The Signs of the Times
December 7, 1891
Relying Upon God's Word
“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I.” “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” The faith here brought to view is not a casual faith, it is a living, earnest, active faith, that takes God at his word, and relies upon his pledged promises. This faith brings peace, and constitutes the children of God the light of the world. They live in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. It is enough to make the soul joyful to have such assurances,—a Comforter always with us, and we revealing to the world in hopefulness, in joyfulness, that we have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light. ST December 7, 1891, par. 1
Christ said, “I am the Light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The quickening, sanctifying influence of the Spirit of God is given to every member of the church who is joined to Christ as the branch is united to the vine. We must show that we believe the words of Christ that he has gone to the Father to be an advocate in the courts above for every humble child of God. ST December 7, 1891, par. 2
If we truly love Jesus, we shall encourage cheerfulness and warmth of love, as we consider our opportunities and privileges. Jesus must go away in order to come again. It is a cause of rejoicing that we have an advocate with the Father, that our prayers ascend to the Father in his name, and that he is there to prepare mansions for those who love him, and also to prepare a people for those mansions. He gives us the assurance that it is because he loves us that he has gone away, because he can, by the side of his Father, better represent our cases. He hears our prayers, and knows our needs, and has sent his Spirit in his name, to do even greater things than he did when he was on the earth. ST December 7, 1891, par. 3
“Now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” When the Holy Spirit should be manifested to them on the day of Pentecost, they would then see that, although Christ was removed from them, he was ever working in their behalf; and that if they believed on him, his representative, the Comforter, would act in his name, to be a present help in every time of need. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” ST December 7, 1891, par. 4
The enemy is at work to draw men and women into the attractive amusements of the world, and to eclipse their views of Jesus and heaven. Here is where Christ's living agents, those who have tasted and found that the Lord is good, should reveal him in words, in actions, in cheerfulness, in patience, in long-suffering, in hopefulness, in joyousness. “Blessed are your eyes, for they see” the marvelous love of God; “and your ears, for they hear” the precious words of him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And we must see to some purpose, that we may present the glad tidings,—show that it is glad tidings. Put off the spirit of heaviness. Speak of the mercy, the goodness, and the love of Jesus; for “we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Keep your face heavenward. Look at the heavenly attractions, and then you may in truth “show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” With all the precious promises given us from the lips of Jesus, let us act our thankfulness. Let us contemplate our duty in the light of the commandments of God. ST December 7, 1891, par. 5
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, ... and thy neighbor as thyself.” We are altogether too indifferent to God's blessings. We share his loving care through Jesus Christ, and then forget how much it has cost the Father and the Son to make us fallen mortals sharers of his paternal sympathies. We are made the depositaries of rich blessings, and have monopolized them, as if they were wholly our own; but all who are enlightened by the grace of Christ should communicate the same to others. For God, through the Comforter, will work with every effort made in sincerity and truth, with his glory in view. He has paid the redemption price for a lost world, the world that Jesus loved, the world for which he died. Let the compassion and love of Jesus urge us to earnest efforts to reveal Christ to the world. ST December 7, 1891, par. 6
“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” ST December 7, 1891, par. 7