Influence of the Spirit of Prophecy in Our Missionary Work
By George Ide Butler
A MISSIONARY is one sent out to propagate religion. The supreme object of the third angel's message is the advancement of true Bible religion in this world. Hence in the nature of things it is a missionary enterprise from beginning to end. The third angel's message had its beginning in the northeastern section of the United States of America, including the New England States and the eastern portion of New York. Soon missionaries began to go westward and southward, reaching Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Then Wisconsin and Illinois were entered, and a little later Iowa; and it was not long before the message began to be preached in the Southern States. The writer well remembers when the call for workers came from California, and Elders J. N. Loughborough and D. T. Bourdeau were sent to the Pacific Coast, and soon churches were raised up in that State. This advancement might be called home missionary work—work in our own country. It was not long till the foreign missionary work sprang up. Missions were opened in Central Europe, in the Scandinavian countries, and in England and Australia. These all prospered, and there has been a continual growth ever since. The Seventh-day Adventists are primarily a missionary people. Their message is to go to every land and every people in this world. All must be told of our soon-coming Saviour, and that they should be prepared to meet him in peace. From the very first, Mrs. White's labors as a missionary were most prominent. Her instruction in missionary work from the beginning of her labors to the day of her death was, Go forward. The purpose of the message is to prepare a people for the coming of Christ, and it is to go with a loud cry to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The message is the pure truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It exalts the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and has the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. As the work rapidly advanced into all the States of the American Union, and especially when it began to spread in the foreign lands, Mrs. White was always giving instruction and leading in the advancing work, and her writings were thrilling and most encouraging. She continually encouraged our people to liberality in supporting the advancing movements and the foreign mission work. She did more than this. She visited these new fields, becoming acquainted with them, and giving the new believers an opportunity to know her personally and to become acquainted with her work. She spent several years in Europe, visiting various countries, giving advice, and speaking much in important meetings. Later she spent several years in Australia, doing the same kind of work. It is not too much to say that her influence, counsels, warnings, and public efforts in the missionary work have been a wonderful help to it. Without that help it never could have accomplished what it has. The measure of influence in its behalf and the work she has done have been invaluable. Our numbers are small in comparison with the great religious bodies of the world. They count their members by millions, while ours have not nearly reached two hundred thousand; yet the percentage in money expended for missions by Seventh-day Adventists is far greater than that of any other religious body in the world. Our missions cover a wider extent of territory than those of any other one church. We have very few members among us who could be called rich, yet our ratio of increase is far higher than that of other denominations. Hundreds of heathen are receiving the religion of Christ from our missions, and scores of Catholics every year are joining our ranks. Yet we are doing far less than we ought to do. Our very existence as a people depends largely upon our missionary work. Let our missionary enterprises cease, and where should we be? The life of our work would be extinguished; our hopes would dry up; spirituality would no longer characterize our work. We should become like a stagnant pool. With a world lying in darkness and we doing nothing to spread the light of the gospel, how could we justify our existence as a people? Our only hope is to be an aggressive people, laboring for the salvation of our fellow men, because the Lord is coming soon. We must be a most wide-awake people, pressing forward, expecting our Saviour, and earnestly seeking the salvation of the perishing.