What the Missionary Society Is by Edith M. Graham

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 22, 1916

What the Missionary Society Is

By Edith M. Graham

There seems to be in the minds of some a confusion in regard to who compose the church missionary society. Not infrequently we hear some one say, “The church took that action, not the little missionary society;” or, “The missionary society is responsible for that, it has nothing to do with the church.” Evidently, in the minds of these speakers, there is a belief that the missionary society is an organization separate from the church, made up of such members as choose to join it.

“The church of Christ has been organized on earth for missionary purposes.”—“An Appeal to Our Churches,” p. 28.

A body that has been organized for missionary purposes must be a missionary society. It cannot be an association from which a missionary society may be selected, while the association disclaims missionary responsibilities. Therefore every Seventh-day Adventist church as a whole is the missionary society, and every member is a member of the missionary society.

When Christ left this world, he placed his church in charge of the apostles as leaders and overseers, and gave it the following commission: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8.

That this great commission was not given alone to the apostles is evident. “The words, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Mark 16:15), are spoken to each one of Christ’s followers. All who are ordained unto the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. The same longing of soul that he felt for the saving of the lost is to be manifest in them.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VIII, p. 16.

The church took up its appointed work, and every member evidently recognized his responsibility for making the truth known to others. “At that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 8:1, 4.

A careful study of the work of the apostle Paul shows that he must have trained his converts to make the gospel known. His conversion took place in A. D. 35. In A. D. 45, according to Bible chronology, he began his extensive work among the Gentiles. He visited countries, selected centers in which to start the work, labored there for a longer or shorter time, and then passed on. There is no record that he ever labored a second time in any place, though he visited the churches he had raised up. He left the churches to continue the work he had started, and to branch out into the districts around them.

It is supposed that the epistle to the Colossians was written in A. D. 64. In it Paul says, “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Col. 1:23. “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world.” Col. 1:5, 6. In thirty-three years from the death of Christ, a knowledge of the gospel had been given to the then-known world. This shows what can be done when every believer is a worker.

When the apostasy arose in the church and the mystery of iniquity was established, it was Satan’s studied plan to cover up or pervert all the principles on which Christ’s church was organized. Among these was the individual responsibility for making the gospel of salvation known to others. Instead of this, the ideal held up was retirement for prayer and meditation, with entire separation from human interests. Those who so lived were considered the most saintly. The propagation of religion was left to the ordained ministers and others set apart for that work.

Throughout the centuries of the Dark Ages, though largely covered up, the principle of individual service was never entirely abandoned. There were always individuals who had a burden to help other souls and to lead them to Christ. The Waldenses trained their youth to give to others a knowledge of the Scriptures. As the sacredness of the Sabbath was never entirely lost sight of, so the responsibility of believers for making the gospel known to others remained a living principle in many loyal hearts.

The third angel’s message is to prepare a people to meet the Lord when he comes in glory. They are being gathered out by a call to return to all the principles on which Christ’s church was organized, among them that of individual responsibility for laboring for other souls.

“God calls upon every church member to enter his service. Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted to others, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Every one must learn to work, and to stand in his place as a burden bearer.”—Id., p. 47.

“To his servants Christ commits ‘his goods,’—something to be put to use for him. He gives ‘to every man his work.’ Each has his place in the eternal plan of heaven. Each is to work in cooperation with Christ for the salvation of souls. Not more surely is the place prepared for us in the heavenly mansions than is the special place designated on earth where we are to work for God.”—“Christ’s Object Lessons,” pp. 326, 327.

The final reward is for the workers, for those in whom Christ lived, and through

whom he carried on his work of saving sinners. “Glorious will be the reward bestowed when the faithful workers gather about the throne of God and of the Lamb. . . . They will stand before the throne, accepted in the Beloved. All their sins have been blotted out, all their transgressions borne away. Now they can look upon the undimmed glory of the throne of God. They have been partakers with Christ in his sufferings, they have been workers together with him in the plan of redemption, and they are partakers with him in the joy of seeing souls saved in the kingdom of God, there to praise God through all eternity.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IX, p. 285.

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25: 34.

EDITH M. GRAHAM.