The Lord reveals the power of his word to-day as he did to ancient Israel; but how difficult it is for the truth that is not in harmony with men's ideas to make a favorable impression on the mind. If the workers who have seen God's dealing with his people during the rise and progress of the cause will again strengthen the faith of the people of God by reviewing past blessings and filled mercies, they themselves will be blessed, and their work will prove a blessing to those who have not had the experience they have had. As they recount the sacrifices made by those who led out in days the work, and tell of the power God time manifested to keep his work free from himself error and extravagance, they will have words a molding influence for good.
Those who enter the work at the present time know comparatively little better of the self-denial and self-sacrifice of he can those upon whom the Lord laid the burden of his work at its beginning. The experience of the past should be told them again and again; for they are to carry forward the work with the same humility and self-sacrifice that characterized the true workers in the past.
A stern conflict is going on between the Prince of life and the prince of darkness—a conflict that calls for constant vigilance on the part of Christ's soldiers. There must be no sleepy watchmen on the walls of Zion.
God's workers must allow him to choose his own instruments for the work he is doing. If for any cause men refuse to accept the ways of the Lord, if they resist the light sent from heaven, they will at last be found among the workers of iniquity. And when men, after serving on the side of Christ, take a position against him, they exert an influence as much more dangerous than those who have never professed to serve Christ as their light has been greater. The only hope for such ones is to seek the Lord with humility of heart, that they may see the error they have made. Then let them honestly and frankly confess their sin. They have the sure word of God that if they do this, they will find pardon. But if they refuse to acknowledge their mistake, if they refuse to seek pardon, their sin will witness against them in the day of judgment.
Those who have laid stumbling-blocks before the feet of the inexperienced, clouding with doubt the minds of those who have not a personal knowledge of the Lord's dealing with his people in the past, can undo their work only by making their confession as broad as their influence for wrong has been, reaching all to whom, by their resistance of the Holy Spirit, they have brought uncertainty and confusion.
The Only Safe Way
Our God is a jealous God. He will not be trifled with. Those who make straight paths for their feet must confess their sins. Then God's wisdom will overrule their mistakes for their own good and for the good of his people. He will give them the heavenly anointing, and they will see that his hand is leading his people in the right way. They will see how dangerous was the path upon which they entered when they allowed Satan to control them.
It was very humiliating for Saul to learn that all the time he had thought he was doing God service, he had been persecuting Christ, using his power against the truth. The Saviour revealed himself to Saul, and the Pharisee was filled with abhorrence of himself and his work. He was made physically blind by the glory of him whom in the past he had blasphemed, but it was that he might have spiritual sight. During the days and nights of his blindness, he had time for reflection, and he no longer saw himself righteous but sinful, his thoughts, words, and actions, condemned by the law. The thought of his zeal in persecuting God's people filled him with bitter remorse. Hopeless and helpless, he cast himself on Jesus as the only one who could pardon him, and clothe him with righteousness.
My brethren, some of you have been doing as Saul did,—despising the messages God has sent for the salvation of his people. You have used your capabilities to make God's work of none effect. You need to repent and be forgiven. Unless you have this experience, you cannot be saved.
It was a hard struggle for Paul—heretofore able to say of himself, as far as outward acts were concerned, as “touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless”—to see himself a transgressor, all his supposed goodness swept away. It was a hard struggle for him to give up his supposed righteousness, and cast himself for salvation on the One he had despised. But he yielded to the convictions of the Spirit. The far-reaching claims of the law of God took hold of his life, reaching to the thoughts and emotions of his sin-corrupted heart. With eyes anointed by the grace of God, he saw the mistakes of his life. From a proud Pharisee, who thought himself justified by his good works, he was changed to a humble suppliant for mercy. The tongue, once so ready to blaspheme the name of Christ, became eloquent in sounding the praises of him who had called him out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Writing later of this, Paul says, “I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” O that the same power that converted Paul might go forth to-day to soften and subdue hearts! Then wrongs would not be varnished over, but open-hearted confessions would be heard.
No way has been provided by which men can pass lightly over their errors. The only safe way is to send sins beforehand to judgment by coming to Christ with the humility and simplicity of a little child. Men must confess their sins, else they will be left in hardness of heart. Light rejected becomes to the rejecter darkness blacker than the darkness of midnight.
Beware of Prejudice and Unbelief
In the past some have followed a course of action that has been displeasing to God. They have viewed matters in a distorted light. That which might be to them joy and peace in the Holy Ghost appears inconsistent, and they put on the armor of Satan to war against the work of God. The testimony of the Spirit of God is no more to them than the word of men, because in their blindness they cannot distinguish between truth and error.
The messengers God has seen fit to send have not been infallible. They have been weak, erring human beings; but the Lord wrought through them as they gave themselves up to his service. The word spoken was adapted to the necessities of God's people; the evidence of truth was clearly and distinctly presented. The reason the word did not have the desired effect on the hearers was not that there was a lack of evidence; for link after link was produced until the chain was complete; but the minds of the hearers were filled8with prejudice. They were not willing to accept evidence, and tried to make the Bible sustain their ideas, instead of changing their ideas to meet the Bible.
The Jews watched Christ, hoping to catch from his lips some word at which they might take offense. Is not this done to-day? Men refuse to give up their own ideas. They are not humble enough to acknowledge the divine origin of that which is not in harmony with their opinions.
The Lord knows the honest in heart. He hears their prayers, and sends them divine light. The Holy Spirit sends the truth home with power to the hearts of all who are not hardened by unbelief. Christ rejoiced when the evidence rejected by the men who thought themselves wise, was accepted by those who in comparison might be called babes in knowledge. He who feels secure in his own wisdom must become as a little child, else he will never wear the crown of eternal life. He must be willing to learn the lessons Christ has for him to learn, willing to say with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
What words can I trace to arouse my ministering brethren to a sense of the responsibility resting on them? How fearful their position if, while professing to be watchmen on the walls of Zion, they lay stumbling-blocks in the way of their less experienced brethren, leading them to question the precious messages God sends! Christ promised success to his disciples if they would place themselves under the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. They were not authorized to preach a single discourse except under the influence of the Holy Spirit. They had strict orders to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. Do the workers to-day regard the possession of the Holy Spirit essential to the success of their work? We have had sermonizing and theorizing until the churches are ready to die. The Holy Spirit must come upon God's people. Then the truth will go forth with mighty power.
F. E. BELDEN
By Frank E. Belden
Heavenward!
F. E. BELDEN
LIFE is a ripple on Time’s deep sea
Between the dim shores of Eternity;
A wave of darkness or crest of light,
A smile of love, or a scowl of night.
Humanity’s ocean is dark and wide,
With a dreadful ebb from the heaven side,
And the ripples are few to’ard the golden shore;
Let us flow that way till the night is o’er;
For unlike the moon-moved ocean tides,
Each human wavelet its course decides,
In the calm of night or the surge of day,
On the moaning beach or the sea’s highway.
And many another we move to go
In the right or wrong way of our flow
As we touch and pass and fall and rise
On our voyage to death or to life’s fair skies.
But the lifting power is from above,
The power of God, the power of love.
Let us yield to the gentle, upward swell,
And resist the downward draw to hell;
For humanity’s ocean is dark and wide,
With a dreadful ebb from the heaven side,
And the ripples are few to’ard the Eden shore;
We will flow that way; soon the voyage is o’er.
*
Have I touched thy life with a holy thought?
Touch thou another, forgetting not,
The wondrous power to mortals giv’n
To help each other enter heav’n.
Self-Government Means Self-Support
(Continued)
THEN another thing: Those who compose the conference committees have an obligation to God, and to those sacrificing souls, to guard that sacred means against such encroachments as that. You and I, as certainly as we are conference committeemen, are obliged, under God, to guard the doubly sacred funds of the Lord’s treasury against this kind of practice and work that will drift along and spend time with no sufficient returns, and perhaps none at all, for the means taken out. You and I are responsible to God and to the people that that thing shall not be done. We must administer the things of our trust in a more godly, substantial, and manly way than that.
Then when this is done, as certainly as the key turns that way, the cause will go that way. And the key has turned the other way so much at least, that, practically, the cause stands committed to that other way of things. I can confidently appeal to every conference committee in this house; for each one knows that the key has been turned that other way so much and so long, that, practically, the tide has become set that way.
This evil is not alone in the ministry. In the ministry the example has been set. If a man can get into the ministry, can be ordained, and have his credentials, and his name on the pay roll, then, although only two, three, four, five, or six people, or even none at all, are brought in in a whole year’s work, that is expected to pass all right; the wages must go on just the same. Then that same example has been followed in the institutions. Many, almost the majority, of those who become connected with our institutions—a printing house or a sanitarium—think that that is all that is needed. They have their position, they think that it must be theirs forever, merely because they are “Sabbath keepers,” and so they drift along with no thought as to whether or not their work is profitable to the institution. The management are kept at their wits’ end year in and year out to keep that institution from running behind all the time. An institution of two or three hundred operatives perhaps, and yet it be a problem and a constant study to the management and the board to keep from losing money!
Can there be any problem about it? When an institution has all the work it can do year in and year out, and two hundred and fifty or three hundred operatives, and it barely clears itself of expenses, is it not as plain as A B C that the work of many of those operatives is not paying for their wages, that their work does not bring into the institution what their wages take out,—whether it be a printing house or a sanitarium?
And it does not stop with employees. I have met it—I do not say where, possibly I do not need to say where; for I know personally that it is found in more than one place. Physicians in charge of an institution, responsible for its work and the building up of its practice, ask for an increase of wages, ask boards for money to keep that institution out of debt, when the only possible way that the board has to get money is to borrow it. Asking the board to borrow money to increase their wages!
Now how long can it go that way before that institution will be self-supporting, think you? How long can that kind of management be kept up before there will be an income to that institution? There is no problem in that at all. That simply says that that physician was not putting into his work enough energy and thought to gather practice, and make his own way; not enough to make his work pay his way, and pay his own wages.
To more than one of these I said, and to all, preachers, physicians, printers, and all others, I still say, Suppose you were not in the institution at all. You are supposed to carry on your chosen work somewhere in the world. Suppose you were not in this institution. Then what would you do for wages? Would you ask the board to borrow money from Seventh-day Adventists to pay you wages, and support you? If not, why not? One of these thought that perhaps he would not. Then I said, “Why do you do it now? Brother, there is nothing at all to hinder you from having more wages, all the wages you want. Just simply go to work, and make it. Make all the wages you want, and you have it. But I will not borrow any money, nor ask anybody for money, to pay you wages.”
So I say that there is in our presence, as committees and boards generally, enough evidence to show that the key of the ministry has been turned to the wrong side long enough to make that entirely too largely a practice among Seventh-day Adventists. So that it is actually a principle seriously to be considered in this work of reorganization.
And there is a better way, thank the Lord. And that way is the way of the gospel: simply preach the gospel, which is the power of God; and get this people in possession of the power of God and the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God that will make a man of a man, and give him power to make his way in this world wherever he strikes the earth, with nothing but his two bare hands to begin with. I will put it that way if you want it: I say truly that all that any Christian anywhere in this world needs to make his way is to be somewhere, and have the use of his faculties and his two bare hands. That is so; for it is written, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. . . . And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” And what is He? Is he not the Head of every Christian? And what is the office of the head anywhere? Is it not to do the thinking, to do the planning, to be the guide? And if9Christ your Head is not that, then what is he to you?
Well, then, brethren, we are agreed, are we not, that you and I, that the ministry of the gospel in the third angel’s message, shall work upon that basis solely, that each minister’s work shall bring into the cause of God more than his wages and expenses can possibly take out? Now is that settled? Come along, let us all say, Yes. [Voices: “Amen.”]
Now do not misunderstand. I do not mean, I do not suggest at all, that anyone of us is to start out in our preaching to bring in money; or that we are to have our minds on money. That is not it,—souls are what we are after—souls alone. We will work for souls, to bring souls to God, souls to Jesus Christ, souls to the gospel. And what is the gospel?—The power of God. Then we will preach the gospel, that he who receives it may be clothed with the power of God, and thus be able to do what he never was able to do before: it matters not what kind of person he may be who receives the gospel.
Let us put it to the extreme; because it is not extreme at all. Suppose that each one of us individually goes out from this conference to preach the gospel the season through, the coming season; and by that true gospel, the power of God, we bring to Christ twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, of the poorest of the poor people, who never knew a thing of Christianity, and never could make a clear living in the world, but were simply a drag on the community, to be supported by gifts from people round about in the neighborhood. Suppose that is the only kind of people we gather to the gospel in this season’s work. As certainly as that is so, as certainly as you and I preach to those folks the gospel, the true gospel, the power of God, and they receive it, then next year each of those people, every soul of them, with Christ his Head, will be able to make his way in the world in spite of everything on the earth. And you and I are to be ashamed of ourselves if we preach any other gospel, or any less gospel, than precisely that—the power of God. And that people, taken from the poorest of the poor, and clothed with the power of God, which is the gospel itself; imbued with the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God; with the Spirit of God to guide them,—in a word, with Christ truly their Head,—will be able to make themselves prosperous; they will clearly make their way in the world; and they will bring a profitable, an honest tithe into the treasury for the gospel ministry. That is so.
So I say it is not money we are to work for. Our minds are not to be upon that at all. Our minds are to be upon souls, and the righteousness of God upon those souls, and they imbued with the divine character. Then with every minister doing that, how will things stand? How will the treasury stand?—It will be full. And each season’s work as the years go round, will be of that same sort. Then see what will come: Our ministry will be of that sort that will bring to the treasury funds for the spread of the gospel to the world—each year bringing, for that year, more to the treasury than we take out. Then isn’t it as plain as A B C that there will be a constantly accumulating fund in the treasury beyond whatever can be taken out by those who are the laborers in the conference? Isn’t that so? Then what shall be done with that accumulating fund?—It is to be used for missionary work, to spread the gospel abroad, to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
As certainly as the ministry takes that stand, and works steadily on that basis, so certainly the people who are influenced by that ministry will, each one of them, at whatsoever he works, be not only self-supporting, but will produce a clear profit in his work. There will be a constantly accumulating fund beyond what he consumes in his daily life. And what shall he do with that? Suppose he is a farmer,—a gospel farmer, I mean; a man clothed with the power of God, and having the wisdom of God to devise, and the Spirit of God to show him how and what to do. His work brings in more than his living consumes. What shall be done with that excess? Isn’t it just as certainly true that that excess shall go to spread the gospel to all the world, and not into a bank, nor out at interest, as that the excess of the work of the minister himself shall be to spread the gospel, and not to put money into a bank or out at interest?
Then when that thing spreads from the ministry through all the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists everywhere, what will be the result? Will they be in debt?—No; not one of them. Each one producing more than he consumes, each one having an excess to devote to the cause of God,—that so everywhere, with every one all over the world, in all the ranks, then the day will have come when that glorious Scripture will be a living fact: “Thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow.”
I will say, too, right now, brethren, that that time has come. The time has come for that promise of God to be fulfilled upon his people, and in his people, before the world: that his people shall lend to many nations, and shall not borrow. But you know that it has not been that way. It has been the other way; and yet you see the secret of how that promise is to be fulfilled. And I do not say that that time is going to come. I say truly that that time has come. It has come to every soul who will accept this gospel in its sincerity, and will act upon that gospel that we are now studying. It will be so with each minister, and each individual member of the church. You can see plainly enough that that is the way it will work. Let each employee in our conferences, in our publishing houses, in our sanitariums, each student in our colleges, each individual on the farm or in the shop, put his soul into his work, concentrate all his Christian mind upon the task that is under his hand, to do it in a way the most nearly perfect and the most speedy way possible to be perfect. Can there then be any possibility of any conference, or any institution, or any individual running behind or barely paying expenses?—Why, no. Each will have a surplus with which to spread abroad the truth to the world. It is as plain as A B C.
O! the Scripture tells about wicked men being “inventors of evil things.” You know that that is so to-day. It was so when Paul wrote. It is so to-day. Men of the world, the wicked of the world, are doing it now in Chicago, actually sitting down to hard, close thinking to invent some new way of doing iniquity, to invent some new trick in evil. That is the truth. Well, then, isn’t it high time that Christians, every soul of us, became so devoted to the righteousness of God, to the glory of God, in the success of the cause of God on earth, that we shall concentrate every energy of mind, body, soul, and spirit to inventing how best to do right things? What grander thing can we devote ourselves to? What grander project can there ever be to occupy the faculties of man than to put the utmost attention of his whole being upon how best to do right things? O, come along! let us be Christians.
There is another mischievous thing that has come in, to which I must call your attention, by this wrong process of drifting, and the ministry content to receive their pay from the treasury, and committees content to have it so, with only two or three, or four or five, souls in return, or perhaps none at all. It comes to this: Here is a worker who goes through a whole year. He reports perhaps three who accepted the truth. And you know that there are many on the lists who have made reports for a year, of not even that many. Every committee knows that that is so. Now this one is “a worker,” and he goes right on, and his pay goes right on. His next year’s work may bring in two or three more. Presently here is simply an everyday Christian in the church, who, by his Christian influence and intelligence, brings two or three people into the truth. Instantly he is recommended to the conference for a license, and to be taken on the list as a worker. And why not? When licensed and accredited workers, who are drawing wages all the time, do so little, and still are retained and paid as “workers”? Why is not any one a worker, and worthy of license, and to be on the list, who does as much? And so it has actually come to pass that whosoever brings to the truth one or two or three souls in a year, is expected to be counted a worker, to be taken upon the list, and counted in the pay roll. And these are “the workers.” And what are all the10other people, all those who are not on the list?—O! they do not expect to be expected to be specially active in doing missionary work, and bringing souls to the truth, because they do “not see how they can leave home and become workers.” You see that it runs inevitably to that: the great body of the people have ceased to be workers, have ceased to be the gospel workers that they must be to be Christians; and “the workers” become a special class.
Every Seventh-day Adventist in the world ought to be able to bring to the truth one, two, or three souls every year of his life.
True, there are many who say: “In this community where we live, the people have all heard the truth, and have decided against it, so that there is no chance to bring any to the truth.” Well, you are not obliged to stay there. Get up and move to a place where the people have not heard the truth. Settle down where they will be glad to have somebody in the community who can speak to them the truth, and they will listen to it, and they will come to the truth. That is what individuals are for who are not of the ordained ministry. That is why I say that every Seventh-day Adventist in the world—I mean Christian men and women of course, who can go here and there, and do as their own judgment dictates—should bring to the truth every year one or two or three souls. They are not obliged to stay where they are, in communities that have been warned. There are thousands of communities on the earth that are hungering and thirsting for such persons to come and live there, and be shining lights. And yet if all would truly be shining lights, they would find that the communities where they now are, have not decided against the truth nearly so much as is thought. Maybe they have heard the truth, and had no chance to see it. Give them a chance to see it shining in good deeds in the lives of all who profess it, and it will make a great difference in their attitude toward the truth.
(To be concluded)
Thou Art, O God, the Life and Light
“Thou art, O God, the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from thee.
Where’er we turn, thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are thine.”
— C. M., in The Living Church
By C. M.
Night
I LAY me down to sleep,
But my heart waketh:
Mine eyes would vigil keep
Till the dawn breaketh;
If but thy presence blest,
O Lord, revealeth
The vision manifest
Which day concealeth.
The uplifting silence thrills
In waves supernal,
Enfolds me, and unveils
God’s love eternal.
— C. M., in The Living Church
The Three Things Connected
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
S. N. HASKELL
THE Scriptures associate in a marked manner the keeping of the commandments of God, with the preservation and the restoration of man’s physical health. This is clearly stated in the law of Moses: “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Ex. 15: 26. “And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Ex. 23: 25.
The first promise above mentioned was made when the Israelites, having crossed the sea, drank of the bitter waters of Marah. The second promise was after the giving of the law. In the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses again speaks upon this matter, but makes the subject of health more prominent by saying, “If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.” Verse 15.
Among the curses mentioned are many distinct diseases, including consumption, fever, inflammations, blindness, insanity, and diseases entailed upon their descendants; and this list closes with these remarkable words: “Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.” Verse 61. This includes every disease that comes upon man. Disease, which came because of the transgression of God’s law, has fastened itself upon all classes of people, the rich and the poor, the high and the low; hence the results of sin are to be found everywhere.
In the prophecies concerning Christ there are many precious promises of health, among which are the following: “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction.” Ps. 103: 2, 3. “Blessed is he that considereth the sick: the Lord will deliver him in the day of evil [margin]. . . . The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.” Ps. 41: 1-3. That wonderful chapter, the fifty-third of Isaiah, abounds in promises concerning Christ’s bearing man’s sicknesses. See the Jewish version.
Christ himself spent a larger share of his time with the sick than with any other class of people. The world was sunk low, both morally and physically, because the commandments of God had been broken. Christ came as the great restorer of soul and body; and when questioned by the Pharisees concerning his right to forgive sins, he uttered these most wonderful words: “For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.” Matt. 9: 4-6. God so intimately associated the physical with the spiritual that the physical becomes an object lesson of the spiritual. Through the physical Christ reached the spiritual.
As long as there is a soul to be saved in this world, so long there will be sickness, and the healing of the sick will be an object lesson of the saving of the soul. As long as there are sick people, there is evidence that men have broken God’s commandments, and that they are still doing so. It is needless to tell a sick person that the law has been abolished, for his condition bears witness of its transgression. The blood of Christ had as much virtue to heal the body as the soul, because sickness is the result of the violation of God’s law, and sin is the transgression of the law. The following are a few scriptures upon this point: “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” I Cor. 3: 17. “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Cor. 6: 17-20.
Transgression of the law of God made it necessary for Christ to die. The breaking of that law brought every disease upon mankind. So the price paid for man’s salvation was for his body as well as for his soul. Any physical habit that is injurious to health, is a sin against God, and nothing but Christ’s blood can atone for that sin. Therefore obedience to physical law is as important as any other experience of faith. The relief of physical suffering is a work of great importance, and every one who believes in the atoning blood of Christ should be engaged in that work.
The Habit of Kindness in Daily Life
By F. W. Faber
TAKE life all through, its adversity as well as its prosperity, its sickness as well as its health, its loss of its rights as well as its enjoyment of them, and we shall find that no natural sweetness of temper, much less any acquired philosophical equanimity, is equal to the support of a uniform habit of kindness. Nevertheless, with the help of grace, the habit of saying kind words is very quickly formed, and when once formed, it is not speedily lost. Sharpness, bitterness, sarcasm, acute observation, divination of motives,—all these things disappear when a man is earnestly conforming himself to the image of Christ Jesus. The very attempt to be like our dearest Lord is already a wellspring of sweetness within us, flowing with an easy grace over all who come within our reach and carrying blessing to each needy soul.—F. W. Faber.
Awake, O Earth!
By Worthie H. Holden
WORTHIE H. HOLDEN
Awake, O Earth, in ecstasy
With the return of spring!
Break forth in joyous melody,
Let loud hosannas ring!
Thy verdant banners swift unfurl
To greet the balmy days
When eager blooms their folds uncurl,
And songsters tune their praise.
The fragrance is thy incense sweet,
The songs a chorus grand,
Thy verdure is a garment meet,
Fresh from thy Maker’s hand.
For spring’s return is earnest blest
Of that eternal day
When lives and hopes which now must rest
Shall wake to bloom for aye.
Little Is Much When God Is In It
“LITTLE is much when God is in it,
Man’s busiest day’s not worth God’s
minute!
Much is little everywhere,
If God the labor do not share,
So work with God, and nothing’s lost;
Who works with him does best and
most:
Work on, work on.”
The Calls
By A. R. Ogden
A. R. OGDEN
Jesus calls! The nation calls! Nations of earth are continually in need of recruits for their armies. So the government of God needs men to press the battle of the kingdom to the gates.
The nation calls, and there is a ready response from thousands who are willing to enlist in the nation’s service, willing to go at the cost of life, forsaking all the comforts of home and friends, subject to the nation’s orders and direction, making long marches, leaving home land for some distant isle or other land, to protect the supposed interests of the nation under which they serve.
I have thought, especially since leaving the United States and having seen the soldiers of some other nations as well as those of the United States, How much easier it seems to procure soldiers for the governments of earth than for the kingdom of God! Why is it so?
The Christian soldier goes to save life. The other goes to take life. The Christian goes as the friend of the people whom he meets, to love and to be loved by the majority of them, fighting with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The worldly soldier goes as an enemy, to kill or to be killed, fighting with carnal weapons. I ask, Which goes with the brighter prospect, with the more promising future? Is it because of honor, wealth, or worldly fame?—Surely not, for these are naught as compared with the eternal crown of glory which the faithful in Christ are to receive. Is it because the worldly soldier has an easier time even in this world?—We can hardly think that this is the reason, even were it true. The worldly soldier leaves wife and child, father and mother, brother, sister, friends, and home, not to be his own master, but to be continually subject to his superiors. He makes long marches on foot, over dusty roads or through rain or snow, sometimes both by day and by night, through heat or cold. At night he has no comfortable bed upon which to rest; no fine hotel at which to dine. All these things are endured by hundreds and thousands for the flag under which they march. But how few are willing to go in the Lord’s work to save a perishing world, and endure less of real hardships than is endured by the average soldier.
When bidden to the feast,—and the greatest feast to a child of God is to see people for whom Christ died accepting the gospel in all its fullness and beauty, it matters not in what land, for they are all precious in the sight of the Lord,—“they all with one consent began to make excuse.” Dear reader, what excuse are you making for not doing more to carry the message and to hasten the Master’s coming? There are many now at home, working in the shop or on the farm, whom the Lord would be pleased to have out in the field, giving all their time and energy to the work of God. Will the excuse that you are making stand valid in the judgment? or will the Lord, as in the parable, say, “None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper”? Luke 14: 18-24.
Some one may inquire, “What work can I do?” There are many ways of working. One that is always open is Christian canvassing, placing the literature in the homes of the people, thus leading them to search the Scriptures. One may say, “I do not like canvassing; it is too hard work; the books are so heavy to carry.” But I ask, Is it harder than what the worldly soldier has to bear? Are the books heavier to carry than was the cross?
Begin to do something, and do it now. Do not wait to do some great thing, but begin to perform faithfully the little things that are all about you. Many people are making the mistake of waiting until they can do some great thing for the Lord. Life consists of many small things rather than of a few great things.
The best place to begin what we sometimes call “foreign missionary work” is at home. The soldier, before he is sent to the front in the battle, receives training on the drilling ground. We are so glad that the word “foreign” is dropped from the records of Seventh-day Adventists. During the last six months since leaving our home in Kansas, we have traveled about fifteen thousand miles, and are now probably seven or eight thousand miles from home; but in all this we have scarcely felt that we were in a foreign land. It does not seem to be nearly so far as we look back, as it did to look this way. As one gets out and sees a little of the world, it grows smaller.
But what are we doing to hasten the good news of a soon-coming Saviour? How much have we sacrificed for Christ? How many hardships have we borne for the government of heaven? When we think of the hardships borne by the great missionaries of a hundred years ago, ours are not worthy of mention.
On the boat in which we came from England, there was a young man who stopped at the Falkland Islands, where there are but a few hundred people, shut off from the world, with mail communications but once a month. And this young man is bound by contract to remain for three years in the service of his country. Sometimes I think that the missionary complains more of his lot than the worldling does of his.
And what is it that constitutes the call? In the case just referred to, the government of England needed a man to go to these isolated islands, and the young man in question was willing to go, willing to endure the hardships. So the need in every crisis is that which constitutes the call. So the need to-day of earnest, active workers in all parts of the world is the call. Do not wait for some special feeling or demonstration. The Lord says, “Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.” Do you see the need? If you do, you certainly have the call.