p. 5 | God's Call to Us by M. DORMAN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 21, 1915

God's Call to Us

By M. DORMAN

M. DORMAN

God is calling to us today. O that we as a people would rally as one man to the clarion call which comes ringing down from the throne above!

At many different times during the history of the world God has called men. God called to Adam in the garden, “Where art thou?” and Adam, with fear and trembling, responded to that call. God called Abram to leave his kindred and his father's house and go out into a land which he knew not, and Abram obeyed the voice which spoke. God called to Moses from the burning bush, and Moses, hearing, turned aside. Turning over the pages of the world's history, we see many instances where God has called men; but today we wish to consider his call to us. God grant that we may hearken; God help us to respond.

What is the call of God to the Christian man and woman of today? It is a call to action. The sacred pen of inspiration gives that call to us thus: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isa. 60:1. God's servant has brought it forcibly to our attention in the following language: “And still our General, who never makes a mistake, says to us, ‘Advance. Enter new territory. Lift up the standard in every land. ‘Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.’ ”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 28. And again: “The word comes to me in the night season to speak to the churches that know the truth: ‘Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.’ ”—Id., page 23.

What does it mean, this call to arise and shine? The word arise denotes a languor, a slumber, a repose, on the part of the person addressed. Can it be that that some such condition among us as a people demands this heaven-sent call to action?

Brethren and sisters, at the rate the message is going at the present time it cannot be carried to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people in this generation. But will it be carried?—Yes; God's Word declares it. But first there must come this whole-souled consecration, this arising to shine.

We have been asleep; many of us are now asleep. At this crisis in the great conflict many upon whom rests the most solemn responsibility ever placed upon man, who should be in the very forefront of life's battle, are in a hazy stupor, paying little heed to the conflict raging about them. Meanwhile the enemy is stealing a march upon them.

But today, clear as the note of a silver bell, there rings out over the battle field a call to action:—

Arouse! Awake! Sit not thus idly by! Gird on thy armor, raise the battle cry! Not without struggle are the vict'ries won In life's fierce conflict; then haste thee onward—On!

The great conflict which has so fiercely waged for so many centuries between the forces of good and of evil has reached a climax. Every soldier who has enlisted under the banner of Prince Immanuel must press the battle to the gates. We must lay hold of the power of prayer.

We have been testing the depths of God's love and mercy, it is true, but only along the shore. Let us push out—push out and test the limitless depths of his power. We shall find that they are unfathomable, and that the strength which will then be ours cannot be measured.

We are, figuratively speaking, standing at the foot of a great mountain, waiting for a power to take possession of us to enable us to ascend. The work of carrying the gospel to every creature in this generation looms up before us like a mountain of difficulty, which, humanly speaking, it is impossible to surmount: and we are waiting, patiently waiting, there at the foot of it, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which will give us the dynamic force to push to the summit.

But the power is here now. It is now ours. We have but to lay hold upon it. I quote: “Angels of heaven have long been waiting for human agents—the members of the church—to cooperate with them in the work to be done. They are waiting for you. When the reproach of indolence and slothfulness shall have been wiped away from the church, the Spirit of the Lord will be graciously manifested.”

We must lay hold upon this power. We must have a vital connection with God. Is the power of God flowing through you? Are you connected as a branch to the true vine, so that the energizing, life-giving strength and grace is flowing through your veins? “Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

Let us at this time make a connection with heaven. We all want the power of God in our lives; and yet, when this call comes to us, a goodly number will settle back in their seats, seemingly as indifferent as before. They may not be conscious what is holding them back, but God knows that there yet remains in their lives some favorite sin to which they tenaciously cling; and doing so, it is impossible for them to arouse themselves.

That which holds us back from being what, under God, we should be, may be only a little thing. You enter a shop in the city, a shop of whirling wheels and singing motors. Away in one corner of this vast structure is a small ebony handle, seemingly a thing of insignificance, of no importance, and not worthy to be noticed. But only a movement of that small black switch, and the connection is made. Lights all over the city flash out into the night, cars move, factories operate, and all the electrical mechanisms of that vast metropolis are set in motion.

The call which comes to us is to make a living connection with God, to remove the obstruction to the mighty current of his power. Then there will flash out the light of the gospel in sharp, clear, distinct rays. Such a call is necessarily a call to action.

When an electrical connection is made through a motor, something is going to move. As the current of power increases, the dynamic motion becomes greater. Is it not, then, a fact that the influence which you exert, the amount of work which you do for the Saviour, is an indication of the extent of your connection with God?

Friend, what are you doing for Jesus? Nothing? Where is the lack? Remove the obstruction and lay hold of the power of God. God is calling to you today. Will you heed his voice as did Moses, and turn aside? Will you answer as did Samuel, ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth,’ and then with joyful heart go forth to do his bidding?

But you say, perhaps, “What can I do?” “It is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” Yet, rest assured that even as surely as God does not hold us to account for that which we have not, just so surely does he hold us to account for that which we have.

And to each one of us the Master has given a talent. You may feel that you are unworthy, that you are weak, that you can do nothing; but listen! learn a lesson from nature. You look at two little sticks, dull, lifeless, and black. Not much to look at, nothing brilliant about them; of what use are they? Place those little carbon sticks in connection with an electrical current, and what have we?—The bright, white, dazzling electric arc light, one of the most powerful illuminants in the world.

God is going to use just such simple, humble instruments as you feel yourself to be, to flash the searchlight of his gospel from east to west and from pole to pole. The inhabitants of the heavenly universe expect the followers of Christ to shine as lights in the world. Friends, God has graciously shed a flood of light over our pathways. Shall we pass it on to others?

College View, Nebr. (To be concluded)