SACRIFICE AND REWARD by J. Q. Roy

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, June 24, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 56, No. 1

SACRIFICE AND REWARD.

By J. Q. Roy

BY J. Q. ROY.

THE prospect before the remnant people of God is most cheering, most glorious. We talk of overcoming, of gaining eternal life; we cherish the hope of being among that redeemed company that shall “return and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads,” but how little we realize what will be the emotions of the finally saved. What will they be but joy unspeakable and full of glory? Freed at last from all the terrible effects of the curse, they may range the glorified plains of the earth renewed, with none to molest or make them afraid; they may explore the vast, almost boundless universe of God, and this throughout a never-ending eternity. Oh, ravishing thought! Oh, glorious prospect! Truly, “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

“Behold,” says the beloved John, “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God;” and says the apostle Paul, “If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ;” and Peter continues: “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

“Oh, glorious hope! Oh, blest abode? Shall I be there, and like my Lord?”

Soon the bright realities of the heavenly world will burst upon our astonished vision. Soon

“Hope shall change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.”

Soon all the woes and miseries of earth will be in the past, and

“God’s own soft hand shall wipe the tears From every weeping eye.”

Can we reasonably cherish such a hope as this? Let the apostle answer: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.”

But between us and the realization of this hope is a work to be accomplished,—the work of warning a world shrouded in darkness, and of rescuing souls from the terrible bondage of sin. This work God has graciously committed to us. From the commencement of the carrying out of the grand scheme of human redemption, the spirit of sacrifice has been its most prominent feature, if not its very foundation stone. We may dwell with admiration and profit upon the love of God as manifested in the gift of his only Son to die for a ruined race, but language fails to express, our minds can form no adequate conception of the infinite

sacrifice then made. This same spirit of sacrifice must and will continue to be a characteristic of the work, and must be possessed in some degree by every one who successfully engages in it. Is it not reasonable to conclude that, other things being equal, they will be most successful who have most of this spirit?

The privilege of making sacrifices to help forward the work of God in the earth, is among the most precious vouchsafed to mortals; for “every sacrifice made for Christ enriches the giver, and every suffering and privation endured for his dear sake, increases the overcomer’s final joy in Heaven.”—Testimony No. 29.

Selfishness, of which every other sin is the legitimate offspring, if allowed to exist in the heart, works like leaven, overpowering and subduing every good trait. Like a moral cancer, it eats out the spiritual life, and must ultimately result in ruin and eternal death. Viewed in this light, every law of our being, not excepting that of self-preservation, must cry out against it as against an intruder and usurper.

As this evil is the source of every sin, so from its opposite,—noble, disinterested benevolence,—spring the rarest virtues and the most worthy deeds. Every means that shall assist in subduing and expelling the one, and in cultivating and strengthening the other, whether agreeable or the reverse, should be regarded as a choice blessing. Among these, that of sacrificing to sustain the precious cause of God, and thus to benefit and save souls for whom Christ died, is the most effectual. Hence the conclusion is justified that it is one of the most precious gifts of God to mankind, and thus the great apostle seems to regard it. Shall we cultivate this grace? Shall we improve this privilege?

That the great God should condescend to notice us, and at a sacrifice so great, to devise a plan whereby our lost race can obtain pardon and salvation, calls for deepest self-abasement on our part, and for that gratitude which can be expressed only by an entire surrender of all to God. Says the apostle Paul, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12:1. Reasonable indeed! and why? Let the apostle answer: “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” Chap. 11:36. “In him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. Every one must concede that not only are we under everlasting obligations to serve God, but all considerations—our best present and eternal interests—demand that we should serve him.

“And who, then, is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” This question, asked by David of ancient Israel, seems hardly appropriate for us who are blessed with so much greater light. That any should hesitate to answer it, is evidence of the terrible depravity of the human heart, and shows how effectually mortals can be blinded to their best interests; but what shall we say when those who have been called out of darkness into the clear and marvelous light of present truth, murmur at the trials by the way, and add insult to base ingratitude by regarding anything short of the whole heart as a suitable offering to present to God? Alas for poor human nature! trammelled by sin, blinded by Satan, deceived by a wicked heart, too often is it thus. Who are prepared, like Joshua of old, to answer this question unqualifiedly? Those who have been half-hearted in that service? those who have tried to serve God and mammon? those who have been afraid of burdens and sacrifices? No, no; but those who, having tried, know from happy experience that it is not “vain to serve God;” that the yoke of Christ is easy and his burden light. Such, with Paul, “glory in the cross of Christ,” and are glad that “unto us it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake,” assured that if they “suffer with him, they shall also reign with him.”

The work of God is moving forward in the earth, and all who will, are permitted to have a part in it. The rich may give of their abundance, and thus transfer their treasures to the heavenly world. The poor are not denied the privilege, but may make sacrifices proportionately great, and become “rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom.” We are dealing with a just God, one who estimates the gift according to the sacrifice of the giver; and the same Saviour who regarded with approval the gift of the poor widow, will accept, as a token of love, a similar sacrifice on the part of his followers to-day. As anciently, so now, even our deep poverty may abound unto the riches of our liberality. All may prove the sincerity of their love; all may make to themselves friends with the mammon of unrighteousness by laying up treasure in Heaven. O inestimable privilege! O enduring treasure! God has intrusted to us talents, and if we are unfaithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give us that which is our own? After we have given ourselves and all that we have to the service of God, then can we in truth adopt the words of David: “For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” In close connection with these words occurs this expression: “I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart.” Ah! this is the point that we do well to consider. God is trying us. He says to us, “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” The gold and the silver are his. Are not we his people by right of creation, by redemption, by adoption? God grant that it may be so. With these temporal things our Heavenly Father is trying us, and with these very things he invites us to prove him. By the use we make of them we are developing character, deciding our destinies.

Little need be said here of the fearful consequences of appropriating these things to our selfish gratification. The clear light from the word of God is shining upon this point. Again and again we have been instructed and admonished in relation to our duty, and though many of us are slow to heed these counsels, and seem only partially aroused to the sinfulness and sad results of our course, yet the Lord waits. Nor does he wait in silence, allowing us to follow unchecked the bent of our depraved nature, but his chastening hand is often upon us; and though we have the comforting assurance that “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,” yet may we not expect that if we fail to learn the lesson these chastenings are designed to teach, more severe will be the chastening, thicker and faster will fall the blows, until, because of our stubbornness, forbearance shall cease to be a virtue, and of us it shall be said, “He is joined to his idols; let him alone.” Thank God, this is not now our condition. Still the Lord waits, and to us the gracious invitation is extended, “Return unto me.” Need we ask wherein, when the cause of God is languishing, and the work intrusted to us is crippled even in our midst, and for want of the very means lent us of God for carrying it forward? “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.”

Dear brethren and sisters, we do not wish to disguise the fact that the way to Heaven is straight and narrow, rough and thorny. It is true that “self-denial and the cross stand all along the way.” But are we called to bear the cross? it is that we may wear the crown. Does our Heavenly Father invite us to prove him with temporal things? it is that he may open the windows of heaven, and pour us out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Does the Saviour counsel us to sell that we have, and give alms? it is that we may provide for ourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the Heavens. In a word, it is to prepare to change worlds. Would you know who will inherit all the rich promises found in the word of God, and who will be gathered when to the heavenly messengers is given the commission, “Gather my saints together”? It will be those who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice.

Certain it is, that did we look at this matter as we ought, we should talk less of duty, more of privilege,—less of sacrifice, more of the glory beyond. Does Satan suggest that the sacrifice is too great? Are you tempted to turn your back on the suffering, bleeding cause of Christ? “Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

“Oh! think of the Master, worn and faint, Whose meek lips uttered no complaint! Who toiled for thee, ’mid the noontide heat, And sought no rest for his weary feet.

“Work with thy might, ere the day of grace Is spent, and the night comes on apace, The Master has given his pledge divine, Who winneth souls like the stars shall shine.”