Called to a Work by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 11, 1902

Called to a Work

By Uriah Smith

Editorial

Called to a Work

THOSE who compose this denomination were not called out from the world and from the various religious organizations merely to build up one more denomination among the many, and then to maintain a respectable existence by simply holding its own in numbers and strength. There was a work to be done which no existing body of people was willing to undertake. There was truth to be proclaimed which was rejected by the teachers of the time. An unpopular reform message was due to the world. This denomination was called to a work. As soon as it ceases to carry forward this work, it has no excuse for its existence. For a time a kind of paralysis seemed to be spreading through the body, and the very large proportion of means and effort was expended in merely trying to hold the ground already gained. But this is death to any gospel movement. The whole secret of power and of success in a reform movement is in constantly pushing the reform work into new fields. When reformers cease to do a reform work, and spend their strength in ministering to themselves, they then cease to be reformers. But the former spirit of service is being revived. There is being felt a new sense of the responsibility resting upon this people to address itself to its heaven-appointed work. Hearts are being stirred everywhere. Strong young men and women are volunteering for service in the unentered fields, and both individuals and conferences are responding to the calls for means for their support. Hope is springing up anew in many minds. There is a sound of a going in the tops of the trees, and the people are bestirring themselves. It is well. The time has fully come for a mighty work to be accomplished, and God is marshaling his forces. Happy are those who recognize the meaning of these things, and gird themselves anew for the conflict. Those who do not know the time of their visitation will share in the fate of Jerusalem of old. There is only one thing for which to live now, and that is to bear a part in sending this message quickly to the ends of the earth. This is the work to which we are called.

Our Commission

THOSE who were witnesses of the resurrection of Christ were instructed to bear their testimony “both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” After they had received the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, they entered upon their work, going from city to city and from country to country, until in that same generation the gospel “was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” They fulfilled the commission which the Master gave unto them. There is just as definite a commission which is to be fulfilled in this generation. The threefold message of Revelation 14:6–12 is to be proclaimed “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” and this movement is “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” This is our commission. To the speedy accomplishment of this work we are called upon to consecrate our time, our strength, and our means. The power upon which we are to depend in doing this work is the same as was provided for the apostles,—the presence of the risen Lord in the power of his own Spirit, according to the promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” As we accept the position offered to us of being “laborers together with God,” we shall find that God is true to himself, and true to those who loyally unite with him in establishing the principles of truth and righteousness in the hearts of the people. This is a thrilling time. Let us be faithful to our commission.

The Daily Choice

GOD has given to us the power of choice. Through his servant of old he said to his people, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Everything in Christian experience depends upon the choice which we make. We cannot forgive our own sins, but we can choose to accept the forgiving grace of God. We cannot keep ourselves from sin, but we can choose to yield ourselves to the keeping power of God. We have no power of our own to walk in the right way, but we can choose the way of truth, and then the God of truth will dwell in us and walk in us. And these choices need to be made daily. It is not enough that on some special occasion, like a revival service, we should make the right choice, but we should make a new and definite choice every day. It is well to begin each day by telling the Lord anew that we choose his way for us, and that we accept anew the provisions of his grace in our behalf. We thus put our wills on the side of the Lord’s will, and remove all barriers that would shut out his abiding presence. There is great danger lest we become absorbed in the daily routine of life, and forget that we are the servants of the Most High. The struggle for daily bread, the desire to add to our possessions, the ambition for place and position, the determination to make a success of life as the world views it,—all these factors in the problem of life are the daily reality to many, and there are comparatively few who heed in a practical way the instruction, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” The tendency is especially strong in these last days to become absorbed in the affairs of life, and neglect to choose the things of God; and so we have the warning, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” It is better to choose for God than for ourselves. It is better to choose the eternal treasure rather than the earthly riches. It is better to choose the freedom of the service of Christ rather than the slavery of sin. It is better to choose the way of life rather than the path of death. It is a wise course to make daily choice of all these better things. This will make our daily experience a blessed one.

A Personal Saviour

THE essential thing for the Christian life is a personal faith in a personal Saviour for personal salvation from sin. Nothing else will take the place of this experience. No merely fleshly effort, even in so good a work as the spread of the gospel, can satisfy the longing soul or fill the hungry soul with goodness. “Jesus alone can satisfy.” We must accept the presence of Jesus with us as a reality according to his promise. We must cultivate communion with him as

one near at hand and not afar off. We must remember his words, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Few Christians seem to believe in Jesus as a Saviour who is really present with them, a personal companion in joys and sorrows, one who makes them more than conquerors. How true it is that “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” The world does not accept the presence of Jesus because he does not come in a visible form, and the world does not believe in what it cannot see. “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” In the presence of Jesus we have the assurance of the forgiveness of sin. He becomes our righteousness. In the presence of Jesus we have the realization of the power which is able to keep us from sin. He is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory. In the presence of Jesus we have the experience of the power for Christian service. He works in us both to will and to do. In the presence of Jesus we have a rich foretaste of the joys of the world to come; for the greatest joy of heaven is that we shall see him and be like him. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

What Is a Treat to the Christian?

THE following anecdote is related of the celebrated preacher, Rowland Hill: “A member of his congregation was in the habit of attending the theater. Mr. Hill went to him, and said, This will never do,—a member of my church in the habit of attending the theater! The brother addressed replied that it must surely be a mistake, as he was not in the habit of going; although it was true that he did go, now and then, for a treat. Then you are a worse hypocrite than I ever supposed you to be, sir, said Mr. Hill. Suppose any one spread the report of me, that I ate carrion, and I replied, Well, there is nothing wrong in that; but I don’t eat carrion every day in the week, but have a dish only now and then, just for a treat. Why, you would say. What a nasty, foul, and filthy appetite Rowland Hill has to have to go to carrion for a treat. Religion is the truest treat. Christ is his truest enjoyment.”—Charlesworth’s Life of Rowland Hill.

It may be thought that Rowland Hill, in this instance, used too forcible terms, and put the matter in too strong a light. But there is a principle involved that runs through the whole gamut of sin. The man who thinks that sin of any kind is a treat, and that he must plunge into sin to secure that treat, thereby repudiates the gospel of Christ, and does despite to the Spirit of grace. It shows that in his mind, sin has the attraction, instead of the gospel. The instruction given on this point by the apostle is negative, but put in such a way as to involve the most intense and positive instruction. He says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Eph. 5:11. These works are unfruitful; and with them we are to have no fellowship. There are various ways in which this fellowship could be shown: personally, by committing the same deeds of darkness ourselves, or by conniving with others in committing them; by taking those over whom we have some measure of control, and leading them in ways of evil, by restraint, by commands, threats, inducements, or persuasions, by compulsions, by bribery or influence; by provoking through the excitements of anger, emulations, or discouragement; by counseling, advising, or guiding by example, into sin; by smiling on evil attempts, and partaking of the spoil; by agreeing and co-operating with those who walk in darkness; by conniving at sin, tolerating, concealing, or making light of it; by commending, countenancing, defending, or excusing sin already done, and contending against those who would denounce or punish it. Those who join with other churches and unite with them in spiritual communion, knowingly countenancing errors, and walking contrary to the Bible, come under this head.

In opposition to all this negative course, what is commanded? The answer is, “But rather reprove them.” This word, “reprove,” is a word of large meaning: it signifies to refute, confute, lay bare, and expose, the evil doers. It includes what the Holy Spirit will do to the world when he is come, as expressed in John 16:8. He will “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” Reproving sin means to declare the wrong of it, and manifest our hatred of it. So the believer is to aim at proving the world guilty by his holy life and bold witness. In all our attitude toward our fellow men the object should be to convert the wrongdoer. For the apostle James says, “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” James 5:20. This is to be our constant aim in dealing with those about us. We are to reprove, not as if to set ourselves up above others as more holy than they, but to convince them of the error of their way. And this reproving is to be done by the spiritually minded, and in love. “If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal. 6:1.

Much instruction is given us in the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, in regard to our walk and conversation. We are addressed as “dear children,” and exhorted to be “followers of God.” Verse 1. We are to take Christ as our example, and walk in love (verse 2); for Christ gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Then sins of uncleanness and of covetousness are not to be so much as mentioned among the saints: for because of these things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. Verses 3–6. Therefore we are not to be partakers with them in their evil deeds. “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.” Wonderful change! Therefore we are to “walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth); proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” Verses 8–10.

What may come of obedience to these commands? We shall be clear of complicity with others in their deeds of darkness, and may thus establish others in their holy non-conformity to the world. Matthew Wilks once rode in a coach with a nobleman and a female passenger. The nobleman entered into an improper conversation with the coachman and the woman. At a favorable opportunity Mr. Wilks attracted his attention, and said, “My lord, maintain your rank.” The reproof was taken, and acted upon. Let the Christian ever maintain his rank.

We return a moment to the case of Rowland Hill. Are any hankering for a treat in the service of the Lord, and looking to the ways of sin to secure it? There is a better treat coming than anything that is provided for in the paths of sin. It is thus described by Peter: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19.

U. S.