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Great Opportunities and a Call to Service

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 2, 1905

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 9.

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Great Opportunities and a Call to Service

By Arthur Grosvenor Daniells

THE providence of God is surely opening the way for his message of truth and salvation to be made known to men in all stations of life. Since coming to Washington, unforeseen opportunities have arisen, one after the other, which have opened the way for us to do a very direct and effective work in this city; and from here this work has extended to all parts of the United States.
The first door for effectual service that was opened to us was the hasty passage of that unjust Sunday bill through the House of Representatives. This demanded of us immediate action in Washington. Here, we interviewed business men, lawyers, and congressmen, wrote articles for our city papers, and gave public addresses on the subject of religious liberty and the evils of religious legislation.
Our work did not stop with Washington. It extended to all the States. For months hundreds of petitions against this bill have been coming in from all parts of the country. These have been presented to Congress day after day by the Senators from most of the States. Some of these Senators have written the officers of our Religious Liberty Department that they are pleased to get our petitions and literature, and that, should this bill come before the Senate, they will do all they can to defeat it.
The second special door opened to us for proclaiming the truth was the proposed campaign for better Sunday observance, by the ministers of Washington. The Seventh-day Adventist ministers in this city felt it to be their duty to make known to the people the true Sabbath of Jehovah, and that it can only be enforced by the Spirit of God given to convict of sin, and to impart power for righteousness.
It is safe to say that the Sabbath of the Lord never before came so prominently before the leading men of this nation and the citizens of Washington as it has since this campaign was proposed. Bishops, rectors, preachers, college presidents, lawmakers, business men,—indeed, all classes have had their attention called very forcibly to the requirements of God's law. And this special effort has not been confined to Washington; it has extended to all the States. Public papers have published the Open Letter addressed to the ministers of Washington, and three hundred thousand copies in tract form have been sent out from our office.
And now another door has been opened for splendid service. The proposal by the ministers of Washington to make the public schools of the District of Columbia channels for giving distinctly religious instruction, calls us to again set before the public the light God has given us regarding the relation between church and state.
This proposal bids fair to stir the whole city. Already the Post has taken its stand against the measure. A committee of the leading men in Washington has been appointed to meet and decide upon measures to be recommended to the Board of Education. Our people and work have been shown some degree of courtesy and recognition by the appointment of Professor Prescott as a member of this committee. This will give him an opportunity to meet bishops, college presidents, leading ministers, and prominent laymen of Washington, and to place before them the light which God has given us on such questions. This is surely an opportunity of great importance to us; and we need special help from God to meet the situation as we should.
Just as this great issue opens before us, a stirring communication comes to us from Sister White, concerning the importance of the work in Washington, and directing that it must be extended throughout the whole land. A portion of this letter is given in this number of the REVIEW. It should be read by ministers, church officers, and all our people, with great care.
As will be seen, our young men and young women who have had advantages of education and training in our schools, are called to enthusiastic house-to-house labor. It is declared that God calls for decided efforts to reach those who know nothing of the truth. “Now, just now, is the time to obey the commission” to go into all the world and preach the gospel; and we are told what features are to be emphasized; namely, the divinity of Christ and the Sabbath of Jehovah.
The trumpet, we are told, is to be given a certain sound. While we are not to enter into controversy and debate, yet we are to set forth the truth of God with a clear understanding and positiveness that will carry deep conviction to the hearts of those who hear.
Dear brethren in the ministry, if I rightly understand the meaning of this communication, it is a call to the ministers of Christ to lead his people forth in earnest, united, world-wide missionary effort. It is a call to us to show greater enthusiasm than we have ever shown in this cause. It is an appeal to us to devote our time and energies as far as possible to evangelistic work. Many of us have become so engrossed in the business affairs of our conferences and institutions that we have too largely dropped the progressive, evangelistic work by which the pioneers of this cause rapidly carried this message from State to State, and from country to country.
The shape affairs are taking, and the messages that are coming to us from the servant of the Lord, renew in our hearts the hope that the closing work of the Lord in the earth is soon to be finished. For this let us all earnestly pray and unceasingly labor.
A. G. DANIELLS.