The Gathering Call by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 6, 1910

The Gathering Call

By C. M. S.

God has been gathering a people out of the world through all the ages; but there comes a time when his work is to be finished. The world, in its swift race of sin, is not to go on forever. Concerning its end the prophet Jeremiah, after warning God’s people of the impending destruction, declares: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. . . . For thus saith Jehovah, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.” Jer. 4: 23-27. God created the earth and the people for his glory. Isa. 43: 7. The people who are looking for his glory are few, and the earth is tottering to its close. All the creatures of his hand were formed for his pleasure. Rev. 4: 11. They are not all fulfilling that purpose now.

So in his Word he tells us of an earnest work to be done in the earth, a work increasing in intensity until the last stroke is accomplished, when the seeming endless grind of sin shall cease. This work does not go on to its culmination with no special call, no special message, to the world. There is a final summons given before the final decree which marks the fate of the world and of the people. We find it in both the Old and the New Testament.

Zephaniah, in telling of the approach of the day of the Lord’s fierce anger, gives this call: “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zeph. 2: 1-3.

The decree of which Zephaniah speaks is without doubt the decree recorded in Rev. 22: 11: “He that is unjust, let him

be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” That decree is immediately followed by the words, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

When that decree goes forth, the “day” of which Zephaniah speaks will have passed “as the chaff,” and the purifying fires of God will begin their work upon those found to be unjust, filthy, unworthy of reward, and upon the earth itself, in which they have wrought their wickedness.

But where is the New Testament call? The other was a call to the scattered to gather together; and this call also finds its hearers and its heeders in various places and in different folds. This is the call, and it is a call from heaven: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Rev. 18: 4.

Notice the direct appeal, “my people.” The kindness and love of God are woven into that text. It is not his desire that any should perish. Warning upon warning has been given, precept upon precept, admonition upon admonition; and now comes the last urgent, loving, fatherly call. The “her” out of which he calls them is the apostate church and all its offspring, where a few faithful souls, like Lot in Sodom, are still lingering and serving God according to the best light they have received. There is no alternative. They who will not hear, or, hearing, do not heed, this last call, will be counted “partakers of her sins” and will “receive of her plagues.”

That but few will heed this last rallying call to the standard of righteousness is evident from the fact that the Word itself calls them a “remnant;” but that some will hear and heed is also evident; for at the very time when the wrath of God is being poured out upon the wicked, the inspired writer says: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. They have “come out of her,” triumphing through tribulation, and the Lord points to them as precious salvage from the wreck of a world, priceless jewels to shine forever in his crown.

The Lord’s promise to his people in this last rallying time is this: “In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” Of that time Daniel speaks thus: “And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom, which was to be “an everlasting kingdom,” “under the whole heaven.” Dan. 7: 22-27.

The call which is to gather out of all nations, kindreds, tribes, and people the company which is to possess the everlasting kingdom, is a call that is sounding in the world to-day, and honest souls in every nation under heaven are heeding it. In every great language in the world and many that are far from well known, men and women are now praising God for the truth of the third angel’s message. The call that has come to them is a call to keep the commandments of God, and they are yielding that obedience willingly. It is a warning against association or federation with that power which has sought to change or nullify God’s law, and which has belittled, or sought to prevent the keeping of, his commandments. Men and women in all lands are to-day heeding that warning. The issue is plainly marked — to keep “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” or to transgress* them, and teach others so to do. There are only two classes; there is only one final rallying call. The choice is ours, and in that choice our destiny lies. Let us firmly settle it that we will choose God’s way, obey his call, and triumph with him in the overthrow of sin. C. M. S.