The Cause of God by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 4, 1875

The Cause of God.

By James White

The spirit of this world and the powers of darkness come over our people to that degree that many of them lose the true sense and real spirit of the great work God calls upon us to do, and the sacrifices he demands at our hands. God has given great light from his word; and through the power of his Spirit he has made the duty of his people, to let the light shine out to the world, very plain. And yet most of our people seem asleep, both to the value and importance of the present truth, and to the sacrifices and duties of this time. And it is to be feared that none of us fully take in the importance of vigilant and liberal action at this favorable period in our work.

A few years since, our country was involved in a terrible civil war which diverted the attention of the people from our message, and absorbed our resources so that for four anxious years the cause stood still. Now peace is restored, American slavery abolished, and candid people of our great nation, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the extreme North to the extreme South, are waiting to read and to hear the message which God has for them at this time. And he now calls upon all to act a part in the effort to send it forth upon the wings of the wind, not only in our own country, but to all others.

All cannot be preachers, writers, editors and printers. And there are many who have much to learn before they can be good tract distributors, and good colporteurs for our books and periodicals. But all can do something. Nearly all can give of their means, more or less. And those who cannot cast into the treasury as much as “two mites” can pray for God to bless and prosper the work.

It is important that all should find their proper place. A young mother of eighteen years writes that she feels that God calls her to preach the message; but she has neither education nor means. Nonsense! No doubt this sister could do good in her family, and to her neighbors, if she could see and feel the importance of a good, loving, faithful, discreet mother’s work. Her sphere of action at present, at least, is her family, and her immediate neighborhood. There she can shed a little precious light.

Others are so situated that they can shed more light, and extend it to a wider circle. And there are those whose light, like that of the greater heavenly bodies, is to extend to the ends of the earth. The wise man in his wisdom affirms, “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Eccl. 11:7. The material universe welcomes the light of the sun, and feels its dependence on his life-imparting power. And the moon, not ashamed of her dependence on a superior, cheerfully sheds her softer rays, though not original with her humble, modest self. Go out in the clear night in the absence of both sun and moon, and observe all the little stars striving to excel each other in sending down light to our dark world. The light which each contributes is indeed small, but they all seem in happy rivalry to outshine each other.

Now, what if our silver moon, through pride, or from jealousy because of her dependence, should refuse to bless any more the world with her mild light? And what if the stars, one by one, simply because their light is so small, should think it not worth their while to shine any longer? Or, what if the little rills should, one by one, begin to feel that what they do to make up the large rivers is of little or no consequence, and finally all these rivulets should cease to come down the mountains, and pass along through the valleys? God has put all the stars in the heavens to give light, and all of them in their several positions to do his will. And it takes all the water of a thousand innocent, ceaseless streams to make up majestic rivers as they sweep forward to the seas.

All should seek earnestly to find their places and work in the great cause, and with feelings of dependence on Christ, and, to a certain extent, on each other, should labor accordingly. The great apostle has illustrated the harmonious action of all the members of the church of Christ by the human body.

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.”

“If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.”

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

The cause needs more able men to preach the word, and others to edit papers and to write books. More sanctified talent is needed in the several departments of the publishing work. Just such a man is wanted at the publishing house at Battle Creek as W. C. Gage would be, if he was converted to God, and fully consecrated to the work. His genius, under good counsel, would enable him to fill a place there that but few men can fill. Satan is determined to cheat the cause out of number one talent. He is pleased that he succeeds so well in subjecting the cause of God to take up with second or third rate preachers and printers. Bro. Smith cannot do everything. He should be holding Biblical Institutes a portion of each year in different sections of our country. He must go the rounds of the camp-meetings. And there are other books for him to write. Editors and first-class printers, an electrotyper and bookbinder also, are wanted at Battle Creek, who will take hold of the work with ability and with the spirit of consecration.

And a thousand sound and devoted men and women are wanted to give their time, more or less, as their circumstances will allow, to missionary work. There are hundreds of men among us who would enter the ministry, if they could at once be full grown ministers, and receive a support. But because they cannot do this they feel that they cannot spend their time in missionary work which brings no pay. But right here is a sacrifice which the cause of God calls on them to make. The Lord is testing them on this point. There are hundreds of men of property and ability in our ranks who are losing their spiritual life in consequence of drawing back from this work. Many of them could visit the smaller churches and benefit them more than our young preachers can. With their riper judgment, their labors in our smaller churches, and with little unorganized bodies of Sabbath-keepers, in bringing them up to the plan of Systematic Benevolence, and setting things in order generally, would tell more on the general growth of the cause than the labors of our young men who bring out these small companies, and leave them to languish for the want of this very help.

These men of years and experience, who have made life a success, and have a liberal competency, are taking a fearful responsibility on them to remain at their homes with their farms, or with other worldly interests, while the cause lingers and suffers for want of their labor. This work should be done under the superintendence of the Conference Committees of the several States, who should encourage the proper persons to engage in it. We repeat the first statement in this article, that the spirit of the world, and the powers of darkness, come over our people to that degree that many of them lose the true sense and the real spirit of the great work God calls upon us to do, and the sacrifices he demands at our hands.

A few years ago, a brother at the Vermont camp-meeting inquired of us, “What branch of the work most needs means?” We then replied, “No branch of the work is in want of means.” He had brought $300 from New Hampshire to put into our hands to appropriate to advance the cause where we thought most needed. He put the money in his pocket, and took it home. But a great change has taken place in the condition of the cause during the past five years. God’s providence has gone before us, and has opened fields of usefulness in a wonderful manner which demand of us as a people sacrifices, labors, means, and vigilance, as at no previous time.

Eld. Bourdeau and family must go to Europe. Who will provide the means? Eld. Andrews will want cash to establish the press in Switzerland, and sustain it there for awhile until the work in Europe shall be self-sustaining. Who among our people will not be happy to help? And 10,000 copies of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES should be sent out into the great missionary field before New Years. And who is there among our people that has not from one to ten or more friends to whom they wish to send the SIGNS for one year, post-paid, for the small sum of $1.50 each?

We call on 10,000 Sabbath-keepers to go to canvassing for the SIGNS on their own account. We do not ask you to simply sit down and think up a half-dozen of your friends, and send us their names and addresses, and the sum of $9, in greenbacks, then have nothing more to do in the matter. No; we ask you to visit them or write to them, and get their consent to receive and read our Pacific paper. And then we ask you to visit them, or write to them, and labor to increase their interest in the doctrines it teaches. If you have a title the hang-on of a trained book or picture canvasser, a patent-right vender; or a lightning rod agent, you can in three-fourths of the cases collect the small sum of $1.50 for the SIGNS one year.

And here is work for the Tract and Missionary Societies in the several States. We recommend individual effort first, the cost of the paper to be paid by the individuals who order it for their friends. Mrs. W. and the writer have sent our periodicals to our relatives and friends for years, and have paid for them from our own purses when at the same time we were donating hundreds of dollars to the T. & M. Society. But after this individual canvassing and liberality, then let the T. and M. Societies take hold of the work in a proper manner.

We object to the whole plan of filling a certain quota of subscribers in a given time. In the first place, the quota of no State will be full as long as there is time and opportunity for one more to have the paper who will read it with profit. And in the second place, we regard it as an indirect course to pervert the real object of the T. & M. work. If the mission of this Society is to adopt and carry out a system to expend money and find a deal of hard work for printers for small pay, to accomplish comparatively little good, then the quota plan in a given time is a good one. But we supposed that it meant missionary labor in visiting, conversation, prayer, and writing godly letters to all those who received the papers.

But to sit down and make out a list of names and addresses in order to fill a certain quota in a given time, and forward them to the Office, and drop the matter there, is not doing missionary work. Ministers are generally the most doubtful cases. And yet for the trial volume of the REVIEW for 1872-3, long strings of names of Elders and Reverends, and Doctors of Divinity, came in, even the name of the pastor of the Plymouth church, Brooklyn, N. Y. We object to troubling that class of men with so much waste papers. They have neither time nor disposition to read our papers.

It is missionary work that the present state of the cause demands. We do not say that too much money has been expended; but we do say that there has been too little real missionary work done. With the same amount of means as has been expended, with a corresponding amount of well-directed labor, ten times as much good could have been accomplished. But our people generally have not their heart in the work. Would God they would come very near to him, and taste his love, and feel his power, and cultivate a love for true missionary labor. Would they be strong? They should labor for the weak. Would they be filled with light? Then they should love to impart light to others. Missionary work will amount to but little among our people, until they come where they will take great delight in it, and feel the blessing of God attending them in their efforts to bless others.

And it is high time that the murmurers and complainers get out of the way of those who labor to promote the cause, and cheerfully spend their time, energies, and means, for its advancement. But these things have ever existed, and ever will exist, until Satan, the first jealous and envious spirit, shall be chained. The sum of the matter is this: These persons hold themselves ready to be tempted of the devil. They give a willing ear to his suggestions, and are taken captive by Satan at his will. Judging from the past, not one in ten of these will ever free themselves from the power of Satan.

When in the Rocky Mountains we consecrated all to the Lord. In a most solemn covenant there Mrs. W. and writer consecrated ourselves, our children, and our property, to the cause of God. With his Spirit upon us, in prayer we there told the Lord that we had no other use for ourselves, our children, and our property, only in his cause. And there God did accept of us, of them, and of it. The Lord has given us unexpected health and freedom. He has brought all our dear children into connection with the publication of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, and has given a heart and ability to accomplish what we never hoped from them. And he is opening the way for us to use our means to his glory. How blessed and glorious to be all the Lord’s.

We are very happy to be free from the general care of the SIGNS Office, so as to devote our time to writing. Mrs. W. will join us in filling a large portion of each number of the SIGNS. We both feel assured that we have a special mission to the world through the medium of the press. We ask for 20,000 subscribers for the SIGNS, and, by the grace of God, we will let the light which he has given to us shine forth to the world.

J. W.