The Greatest Religious Movement of the Ages; Another Pentecost Due
By G. W. Reaser
The Character of Our Work Now
But what is the character of our work now, before the fulness of power comes? We are now in a constructive period. God is even now gathering out a loyal-hearted constituency of patient, truth-loving commandment-keepers in every land. Truth-laden literature is being published in earth’s multitude of tongues. An excellent Christian educational system is set in operation for the development of the children of God’s remnant people in godliness and as messengers of Heaven in this closing movement. This preparation of our children is a mighty factor in preparing their minds to be channels of the Holy Spirit in the service of the King. The believers in this threefold message constitute, under the leadership of our Captain, the wiring of the world for the mighty current of power, to be turned on by the hand of the omnipotent God when the flood-gates of heaven open wide, in the time of “the latter rain.” The central power station for this movement is the throne of the universe; the lights will be the true believers in God’s truth wherever they may be, and they will soon be set in every nation and among every “kindred, and tongue, and people,” for thither are we sending our missionaries—our children—in this constructive period.870 Even Christ’s work showed but little fruitage when he went back to heaven, but he had laid the foundation for all truly evangelistic movements till the end of time. Now, under Heaven’s leadership, we are laying the foundation for the last great Pentecost. Who among us is not happy to have a part in this constructive, this wiring, period? and who is not thrilled, overjoyed, filled with gratitude, at the thought that the next brief but mightily effectual epoch will be the period of power, and then the “eternal weight of glory”? It has been said that “a propaganda, to succeed, must have within it the driving power of a great emotion.” As we approach the close of probation, the mightiest propaganda of all the ages is heralded to the world, and the very nature of the message contained in the propaganda makes the mightiest possible appeal to the deepest emotions of the human heart. To whom was there ever committed such a message as ours? Who does not desire to remain steadfast in this glorious message until the King shall say, “Come home”? While we are in the constructive period, some are becoming discouraged because the Bridegroom seems to tarry. It is written, “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” Is it not high time to arouse and secure oil for our lamps? Many years ago I heard Elder S. N. Haskell make the statement that “God’s work in the earth will not go out at the back door.” I believed the statement then, because of the confidence that I felt in the speaker. Now I believe it because of the strong array of prophetic utterance both in the Bible and in the spirit of prophecy to corroborate it, and because “all that the Lord hath spoken” concerning the world’s great religious movements has thus far come to pass. To reconfirm our faith in the message, let us observe in conclusion, first, that each of the world’s great religious movements was the fulfilment of definite and specific prophecy; second, that each such movement exactly fulfilled every specification of the prophecy; third, that such movements as are now in the past are matters of authentic history; fourth, that the beginning of the world’s last continuous series of mighty religious movements is a matter of time prophecy, and that the only heaven-appointed religious movement now is the threefold message; fifth, that the world’s greatest religious revivals and reformations mark special phases of Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary; sixth, that the prophetic descriptions of the three herald angels and their work, beginning in the 1844 movement, have been fulfilled to the letter, and will not, cannot, be repeated; seventh, that according to the Bible and the spirit of prophecy, the world’s greatest true religious awakening is yet future, and to come as a glorious climax of the threefold message; eighth, that the Bible and the spirit of prophecy are in perfect agreement in describing all these movements. If, in the great religious movements of the past and present, all the prophetic details have been so minutely fulfilled, with what confidence and assurance can we expect, in the immediate future, the descent from heaven of the Holy Spirit in the fulness of power, and the coming down from the throne of God of the angel “having great power,” with the result that the earth will be lightened with glory, for these things are matters of the “sure word of prophecy.”