A Call to Full Surrender and Consecration for the Finishing of the Gospel Work
By A. G. DANIELLS
(Reading for Sabbath, December 9) A Call to Full Surrender and Consecration for the Finishing of the Gospel Work
We have surely come to a very serious and critical time. This is the view of thoughtful, sober-minded men among all classes. President Wilson says: “We are witnessing a cataclysm, and God only knows what the issue will be.” Ex-President Taft says: “The future looks dark indeed.” A writer in Harper’s Weekly says: “The most critical moment in the world’s history is upon us. . . . Events are transpiring to stun the stoutest mind. We are at time’s meridian. . . . Men of soberness are hollow-eyed with the thought of it.” Another writer says: “A cool, relentless analysis of the situation discloses little ground for hopeful anticipation. On the contrary, the prospect is one of the blackest humanity has ever faced. Such is the appalling outlook if we continue on the national line.” The situation described by these writers seems very much like the situation Jesus said would exist just before his return. He declared that there would be “upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21: 25, 26. The Saviour not only foretold these serious conditions that would come upon the human family, but gave instructions regarding their meaning. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. . . . When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Luke 21: 28-31. If the dark, appalling situation the world now faces is that which Jesus said would precede his coming, surely his professed followers should take it very seriously to heart. “It is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day. . . . Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Rom. 13: 11-14, R. V. Writing of this same time and to the same people, the apostle Peter says: “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” 2 Peter 3: 11, 12, margin, R. V. Thus the Scriptures abound with information regarding the time to which we have come, the conditions that surround us, and the way the Lord’s people should live and serve at this time. First, every professed Christian should be thoroughly awake to the serious meaning of the situation. We should be stirred and aroused by what is taking place. Our thoughts and feelings should be quickened, our activities should be stimulated, and our pace hastened. This hour, with all its great meaning, should fill us with the greatest devotion and zeal the church of Christ has ever known. All this may come to us in personal experience if we truly want it. But to obtain this awakened, aroused, truly zealous life for the things of the kingdom, we must turn to the Lord with the whole heart. We must proclaim him Lord and Master. We must surrender wholly to his will and way. We must consecrate all to him and to his service. Our bodies, our minds, our time, and our means must be laid upon the altar for the Lord to use where and when he sees best. This will open the door of the heart to the Saviour. When that door is thrown wide open, he will take his rightful place on the throne of the heart. Once there, he will live his righteous, glorious, triumphant life in our flesh. A living Christ on the throne of the heart means a victorious life. No one can fail or fall while Christ abides within. One may go far astray while possessing a large, clear conception of doctrinal truths. One may go down to ruin while holding a high official position in the church. It is possible to miss the way and be lost while carrying the Bible in the hand and pointing out the way to others. But no one can possibly go down while Jesus is permitted to live in the heart. His presence is an absolute safeguard against falling. And he ever stands at the door, knocking for entrance. O then let him in! Of course we know that it is by his divine representative, the Holy Spirit, that Jesus dwells in the hearts of his followers. While living here on earth with his disciples, Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.” And later, when about to depart, he said, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.” Thus the Holy Spirit was to take Christ’s place in the church on earth. This divine Spirit was to be the Saviour’s successor and representative in the world, to do even more for men than Christ would have done had he remained here. This wonderful and gracious provision for the church is very clearly presented22by the Spirit of prophecy as follows:— “Before offering himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most essential and complete gift to bestow upon his followers, a gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace. ‘I will pray the Father,’ he said, ‘and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.’” “The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. . . . “Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer.” “This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 668, 669, 671, 672. The one thing which the church of Christ needs today more than all else is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in full measure. Its vitalizing power will impart new life to its possessor. It will quicken the conscience, transform the character, illuminate the mind, and fill the heart with the love of God. And this will give the preparation for that high and holy service which it is God’s purpose that his church shall render in behalf of lost souls. . . . Saved to serve is the divine plan. It is thus that the church is “the light of the world.” It is the Holy Spirit that enables Christ’s followers to render this effectual service. No other phase of the Spirit’s ministry in the church is made so prominent in the Word as this. In his parting instruction to the church, Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses.” Nothing could be plainer than that a most essential requisite to a Spirit-filled church is the consecration by the church of its time, talents, and means to the service of God for the redemption of a lost world. It is idle for the church to pray to be filled with the Spirit if she declines, or even neglects, to make this consecration. The Spirit is Christ’s invisible ambassador to this world, to finish his work. The church is the Spirit’s visible medium through which he is to bear witness for Christ to all men, to win them to him. The following quotation from the Spirit of prophecy helps us to understand what it means to the church in accomplishing this work throughout the world:— “Our work in foreign fields must constantly broaden. Our efforts in fields already entered must enlarge. As new fields open for gospel effort, the church must act quickly in sending missionaries to enter these fields. Special efforts must be made while the angels are holding the four winds. All can now do something. Those who cannot be spared from the home field, or who are not fitted to go abroad, can give of their means; and all can pray that the Lord of the harvest shall raise up laborers. Pray, brethren, pray earnestly, that the hearts of some who are doing very little, and of others who have as yet done nothing, may be opened, and that the means which God has intrusted to them may be used wisely in sustaining his cause at home and abroad, to the glory of his name.” “The Lord is soon to come, and before his advent the message of warning is to be proclaimed to all nations, tongues, and peoples. While God’s cause is calling for laborers and means to carry the gospel to lands lying in darkness, what are those doing who are living under the full light of gospel truth? There are some who feel no burden for souls. They profess to believe that the end of all things is at hand, but covetousness has blinded their eyes to the needs of the cause of God. The means that he has placed in their hands to be used to his glory, they are tying up in houses and lands, while the proclamation of the truth that God has intrusted to them to be given to the world, is delayed by a lack of means. Every believer is to do his utmost to advance the cause, and is then in faith to ask God to do what man cannot do.” “We have no reason for discouragement regarding the work in the regions beyond. Some of the fields to which we were sending means a few years ago, are now entirely self-supporting. The work begun in weakness will be carried on to a glorious termination. The truth will go to all nations, tongues, and peoples, and that speedily.”—Review and Herald, April 14, 1910. The hour has come for the church to give its Lord’s last warning and gracious invitation to the world. And it must now be given quickly. The time is short, the final crisis has come, the message is urgent, and there must be no delay. The messengers must be awake, active, and intense. They must give the message in a manner that will quickly arrest the attention of the whole world. This can be done, for God has ways and means, methods and processes, of working that we little appreciate, by which he can arouse the whole world in a very short time. Is it not evident that many of the inventions of these last days are designed by the Lord to be used in giving this invitation speedily to the world? The railway and steamship lines have not been brought into use simply to enrich stockholders, and to transport pleasure seekers. They are to carry God’s messengers and literature quickly to every part of the world. The printing press has not been perfected merely for financial gain, or for the publication of political and commercial intelligence. This wonderful invention is to be used in every part of the world in sounding the invitation to the supper of the Lamb. The electric telegraph, cable, and telephone lines have not been wrapped around the world simply for the rapid transit of war intelligence or the condition of the stock exchange. All these facilities are to serve a higher purpose than the world recognizes. Every one of them is a factor for God’s use. He will yet lay his hand upon all of them, and use them to great advantage and with great power in closing up his work. Nor will it take the Lord long to do this when his people are ready. God can work today just as he did with Peter and John at the temple, when that poor lame man was healed. Let the Lord stretch forth his hand to work through his people with signs and wonders and mighty power, and it will not take long, with the facilities prepared, to arrest the attention of the whole world. As soon as God’s people are ready, the Lord will make use of all these facilities for extending the last invitation to a perishing world. The latter rain will fall in copious showers, the loud cry will be heard, and the earth will be lightened with the glory of God. The Lord has made the preparation; he has sent out the invitation; he has told us where to go; he has given us the message to proclaim; and he has supplied the power. That is his part. Our part is to make a full surrender and consecration of our lives in loving service and earnest labor.