|
BY
B. JAKSIC—writing from Australia
 o
us God sends the same message as He sent to Israel of old: "Prepare
to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12). In these five words we have one of the
most important messages for God's people in all the Bible. These words
contain a mighty challenge, and our eternal destiny depends upon our
attitude toward this challenge.
"To
Meet Thy God"
The second
coming of the Lord has been the hope of God's people throughout the
centuries. It is the hope of God's people today. They believe in His
coming because their faith is established upon the Word of God, which
tells us that His second coming is as definite as was His first advent.
"One of
the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible
is that of Christ's second coming to complete the great work of redemption.
To God's pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in 'the region and
shadow of death,'
a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise
of His appearing, who is 'the resurrection and the life,'
to 'bring
home again His banished.'
The doctrine of the second advent is the
very keynote of the Sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first
pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith
have waited the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer's
power and bring them again to the lost Paradise. Holy men of old looked
forward to the advent of the Messiah in glory, as the consummation
of their hope. Enoch, only the seventh in descent from them that dwelt
in Eden, he who for three centuries on earth walked with his God,
was permitted to behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer. 'Behold,'
he declared, 'the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to
execute judgment upon all'
(Jude 14, 15). The patriarch Job in the
night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust: 'I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth: . . . in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another'
(Job 19:25–27)."1
Christ
Himself taught clearly and definitely that He would come again. Before
His ascension to His heavenly Father He left to His disciples and
to us this most hopeful message: "I will come again" (John 14:1–3).
He will not disappoint His people. He wants us to be prepared for
this great and glorious event. Therefore He says, "Prepare to meet
thy God."
A
wholehearted spiritual preparation
Our preparation
for that glorious event must go deeper than mere formalism or outward
display. Those who hope to live eternally with Christ must develop
in this life, before probation closes, those attributes that were
exhibited in the life of Christ while He was on earth. His life was
a revelation of the character of God. If we hope to be like Him when
He appears, we must be like Him in our character and in our daily
living today.
A thorough
preparation on our part will touch the daily realities of our life.
Preparation involves more than to call ourselves God's people. It
means more than to have our names on the church books. To be preparing
for the second coming means more than to show a pious face. It means
more than to know the truth and be able to defend it.
To be
prepared to meet the Lord means to have the image of God restored
in the soul. It means to live out all those fundamental truths that
are so vital in our salvation. To be preparing means to be gaining
victory over every known sin.
God does
not ask the impossible when He says "Be ye also ready." God's people,
by His wonderful grace, can be spiritually ready—they can be without
"spot, or wrinkle" and "without blemish" (Ephesians 5:27).
Professing
Christ
It is
a tragic fact that many Christians profess Christ with their mouth
but deny Him with their life. The message we teach has little value
unless we practice it in our daily living. Our life will lack if our
prayers have form without faith, if we see our faults and do not correct
them, if we profess the religion of Christ and do not bridle the tongue.
"For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body"
(James 3:2).
Our words
have an influence upon others. Few realize the importance of what
they say. It is so easy to let the words pour out and then discover
later how much damage has been done. Our life and our words are inseparable.
Speech is one of the greatest gifts God has bestowed upon us. Solomon
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote: "Death and life
are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).
"God calls
upon us to awake, for the end is near. Every passing hour is one of
activity in the heavenly courts to make ready a people upon the earth
to act a part in the great scenes that are soon to open upon us. These
passing moments, that seem of so little value to us, are weighty with
eternal interests. They are molding the destiny of souls for everlasting
life or eternal death. The words we utter today in the ears of the
people, the works we are doing, the spirit of the message we are bearing,
will be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death."2
Preparation
means transformation of character
The Word
of God describes our characters "as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). It
is impossible to build a Christlike character if we are not willing
to fully surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit upon our heart.
Our character can be transformed only through God's grace. It is the
leaven of God's eternal truth that works secretly, silently, and steadily
to transform the soul.
A Christlike
character is not inherited; we cannot attain to perfection of character
by relying upon our own efforts. It is only through the merits and
power of Christ that we can reach perfection of Christian character.
Yet we must take hold of the strength that is offered to us. The Lord
declares, "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace
with me; and he shall make peace with me" (Isaiah 27:5).
"None
need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian
character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for
the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness.
God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before
us the example of Christ's character. In His humanity, perfected by
a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through
cooperation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to
perfection of character. This is God's assurance to us that we, too,
may obtain complete victory."3
Surrender
of the will
One of
the greatest battles fought within the human heart is the entire surrender
of the will to the Lord. The transformation of our character begins
when we can say, as did Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Not as
I will, but as Thou wilt." Although this surrender requires a real
struggle on our part, it must ever be remembered that victory comes
only after we surrender. No one ever gave up more than Christ did.
He did it all for us. How willing, then, should we be to surrender
our all to Him. This surrender is obtained through constant and intimate
fellowship with God through prayer and seeking of His will.
"The Christian
life is a battle and a march. But the victory to be gained is not
won by human power. The field of conflict is the domain of the heart.
The battle which we have to fight—the greatest battle that was ever
fought by man—is the surrender of self to the will of God, the yielding
of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature, born of blood
and of the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The
hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up.
"He who
determines to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers
and passions of an unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the
kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. Selfishness and pride
will make a stand against anything that would show them to be sinful.
We cannot, of ourselves, conquer the evil desires and habits that
strive for the mastery. We cannot overcome the mighty foe who holds
us in his thrall. God alone can give us the victory. He desires us
to have the mastery over ourselves, our own will and ways. But He
cannot work in us without our consent and cooperation. The divine
Spirit works through the faculties and powers given to man. Our energies
are required to cooperate with God.
"The victory
is not won without much earnest prayer, without the humbling of self
at every step. Our will is not to be forced into cooperation with
divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted. Were it possible
to force upon you with a hundredfold greater intensity the influence
of the Spirit of God, it would not make you a Christian, a fit subject
for heaven. The stronghold of Satan would not be broken. The will
must be placed on the side of God's will. You are not able, of yourself,
to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission
to the will of God; but if you are 'willing to be made willing,'
God
will accomplish the work for you, even 'casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ'
(2 Corinthians 10:5). Then you will 'work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of His good pleasure'
(Philippians 2:12, 13).
"But many
are attracted by the beauty of Christ and the glory of heaven, who
yet shrink from the conditions by which alone these can become their
own. There are many in the broad way who are not fully satisfied with
the path in which they walk. They long to break from the slavery of
sin, and in their own strength they seek to make a stand against their
sinful practices. They look toward the narrow way and the strait gate;
but selfish pleasure, love of the world, pride, unsanctified ambition,
place a barrier between them and the Saviour. To renounce their own
will, their chosen objects of affection or pursuit, requires a sacrifice
at which they hesitate and falter and turn back. Many 'will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able'
(Luke 13:24). They desire the good,
they make some effort to obtain it; but they do not choose it; they
have not a settled purpose to secure it at the cost of all things.
"The only
hope for us if we would overcome is to unite our will to God's will
and work in cooperation with Him, hour by hour and day by day. We
cannot retain self and yet enter the kingdom of God. If we ever attain
unto holiness, it will be through the renunciation of self and the
reception of the mind of Christ. Pride and self- sufficiency must
be crucified. Are we willing to pay the price required of us? Are
we willing to have our will brought into perfect conformity to the
will of God? Until we are willing, the transforming grace of God cannot
be manifest upon us.
"The warfare
which we are to wage is the 'good fight of faith'
(1 Timothy 6:12).
'I also labor,'
said the apostle Paul, 'striving according to His
working, which worketh in me mightily'
(Colossians 1:29)."4
Complete
surrender
"To have
the religion of Christ means that you have absolutely surrendered
your all to God, and consented to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Through the gift of the Holy Spirit moral power will be given you,
and not only will you have your former entrusted talents for the service
of God, but their efficiency will be greatly multiplied. The surrender
of all our powers to God greatly simplifies the problem of life. It
weakens and cuts short a thousand struggles with the passions of the
natural heart. Religion is as a golden cord that binds the souls of
both youth and aged to Christ. Through it the willing and obedient
are brought safely through dark and intricate paths to the city of
God."5
"Be not
discouraged because your heart seems hard. Every obstacle, every internal
foe, only increases your need of Christ. He came to take away the
heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. Look to Him for special
grace to overcome your peculiar faults. When assailed by temptation,
steadfastly resist the evil promptings; say to your soul, 'How can
I dishonor my Redeemer? I have given myself to Christ; I cannot do
the works of Satan.'
Cry to the dear Saviour for help to sacrifice
every idol and to put away every darling sin. Let the eye of faith
see Jesus standing before the Father's throne, presenting His wounded
hands as He pleads for you. Believe that strength comes to you through
your precious Saviour."6
A
life of obedience
True obedience
is the result of a fully surrendered life. Before we can hope to develop
a Christian character we must know by experience that obedience is
not just an outward compliance to God's requirements; it is the work
of love in our souls. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments"
(John 14:15). Love gladly obeys. The nearer we come to Christ, the
more we love Him and the more obedient we will want to be. Our love
for Him and our fellowship with Him bring our life into conformity
to His will.
"All true
obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And
if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims,
so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when
obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will,
refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His
service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our
life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation
of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become
hateful to us."7
"God stands
toward His people in the relation of a father, and He has a father's
claim to our faithful service. Consider the life of Christ. Standing
at the head of humanity, serving His Father, He is an example of what
every son should and may be. The obedience that Christ rendered God
requires from human beings today. He served His Father with love,
in willingness and freedom. 'I delight to do Thy will, O My God,'
He declared; 'yea, Thy law is within My heart' (Psalm 40:8). Christ
counted no sacrifice too great, no toil too hard, in order to accomplish
the work which He came to do. At the age of twelve He said, 'Wist
ye not that I must be about My Father's business?' (Luke 2:49). He
had heard the call, and had taken up the work. 'My meat,' He said,
'is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work' (John
4:34). . . .
"He only
serves who acts up to the highest standard of obedience. All who would
be sons and daughters of God must prove themselves coworkers with
God and Christ and the heavenly angels. This is the test for every
soul. Of those who faithfully serve Him the Lord says, 'They shall
be Mine . . . in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare
them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him'
(Malachi 3:17)."8
Reaching
our goal—being prepared
The importance
of reaching goals or objectives is clearly taught in the Word of God.
Christ was a man of supreme objectives. He came to die as our substitute,
to break the power of Satan, to bring us eternal life. He did not
fail in reaching these objectives. One of the greatest of His objectives
will be realized at His second coming, when He will take His people
to His heavenly home.
We as
a people must also have our objectives. The most challenging one is
to be prepared to meet our God. We are to be "the light of the world."
By the Lord's grace we can reach our goal—the perfection of character,
thus being prepared. In order to reach our goal we must grow in Christ,
we must walk with Christ, we must talk with Christ, we must know Christ,
we must live like Christ, we must do the work of Christ.
Our objectives
are reached when we acknowledge that all glory belongs to God, when
our glory is laid in the dust. Our objectives are reached fully when
we accept the counsel of the True Witness. When we have true love
and faith. When we have spiritual discernment. When we are clothed
in the white garments of Christ's righteousness.
We also
have to experience the Gethsemane objective. Here is where we learn
whether we hate the sins of the world and love humanity. In Gethsemane
we face the objective of drinking the bitter cup alone, of wrestling,
agonizing, until victory is won.
"The way
to heaven is a selfdenying way. But when you think the way is too
strait, and there is too much self- denial in the narrow path; when
you say, How hard to give up all, ask yourselves the question, What
did Christ give up for me? This question puts anything that we might
call self-denial in the shade. Behold Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Look upon the great drops of blood that are forcing themselves from
His pores while He is bearing the inexpressible agony of soul. Look
upon Him in the judgment hall while He is derided, mocked, and insulted
by the infuriated mob. Behold Him clothed in that old purple robe,
and hear the coarse jest and cruel mocking. See them place the crown
of thorns on that noble brow, and smite Him with a reed, causing the
thorns to penetrate His holy temples, so that the blooddrops trickle
down His face and fall upon the ground. Hear the murderous throng
eagerly crying for the blood of the Son of God. He is delivered into
their hands, and pale, and weak, and fainting, He is led away to the
hill of crucifixion. They stretch His form upon the cross, and drive
the nails through His tender hands and feet. Behold Him hanging upon
the cross through dreadful hours of agony until angels vail their
faces from the scene, and the sun hides its light, refusing to shine
upon the dreadful sight. Think of these things, and then ask, is the
way too strait?
"Oh that
every one might realize that Jesus has something in store for him
vastly better than that which he would choose for himself! Would that
all might come to understand the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the
blessedness of righteousness! Would that all might see how powerless
is all effort to contend with Omnipotence! Man is doing the greatest
injury to his own soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the mind
and will of God. He is sowing to his flesh, and of the flesh he will
reap corruption. No real joy can be found in the path forbidden by
God, who knows what is best, and who plans for the good of His creatures.
In order to be happy ourselves, we must live to make others happy.
We must yield our possessions, our talents, and our affections, in
grateful devotion to Christ, and in this way we may find happiness
here and immortality hereafter.
"The most
trying experiences in the Christian life may be the most blessed.
The special providences of the dark hours may encourage the soul in
the future attacks of Satan, and equip the servant of God to stand
in fiery trials."9
The time
to attain consistent victory, the time to be a preparing—even a prepared—people
is now, today, before life ends, before probation closes. We can reach
all these objectives if we, by the grace of the Lord, so choose. The
greatest and the most glorious of all our objectives is to gain the
victory over every sin and to win heaven.
The
great climax
The real
goal of Christ's second coming is not the destruction of the earth
but the creation of the glorious "new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13).
How wonderful
will it be to hear the words of our loving Saviour and Redeemer: "Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).
My dear
brethren and sisters, let us be ready, let us be prepared. The Lord
is coming to take us to the kingdom that Jesus has prepared for us.
May we all be there.
_________________________
1 The
Great Controversy, p. 299.
2 Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 716.
3 The Acts of the Apostles, p. 531.
4 Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 141–144.
5 Messages to Young People, p. 30.
6 The Sanctified Life, pp. 90, 91.
7 The Desire of Ages, p. 668.
8 Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 282, 283.
9 The Review and Herald, April 17, 1894.
|
