Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)
Ms 94, 1899
“To Do Justly, to Love Mercy, and to Walk Humbly with Thy God.”
NP
July 18, 1899
Portions of this manuscript are published in HP 236; 1MR 272-273; GCB 4th Qtr 1899. +Note
“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” [Matthew 5:5.] Meekness is a precious, Christian attribute. The meekness and lowliness of Christ is only learned by wearing Christ’s yoke. It springs from fellowship with God. If meekness and lowliness do not manifest itself in our characters, we are not His disciples, we need to humble ourselves under the hand of God, and wear Christ’s yoke. The absence of meekness and lowliness reveals that many who claim to believe are not wearing the yoke of Christ. That yoke signifies entire submission. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 1
The heavenly universe looks upon an absence of meekness and lowliness of heart. The self-exaltation, the feeling of swelling importance, makes the human agent so large in his own estimation that he feels that he has no need of a Saviour, no need to wear Christ’s yoke. But the invitation to each soul is, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 2
The power of God is waiting our demand upon it. One may say, I was converted a long time ago. But unless you are converted today, you need the converting power of the Holy Spirit, else you will have a feeble experience. Pure, spiritual power is fresh every morning and new every evening. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 3
It lifts men above worldly ambition, and expels all selfishness from the soul. The working of the Holy Spirit is not reserved for special times and occasions. Daily we may appropriate the water of life to our souls. Then the forgiveness of sin is felt and appreciated, and its fruit is seen in the forgiveness of those who injure us and do us harm. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 4
You may have a theory of truth, and yet have no special fellowship with Christ. It is essential that we be sanctified through the truth. Christ prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” [John 17:17.] Men may give sermons in special order, and yet not be sanctified through the truth. Those who are sanctified through the truth speak under the inspiration of the Spirit. Thus Christ taught, and the people said of Him, “Never man spake like this man.” [John 7:46.] They were astonished at His doctrine, “for he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” [Matthew 7:29.] When men are baptized by the Holy Spirit, they put on the robes of Christ’s righteousness. They take their place at His feet, to learn of Him. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 5
Sanctification through the truth bears fruit to the glory of God. Under its power men are stripped of the ambition that contends for the supremacy, stripped of the selfishness which leads men connected with our institutions to grasp, in their covetousness, all they can obtain from the treasury in large wages, when they know that their brethren, laboring just as hard in fields where the wear and tear is great, and often under heavy pressure of circumstances, do not receive much more than half of what they receive. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 6
The men in our institutions who have placed such a high estimate upon their own services are not sanctified by the Holy Spirit. They have not that sanctification which gives them sensitive consciences, leading them to love God supremely and their neighbor as themselves. Their influence and example are detrimental. They do that which they would not wish their brethren to know—they grasp from the treasury. They are blind, and cannot see that by so doing they are depriving others of the wages they should receive. Their selfishness shuts them away from the sanctification of the Spirit of God. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 7
There is great need of believing the Word, appropriating it as is represented in the sixth chapter of John. Read it and understand it. “Wherefore laying apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 8
“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deeds. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” [James 1:21-27.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 9
Selfishness and covetousness have spoiled many lives. The spiritual eyesight has become beclouded, leading men and women, if not to say, to act, the words, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Christ says to them, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 10
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,”—they may be honest in these suppositions, but they are woefully deceived—“and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcome and am set down with my Father in his throne.” [Revelation 3:15-21.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 11
When the men who have been selfishly drawing what they should not from the Lord’s treasury shall turn to God with full purpose of heart, they will abhor their selfish covetousness. Why? Because they will see that Christ, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, came to our world to live the commandments, to give the world an example of the character all must form who would live in God’s presence. Those who have estimated their services above the services of those who are doing harder work than they, those who set their own price on their work, and supply themselves from the Lord’s treasury, are not laying up treasure in heaven. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 12
Those who behold Jesus lose sight of self. By the eye of faith they behold Him who is invisible. They see the King in His beauty and the land that is very far off. They practice economy, and reveal justice and righteousness, mortifying self in the place of exalting self. They do not expend unnecessary means upon themselves. They do not confederate together to follow underhand methods in order to draw a large supply of means from the treasury. They see that they have no more right to high wages than have those who work for smaller wages, who bind about their wants, practicing the economy which they teach to others. The means which others use for display, they give to the cause, practicing self-denial as did Christ. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 13
To save us, Jesus came to the world in the form of humanity. He became poor, that through His poverty fallen beings might be uplifted and made rich. He is the greatest Teacher, the greatest Worker, the world has ever known, and He has left an example which His servants must follow. “He that will come after me,” He says, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 14
Those in our institutions who grasp at the surplus means disqualify themselves to understand what it means to be a partaker with Christ in His suffering. The barbed arrows of the Lord, sent by an angel’s hand, come to such ones; but they are not wounded. So far have they departed from correct principles that they are blind. They listen to convincing truths, spoken with great earnestness, but still they do not reform, for they have turned aside and warded off every salutary impression. If they would be content with lower wages, their spiritual danger would be far less. A reform must take place in their lives, else they will never see the King in His beauty. Their experience in this life will decide their eternal destiny. In earnest, authoritative, solemn tones, the voice of the great Teacher has been making appeals to them, but still they are not converted. They have not turned from false, unscrupulous principles. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 15
The submission which Christ demands, the self-surrender of the will which admits truth in its sanctifying power, which trembles at the Word of the Lord, are brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit. There must be a transformation of the entire being, heart, soul, and character; for if this does not take place, some masterly temptation will sweep them off their feet. Only at the altar of sacrifice, and from the hand of God, can the selfish, grasping man receive the celestial torch which reveals his own incompetence and leads him to submit to Christ’s yoke, to learn His meekness and lowliness. As learners we need to meet with God at the appointed place. Then Christ puts us under the guidance of the Spirit, who leads us into all truth, placing our self-importance in submission to Christ. He takes the things of Christ as they fall from His lips, and conveys them with living power to the obedient soul. Thus we may take a perfect impress of the Author of truth. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 16
God calls for a reformation among Seventh-day Adventists. He calls upon His people to prepare themselves to do the highest service. He calls upon them to humble their proud hearts at His altar, confessing their sins, banishing human ideas from their plans. Christ’s standard of perfection adjusts the matter of every man’s salvation. He says, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” [John 17:6; 14:15.] We are not to keep only those commandments which do not interfere with human inclination, thinking this is our whole duty. God requires full and willing obedience. The day of final reward will be a day of great astonishment to those who have done well in serving themselves, making everything convenient for self, placing their own value upon the work they perform, and requiring the highest wages, but failing to keep the commandments of God and having no interest in their fellow workers. They did not bring the commandments into their practical life. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 17
Christ declares, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” [Matthew 7:16-23.] Then to illustrate His teaching, Christ gave the parable of the men who built upon the rock and upon the sand. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 18
The Lord is greatly dishonored by those who teach the truth, yet who are not themselves doers of the Word. They are looked up to as those who know and understand what it means to be a Christian; and if they do not make straight paths for their feet, the lame are turned out of the way. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 19
What a strange history was Solomon’s! The Lord declared that he had chosen him to build the temple. Thrice he was called the beloved of God. But he departed from the way of the Lord, and transgressed the law that forbade marriage with the heathen. He united with idolatrous women, and misled by them, he built groves for their idols. By their enchantment and their wiles these women led Solomon away from God. The wisest king that ever swayed a scepter was thus seduced into idolatry. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 20
The work of men in positions of trust in connection with the work of God needs to be closely investigated. The Lord sends warnings and reproofs, but they are not heeded. The feet of the people are diverted into paths in which the Lord has said they shall not walk. It is difficult for the blanketed conscience to arouse. This will be the sin that will condemn the transgressor. Faith without works is dead, being alone. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 21
Christ Our Example
God saw that the world was destitute of true knowledge, and He sent Christ into the world to live the law and represent Him. This was the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The knowledge of God was the chief treasure Christ brought to man. It was His prerogative to impart this knowledge, and He gave it to His disciples to be given to the world. Christ gave lessons that men might be impressed with His justice, condescension, and love. To the just and the unjust He gives a distinct representation of the divine goodness God has manifested in their behalf. He leads men abroad into the open field of nature, and touching the eyes of their senses He shows them the hand that sustains the world, the power ever working in behalf of human beings, good and evil. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 22
He spreads before them the beautiful flowers, the lily of the valley, the fragrant pinks and roses, delicately tinted by the great Master Artist, and He declares, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ... Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” [Matthew 6:19-21, 26.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 23
Jesus gave His life to make it possible for men and women to secure eternal life. The Father appreciates every soul whom His Son has purchased by the gift of His life. Every provision has been made for us to receive divine power, which will enable us to overcome temptations. Through obedience to all God’s commandments, the soul is preserved unto eternal life. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 24
The dumb animals have no souls, yet God cares for them. “Are ye not much better than they?” Christ asks. “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Wherefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” [Verses 26-33.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 25
This lesson is given to all who love God and keep His commandments. The One who gave His life that we should not perish is the divine Teacher, and He appeals to every blessing of the natural world, the showers that fall upon the earth, the dew, the glorious sunlight, given alike to thankful and unthankful. The bounties of God’s providence speak to every soul, confirming Christ’s testimony to the supreme goodness of His Father. The Lord would have His people realize that the blessings bestowed upon any object of creation are proportionate to the place that object occupies in the scale of creation. If even the wants of dumb animals are supplied, can we appreciate the blessings which God will bestow upon the beings formed in His image? 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 26
Christ would elevate and refine man’s mind, purifying it from all dross, that he may appreciate the love that is without a parallel. He leads them up to the higher grade, unfolding before them the treasures of eternity. He opens before them the volume of his providence, and bids them, as far as possible, take in the whole revelation. He tells them that in this book is written the name of every individual, that in the page assigned each individual is written every particular of his history, even to the numbering of the hairs of the head. He leads the human agent to think of the love God manifested by giving His only begotten Son to die for the world. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 27
Thus God showed His love for man. With Christ He gave all heaven, that the moral image of God might be restored in man. Our part is to appreciate the means provided, and in harmony with the divine mind work out our own salvation. God could do no more to express His love. His gift could not be greater; for it embraces infinity. His grace is all its vastness is provided for all. There is no excuse for any to retain selfishness. In the hearts of all who receive Him Christ will be formed, the hope of glory. The Saviour says to everyone for whom He has died, You must receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption. You must become so united with God that you will impart the grace you have received. Thus you become a living channel, by which God can communicate His light to the world. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 28
God cannot approve our work while it has in it one thread of selfishness. It was apparently a small transgression that closed the gates of Paradise against Adam and Eve. But ever since then sin has been increasing in volume and prevalence, and it is still increasing. But notwithstanding this, the divine benevolence has not been cut off. God’s love and care still flow earthward. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 29
This should make man afraid of his littleness, of his sin-loving propensities. God calls upon us to receive and impart the love which passeth knowledge. He is looking upon His prostrate law, upon His Sabbath trampled under foot by a race of rebellious subjects. He could have come forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity. He could have swept them away by a flood, as He did in Noah’s day. But He did not do this. He has spared them because of the covenant made with Noah. The Lord God is full of compassion, mercy, and love. When His servants, the stewards of His business, misrepresent Him, and act out unsanctified self, contrary to His arrangements, they greatly dishonor Him. History will testify against them. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 30
Those who are in the service of God, who profess to believe the truth, should closely examine themselves, to see whether they are in the faith, whether they are using sacred or common fire. At the death of Nadab and Abihu, Moses declared to Aaron, “This is that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in all them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” [Leviticus 10:3.] Let all who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 31
The Lord Jesus Christ when in human flesh successfully resisted every temptation of the enemy. His efforts of superhuman love, made to save the race, were successful. From Him men and women may receive power to overcome, if they will consent to cease from sin. Christ gave every son and daughter of Adam unmistakable evidence that through the provisions God has made they may overcome. Each one must rely on the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. He takes every repenting soul into covenant relation with Himself. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 32
Christ regarded the enemies of the human race as His enemies. In our behalf he overcame Satan, gaining an everlasting victory for all who will receive him. He engaged in the warfare, and did not give up, but resisted even unto death; and in dying He gained the victory for which He came to our world. Before He died He cried out, “It is finished.” “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” [John 19:30; Luke 23:46.] To His disciples He said, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” [John 16:33.] Christ has left us a perfect, sinless example. His followers are to walk in His footsteps. If they are not transformed in character, they can never dwell with Him in His kingdom. Christ died to elevate and ennoble them, and those who retain hereditary tendencies to wrong cannot dwell with Him. He suffered all that it is possible for human flesh to suffer and endure, that we might pass triumphantly through all the temptations Satan may invent to destroy our faith. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 33
In Christ is our only hope. God has daily victories for His people to gain. After His resurrection Christ said to His disciples, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things, and, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from in high.” [Luke 24:46-49.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 34
The very ones who had rejected Christ were to hear His message. Those who had lived in close alliance with the leaders of rebellion were to bear to them a message of pardon and forgiveness. Some who had been united with those who had planned and compassed Christ’s death, who had said, “This is the heir, come, let us kill him” [Matthew 21:38], were to be reclaimed from disobedience and apostasy. “Ye have not chosen me,” Christ said, “but I have chosen you.” [John 15:16.] The Lord forgave them; for they had not known what they were doing; and He sent them forth to proclaim a risen and ascended Saviour. They published the truth that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 35
By his heavenly gifts the Lord has made ample provision for His people. An earthly parent cannot give his child a sanctified character. He cannot transfer His character to His child. God alone can transform us. Christ breathed on His disciples, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” [John 20:22.] This is the great gift of heaven. Christ imparted to them through the Spirit His own sanctification. He imbued them with His power, that they might win souls to the gospel. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 36
Henceforth Christ would live through their faculties and speak through their words. They were privileged to know that hereafter He and they were to be one. They must cherish His principles and be controlled by His Spirit. They were no longer to follow their own way, to speak their own words. The words they spoke were to proceed from a sanctified heart, and fall from sanctified lips. No longer were they to live their own selfish lives; Christ was to live in them and speak through them. He would give to them the glory that He had with the Father, that He and they might be one in God. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 37
The Lord Jesus is our great High Priest, our Advocate in the courts of heaven. The solemn position in which we stand to Him as worshipers is not appreciated. For our present and eternal good we need to understand this relation. If we are His children, we are bound together in the bonds of Christian brotherhood, loving one another as He has loved us, united in the sacred relation of those washed in the blood of the Lamb. Bound up with Christ in God we are to love as brethren. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 38
Thank God that we have a great High Priest, who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Christ has not entered into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. By virtue of His own blood He entered in once for all into the holy place above, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 39
Now is the time for us to make sure work for eternity. Christ is pleading in our behalf. Shall we offer ourselves as a free, acceptable sacrifice? Shall we cover up our sins, or shall we confess them, that we may find mercy and grace to help in every time of need? While Christ is pleading in our behalf, shall we not put away and loathe the sins that caused the Son of God such great suffering? While Jesus is showing compassion for us, shall we not have compassion for ourselves and for our brethren? Shall we not pour out our souls in repentance and contrition, and receive the promise of a new heart? God says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far will I remove thy transgressions from thee.” [Psalm 103:12.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 40
If you are violating the law in the least, you stand under the wrath of an offended God. You may have the mercy of God. If you plead for it, you will obtain it. Cast yourself just as you are upon His mercy and compassion. Lay hold of Him by faith. Put away all selfishness, all covetousness. By faith in the blood of Jesus cleanse your soul from moral defilement. Full and free salvation is offered to every one who will fall on the Rock and be broken. There are many who are saying, Lord, Lord, but they trust in their own self-righteousness. Every day they are practicing sin. They are no honor to God; for wherever they go they are like evil leaven. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 41
Why do you not cease from sin? You may overcome if you will co-operate with God. Christ’s promise is sure. He pledges Himself to fill the office of personal Intercessor, saying, “I will pray the Father for you.” [See John 14:16.] He who could not see human beings exposed to destruction without pouring out His soul unto death to save them from eternal ruin will look with pity and compassion upon every soul who realizes that he cannot save himself. He will see no trembling suppliant without raising him up. He who through His own atonement provided for them an infinite fund of moral power will not fail to employ this power in their behalf. He will impute to them His own righteousness. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 42
Christ accepts the surrender of the soul. He has pledged Himself to be our substitute and surety, and He neglects no one. There is an inexhaustible fund of perfect obedience accruing from His obedience. How is it that such an infinite treasure is not appreciated? In heaven the merits of Christ, His self-denial and self-sacrifice, are treasured up as incense, to be offered up with the prayers of His people. As sincere, humble prayers ascend to the throne of God, Christ mingles with them the merits of His life of perfect obedience. Our prayers are made fragrant by this incense. Christ has pledged Himself to intercede in our behalf, and the Father always hears His Son. Pray then; pray without ceasing; an answer is sure to come. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 43
But let me speak in warning. “If any man regard iniquity in his heart, the Lord will not hear him.” [See Psalm 66:18.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 44
It is our privilege to avail ourselves of Christ’s mediatorial influence. Let us then increase in wisdom and knowledge by praying much, being instant in prayer at all times, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. The name of Jesus must be in our hearts and fall from our lips. The eye of faith must behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 45
According to justice and retribution God might have placed in the hands of His angelic ministers the vials of His wrath, to be poured out upon a rebellious world, to punish the inhabitants for their treatment of the Prince of heaven. But He did not do this. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” [1 John 4:10.] Isaiah tells us who and what our Redeemer is: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” [Isaiah 9:6.] 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 46
Christ had two natures, the nature of a man and the nature of God. In Him divinity and humanity were combined. Upon His mediatorial work hangs the hope of the perishing world. No one but Christ has ever succeeded in living a perfect life, in living a pure, spotless character. He exhibited a perfect humanity, combined with Deity; and by preserving each nature distinct He has given to the world a representation of the character of God and the character of a perfect man. He shows us what God is and what man may become—Godlike in character. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 47
Christ is our example. He placed Himself at the head of the human family to accomplish a work the importance of which men do not comprehend because they do not realize the privileges and possibilities before them as members of the human family of God. We may understand the subject of the work of Christ. His object was to reconcile the prerogatives of justice and mercy, and let each stand separate in its dignity, yet united. His mercy was not weakness, but a terrible power to punish sin because it is sin; yet a power to draw to it the love of humanity. Through Christ justice is enabled to forgive without sacrificing one jot of its exalted holiness. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 48
Justice and mercy stood apart, in opposition to each other, separated by a wide gulf. The Lord our Redeemer clothed His divinity with humanity, and wrought out in behalf of man a character that was without spot or blemish. He planted His cross midway between heaven and earth, and made it the object of attraction which reached both ways, drawing both justice and mercy across the gulf. Justice moved from its exalted throne, and with all the armies of heaven approached the cross. There it saw One equal with God bearing the penalty for all injustice and sin. With perfect satisfaction justice bowed in reverence at the cross, saying, It is enough. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 49
By the offering made in our behalf, we are placed on vantage ground. The sinner, drawn by the power of Christ from the confederacy of sin, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates himself before it. Then there is a new creature in Christ Jesus. The sinner is cleansed and purified. A new heart is given to him. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 50
The work of redemption involved consequences of which it is difficult for man to have any conception. There was to be imparted to the human beings striving for conformity to the divine image, and outlay of heaven’s treasures, an excellence of power, which would place him higher than the angels who had not fallen. The battle has been fought, the victory won. The controversy between sin and righteousness exalted the Lord of heaven, and established before the saved human family, before the unfallen worlds, before all the host of evil workers, from the greatest to the least, God’s holiness, mercy, goodness, and wisdom. Christ’s sacrifice exalted the law, proving that it was from the beginning, and would be through all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 51
Satan, the first apostate, looked upon the fruit of his apostasy in the vast army under his banner, and his mind was made to comprehend the meaning of warfare against God and His Son. He saw how many he had by his subtlety led away from God, from happiness and holiness. The truth of his position and his efforts to overthrow God and assume His place, when he took with him vast numbers of angels who might have been a happy family in heaven, flashed over him. Never had the arch-deceiver such an appreciation of God and His throne, His holiness, His justice, His goodness, His amazing love, as when Christ hung on the cross. Mercy and truth had met together, righteousness and peace had embraced each other. 14LtMs, Ms 94, 1899, par. 52