A Call to Greater Consecration by T. W. Thirlwell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 8, 1915

A Call to Greater Consecration

By T. W. Thirlwell

(Concluded)

T. W. THIRLWELL

If our people would only lay hold on the promises of God, and earnestly seek for a deeper work of grace in their hearts, with one voice pleading for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a wonderful change would take place among us. We think that we are now experiencing much of the Spirit, but we have not yet begun to receive this power. O that we could be aroused to realize this, and to pray more earnestly for this baptism of power! The church is not receiving the power of the Almighty that will attend the proclamation of this message, that will swell it into the loud cry, and close earth’s history. If ever God’s people needed an awakening, it is now. We are not half awake to the time in which we are living, and to the issues right before us. If ever there was a time when God’s people needed to give attention to their own message, it is now. Too many have come to the place where the message has lost its effect upon themselves. Many are asleep with the message sounding in their ears, and the most fearful feature of it all is that they do not realize their true condition. It seems almost impossible to get them to see the precarious place they are standing in. If ever a thorough work of reform was needed by Seventh-day Adventists, it is now.

The spirit of prophecy has given a strong call for a complete reform. “The time has come for a thorough reformation to take place. When this reformation begins, the spirit of prayer will actuate every believer, and will banish from the church the spirit of discord and strife.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VIII, page 251. While it is true that there has been a work of reform going on among us, yet it has only just begun. It has not penetrated deep enough yet. It has not done as thorough and complete a work as it should. If ever the words of the apostle Paul should be given a certain sound, given with a tone of alarm, it is now. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” Rom. 13: 11-14. If ever the message of John the Baptist, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” should be given with clearness and power, it is now, and right among the people who are professing to be looking for the soon return of their Lord, and the setting up of his kingdom. This message should sound throughout our ranks until every soul is quickened, and this work of reform is complete. God’s people are asleep to their own spiritual needs.

“In visions of the night, representations passed before me of a great reformatory movement among God’s people. Many were praising God. The sick were healed, and other miracles were wrought. A spirit of intercession was seen, even as was manifested before the great day of Pentecost. Hundreds and thousands were seen visiting families, and opening before them the Word of God. Hearts were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a spirit of genuine conversion was manifest. On every side, doors were thrown open to the proclamation of the truth. The world seemed to be enlightened with the heavenly influence. Great blessings were received by the true and humble people of God. I heard voices of thanksgiving and praise, and there seemed to be a reformation such as we witnessed in 1844.”—Id., Vol. IX, page 126.

This reform movement has not yet reached this stage. It has not come to the place where as one great wave it sweeps over God’s people. When will this reform reach its full height?—When God’s people turn to him with the whole heart. The Lord is sounding a definite call: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fellow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10: 12.

The place where the greatest impetus and power will be given this reform movement is in the pulpit. The ministers must lead forth in this work. When this work of reform definitely takes hold upon the ministers, and their lips are touched with the live coal from off the altar, there will be a return to the straight testimony of the Lord; but first their lives must be purified from all sin, and then they will give a living message, which will burn its way into the hearts of the people with convicting power. What we need is the preaching of the straight testimony. This was what brought such heart searching in 1844, when men were expecting the Lord’s soon return. Not until the church is thoroughly purified can we expect the complete outpouring to come upon it. “Men are needed who move under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The sermons preached by some of our ministers will have to be much more powerful than they are now, or many hearers will carry a tame, pointless message, which lulls people to sleep. Every discourse should be given under a sense of the awful judgments soon to fall on the world. The message of truth is to be proclaimed by lips touched with a live coal from the divine altar. My heart is filled with anguish when I think of the tame messages borne by some of our ministers, when they have a message

of life and death to bear. The ministers are asleep; the lay members are asleep; and the world is perishing in sin.”—Id., Vol. VIII, pages 36, 37.

The question may be asked, Where shall this work of seeking to arouse God’s people to see their true condition begin? No doubt every mind will turn to the camp meeting season for the opportunity of the ministry to accomplish this work. But have the ministers nothing to do to prepare themselves for this solemn and urgent work that must be done?—Yes, most emphatically.

“I saw what these yearly gatherings might be, and what they should be,—meetings of earnest labor. Ministers should seek a heart preparation before entering upon the work of helping others, for the people are far in advance of many of the ministers. They should untiringly wrestle in prayer until the Lord blesses them. When the love of God is burning on the altar of their hearts, they will not preach to exhibit their own smartness, but to present Christ, who taketh away the sins of the world. There are many flippant talkers of Bible truth, whose souls are as barren of the Spirit of God as were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain. But what we need is men who are thoroughly converted themselves, and can teach others how to give their hearts to God.”—Vol. V, pages 166, 167.

There is also a great work of preparation to be done upon the part of the members who are expecting to attend these camp meetings. It is not sufficient to prepare for the outward appearance; there should be a thorough heart preparation. In the early days of the message, weeks before the time of the camp meeting the people earnestly searched their hearts to see if any sin was lurking there; and when found, there was agonizing and pleading with God until it was put away. But this spirit has been absent to a great extent of late. There seems to be more or less confusion in getting ready; and the most needful preparation is almost if not entirely neglected, or is entered upon in a half-hearted way. It seems strange that time can scarcely be taken for heart searching. We dwell upon what a nice time we shall have, how we shall see old acquaintances; and to a great extent we forget the very purpose of the meetings. While it is pleasant to meet the brethren and sisters, yet this should be a secondary matter. It is because of these things that a great many do not come prepared spiritually to enter into the meetings. Then, again, many come in an indifferent, careless way; they come for a good time. It is through these things that the Spirit of God is held back. “I have been shown that some of our camp meetings are far from being what the Lord designed they should be. The people come unprepared for the visitation of God’s Holy Spirit. Generally the sisters devote considerable time before the meeting to the preparation of garments for the outward adorning, while they entirely forget the inward adorning, which is in the sight of God of great price. . . . While preparing for the meeting, each individual should closely and critically examine his own heart before God. If there have been unpleasant feelings, discord, or strife in families, it should be one of the first acts of preparation to confess these faults one to another and pray with and for one another. Humble yourselves before God, and make an earnest effort to empty the soul temple of all rubbish,—all envyings, all jealousies, all suspicions, all faultfindings. . . . The Lord speaks; enter into your closet, and in silence commune with your own heart; listen to the voice of truth and conscience. . . . Make a covenant with God to yield yourselves and all your powers to his service. Do not carry this undone work to the camp meeting. If it is not done at home, your own soul will suffer, and others will be greatly injured by your coldness, your stupor, your spiritual lethargy. . . .

“Here is a work for families to engage in before coming up to our holy convocations. Let the preparation for eating and dressing be a secondary matter, but let deep heart searching commence at home. Pray three times a day, and, like Jacob, be importunate. At home is the place to find Jesus; then take him with you to the meeting, and how precious will be the hours you spend there! But how can you expect to feel the presence of the Lord and see his power displayed, when the individual work of preparation for that time is neglected? For your soul’s sake, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of others, work at home. Pray as you are not accustomed to pray. Let the heart break before God. Set your house in order. Prepare your children for the occasion. Teach them that it is not of so much consequence that they appear with fine clothes as that they appear before God with clean hands and pure hearts. . . . O, how much is lost by neglecting this important work! You may be pleased with the preaching, you may become animated and revived, but the converting, reforming power of God will not be felt in the heart, and the work will not be so deep, thorough, and lasting as it should be. . . . The same work of humiliation and heart searching should also go on in the church, so that all differences and alienations among brethren may be laid aside before appearing before the Lord at these annual gatherings. Set about this work in earnest, and rest not until it is accomplished; for if you come up to the meeting with your doubts, your murmurings, your disputings, you bring evil angels into the camp, and carry darkness wherever you go. I have been shown that for want of this preparation these yearly meetings have accomplished but little.”—Id., Vol. V, pages 162-165.

Let these words of instruction sink deep into every heart, and let them be carried out in every detail; and when the people gather upon the camp ground, they will feel that they are coming in the way the Lord would have them, and that they will receive the blessing of the latter rain in a more marked manner. We should have such meetings as have never been seen among us, and the Lord would come and rain righteousness upon his people. Now is the time to prepare for the coming camp meetings, and let it be a complete and thorough work.

Clarksburg, W. Va.