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THE PIONEER PAPER

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 4, 1877

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 49, No. 1.

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THE PIONEER PAPER.

By M. Wood

It would indeed be presumptuous in the writer to attempt a full description of our pioneer paper, better known as the SIGNS OF THE TIMES; nor is it at all necessary, for doubtless every intelligent reader of the SIGNS is cognizant of the fact that its merits are of intrinsic value. Its columns are filled with such matter as to instruct, encourage, and inspire hope within the breast of all who read it with a careful and prayerful attention. It is adapted to the learned and the unlearned, to the old and to the young. To the new born babes it furnishes the sincere milk of the word, i. e., the pure doctrines of the gospel of Christ as taught and practiced by the apostles.
To those who are of full age it furnishes an abundance of strong meat, and aids them in their researches after those truths pertaining to the times in which we live. I have given but a partial description of the SIGNS, showing the character of the paper properly designated as our pioneer paper, designed by its managers to be used as such by the working members of the Tract and Missionary Society. But are we doing it? Do we rightly comprehend the meaning of the word pioneer? Webster defines it thus: “One who goes before, to remove obstructions, or prepare the way for another.” The SIGNS is intended for this very purpose,—to clear away obstructions, remove prejudice, tear down those barriers erected by Satan, and thus prepare the way for the truth of God to find its way to honest hearts. We do not, brethren, place a proper estimate upon the SIGNS. It is invaluable. It is not to be estimated by dollars and cents; still this paper is offered to the T. and M. Society for the small sum of $1.50 per year. Did we but realize the importance of the mission of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, and what a weapon of defense it is against the powers of darkness when properly used by the missionary corps, I fear Bro. White would find his present edifice far too small for its publication.
Brethren, let us make one general rally around the standard of truth, re-enlist, and for life, under the banner of king Jesus. Come, while room is left us in the ranks of those who have labored and toiled and borne the burden in the heat of the day; come now and let your influence be cast on the side of truth and righteousness. Come, captains of fifties and captains of hundreds, martial your forces, present a bold front, and carry the war into the enemy’s camp. Let us rest neither day nor night until we see the SIGNS OF THE TIMES a self-sustaining paper. Let every brother and every sister in the district, yes, and in the Conference, subscribe for the SIGNS at $2.00 per year and as many copies as they consistently can for free distribution for $1.50 per year. By this means, and the efforts of the entire T. and M. Society to obtain full paying subscribers for the SIGNS, we shall soon place it upon a firm basis, and prepare the way for the truth to go to hundreds of places which otherwise might refuse to hear.
M. Wood.
Boston, Dec. 17, 1876.