THE GREAT SALVATION by Geo. W. Reaser

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 3, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 14.

THE GREAT SALVATION

By Geo. W. Reaser

By GEO. W. REASER.

"YE ARE MY WITNESSES."

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill can not be hid." "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

ONE of the most potent factors in convincing men of the reality of the religion of Jesus Christ, and of its purifying, saving, and keeping power, is the life that approaches the nearest to perfection in reflecting the life and works of the Great Originator of this system of religion.

Jesus is declared to be "the Light of the world." His light shines forth in the midst of the moral darkness that enshrouds the earth, illustrating the character and the love of God, and shedding forth the light and glory of heaven in beauty and loveliness of character upon the pathway of "every man that cometh into the world." All glory, all beauty, all loveliness, all happiness, all grace, all attractiveness, find their center and circumference in Him, and naturally shine forth from Him.

The disciples of Christ are His representatives among men, and one of the most effective ways of winning souls to Him is in exemplifying His character in our daily lives. "Our influence upon others depends not so much upon what we say as upon what we are. Men may combat and defy our logic, they may resist our appeals; but a life of disinterested love is an argument they can not gainsay. A consistent life, characterized by the meekness of Christ, is a power in the world." Such a life baffles argument, silences the scoffer, lends hope to the fainting, glorifies God and Christ, and is so acceptable in the sight of Heaven that God says "Thank you," to the one thus meriting His approbation.

The Father sent the Son into the world to be the light of the world, and a witness to the truth. So also Christ addresses His followers as He sends them forth as light-bearers, saying,

"Ye Are the Light of the World."

Again He says, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." The necessity for shining is then set forth: "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee."

It must be manifest that

No Self-centered Life

can in any degree represent Christ and His pure and undefiled religion to the world; for the central thought in the only religion of heavenly origin is self-dethronement, self-abnegation, self-sacrifice. Supreme selfishness is satanic; supreme sacrifice, Christlike. A self-centered Christian is a contradiction of terms, an utter impossibility. The expression can only describe a subject of Satan, masquerading in "the livery of heaven."

A luminous body must either be composed of luminous material, or else be charged with luminous matter. Humanity is not luminous unless surcharged with the Spirit of Christ. The indwelling, or reincarnation of Christ, will shine forth in deeds and words characteristic of the Christ-life.

One thing of paramount importance to the Christian church collectively, is, that there should be perfect oneness,—oneness in doctrine, oneness in purpose, oneness in love, oneness in organization. This would be positive evidence to the world that Christ came to unify "His body," and that, to-day, He is again incarnated, or dwelling in that body, as thus only could all have one mind, and that the mind of Christ. He made this the burden of His last prayer for His disciples, even to the close of time. What overwhelming evidence to the world of the reality of the Christian religion would such a condition as this furnish!

The world at large will not come to the word of God to receive life and to learn the way of salvation. While it is true that the works of God in nature are a constant witness to all, yet the Lord's true disciples will give infallible proof in their lives of the reality of the religion of Jesus Christ.

"Worthy of God."

We are further importuned to "walk worthy of God," who hath called us "unto His kingdom and glory." What wonderful incentives to holy living, that we may "walk worthy of God," and bring no reproach upon that worthy name whereby we are called.

Some "profess to know God; but in works deny Him." Such, by their ungodly lives, actually give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme that worthy Name.

The greatest possible stumbling-block to non-professors is the inconsistent course of professors. When those who profess creative power incorporated into their lives, to enable them to live victoriously over sin, are conquered by sin and its author, then unbelievers scoff at the reality of the religion of Jesus Christ. When King David was, for the time being, overcome by Satan, in stealing Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, devils rejoiced and ungodly men blasphemed and do still. Friend, shall you and I cause rejoicing in the camp of demons, or in the courts of heaven? Satan desires each of us, that he may sift us as wheat. When we are placed in the doubly-heated crucible of temptation, shall devils be convulsed with Satanic joy, or shall a grand anthem of praise fill the courts of glory!

All-sufficient Grace

may be appropriated to overcome the fiercest temptation. When you and I, professing Christ as the captain of our salvation, permit sin to have dominion over us, we virtually say to the man who has never felt the power of a risen Saviour animating his whole being, that there is not sufficient power in Christ to keep us from sinning, and that Satan, the author of sin, is stronger than Christ, the Author of righteousness.

Millions have given faithful witness to the truth by laying down their lives upon the altar of sacrifice. Their ashes, blown and scattered over the earth by the winds of heaven, have been, as it were, vitalized by the life principle, placed by the Creator in all seeds, and being thus planted in the heart and conscience of men, have sprung up and borne a glorious fruitage of blood-bought souls unto eternal salvation.

While it requires genuine Christian courage, faith, and fortitude to seal one's faith with his own life-blood, yet may it not require even more grace to endure "the conflict manfully," for a period of many weary years,—always manifesting the meekness, gentleness, and patience of Christ,—than to face a lion's den, a fiery furnace, or the Roman inquisition? And may not such a life be as fruitful in winning souls to Christ?

How many who read these lines have come to that point of Christian perfection, in complete consecration, that they can say from the heart with the apostle, "Father, glorify Thy name, whether it be by my life or by my death." The condition of the world needs just such consecration as this.

"We Are Made a Spectacle

unto the world, and to angels, and to men." This world is the great theater of all the universe. On this vast stage of six thousand years' duration, the great controversy between Christ and Satan is being fought to a finish. The people of this world, the inhabitants of unfallen worlds, millions of angels, the Saviour who died on Calvary and triumphed over sin, Satan, and death to give us a glorious victory over all these, and the God of love and all grace, are watching with intense interest the part that you and I play in the great drama. Fellow Christian, altho in times past we have walked unworthily, as we desire souls saved eternally by the example of our lives, let us appropriate abounding grace to enable us to live true to our profession. There can be nothing more convincing than the power of example.

Let us not be forgetful of the potency of this tenth agency in the plan of salvation; and, contrariwise, of eternal loss of souls where there is mere profession, without vital godliness.

Thank God, the world is not left without

witness. There are redeemed ones living to the glory of God. There are those once bound by Satan and led captive by him at his will who are daily appropriating grace to "walk worthy of God." Such lives point the sinner to the Sinless One, and will condemn the blasphemers and scoffers in the day of final reckoning. Would that all who profess Christ would live His pure and undefiled religion before men and thereby win souls.

"So let our lips and lives express The holy Gospel we profess; So let our works and virtues shine, To prove the doctrine all divine."