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The Work in the East

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 26, 1864

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 24, No. 9.

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The Work in the East.

By W. C. Gage

WHILE every true-hearted believer in present truth is interested in the success of the cause in all sections of the great harvest field, and desires the prosperity of Zion as a whole, yet we believe a special interest and anxiety is felt in behalf of the labors in the East. This is but natural and just; for where so little has been done for the cause, it would seem that we might look for results which would demonstrate the power of the truth. Yet we must not expect too much, for the peculiar nature of the field is such that apparently great results should not be anticipated in the outset.
The work may properly be compared to the cultivation of a long-neglected farm, where a great amount of weeds and undergrowth must first be cleared away, before even the seed can be sown. Just so the weeds of prejudice and jealousy must here be uprooted before the soil can be prepared for the reception of the seeds of truth. Prejudice has here been sown by wild fanatical spirits by their inconsistent and erratic course of conduct, and has taken deep root, even in some of the best of soil. Oh that we might realize how much our "daily walk and conversation" tells for or against the cause of truth; and that every one of us may be a "preacher of righteousness" by means of an humble, devoted and godly life.
And while we have the evidences that prejudice is gradually but surely giving way, and the messengers are finding their way to the hearts of the people, we have abundant reason to be encouraged, for who of us does not know the sanctifying and saving power of the truth when once it reaches the heart and is carried out in the daily life.
Let us then remember that the work is the Lord's: and may our united prayers go up to him that the messengers may be encouraged and strengthened to labor on, though trials and discouraging circumstances may beset them on every hand, and that more laborers may be fitted up for service in the vineyard of the Lord. May we also learn patience, that
"Though the way be dark and dreary,"
yet we may be enabled to see the hand of the Lord working for us and with us, and feel the assurance that he will sustain us to the end.
W. C. GAGE.