The Review and Herald
January 27, 1903
The Meaning of God's Providences
We have been made very sad by the news of the terrible loss that has come to the cause in the burning of the Review and Herald Office. In one year two of our largest institutions have been destroyed by fire. The news of this recent calamity has made us feel very sad, but it was suffered by the Lord to come upon us, and we feel that we should make no complaints, but learn if possible the lesson that the Lord would teach us. The destruction of this institution should not be passed by as something in which there is no meaning. Every one connected with the Review and Herald Office should ask himself, “Wherein do I deserve this lesson? Wherein have I walked contrary to a ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ that he should send this lesson to me? Have I heeded the warnings and reproofs that he has sent, or have I walked in my own way?” RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 1
Let the heart-searching God reprove the erring, and let each one bow before him in humility and contrition, casting aside all self-righteousness and self-importance, confessing and forsaking every sin, and asking God, in the name of the Redeemer, for pardon and forgiveness. God declares, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” and those who thus present themselves before him will be pardoned and justified, and will receive power to become the sons of God. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 2
I pray that those who have resisted light and evidence, refusing to listen to God's warnings, will see in the destruction of the Review and Herald Office an appeal to them from God to turn to him with full purpose of heart. Will they not see that God is in earnest with them? He is not seeking to destroy life, but to save life. In the recent destruction, the lives of the workers were graciously preserved, that all might have opportunity to see that God was correcting them by a message coming not from a human source, but from heaven. God's people have departed from him; they have not followed his instruction, and he has come near to them in correction, but he has not brought extinction of life. Not one soul has been taken by death. All have been left alive to recognize the Power that no man can gainsay. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 3
Let us praise the Lord that the lives of his children have been so precious in his sight. He might have cut off all the workers in their heedlessness and self-sufficiency. But no! He says, “They shall have another chance. I will let the fire speak to them, and will see if they will counterwork the action of my providence. I will try them as by fire, to see if they will learn the lesson that I desire to teach them.” RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 4
When the Battle Creek Sanitarium was destroyed, Christ gave himself to defend the lives of men and women. In this destruction God was appealing to his people to return to him. And in the destruction of the Review and Herald Office, and the saving of life, he makes a second appeal to them. He desires them to see that the miracle-working power of the Infinite has been exercised to save life, that every worker may have opportunity to repent and be converted. God says, “If they turn to me, I will restore to them the joy of my salvation. But if they continue to walk in their own way, I will come still closer; and affliction shall come upon the families who claim to believe the truth, but who do not practice the truth, who do not make the Lord God of Israel their fear and their dread.” RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 5
Let every one examine himself, to see whether he be in the faith. Let the people of God repent and be converted, that their sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Let them ascertain wherein they have failed to walk in the way that God has marked out, wherein they have failed to purify their souls by taking heed to his counsels. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 6
There must be entire conformity to the will of God. There must be less self measurement, and more, very much more, Christlike practice. There must be more earnest, persevering prayer. Prayer is acceptable only when offered in faith and in the name of the Redeemer. Our faith must grasp the glorious fact that God hears and answers the prayers of every sincere seeker. As the believer bows in supplication before God, and in humility and contrition offers his petition from unfeigned lips, keeping his eyes fixed steadily on the Mediator of the new covenant, he loses all thought of self. His mind is filled with the thought of what he must have in order to build up a Christlike character. He prays, “Lord, if I am to be a channel through which thy love is to flow day by day and hour by hour, I claim by faith the grace and power that thou hast promised.” He fastens his hold firmly on the promise, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 7
How this dependence pleases the Master! How he delights to hear the steady, earnest pleading! How quickly the sincere, fervent prayer is recognized and honored! How intensely interested the heavenly angels are! “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” With wonderful and ennobling grace the Lord sanctifies the humble petitioner, giving him power to perform the most difficult duties. All that is undertaken is done unto the Lord, and this elevates and sanctifies the lowliest calling. It invests with new dignity every word, every act, and links the humblest worker, the poorest of God's servants, with the highest of the angels in the heavenly courts. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 8
The salvation of human beings is a vast enterprise, that calls into action every attribute of the divine nature. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have pledged themselves to make God's children more than conquerors through him that has loved them. The Lord is gracious and long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. He has provided power to enable us to be overcomers. How full of comfort and love are the words of Christ to his disciples just before his trial and crucifixion. He was about to leave them, but he did not want them to think that they were to be left helpless orphans. “I go my way to him that sent me,” he said, “and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 9
Then comes the wonderful prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John,—a prayer that means much more to us than we realize. Let us receive it into the treasure-house of the soul, and make it the daily lesson of our lives: RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 10
“As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me; be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 11
Satan understands this prayer better than do the members of churches and the heads of families. He does not want the people of God to understand it, lest they should see the advantage God has bestowed on them, and know the day of their visitation. He would keep them in discord and strife over little misunderstandings and little differences, which, dwelt upon, grow into variance and hatred. He knows that if he can keep them thus, they will present before the world a showing exactly the opposite of that which God desires them to present. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 12
I urge our people to cease their criticism and evil speaking, and go to God in earnest prayer, asking him to help them to help the erring. Let them link up with one another and with Christ. Let them study the seventeenth of John, and learn how to pray and how to live the prayer of Christ. He is the Comforter. He will abide in their hearts, making their joy full. His words will be to them as the bread of life, and in the strength thus gained they will be enabled to develop characters that will be an honor to God. Perfect Christian fellowship will exist among them. There will be seen in their lives the fruit that always appears as the result of obedience to the truth. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 13
Let us make Christ's prayer the rule of our life, that we may form characters that will reveal to the world the power of the grace of God. Let there be less talk about petty differences, and a more diligent study of what the prayer of Christ means to those who believe on his name. We are to pray for union, and then live in such a way that God can answer our prayers. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 14
Perfect oneness,—a union as close as the union existing between the Father and the Son,—this is what will give success to the efforts of God's workers. “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me,” to bring about this union, this sanctified harmony. “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” It is this union that convinces the world that God has indeed sent his Son to save sinners. Christ gives to his true disciples the glory of his character, that his prayer may be answered. Through the impartation of his Spirit, he appears in their lives. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 15
Let us during the year 1903 cast all selfishness out of our lives. Let us live for the Master, striving to help one another. “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Let us in our life-work strive constantly to answer the prayer of Christ, that we may be united with one another and with him. Let us always before undertaking anything, ask ourselves the question, Will this please my Saviour? Is it in harmony with the will of God? The consciousness that we are bringing the Christ-life into the daily experience will give a sacred dignity to the every-day duties. All that we do will be done with faithfulness, that the Master may be honored. Thus shall we show to the world what Christianity can accomplish for sinful human beings, giving them constantly increasing efficiency for service in this life, preparing them for the higher life in the world to come. RH January 27, 1903, Art. A, par. 16