THE GREAT SALVATION by Geo. W. Reaser

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Feb 6, 1907

THE GREAT SALVATION

By Geo. W. Reaser

DIVINE REVELATION.

The Effect of the Word upon Human Hearts.

TO illustrate the security that is felt by all men wherever the teachings of the Bible prevail, note the following incidents: A vessel wrecked on one of the South Sea Islands. The people of the island known to one of the sailors as cannibals. The ship wrecked and they upon this island. No hope of deliverance. They seemed to have escaped the sea to be devoured by human beasts. But the sailor climbed up on a hilltop to reconnoiter. Presently his shipmates saw him swinging his arms in great excitement, and inquired what was the matter. Over the hill, he tells them, is the steeple of a meeting-house. The Bible built that church. That took away all the fear of trouble out of his soul. He knew that church spire made his life safe on that erstwhile cannibal island.

Years ago, a young infidel was traveling in the West with his uncle, a banker, who carried with him a sum of money. They were not a little anxious for their safety when they were forced to stop for the night in a rough wayside cabin, which was inhabited by two rough-looking men. There were two rooms in the house, and they were given one. When they retired for the night they agreed that the young man should keep guard with loaded pistols till midnight, and then awaken his uncle, who would watch until morning. Presently they peeped thru a crack, and saw their host, the old man, in his bear-skin suit, reach up and take down a book,—a Bible,—and after reading it awhile, he knelt and began to pray; and then the young infidel began to pull off his coat and get ready for bed. The uncle said, “I thought you were going to sit up and watch.” But the young man knew that there was no need of sitting up, pistol in hand, to watch all night long in a cabin the dwellers in which held as holy the word of God, and consecrated their home by prayer. Would a copy of Paine’s “Age of Reason” have thus quieted the young infidel’s fears?

“When Lepaux, a member of the French Directory, complained to Talleyrand that his new religion, ‘Theophilanthropy,’ made little headway among the people, the shrewd old statesman replied:

“‘I am not surprised at the difficulty you find in your effort. It is no easy matter to introduce a new religion. But there is one thing I would advise you to do, and then, perhaps you might succeed.’

“‘What is it? what is it?’ eagerly asked Lepaux.

“‘It is this,’ said Talleyrand, ‘go and be crucified, and then be buried, and then rise again on the third day, and then go on working miracles, raising the dead, and healing all manner of diseases, and casting out devils; and then it is possible that you may accomplish your end.’ The philosopher went away silent.”

“Suppose that thirty or forty men should walk in thru that door. One man comes from Maine, another from New Hampshire, another from Massachusetts, and so on from each State, each bearing a block of marble of peculiar shape. Suppose I pile up these blocks in order, until I have the figure of a man, perfectly symmetrical and beautifully chiseled, and I say, ‘How did these men, who have never seen each other, chisel out that beautiful statue?’ You say, ‘That is easily explained. One man planned that whole statue, made the patterns, gave the directions, and distributed them around; and so, each man working by the pattern, the work fits accurately when completed.’ Very well. Here is a Book coming from all quarters, written by all classes, scattered thru a period of fifteen hundred years; and yet this Book is fitted together as a wondrous and harmonious whole. How was it done?—‘Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’ One Mind inspires the whole Book, one Voice speaks in it all, and it is the voice of God speaking with resurrection power.”

The word of God is dictated by the Spirit, and the Spirit works in and thru His word to make it effectual. Thus it is that God’s word can never fail, as it has all of the power of the Spirit by which the universe is upheld to make it sure and steadfast.

The Life of God.

“Again I conclude that this Book has in it the very breath of God from the effect that it produces upon men.” “Did you ever hear a man ascribe his redemption and salvation from intemperance and sin and vice to the multiplication table, or the science of mathematics or geology? But I can bring you, not one man, or two, or ten, but men by the thousands who will tell you, ‘I was lost; I broke my poor mother’s heart; I beggared my family; my wife was heart-stricken and dejected; my children fled from the sound of their father’s footsteps; I was ruined, reckless, homeless, helpless, hopeless until I heard the words of that Book.’ And he will tell you the very word which fastened on his soul. It may be it was, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Perhaps it was, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ It may have been, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ He can tell you the very word that saved his soul. And since that word entered his heart, he will tell you that hope has dawned upon his vision; that joy has inspired his heart; and that his mouth is filled with grateful song. He will tell you that the blush of health has come back to his poor wife’s cheek; that the old hats have vanished from the windows of his desolate home; that his rags have been exchanged for good clothes; that his children run to meet him when he comes; that there is bread on the table, fire on the hearth, and comfort to his dwelling. He will tell you all that, and he will tell you that this Book has wrought this change.

“Now this book is working just such miracles, and is doing it every day.” In fact, this is the definite purpose of this Book. It was designed by its Author to carry light and life and salvation to the children of men, and this it does wherever it is received as the word of God. It is by the operation of the word of God that men are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

One Great Personage.

“You will find it (the Bible) constantly pointing and referring to one great Personage—‘the Seed of the woman’ that shall crush the serpent’s head; ‘the Seed of Abraham,’ in whom all nations of the world shall be blessed; ‘the Seed of David,’ who shall sit on David’s throne and reign forevermore; the despised and rejected Sufferer, the Man of Sorrows, the Christ of God, born in Bethlehem, crucified on Calvary, rising triumphant from Joseph’s tomb, ascending to sit at God’s right hand, and coming again to judge the world and reign as King and Lord of all forever. Around this one mighty Personage this whole Book revolves. ‘To Him give all the prophets witness;’ and this Book, which predicts His coming in its earliest pages, which foreshadows His person and His ministry thru all its observances, types, and sacred prophecies, reveals in its closing lines the eternal splendors which shall crown and consummate His mighty works.”

A New World.

“At the beginning of the Bible we find a new world: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ At the end of the Bible we find a new world: ‘I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.’ At the beginning we find Satan entering to deceive and destroy; at the end, we find Satan cast out, ‘that he should deceive the nations no more.’ At the beginning, sin and pain and sorrow and sighing and death find entrance to the world; at the end, there shall be no more pain nor sorrow nor sighing, and no more death. At the beginning, the

earth, for man’s transgression, is cursed with thorns and thistles; at the end, ‘there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.’ At the beginning we find the tree of life in paradise, from which the sinner is shut away by the flaming sword, lest he eat and live forever; at the end we find the tree of life again ‘in the midst of the paradise of God,’ and the blessed and the blood-washed ones have a right to the tree of life, and ‘enter in thru the gates into the city.’ At the beginning, man was brought beneath the dominion of death and the grave; at the end, ‘the dead, small and great, stand before God,’ the sea gives up its dead, and death and hell are destroyed in the lake of fire. At the beginning, the first Adam lost his dominion over earth, and was driven out of the Garden of Eden in shame and sorrow; at the end, we find the second Adam, victorious over sin and death and hell, enthroned as King and Lord of all, and reigning in triumph and glory forever.”

“Now, when you get the plan of this Book, you find that it is something more than a Book of detached sentences, good maxims and comforting words. It is a Book which unfolds the divine purpose, and not only reveals the way of salvation, but marks the pathway of the people of God thru this wilderness, and foreshadows the destiny of the world which He has made and the church which He has redeemed.”

“This Book, this holy Book, on every line Marked with the seal of high divinity, On every leaf bedewed with drops of love Divine, and with eternal heraldry And signature of God Almighty stamped From first to last,—this ray of sacred light, This lamp from off the everlasting throne, Mercy brought down, and in the night of time Stands, casting on the dark her gracious bow, And evermore beseeching men with tears And earnest sighings to read, believe, and live.”