Our Work and What It Requires of Us by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 19, 1915

Our Work and What It Requires of Us

By C. M. S.

WHEN the Lord has a message to be given, he calls a chosen servant to give it. When he has a work to be done, he calls a people to do it. Through his prophets he has spoken, and through his people he has wrought, to warn the world, and to carry out his changeless purpose concerning this earth and its inhabitants.

The third angel’s message is a work as well as a warning, because the giving of that message constitutes the last act in the work of the gospel, and because there is set before those who give it the stupendous task of carrying it to all the world. The message of Noah was to all the world, because the impending destruction would involve all the world. The message of Moses was to a people, for only a people was immediately concerned in what it contained. The same was true of the message given to the captives of Babylon and of Persia. But in the warnings of the third angel’s message and in the destruction which will follow the completion of its work, the whole world is involved, and therefore the whole world must be warned.

The greatest task ever committed to a people is that committed to those who have espoused the cause of the third angel’s message—a handful of people to warn sixteen hundred million! It is a staggering thought; but it is the fiat of the Almighty, and it will be accomplished. Had we but human power to draw on, human means to look to, we might well consider the task a hopeless one. But the One who has given the command for the work to be done is the same One who has said: “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. . . . And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Just so surely as God’s work is to triumph in the world, that triumph is to be preceded by the giving of this solemn message. The Saviour makes no more emphatic declaration than this: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” The end must come, or the triumph of God over sin could never be achieved; but the coming of “the end” is preceded by, and inseparably connected with, the giving of the message; and that is the arrangement outlined by the Saviour himself.

The same relation of events is specified by the revelator. The message of the third angel, warning the world against the worship of the beast and his image, is immediately followed by these words:—

“And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.” Rev. 14:14-16.

That is the harvest of the world, the end of the reign of sin, the punishment of sinners, the resurrection and reward of the righteous. It is the consummation of the work of Christ for man. But it is all contingent upon the giving of the message to the world. Without the giving of that message, it will not come. But that it will come is as certain as that God lives, and that the message will be given is just as certain as that the end will come. Men will apostatize from the faith, “expose” the work, and predict its disintegration; but the work will go on in spite of the apostasy, in spite of the “exposure,” increasing in volume and accelerating in speed.

The work is of God, and there is nothing we can do that can stay its progress. As well might we attempt to stand in the middle of the Mississippi, and push back its great, rushing flood of waters with our bare hands, as to attempt to block the progress of this message by our individual power and influence. The only effect of our opposition will be to put another in our place, to run with the message we would not carry.

Out of the land of darkness and bondage and into the land of eternal light and liberty, is what this message means to us if we prove true to its principles and triumph with it. But while it means so much to us, it demands much of us. It means a more striking separation from the world than has ever been practiced by any body of people in the world. It means such an attitude toward the law of God and the faith of Jesus as is taken by no other denomination. The Sabbath of Jehovah will separate a people from the world, and stand forth as the chief sign that they are not doing homage to the beast and his image. Their implicit faith in the Bible as the inspired Word of God will separate them from one half of Christendom, and their opposition to the commands of the Vatican will separate them from the other half. While Christendom is confederating to put unlimited power into the hands of religious leaders, the refusal of that small people to join in the confederacy will make them the targets of the envenomed darts of the confederated world. To stand faithful to principle in such a time will be no mean task. With all that power arrayed against them, with the weapons of persecution made ready, and the machinery of law in action to put them into operation, it will seem to some as if God himself had forsaken them. To stand then will require more than human power; and it will be given.

But that is the culmination, the time of fierce trial toward which we have looked so long, and of which we have been warned. We shall know what is to follow, and that will, in itself, be a source of strength and courage. How we have related ourselves to the work of the message before that time arrives will be a strong determining factor in the matter of how we stand the trials of the last days. If we have taken hold of the work merely with our finger tips; if we have given sparingly and done that grudgingly; if we have kept as close to the world as we could and still have our names retained on the church roll; if we have kept back the tithe and appropriated it to our own use; if we have refused to inconvenience ourselves that the cause might prosper; if the possession of house or farm or business has given us greater satisfaction than the progress of the message; if when we might have borne testimony to the truth, we have closed our mouths lest we might lose position or influence,—if we have done these or similar things, we shall find, when the supreme trials come, that we have not sufficient love for this cause to make it seem worth while to bear the burdens and endure the trials.

If, however, we have been faithful in our attitude toward this message, keeping the commandments of God conscientiously, believing his Word implicitly, contributing of our means generously and willingly, upholding the standard of truth and purity unflinchingly, giving the message when opportunity offers, going ourselves to carry it or giving that others may go, living day by day in its progress and praying constantly for its success, while we, with God’s help cut loose from all the entanglements of the world, the flesh, and the devil,—then when the crushing tests come, the message will be the only thing in the world to us, and we would rather die than turn our backs upon it.

In no other course is there certainty of our being able to stand and to triumph with the truth in the eternal victory over sin and Satan. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of

the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58. “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” Rev. 14:7. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31. C. M. S.