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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 18, 1865

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 25, No. 20.

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Sabbath Meditations. No. 9.

By Jos. Clarke

The truth of God is full of power, it is mighty, and will prevail. The power of truth in our courts, when by competent witnesses it is made to appear, often puts to shame the corrupt judge and the pliant jury; how much more the truth of God will, when made to appear, bear down opposition, and triumph in the vindication of justice.
How does the power of truth appear, when he who formerly sought the destruction of the church, becomes at once its mighty advocate and friend.
How clearly is the power of truth brought to view, when on the day of Pentecost, a great company of the priests, perhaps some of those who insulted Jesus on the morning of his crucifixion, became obedient to the faith, and how well it sustained them afterward in trial and persecutions.
The power of the truth, how shall it be told? Shall we consider Noah against the world? Did it fail him? Did it fail any one of its votaries in the long catalogue of saints and heroic martyrs? Not one.
The truth, how it refines and ennobles; often when weary and tempted, how mightily it sustains the soul, when darkness encompasses the mind, how quickly it is dissipated by the truth; when difficult questions arise, with what artlessness, and yet with what decision and clearness does truth respond.
Often when wearied and distracted with labors and cares, how sweetly does the truth comfort, and heal, and fortify the soul.
"Sometimes a light surprises The Christian while he sings, It is the Lord who rises With healing in his wings."
Yes it is the truth of God of which we speak, present truth, applicable to us and to our times; these are the truths we ask for, the truths we need, which will sanctify and purify the soul.
These are the truths we have longed for, truths which bring us back to the good old paths, truths which draw us closer to God and Heaven. Some of us had become old in error before we saw this glorious light; others in youth are rescued before they had drank so deeply of the wine of Babylon, but all rejoice in its power.
When we look at our own weakness and unworthiness, our hearts fail in discouragement, and we look at ourselves as well nigh lost, but the truth of God presents itself to our view, and self vanishes, and while our eyes are fixed upon the truth, our hearts dilate with love and joy and holy anticipations. Then it is, we find duty clear, and all our besetments overcome. A way is opened through the gloom, and light illumines our path. Then our despair vanishes, and we almost forget that we ever had a doubt or sorrow.
Envy and bitterness, distrust, murmuring, selfishness, covetousness, are scattered as mists before the morning sun, and childlike simplicity and sincerity, fill the place of these dark passions, the gentle Christian graces press in, and displace those evil emotions; and the heart, before bowed down with contending powers, now looks up to Heaven with confidence and humble faith; not because it has become better, but because the truth is now the subject of thought, and the present truth has a power with it, a power to drive out evil and introduce good.
Truth brings with her a noble train of virtues, and never stays long in evil company.
Then let us ponder much upon the truth, as it is by the truth we are to overcome. Let not the cold-hearted wonder that he is easily overcome, when his heart is a receptacle for every thing that presents itself, while the truth is forgotten and neglected.
No generation in the past has had such an array of truth to meditate upon, as ours; never had a people so many errors to unlearn, so many false doctrines to combat as the present, multiplied errors, complicated, interwoven, wide-spread, everywhere, and on every moral subject; errors deep and dark; errors subtle and dangerous, and the more dangerous because they come as genuine Bible truths.
The complete moral deceptions under which a false Christianity sits benumbed, spell bound, is indeed appalling, especially when we consider how extensive and fatal this deception is; hence the importance of present truth, and only those who are interested deeply, and well informed in regard to it, can expect to pass the test.
Let us not flatter ourselves that we have escaped the influence of even those errors we have abjured; the effects of moral intoxication, are not quickly eradicated.
Jos. CLARKE. Portage, Ohio.