True to Our Calling by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Feb 2, 1911

True to Our Calling

By F. M. W.

EVERY age has witnessed crises and important epochs in the church of God. In every age God has raised up men and women to meet certain exigencies, and to stand for the right in crises when great principles were involved. In the carrying forward of his work in the earth, Providence has never been surprised by the unforeseen. He has had his men and agencies in training, oftentimes years before, to meet the questions which would arise at a particular time. As God’s great clock of time has marked off the centuries, and prophetic prediction has reached the time of fulfilment, there have come into existence the means and the agencies for meeting the special requirements of God’s great plan.

When the full time had come to deliver his people from Egypt, Moses, who had been in training amid the mountains of Midian for forty years, was called to that work. When Moses lay down upon Mount Nebo, and surrendered his Heaven-appointed task, Joshua was prepared to go on with the work so well begun. When Elijah was caught up to heaven, his mantle fell upon Elisha, who had been prepared to act as counselor of Israel. When God would give the gospel to the Gentiles, the apostle Paul became the chosen instrument for this purpose. When the blood of the martyrs called to God for vengeance, he raised up the humble monk of Wittenberg to tear away the mask of blindness and superstition, and in the light of the glorious Reformation reveal the hideousness of the papal system.

Coming to a later period, we find William Miller and his collaborators arising in God’s time, and proclaiming, “The hour of his judgment is come;” and in the fuller development of this message, God has a people to-day who have arisen in his order, and are doing the work that prophecy predicted would be done in the closing days of earth’s history.

It is for us to sense the importance of this Heaven-appointed work. It is for us to take diligent heed that our relationship to it and our part in it are of the

character to warrant the approval of Heaven.

Anciently, in the days of the Medo-Persian kingdom, Haman, that wicked enemy of the people of God, sought by one fell blow to accomplish their destruction. By plot and conniving he secured the unwitting sanction of the king to his unholy purpose. Esther, the Jewish maiden, was queen of the empire. An appeal was made that she use her influence with the king for the abrogation of Haman’s wicked decree. To her it was said, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Jonah, John the Baptist, Luther, and men in every age of the church, have “come to the kingdom” for just such a time and for just such an occasion as their age of the world’s history presented. They were called to do a specific work. That work in God’s order had to be accomplished. The very integrity of the cause of truth was at stake. The honor of God was involved. Some one must become his messenger. If those whom he called refused to act their part, then they must be turned aside, and others set to do the work which must be done.

It was so in the days of Esther. God had exalted her to the throne because he foresaw a great crisis coming in the history of his people. He saw that she had qualifications and ability which, by his blessing, would bring deliverance. But if, dazzled or appalled by the glory of the Persian court, or corrupted by its evil influences, she had refused the task appointed her of Heaven, then God would have raised up a deliverer from another quarter.

The lesson is for us. Are we to-day true to the trust committed to us as a people? Are we giving the trumpet a certain sound. Amid the confused babel of voices sounding on every side, amid the confusion and error which fill the minds of men, are we sounding forth notes so clear and distinct that they will reach the ears of those who desire to know God and truth, and attract their attention to the message for this time? Has this message lost its power in our hearts and lives? Are we departing from its simplicity? Have the influences of the world corrupted our faith? Has the darkness around us obscured our vision so that we see less clearly, and realize less sensibly, the sacredness of our call and the importance of the mission committed to us? These are solemn questions, which every believer would do well to consider for himself.

If this church to-day does not call men to higher and holier living than the great churches of the world, it is not meeting the purpose of God. If the holy truth we profess does not make of us better men and women than those around us who have less light, then we are indeed to be pitied, and great will be our condemnation unless there comes a change in our experience. We can not compromise with error, and hold aloft the banner of truth. We can not partake of the spirit of the world, and maintain our friendship with God. We can not be actuated by worldly purposes and motives, and follow worldly plans of pleasure and fashion and business scheming, and at the same time have our hopes centered in heaven. The situation means one of two things to every soul,—it means, on the one hand, allowing this message to leak out of our hearts, and settling down in our experience to worldly standards and worldly ideals; or it means a complete renunciation of evil, worldly principles, and a consecration to God of every hope which we have in this world and in the world to come. A line of separation must be drawn by every heart.

God has a people in this world to-day. With all our hearts we thank him for their loyalty and faithfulness, for the surrender scores have made to give their lives a living sacrifice for the promulgation of this truth. God’s cause will triumph in the end. His people will triumph; but Seventh-day Adventists will not be saved in a denomination’s sense. There are scores of men and women belonging to our church who, unless they change their lives, will never be numbered with the redeemed. The call of God is to them. The message has come to them, in order that they may be light-bearers. They are called “to the kingdom” for such a time as this. They are asked to stand in the breach, and hold erect the banner of truth against the flood-tide of evil which is sweeping over the world. Will they heed the call of the Master?

Will every reader of these words consecrate himself to-day anew to the service of his King, determining that, regardless of what others may do, regardless of the influences of evil on every side, he will stand for God, and in these days of apostasy be a witness for truth and righteousness? The Lord will help the men and women who make this holy resolve, wherever in life their lot may be cast; whether under the most favored conditions, or as isolated Sabbath-keepers they are compelled to stand alone. Such will not be left to succumb to the influences of evil. A mighty arm will be reached out to save them, and God’s strong hand will clasp theirs with a strength that can not be broken. God calls this people to-day to higher ground, to a brighter hope, to holier living, to that place where he can pour upon them his Holy Spirit of power, by which this work will be speedily finished in the earth. Shall we heed his call? shall we meet his expectation?

F. M. W.