A SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE by George I. Butler

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 1, 1872

A SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE.

By George I. Butler

BY ELD. GEO. I. BUTLER.

A general willingness to sacrifice for the sake of carrying out convictions of truth is the strength of any cause. Where this spirit exists, an impression will be made upon the public mind. God has planted in man a sentiment that respects sincerity, and this respect is not entirely obliterated. And there is nothing that gives so strong an evidence of sincerity as a willingness to suffer loss ourselves for the sake of our convictions. People have learned by experience that talk often amounts to but little. Professions may be insincere. Strong pledges may not be lived out. But when a man gives wealth or comfort, painful effort or life for a cause, they think he believes in it, and means what he says, for these things are universally held to be of too much value to be lightly thrown away. While talk is cheap, we cannot affect others very much in behalf of any truth, unless we can make them think we are sincere, and the only way we can do that very long is to be sincere. People reason that any belief which does not deeply effect those who know most about it, is not of much consequence, anyway.

It is very natural they should reason so, though it is not always correct. Should I represent to others that I had found a great treasure somewhere, and make very little effort to get any portion of it into my possession, and manifest indifference in reference to it, most people would think it was all a humbug. So in regard to any cause. If in our souls we believe it of great value, we shall manifest great interest for it. And as we manifest that interest by sacrifices of comfort or wealth, it has the effect to make others believe we value it, and as we are supposed to know more of it than they, of course they are more ready to esteem it of value themselves, and thus become interested in it. This is a law of the human mind, and however absurd a thing may be, it will obtain believers if its votaries are very earnest in its propagation. But if effectual in the advancement of error, how much more important in the interest of truth.

As a general rule, that cause succeeds best whose friends have most of this spirit. Every great movement of humanity, which has made a mark in history, has been brought about through the sacrifices of those who have had its success at heart. Nothing can be accomplished without such a spirit.

Let us briefly notice a few illustrations drawn from history. What was it that preserved the Catholic church from being overthrown by the reformation? When Luther, and those who were with him, arose and went forth with the power of the truth to battle with the papacy, God seemed to wonderfully bless them. The papal church was very corrupt. There was no difficulty in making the people see this, and, for a time, it seemed as if the Reformation would sweep all before it, and the Catholic power fall. Its adherents could not meet the arguments brought to bear upon them, and the Reformation made a wonderful progress. Finally the Society of Jesuits was organized under the leadership Loyola, a Spanish fanatic, whose great principle of action was obedience to the behests of the pope of Rome. They devoted themselves to his service. Unquestioned obedience was their rule of action. Death itself seemed not to daunt them. Their principles were abominable. The success of the papacy was made the sole end of their action. Anything that stood in the way of that, they hesitated not to put out of their way, if they had power to do so. They employed cunning and treachery to accomplish the ruin of their opponents.

The sacrifices of these men, had they been made in a noble cause, and from pure motives, would most certainly excite our admiration. There was scarcely a spot on the globe but what they visited to teach and enforce obedience to the pope. Young men of noble birth, of wealth and station in life, under their teaching, gave up all and consecrated themselves to the one object of the Society, and would spend a lifetime far from friends and kindred, in China or Japan, or the distant islands of the sea, toiling and suffering to instill into the minds of pagans the belief in the supremacy of the pope and the doctrines of the Catholic church.

Long before the independence of our country, they had their missionary stations on Lake Superior, on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and even on the Pacific Ocean, carrying out in these wildernesses the one great idea to which they had devoted their lives. They cultivated art, science, and the languages, so as to make themselves useful to those in authority, and in this way worked their way into kings’ courts, and among men of high station, that there they might watch for chances to cast an influence in favor of the Roman pontiff. They organized societies of nuns and sisters of charity for the instruction of youth and children of high repute for educational purposes; but these were always made subservient to one greater purpose, and that was, to instill into these tender minds a reverence for the Catholic Church and its supreme head.

There are many of these schools in our land to-day, scattered in all our great cities, and many of the refined and influential have been entangled in this influence. All these schools are under the control of the society of Jesuits. Others of these sisters are instructed to serve in families and there to learn all they can of its secrets, which they confess to the priest, and he to the bishop, so that every fact that can be made available for the benefit of the church they can use for that purpose.

Others of them give their lives to waiting upon the sick and wounded in hospitals, and are often of very great service in such times of distress, and truly put to shame many other people by their care and interest in such cases of necessity. But all these organizations have one great object in view—the success of the papacy.

These efforts of the Jesuits have done more to strengthen that church in the last two hundred years than all others combined. This influence was immediately felt upon the Reformation, and its progress very much checked. You may talk with the lowest Catholic hod-carrier and he has the same routine of argument at his tongue’s end, only of course on a smaller scale, that the learned priest has. Where did he learn it? Through the catechisms of the church and the confessional. The care and interest they manifest to instruct their children in their faith put very many of us to shame. These efforts and sacrifices have wrought wonders for the cause of error, and in spite of the fact that the spirit of the age is a spirit of investigation and of progress toward skepticism, instead of going back to the traditions of the dark ages, this band of organized, disciplined men, absorbed with this one idea, have completely turned or checked the current in many kingdoms and countries of the world. This shows what determination and sacrifice will do.

The same principle holds good in Protestant missionary operations, while these have no doubt been a benefit to mankind, and should not be compared to that which I have spoken of above. The cause of the success of these, is that men have taken their lives in their hands, gone to distant parts of the world, among cannibals and idolaters, and there toiled to set forth the light of God’s truth as they understood it. Young men of education, like Judson, devoted their whole lives in this manner, often waiting weary years to see one soul converted, perishing in prisons, and suffering martyrdom in many ways. But the result now seen has more than paid them a thousand fold. Millions of pagans have embraced civilization, and given up their heathenish practices.

We might go back, best of all, to the apostolic church, and there find the best example the world has ever seen of this principle. This, however, is quite familiar to those who are readers of the Bible. The Saviour himself sets us the greatest example. Then Paul comes in with “labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.” In this manner the truth of God was planted. The seed sprung up, and thousands and millions died for the truth they professed. Men and women of flesh and blood, like ourselves, embraced a faith which they knew rendered them liable to be stretched upon the rack till their limbs were torn from their trunk, liable to the stake, the dungeon, and starvation. A profession of religion once meant all this.

By such a spirit of sacrifice was Christ’s church built up in the earth. Satan could not stop it when such a spirit was seen. How could men help believing when such a spirit was shown? But now the enemy seems to have chosen different tactics. He comes in with apparent peace and prosperity. The church is lulled to sleep, until many think themselves good Christians who never gave a dollar for what they profess to believe the cause of truth, and think they could not spend the time to attend important meetings, for fear they shall lose some little of this world’s goods thereby. And such seem to think they shall go to the same Heaven, and have all the blessings that martyrs will have, who have given life itself for their Master’s cause.

Poor deluded souls! May God in mercy pity them, and strip from their eyes the deceptive covering which keeps them from seeing themselves as they are. Christ and his truth are just as important to-day as they ever were, just as worthy of making sacrifices for. And there are sacrifices to be made as really as ever before. The Master says, “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” What, then, shall we think of those who value a little of the filthy lucre of this world, or a little personal effort, more than the Lord’s truth? What are their chances of gaining the Lord’s favor?

A cause that is not worth making sacrifices for, is not worth choosing, when it comes to religion and eternal things. What! Expect to gain eternal life and endless happiness in the presence of the Creator of the universe, and not be willing to risk anything for it? or give anything for it? We are not in the habit of getting such valuable blessings for nothing. Not that we can ever earn them, but we should show a willingness to appreciate the value of them.

We are living in a selfish age. Men and women enough can be found to labor and suffer, when they can hope to gain worldly applause or wealth by so doing. But I believe there are few, comparatively, who are willing to risk much for God in obedience to his word. They hope to get to Heaven in an easier way. But eternity will show that there is no easier way than to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” “and thy neighbor as thyself.” Religion and its claims must be uppermost, at all times. Duty must be put before pleasure. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” must take the place of, How can I make money, or obtain ease, or please the world? It is not that God has not given us light enough, but because we don’t live up to that light, that we are so weak, so barren, so devoid of spirituality.

A spirit of sacrifice is much needed among us as a people. It is strange the devil can inspire men to labor as the Jesuits did. Is it not more strange that with such a truth as we possess, more are not moved by it? There has never been a doctrine preached, since the world was created, that we should suppose would so inspire men with a readiness to sacrifice, as this which we, as a people, believe. We look for all earthly scenes to soon close. We look for Jesus, our master, to appear in the clouds of Heaven to take vengeance on all wicked men, and to give eternal life to all who serve him. We look for these things in our day, in a very few years, at most. If property loses much of its value in the markets of the world, when threatened by calamities, why does it not in our eyes when we expect the earth to be soon swept with the besom of destruction? What is a good name in this world, to one in the shining courts above, when the one is so soon to be washed out in a sea of fire, and the other to be crowned with a halo of light through unending ages.

We believe we have a testing truth, and that men are going to be lost for not heeding it. We profess to appreciate the value of souls, that one saved is worth thousands of millions of earth’s gold. We profess to believe that we are responsible for the talents God has given us, be they one, five, or ten, and that the session of Judgment, where our faithfulness in using them will be

tested, is even now in session. We profess to believe that God has come very near to us as a people, and given us special light from Heaven more than any people have enjoyed for eighteen centuries, instructing us even in such things as food, dress, and the common things of life, what would be pleasing to him. And here we are with a mighty work to do, the world to warn, and Christ to come to reckon with us.

Under such circumstances, I say, never has there lived a people whom God has a right to expect such sacrifices from, as from us. No man can deny it, reasonably. Property, reputation, personal ease, and life itself, should be considered of minor consequence in view of such a prize so soon to be given us. I speak the words of truth and soberness when I say that we are either the worst deceived class of people on the face of the earth, or we have the greatest truth the world has ever seen, involving the most important consequences to mankind.

In view of such conditions, we should expect that every one who believed these things would be like a drilled soldier, ever in his place fighting nobly for victory, awake, terribly in earnest, ready to do anything, or be anything, if pleasing to God. That such a band will yet be seen, upon whom the Holy Spirit will be poured, and through whom God will mightily work to warn the world, is my firm conviction. Whom they will include is hard to tell. But we know very well it will only be such as cherish a spirit of sacrifice and walk in the light. The careless, the worldly, the lovers of pleasure, will fall out by the way. Even now the cause of God is crying out for those who are willing to risk something to rally to its support. At the very head of the work where vast interests are at stake, and other important enterprises involving the preparation of teachers fitted to proclaim these truths to millions, are held in check because of the lacks existing there, it is almost impossible to find men to take hold of these things. If there was a few hundred dollars to be made, plenty might be found ready to step in. But when souls are to be saved, and eternal life to be gained, where are the volunteers? These things may involve some sacrifice. We hope they will. What we need as a people is to have this spirit all through and through the body, burning out selfishness, love of ease, and awakening us to the duties of the hour. Let us not sleep on the “enchanted ground.” It lies too near the city of God to run the risk of sleeping now. Holy angels are observing us, the golden gates are opening to welcome us, thousands of hearts are ready to respond to the truth when presented to them. Shall we not earnestly take hold of the work committed to our hands? May all the people say, Amen.

Battle Creek, Mich., Aug. 1, 1872.