The Calls by A. R. Ogden

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 3, 1902

The Calls

By A. R. Ogden

A. R. OGDEN

Jesus calls! The nation calls! Nations of earth are continually in need of recruits for their armies. So the government of God needs men to press the battle of the kingdom to the gates.

The nation calls, and there is a ready response from thousands who are willing to enlist in the nation’s service, willing to go at the cost of life, forsaking all the comforts of home and friends, subject to the nation’s orders and direction, making long marches, leaving home land for some distant isle or other land, to protect the supposed interests of the nation under which they serve.

I have thought, especially since leaving the United States and having seen the soldiers of some other nations as well as those of the United States, How much easier it seems to procure soldiers for the governments of earth than for the kingdom of God! Why is it so?

The Christian soldier goes to save life. The other goes to take life. The Christian goes as the friend of the people whom he meets, to love and to be loved by the majority of them, fighting with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The worldly soldier goes as an enemy, to kill or to be killed, fighting with carnal weapons. I ask, Which goes with the brighter prospect, with the more promising future? Is it because of honor, wealth, or worldly fame?—Surely not, for these are naught as compared with the eternal crown of glory which the faithful in Christ are to receive. Is it because the worldly soldier has an easier time even in this world?—We can hardly think that this is the reason, even were it true. The worldly soldier leaves wife and child, father and mother, brother, sister, friends, and home, not to be his own master, but to be continually subject to his superiors. He makes long marches on foot, over dusty roads or through rain or snow, sometimes both by day and by night, through heat or cold. At night he has no comfortable bed upon which to rest; no fine hotel at which to dine. All these things are endured by hundreds and thousands for the flag under which they march. But how few are willing to go in the Lord’s work to save a perishing world, and endure less of real hardships than is endured by the average soldier.

When bidden to the feast,—and the greatest feast to a child of God is to see people for whom Christ died accepting the gospel in all its fullness and beauty, it matters not in what land, for they are all precious in the sight of the Lord,—“they all with one consent began to make excuse.” Dear reader, what excuse are you making for not doing more to carry the message and to hasten the Master’s coming? There are many now at home, working in the shop or on the farm, whom the Lord would be pleased to have out in the field, giving all their time and energy to the work of God. Will the excuse that you are making stand valid in the judgment? or will the Lord, as in the parable, say, “None of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper”? Luke 14: 18-24.

Some one may inquire, “What work can I do?” There are many ways of working. One that is always open is Christian canvassing, placing the literature in the homes of the people, thus leading them to search the Scriptures. One may say, “I do not like canvassing; it is too hard work; the books are so heavy to carry.” But I ask, Is it harder than what the worldly soldier has to bear? Are the books heavier to carry than was the cross?

Begin to do something, and do it now. Do not wait to do some great thing, but begin to perform faithfully the little things that are all about you. Many people are making the mistake of waiting until they can do some great thing for the Lord. Life consists of many small things rather than of a few great things.

The best place to begin what we sometimes call “foreign missionary work” is at home. The soldier, before he is sent to the front in the battle, receives training on the drilling ground. We are so glad that the word “foreign” is dropped from the records of Seventh-day Adventists. During the last six months since leaving our home in Kansas, we have traveled about fifteen thousand miles, and are now probably seven or eight thousand miles from home; but in all this we have scarcely felt that we were in a foreign land. It does not seem to be nearly so far as we look back, as it did to look this way. As one gets out and sees a little of the world, it grows smaller.

But what are we doing to hasten the good news of a soon-coming Saviour? How much have we sacrificed for Christ? How many hardships have we borne for the government of heaven? When we think of the hardships borne by the great missionaries of a hundred years ago, ours are not worthy of mention.

On the boat in which we came from England, there was a young man who stopped at the Falkland Islands, where there are but a few hundred people, shut off from the world, with mail communications but once a month. And this young man is bound by contract to remain for three years in the service of his country. Sometimes I think that the missionary complains more of his lot than the worldling does of his.

And what is it that constitutes the call? In the case just referred to, the government of England needed a man to go to these isolated islands, and the young man in question was willing to go, willing to endure the hardships. So the need in every crisis is that which constitutes the call. So the need to-day of earnest, active workers in all parts of the world is the call. Do not wait for some special feeling or demonstration. The Lord says, “Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.” Do you see the need? If you do, you certainly have the call.