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Review and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 9.

The Forty-Second Psalm

Review and Herald

Mar 3, 1903

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 3, 1903

The Forty-Second Psalm

By N. F. S. Grundtvig; C. Deving

N. F. S. GRUNDTVIG, 1812
As after the water-brooks panteth The hart, when it sinks in the chase, So thirsteth my soul, as it fainteth, For Thee, O my God, and Thy Grace; For Thou art the fount ever-living, And fain I would drink, O be giving The water of life unto me!
By day and by night in her anguish My soul is lamenting in woe; O Lord, in my grief I must languish, No counsel, no help do I know; When shall I Thy mercy awaken? When shall I, the poor and forsaken, Before Thee appear, O my God?
Great fears have my heart overtaken, For near the abyss I am brought; I stand on the brink and am shaken, My passage with peril is fraught; I faint, I see terrors appalling, And into the deep I am falling— O hearken, O Lord, to my cries!
Thou, Thou art my Rock of Salvation, My house I have built upon Thee; Oh, if Thou shouldst fail as foundation, My ruin it surely will be; Lord, deep unto deep now is calling, Thy waves and Thy billows appalling Arise to go over my soul.
When others sing anthems of gladness, And offer thanksgiving and praise, I sit in the gloom of my sadness And hear not the anthems they raise; My song is the voice of my sighing, The festal days pass in my crying— I languish in grief and in woe.
Why art thou disquiet within me? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Confide in thy God, let Him win thee! Still hope in thy God, Him extol! For surely once dawneth a morrow, When, freed from thy care and thy sorrow, Thou praises shall sing to thy God.
His light and His truth, they shall lead me In peace to His temple at last; I rest on His Word, He will speed me, And conflict and sorrow are past; Yea, joyful I anthems will raise Him, With heart and with voice will I praise Him— My Health and my Life and my God.
Translated by C. DEVING, 1902.

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Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company

Special Sale of Foreign Books

THIS week we will begin a special sale of slightly damaged foreign books, and we quote reduced prices on only the styles of binding in which we have damaged copies. Prices include postage.
What has been said of the English books is true of the foreign stock. All books offered at reduced prices are about as good as new. The bindings of some of the volumes, or a few of the leaves, may be slightly defective, but all the books are in fairly good condition. Scarcely any one would notice the slight imperfections. All foreign books offered in this sale contain the same matter that is found in the English editions.
This will be an excellent opportunity for our foreign people to secure a good collection of our best books in their own languages, for personal and missionary purposes. Missionary societies having foreign neighbors should secure some of these cheap foreign books to loan.
What better missionary work can any one do than to secure a lot of these books and systematically loan them to the foreigners in his community? Usually our foreign neighbors are willing to read, especially when they can have books in their native languages. The majority of them are honest, candid, religious people, and take kindly to the matter contained in our books.
This special sale of the slightly damaged books will open the way for many to secure a good collection for missionary work. The prices at which these books are offered render this a rare opportunity. Perhaps there will never be another chance to secure our foreign books so cheaply.

Bible Readings

In German, Danish, Swedish, French, and Holland
This is a book that should be in the home of every foreign family in the land. One of the very best works to loan to friends and neighbors. Over 500,000 copies have been sold.
It comprises 162 readings, and answers nearly 3,000 questions on religious topics, practical, historical, and prophetic. It gives brief, pointed answers to the questions, quoting directly from the Scriptures, from history, and from the writings of eminent commentators of modern times, and is adapted to all classes of society. It contains carefully and critically prepared readings on all the principal and practical subjects of the Scriptures, and numerous readings on the prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments, accompanied by many choice hymns and poetical selections, and concluding with the impressive pictorial allegory, “The Game of Life,” in three parts. The work is profusely and beautifully illustrated, and contains 600 octavo pages; and is printed from new plates, on a superior quality of tinted paper, embellished with 57 full-page engravings and 170 ornamental headings, many of which were designed and engraved, at large expense, especially for the book, together with eight full-page Scriptural and prophetic diagrams, three colored plates, and other attractive features. The bindings are elegant and substantial, the styles and prices being as follows, in the languages quoted above:—
Cloth, marble, reduced from $2 to $1.25.
Cloth, gilt, reduced from $2.50 to $1.25.
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Half morocco, gilt, reduced from $3.50 to $1.75.
Full morocco, gilt, reduced from $4.25 to $2.15.

Great Controversy

In German, French, Danish, and Swedish
This book presents the most interesting history that has ever been written of the great conflict between Christianity and the powers of darkness, as illustrated in the lives of the Christian martyrs and Reformers on one hand, and the wicked men and persecuting powers on the other. Beginning with our Lord's great prophecy while viewing Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, this book outlines the whole history of the dispensation down to the time when sin and sinners are no more. It contains seven hundred large pages, printed on an excellent quality of paper, in clear, large type, beautifully and substantially bound, and is reduced in price in the various bindings and languages, as indicated below:—

German and French

Cloth, marble, reduced from $2.25 to $1.15.
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Danish

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Cloth, gilt, reduced from $2.75 to $1.40.
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Full morocco, gilt, reduced from $4.50 to $2.25.

Swedish

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Patriarchs and Prophets

In German, Danish, Swedish, and Holland
A companion volume of “Great Controversy.” An excellent, important commentary on the principal Bible subjects from Adam to the death of David, tracing the great conflict between good and evil from its inception down through the centuries, and revealing God's wonderful love for mankind through his dealing with the holy men of old. One of the most practical books published. 760 large pages, printed on extra quality of paper, and nicely illustrated. Very slightly damaged in the bindings described below:—

German, Danish, and Swedish

Cloth, marble, reduced from $2.25 to $1.15.
Cloth, gilt, reduced from $2.75 to $1.40.
Library, marble, reduced from $3 to $1.50.
Half morocco, gilt, reduced from $3.50 to $1.75.
Full morocco, gilt, reduced from $4.50 to $2.25.

Holland

Cloth, marble, reduced from $2.25 to $1.15.
Cloth, gilt, reduced from $2.75 to $1.40.
Library, marble, reduced from $3 to $1.50.
Full morocco, gilt, reduced from $4.50 to $2.25.

Heralds of the Morning

In German

The purpose of this book is to arouse the people to the fact that Christ is soon coming. It discusses the second coming of Christ, and that subject only. It refers the reader to signs which may be observed daily, and will therefore appeal to any one at a glance. It treats upon many subjects, among which are the following: “The Prevalence of Crime a Sign of the Times,” “The Earth Is Filled with Violence,” “The Social Vice,” “The Great Deception,” “Ye Have Heaped Treasures together for the Last Days,” etc., etc. The one chapter entitled “Judgment Is Turned Away Backward,” contains enough in itself to undeceive any one who thinks the world is growing better. It is a book that sets forth the evidences of the soon coming of Christ in a clear and dignified manner, the signs of our times being forcibly portrayed, established beyond contradiction by ample facts and figures, and pleasingly impressed with a profusion of appropriate illustrations. It contains 280 large pages, and is attractively and substantially bound in cloth. The damage is very slight, yet the price is reduced one half. Cloth binding, marble edges, reduced from $1.25 to 65 cents; and the gilt edge from $1.50 to 75 cents.

History of the Sabbath

In German

This great and exhaustive work is a mine of useful information on the Sabbath question. It traces the Sabbath from a Biblical and historical standpoint. Every passage of Scripture which has any connection with the Sabbath, in the Old Testament or in the New, is examined at length. The various steps by which the change from the seventh to the first day was made, and the final exaltation, are given in detail. The complete testimony of the Fathers immediately succeeding the time of the apostles, in regard to the Sabbath and the First day, is presented, and the comparative merits of the two days are clearly shown. A complete index enables the reader to find any passage of Scripture, or the statement of any historian. From the pulpit and the press, in social circles and legislative halls, the great demand of the hour is that the Sabbath be more strictly observed. The book contains 548 pages, and is substantially bound in cloth. The price is reduced from $1.50 to 75 cents.

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Editorial

By Editor

Stormy Times

THE captain of one of the great Atlantic liners which recently arrived at New York reported the most stormy passage which he had known in his thirty years' experience upon the water. The great ship was tossed about terribly by the mountainous seas, the passengers became panicstricken, and it became necessary to lay to and pour oil upon the water. The stormy seas are a sign of the times. “The wicked are like the troubled sea.” As the winds of heaven stir the waters of the great deep, so the winds of strife and confusion are now stirring the peoples of the earth. The spirit of unrest prevails everywhere, and there is no prospect of permanent peace and quiet. We are fast approaching those terrible scenes which will usher in the great day of the Lord. Now is the time to give to the world the only message of hope and salvation: “Fear God, and give him glory.” In these stormy times the only peace will be found in submitting to the rule of “the Prince of peace.” There is peace like a river for those who are willing to give glory to the God of peace.
“Peace! perfect peace! our future all unknown? Jesus we know, and he is on the throne.”

God's Dwelling-Place

It was Jesus who taught us to say, “Our Father who art in heaven.” Again and again in talking with his disciples he spoke of the “Father who is in heaven.” When Jesus had finished the work for which he came from heaven to earth, we are told that he knew “that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father.” Just before his martyrdom Stephen, “being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Of Christ's ascension the Scripture says, “For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.” Among his last words to his disciples Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” All these statements are utterly misleading unless there is a definite place called heaven where God is found in a sense in which he is not found in every other place. It is true that God is infinite, and that his presence fills heaven and earth, and yet it is equally true that he reveals himself to us as One who has a habitation in heaven, a place to which he translated Enoch and Elijah, a place to which he took Moses after his resurrection, and a place to which Jesus went in his flesh after his resurrection, and to which he promises to take his redeemed ones at his coming. That conception of God which dissipates him throughout space, and makes him everywhere in general and nowhere in particular, is a long step toward the conclusion that there is no God. The heathen have gods everywhere, but no God anywhere. “But our God is in the heavens.” “Jehovah hath established his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” In his presence is fullness of joy.

God With Us

THE prophet Isaiah had a view of God in his dwelling-place. “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.” Through the same prophet the assurance is given to us that the God whose throne is in the heavens will also dwell with the contrite and humble. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Jesus taught the same truth when he said, “If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” The same truth is taught by the apostle Paul: “Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? . . . Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God?” Through the incarnation God was manifest in the flesh, and humanity again became the temple of God. “They shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us.” To those who believe on him, Christ gives the right to become sons of God. They become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. All the believers constitute the body of Christ, the dwelling-place of God. “But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. . . . For through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.” All this blessing comes to us through our union with Christ. The body of Christ is the true temple of God on earth. Each individual member of the body of Christ is a temple of God by virtue of his union with Christ. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the God-head, is the presence of God through Christ filling the temple. This is the indwelling presence of God. “Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodiesthrough his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” There is a clear distinction between believers and unbelievers in this matter. In the dwelling-place of God his glory is revealed. In the temple of God his service is carried forward.

Former Things — Eighth Paper

By Uriah Smith

We have reached the text now which lets us right into the heart of our work, since the recovery from the disappointment of 1844. We have already noted the words of the angel, when he said to those in whose stomachs the honey-sweetness of the “little book” suddenly turned to “picra” as they awoke to the fact that they were not then to enter upon the fruition of their blessed hope: “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Rev. 10: 11. Another text reveals the nature of the experience into which we were then plunged: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman [the church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [the last remnant of true believers], which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12: 17. Strife and opposition and war were the conditions we were to meet. The dragon went to make war with those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. These were the storm-centers around which our cause was to revolve,—“the commandments of God and . . . the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
The commandments of God were suggested by what was seen in the ark of his testament when the temple of God was opened in heaven. Rev. 11: 19. This, as we have seen, opens before us one great subject on which our attention was to be focused; and the second is no less clearly defined. John, overcome by the majesty of the one communicating with him, fell at his feet, and was about to worship him; but the angel restrained him. “See thou do it not,” said he, “I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19: 10.
The spirit of prophecy excites the wrath of the dragon, no less than the commandments of God. The dragon can not endure to see people forsaking his standard, and turning in loyalty to the true God, and obeying him. Neither can he endure to see the saints turning for instruction to the testimony of Jesus; for this is the spirit of prophecy: and he knows that his own spirit and his deceitful working will be exposed more fully and disastrously to himself by this means than by any other means of which the church can avail itself.
The testimony of Jesus is defined to be the “spirit of prophecy.” But the “spirit of prophecy” is one of the “gifts” set in the church, which causes the Word of God to be a “lamp to our feet, and a light to our path.” The “spirit of prophecy” we understand to be that power which God sometimes imparts to individuals, enabling them to have wonderful perceptions of the things of the Spirit of God, imparting to them light in regard to their own duty and that of others; and oftentimes opening to their minds views of things to occur in the future. This Spirit works in a diversity of ways, God “dividing to every man severally as he will.” See 1 Corinthians, chapter 12.
Not far from the time when the twenty-three hundred days ended, in 1844, and believers began to find their bearings after the bitter disappointment of that year, light began to be shed upon the path of this people by the gift of the spirit of prophecy. This first appeared in the experience of Miss Ellen G. Harmon, now Mrs. E. G. White, whose first two visions bear date of 1845. In 1849 the first paper devoted to the promulgation of the third angel’s message, and called The Present Truth, was issued at Middletown, Conn., by Elder James White. In 1850 the first number of the ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD was issued at Paris, Me. Aug. 5, 1851, No. 1, of Vol. 2, of THE REVIEW AND HERALD was issued at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., James White being editor, and Joseph Bates, Hiram Edson, and J. N. Andrews being members of the publishing committee. The first article by J. N. Andrews, on the Sabbath question, bore the date of Nov. 15, 1850, and he soon began to labor publicly in the cause. The first article on what is now a prominent part of our faith—namely, The United States in Prophecy—was written by Elder J. N. Andrews, and was published in the REVIEW of May 19, 1851. In 1851 Elder J. H. Waggoner enlisted in the message. No. 1, of Vol. 3, of THE REVIEW AND HERALD was issued in Rochester, N. Y. James White was the editor, and Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, and Joseph Baker were the members of the publishing committee. An article on the sanctuary was written by Elder J. N. Andrews, Dec. 23, 1852. The first obituary notice appeared in the REVIEW of Dec. 23, 1852. In Vol. 3, 1852, the writer became connected with the Review Office, and the publishing committee was changed to J. N. Andrews, R. F. Cottrell, and U. Smith. In November, 1855, the REVIEW was moved from Rochester, N. Y., into a two-story building in Battle Creek, Mich. The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association was duly and legally incorporated, May 3, 1861. Our thirty-year charter having expired, the Association was reincorporated in 1891.
When the writer became connected with the Office, we found the gift of which we have spoken, well established among this people. The arguments for the perpetuity of spiritual gifts were well supported by the Scriptures; and subjected to every test by which such manifestations could be honestly tested, they stood without a flaw. The condition of those in possession of any of these gifts, of which we have an account in the Scriptures, corresponded exactly with what we saw before us.
But this was one of the things on which the dragon was to make war. It has been our privilege time and again to witness this gift as seen among Seventh-day Adventists. We have also witnessed the manifestations of spiritism, and have seen the contortions and uncouth displays that accompany such manifestations, and we are happy to testify that nothing of this kind attends the manifestations seen in this work. On the other hand, there is a spirit of sobriety and solemnity, such as we might expect to accompany manifestations of this kind, on the supposition that they are the genuine manifestations of the Spirit of God. U. S.

The Threefold Message of Rev. 14: 6–12

“A Great Voice”

The prophecy represents the angel who has the everlasting gospel to proclaim to every nation as speaking “with a great voice.” The authority and power of the message are thus set forth. The voice of the Lord speaks in this message, and the power of the voice of the Lord is the power in this message. The movement is under angelic leadership, and the voice finds expression through human lips, but it is the Lord’s voice.
It will be instructive to read what the Lord himself has said through the psalmist David concerning his own voice:— “The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters: The God of glory thundereth, Even Jehovah upon many waters. The voice of Jehovah is powerful; The voice of Jehovah is full of majesty. The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; Yea, Jehovah breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox. The voice of Jehovah cleaveth the flames of fire. The voice of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness; Jehovah shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, And strippeth the forests bare: And in his temple everything saith. Glory.”
These declarations concerning the voice of the Lord are preceded by an exhortation which seems to connect very closely with the message of the everlasting gospel: “Ascribe unto Jehovah, O ye sons of the mighty, ascribe unto Jehovah . . . the glory due unto his name; worship Jehovah in holy array.”
When it is said that “the voice of Jehovah is upon the waters,” it means primarily “the waters of the world’s restless ocean.” Egypt and Babylon stand forth as leading types of organized opposition against the kingdom of God in the earth, and both are closely associated with this idea of the waters: “Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants thereof.” “Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Jehovah hath both purposed and done that which he spake concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end has come, the measure of thy covetousness.” In the vision of the revelator the harlot, upon whose forehead was written the name, “Babylon the great,” was seen sitting “upon many waters,” and these waters are defined to be “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” It is against Babylon, sitting enthroned upon many waters, and to the people of the whole world, over whom Babylon has claimed the right to rule, that this threefold message is especially directed, and the hope that this message will bring deliverance from Babylon to every one who accepts it is found in the fact that the “great voice” in this message is the voice of the Lord. Read again now what the psalmist says about the voice of the Lord, and remember that the same power there exhibited in various ways is assured by the same voice in this threefold message.
The chief issue in this threefold message is concerning the commandments of God. This is shown from the fact that those who are brought out by it are distinguished as those “that keep the commandments of God.” In this message the law of God is to be set before the people of the world with authority, and the same voice which spoke the law at Sinai is the “great voice” of this message. Of the experience at Sinai the record says, “And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud. . . . And when the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. . . . And God spake all these words. . . . And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” From that time until now God has not spoken directly to the people from heaven, but his voice of warning, of entreaty, and of instruction has come to them through human lips, and yet there is the same power in the voice when it really comes to the people.
When John the Baptist appeared among men to give a message which would prepare the way for the first advent of our Lord, he was urged to declare who he was, and he replied, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” John was simply the human channel through which the voice of the Lord reached the people in the definite message for that time. In our time a work is to be done to prepare the way for the second advent of our Lord, and in giving this last message we are called to be the channels through which this “great voice” can reach “every nation and tribe and tongue and people,” to present again to them with all the power and authority of Sinai the law of Jehovah, which has been trodden under foot. And this power and authority will be revealed in this message before it closes. It is the power of “the everlasting gospel.”

A Living Prophecy

By L. A. S.

Of the forerunner of his first advent the Saviour said: “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” Yet John had nothing in common with the great men of worldly renown. He was distinguished neither for wealth nor learning, nor for worldly power or station. Yet the Jews recognized his greatness, and questioned among themselves whether he might not be the Christ, or Elias, or one of the prophets. Finally they sent messengers to John to ask him who he was.
To the messengers John replied, after giving a negative to all their questions: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” John 1:22, 23. He was simply a voice, but the voice was the voice of God. He was the living embodiment of the Messianic prophecy, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isa. 40:3.
There can be no greater word than the word of the Lord; no greater work in the earth than his work. And there can be no greatness that can exceed or that can equal the greatness that is directly from him. There can be no greater life than that which perfectly harmonizes with the purposes of God, and thus becomes a perfect revelation of the greatness of God.
God calls men to-day to be living embodiments of the word of prophecy. He calls them to be living messages to the world, to prepare the way of the Lord. A greater work than John's is to be done in our day; and a greater coming is to follow its accomplishment. We need not be deceived by the greater claims and display of those who can point to their numbers, their wealth, or their influence among the nations. The greatest thing in the world is God's message to the world, to prepare the way of his coming in judgment. And the truly great men of this day are those from whose lives has been eliminated all save the voice crying this last message to the world, those to whom the world listening hears nothing but the words of God, and in whose lives only the glory of God is revealed.
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. . . . And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” L. A. S.

Doctrines and Deeds

It is quite the fashion now to belittle the value of what are called “the doctrines.” The effort to preserve in their purity the fundamental teachings of the gospel, as against the inroads of modern infidelity, is slurringly referred to as merely disputing about theories and dogmas. The people are encouraged to think that it makes little difference what views they hold about the incarnation, or the atonement, or the inspiration of the Bible, or the coming of the Lord, but that the main thing is to be engaged in some definite effort for the benefit of humanity. The inference, of course, is that it is no special benefit to humanity to establish faith in the Bible as a personal revelation from God, and to impart a clear and correct view of the whole work of Jesus the Saviour of sinners.
This matter needs to be understood clearly. It is granted without argument that there is much so-called teaching of religion which is merely a cold argument to maintain a creed, and that there are those who interpret the exhortation “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints” to mean that they should hurl their theological darts against all who differ from them; but it does not follow from this that God’s method of saving men by faith in the gospel can be lightly set aside, and some method of the professional philanthropist substituted for it. Because in some cases the ministry of the living and life-giving word has degenerated into a mere wordy warfare over the interpretations of the Wordwhich have been accepted in place of the Word, we are not warranted in concluding that the teaching of saving truth is of little importance. Salvation is wholly of God. It is what God in Christ has done for man, and not what man can do for himself or for humanity, that rescues the lost. And in the acceptance of this salvation believing precedes doing. We believe for salvation, and we do so because we are saved, and not in order to be saved.
In the time of Christ the professed people of God had reversed this order, and were working in order to purchase salvation instead of working out a salvation which had already been paid for, only and would be implanted within them through their faith in the indwelling life. When they saw some of the wonderful works of Jesus, and asked him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Believing and working are inseparably connected, but the working is the fruit of the believing. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.” That plan of working which dispenses with faith in Christ and his teaching as its essential element is simply self-righteousness.
Much is made in these days of what is called the practical side of religion. A human method is substituted for the divine. An effort is made to uplift humanity by working from without rather than from within. The golden rule is emphasized, but its interpretation is earthly and external. This view is clearly set forth in an editorial in a recent issue of a leading journal, as follows: “The New Experience cares less about the book of Revelation than about the sermon on the mount. Discussions about heaven and hell, purgatory and second probation, interest it less than discussions about child labor, tenement-house life, civic corruption, divorce and the causes which lead to it. It regards life less as a preparation for a celestial kingdom of God; it works more for a terrestrial kingdom of God as the true consummation of earthly life. It pays less attention to individual salvation than the fathers did; it pays a great deal more to social redemption. . . . There are fewer religious excitements and more moral and civic reform conventions, fewer prayer-meetings and more college settlements.”
With this compare the following instruction given through the spirit of prophecy: “Man’s way is to devise and scheme; God implants a principle. . . . Circumstances can not work reforms. Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within, will be worked out under the dictation of a converted intellect. The plan of beginning outside and trying to work inward has always failed, and always will fail. God’s plan with you is to begin at the seat of all difficulties, the heart, and then from out of the heart will issue the principles of righteousness; the reformation will be outward as well as inward.”
In these two quotations we can see the difference between humanitarianism and Christianity. The one uses earthly methods and earthly power through which to establish an earthly kingdom in society, which it calls a “terrestrial kingdom of God.” The other uses heavenly means and a heavenly power through which to establish a heavenly kingdom in the heart of the individual. The one deals with society, the other with the individual. The one is of sight, the other of faith. The one chases after principles in the mirage of circumstances, the other establishes correct principles as a means of correcting wrong circumstances.
It is a false issue which has been created between the doctrinal and the practical in religion. The doctrinal is the practical, and the practical is the doctrinal. Doctrine is simply teaching, and the teaching of the Bible is the basis of all righteous practise. The sermon on the mount is just as much doctrinal as are the visions of John the revelator. And the teaching of the whole Bible is needed as the foundation of that righteousness which is of faith. “Every scripture is inspired of God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for discipline which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.”
Do not accept man’s way of establishing God’s kingdom. It is simply Satan’s way of overthrowing God’s kingdom. Let your doing grow out of your believing. Let your works be the works of faith. Follow the example of Christ in going about doing good, but let your doing good, as in his case, be the fruit of being good. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” The tree good first; the fruit good as a consequence: this is the divine order. This is the only way of salvation.
Continue reading: Christians and the Laws