p. 10 | Our Missionary Work by W. N. Glenn

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 3, 1884

Our Missionary Work.

By W. N. Glenn

THE missionary work of Seventh-day Adventists is unlike that of any other denomination. As their faith and practice are peculiar, so their work is peculiar. The message which they are commissioned to proclaim is as necessary to the professed people of God as it is to the unbeliever; in fact it is more particularly addressed to them than to any others.

It may be laid down as a safe premise, that all of God's proclamations or messages have been primarily for the benefit of his recognized people, and through them to the world. When John the Baptist came preparing the way for the first advent of the Messiah, he delivered the message only to the Jews. When the great Missionary himself came, he came only to the house of Israel; yet salvation was for all. When the apostles were commissioned to carry on the work after his ascension, they began at Jerusalem. Even when Paul was sent specially to the Gentiles, as he journeyed from city to city, he always went first into the synagogues, and taught there as long as he was permitted. And when the Jews, rejecting the message themselves, would refuse to assist in its proclamation, and begin to persecute its ministers, they would necessarily withdraw and establish some other nucleus around which to rally the faithful.

Had Israel always been obedient to the law, and faithful to follow the progressive steps of God's purpose indicated by his prophets, the church would never have known a sect, or been known by any other name than Israel. Had she been true to her trust, to her interests, and to her privileges, the disciples at Antioch would never have been called Christians. It was the rejection of the Lord's work by those who should have been its advocates, that compelled the apostles and brethren to assume an independent position, called sectarian by their derelict persecutors. And, as a matter of course, those of the established church who desired to live up to the then "present truth" had of necessity to leave their former connection and unite with the Christian "sect." Had the messages of Rev. 14 been heeded and sustained by the church, there probably would never have arisen such a denomination as Seventh-day Adventists. Those who led out in the third message were loth to organize a separate body. And such an expedient was only resorted to after the "present truth" had been repeatedly and emphatically denied place in the popular synagogues.

The message of the third angel, above referred to, is pre-eminently a proclamation to the church. At the critical period in which it is located, those who stand professedly as the light of the world stand in great need of warning. As indicated by the portentous language of the angel, they are subject to a deception fraught with the most fearful consequences. All the doctrines of this message, so plainly pointing out the errors and dangers of the church, and holding up the law of God and the faith of the soon-coming Redeemer, are of the utmost importance to those who would stand perfect in the Judgment. Our mission, then, to the churches is not to teach them what they already know, but that which they do not know, and which under popular teaching they never can know. We must follow up that which has been superficially or erroneously done in the name of the gospel of Christ, and thoroughly repair the "breach" that has been made in the "wall" and insecurely "daubed" with "untempered mortar;" for soon the test will be applied to every one's work, of what sort it is. Eze. 13.

The peculiarity of our work, then, is liable to bring much unjust censure and criticism, and even persecution. Those who engage in it must expect these things and prepare for them. It cannot be done by popular demonstration; it is emphatically a work of personal, individual appeal, for which our system of missionary labor is especially adapted. Although it is a work in which many can engage, it is one requiring special preparation,—a humble preparation of heart as well as of head. To successfully engage in this work there must first be a love of it; then a willingness to be taught as well as to teach; a patience that will bear rebuff as well as a welcome; a zeal that will labor in adversity as well as in prosperity. No man can successfully perform any work without first learning how, not only to do the work but to meet the difficulties that may arise in the way; how much more then is it necessary to prepare for engaging in the great work of the Lord. It is time for those who believe these truths to arouse to a sense of present duty. The harvest truly is ready and great, but the efficient laborers are few.

W. N. GLENN.