense toward God and man, and a knowledge of what is called present truth, the humble missionary will become a most efficient help in the promulgation of the third angel’s message, and will distinguish himself as a harvester for God. Some individuals appear to have but a very limited view of the great work in which we are engaged, the magnitude of it, the sacredness attached to it, and the absolute necessity of a thorough consecration of self and all we possess to God and his cause, that the work may move with greater alacrity, God be glorified, and ourselves blessed and benefited. If we were wedded to the third angel’s message as we are to the world, and manifested that deep interest in spiritual matters that we do in temporal affairs, we would indeed be as a city set upon a hill, whose light cannot be hid. Our lives would ever have a gathering influence for the cause of God; and instead of seeking after the perishable things of this life, we would thirst after a knowledge of those truths applicable to the times in which we live, so that when asked for a reason of the hope that is in us, we might give an intelligent answer.

In presenting to an inquiring mind the doctrines held and taught by S. D. Adventists, we should exercise the utmost caution. We should be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves; or as the apostle recommends, present the word with meekness and fear, lest we offend and repulse, and thus mar the work of God. And if we possess that meek and quiet spirit, which Webster says is mildness of temper, gentleness, etc., and which God acknowledges to be of great price, we shall not become excited, angry, harsh, and overbearing, and manifest an unchristian spirit when opposed by others. “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” A

truly meek man is a true Christian, and it is only the meek and humble soul that God chooses as his instrument, to carry forward his work upon the earth. With a sanctified heart and a knowledge of the truth, he calmly weighs the reasons of his faith and meekly presents them to others, with a view to glorifying God, to lessening earth’s miseries, and to lightening Heaven’s joys.

The fact that the meek of the earth are to seek meekness shows that we have something more to do than to spend our time in idle conversation, or in what the world call innocent amusements, such as card playing, theater going, and a thousand and one things which have a tendency to corrupt good manners and morals, and lead the mind away from God and his purifying truths. If we would have the Spirit of the Lord gently leading us in the path of duty, meekness is the grace required. The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way. We find a pattern of meekness in the person of our Saviour.

M. Wood.