Helping an Important Work
By C. W. HARDESTY
THE Lord is assembling the outcasts of Israel, and gathering together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Isa. 11:12. As soon as one is reclaimed as an Israelite, he becomes one of the band of believers, and enlists in the cause of God on earth. God has ordained this unity, this “church capacity,” in order “that one may strengthen another in good and righteous endeavor;” and as Christ was and is bound up in every branch of the work, so his people are to manifest a deep interest in every branch of the message for to-day. They are his ambassadors to all the inhabitants of the world to lift up the ensign and to blow the trumpet. We have reached an epoch when we are called upon to finish the work by making a grand rally, an expeditious movement, to carry the warning to earth’s remotest bounds. What an exalted privilege! And how very careful we should be not to counterwork the plans which God himself has devised; and when the Lord tells us that there should be a revival of the canvassing work, and that our people in general should take an interest in it, each and all should look about to see what can be done to assist such a revival. He who remains at home can do much. His children should be given to the Lord’s cause, instructed and taught in the way they should go. He should also do what he can to encourage others to enter the field. Every local church elder may look over his flock, and encourage those who would be useful in carrying the printed page to enlist, reporting the names of these to the State agent. Church librarians and leaders of missionary societies, when organizing local campaigns for the sale and distribution of literature, should remember that such efforts are approved of God, and that such experiences will be of much value to all who afterward give themselves wholly to the work. Presidents of conferences have unlimited opportunities to assist in this general revival. The interest manifested by them receives the approbation of the One who organized the work; and all ministers have many grand opportunities to explain the importance of the publishing work, and to help many to enter the field, giving them counsel, and referring them to those who have been chosen to give special instruction. Your instruction as a missionary teacher means much to the youth who are rapidly forming character. When you send these children out to sell and distribute literature containing the gospel message, the Lord’s blessing rests upon them, and your work is approved of God; for these children will soon be called upon to witness for God in a larger capacity. These efforts are incentives to noble achievements. Let the people in general respond to the Lord’s call to help carry the printed page to “all places.” Each one can have a part in this work.