THE Lord has made the diffusion of light and truth in the earth dependent on the voluntary efforts and offerings of those who have been partakers of the heavenly gifts. Comparatively few are called to travel as ministers or missionaries, but multitudes are to co-operate in spreading the truth with their means.
The history of Ananias and Sapphira is given us that we may understand the sin of deception in regard to our gifts and offerings. They had voluntarily promised to give a portion of their property for the promotion of the cause of Christ; but when149the means was in their hands they declined to fulfill that obligation, at the same time wishing it to appear to others that they had given all. Their punishment was marked, in order that it might serve as a perpetual warning to Christians of all ages. The same sin is fearfully prevalent at the present time, yet we hear of no such signal punishment. The Lord shows men once with what abhorrence he regards such an offense against his sacred claims and dignity, and then they are left to follow the general principles of the divine administration.
Voluntary offerings and the tithe constitute the revenue of the gospel. Of the means which are entrusted to man, God claims a certain portion,—a tithe; but he leaves all free to say how much the tithe is, and whether or not they will give more than this. They are to give as they purpose in their hearts. But when the heart is stirred by the influence of the Spirit of God, and a vow is made to give a certain amount, the one who vowed has no longer any right to the consecrated portion. He has given his pledge before men, and they are called to witness to the transaction. At the same time he has incurred an obligation of the most sacred character to co-operate with the Lord in building up his kingdom on earth. Promises of this kind made to men would be considered binding. Are they not more sacred and binding when made to God? Are promises tried in the court of conscience less binding than written agreements with men?
When the divine light is shining into the heart with unusual clearness and power, habitual selfishness relaxes its grasp, and there is a disposition to give to the cause of God. None need expect that they will be allowed to fulfill the promises then made without a protest on the part of Satan. He is not pleased to see the Redeemer's kingdom on earth built up. He suggests that the pledge made was too much, that it may cripple them in their efforts to acquire property or gratify the desires of their families.150The power Satan has over the human mind is wonderful. He labors most earnestly to keep the heart bound up in self.
The only means which God has ordained to advance his cause is to bless men with property. He gives them the sunshine and the rain; he causes vegetation to flourish; he gives health, and ability to acquire means. All our blessings come from his bountiful hand. In turn he would have men and women show their gratitude by returning him a portion in tithes and offerings,—in thank-offerings, in free-will offerings, in trespass-offerings.
The hearts of men become hardened through selfishness, and like Ananias and Sapphira, they are tempted to withhold part of the price, while pretending to come up to the rules of tithing. Will a man rob God? Should means flow into the treasury exactly according to God’s plan,—a tenth of all the increase,—there would be abundance to carry forward his work.
Well, says one, the calls keep coming to give to the cause. I am weary of giving. Are you? Then let me ask, Are you weary of receiving from God's beneficent hand? Not until he ceases to bless you will you cease to be under bonds to return to him the portion he claims. He blesses you that it may be in your power to bless others. When you are weary of receiving, then you may say, I am weary of so many calls to give. God reserves to himself a portion of all that we receive. When this is returned to him, the remaining portion is blessed; but when it is withheld, the whole is sooner or later cursed. God's claim is first; every other is secondary.
In every church there should be established a treasury for the poor. Then let each member present a thank-offering to God once a week or once a month, as is most convenient. This offering will express our gratitude for the gifts of health, of food, and of comfortable clothing. And according as God has blessed us with these comforts will we lay by for the poor,151the suffering, and the distressed. I would call the attention of our brethren specially to this point. Remember the poor. Forego some of your luxuries, yea, even comforts, and help those who can obtain only the most meager food and clothing. In doing for them, you are doing for Jesus in the person of his saints. He identifies himself with suffering humanity. Do not wait until your imaginary wants are all satisfied. Do not trust to your feelings, and give when you feel like it, and withhold when you do not feel like it. Give regularly, either ten, twenty, or fifty cents a week, as you would like to see upon the heavenly record in the day of God.
Your good wishes we will thank you for, but the poor cannot keep comfortable on good wishes alone. They must have tangible proofs of your kindness in food and clothing. God does not mean that any of his followers should beg for bread. He has given you an abundance that you may supply those of their necessities which by industry and economy they are not able to supply. Do not wait for them to call your attention to their needs. Act as did Job. The thing that he knew not he searched out. Go on an inspecting tour, and learn what is needed, and how it can be best supplied.
I have been shown that many of our people are robbing the Lord in tithes and in offerings, and as the result his work is greatly hindered. The curse of God will rest upon those who are living upon God's bounties and yet close their hearts and do nothing or next to nothing to advance his cause. Brethren and sisters, how can the beneficent Father continue to make you his stewards, furnishing you with means to use for him, when you grasp it all, selfishly claiming that it is yours!
Instead of rendering to God the means he has placed in their hands, many invest it in more land. This evil is growing with our brethren. They had before all they could well care for, but the love of money or a desire to be counted as well off as their neighbors,152leads them to bury their means in the world, and withhold from God his just dues. Can we be surprised if they are not prospered? if God does not bless their crops, and they are disappointed? Could our brethren remember that God can bless twenty acres of land, and make them as productive as one hundred, they would not continue to bury themselves up in lands, but would let their means flow into God's treasury. "Take heed," said Christ, "lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life." Satan is pleased to have you increase your farms and invest your means in worldly enterprises, for by so doing you not only hinder the cause from advancing, but by anxiety and overwork lessen your prospect for eternal life.
We ought now to be heeding the injunction of our Saviour, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” It is now that our brethren should be cutting down their possessions instead of increasing them. We are about to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Then let us not be dwellers upon the earth, but be getting things into as compact a compass as possible.
The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save he that hath the mark of the beast. We came near having this realized in California a short time since; but this was only the threatening of the blowing of the four winds. As yet they are held by the four angels. We are not just ready. There is a work yet to be done, and then the angels will be bidden to let go, that the four winds may blow upon the earth. That will be a decisive time for God's children,—a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. Now is our opportunity to work.
There is, among many professing the truth, a spirit of unrest. Some want to go to another county or153State, buy large lands, and carry on an extensive business; others want to go into the city. Thus little churches are left in weakness and discouragement to die, when, had the ones who left them been content to work on a smaller scale, doing their little with fidelity, they might have made their families comfortable, and been free to keep their own souls in the love of God. Many who move are disappointed. They lose what little property they had, lose health, and finally give up the truth.
The Lord is coming. Let every one show his faith by his works. Faith in Christ’s near advent is dying out of the churches, and selfishness is causing them to rob God to serve their own personal interests. When Christ is abiding in us, we shall be self-denying like him.
In times past, there has been great liberality on the part of our people. They have not been backward to respond to calls for help in the various branches of the work. But of late a change has come. There has been, especially with our Eastern brethren, a withholding of means, while worldliness and love of possessions have been increasing. There is a growing disregard of promises made to help our various institutions and enterprises. Subscriptions to build a church, to endow a college, or to assist in the missionary work, are looked upon as promises which persons are under no obligation to fulfill if it is not convenient. These promises were made under the holy impressions of the Spirit of God. Then do not rob him by withholding what rightfully belongs to him. Brethren and sisters, look over your past life and see if you have dealt faithfully with God. Have you any unredeemed pledges? If so, resolve that you will pay them if it is within your power.
Listen to the counsel of the Lord: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith," "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and154pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field." "And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land."
Are you not willing to accept the promises which the Lord here makes, and to put selfishness from you, and begin to work earnestly to advance his cause? Do not strengthen your hold on this world by taking advantage of your poorer neighbor, for God’s eye is upon you; he reads every motive, and weighs you in the balances of the sanctuary.
I saw that many withhold from the cause while they live, quieting their consciences that they will be charitable at death; they hardly dare exercise faith and trust in God to give anything while living. But this death-bed charity is not what Christ requires of his followers; it cannot excuse the selfishness of the living. Those who hold fast their property till the last moment, surrender it to death rather than to the cause. Losses are occurring continually. Banks fail, and property is consumed in very many ways. Many purpose to do something, but they delay the matter, and Satan works to prevent the means from coming into the treasury at all. It is lost before it is returned to God, and Satan exults that it is so.
If you would do good with your means, do it at once lest Satan get it in his hands, and thus hinder the work of God. Many times when the Lord has opened the way for brethren to handle their means to advance his cause, the agents of Satan have presented some enterprise by which they were positive the brethren could double their means. They take the bait; their money is invested, and the cause, and frequently themselves, never receive a dollar.
Brethren, remember the cause, and when you have means at your command lay up for yourselves a good155foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life. Jesus for your sakes became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich in heavenly treasure. What will you give for Jesus, who has given all for you?
It will not do for you to depend on making your charity gifts in testamentary bequests at death. You cannot calculate with the least degree of surety that the cause will ever be benefited by them. Satan works with acute skill to stir up the relatives, and every false position is taken to gain to the world that which was solemnly dedicated to the cause of God. Much less than the sum willed is always received. Satan even puts it into the hearts of men and women to protest against their relatives doing what they wish in the bestowment of their property. They seem to regard everything given to the Lord as robbing the relatives of the deceased. If you want your means to go to the cause, appropriate it, or all that you do not really need for a support, while you live. A few of the brethren are doing this, and enjoying the pleasure of being their own executors. Will the covetousness of men make it necessary that they shall be deprived of life in order that the property which God has lent them shall not be useless forever? Let none of you draw upon yourselves the doom of the unprofitable servant who hid his Lord's money in the earth.
Dying charity is a poor substitute for living benevolence. Many will to their friends and relatives all except a very small pittance of their property. This they leave for their supreme Friend, who became poor for their sakes, who suffered insult, mockery, and death, that they might become sons and daughters of God. And yet they expect when the righteous dead shall come forth to immortal life that this Friend will take them into his everlasting habitations.
The cause of Christ is robbed, not by a mere passing thought, not by an unpremeditated act.156No. By your own deliberate act you made your will, placing your property at the disposal of unbelievers. After having robbed God during your life-time, you continue to rob him after your death, and you do this with the full consent of all your powers of mind, in a document called your will. What do you think will be your Master's will toward you for thus appropriating his goods? What will you say when an account is demanded of your stewardship?
Brethren, awake from your life of selfishness, and act like consistent Christians. The Lord requires you to economize your means, and let every dollar not needed for your comfort flow into the treasury. Sisters, take that ten cents, that twenty cents, that dollar which you were about to spend for candies, for ruffles, or for ribbons, and donate it to God's cause. Many of our sisters earn good wages, but it is nearly all spent in gratifying their pride of dress.
The wants of the cause will continually increase as we near the close of time. Means is needed to give young men a short course of study in our schools, to prepare them for efficient work in the ministry and in different branches of the cause. We are not coming up to our privilege in this matter. All schools among us will soon be closed up. How much more might have been done had men obeyed the requirements of Christ in Christian beneficence! What an influence would this readiness to give all for Christ have had upon the world! It would have been one of the most convincing arguments in favor of the truth we profess to believe,—an argument which the world could not misunderstand nor gainsay. The Lord would have distinguished us with his blessing, even before the eyes of the world.
The first Christian church had not the privileges and opportunities we have. They were a poor people, but they felt the power of the truth. The object before them was sufficient to lead them to invest all. They felt that the salvation or the loss of a world157depended upon their instrumentality. They cast in their all, and held themselves in readiness to go or come at the Lord's bidding.
We profess to be governed by the same principles, to be influenced by the same spirit. But instead of giving all for Christ, many have taken the golden wedge and a goodly Babylonish garment, and hid them in the camp. If the presence of one Achan was sufficient to weaken the whole camp of Israel, can we be surprised at the little success which attends our efforts when every church and almost every family has its Achan? Let us individually go to work to stimulate others by our example of disinterested benevolence. The work might have gone forward with far greater power had all done what they could to supply the treasury with means.
POWER OF THE TRUTH.
The word of God was preached by his ministers in early days "in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with power." The hearts of men were stirred by the proclamation of the gospel. Why is it that the preaching of the truth has now so little power to move the people? Is God less willing to bestow his blessing upon the laborers in his cause in this age than in the apostles' day?
The warning which we bear to the world must prove to them a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. And will the Lord send forth his servants to proclaim this fearfully solemn message, and withhold from them his Holy Spirit? Shall frail, erring men, without special grace and power from God, dare to stand between the living and the dead, to speak the words of everlasting life? Our Lord is rich in grace, mighty in power; he will abundantly bestow these gifts upon all who come to him in faith. He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them158that ask him than are parents to give good gifts to their children. The reason why the precious, important truth for this time is not powerful to save, is that we do not work in faith.
We should pray as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Spirit as the disciples prayed on the day of Pentecost. If they needed it at that time, we need it more to-day. Moral darkness, like a funeral pall, covers the earth. All manner of false doctrines, heresies, and Satanic deceptions, are misleading the minds of men. Without the Spirit and power of God, it will be in vain that we labor to present the truth.
It is by contemplating Christ, by exercising faith in him, by experiencing for ourselves his saving grace, that we are qualified to present him to the world. If we have learned of him, Jesus will be our theme; his love, burning upon the altar of our hearts, will reach the hearts of the people. The truth will be presented, not as a cold, lifeless theory, but in the demonstration of the Spirit.
Many of our ministers, in their discourses, dwell too largely upon theory, and not enough on practical godliness. They have an intellectual knowledge of the truth, but their hearts are untouched with the genuine fervor of the love of Christ. Many have gained by the study of our publications a knowledge of the arguments that sustain the truth, but they have not become Bible students for themselves. They are not constantly seeking for a deeper and more thorough knowledge of the plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures. While preaching to others, they are becoming dwarfs in religious growth. They do not often go before God to plead for his Spirit and grace, that they may rightly present Christ to the world.
Human strength is weakness, human wisdom is folly. Our success does not depend on our talents or learning, but on our living connection with God. The truth is shorn of its power when preached by159men who are seeking to display their own learning and ability. Such men display also that they know very little of experimental religion, that they are unsanctified in heart and life, and are filled with vain conceit. They do not learn of Jesus. They cannot present to others a Saviour with whom they themselves are not acquainted. Their own hearts are not softened and subdued by a vivid sense of the great sacrifice which Christ has made to save perishing man. They do not feel that it is a privilege to deny self, and to suffer for his dear sake. Some exalt self, and talk of self; they prepare sermons and write articles to call the attention of the people to the minister, fearing that he will not receive due honor. Had there been more lifting up of Jesus and less extolling the minister, more praise rendered to the Author of truth and less to its messengers, we would occupy a more favorable position before God than we do to-day.
The plan of salvation is not presented in its simplicity, for the reason that few ministers know what simple faith is. An intellectual knowledge of the truth is not enough; we must know its power upon our own hearts and lives. Ministers need to come to Christ as little children. Seek Jesus, brethren, confess your sins, plead with God day and night, until you know that for Christ’s sake you are pardoned and accepted. Then will you love much, because you have been forgiven much. Then you can point others to Christ as a sin-pardoning Redeemer. Then you can present the truth from the fullness of a heart that feels its sanctifying power. I fear for you, my brethren. I counsel you to tarry at Jerusalem, as did the early disciples, until, like them, you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Never feel at liberty to go into the desk until you have by faith grasped the arm of your strength.
If we have the spirit of Christ, we shall work as he worked; we shall catch the very ideas of the Man of Nazareth, and present them to the people.160If, in the place of formal professors and unconverted ministers, we were indeed followers of Christ, we would present the truth with such meekness and fervor, and would so exemplify it in our lives, that the world would not be continually questioning whether we believe what we profess. The message borne in the love of Christ, with the worth of souls constantly before us, would win even from worldlings the decision, "They are like Jesus."
If we desire to reform others, we must ourselves practice the principles which we would enforce upon them. Words, however good, will be powerless, if contradicted by the daily life. Ministers of Christ, I admonish you, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine." Do not excuse sins in yourselves which you reprove in others. If you preach on meekness and love, let these graces be exemplified in your own life. If you urge others to be kind, courteous, and attentive at home, let your own example give force to your admonitions. As you have received greater light than others, so is your responsibility increased. You will be beaten with many stripes, if you neglect to do your Master's will.
“Satan’s snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We are repeating the history of that people.” Lightness, vanity, love of ease and pleasure, selfishness, and impurity are increasing among us. There is need now of men who are firm and fearless in declaring the whole counsel of God; men who will not sleep as do others, but watch and be sober. Knowing as I do the great lack of holiness and power with our ministers, I am deeply pained to see the efforts for self-exaltation. If they could but see Jesus as he is, and themselves as they are, so weak, so inefficient, so unlike their Master, they would say, If my name may be written in the obscurest part of the book of life, it is enough for me, so unworthy am I of his notice.
It is your work to study and to imitate the Pattern.161Was Christ self-denying? so must you be. Was he meek and lowly? so must you be. Was he zealous in the work of saving souls? so must you be. Did he labor to promote the glory of his Father? so must you. Did he often seek help from God? so must you. Was Christ patient? so will you be patient. As Christ forgave his enemies, so will you forgive.
It is not so much the religion of the pulpit as the religion of the family that reveals our real character. The minister’s wife, his children, and those who are employed as helpers in his family, are best qualified to judge of his piety. A good man will be a blessing to his household. Wife, children, and helpers will all be the better for his religion.
Brethren, carry Christ into the family, carry him into the pulpit, carry him with you wherever you go. Then you need not urge upon others the necessity of appreciating the ministry, for you will bear the heavenly credentials which will prove to all that you are servants of Christ. Carry Jesus with you in your hours of solitude. Remember that he was often in prayer, and his life was constantly sustained by fresh inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Let your thoughts, your inner life, be such that you will not be ashamed to meet its record in the day of God.
Heaven is not closed against the fervent prayers of the righteous. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, yet the Lord heard and in a most striking manner answered his petitions. The only reason for our lack of power with God is to be found in ourselves. If the inner life of many who profess the truth were presented before them, they would not claim to be Christians. They are not growing in grace. A hurried prayer is offered now and then, but there is no real communion with God.
We must be much in prayer, if we would make progress in the divine life. When the message of truth was first proclaimed, how much we prayed. How often was the voice of intercession heard in the162chamber, in the barn, in the orchard, or the grove. Frequently we spent hours in earnest prayer, two or three together claiming the promise; often the sound of weeping was heard, and then the voice of thanksgiving and the song of praise. Now the day of God is nearer than when we first believed, and we should be more earnest, more zealous, and fervent than in those early days. Our perils are greater now than then. Souls are more hardened. We need now to be imbued with the spirit of Christ; and we should not rest until we receive it.
Brethren and sisters, have you forgotten that your prayers should go out, like sharp sickles, with the laborers in the great harvest field? As young men go forth to preach the truth, you should have seasons of prayer for them. Pray that God will connect them with himself, and give them wisdom, grace, and knowledge. Pray that they may be guarded from the snares of Satan, and kept pure in thought and holy in heart. I entreat you who fear the Lord, to waste no time in unprofitable talk or in needless labor to gratify pride or to indulge the appetite. Let the time thus gained be spent in wrestling with God for your ministers. Hold up their hands as did Aaron and Hur the hands of Moses.
OUR CAMP-MEETINGS.
I HAVE been shown that some of our camp-meetings are far from being what the Lord designed they should be. The people come unprepared for the visitation of God's Holy Spirit. Generally the sisters devote considerable time before the meeting to the preparation of garments for the outward adorning, while they entirely forget the inward adorning, which is in the sight of God of great price. There is also much time spent in needless cooking, in the preparation of rich pies and cakes and other articles163of food that do positive injury to those who partake of them. Should our sisters provide good bread and some other healthful kinds of food, both they and their families would be better prepared to appreciate the words of life, and far more susceptible to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Often the stomach is over-burdened with food which is seldom as plain and simple as that eaten at home, where the amount of exercise taken is double or treble. This causes the mind to be in such a lethargy that it is difficult to appreciate eternal things, and the meeting closes, and they are disappointed in not having enjoyed more of the Spirit of God.
While preparing for the meeting, each individual should closely and critically examine his own heart before God. If there have been unpleasant feelings, discord, or strife in families, it should be one of the first acts of preparation to confess these faults one to another and pray with and for one another. Humble yourselves before God, and make an earnest effort to empty the soul temple of all rubbish,—all envyings, all jealousies, all suspicions, all fault-findings. "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
The Lord speaks; enter into your closet, and in silence commune with your own heart; listen to the voice of truth and conscience. Nothing will give such clear views of self as secret prayer. He who seeth in secret and knoweth all things, will enlighten your understanding and answer your petitions. Plain, simple duties that must not be neglected will open before you. Make a covenant with God to yield yourselves and all your powers to his service. Do not carry this undone work to the camp-meeting. If it is not done at home your own soul will suffer, and others will be greatly injured by your coldness, your stupor, your spiritual lethargy.
I have seen the condition of the people professing the truth. The words of the prophet Ezekiel are applicable to them at this time: “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face; should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh, according to the multitude of his idols.”
If we love the things of the world and have pleasure in unrighteousness, or fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, we have put the stumbling-block of our iniquity before our face, and have set up idols in our heart. And unless by determined effort we put them away, we shall never be acknowledged as the sons and daughters of God.
Here is a work for families to engage in before coming up to our holy convocations. Let the preparation for eating and dressing be a secondary matter, but let deep heart-searching commence at home. Pray three times a day, and like Jacob, be importunate. At home is the place to find Jesus; then take him with you to the meeting, and how precious will be the hours you spend there. But how can you expect to feel the presence of the Lord and see his power displayed, when the individual work of preparation for that time is neglected.
For your soul's sake, for Christ's sake, and for the sake of others, work at home. Pray as you are not accustomed to pray. Let the heart break before God. Set your house in order. Prepare your children for the occasion. Teach them that it is not of so much consequence that they appear with fine clothes as that they appear before God with clean hands and pure hearts. Remove every obstacle that may have been in their way,—all differences that165may have existed between themselves, or between you and them. By so doing you will invite the Lord's presence into your homes, and holy angels will attend you as you go up to the meeting, and their light and presence will press back the darkness of evil angels. Even unbelievers will feel the holy atmosphere as they enter the encampment. Oh, how much is lost by neglecting this important work! You may be pleased with the preaching, you may become animated and revived, but the converting, reforming power of God will not be felt in the heart, and the work will not be so deep, thorough, and lasting as it should be. Let pride be crucified, and the soul be clad with the priceless robe of Christ's righteousness, and what a meeting will you enjoy. It will be to your soul even as the gate of Heaven.
The same work of humiliation and heart-searching should also go on in the church, so that all differences and alienations among brethren may be laid aside before appearing before the Lord at these annual gatherings. Set about this work in earnest, and rest not until it is accomplished; for if you come up to the meeting with your doubts, your murmurings, your disputings, you bring evil angels into the camp, and carry darkness wherever you go.
I have been shown that for want of this preparation these yearly meetings have accomplished but little. The ministers are seldom prepared to labor for God. There are many speakers,—those who can say sharp, crank things, going out of their way to whip other churches and ridicule their faith,—but there are but few earnest laborers for God. These sharp, self-important speakers, profess to have truth in advance of every other people, but their manner of labor and their religious zeal in no way correspond with their profession of faith.
I looked to see the humility of soul that should ever sit as a fitting garment upon our ministers, but it was not upon them. I looked for the deep love for souls that the Master said they should possess,166but they had it not. I listened for the earnest prayers offered with tears and anguish of soul because of the impenitent and unbelieving in their own homes and in the church, but heard them not. I listened for the appeals made in the demonstration of the Spirit, but these were missing. I looked for the burden-bearers, who in such a time as this should be weeping between the porch and the altar, crying, Spare thy people, Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach; but I heard no such supplications. A few earnest, humble ones were seeking the Lord. At some of these meetings one or two ministers felt the burden, and were weighed down as a cart beneath sheaves. But a large majority of the ministers had no more sense of the sacredness of their work than children.
I saw what these yearly gatherings might be, and what they should be,—meetings of earnest labor. Ministers should seek a heart preparation before entering upon the work of helping others, for the people are far in advance of many of the ministers. They should untiringly wrestle in prayer until the Lord blesses them. When the love of God is burning on the altar of their hearts, they will not preach to exhibit their own smartness, but to present Christ who taketh away the sins of the world.
In the early church, Christianity was taught in its purity; its precepts were given by the voice of inspiration; its ordinances were uncorrupted by the device of men. The church revealed the spirit of Christ, and appeared beautiful in its simplicity. Its adorning was the holy principles and exemplary lives of its members. Multitudes were won to Christ, not by display or learning, but by the power of God which attended the plain preaching of his word. But the church has become corrupt. And now there is greater necessity than ever that ministers should be channels of light.
There are many flippant talkers of Bible truth, whose souls are as barren of the Spirit of God as167were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain. But what we need is men who are thoroughly converted themselves, and can teach others how to give their hearts to God. The power of godliness has almost ceased to be in our churches. And why is this? The Lord is still waiting to be gracious; he has not closed the windows of heaven. We have separated ourselves from him. We need to fix the eye of faith upon the cross, and believe that Jesus is our strength, our salvation.
As we see so little burden of the work resting upon ministers and people, we inquire, When the Lord comes, shall he find faith on the earth? It is faith that is lacking. God has an abundance of grace and power awaiting our demand. But the reason we do not feel our great need of it is because we look to ourselves and not to Jesus. We do not exalt Jesus and rely wholly upon his merits.
Would that I could impress upon ministers and people the necessity of a deeper work of grace in the heart, and more thorough preparation to enter into the spirit and labor of our camp-meetings, that they may receive the greatest possible benefit from these meetings. These yearly gatherings may be seasons of special blessing, or they may be a great injury to spirituality. Which shall they be to you, dear reader? It remains for each to decide for himself.