Heae we not come to the fullness of the time?

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"When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son." Gal.4:4.

Providence had directed the movements of nations and the tide of human impulse and influence, until the world was ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. Sin had become a science and vice a virtue. The deception of sin had reached its height. All the agencies for depraving the souls of men had been put in operation. Therefore a new element of life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world. See D.A.36,37.

Have we not come to the fullness of the time?

"The life of God in the soul is man's only hope." M.H.115.

This is just another way of saying that the church, every individual disciple of the Master, must be clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness for "Righteousness is love and love is the light and the life of God." M.B.18.

If the church, the soul that is yielded to Christ, will be true to her allegiance, the forces of the enemy will be no more able to overpower her than is the chaff to resist the whirlwind. See Test. Vol.8, p.11.

So "You want to be like little children hanging upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. And then you will be fortified. How? The angels of God will be around you as a wall of fire; the righteousness of Christ goes before you and the glory of God is your rearward." Ms 9, 1891.

To be "fortified" is to become a "fortress" in this revolted world.

"The church is God's fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world." A.A.11.

"The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan." Desire of Ages, p.324.

So we have just read that in order to become the church, God's own fortress in this revolted world, the soul must be yielded to Christ and the way to do this is for the believing sinner to hang his helpless soul upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour.

"We have been at work on the law (preaching obedience to the law) until we have become as dry as the hills of Gilboa, without dew or rain. Let the law (obedience to the law) take care of itself. Let us trust in the merits of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. May God help us that our eyes may be anointed with eyeslave that we may see." E. G. White, 1888 Materials, Vol.2, p.557. *parentheses supplied.

This is the 1888 message in a nutshell again. If we will only cast ourselves wholly upon the merits of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, moment by moment, the law will be taken care of, that is, the love of God will be shed abroad in our hearts and the requirements of the law will be fulfilled as only God can fulfill them. This is what it means to be clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness, does it not?

"God will accept everyone that comes to Him trusting wholly in the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Love springs up in the heart. There may be no ecstasy of feeling but there is an abiding, peaceful trust." 1 S.M.354.

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