HOW SHALL THE MASSES BE REACHED?
By Stephen N. Haskell
There is a great work to be done by the people of God. Every nation, kindred, tongue, and people is to hear the warning of the Third Angel's Message. In the early history of the Church the gospel was carried largely by the living preacher. John the Baptist said: “Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” So important was the message to be given at that time, that if men had not proclaimed it, God would have raised up men from the stones in the street to do it. When Christ entered the temple, and those Pharisees would not shout praises to God, the children in their mother's arms shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” This displeased the Pharisees, the chief priests, and the scribes. The Saviour asked them, “Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” Again, said the great apostle, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” This is one of God's ordained means of saving men. And before the work of the Third Angel's Message is over, men clothed with the power of God will preach the truth with a power never before seen. Where the laws prevent men preaching, children, as in the days of Christ, and as in Sweden and Germany in 1844, will preach the truth of God. God has ordained this means of saving souls. If God can not find human agents, then He will make preachers out of stones to do this work. Teaching in schools, the Bible work, the colporteur work, united with the ministry, were means God used in the past, and ever will use, for the advancement of the truth. Men are to be co-workers with God. And the ways are as varied as the agents that God uses, each possessing his own individuality. The canvassing work also is an agency which, like a clear-sounding bell, is sounding the alarm that all the inhabitants of the earth may know that the day of the Lord is nigh at hand. Each of these agencies does a special work, which, if left to any other means, would fail in accomplishing God's purpose. All classes of people must be reached, from the most exalted in worldly positions to the peasant in his cot. Every agent and means has a place in the great work of God in spreading a knowledge of the light of present truth. Books have been prepared for the canvasser and colporteur, which, like the different tools of the mechanic, do their specific work. They set forth the truth in different ways. This is illustrated in the Bible. Why was it that God took four men to write the life of Christ? Was it not that different varieties of minds might be met? Why did He take writers from every station in life, and speak through them by prophecy? Moses, the greatest statesman and organizer that ever attended worldly schools, acted his part. Joseph, who filled the highest position in teaching senators wisdom, in the greatest, at that time, of all worldly kingdoms, was taught by his parents at home without worldly schools. Daniel, who was the prime minister in the golden kingdom that swayed a universal scepter, was educated in the home school. Amos was a herdsman. John, the beloved disciple, was banished to the Isle of Patmos, his name recorded as a criminal. He, in the estimation of the world unworthy of even a place in society, has given us one of the most interesting prophecies ever communicated to man. It was written, as were the prophecies of Daniel, for the last days. In a time when our literature was limited, God raised up a man to write on those two prophecies especially. There never will be a book published that will take the place of “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation.” It was written by one who was devoted to the interests of present truth. In Europe, Asia, and Africa that book has found its way into homes in the most desolate places, and thousands219are rejoicing in the truth to-day who would not have known it by other means. Canvassing for that book will continue until probation ends. The angels of God stood beside the writer and aided him by the Holy Spirit. The “Great Controversy,” “Patriarchs and Prophets,” and “The Desire of Ages” should find their way into every household. “Christ's Object Lessons” is having special attention for a special purpose, and God is blessing the effort. There are many other valuable books, which are, each in its sphere, aiding in spreading the message. But why all of this variety of writers and variety of books? In regard to our brethren writing on the Third Angel's Message, we say, Let them write, bearing in mind that in the branches of the vine there is a diversity in unity. Life in nature objects to uniformity. There is variety in the human body, from the eyes to the feet. Yet all these members are dependent upon one another to make a perfect whole. In all the variety composing the human body, there is harmonious action in conformity to the laws controlling the being. There is an unseen, conscious, indivisible unity, keeping the bodily machinery in action, each part working in harmony with every other.” There is variety in a tree: there are scarcely two leaves just alike. Yet this variety adds to the perfection of the tree as a whole. We might ask, Why need Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Gospels, why need the Acts of the Apostles, and the different writers in the epistles, go over the same thing? The Lord gave His word in just the way He wanted it to come. He gave it through different writers, each having his own individuality, though going over the same history. Their testimonies, brought together in one book, are like the testimonies in a social meeting. They do not represent things in just the same style. Each has an experience of his own, and this diversity broadens and deepens the knowledge that is brought out to meet the necessity of varied minds. The thoughts expressed have not a set uniformity, as if cast in an iron mold, making the very hearing monotonous. In such uniformity there would be a loss of grace and distinctive beauty. We are not to feel that all must speak the very same things, giving the same representation in the same words. Yet there is to be a unity in the diversity. All the different testimonies unite to form one whole, as the books of the Bible are brought together and bound under one cover. But should Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John go off on some tangent, contradicting one another's testimony, then there would be confusion. “In the presentation of truth by different minds, there is to be unity in diversity. One must not labor to have everything that comes from his mind entirely different from that which comes from another man's mind. But he is to follow in the line where the Spirit of the Lord shall direct, then there will be different figures and different ways of presentation, that will interest and educate different minds.” All minds must be reached. Thoughtful persons will read an argumentative book, and be captivated by it; while there are others who would have no taste for that style, but would be reached by something entirely different. May the Lord direct in this closing work of the gospel so that young and old, the keen reasoners and the less thoughtful, may each be reached by the printed page, and the work be cut short in righteousness. S. N. HASKELL.