An Appeal to Young Men and Women by E. A. Sutherland

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 19, 1909

An Appeal to Young Men and Women

By E. A. Sutherland

E. A. SUTHERLAND

THERE is a great law of the mind which reads, “As he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” God works in harmony with that law. He tells us what to let the mind dwell upon in order to develop the character he would have us form.

We have an instance of this in the book of Deuteronomy. There we read that the children of Israel were told to repeat often to their little ones the story of the conquest of the promised land. The leaders in that great movement, such men as Caleb and Joshua, were characters worth studying. God wanted the children as they grew up to let their minds dwell upon the sturdy, self-sacrificing spirit of these leaders. By so doing, the children would become sturdy burden-bearers, men and women with the Caleb and Joshua spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to God.

We have passed through an experience similar to that of the children of Israel. The third angel’s message was proclaimed by persons of great faith and courage. Such were Elder James White and his wife, Elders Joseph Bates and J. N. Andrews, and many others that could be mentioned. They were bold, brave spirits who forgot themselves and their personal comforts in their zeal for the cause of God. When the Lord impressed these men to move out in any direction, they did not hesitate over the question of personal comfort, salary, or any such thing. They moved straight forward and did nobly the work that God gave them to do. They laid the foundation for the greatest movement that the world has ever known.

It is the duty of our young people to let their minds dwell upon the work done by these pioneers. As we do this, we shall become like them in spirit and courage.

The leaders in the days of Israel did a great work, but some things remained for the young people to do. To-day we find that the pioneers in the third angel’s message have likewise left some work for the young people to do. There are still some nations to conquer. Our pioneers were soldiers, solid Christian soldiers. But many of our young people shrink from the life and duties of a soldier, while the Lord is saying that our schools should train for the battlefield.

The Lord intends the Southern field to be a great training-school for thousands of young Seventh-day Adventists. The South offers them an opportunity to gain the same experience that the pioneers had. The Lord says he has been waiting twenty years for our young people to do the work that is needed in the South. Recently the message has come: “The Lord is certainly opening the way for us as a people to divide and subdivide the large companies that have grown too large to work together to the greatest advantage. . . . Properties will be offered for sale in the rural districts of the South at prices below the real cost because the owners desire city advantages. . . . When driven from the cities, or when sent to other countries, the trades learned in our schools may be an influence in favor of the truth. The last call should be made just as important in new places in this country as in distant lands. Enter every possible place and begin the work of education in vicinities where they have not heard the truth. . . . I am instructed that angels will direct in the opening of fields nigh as well as far off. . . . Why did our Saviour labor to sow seed in out-of-the-way places? Why did he travel slowly from the villages? . . . He chose as a missionary field places which others could not discern as especially advantageous.” “For twenty years it has been before our people that they must do a special work in the Southern States. When the Lord repeatedly sends messages to his people, it is because he desires them to follow the light he has given. We are not to work in the same places over and over again. . . . As a people we need to yet learn what it means to fill our place as missionaries among the people who know not the truth for this time. . . . Every city in the Southern States, every town and village, must have earnest work done for it. That field will be missionary soil until many churches are raised up.”

Madison, Tenn.