The Signs of the Times
December 18, 1901
Living for Christ
There is no part of the being of which Christ is not to be all and in all. He is our life. Personal contact with Him builds the soul up, supplying its ever-recurring needs. He is our sufficiency. The one in whose heart Christ abides is conscious of constant spiritual joy. Our Redeemer is made unto us “wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” ST December 18, 1901, par. 1
God is the owner of all that man has, the owner of the riches which the selfish appropriate to their own use. With one motion of His hand He could sweep away everything they possess. Then for real power we must look beyond the honored and wealthy men of the world. Those whose minds reach heavenward find the first cause of all greatness, all honor, all majesty. In comparison with Him, human beings are but the small dust of the balance. ST December 18, 1901, par. 2
God created man with affections capable of embracing eternal realities. These affections were to be kept pure and holy, free from all earthliness. But human beings have lost eternity out of their reckoning. God, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the One who holds in His keeping the destiny of every soul, is forgotten. Supposing themselves to be mighty in knowledge, men have let themselves down to the lowest level in God's sight. ST December 18, 1901, par. 3
The mind of man has become earthly. In the place of revealing the impress of divinity, it reveals the impress of humanity. In its chambers are seen the imagery of earth. The debasing practises which prevailed in the days of Noah, placing the inhabitants of that age beyond hope of salvation, are seen today. ST December 18, 1901, par. 4
In vivid language the prophet has described the condition of the world: “Our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey; and the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.” ST December 18, 1901, par. 5
But human beings have not been left to live in hopelessness and despair. “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him, and His righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” ST December 18, 1901, par. 6
These promises will be fulfilled when Christians take the position which God wishes them to fill. It is His desire that they shall demonstrate to the world that human beings can live pure, upright lives. That He might “purify unto Himself a peculiar people,” Christ left the royal courts and clothed His divinity with humanity. He lived out in the world the principles of God's law, showing that His grace has power to redeem men and women and raise them to a plane of moral integrity. Amid the awful confederacy of evil now existing in the world, Christians are to stand firmly and bravely for the Redeemer, protesting by blameless lives against the prevailing apostasy. ST December 18, 1901, par. 7
Christians are to walk humbly with God; for He is their strength. They are to strive for the mastery over self, remembering that their present and future happiness depends on the ascendancy which the spiritual gains over the temporal in the life. They are to cultivate the patience and forbearance of Christ, keeping the thoughts under the softening influence of the Holy Spirit. They are to make a solemn covenant with God that they will govern their words. “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” ST December 18, 1901, par. 8
Christians are to esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of this earth. Coming to the busy world, filled with clamor and confusion, Christ sought to break the spell of earthliness resting on human beings. “What shall it profit a man,” He cried, “if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” He brought to the notice of men the nobler world, which they had lost from sight. He showed them the threshold of eternity, flooded with the glory of God. ST December 18, 1901, par. 9
Before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the professing Christian pledges himself to overcome pride, covetousness, unbelief. And as he seeks to fulfil this pledge, he grows in self-distrust, placing entire dependence on God. He realizes what it means to be a child of God. He knows that the cleansing blood of Christ secures for him pardon and peace. In spirituality he grows like the lofty cedar. Daily he holds communion with God, and he is mighty in the knowledge of the Scriptures. His fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and he learns more and still more of the divine will. Filled with a constantly increasing love for God and his fellow-men, he bears a powerful testimony for the Master. ST December 18, 1901, par. 10
Mrs. E. G. White