Editorial by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 1, 1904

Editorial

By Editor

Faithful Stewards

ALL that we have received is a gift from God. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” This includes truth as well as property. We are simply stewards of both. And the same divine rule applies in both of these cases: “It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” He is not a good steward who simply attempts to keep what he has. There must be an increase. According to the heavenly method of reckoning, this increase comes from imparting. There must be a sowing of seed before there can be a harvest, and “he that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” The farmer who refuses to sow any of his seed lest he should by so doing diminish his store, leaves the harvest out of his reckoning, and could not be commended as a faithful steward. So it is in spiritual things. He who imparts the truth to neighbors and friends is enlarging his own knowledge of the truth. He who gives to God’s cause is increasing his own permanent store. In the day when all earthly possessions are swept away, his loans to the Lord will be repaid with interest many times compounded, to say nothing of present experiences. God has blessed us with a knowledge of this message, and this blessing will be multiplied as we make earnest efforts to pass it along to others. God has entrusted us with means that he may thus provide for the needs of his cause in the earth. In this way we may enjoy the benefits which arise from faithfulness in our stewardship, being the channels through which the Lord dispenses his salvation to the ends of the earth. Do we believe these divine principles sufficiently so that we are ready to act upon them? If not, then what real confidence do we have in any part of God’s plan as set forth in the gospel? The providences of God are making most positive demands upon his stewards just at this time. The call is for consecrated service as represented both in personal work and in the donation of money. What response shall we make?

A Wide Difference

NEARLY every reform movement has had the experience of advancing about so far, and then losing its vital power, and becoming a mere struggle to maintain itself. A variety of causes may contribute to such a result, but foremost among them is usually a departure from the original platform, and the substitution of other issues and aims. The pioneers of the movement pass away, a new generation of workers enters the field, and new policies are adopted. Then it easily becomes a mere mechanical organization whose representatives maintain it in respectable standing, and hand it on to the next generation of officials. This advent movement has been brought face to face with just this sort of an experience. The original spirit and the characteristic methods of the early times were to a certain degree lost out of it, and the doctrines of the advent message did not carry that conviction with them which seized upon the hearers in the former days. In the minds even of some of the professional advocates of the message there was a lack of unwavering confidence in it, and outward appearances indicated the possibility that it might follow in the wake of other reform movements which ceased to reform anything. But the Lord has visited his people, and has revived the original message in their hearts. A fresh study of first principles has renewed the hope that the Lord will cut his work short in righteousness and gather home his waiting people, and this has become the inspiration to an intelligent consecration to service. We must now recognize the wide difference between planning for our successors in this movement and planning to see the finish ourselves. Under the direction of our great General we must plant the standard in every field, and push the campaign untiringly until the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This means that every believer must have but one aim—the hastening of the coming of the kingdom. When this purpose fully takes possession of this people, it will be revealed in such a way that the world will recognize it, and God will witness to it according to his Word. May we not believe that we are now entering upon this experience?