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WHO WILL GO?

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 10, 1876

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 48, No. 7.

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WHO WILL GO?

By D. A. Robinson

Go where? Out into the highways and hedges and search diligently for the scattered wheat that is there. Do you not know that if it remains it will be injured by the weeds that almost hide it from view? And, furthermore, it is all ready to be harvested, hence now is the time to gather it.
If these considerations are not enough to move you to action, listen to one more: Do you see those dark clouds arising? They are not the sudden uprising tokens of a gentle shower. No! no! they have been long gathering. They grow thicker and blacker—sure indications of a terrible tempest and hail storm.
Who will arise at once, hasten to the harvest-field, and bear at least one sheaf to a place of safety? Do you say wait a little? My brother, don’t you remember what father said when that thunder storm came up so suddenly? It was just at dinner time. Did we stop then? Oh, no! we hastened to the hay field. We forgot our hunger. To save the hay was the main idea before us.
But that was only a short shower, and it was hay we were trying to save; here is wheat, and it must be gathered.
And then the storm—why it comes nearer. See those dark clouds as they rise. It will never do to stand here and question; the storm will be upon us soon.
It is evident that earnest action in times of danger, even in the things of this world, is necessary to insure success. Let us consider the work of God. No earthly enterprise bears any comparison to it whatever. Think of all the honors this world can bestow; gather all its wealth into one treasury; make yourself the recipient of all its pleasures—put all these together, and then one soul is of infinitely greater value in the sight of God than all these combined.
And what is the work of God? It is to reach out after souls and attract them heavenward. “He that winneth souls is wise.” “Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Do we doubt, dear brethren and sisters, that now is the time to act? Are we questioning the propriety of arising at once and hastening to the field? The harvest is ripe. For more than a quarter of a century the reapers have been in the field, with sickles gleaming with truth, gathering in the precious, imperishable fruit.
Is it a reward you want? A sure one is in reserve for those who work. “He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.” It will be given when the Master comes. “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.”
That the storm of God’s wrath is soon to come we cannot doubt. Many are the omens that the day of the Lord is near. The time of trouble is just before us. Says Job, in speaking of it, “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?”
Can we, with these soul-stirring truths before us, sit quietly down, thinking only of ease and comfort here? And if we do this, can we expect a reward at last? A reward for what? “He that reapeth receiveth wages.”
Do I hear you saying you fear you will lose your reputation? Perhaps you will as the world looks upon it; but are you better than your Master? It is said of him, “He made himself of no reputation.” Let your reputation go to the winds, if it is this work that takes it from you.
Do you fear the reproach? “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” Says the great apostle, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.” Why could he thus speak? Ah! it was because he hoped to share in the joy of his Lord.
Again he says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The apostle when in tribulation was in the habit of contrasting the two conditions; here it is sorrow and anguish of spirit, but it is only for a moment, and it will work for us an “eternal weight of glory.” In another place he adds up the columns of suffering, but they appear very small. Thus he says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
When the dear Redeemer shall take to himself the purchase of his blood, he will then see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. It was their salvation that brought him from the realms of glory. This was the joy set before him. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
My brother, my sister, do you find crosses in the way? Do you see shame attached to the pure religion of Christ? Remember your Master. Endure the cross. Despise the shame. Think of the eternal weight of glory which will far overbalance every trial here. Take hold of the work of God with both hands earnestly, and when the angels come to gather the fruit that has been collected, may we all be prepared to shout the “harvest home.”
D. A. ROBINSON.