Chapter 65—How to Meet a Controverted Point of
Doctrine
[
Morning talk at Battle Creek, Michigan, January 29, 1890, which
was printed in
The Review and Herald, February 18, 1890
.]
We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half
understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me
when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are
prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their
attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented
before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of
God in their experience before the second coming of Christ—how the
enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews,
and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God’s servants, that they
may not be able to discern the precious truth.
When Christ came to our world, Satan was on the ground, and
disputed every inch of advance in His path from the manger to Calvary.
Satan had accused God of requiring self-denial of the angels, when
He knew nothing of what it meant Himself, and when He would not
Himself make any self-sacrifice for others. This was the accusation
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that Satan made against God in heaven; and after the evil one was
expelled from heaven, he continually charged the Lord with exacting
service which He would not render Himself. Christ came to the world
to meet these false accusations, and to reveal the Father. We cannot
conceive of the humiliation He endured in taking our nature upon
Himself. Not that in itself it was a disgrace to belong to the human
race, but He was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, and He
humbled Himself to become a babe and suffer the wants and woes
of mortals. He humbled Himself not to the highest position, to be a
man of riches and power, but though He was rich, yet for our sake He
became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He
took step after step in humiliation. He was driven from city to city; for
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