Earlier text: ADMONITION AND CAUTION.Every act of resistance makes it harder to yield. Being the leaders of the people, the priests and rulers felt it incumbent on them to defend the course they had taken. They must prove that they had been in the right. Having committed themselves in opposition to Christ, every act of resistance became an additional incentive to persist in the same path. The events of their past career of opposition are as precious treasures to be jealously guarded. And the hatred and malignity that inspired those acts are concentrated against the apostles. The Spirit of God revealed its presence unto those who, irrespective of the fear or favor of men, declared the truth which had been committed to them. Under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power, the Jews saw their guilt in refusing the evidence that God had sent; but they would not yield their wicked resistance. Their obstinacy became more and more determined, and worked the ruin of their souls. It was not that they could not yield, for they could, yet would not. It was not alone that they had been guilty, and deserving of wrath, but that they armed themselves with the142attributes of Satan, and determinedly continued to be opposed to God. Every day, in their refusal to repent, they took up their rebellion afresh. They were preparing to reap that which they had sown. The wrath of God is not declared against men merely because of the sins which they have committed, but for choosing to continue in a state of resistance, and, although they have light and knowledge, repeating their sins of the past. If they would submit, they would be pardoned; but they are determined not to yield. They defy God by their obstinacy. These souls have given themselves to Satan, and he controls them according to his will. How was it with the rebellious inhabitants of the antediluvian world? After rejecting the message of Noah, they plunged into sin with greater abandon than ever before, and doubled the enormity of their corrupting practices. Those who refuse to reform by accepting Christ, find nothing reformative in sin; their minds are set to carry their spirit of revolt, and they are not, and never will be, forced to submission. The judgment which God brought upon the antediluvian world, declared it incurable. The destruction of Sodom proclaimed the inhabitants of the most beautiful country in the world, incorrigible in sin. The fire and brimstone from heaven consumed everything except Lot, his wife, and two daughters. The wife, looking back in disregard of God’s command, became a pillar of salt. How God bore with the Jewish nation while they were murmuring and rebellious, breaking the Sabbath and every other precept of the law! He repeatedly declared them worse than the heathen. Each generation surpassed the preceding in guilt. The Lord permitted them to go into captivity; but after their deliverance, his requirements were forgotten. Everything that he committed to that people to be kept sacred, was perverted or displaced by the inventions of rebellious men. Christ said to them in his day, “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law?” And these were the men who set themselves up as judges and censors over those whom the Holy Spirit was moving to declare the word of God to the people. (See John 7:19–23, 27, 28; Luke 11: 37–52.) HOLY SPIRIT TO BE LEFT UNTRAMMELED.
Read these scriptures to the people. Read carefully, solemnly, and the Holy Spirit will be by your side, to impress minds as you read them. But do not fail to read with the true sense of the word in your own heart. If God has ever spoken by me, these scriptures mean very much to those who shall hear them. Finite men should beware of seeking to control their fellow men, taking the place assigned to the Holy Spirit. Let not men feel that it is their prerogative to give to the world what they suppose to be truth, and refuse that anything should be given contrary to their ideas. This is not their work. Many things will appear distinctly as truth, which will not be acceptable to those who think their own interpretations of the Scripture always right. Most decided changes will have to be made in regard to ideas which some have accepted as without a flaw. These men give evidence of fallibility in very many ways; they work upon principles which the word of God condemns. That which makes me feel to the very depths of my being, and makes me know that their works are not the works of God, is that they suppose they have authority to rule their fellow men. The Lord has given them no more right to rule others than he has given others to rule them. Those who assume the control of their fellow men, take into their finite hands a143work that devolves upon God alone. That men should keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis, is an offense to God. All heaven is indignant at the spirit that for years has been revealed in our publishing institution at Battle Creek. Unrighteousness is practised that God will not tolerate. He will visit for these things. A voice has been heard pointing out the errors, and in the name of the Lord, pleading for a decided change. But who have followed the instruction given? Who have humbled their hearts, to put from them every vestige of their wicked, oppressive spirit? I have been greatly burdened to set these matters before the people as they are. I know they will see them. I know that those who read this matter will be convinced. CHRIST’S LOVE FOR THE CHURCH.
The church of Christ, enfeebled, defective as she may appear, is the one object on earth upon which he bestows, in a special sense, his love and his regard. The church is the theater of his grace, in which he delights in making experiments of mercy on human hearts. The Holy Spirit is his representative, and it works to effect transformations so wonderful that angels look upon them with astonishment and joy. Heaven is full of rejoicing when the members of the human family are seen to be of compassion for one another, loving one another as Christ has loved them. The church is God’s fortress, his city of refuge, which he holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of her sacred trust is treachery to him who has bought her with the precious blood of his only begotten Son. Christ speaks of the church over which Satan presides, as the synagogue of Satan. Its members are the children of disobedience. They are those who love to sin, and choose to sin, always laboring to make void the law of God, which is holy, just, and good. It is Satan’s work to mingle evil with good, and to confuse the distinction between good and evil. Christ would have a church that labors to separate the evil from good, whose members will not knowingly tolerate wrong-doing, but will expel it from their own hearts and lives. How careful should we be in passing judgment on the work of others, how careful lest we become guilty of ascribing to evil agencies the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
MRS. E. G. WHITE. A FAITHFUL MESSAGE.
HOBART, TASMANIA, MAY 1, 1895.
MANY OUTGROWN THEIR ADVENT FAITH.
Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. There are many who have outgrown their advent faith. They are living for the world, and while saying in their hearts, as they desire it shall be, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” they are beating their fellow servants. They do this for the same reason that Cain killed Abel. Abel was determined144to worship God according to the directions God had given. This displeased Cain. He thought that his own plans were best, and that the Lord would come to his terms. Cain in his offering did not acknowledge his dependence upon Christ. He thought that his father Adam had been treated harshly in being expelled from Eden. The idea of keeping that sin ever before the mind, and offering the blood of the slain lamb as a confession of entire dependence upon a power outside of himself, was torture to the high spirit of Cain. Being the eldest, he thought that Abel should follow his example. When Abel’s offering was accepted of God, the holy fire consuming the sacrifice, Cain’s anger was exceedingly great. The Lord condescended to explain matters to him; but he would not be reconciled to God, and he hated Abel because God showed him favor. He became so angry that he slew his brother. The Lord has a controversy with all men who by their unbelief and doubt have been saying that he delays his coming, and who have been smiting their fellow servants, and eating and drinking with (working from the very same principle as) the drunken; they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. Satan has controlled their reason, and they know not at what they stumble. RESULT OF SEPARATION FROM GOD.
Just as soon as a man separates from God so that his heart is not under the subduing power of the Holy Spirit, the attributes of Satan will be revealed, and he will begin to oppress his fellow men. An influence goes forth from him that is contrary to truth and justice and righteousness. This disposition is manifested in our institutions, not only in the relation of the workers to one another, but in the desire shown by one institution to control all others. Men who are entrusted with weighty responsibilities, but who have no living connection with God, have been and are doing despite to his Holy Spirit. They are indulging the very same spirit as did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and as did the Jews in the days of Christ. (See Matt. 12:22–29, 31–37.) Warnings have come from God again and again for these men, but they have cast them aside, and ventured on in the same course. Read the words of Christ in Matt. 23:23: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” These denunciations are given as a warning to all who “outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within” “are full of hypocrisy and iniquity,” They say, “We are delivered to do all these things.” They also say, “If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore,” said Jesus, “Ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.” What lessons are here; how fearful and decisive! Jesus said, “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city.” This prophecy was literally fulfilled by the Jews in their treatment of Christ and of the messengers whom God sent to them. Will men in these last days follow the example of those whom Christ condemned? These terrible predictions they have not as yet carried out to the145full; but if God spares their lives, and they nourish the same spirit that marked their course of action both before and after the Minneapolis meeting, they will fill up to the full the deeds of those whom Christ condemned when he was upon the earth. The perils of the last days are upon us. Read Matt. 25:14. Satan takes the control of every mind that is not decidedly under the control of the Spirit of God. Some have been cultivating hatred against the men whom God has commissioned to bear a special message to the world. They began this Satanic work at Minneapolis. Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit, testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them. They would not humble their hearts to repent, to give God the glory, and vindicate the right. They went on in their own spirit, filled with envy, jealousy, and evil surmisings, as did the Jews. They opened their hearts to the enemy of God and man. Yet these men have been holding positions of trust, and have been molding the work after their own similitude, as far as they possibly could. . . . EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE.
Those who are now first, who have been untrue to the cause of God, will soon be last, unless they repent. Unless they speedily fall upon the Rock and be broken, and be born again, the spirit that has been cherished will continue to be cherished. Mercy’s sweet voice will not be recognized by them. Bible religion, in private and in public, is with them a thing of the past. They have been zealously declaiming against enthusiasm and fanaticism. Faith that calls upon God to relieve human suffering, faith that God has enjoined upon his people to exercise, is called fanaticism. But if there is anything upon the earth that should inspire men with sanctified zeal, it is the truth as it is in Jesus. It is the grand, great work of redemption. It is Christ, made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. The Lord has often made manifest in his providence that nothing less than revealed truth, the word of God, can reclaim man from sin or keep him from transgression. That word which reveals the guilt of sin, has a power upon the human heart to make man right and keep him so. The Lord has said that his word is to be studied and obeyed; it is to be brought into the practical life; that word is as inflexible as the character of God,—the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. THE TRUE INSPIRATION TO ENTHUSIASM.
If there is anything in our world that should inspire enthusiasm, it is the cross of Calvary. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Christ is to be accepted, believed on, and exalted. This is to be the theme of conversation,—the preciousness of Christ. TRUTH TO BE ENTHRONED IN THE HEART.
There is in Battle Creek a class that have the truth planted in the heart. It is to them the power of God unto salvation. But unless the truth is enthroned in the heart, and a thorough transition takes place from darkness to light, those who handle sacred responsibilities are ministers of darkness, blind leaders of the blind. “Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” God requires that every soul that names his name shall have the truth enthroned in the heart. The time in which we live demands it. Eternity demands it. Pure religion demands it. While there has been so much fear of excitement and enthusiasm in another line which to many seems wholly congenial. I refer to the parties of pleasure that have been held among our people. These occasions have taken much of the time and attention of people who profess to be servants of Christ; but have these assemblies tended to the glory of his name? Was Jesus invited to preside over them? Gatherings for social intercourse may be made in the highest degree profitable and instructive when those who meet together have the love of God glowing in their hearts, when they meet to exchange thoughts in regard to the word of God, or to consider methods for advancing his work, and doing good to their fellow men. When nothing is said or done to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, but it is regarded as a welcome guest, then God is honored, and those who meet together will be refreshed and strengthened. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.” But there has been a class of social gatherings in Battle Creek of an entirely different character, parties of pleasure that have been a disgrace to our institutions and to the church. They encourage pride of dress, pride of appearance, self-gratification, hilarity, and trifling. Satan is entertained as an honored guest, and he takes possession of those who patronize these gatherings. A view of one such company was presented to me, where were assembled those who profess to believe the truth. One was seated at the instrument of music, and such songs were poured forth as made the watching angels weep. There was mirth, there was coarse laughter, there was abundance of enthusiasm, and a kind of inspiration; but the joy was such as Satan only is able to create. This is an enthusiasm and infatuation of which all who love God will be ashamed. It prepares the participants for unholy thought and action. I have reason to think that some who were engaged in that scene, heartily repented of the shameful performance. EFFECT OF SUCH GATHERINGS.
Many such gatherings have been presented to me. I have seen the gaiety, the display in dress, the personal adornment. All want to be147thought brilliant, and give themselves up to hilarity, foolish jesting, cheap, coarse flattery, and uproarious laughter. The eyes sparkle, the cheek is flushed, conscience sleeps. With eating and drinking and merry-making, they do their best to forget God. The scene of pleasure is their paradise. And Heaven is looking on, seeing and hearing all. Turn to another scene. In the streets of the city is a party gathered for a bicycle race. In this company also are those who profess to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. But who that looks upon the exciting race would think that those who were thus exhibiting themselves were the followers of Christ? Who would suppose that any of that party felt their need of Christ? Who would think they realized the value of their time and their physical powers as gifts from God, to be preserved for his service? Who thinks of the danger of accident, or that death may be the result of their wild chase? Who have prayed for the presence of Jesus, and the protection of the ministering angels? Is God glorified by these performances? Satan is playing the game of life for these souls, and he is well pleased with that which he sees and hears. A PROFANATION OF RELIGION.
The once earnest Christian who enters into these sports is on the down-grade. He has left the region pervaded by the vital atmosphere of heaven, and has plunged into an atmosphere of mist and fog. It may be some humble believer is induced to join in these sports. But if he maintains his connection with Christ, he cannot in heart participate in the exciting scene. The words he hears are not congenial, for they are not the language of Canaan. The speakers do not give evidence that they are making melody in their hearts to God. But there is unmistakable evidence that God is forgotten. He is not in all their thoughts. These parties of pleasure and gatherings for exciting sport, made up of those who profess to be Christians, are a profanation of religion and the name of God. DECEPTIVE WORKING OF SATAN.
The tenor of the conversation reveals the treasure of the heart. The cheap, common talk, the words of flattery, the foolish witticism, spoken to create a laugh, are the merchandise of Satan and all who indulge in this talk are trading in his goods. Impressions are made upon those who hear these things, similar to that made upon Herod when the daughter of Herodias danced before him. All these transactions are recorded in the books of heaven; and at the last great day they will appear in their true light before the guilty ones. Then all will discern in them the alluring, deceptive workings of the devil, to lead them into the broad road and the wide gate that opens to their ruin. PROFESSED CHRISTIANS AS DECOYS OF SATAN.
Satan has been multiplying his snares in Battle Creek, and professed Christians who are superficial in character and religious experience are used by the tempter as his decoys. This class are always ready for the gatherings for pleasure or sport, and their influence attracts others. Young men and young women who have tried to be Bible Christians are persuaded to join the party, and they are drawn into the ring. They did not prayerfully consult the divine standard, to learn what Christ had said in regard to the fruit to be borne on the Christian tree. They do not discern that these entertainments are really Satan’s banquet, prepared to keep souls from accepting the call to the marriage supper of the Lamb; they prevent them from receiving the white robe of character, which is the righteousness of Christ. They become confused as to what it is right for them as Christians to do. They do not want to be thought singular, and naturally incline to follow the example of others. Thus they come under the influence of those who have never had the divine touch on heart or mind. In these exciting gatherings, carried away by the glamour and passion of human influence, youth that have been carefully instructed to obey the law of God, are led to form attachments for those whose education has been a mistake, and whose religious experience has been a fraud. They sell themselves to a lifelong bondage. As long as they live, they must be hampered by their union with a cheap, superficial character, one who lives for display, but who has not the precious, inward adorning, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price. When sickness and death shall come to those who have lived to please themselves merely, they find that they have provided no oil in their vessels with their lamps, and they are utterly unfitted to close their life's history. This has been, this will continue to be. We ask of those who have had great light in Battle Creek, Has the truth of God lost its hold upon the soul? Has the fine gold become dim? What has been the cause of this fanaticism and enthusiasm? A fearful accountability rests upon world-loving, selfish parents, for sin lies at their door. How much more favorable it would be if the school buildings that are now in Battle Creek were far off from the city, and separated from so large a colony of professed Sabbath-keepers! DEPLORABLE CONVICTION GAINING GROUND IN THE WORLD.
The conviction is gaining ground in the world that Seventh-day Adventists are giving the trumpet an uncertain sound, that they are following in the path of worldlings. Families in Battle Creek are departing from God, in planning contracts of marriage with those who have no love for God; with those who have lived a frivolous life, who have never practised self-denial, and know not from experience what it means to be laborers together with God. Strange things are being transacted. False phases of Christianity are being received and taught, which bind souls in deception and delusion. Men are walking in the light of the sparks of their own kindling. Those who love and fear God will not descend to the world’s level, in choosing the society of the vain and trifling. They will not become charmed with men or women who are not converted. They are to stand up for Jesus, and then Jesus will stand up for them. DISHONEST DEALINGS IN BUSINESS.
Some of those who know the truth, but do not practise it, are trampling upon the law of God in their business transactions. We should have no intimate association with them, lest we catch their spirit, and share their doom. The patriarch Jacob, when speaking of certain deeds of his sons, which he contemplated with horror, exclaimed, “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.” He felt that his own honor would be compromised if he associated with sinners in their doings. He lifts the danger-signal, to warn us away from such associations, lest we become partakers of their evil deeds. The Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, utters a similar warning, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” TRUE ATTITUDE OF THE CHRISTIAN.
The eternal God has drawn the line of distinction between the saints and the sinners, the converted and the unconverted. The two classes do not blend into each other imperceptibly, like the colors of the rainbow. They are as distinct as midday and midnight. Those who are seeking the righteousness of Christ, will be dwelling upon the themes of the great salvation. The Bible is the storehouse that supplies their souls with nourishing food. They meditate upon the incarnation of Christ; they contemplate the great sacrifice made to save them from perdition, to bring in pardon, peace, and everlasting righteousness. The soul is aglow with these grand and elevating themes. Holiness and truth, grace and righteousness, occupy the thoughts. Self dies, and Christ lives in his servants. In contemplation of the word, their hearts burn within them, as did the hearts of the two disciples while they went to Emmaus, and Christ walked with them by the way, and opened to them the scriptures concerning himself. How few realize that Jesus, unseen, is walking by their side! How ashamed many would be to hear his voice speaking to them, and to know that he heard all their foolish, common talk! And how many hearts would burn with holy joy if they only knew that the Saviour was by their side, that the holy atmosphere of his presence was surrounding them, and they were feeding on the bread of life! How pleased the Saviour would be to hear his followers talking of his precious lessons of instruction, and to know that they had a relish for holy things! When the truth abides in the heart, there is no place for criticism of God’s servants, or for picking flaws with the message he sends. That which is in the heart will flow from the lips. It cannot be repressed. The things that God has prepared for those that love him, will be the theme of conversation. The love of Christ is in the soul as a well of water, springing up into everlasting life, sending forth living streams, that bring life and gladness wherever they flow. God says to his servants, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” But when the plain, straight testimony comes from lips150under the moving of the Spirit of God, there are many who treat it with disdain. There are among us those who, in actions if not in words, “say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things; prophesy deceits: get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly, at an instant. . . . For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” CLEANSING OF THE HEART NEEDED.
I inquire of those in responsible positions in Battle Creek, What are you doing? You have turned your back, and not your face, to the Lord. There needs to be a cleansing of the heart, the feelings, the sympathies, the words, in reference to the most momentous subjects,—the Lord God, eternity, truth. What is the message to be given at this time?—It is the third angel’s message. But that light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory, has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. Be careful how you treat it. Take off the shoes from off your feet; for you are on holy ground. Beware how you indulge the attributes of Satan, and pour contempt upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even gone too far to return and to repent. I state truth. The souls who love God, who believe in Christ, and who eagerly grasp every ray of light, will see light, and rejoice in the truth. They will communicate the light. They will grow in holiness. Those who receive the Holy Spirit will feel the chilling atmosphere that surrounds the souls of others by whom these great and solemn realities are unappreciated and spoken against. They feel that they are in the council of the ungodly, of men who stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful. The word of God speaketh truth, not a lie. In it is nothing strained, nothing extreme, nothing overdone. We are to accept it as the word of the living God. In obedience to that word, the church have duties to perform which they have not done. They are not to flee from the post of duty; but in trial and temptation they should lean more heavily upon God. There are difficulties to be met, but God’s people as one must rise to the emergencies. There are duties to be discharged to the church and to our God. DANGER OF ACCEPTING DARKNESS.
The Spirit of God is departing from many among his people. Many have entered into dark, secret paths, and some will never return. They will continue to stumble to their ruin. They have tempted God, they have rejected151light. All the evidence that will ever be given them they have received, and have not heeded. They have chosen darkness rather than light, and have defiled their souls. No man or church can associate with a pleasure-loving class, and reveal that they appreciate the rich current which the Lord has sent to those who have simple faith in his word. The world is polluted, corrupted, as was the world in the days in Noah. The only remedy is belief in the truth, acceptance of the light. Yet many have listened to the truth spoken in demonstration of the Spirit, and they have not only refused to accept the message, but they have hated the light. These men are parties to the ruin of souls. They have interposed themselves between the heaven-sent light and the people. They have trampled upon the word of God, and are doing despite to his Holy Spirit. I call upon God’s people to open their eyes. When you sanction or carry out the decisions of men who, as you know, are not in harmony with truth and righteousness, you weaken your own faith, and lose your relish for communion with God. You seem to hear the voice which was addressed to Joshua: “Wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. . . . There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel.” “Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.” Christ declares, “He that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” THE MESSAGE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
The Lord in his great mercy sent a most precious message to his people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifting Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to his divine person, his merits, and his changeless love for the human family. All power is given into his hands, that he may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of his own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of his Spirit in a large measure. The uplifted Saviour is to appear in his efficacious work as the Lamb slain, sitting upon the throne, to dispense the priceless covenant blessings, the benefits he died to purchase for every soul who should believe on him. John could not express that love in words; it was too deep, too broad; he calls upon the human family to behold it. Christ is pleading for those for whom he paid the redemption price of his own life-blood and for the church in the heavenly courts above. Centuries, ages, can never diminish the efficacy of this atoning sacrifice. This message of the gospel of his grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ. FAITH IN CHRIST’S ATONING BLOOD THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH.
The efficacy of the blood of Christ was to be presented to the people152with freshness and power, that their faith might lay hold upon its merits. As the high priest sprinkled the warm blood upon the mercy-seat, while the fragrant cloud of incense ascended before God, so while we confess our sins, and plead the efficacy of Christ’s atoning blood, our prayers are to ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour’s character. Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are ever to bear in mind that there is One that can take away sin, and save the sinner. Every sin acknowledged before God with a contrite heart, he will remove. This faith is the life of the church. As the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, and all that had been bitten by the fiery serpents were bidden to look and live, so also the Son of Man must be lifted up, that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Unless he makes it his life business to behold the uplifted Saviour, and by faith to accept the merits which it is his privilege to claim, the sinner can no more be saved than Peter could walk upon the water unless he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon Jesus. Now it has been Satan’s determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus, and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man, and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to his servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the third angel’s message, in clear, distinct lines. John’s words are to be sounded by God’s people, that all may discern the light and walk in the light: “He that cometh from above is above all; he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. He that believeth on the Son shall have everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” THE RICHEST GIFTS OF GOD.
This is the testimony that must go throughout the length and breadth of the world. It presents the law and the gospel, binding up the two in a perfect whole. (See Rom. 5, and 1 John 3:9 to the close of the chapter.) These precious scriptures will be impressed upon every heart that is opened to receive them. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple,”—those who are contrite in heart. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” These have not a mere nominal faith, a theory of truth, a legal religion, but they believe to a purpose, appropriating to themselves the richest gifts of God. They plead for the gift, that they may give to others. They can say, “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know153we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” THE MESSAGE DESIGNED OF GOD FOR THE PRESENT TIME.
This is the very work which the Lord designs that the message he has given his servants, shall perform in the heart and mind of every human agent. It is the perpetual life of the church to love God supremely, and to love others as they love themselves. There was but little love for God or man, and God gave to his messengers just what the people needed. Those who received the message were greatly blessed, for they saw the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness, and life and hope sprang up in their hearts. They were beholding Christ. “Fear not,” is his everlasting assurance; “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.” “Because I live, ye shall live also.” The blood of the spotless Lamb of God the believers apply to their own hearts. Looking upon the great Antitype, we can say, “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” The Sun of Righteousness shines into our hearts to give the knowledge of the glory of Jesus Christ. Of the Holy Spirit’s office he says, “He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” The psalmist prays, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” The Lord would have these grand themes studied in our churches, and if every church-member shall give entrance to the word of God, it will give light and understanding to the simple. “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (See Isa. 29:13–16, 18–21.) “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Never was there a time when the Lord would manifest his great grace unto his chosen ones more fully than in these last days when his law is made void. “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” What does God say in regard to his people?—“But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.” (See also Isa. 43.) These are prophecies that will be fulfilled.