LIVING ON AN OLD EXPERIENCE.
By J. H. Rogers
One of the greatest difficulties we have in getting persons to see and accept present truth, is an old experience. In our labor we are sometimes met with such objections as, “I was converted at such a time, and know that I am a child of God; so I shall not listen to your idea of those new things you bring to view. If these things are necessary, why were they not seen before? Great and good men have lived, and died, and gone to heaven, and they never kept the Sabbath you speak of, nor believed in Christ’s soon coming. What is the use of stirring up the people on those things? My father and mother were good Christians, and are saved; so I am satisfied to live and die as they did. Then this idea of proselyting; I think it is wrong to get people from the church they were brought up in, as that keeps the people stirred up.” These are some of the objections that are met in giving to the people the advancing light for this time. But, brethren and sisters, old Sabbath-keepers, I want to say to you, that we find some among us living on their own experience, having settled down in a condition equally deplorable and dangerous. We profess to be giving the last message to be given to the world before the Lord comes, and yet some among us seem to be settled down and fast asleep in Satan’s easy chair, doing nothing to warn the world; and talking of the great things they have done in the past, how they bore burdens, kept preachers, attended meetings, and how strictly they kept the Sabbath, and how much they enjoyed the truth,—all of which we have no doubt they did. But of such we ask, What are you doing now? How are you feeling in regard to the advancement of the cause at the present time? “Is your heart warm, glowing,
With His love o’er-flowing?” or have you settled down and begun to murmur in regard to the workings of the cause? Are you suggesting doubts in regard to the raising of so much money, or manifesting disapproval of the appeals for all to do more than they have ever done before,—seeming to forget that the Lord has placed them here in the world as His representatives, and expects them to reflect the light of truth wherever they are and show themselves a pattern of good works in all things? Brethren, the time has come for us to realize that living on an old experience will not do for us any more than it will for others. To trust to this is like relying on the food we ate yesterday to sustain us to-day. We must have a living, daily experience, ever advancing as we near the end, being more zealous and investing more to advance the cause of God. Shall we be like men with our loins girded and our lights burning, seeking how we may bear some part in this closing work? Yankton, S. D. J. H. ROGERS.