A Short Work Will the Lord Make by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 15, 1914

"A Short Work Will the Lord Make"

By W. A. S.

WiTH the necessity of seeing "this gospel of the kingdom" reaching all nations with its witness within the few remaining years of this generation, the declaration of the apostle becomes ever a greater comfort and assurance as the years fly by:—

"For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." Rom. 9: 28.

So it is, the apostle declares, that the remnant of God's Israel is to be gathered. The Lord himself must do it; and though he uses his people in the bearing of the message through the nations, yet his Spirit and his angels are to work away beyond the human agencies in cutting short the witness to be borne.

"I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," the Lord promises through Joel, speaking of the last days. And after recounting the signs of the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, he says, "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Joel 2: 32.

As the Spirit of God is poured out awakening souls to the necessity of preparation for the coming of the great day, the Lord guides the earnest seekers after truth to his remnant people, to whom has been committed the ministry of the closing message. And to the church he sends the word in this time when his Spirit is pleading with all flesh:—

"O Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" Isa. 40: 9.

It is a stirring picture presented in the prophecy of the closing work. The Lord pours out his Spirit upon all flesh, his angels are all abroad among men, and his remnant church awakens, and lifts up with strength the cry of the prophetic message of the Lord's soon coming.

We see these prophecies fulfilling. Converting power is attending the preaching of the message in every land. And beyond the reach of the human effort, the providential tokens of the direct working of the Lord by his Spirit and his angels continue to multiply.

Preceding the last week of prayer, the Mission Board sent out a few extracts from the latest news from mission fields, for use by ministers and church elders. For the benefit of those who may not have heard these extracts read, we give several that illustrate this feature of the direct working of the Lord upon hearts in lands where opportunity to hear the gospel from the human agent is not so common as in our own land:—

Southeast China

From B. L. Anderson: "I have just returned from a ten days' itinerating trip, visiting companies and interested persons. At Hui-An a four days' meeting was held. An evangelist has been working at this place for some time, and a good interest is manifested. At the close of the meeting ten persons were buried with their Lord in baptism, four of whom were direct from heathenism. We expect that by the first of the year nearly as many others will be prepared for this sacred ordinance. The evangelist at Hui-An had a singular experience this season. His little boy, about five years old, was taken with the bubonic plague, and from all appearances it seemed that he would soon be silent in death. The only hope of his recovery was in God. The child earnestly urged prayer. 'Pray,' he said; 'there is wonderful power in prayer.' One evening the believers, also a number of others, gathered at the chapel and united in prayer for the child. There was a heathen man in the congregation who felt the presence of the Spirit of God, and that night while sleeping upon his bed he had a view of Jesus standing by the child, and he was very definitely impressed that the boy would recover. The boy did get well, and the heathen accepted Christ as his Saviour."

The Lord Restrained

A colporteur in Europe had sold a young Catholic woman "Steps to Christ." Just then the mother appeared, raging with anger. The colporteur says:—

"Once she darted into a corner, seized a hammer, and came at me crying, 'You false man with the false books, your head must be broken.' But the Lord held her back. She sank down upon a seat and could not carry out her intention. I, on my part, kept quiet, thanking God for his wonderful help."

Japan

Elder Kuniya, of Japan, reports:—

"Recently a woman about sixty years of age became interested in the message, and attended our meetings regularly. However, her husband and son opposed her, and she finally quit coming. A few days ago she called one of our young workers, and related her experience. 'For some time,' she said, 'I was troubled greatly because my family opposed my attending your meetings. I thought it not good to disturb the peace of the home with my new religion, so decided to study and pray alone; but one night I was shown that I should attend the meetings. I heard a voice say, 'If you stop going to church, your soul will die.' Still I had not the courage to go. Very soon I was taken sick, and suffered for several days. I prayed the Lord to heal me, but the answer was, 'No.' I was perplexed and disappointed; but last night I saw the sin of neglecting to heed the warning of the messenger, and repented, and prayed to the Lord to heal me. Now the fever has left me, and I have promised to attend the meetings, and also to tell my friends and relatives of this truth.'"

It is not that these are any greater evidences of the Lord's power than we see in the thousands of conversions every year as the message is preached. But they do show how the angels of the Lord are in the field with the workers. And we realize anew by these tokens that beyond the reach of the human agent, the Lord's unseen agencies are at work everywhere among the nations. He has more angels than there are people on earth, let us ever remember; and all of them are sent

forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. And by his Spirit the Lord can speak to every soul. This is why it is not a hard thing to understand that the Lord will make a short work in the earth.

But a quick, short work on God's part, must mean ready and whole-souled devotion on the part of his people who are to be with him in the finishing of the work.

W. A. S.