Redeeming the Time by WALTER P. MCLENNAN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 30, 1914

Redeeming the Time

By WALTER P. MCLENNAN

WALTER P. MCLENNAN

It is the belief of every one who has accepted the threefold message of Revelation 14, and who understands its import, that it is the last message of mercy to be given to the world. Not until this message has been proclaimed to the world, will the blessed Jesus return to receive his people. We are often heard saying that the Lord is holding back the winds of strife until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads with the seal of God. Recent developments in the Far East have stirred our minds. But is it not true that we should have witnessed even greater and more stirring indications of the nearness of the battle of Armageddon if we had been more faithful in the work to which God has called us? Have we not permitted the “cares of this life” to occupy so much of our time that we have devoted little to the salvation of the precious souls who are hungering for this message?

Our Saviour knew that we should be in danger, and so gave us the following word of warning: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” How thankful we should be that Jesus has pointed out so plainly this great danger that threatens our eternal interests. “Had the purpose of God been carried out by his people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 450.

To know that we have delayed the coming of Christ, and that through the neglect of his work, is indeed sad. But should it not spur us on to greater activity and earnestness in the Master’s service? Has not the time come to “redeem the time” by so consecrating ourselves to his work that through us he can finish the work and cut it short in righteousness? Surely we should feel thankful that God has said “he will finish the work.” Rom. 9:28. This is what we are looking forward to with such pleasant anticipation.

But, we ask, How can it be finished? “It is not alone by men in high positions of responsibility, not alone by men holding positions on boards or committees, not alone by the managers of our sanitariums and publishing houses, that the work is to be done which will cause the earth to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This work can be accomplished only by the whole church acting their part under the guidance and in the power of Christ.”—Id., Vol. VIII, page 47.

What a grand and glorious work, that of winning souls to Christ and preparing them for his coming! No wonder Matthew Henry said as his mind dwelt upon this thought, “I would think it greater happiness to win one soul for Christ than to gain mountains of gold and silver for myself.” This is the wisest course for any one to follow. Solomon said, “He that winneth souls is wise.” Prov. 11:30. How true are the words of Hallenbeck: “There are many worthy pursuits in life, there are many desires to which we may rightly cling, but there is only one passion for a blood-bought heart; that is the all-controlling purpose which brought the Son of God from the skies and drove him to the cross, the passion for the salvation of men.”

But the question is asked, How can I obtain a burden for the salvation of souls? This is an important question, in view of what we have already said. What shall the answer be? In Isa. 6:5 we read: “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Who was it he saw?—“The King, the Lord of hosts.” In the eighth verse he says that he heard the Lord say, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” How did Isaiah respond?—“Here am I; send me.” That is the result of seeing the Lord of hosts.

The apostle Paul had a similar experience. “As he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. . . . And he . . . said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” The first thing Paul wanted to know when he saw the Lord Jesus was, “What wilt thou have me to do?” Is not that the experience we need as a people? Will not the sight

of Jesus beget in all of us a passion for souls and a willingness to do the Lord’s will?

First, we need to see Jesus as a Saviour from sin. We need to follow him once more to the garden of Gethsemane, and thence to the cross of Calvary. Let us read again and again the closing chapters of “The Desire of Ages,” beginning with the one on his agony in the garden of Gethsemane. Is it not true of many of us, as it was of Job, that we have heard of him by the hearing of the ear? And is it not time that we get to the place where we can with Job say, “Now mine eye seeth thee?” Job 42:5.

Second, we need to see Jesus as our great high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, carrying forward the great anti-typical work of atonement. We need to realize more than we do, that the work of judgment, which has been in progress seventy years, is about to be finished. How solemn this thought! Should it not arouse those of us who have been “at ease in Zion”?

Third, we need to see Jesus as he appeared upon the mount of transfiguration. Our view of his second coming must be more real. We need to constantly remember that “the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger.” Isa. 13:9. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” 2 Cor. 5:11.

When we see Jesus in his fullness, surely we cannot but persuade men to turn to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Shreveport, La.