The Missionary by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1880

The Missionary.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

PERSEVERE.

USELESS indeed repinings are, They but increase our pain; The noblest way is, when we fail, To rise and try again. No matter how a storm may rage, Let love a fabric rear; And as we toil our cry shall be, "Look up, and persevere."

LUTHER'S TIME AND OURS.

THE work of the gospel is truly a missionary work. Webster defines a missionary as "one who is sent upon a mission;" and a mission as "an errand, commission, or duty upon which one is sent." Since the fall of man, God has communicated to him great and important truths through human instrumentality. These truths embrace the pardon, reproof, and hope, as well as announcements of judgments that should come upon the earth. Those to whom God has committed these errands of mercy are missionaries.

These messages are from one source, and have in view one object, the salvation of the human family. They have varied in their nature as the times and circumstances made them a necessity.

To the reformers was given the work of exposing some of the errors and corruptions of the Papacy. The Bible became to them a new book, a precious treasure. From its pages the light of truth has continued to shine with untold luster, bringing to view one error after another of the Romish church.

Seventh-day Adventists, in common with many in other denominations, look upon these bodies as occupying a position far below the Scripture standard. There are, however, many individuals connected with them, especially in their early history, who possessed the true missionary spirit, the true spirit of reform. The truths of God's word are as precious now as they were then. Satan possesses the same hatred to the Christian religion as then, and he will, if possible, plant his hellish banner right in the midst of God's people. But the salvation of precious souls is as much to be desired now as when the thunders of the reformation were sounding throughout Europe.

The success of the work in the days of Luther, the rapidity with which the reformation spread, and the extent of its influence, cannot be attributed to those men alone whose names are so familiar in history. They alone could have done but little, but in the more humble walks of life were men and women who received the light, and in their sphere of action acted as nobly their part in disseminating the light of truth, as did these men. Of their history, we know but little, yet a record of their acts of faith, deeds of benevolence, fortitude and sacrifice, are faithfully chronicled in the ledger of Heaven; and when the heavenly tribunal sits, and the rewards are given, they will receive their reward as surely and as completely as those whose names have been handed down to us.

The followers of Jesus Christ are called upon to identify their interests with the cause of Christ, to cherish in their hearts, carry out in their lives, and so far as they are able, present to others those truths which have been revealed to them. In doing this they become true missionaries.

Men are not now tortured and put to death because of their faith, but it is still true that "whosoever will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God." Character is as really tested in the humble relation we may sustain to God's work as in the most prominent positions. The promise is to him who gives the cup of cold water, rather than to the one who receives it.

The sacrifices here involved cause many to falter, and even turn away from the Christian course. The sacrifices we make for the upbuilding of the cause of present truth; the denying of self to advance the work of God, and making our personal interests secondary in every respect to the work of the third angel's message, is lifting at the great wheel of reform, and by it we show how much of the missionary spirit we possess. God now regards those who study and plan to help forward his precious cause as he ever has done. It is not the high sounding title, but the faithfulness and devotion to the work in the sphere which the providence of God assigns us, that brings God's blessing and connects us with Heaven. S. N. HASKELL.