AMONG the chief characteristics of the worldling and the Christian are these: the first lives, plans, and labors for today; the second lives, plans, and labors for eternity. The ambitions of the one center entirely about self. Every purpose and enterprise engaging his attention is to a greater or less extent considered from the viewpoint of the influence it will have upon his personal interests. It could not be otherwise, for he walks after, or according to, the flesh, and his enjoyments and benefits are bounded by his present life; and, at the best, the ultimate of his ambitions when attained, are as a fleeting shadow or a fading flower. “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.” The ambitions of the other center in Christ, whom he serves, and the ultimate of his ambitions is the everlasting kingdom of God, the interests of which he is ever seeking to advance, which with its glory and greatness under the whole heaven shall be given finally to the people of the saints of the Most High.
Naturally, these distinguishing characteristics will mold the lives of these two classes; and, notwithstanding many of the first class may and do by profession identify themselves with the second class, so that the dividing line cannot always be clearly discerned, yet eventually by these distinguishing characteristics the entire human family will be separated into two well-defined divisions, the servants of self and the servants of Christ; for “no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
The service of mammon, or the world, is but another name for the service of self, and James tells us that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” The service of God calls for the best and all there is of a man. There is no room for a division of our affections or interests; for on one occasion, when a lawyer questioned as to which is the great commandment of the law, the Saviour made known the secret of acceptable service by answering: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
On another occasion he stated it in this manner: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
It is not always the love of gold and silver and worldly glory that entices man from the single-hearted service to God that is required, but he is many times unduly influenced by those who are near and dear to him. But God can receive no divided allegiance. So by the mouth of Moses God instructed his people in olden times that “if thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, . . . thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him.”
The Lord is gathering a people from every nation under the sun, who are to be the citizens of a heavenly land, the glory and riches of which defy portrayal by human language; but we are told that its metropolis has its foundations laid in all manner of precious stones, and its streets are of pure gold. The only entrance to this kingdom of glory is through his kingdom of grace, the kingdom established in infinite love and founded upon an infinite sacrifice. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In every age the propagation of the truths of this kingdom has been accomplished only by the devotion and sacrifice of its believers. Abraham, in order that he might make its blessings possible to the inhabitants of Canaan and Egypt, forsook friends, relatives, and home, sojourning in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob. Moses turned his back on the throne of Egypt, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Paul gladly suffered the loss of all things, and counted all his worldly prospects as the refuse of the earth, that he might win Christ and enter into his labor and sufferings.
And so, too, it has been with the early workers in this message, the early history of the denomination having been created through the untiring toil and self-denial of the men and women to whom God had sent a knowledge of this last message of mercy. Today we begin to see some of the results of their self-denial. A strong work has been well established in all parts of the world. Thousands of converts have been re-claimed from the darkness of heathenism, gladly taking upon themselves the responsibilities attendant upon their new experience, fully entering with us into this service of Christ.
But while the believers willingly give of their labor and means, the work in many of these lands is rendered very difficult on account of the great poverty prevailing among the masses, and the scarcity of laborers to properly care for the constantly increasing interests. Upon those living under more favorable conditions must therefore continue to rest the chief responsibility of providing the necessary funds to care for these fields. The rapidly closing work, with its increasing demands; the magnitude of the task before us; and the character that must be developed in all before the end shall come, call for that complete self-sacrifice that has made the plan of salvation possible, and has characterized the lives and labors of God’s servants in early days.
The situation and need for today were set forth in clear terms by Sister White, as follows:—
“The progress of our foreign missions depends not alone upon a few laborers, nor even upon many, but upon all who have received the light of truth. Every one can do something for the advancement of the work in distant lands. Our people are not half awake to the demands of the times. The voice of Providence is calling upon all who have the love of God in their hearts, to arouse to this great emergency. Never was there a time when there was so much at stake as today. Never was there a period in which greater energy and self-sacrifice were demanded.
“Every dollar and every dime that we can spare is needed now to aid in carrying the message of truth to other lands. At the holiday season much is spent by our own people upon gifts and various gratifications which are not only useless, but often hurtful. Appetite is indulged, pride and self-love are fostered, and Christ is forgotten. If the money usually devoted to these objects were all brought into the mission treasury, our foreign missions would be lifted above17embarrassment. Shall we not this year consecrate to God not merely a part but all our holiday gifts for the relief of his cause, which is in so great need? How can we more appropriately celebrate the coming Christmas, how better express our gratitude to God for the gift of his dear Son, than by offerings to send to all the world the tidings of his soon coming?
“For what shall we hoard up treasures? To be swept away by the flames of the last day? Shall we lay up gold and silver, to be a witness against us in the judgment,—to eat our flesh as it were fire? Shall we cling to our possessions till they fall into the hands of our enemies? The time is coming when commandment keepers can neither buy nor sell. Of what use will houses and lands, bank stock and merchandise, be to us then? Now is the time to place our treasures where they will be eternally secure. It is time for those who have large possessions to cut down the principal, that God’s work may be extended in foreign lands. ‘Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.’ That which we give to the cause of God becomes our own forever. Says Christ, ‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.’ These alone, of all that we possess, are really ours. All that we lay up on earth, we must leave at last. It is only what we give for Christ that we can take with us into the eternal world. Jesus bids us, ‘Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.’
“The Lord does not need our offerings. We cannot enrich him by our gifts. Says the psalmist, ‘All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.’ Yet God permits us to show our appreciation of his mercies by self-sacrificing efforts to extend the same to others. This is the only way in which it is possible for us to manifest our gratitude and love to God. He has provided no other.
“Every offering, however humble, bestowed in his name and from love to him, is precious in his sight. Parents value their children’s gifts, not because they are rich and costly, but for what they express of loving self-denial, of tender thoughtfulness, and grateful appreciation. So does our Heavenly Father regard the gifts of his children. He sees in them a spirit of devotion and sacrifice, the expression of a grateful, loving heart; and such offerings are as fragrant incense before him.
These people were first interested in the truth by two colporteurs going into their neighborhood selling books. R. N. Carter and the brother working with him, then held some meetings with them, instructing them how to sell literature, also, and this picture shows them ready to go out with the books that guided them into the truth. This took place in Brazil, South America.
“In every effort to benefit others, we benefit ourselves. When we invest our means in the different missions, we enlist our interest and our prayers for these missions; we draw the different nationalities nearer to ourselves; our affections go out to them, and we are stimulated to greater devotion and stricter obedience to God, that we may be enabled to do others the greatest good. If we desire to have our affections set upon heavenly things, we must place our treasure in heaven. Where the treasure is, there the heart will be. What has cost us little, we have no special interest in; but that in which we invest our means claims our interest and attention, and we labor to make it a success.
“God is a source of life and light and joy to the universe. Like rays of light from the sun, blessings flow out from him to all the creatures he has made. In his infinite love he has granted men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature, and, in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellow men. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those are brought nearest to their Creator who thus become participants in labors of love. He who refuses to become a laborer together with God,—the man who for the sake of selfish indulgence ignores the wants of his fellow men, the miser who heaps up his treasures here,—is withholding from himself the richest blessing that God can give him.
“Brethren, ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” As we recount the numberless mercies of our God, and meditate upon his matchless love; as we behold the wonderful sacrifice of the Redeemer, may gratitude awaken in our hearts, till it shall kindle a flame of sacred love that shall flow out to souls.”
—Mrs. E. G. White, in Review and Herald, Dec. 6, 1887.
As the Lord has promised his remnant people in the closing days of the gospel that they shall receive the outpouring of his Spirit with as great or greater manifestation of his power than that enjoyed by his people in the days of the apostles, so also we must expect that in his people today will be found the same devotion and self-sacrificing spirit as that which characterized the believers in the early days.
Of them it is recorded that they had one common interest—the success of the mission intrusted to them. Their love for Christ was far greater than their love for money. They acted out their faith and by their works testified that they accounted the souls of men of more worth than any earthly treasure. Have we not even greater reason to sacrifice than had they? Have we not far less time than they in which to accomplish our work?
