Your ShelfYour Projects

THE CALL OF THE HOUR

5%

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 24, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 52.

Read the full edition

THE CALL OF THE HOUR.

By A. G. Daniells

“The call of the hour is answered by the coming of the man.”—“Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VI, page 332.”
The call of the hour! What is it? How and by whom is that call answered?
The call of the hour is this: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” The answer to that call is: “Here am I; send me.”
The crisis of the ages is upon us. The only means in all the universe that can possibly prepare men to meet that crisis is God’s eternal truth. “His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
That truth which is the light and hope of the world comes from but one source—“the Father of lights.” “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
To every one into whose heart God has caused His light to shine, the call is given: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come.” To all who “were sometimes darkness, but now are . . . light in the Lord,” having been “called . . . out of darkness into His marvelous light,” the trumpet call sounds: “Ye are the light of the world;” “Go ye into all the world;” “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see,” and be turned “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”
This is the call of the hour, and this call can be answered in one way only,—“by the coming of the man,”—by those who have received this light, coming forward with the hearty, cheerful, sincere response, “Here am I; send me.”
Brethren, this call should be answered by us, and that without delay. We are living on “borrowed” time. The message comes to us, declaring that had we done our duty, had we answered the call of the hour as we should, the crisis would have been met and the controversy ended before this. Years ago the Lord sent His servants to the world with the message: “Come; for all things are now ready.” “The hour of His judgment is come.”
By half-heartedness, the very people who have received such great light, and on whom have been laid such tremendous responsibilities, have hindered the work of God, and delayed the coming of Jesus to bring the consummation of all things. But, thank God, this condition of things cannot continue forever. God has decreed that the reign of sin shall be broken. The cursed thing shall be brought to an end, and entirely and forever blotted from this fair universe. And although because of the hardness of our hearts, and the long-suffering of God, this work has been delayed, the cheering message comes, “There shall be delay no longer;” for “thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.”
It is said that on one occasion Napoleon appeared before an army of seven thousand men, and called for seven hundred to step forward who would follow him in a perilous charge on the enemy. In an instant, the whole army of seven thousand stepped forward, as one man.
Brethren, the call of the hour that comes from our great General is not to a part of His army, but to every one in His ranks. The call is for the very best service it is possible for every one to render. The call is for a stronger, more intelligent, and more efficient ministry. The call is for a far larger and much more capable and successful army of Bible workers and canvassers. The call is for the consecrated service of men endowed with business talents. The call is for earnest, well-informed, converted teachers, to aid in giving the children and youth of this people a Christian education. The call is for true, pure-hearted, unselfish physicians and nurses to minister to a sick, dying world. The call is for the cheerful, honest return to God of tithes and offerings from the gifts of His love bestowed upon us.
This is the call. And this call can only be answered by the coming of the man.
Brother, will you answer this call from your great Leader? As you ponder this question, remember that the call is not for men only, that it is not for numbers. The world is full of men. The call is for new men, clean men, earnest men, persevering men; for men who know nothing about failure; for men whose vocabulary excludes the word “can’t;” for men who would prefer death to defeat; for men who will resolutely press the battle against all obstacles to the very gates of the enemy.
Brother, the call of the hour is for this kind of men; no others need apply. A clear understanding of this point will clear up what is a great mystery to a class of people who cannot understand why they are not eagerly laid hold of when there is such pressing demand for hundreds of workers. The trouble with so many is that they are not workers. I do not mean that they are altogether inactive. They may keep up sufficient motion. But the call of the hour is for something more than motion. A wave of the sea keeps up motion, but it never gets anywhere. It rises and falls, it advances and recedes, and there it is, just where it started. The call of the hour is for good, common-sense, sanctified, earnest work; and this pertains to personal development and preparation for service, as well as to busy activity in the varied lines of work. Brother, ponder the following statements from the Spirit of Prophecy:—
“The ministry is no place for idlers. God’s servants are to make full proof of their ministry.” “The Lord has need of men of intense spiritual life.” “Anything less than active, earnest service for the Master gives the lie to our profession of faith.” “We are doing a work in the world, but we are not showing sufficient activity and zeal. If we were more in earnest, men would be convinced of the truth of our message. The tameness and monotony of our service for God repels many souls of a higher class, who need to see a deep, earnest, sanctified zeal. Legal religion will not answer for this age. We may perform all the outward acts of service, and yet be as destitute of the quickening influence of the Holy Spirit as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of dew and rain.”
“Those in the service of God must show animation and determination in the work of winning souls.” “If those now entering the field as laborers feel that they may relax their efforts, that, self-denial and strict economy, not only of means but of time, are not now essential, the work will retrograde. The workers at the present time should have the same degree of piety, energy, and perseverance that the leaders had.” “Without this spirit, the laborer will only mar and deface the cause of God. The work is really retrograding instead of advancing as God designs it should. Our present numbers and the extent of our work are [should not be] not to be compared with what they were in the beginning. We should consider what might have been done had every worker consecrated himself, in soul, body, and spirit, to God as he should have done.”
This is the call of the hour, and the call is answered by the coming of the man of this kind. Thousands of such men are wanted at once. Who, in the ranks of our great Leader, will answer this call now by a full surrender of all the talents of mind, body, and money, which that Leader has intrusted to him? Let every one step forward.
A. G. DANIELLS.