“Without Me ye Can Do Nothing.” John 15: 5.
By N. Orcutt
This language of the Saviour has a broad application—covers the whole ground of present duty. We can do nothing without him. We must abide in him, and have him abide in us. To insure this, we must be faithful in the discharge of every duty. We must not be men and women of one idea, unless that “idea” be to stand complete in all the will of God, “always abounding in the work of the Lord,” in all its branches. Each day, each hour, brings its work, and to that work applies the language of Christ above quoted. And is there not danger that we may fail, at times, to take this comprehensive view of the great work before us? We may not conclude that, by contributing of our means to support the cause, we are released from the obligation to exemplify the truth in our lives, and so let our light shine; or that, by engaging in the important work of distributing publications, we shall be justified in the neglect of other duties, equally important and obligatory. This last-mentioned work should be engaged in with ardor and zeal; but that zeal should be according to knowledge, a knowledge of the divine will, a knowledge that shall impress our minds with the importance of gathering every ray of light, improving every means of grace, discharging every duty. And we must engage in this work, as well as in the discharge of all other duties, with a sense of our entire dependence upon God, and the necessity of his blessing, to insure success. Paul may plant, Apollos may water, but neither can give the increase. None but our Heavenly Father can insure the fruitful harvest. We must be in a position where our influence will gather with Christ, where, in answer to prayer, the Lord will bless our efforts, where he will work with us, and where, in humility, with grateful hearts, we may ascribe to him all the glory resulting from the effort. We should consider ourselves released from no branch of the work that has heretofore devolved upon us. Our personal efforts to overcome must be pressed with all the powers of our being. We must have clean hands and pure hearts. We must offer even our “bodies a living sacrifice”—have our whole beings purified, elevated, refined, and finally sanctified by and through the truth, that we may be able to “worship him in spirit and in truth.” Those who, without this earnest, individual work, think to labor effectually and successfully in the tract and missionary field, evidently have made a grave mistake. And this work can only be accomplished by faithful, patient, continued effort—by persistent labor in all the branches of the cause, relying upon God for help, while we avail ourselves of every aid he has placed within our reach. We should not shrink from labor and hardship. Exercise gives strength. In helping others, we help ourselves. While we carry the light to them, it shines with increasing luster on our path. The more we do for God and his cause, the larger measure of his blessing we shall enjoy. And every effort, thus put forth, will aid, in the strength and experience gained, to fit us for a larger measure of usefulness for time to come. Then while we gladly, earnestly, lay hold of this new branch of the great and closing work, let us ever remember that it is but part of the great whole. Let us never relax our efforts where we have labored or can labor for God and the truth. But rather let us accept this work as another aid to help us to develop a character and gain an experience that shall fit us to labor more successfully in the Master’s service, to stand in the time of trouble before us, and, finally, with the 144,000, to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Bearing in mind always that our individual interests are inseparably connected with the interests of the cause, taking hold of this branch of the work, in the strength of the Lord, with a determined purpose to succeed, working always in harmony with the plan and “purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,” we cannot fail. N. Orcutt.
Jamaica, Vt., April, 1873.