The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 74

1897

October 5, 1897

“The Righteousness of God” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 74, 40, p. 632.

“NOW the righteousness of God without the law, is manifested; being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.1

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.2

“To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.3

It is the righteousness of God, his own perfect and infinite righteousness, that is made known and shown forth. Nothing but this righteousness will ever do anybody any good. It is his righteousness, precisely as it is in him, that will or can avail. No one must ever be content for a single moment without the certain and full possession of this righteousness. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.4

It is manifested without the law. Yet it is exactly the righteousness which the law all the time demanded and does ever demand. The law cannot manifest it, because it is “weak through the flesh.” Therefore it must now be manifested without the law. Then when it is manifested, it being exactly what the law all the time had demanded, the law witnesses to it as being completely satisfactory. To every one who receives it, the law witnesses that all its own demands are fully met, that all its requirements are perfectly fulfilled. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.5

And this righteousness of God, this perfect and infinite righteousness, was brought to the world and wrought out for men “by the faith of Jesus Christ.” And this righteousness of God, God’s own righteousness, in all its perfection and in all its infinitude, is manifested in a full and free gift unto all and upon all them that believe in Jesus. Bless his glorious name forever and ever. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.6

You do believe in Jesus. You have believed in him a long time. Have you accepted in him this full and free gift of the perfect righteousness of God? Or have you been toiling and wearing out your spirit, soul, and body in the endeavor to do better? O weary, toiling soul, stop! Look to Jesus. Accept the perfect righteousness of God in the full, free gift in which it is given to you. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.7

All your toiling to do better and to obey the law, will do no good; for it is not your righteousness that is called for; it is God’s righteousness. It is not your righteousness that is demanded by the law; it is God’s. It is not your righteousness that will be accepted by the law; it is God’s righteousness alone that will be accepted. It matters not how hard you try, nor how much you do, the law will never witness to your righteousness; the law will witness only to the righteousness of God. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.8

Then cease the fruitless endeavor to establish your own right-doing. Accept the perfect righteousness of God, and rest. This righteousness belongs to you; for you believe in Jesus. Then accept, and in all its fulness, this great free gift of God. Do not be afraid to claim it: you are entitled to it by the very fact of your believing in Jesus. And your faith is frustrated, it does not attain its true object, if you do not claim the righteousness of God, and thus abandon all idea of ever attaining to any of your own. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.9

For you are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “With him is plenteous redemption.” “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” He was made a curse for you, and by that he has redeemed you from the curse. Will you make that transaction all vain for you by not accepting the redemption which he has wrought? ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.10

And he redeemed us by being made this curse for us, especially in order that we might be justified, especially in order that we might have the righteousness of God. Then it is perfectly plain that when we believe in Jesus, and do not accept the righteousness of God in all its perfection, in the full, free gift in which it is given, we do certainly frustrate the very object of our believing at all, and thus simply war against our own faith. O let all such way be abandoned forever, and let faith work freely to bring to us all that God has given and promised! ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.11

For God has set him “forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.” You do have faith in his blood. Then please accept the righteousness of God, which he is set forth purposely to declare. Not to accept this, when having faith in his blood, is to defeat the very purpose and work of faith. Let every soul that has named the name of Christ, accept his declaration of God’s righteousness; for it is declared fully and freely unto all and upon all them that believe, and there is no difference, thank the Lord. For as all have sinned, the redemption and the righteousness are declared freely to all. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.12

And this righteousness of God is declared unto you and upon you for the remission of sins that are past.” You do have faith in his blood. Then please accept the righteousness of God, which he is set forth purposely to declare. Not to accept this, when having faith in his blood, is to defeat the very purpose and work of faith. Let every soul that has named the name of Christ, accept his declaration of God’s righteousness; for it is declared fully and freely unto all and upon all them that believe, and there is no difference, thank the Lord. For as all have sinned, the redemption and the righteousness are declared freely to all. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.13

And this righteousness of God is declared unto you and upon you for the remission of sins that are past. How many of your sins are past?—All of them, to be sure. As soon as sin is committed, it is past. Then the expression, “sins that are past,” covers every sin that ever has appeared in your life up to the moment at which you read this line. And at this moment Jesus declares unto you and unto you, God’s righteousness for the remission of all the sins up to this moment. O believe it, receive it, and rejoice in it forevermore. Because forevermore that blessed word stands the same, that he declares God’s righteousness unto you and upon you for the remission of sins that are past. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.14

And do not fear, nor think for one moment, that it is not all right for you to claim all this. It is just right. It is all perfectly proper. For God set him forth “to declare I say at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” God can be perfectly just and do all this for you. He has fixed the whole matter so that he can. Therefore do you believe it all, and take it all, and delight in it all “now,” “at this time,” and forevermore. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 632.15

“All Things Are Now Ready” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 74, 40, p. 633.

“AND when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.1

“Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.2

“And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.3

“So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.4

“And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.5

Please let us study this scripture closely: we believe there is very important truth in it for all people just now, and for Seventh-day Adventists above all other people. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.6

When the servant was sent out first, it was “at supper time.” Supper time is in the last part of the day—even the very last hour. This was especially true of the days as then and there they were measured; for the day then and among that people ended at sunset. This makes it perfectly plain that when the servant was first sent to call the people to come, it was in the very last part of the day. And this makes it also plain that this parable has its application in the last part of the gospel day. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.7

And though it was thus in the closing part of the day when the servant was first sent, yet he was obliged to go twice more before his work was done, and the supper fully furnished with guests. Then as it was at supper time, at the end of the day, when the first call was made, and yet two more calls had to be given, how much more must it be at the end of the day when the last call is made! As the first was thus at the end of the day, the last must be at the very end of the end, the very last minutes of the last hour of the day. The first call, being to supper and at supper time, was in the time of the last call of the day; but as the servant was obliged to go out twice more and make the call, it is perfectly plain that whenever the third call is made, it will be the last call of the last call to the great supper. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.8

No one who is at all acquainted with the book of Revelation can fail to see the parallel, in point of time, between the three calls in this parable in Luke 14, and the three messages of Revelation 14. The third message in Revelation 14 is followed only by the coming of the Lord upon the white cloud, with the “sharp sickle” in his hand to reap the harvest of the earth: and “the harvest is the end of the world.” In Revelation 14 there is no message after that of “the third angel;” and in Luke 14 there is no call after the third call. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.9

Whenever, therefore, the work of God, the work of the third angel’s message, shall be directed especially to “the highways and hedges,” we shall know certainly that the last call of the last call is being given in the world, and that when that work shall be finished, then the end will come. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.10

How, then, stands the matter to-day? Are we at that point? Is that our specific work just now? For answer please read the following sentences taken from Testimonies of 1897:— ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.11

Then the messengers went into the highways and byways.... This is the work for every church to do, for each family to be interestedly engaged in, to give the last message of mercy to the world. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.12

The church ought to have taken up this work in every Conference.... This work is the work the churches have left undone, and they cannot prosper until they have taken hold of this work in the highways and hedges. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.13

It has been thought that Dr. Kellogg was working disproportionately for the poor and wretched ones, in medical missionary lines. Then why does not the General Conference go to work? ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.14

The very work Dr. Kellogg has been managing is the kind of work the whole of our churches are bound to do under covenant relation to God. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.15

They [the people and the churches] could take up the same lines of work, in a limited degree, proportionate to their facilities, and the Lord would be their sufficiency. Nothing will, or ever can, give character to the work in the presentation of truth, as that of helping the people just where they are, as this Samaritan work. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.16

These extracts are not taken from one Testimony, but from several. Indeed, this is the great burden of the Testimonies, so far, in 1897, that our message now is to the highways and hedges. The extracts here given are sufficient to show that this is so. And see how universal is the word,—“each family,” “every church,” “every Conference,” and “the General Conference,“—this embraces the whole organization under the third angel’s message. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.17

The inquiry was made, “Why does not the General Conference go to work?” We are happy to say, The General Conference has gone to work, and is at work, to do all that is possible to get every Conference, every church, and each family, interestedly engaged in the work of our grand message for this particular time, which is to go out into the highways and hedges, and call them, compel them, to come to the great supper. ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.18

And when this work is done, then the end comes. The last call—yes, the last call of the last call—is sounding: “Come; for all things are now ready.” All things are indeed now ready. Are you ready? You cannot extend with any effect to others the call, “Come; for all things are now ready,” unless you yourself are ready. There is must more to be said on this grand subject. but for the present it must suffice to say, “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” ARSH October 5, 1897, page 633.19