Welcome
It is God's purpose to manifest through His people the
principles of His kingdom. That in life and character they may reveal
these principles, He desires to separate them from the customs, habits,
and practises of the world. He seeks to bring them nearer to Himself that
He may make known to them His will. His purpose for His people to-day is
the same that He had for Israel when He brought them forth from Egypt. By
beholding the goodness, the mercy, the justice, and the love of God
revealed in His church, the world is to have a representation of His
character. And when the law of God is thus exemplified in the life, even
the world will recognise the superiority of those who love and fear and
serve God above every other people in the world.
Seventh-day Adventists, above all
people, should be patterns of piety, holy in heart and in conversation. To
them have been entrusted the most solemn truths ever committed to mortals.
Every endowment of grace and power and efficiency has been liberally
provided. They look for the soon return of Christ in the clouds of heaven.
For them to give to the world the impression that their faith is not a
dominating power in their lives, is greatly to dishonour God.
Because of the increasing power of
Satan's temptations, the times in which we live are full of peril for the
children of God, and we need to learn constantly of the great Teacher,
that we may take every step in surety and righteousness. Wonderful scenes
are opening before us, and at this time a living testimony is to be borne
in the lives of God's professed people, so that the world may see that in
this age, when evil reigns on every side, there is yet a people who are
laying aside their will and are seeking to do God's will,--a people in
whose hearts and lives God's law is written.
Representatives of Christ
God expects those who bear the name
of Christ to represent Him. Their thoughts are to be pure, their words
noble and uplifting. The religion of Christ is to be interwoven with all
that they do and say. They are to be a sanctified, purified, holy people,
communicating light to all with whom they come in contact.
His purpose that by exemplifying
the truth in their lives, they shall be a praise in the earth. The grace
of Christ is sufficient to bring this about. But let God's people remember
that only as they believe and work out the principles of the gospel can
they fulfil His purpose. Only as they yield their God-given capabilities
to His service, will they enjoy the fullness and the power of the promise
whereon the church has been called to stand.
Before Christ went to His final
conflict with the powers of darkness, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and
prayed for His disciples. He said: "I pray not that Thou shouldst take
them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them
through Thy truth: Thy word is truth."
The followers of Christ are to be
separate from the world in principles and interests: but they are not to
isolate themselves from the world. The Saviour mingled constantly with
men, not to encourage them in anything that was not in accordance with
God's will, but to uplift and ennoble them. "I sanctify Myself," He
declared, "that they also might be sanctified." So the Christian is to
abide among men, that the savour of divine love may be as salt to preserve
the world from corruption.
Strength in Prayer
Daily beset by temptation,
constantly opposed by the leaders of the people, Christ knew that He must
strengthen His humanity by prayer. In order to be a blessing to men, He
must commune with God, pleading for energy, perseverance, and
steadfastness. Thus He showed His disciples where His strength lay.
Without this daily communion with
God, no human being can gain power for service. Christ alone can direct
the thoughts aright. He alone can give us noble aspirations, and fashion
our characters after the divine similitude. If we draw near to Him in
earnest prayer, He will fill our hearts with high and holy purposes, and
with deep longings for purity and righteousness. The dangers thickening
around us demand from those who have an experience in the things of God a
watchful supervision. Those who walk humbly before God, distrustful of
their own wisdom, will realise their danger, and will know God's keeping
care.
The power of a higher, purer,
nobler life is our great need. The world is watching to see what fruit is
borne by professed Christians. It has a right to look for self-denial and
self-sacrifice from those who believe advanced truth. It is watching,
ready to criticise with keenness and severity our words and acts. Every
one who acts a part in the work of God is weighed in the scales of human
discernment. Impressions favourable or unfavourable to Bible
religion are constantly being made on the minds of all with whom we have
to do.
And God and the angels are
watching. God desires His people to show by their lives the advantage of
Christianity over worldliness; to show that they are working on a high,
holy plane. He longs to see them showing that the truth they have received
has made them children of the heavenly King. He longs to make them
channels through which He can pour His boundless love and mercy.
Christ is waiting with longing
desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character
of the Saviour shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will
come to claim His own. It is the privilege of every Christian, not only to
look for, but to hasten, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Were all who
profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world
would be sown with the seed of the gospel! Quickly the last great harvest
would be ripened, and Christ would come.
"Wherefore, beloved, . . . be
diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and
blameless."
God Bless