Missionary Workers by Nellie F. Heald

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 25, 1875

Missionary Workers.

By Nellie F. Heald

[A paper read before the New England T. & M. quarterly meeting, Nov 7, as introductory to their Society paper, entitled, The Missionary Worker.]

To be a true missionary in the cause of Christ is the highest and noblest work in which mortals can engage. Nothing so elevates and adorns the character as the possession of that spirit that will enable us to be co-workers with Christ and angels in their mission of love to fallen man. None can successfully engage in this work until they have received the spirit of Christ into their hearts, and are willing to lay aside every selfish motive, and with ardent love for the precious truths of God's word, make his glory and the salvation of souls the great object of their labors. All who truly desire to serve God will esteem it a privilege to aid in the advancement of his cause, and they will wish to labor in such a manner that he can approve and bless their efforts.

Before entering upon this sacred work, we should seek Jesus in our closets, and earnestly plead with him for the baptism of his Spirit, that we may be actuated by pure motives and unselfish love for his truth and precious souls. We need such love for Jesus, who has done so much for us, that we shall cheerfully make sacrifices and deny self for his dear sake. We need to contemplate his lovely character and unselfish life as he went about doing good, often meeting the scorn and derision of those whom he sought to bless, that we may become imbued with the same spirit. We need to plead for that moral courage that will enable us to encounter opposition and meet with disappointments and failures without becoming faint-hearted; for we must learn to endure hardness, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We need that hopeful spirit that will not be disheartened in the midst of trials. If we are Christ's, and are striving to educate ourselves for his service, we shall find it sweet to work for him.

But the heart that is wrapped up in selfishness and love of the world cannot appreciate the sweetness of such service. There is no responsive chord in the supremely selfish heart that is in unison with such service, nor with the motives that actuate it. We can but pity those persons who possess such an excess of self-love that they cannot enter upon this work; for they are strangers to the purest happiness mortals can ever know. And unless they are molded anew by the Holy Spirit, and made partakers of Christ's divine nature, they can never enter his heavenly kingdom; for no taint of selfishness can ever enter there. May He who sits as a refiner and purifier of his people enable us by his grace to attain pure, unselfish characters and become true missionaries in his cause.

There are many ways in which we may become missionary workers. If we are imbued with the spirit of the third angel's message, and with love to God and for our neighbor, we shall not be at a loss for something to do. There are golden opportunities offered us on every hand. Shall we improve them, and gain the Master's sweet approval? Or shall we idly let them slip, and meet his frown at last? Let us awake! Let us take hold of present duty. The past we cannot change; nor must we deceive ourselves with visions of future good while we overlook the duties of to-day.

Life is made up of small things, as drops make up the ocean. If we ignore the items, neglect the little opportunities of the present, we shall find in the end, to our sorrow and dismay, that we have wasted a life. There are suffering, perishing souls around us. Have we no words of warning, of love and sympathy, no prayers to offer for such as these? Shall we wrap our mantle of selfishness about us, and with folded hands sit idly at our ease, while they go down to ruin? We have but little time remaining in which to work. “For yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.”

Earth is fast filling up its cup of sin and misery, and Satan is not idle. Oh! that we might more fully realize the fearful work he is doing, and the deceptive wiles by which he leads unwary souls astray. He watches every avenue to the human heart, that he may secure an entrance, and unless we have angels of God to guard us, and the strength of Christ in which to resist him, we shall be overcome; and unless we are engaged in the service of Christ, Satan will enlist us in his own cause. We either gather with Christ or scatter abroad. We must put on the whole armor of God if we would be able to stand against the wiles of the enemy. We must be whole-hearted in the service of our Master, if we would be accepted of him, and gain the overcomer's reward. There is no time for delay in this glorious work. “Behold, I come quickly,” says our Saviour, “and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

NELLIE F. HEALD.