21:28Matthew 21:28

The verse opens a parable in which a father tells his first son to go work that day in his vineyard, where the father is God calling to service, the vineyard is his church and the world-field needing the gospel, and today means now without delay in the present time of opportunity.3SP 31.1–32.1+4
The heart of the teaching is that sincerity is tested by doing, not by saying, for the first son at first refuses but afterward repents and goes and so does his father's will, while the second son promises to go but never goes.3SP 31.1–32.1+4
The first son stands for open transgressors such as publicans and harlots who refused at first but repented under John's preaching and obeyed, and the second stands for priests, rulers and Pharisees who professed piety yet rejected God's message, so the penitent enter the kingdom before the self-righteous.3SP 31.1–32.1+4
That command comes still as God's personal present call to every son and believer to go work today, leaving no room for idleness, because all are bought by Christ's blood and must use ability, means and time for him, with delay weakening character and night coming when no one can work.STB 184.1+4
To work is to save souls by bringing light, sharing knowledge of Jesus, and serving in needy fields near at hand and in distant dark places, in self-denial and cooperation with Christ and the Holy Spirit, by which souls are won, workers grow, and the work triumphs.Ms 57, 1900, par. 9+4

The verse opens the parable of the two sons, in which a certain man or father comes to the first son and bids him go work that day in his vineyard.3SP 31.1–32.1+4 The first son at first refuses but afterward repents and goes, while the second professes willingness yet does not go, and the question put is which of them did the father's will.3SP 31.1–32.1+3 The doing of the will is proved by obedient action rather than by spoken promise alone, so that actual obedience outweighs professed obedience.3SP 31.1–32.1+4

The father or man who gives the command is God, and the command to work is God's call to serve and obey Him.Ms 88, 1899, par. 15–20+4 The vineyard is the church, the field of God's work and the fields needing the gospel, including neglected communities close at hand where delay is failure of responsibility.ST Jun 8, 1915+4 It is also the world, His great moral vineyard of cities and towns, highways and hedges, and neglected minds in darkness perishing for knowledge, and the parables that use this figure of the vineyard are worth studying.Lt 98, 1900, par. 30+4

The address as son expresses tenderness and compassion, yet the invitation to work is also an urgent requirement and command.Ms 10a, 1895, par. 103–105+4 It is a command because believers are bought with a price, are not their own, and are to glorify God in body and spirit by working for God and for souls without idly waiting for another to set them to work.Ms 10a, 1895, par. 103–105+4 Today means now, just now, without delay and without counting on tomorrow or on a long time ahead, and the day means a life period of present precious and limited probationary opportunity.Lt 47, 1895, par. 64+4

The parable was spoken to priests and rulers after they professed ignorance about whether John's baptism was from heaven or of men.DA 595.1–5+2 It belongs to the chapter recounting Christ's journey to Jerusalem at the time of the triumphal entry, whose lesson of the pretentious fruitless fig tree warns that professing to serve God without bearing fruit brings no glory to God.Lt 82, 1907, par. 9+1 He did not speak to humiliate opponents or from gladness at seeing them in difficulty, but to teach an important lesson, to present their true position before them, to add another warning to the many already given, and to use the entanglement they had brought on themselves as opportunity, as was His custom to let circumstances furnish the occasion.ST Feb 10, 1898

The leaders correctly answered that the son who went did his father's will, yet failed to see how their answer exposed them.Ms 138, 1899, par. 1–2+2 For the first son stands for publicans and harlots and open transgressors who first rejected John's teaching and God's requirements but then believed, repented, were baptized and obeyed, while the second stands for those professing virtue and piety who rejected God's message, John's call and His Son.3SP 31.1–32.1+4 Thus those who repented would enter God's kingdom before the self-righteous leaders who had greater light but did not repent and believe even after seeing and hearing.3SP 31.1–32.1+2

The test of sincerity is action, not words, and doing the Father's will counts for more than saying one will obey.3SP 31.1–32.1+4 Words, promises, and claims to righteousness are worthless unless joined with deeds, with faithful and disinterested use of knowledge received, and with works of righteousness.ST Jun 8, 1915+4 Outward profession without love for God and for others is not true righteousness but false, a fatal self-deception and a lie that denies in life and character the sonship claimed in profession.RH Jun 23, 1910+1 The call therefore asks for deeds as well as words, for surrender of the will to God with His love in the heart flowing out to others, and for cooperation with Him and with those doing His service in saving the world.RH Jun 23, 1910+2

The first son at first refuses but afterward repents and goes, and it is that eventual obedience, not the initial refusal, that shows he did his father's will.3SP 31.1–32.1+3 The second son professes willingness and promises to go but does not go, drawing back when service requires self-denial and sacrifice, and so fails to carry out his promise.COL 279.1–2+1 Like Israel's pledge at Sinai, his profession was not matched by action, and when the principles of the law and the evidence of divine authority were shown, the profession proved vain because human tradition was set above God's commandments.COL 276.1

The Pharisees claimed holiness and accepted God's call in words, but their actions showed no true love for God or others and refused the work He appointed, so through self-pride and disobedience God was about to separate Himself from the disobedient nation.RH Jun 23, 1910+1 The first son's initial refusal earns no credit and is neither condemned nor commended as a virtue, for frankness does not make disobedience right.COL 280.4–281.1+1 Refusal of God's call is sinful, insulting defiance approaching blasphemy, and though being no hypocrite and speaking frankly may, when sanctified by truth and holiness, make bold witnesses, it still leaves a man a real sinner.COL 280.4–281.1+1

The command calls for an immediate response to the Holy Spirit without hardening the heart, because delaying obedience is unsafe and the invitation may never come again.COL 280.4–281.1+1 Every cherished sin weakens character and strengthens habit and brings physical, mental, and moral depravity, molding the mind and familiarizing it with evil until right and wrong are hard to distinguish and the tempter can assail again and again.ST Jun 8, 1915 The lesson is to walk in the light while it is available and lose no ray of heavenly light, for those who know the truth must practice the truth and care for God's honor and glory because He has cared for and blessed them.Ms 78, 1893, par. 53–54+2 Present actions, including practicing the truth, and present obedience, help decide eternal destiny, and the fear of the Lord is worth more than gold or silver.Lt 98, 1900, par. 30+1

The command to work sets obedience before the Jewish teachers as their responsibility.COL 284.1 It teaches the difference between open unbelievers, who do not pretend to obey God, and professed obeyers, with the more dangerous course being that of those who regard their disobedience as obedience.Lt 98, 1900, par. 46–47 The same lesson rebukes those who in thought, word, or deed belittle or disparage the gospel ministry because it does not sustain them in erratic movements, showing they stand on perilous ground and need to learn true obedience and order in God's work.Lt 98, 1900, par. 46–47

The two sons stand for two moral classes and two responses to God, the obedient and the disobedient.RH Feb 27, 1900+4 The father's call to work in the vineyard is God's call to serve, and one class first refuses His law but later repents, obeys and enters His service, while the other professes piety and promises obedience but does not do His will.RH Feb 27, 1900+2 The vineyard is the church, and the contrast is between those who openly refuse obedience but later repent and those who profess obedience but do not obey.COL 275.2+1

The first son is publicans and harlots and other open transgressors who at first refused John's teaching and God's requirements but later repented, believed, were baptized, were converted and obeyed.3SP 31.1–32.1+4 His eventual obedience, not his initial refusal, proves he did his father's will.Ms 138, 1899, par. 1–2+1 Those who answered John's call to repent are therefore in better condition than Pharisees whose claim to obedience is contradicted by their actions.Ms 127, 1899, par. 10–14+1

That class made no profession of piety or obedience, but openly refused the restraint and obedience imposed by God's law, gave themselves to wicked ways and associations, and lived in open transgression.ST Jun 8, 1915+1 They were grossly immoral, transgressors of God's law, showing absolute resistance to His requirements, unthankful and unholy, despised and hated, holding no intercourse with the Pharisees, and their answer was a contemptuous refusal to work.ST Feb 10, 1898+1 Appearances are deceiving, for Christ does not judge from appearances but from the fruit borne.ST Feb 10, 1898

When John came preaching repentance and baptism, conviction came to their hearts and showed them the sinfulness of sin.ST Feb 10, 1898+1 Though denounced and cursed by the Pharisees as infidels, they received his message, were baptized, saw their error, repented of neglect and obeyed, and thus afterward did the Father's will by faith and works.ST Feb 10, 1898+1

The second son is the Jews, priests, rulers, Pharisees and religious leaders who professed obedience, virtue and piety and promised willingness, yet in practice rejected God's message, John's call and His Son and failed to serve as they had been called.3SP 31.1–32.1+4 Like Israel's pledge at Sinai, their profession was not matched by action.COL 276.1 When Christ came and showed them the principles of the law and evidence of His divine authority, they rejected Him, setting human tradition above God's commandments, so their worship was vain.COL 276.1

Through self-pride and disobedience, with works not corresponding to profession and actions showing no true love for God or others while refusing the work He appointed, Christ held up their religious pretensions as God views them, stripped from them the robe of apparent righteousness and holiness, laid bare their hypocrisy, and was about to separate Himself from the disobedient nation.COL 278.4+1 Those who repented stand in greater favor with God and by faith and works go into the kingdom of heaven before the self-righteous Pharisees, who were given great light and professed obedience but did not repent and believe even after seeing and hearing.3SP 31.1–32.1+4 Those who know the word of God yet refuse to obey it therefore have less hope than publicans and sinners, while the one who sees himself a sinner with no cloak, alarmed at separation from heaven and seeking healing, can be accepted and used as a worker in the vineyard.ST Jun 8, 1915

The same distinction between open unbelievers who do not pretend to obey and professed obeyers who regard their disobedience as obedience, the more dangerous course, rebukes those who in thought, word or deed belittle or disparage the gospel ministry because it does not sustain them in erratic movements.Lt 98, 1900, par. 46–47 They stand on perilous ground and need to learn true obedience and order in God's work.Lt 98, 1900, par. 46–47

The call to go work today in the vineyard is Christ's and God's present personal voice to every soul, every son, every church member and every believer, leaving no place for standing idle all day.STB 184.1+4 It is a requirement for service but not compulsory, answered by those who know the truth and give themselves to God through actions that show they believe and do the Word.Ms 120, 1899, par. 1–2 No Christian is to be idle, for every member is to be a working member active in saving souls for whom Christ died and in carrying the light Christ gives to all parts of the world.Lt 75, 1890, par. 8–10 Genuine workers feel deep interest for each new convert and find something for them to do for the Master, and each church member is responsible for the health and spiritual strength and growth of the church.Lt 75, 1890, par. 8–10 Human effort in the church on earth is combined with the agencies of the church in heaven, with angels given their part and Christ present by His Holy Spirit, and the call requires pure religion and burdened prayer for the Spirit and grace of Christ to be imparted.Lt 75, 1890, par. 8–10

Because Christ redeemed people by His sacrifice and mediation and purchased them with His precious blood, those converted to God and made through faith partakers of the divine nature are not their own.Ms 21, 1890, par. 14–16+4 They owe Him their strongest love and faithful service throughout life, coming under His banner and serving in His army and shining as lights in the world by following Him.Lt 26, 1879, par. 7–8+1 He has acquired power to lay under tribute every entrusted talent, influence, wealth, facility, faculty, ability, means and time to carry forward the work of salvation, so it is contrary to His plans for any soul with knowledge of the truth to withhold them.Ms 21, 1890, par. 14–16+1 Each is a thread in the great web of humanity to fill his position under the Captain of salvation and act a part in saving souls, using physical, mental and moral abilities for His honor and glorifying Him in body and spirit.Ms 21, 1890, par. 14–16+2 Answering requires giving Him all there is of the soul with integrity of soul, high moral resolve and self-denial in all things, accepting duties and crosses willingly without letting selfishness, pleasure, ambition or covetousness hinder, leaving no place for pleasure lovers or spendthrifts in His work.Lt 26, 1879, par. 7–8+2 Every moment of life is invested with importance and must be used and not abused and wasted, the life purchased at infinite cost is to be kept bright through grace that sustains faithful service, and there are to be no idlers in the Lord's vineyard.Ms 42, 1890, par. 41+1

The work belongs to every individual and is not limited to ordained ministers or to the pulpit.Lt 56, 1884, par. 1–5+3 Ordinary men and women straight from their trades are called in these last days into immediate work, and all who love and serve God can take part in helping educate people in error and win souls to Jesus.Lt 84, 1894, par. 5+2 Every believer must sense duty to become a worker together with God, as soldiers marshalled under Jesus Christ as Captain of salvation against spiritual wickedness.Ms 41, 1890, par. 45–51 It requires sowing beside all waters and garnering the harvest sown, each according to his several abilities, improving entrusted talents for Christ's glory so they increase and are returned to the Lord with usury, with faithfulness expected of every steward.Ms 41, 1890, par. 45–51 Those who have become Christ's servants are responsible for using their abilities in His work rather than reserving them for their own interests or leaving the work to ministers, for obedience is shown by actually laboring in the vineyard, not merely claiming to obey.Lt 56, 1884, par. 1–5 Those who answer are quickened in understanding by the Lord, and as they follow Jesus a travail of soul for perishing souls comes upon them.Lt 46, 1895, par. 1–4+1

Today means now, just now, without delay, because probationary time is precious and limited and will not permit long protracted years of drill and educational advantages that cannot be used.CT 415.2+4 The urgency comes because the Lord is coming, the last great crisis is about to break upon the world, the end of all things is at hand, and the night comes when no man can work.Lt 47, 1895, par. 64+2 Belief in the truth and the third angel's message must be acted on at once, for the time to work is now.CT 415.2 The work commanded is lifting up the Man of Calvary before those living in sin, laboring by pen and voice to sweep back false ideas about higher education, representing before a world laden with corruption the blessedness of true higher education, letting light shine forth from every believer, and pointing the weary, the heavy laden, the brokenhearted and the perplexed to Christ as the source of all spiritual life and strength.Lt 102, 1909, par. 8

To hear the call means to leave delay and do the Master's business at once, working for God and for souls now in one's own assigned field.Lt 47, 1895, par. 64+4 The address son expresses tenderness and compassion, while the command to work makes clear that the invitation is also an urgent requirement and command, because the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and believers are bought with a price and are not their own.Ms 10a, 1895, par. 103–105+4 No one should count on a long stretch of tomorrow or on having a long time ahead, and no one should stay idle waiting for someone else to direct or set him to work.Ms 10a, 1895, par. 103–105+3 Each should show wisdom and reform at once, trusting that God will give wisdom, and the call still sounds even to those still undecided.STE 149.2+1

Obeying requires an immediate willing response that leaves sin and sinful influences without delay, for lingering among them leaves a person vulnerable to repeated temptation.Ms 127, 1899, par. 55+1 It means leaving the enemy's side and taking position under Christ's banner, taking sides with Him as His followers against Satan by casting out and overcoming selfishness and covetousness.Lt 120, 1899, par. 21–22+1 It is Christ's present personal call to one who sees the truth to stop hesitating on the threshold and enter decided service today, letting light shine clear and decided for truth, taking a firm conscientious stand, obeying the commandments from love, showing faith by works, and honoring the infinite sacrifice of the Redeemer who gave His life.Lt 70, 1900, par. 2–3 Delay and uncertainty is halting between two opinions and standing in rebellion before heaven and the world, continuing to offend God by transgression and using influence against His law, while prompt obedience declares colors decidedly and shows on whose side a man stands.Lt 70, 1900, par. 2–3 Saying yes is not enough; the call requires repentance, forsaking sin, doing what is right and doing works of righteousness, not merely an agreeable promise.Ms 127, 1899, par. 56–57+1

Every person is given a part in the Lord's vineyard and called to work for God with mind and heart at the task that needs doing.Ms 141, 1899, par. 1 The command includes both going in obedience and continuing to work, and it tests sincerity by whether a person acts as well as speaks, putting knowledge to faithful unselfish use for the vineyard's Owner.Ms 141, 1899, par. 1 Every person entrusted with God's gifts, opportunities, privileges, abilities and a high and holy duty is accountable for using them in active service and usefulness in present duty, and will receive according to works.Ms 139, 1899, par. 8–10+2 Those who refuse the work God gives them, including work that could serve others, will answer to the Master at the day of reckoning, and failing to use talents to spread received truth is sinful neglect that leaves the doer self-condemned like a fruitless tree.Ms 139, 1899, par. 8–10+1 The time to work is limited, so idle speculation is to stop.RH Feb 5, 1901

Withholding this tribute of service grieves the Spirit and lays added burdens on willing laborers.Ms 21, 1890, par. 14–16 Neglect and unused opportunities hold laborers back from the harvest, leave people unreached, and leave the church not working and living as it should be.Lt 80, 1894, par. 30–33+1 In light of Calvary Christians should answer with willing self-denying response and not limit offerings to what costs them nothing, trusting that rest will come afterward.3T 407.4–408.1 Those who obey and go to work with only essential teaching given in a very short period will learn how to work, will remember instruction, and God will give grace for grace for the task.Lt 47, 1895, par. 78–80 Working as a co-laborer with Christ educates the worker, who looks in earnest prayer to Christ as a servant to his master, obeys orders as a doer of the Word, shines as the light of the world, holds forth the Word of Life, lifts Jesus up before the people and repeats His lessons.Ms 21, 1890, par. 14–16 Delaying obedience to accumulate knowledge that will never be imparted displeases God, wastes passing golden opportunities, destroys fitness for service, and causes loss of love for Jesus, loss of desire and burden for missionary effort, leaving workers far from God and less prepared to serve than at the start.Lt 47, 1895, par. 78–80

The Lord is waiting for men and women to offer themselves now, and those who respond are accepted and used as messengers of mercy, peace and hope, carrying truth to people throughout the field.7T 220.2–4 Their hearers respond differently, with some resisting conviction while others hungry for the bread of life receive the message and spread the truth.7T 220.2–4

Working in the vineyard means active stewardship and soul-saving service for the Master, occupying faithfully till He comes.Ms 57, 1900, par. 9+1 It is cooperation with Christ in carrying light to those near and far who are in error and darkness, sharing knowledge received and presenting Jesus as the only mediator rather than remaining idle.Ms 138a, 1899, par. 10+2 That labor includes sowing seeds of truth in minds, serving the neglected, teaching the uninformed, encouraging the discouraged, comforting the bereaved and suffering, helping souls in need, and pointing the weary, burdened, brokenhearted and perplexed to Christ as source of strength, life and hope.Ms 138a, 1899, par. 10+2 It requires breaking spiritual indolence, diligent prayerful effort, self-denial and self-sacrifice, and through it God aids the afflicted, works on minds and hearts, forms holiness in wholehearted servants, and gives them greater knowledge and grace for grace.Ms 138a, 1899, par. 10+2

The call applies first to needy fields close at hand and forbids passing them by for distant fields.STB 184.1+2 In America thousands are perishing in ignorance and sin in unworked fields and cities of almost every language, and their need must not be indifferently overlooked while looking afar off or thinking duty is done after giving something for foreign fields, for home work is just as important as foreign work.STB 184.1+2 The command to work today makes delay and overlooking nearby ready hearers a failure of responsibility, demanding earnest labor to warn and reach them with truth without delay.RH Oct 29, 1914+2

Obeying means denying self, lifting the cross and following Jesus by leaving Battle Creek and other crowded places where workers are not needed.Ms 12, 1889, par. 3–4+1 It means going at once to the dark places of the earth, to towns and cities and throughout the world that have not heard the message, telling the story of Christ's love trusting God for success, giving the call in the highways and hedges to come because all things are ready, and so preparing people for His soon coming.Ms 12, 1889, par. 3–4+2 As those filled with the missionary spirit go forth to make centers for His work, God will make the wilderness sacred, and the work is not to concentrate people and resources in one place or to make money.STGC 6.3–7.1+2 Rather than crowding together, believers are to plant the standard of truth anew where it is needed.STGC 6.3–7.1+2

That scattering work includes establishing sanitariums where the sick and afflicted can be cared for and schools where youth can be educated in right lines, for present and future good and spreading truth.STGC 6.3–7.1+2 It also includes establishing schools and churches in new territories, with students helping build school buildings under skilled instruction so their work educates themselves, serves as example to the community, and helps lead people to truth.STGC 6.3–7.1+1 These centers serve mission and teaching and saving those perishing in sin, not profit or concentration.RH Jul 28, 1903+1

Specific portions include labor among foreigners in America as a divinely appointed means of rapidly extending the third angel's message into all nations.RH Oct 29, 1914 Trained workers, especially those educated in their own mother tongue, should quickly find their places and labor perseveringly for Italians, Servians, Roumanians, Russians, Scandinavians, Germans, French and other nationalities in the United States and Canada who know not present truth, with God going before them to give many souls for their hire and a rich harvest, requiring strengthened hands and liberal means for aggressive labor in the great cities.RH Oct 29, 1914 The call is also a direct appeal for young and mature volunteers moved by living faith working through love to educate and help formerly enslaved people and their descendants in the South wholeheartedly rather than delaying or resting in unfulfilled intentions, and it embraces promising but hindered fields such as New Zealand where a train of circumstances has made work hard and God wants change through faithful unselfish united labor under one great Head without speculation, personal advantage, taking needed conference resources, or weakening other workers.Lt 65, 1900, par. 16–20+1

Medical missionaries are called to work today in the vineyard to save souls.STB 433.2+3 That means seeking God in truth with assurance He hears prayer, supplies needed power, fills the heart with love and joy and peace and holiness, constantly develops character, and exerts an uplifting refining sanctifying influence, leaving no room to work at cross-purposes with God.CH 424.1+1 It means not setting up profitable private practice beside sanitariums on strength of past connection, but going to many other places, to great neglected unworked fields where unselfish labor blesses many, standing with the whole armor on ready for the great review and doing the work He has given, for remaining near for gain abuses power and does a work God repudiates.CH 424.1+1

Ministers and servants are called to become workmen faithfully performing duty given, laboring for souls outside Christ wherever needed.Ms 7, 1868, par. 24–27+2 For a minister this means going out even to difficult fields with earnest persevering effort to save people rather than seeking ease.Ms 7, 1868, par. 24–27 Christians are to answer cheerfully and gladly rather than making pleasure or ease the priority, using their powers in saving souls, with selfish desires and worldly ambition not keeping anyone from serving, accepting suffering and crosses without complaint because Christ gave His life to redeem them.Lt 41, 1875, par. 2–3+1

Students and youth whose hearts are impressed by the Holy Spirit should receive only essential teaching in a very short period and then be sent forth at once to communicate light and knowledge received to those in darkness.Lt 47, 1895, par. 78–80+2 Their education should be directed toward preparation to serve without needless delay, putting present knowledge to use in soul-winning while probationary time is short, for those who obey and go to work will learn how to work and remember instruction, and God will give grace for grace.Lt 47, 1895, par. 78–80+3 Delaying obedience to accumulate knowledge that may never be imparted displeases God, wastes passing golden opportunities, destroys fitness for service, and leaves workers with loss of love for Jesus and of desire and burden for missionary effort, farther from God and less prepared than at the start.Lt 47, 1895, par. 78–80+2

Prolonged years of study with time and branches added year after year, multiplied courses, ambition for book knowledge and degrees, and waiting for full commission depress and quench faith, discourage helpers, waste time and money, injure health and spirituality, and leave men less qualified to labor in Christ's manner.Lt 47, 1895, par. 2–4+2 Teachers must be constantly on guard not to advise or allow such unnecessary delay, for a long-drawn-out process is one of Satan's snares to keep laborers back, procrastination becomes a snare, and precious probationary time will not permit long drill while fields lie neglected, souls are lost, the Lord is coming, the last crisis is about to break, and night comes when no man can work.Lt 47, 1895, par. 2–4+3 The word today demands immediate response without hardening the heart, with the object of education kept constantly in view and every effort made to hasten advancement by a proper course that fits quickly for work.Lt 47, 1895, par. 2–4+2

The command also embraces useful labor and responsibilities in the home, and no one is to remain idle or leave that work to others.Ms 24b, 1894, par. 3–5+1 It includes caring for and educating children so faithful work blesses both household and others, with each person accountable for using abilities and accepting responsibilities that serve God, household and others.Ms 24b, 1894, par. 3–5+1 As a father assigns his son work in the vineyard, a child's duty must be performed not merely promised, so parents should hold children accountable when they neglect assigned work, for overlooking neglect trains them in unfaithfulness, and children have a stewardship to obey parents and help carry home responsibilities.Ms 127, 1899, par. 60

It also embraces giving means to support those who labor in teaching truth, helping others learn and practice it.Ms 130, 1899, par. 35–37 Obeying means using every jot of ability and studying earnestly how to advance and build up the cause, working in harmony with strength united to strength, with all tact and ingenuity, under one great Head, faithfully and unselfishly, promulgating truth in many ways as missionaries more anxious for salvation of souls than for wages, laboring as Christ's witnesses under the Holy Spirit stripped of selfishness so earnest patient persevering effort converts souls.Lt 65, 1900, par. 16–20+1 Those burdened for those who do not know present truth should pray for guidance where to go, follow directions of the Holy Spirit, and go whether the conference will pay expenses or not, moving to another place when work in one place is done, with angels of God going with those who follow the Spirit's leading.Lt 314, 1907, par. 20–22+2

Faithful labor requires bringing self-denial and self-sacrifice into daily experience, for uncultivated non-producing wastes testify to unfaithful service, but when obeyed the barren parts will be sown with seeds of truth and souls won to Christ.Ms 42, 1901, par. 4+1 Obeying means showing by daily life supreme love for God and love for neighbor as self, requiring a pure clean heart, good conscience, and unfeigned faith working by love and purifying the soul, with steadfast faith in Christ as accepted personal Saviour, meekness, humility, unselfish love and obedience filling the soul with Christ's joy and giving tact and wisdom to win many.Ms 40, 1900, par. 8–10 The work to be done today without delay is to seek the Lord while He may be found, humble self before God, confess guilt and deficiencies, seek forgiveness from those hurt by unconsecrated influence, remove every stumbling block, clear rubbish from the door of the heart and open it for Him to come in, improve character so confessed sins go beforehand to judgment, and willingly submit to His discipline and molding without hesitating or demanding every step be plain beforehand, for success is measured by present humility and those refusing to move till they see all plain will never accomplish much while implicit faith presses through almost insurmountable obstacles.Lt 113, 1890, par. 17+2

Workers must constantly represent the principles of God's kingdom and the blessings of true education, doing all to God's glory as loyal faithful trustworthy subjects so worldly-wise people see riches, goodness, mercy, tenderness and courtesy of His citizens and others are drawn to God and the church enlarged.Ms 99, 1907, par. 10+2 That means yoking with Christ to watch for souls as those who must give account, cooperating with the Redeemer in tender sympathy and love for those He bought with His blood, especially little ones believing yet ignorant, weak and still learning to serve, pray and obey, caring with tenderest watchcare, never despising or offending, never grafting in a criticizing spirit or harsh disposition, but laboring as Christ worked with intense interest, love and compassion for souls perishing, seeking the lost without neglect, comforting the suffering, for without His Spirit and abiding in Him no one can do it and a blinded conscience fails to lead to it.Ms 165, 1898, par. 26–30+2

As the call is obeyed in cooperation with Christ the Master Worker, heavenly angels and the Holy Spirit, the message for dwellers on earth will be heard and understood, men will know what is truth, mountains of difficulty removed, providences seen in judgments and blessings, and truth bear away victory.Ms 147, 1897, par. 17–18+1 All who go forth in obedience at all times and in all places with responsibility for souls near and far off gain increasing desire to win souls and are blessed, so those hungering for truth receive the Word, understand the Bible as never before through the gospel preached in simplicity and fullness, hunger and thirst after righteousness, confess sins, and through faith receive remission from Christ to heaven's joy.Ms 147, 1897, par. 17–18 Those consecrating themselves and working with Him grow spiritually and in knowledge, become more closely united to Him, better understand His work and sacrifice, value people in light of His price, use entrusted talents and opportunities as channels of love and light, and look to a reward to come.Ms 42, 1901, par. 4+3

The command includes both going in obedience and continuing to work with mind and heart at the task needing doing, testing sincerity by whether one acts as well as speaks, putting knowledge to faithful unselfish use for the Owner.Ms 141, 1899, par. 1 It calls everyone seeking eternal life to strive earnestly, helping and blessing others as Christ the worker did, laboring together with God and bearing fruit of the same kind as the parent stock as branches of the vine, for a tree is known by fruit, with refusal by word and example including disrespect to parents and idleness being refusal to do His will.Lt 32, 1896, par. 14–16+1 He needs workers to know themselves and God, to know Jesus Christ whom He sent, and to understand others so they can do them good, and poverty brings no disgrace or disqualification, for sin alone is disgrace.Lt 166, 1896, par. 5 When precious opportunities pass unused He calls them to begin serving Him.Ms 117a, 1903, par. 21–23

Through Christ's mercy those once excluded from Eden by Adam's disobedience are called away from worldly disloyalty to build character by obedience to God's word and to labor together with God.Ms 141, 1899, par. 5–6 The vineyard is the world, and because He has cared for and blessed them, those knowing truth must practice truth caring for His honor and glory.Lt 98, 1900, par. 30+1 Present obedience and present actions decide destiny for eternity, the fear of the Lord is worth more than gold or silver, God looks for fruit from His vineyard through labor of His workers, every believer has work to do, and no true Christian should remain idle, with those entrusted with establishing work in foreign fields to receive special abundant advantages so efforts are not hindered.Lt 98, 1900, par. 30+2