The Signs of the Times
July 26, 1899
“Be Ye Therefore Perfect”
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Man is to be perfect in his sphere, even as God is perfect in His sphere. How can such a lofty standard be reached? The required perfection is based on the perfection of Christ, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” He gave the command requiring perfection, He who was by birth a human being, though allied to divinity. He has passed over the road we are to tread, and He says, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” But with Him we can do everything. Thus a perfect character can be obtained. God never issues a command without furnishing the grace sufficient for its fulfilment. Ample provision has been made that man shall be a partaker of the divine nature. ST July 26, 1899, par. 1
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” This is the standard God holds before His children. It is a standard of Christlikeness. Christianity means entire surrender to the will of God. Then it can be said of us, “Ye are complete in Him.” ST July 26, 1899, par. 2
When such possibilities are presented to us; when we see that it is our privilege to attain Christian perfection, should we not strive to reach the standard? Should not our one purpose be to appreciate and understand the high honor conferred upon us? Christ has shown us how the heavenly universe values the beings for whom He made so great a sacrifice. Men and women are God's by creation and by redemption, and those who receive Christ He invests with His strength. They are bound up with Him, and are fully capable of reaching the highest elevation of character. ST July 26, 1899, par. 3
It is the Lord's will that we should cherish a solemn sense of our accountability to Him, as the owner of the talents He has lent us. He desires us to appreciate His entrusted gifts, doing all in our power to reach the standard He has set before us. ST July 26, 1899, par. 4
In the varied lines of Christ's work, each part depends on every other part, and the perfection of the work depends on the co-operation of each part. God has made provision for the reciprocal action and the mutual relation of all animated beings. He has arranged that all shall be connected together, and the whole to God. No one can be dropped out of the Lord's plan without affecting the whole. Nothing is independent of the rest. ST July 26, 1899, par. 5
In creating man, God designed that each human being should be a part of the web of humanity. He pledged Himself to make every provision for the happiness of men and women by making it possible for them to be like Him. It is His purpose that nothing shall be wanting to their happiness if they remain loyal to His commandments. They are the objects of His special love and care, and He would make them consecrated channels through which blessings from His abundant resources shall flow to the world. How important then that each act his part with fidelity, striving with all his power to fulfil God's purpose for him. ST July 26, 1899, par. 6
Speaking of Christ, John says: “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth... And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” ST July 26, 1899, par. 7
Here we are shown what we may become by looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. If humanity will co-operate with divinity, He who made so great a sacrifice in behalf of the human race will complete that which He has begun. Of himself man cannot obtain completeness, but every gift of heaven is granted to those who will co-operate with Christ, striving day by day for the mastery over the deceptive temptations of the enemy. By searching, we cannot find out God, but Christ has declared Him. “Show us the Father,” Philip said, and Jesus answered: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” ST July 26, 1899, par. 8
Christ came to clothe His people with his righteousness. But they would not receive Him, and with pale and quivering lips and broken utterance He exclaimed, “If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!” Then came a pause, for the Saviour was reluctant to pronounce the irrevocable sentence—“but now they are hid from thine eyes.” It was with a burst of agony that Christ spoke these words. He was bearing a great burden for the people of His care, but they knew not the time of their visitation. The superhuman agony of the Son of God was keenly felt in the heavenly courts, but those for whom He shed bitter tears knew not their day of grace. ST July 26, 1899, par. 9
This is the great sin of which men and women are guilty today. They appreciate not the blessings and privileges within their reach. “In this thy day.” The day is nearing its close. We are living amid the last scenes of this earth's history. Can it be that we shall be among the number that Christ mentioned with so much sorrow as He halted on the crest of Olivet? O, that all would know in this their day the things that belong to their peace. Shall Christ say to any one of us, “But now they are hid from thine eyes”? He will be obliged to do so if we fail to show our appreciation of His mercy by doing all in our power to co-operate with Him. ST July 26, 1899, par. 10
When Christ said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” He had in view purity of purpose and action. It is essential for every soul who desires increased knowledge, to possess this purity. There is great need of purity as well as of knowledge. ST July 26, 1899, par. 11
Perfection can be attained only through the grace given by God. He will be the efficiency of every soul who strives for clear, far-seeing moral faculties. But He requires the co-operation of the human agent. Temperance must be practised in all things, in eating, in drinking, in all the habits of life. Christ said to His disciples, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” He would have us follow Him as tho wholly in earnest. He would have us cultivate a whole-souled earnestness. Some may call this enthusiasm; but if there is any subject in the world worthy of enthusiasm, it is the subject of redemption. We must be heartily enthusiastic over the wonderful work of our salvation. Each one may be so inspired by the life-work of Christ that he will become full of an earnest desire to be a true-hearted Christian. But those who think it will be just as well to be half for Christ and half for the world are under a great deception. They are neither cold nor hot. They are neither successful worldlings nor successful Christians, and Christ says of them: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; 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 eye-salve, 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.” ST July 26, 1899, par. 12
The Lord calls for sincere, earnest work. Half-heartedness spoils us for both worlds. When weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, those who have done surface work will be found wanting. Without life in Christ there can be no spiritual growth, no real development. We each need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. We turn our blessings into a curse both to our own souls and to the souls of others when we do not do this. ST July 26, 1899, par. 13
Mrs. E. G. White