An Encouraging Outlook by I. H. Evans

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jul 2, 1908

An Encouraging Outlook

By I. H. Evans

EVERY successful enterprise must be carefully managed. Nothing good or worthy of success succeeds without effort. Fortunes are not gathered by waste and inattention. Only sin and evil grow of themselves. All that is “worth while” in life is developed by sacrifice and toil and self-denial.

This is especially true of Christianity. Its history is a story of tears and suffering and sacrifice and death beyond comparison. The chronicles of time suggest no parallel in human history to the long-continued, almost universal struggles of Christianity in its growth and progress.

What has been true of Christianity as a religion entering the fields of paganism, and winning them to Christ, is true in part of the third angel’s message. As a specific truth for this time and generation, it could not be expected that the world would open its arms, and bid this message welcome. The import of the message is a warning against the beast, its image, and the reception of its mark. This warning carries with it a terrible denunciation of God’s wrath. Rev. 14: 6-12.

Yet, notwithstanding its warnings against cardinal sins; notwithstanding its reform on the Sabbath question, health, and temperance, and the announcement of the judgment hour, still, by the blessing of God, this message is onward, and is winning souls to Christ wherever it is preached.

Wherever it plants its standard, there it abides. The persecutions of men have never driven its advocates from a single battle-field. Its adherents have lingered for years in prison cells; fines and whippings have been imposed upon those who received its teachings; individuals and families have been socially ostracized by hundreds; and yet, notwithstanding all this, it triumphs still.

During the six months of 1908, just passed, more than fifty workers, including their families, have been sent to distant fields. This army of recruits has gone to China, Korea, Japan, India, Africa, South America, the West Indies, Mexico, and the islands of the sea. In addition to this, several tent-companies have gone to the South to strengthen the hands of the workers there. In a letter received from a conference president, he says his conference has received “about four thousand dollars in money besides the tents.”

The fifty workers sent abroad will make a demand on the treasury of the General Conference for about twenty-five thousand dollars. This is in addition to sustaining the workers already in the fields. Nothing can be more encouraging than this. We all want the message to go. Its onward march is the inspiration of our lives. Its maintenance is a part of the daily care of God’s people. For its support they plan and work as for their daily bread.

The elder of one of our little churches in Tennessee writes: “We are a poor, weak company. Everybody is poor here. Oftentimes we do not get so much money as one dollar in all our company for many weeks. But do not think we forget God’s cause. We will do what we can. God shall have his own, and we will help on the ten-cent-a-week plan to the limit of our ability. We never forget our missionaries at the throne of grace.”

Another elder from a Middle Western State writes: “There are but thirteen of us here, and I am the only man. This little flock joins the army of doers for God’s cause. We shall endeavor to make our offerings exceed the ten cents a week. Count us among those who will help to close this work in this generation.”

An elder in the West writes: “This cause is onward. Nothing so cheers our hearts as to see men in responsible places set the pace. Last Sabbath our church voted to adopt at once the ten-cent-a-week plan. Brother, be of good courage; God is leading in this work. We all pray for the frontiersmen, and for the brethren in responsible places.”

From our missionaries on the firing-line come the same strong, steady words of confidence and good cheer. Here is a sample of many others. One dear brother had just died with yellow fever, and the bubonic plague had also broken out, but read these words:—

Brother —— loved his work. His whole heart was wrapped up in the duties he had to perform in connection with this cause, and he performed them faithfully and well. It is a severe blow to our work in this part of the field and a cause of the most intense sorrow to us all. How many tears we have shed over him, and how much we have felt his loss, our tongues will never be able to express. He had made many friends, and was bearing his burdens as one willing to give all for the Master. This in itself would have been sufficient to cause us to regard him highly, outside of his high qualities as a man.

Our hearts go out in sympathy to his bereaved mother and father in the home land, as they do to his loved ones here. It is indeed sad to lose so early in life such a bright young man. We all hope and pray that the Lord, who has comforted and kept the wife of our brother in these hours of sorrow, may ever keep her near to himself.

Yet, brethren, we believe that these sacrifices are not without their reward. Much is not given, but that much is gained. We know that if the Lord calls for our lives in connection with this work, and we are faithful unto death, the crown of life is sure. O, that we may all be faithful! God’s rich blessing will be given to all who make a covenant with him by sacrifice. Sister —— told me a day or two ago, as I talked matters over with her, that they thought of this side of the question in coming, that it might mean the loss of life to them, but that they wanted to be where the Lord desired them to be, to be doing his work. They came with their minds resting on the promises, and there is no doubt in my mind that even in death those promises will be fulfilled. God knows the future better than we. We can all rest our cases in his loving care, and be sure that here in this country, as well as at home, in life or in death, we are safe in his keeping.

One thing has troubled us all,—we have wondered if this sad event will deter others from giving their lives for the work in this part of the vineyard. Brethren, it ought not. All of us are in the same danger as was Brother ——, but God forbid that we should desert our post when there is a duty that calls.

And if the call should come to some others to share the sentry on a dangerous part of the picket-line, will any refuse? It is a time in the history of this message when we should all forget ourselves, our fears and the dangers that confront us, and, trusting God, take the place where duty calls us, even to the filling of the ranks where the conflict wages hottest.

Since Brother —— died, the plague has broken out in our island. How far it will go, what the final results will be, is a question beyond our knowledge. So you see that the perils are all about us. None need fear for us, however. We are in God’s hands, and he will keep us if he sees best. But whatever his will is, we pray that it may be also ours.

We buried Brother —— near the other brethren in the cemetery. Later we will have the grave covered with a concrete slab, like the others, and a tablet placed upon them. I will try to send a photo of them when completed. His is the fourth grave in this cemetery of workers who have given their lives for the work here. They are indeed ties that bind us to the land,—sacred spots watched over by the messengers of the God of heaven, who will one day call the sleepers forth to everlasting life.

With such brave, God-fearing men at the front, and with such consecrated support at home, shall we not be of good courage? Surely the outlook is most encouraging, and we can truly sing,— One little hour! and then the glorious crowning, The golden harp-strings, and the victor’s palm; One little hour! and then the hallelujah, Eternity’s long, deep thanksgiving psalm.

I. H. EVANS.