Earlier text: DUTY OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE TO THE CHURCH.The Lord directed Moses to recount to the children of Israel His dealings with them in their deliverance from Egypt and their wonderful preservation in the wilderness. He was to call to mind their unbelief and murmuring when brought into trial, and the Lord’s great mercy and loving-kindness, which had never forsaken them. This would stimulate their faith and strengthen their courage. While they would be led to realize their own sin and weakness, they would realize also that God was their righteousness and strength. It is just as essential that the people of God in this day should bear in mind how and when they have been tested, and where their faith has failed; where they have imperiled His cause by their unbelief, and also by their self-confidence. God’s mercy, His sustaining providence, His never-to-be-forgotten deliverances, are to be recounted, step by step. As God’s people thus review the past, they should see that the Lord is ever repeating His dealings. They should understand the warnings given, and should beware not to repeat their mistakes. Renouncing all self-dependence, they are to trust in Him to save them from again dishonoring His name. In every victory that Satan gains, souls are imperiled. Some become the subjects of his temptations, never to recover themselves. Then let those who have made mistakes walk carefully, at every step praying, “Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.” Ps. 17:5. God sends trials to prove who will stand faithful under temptation. He brings all into trying positions, to see if they will trust in a power out of and (210)211above themselves. Every one has undiscovered traits of character that must come to light through trial. God allows those who are self-sufficient to be sorely tempted, that they may understand their helplessness. When trials come to us; when we can see before us, not an increase of prosperity, but a pressure necessitating sacrifice on the part of all, how shall we receive Satan’s insinuation that we are to have a very hard time? If we listen to his suggestions, unbelief in God will spring up. At such a time we should remember that God has always had a care for His institutions. We should look at the work He has done, the reforms He has wrought. We should gather up the evidences of Heaven’s blessings, the tokens for good, saying: “Lord, we believe in Thee, in Thy servants, and in Thy work. We will trust in Thee. The publishing house is Thine own instrumentality, and we will not fail or be discouraged. Thou hast honored us by connecting us with Thy center. We will keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. We will act our part by being true to the work of God.” If we lack faith where we are when difficulties present themselves, we would lack faith in any place. Our greatest need is faith in God. When we look on the dark side, we lose our hold on the Lord God of Israel. As the heart is opened to fears and conjectures, the path of progress is hedged up by unbelief. Let us never feel that God has forsaken His work. There must be less talking unbelief, less imagining that this one and that one is hedging up the way. Go forward in faith; trust the Lord to prepare the way for His work. Then you will find rest in Christ. As you212cultivate faith, and place yourselves in right relation to God, and by earnest prayer brace yourselves to do your duty, you will be worked by the Holy Spirit. The many problems that are now mysterious, you may solve for yourselves by continued trust in God. You need not be painfully indefinite because you are living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You may walk and work in confidence. We must have less faith in what we can do, and more faith in what the Lord can do for us, if we will have clean hands and pure hearts. You are not engaged in your own work; you are doing the work of God. More love is needed, more frankness, less suspicion, less evil-thinking. We need to be less ready to blame and accuse. It is this that is so offensive to God. The heart needs to be softened and subdued by love. The strengthless condition of our people results from the fact that their hearts are not right with God. Alienation from Him is the cause of the burdened condition of our institutions. Do not worry. By looking at appearances, and complaining when difficulty and pressure come, you reveal a sickly, enfeebled faith. By your words and your works show that your faith is invincible. The Lord is rich in resources. He owns the world. Look to Him who has light, and power, and efficiency. He will bless every one who is seeking to communicate light and love. The Lord desires all to understand that their prosperity is hid with Him in Christ; that it is dependent on their humility and meekness, their whole-hearted obedience and devotion. When they shall learn the lesson of the great Teacher, to die to self, to put no confidence in man, nor to make flesh their arm, then,213as they call upon Him, the Lord will be to them a present help in every time of need. He will guide them in judgment. He will be at their right hand to give them counsel. He will say to them, “This is the way; walk ye in it.” Let the brethren in responsible positions talk faith and courage to the workers. Cast your net on the right side of the ship, the side of faith. As long as probation continues, show what can be done by a consecrated, living church. We do not understand as we should the great conflict going on between invisible agencies, the controversy between loyal and disloyal angels. Over every man, good and evil angels strive. This is no make-believe conflict. It is not mimic battles in which we are engaged. We have to meet most powerful adversaries, and it rests with us to determine which shall win. We are to find our strength where the early disciples found theirs. “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Acts 1:14; 2:2, 4. There is no excuse for defection or despondency, because all the promises of heavenly grace are for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. The intensity of desire represented by hungering and thirsting is a pledge that the coveted supply will be given. Just as soon as we realize our inability to do God’s work, and submit to be guided by His wisdom, the Lord can work with us. If we will empty the soul of self, He will supply all our necessities. Place your mind and will where the Holy Spirit can reach them; for He will not work through another man’s mind and conscience to reach yours. With earnest prayer for wisdom, make the word of God your study. Take counsel of sanctified reason, surrendered wholly to God. Look unto Jesus in simplicity and faith. Gaze upon Jesus until the spirit faints under the excess of light. We do not half pray. We do not half believe. “Ask, and it shall be given you.” Luke 11:9. Pray, believe, strengthen one another. Pray as you never before prayed that the Lord will lay His hand upon you, that you may be able to comprehend the length and breadth and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God. The fact that we are called upon to endure trial, proves that the Lord Jesus sees in us something very precious, which He desires to develop. If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us. We do not take special pains in pruning brambles. Christ does not cast worthless stones into His furnace. It is valuable ore that He tests. The blacksmith puts the iron and steel into the fire that he may know what manner of metal they are. The Lord allows His chosen ones to be placed in the furnace of affliction, in order that He may see what temper they are of, and whether He can mold and fashion them for His work. The laws of Christ’s kingdom are so simple, and yet so complete, that man-made additions will create confusion. And the more simple our plans for work in God’s service, the more we shall accomplish. To adopt worldly policy in the work of God is to invite disaster and defeat. Simplicity and humility must characterize every effective effort for the advancement of His kingdom. In order that the gospel may go to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples, self-sacrifice must be maintained. Those in positions of trust are in all things to act as faithful stewards, conscientiously guarding the funds that have been created by the people. There must be care to prevent all needless outlay. In erecting buildings and providing facilities for the work, we should be careful not to make our preparation so elaborate as to consume money unnecessarily; for this means in every case inability to provide for the extension of the work in other fields, especially in foreign lands. Means are not to be drawn from the treasury to establish institutions in the home field, at a risk of crippling the advancement of truth in regions beyond. God’s money is to be used not only in your immediate vicinity, but in distant countries, in the islands of the sea. If His people do not engage in this work, God will surely remove the power that is not rightly appropriated. Many among believers have scarcely food enough to eat, yet in their deep poverty they bring their tithes and offerings to the Lord’s treasury. Many who know216what it is to sustain the cause of God in hard and trying circumstances have invested means in the publishing houses. They have willingly endured hardship and privation, and have watched and prayed for the success of the work. Their gifts and sacrifices express the fervent gratitude of their hearts to Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. Their prayers and their alms come up as a memorial before God. No incense more fragrant can ascend to heaven. But the work of God in its wide extent is one, and the same principles should control in all its branches. It must bear the stamp of missionary work. Every department of the cause is related to all parts of the gospel field, and the spirit that controls one department will be felt throughout the entire field. If a portion of the workers receive large wages, there are others, in different branches of the work, who also will call for high wages, and the spirit of self-sacrifice will become feeble. Other institutions will catch the same spirit, and the Lord’s favor will be removed from them; for He can never sanction selfishness. Thus our aggressive work would come to an end. It is impossible to carry it forward except by constant sacrifice. From all parts of the world the calls are coming in for men and means to carry forward the work. Shall we be compelled to say, “You must wait; we have no money in the treasury”? Some of the men of experience and piety, who led out in this work, who denied self, and did not hesitate to sacrifice for its success, are now sleeping in the grave. They were God’s appointed channels, His representative men, through whom the principles of spiritual life were communicated to the church. They had an experience of the highest value. They could not be bought or sold.217Their purity, and devotion, and self-sacrifice, their living connection with God, were blessed to the upbuilding of the work. Our institutions were characterized by the spirit of self-sacrifice. In the days when we were struggling with poverty, those who saw how wondrously God wrought for the cause, felt that no greater honor could be bestowed upon them than to be bound up with the interests of the work by sacred links which connected them with God. Would they lay down the burden and make terms with the Lord from a money point of view?—No, no. Should every time-server forsake his post, they would never desert the work. The believers who in the early history of the cause sacrificed for the upbuilding of the work were imbued with the same spirit. They felt that God demanded of all connected with His cause an unreserved consecration of body, soul, and spirit, of all their energies and capabilities, to make the work a success. But in some respects the work has deteriorated. While it has grown in extent and facilities, it has waned in piety. There is a lesson for us in the history of Solomon. The early life of this king of Israel was bright with promise. He chose the wisdom of God, and the glory of his reign excited the wonder of the world. He might have gone from strength to strength, from character to character, ever approaching nearer the similitude of the character of God; but how sad his history; he was exalted to most sacred positions of trust, but he proved unfaithful. He grew into self-sufficiency, pride, self-exaltation. The lust for political power and self-aggrandizement led him to form alliances with heathen nations. The silver of Tarshish and the gold of Ophir were procured at a terrible expense, even the sacrifice218of integrity, the betrayal of sacred trusts. Association with idolaters corrupted his faith; one false step led to another; there was a breaking down of the barriers which God had erected for the safety of His people; his life was corrupted by polygamy; and at last he gave himself to the worship of false gods. A character that had been firm and pure and elevated became weak, marked with moral inefficiency. Evil counselors were not wanting, who swayed that once noble, independent mind as they chose, because he did not make God his guide and counselor. His fine sensibilities became blunted; the conscientious, considerate spirit of his early reign was changed. Self-indulgence was his god; and, as the result, severe judgment and cruel tyranny marked his course. The extravagance practised in selfish indulgence necessitated a grinding taxation upon the poor. From the wisest king that ever swayed a scepter, Solomon became a despot. As a king he had been the idol of the nation, and that which he said and did was copied. His example exerted an influence the result of which can be fully known only when the works of all shall come in review before God, and every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. Oh, how can God bear with the misdeeds of those who have had great light and advantages, and yet follow the course of their own choosing, to their eternal harm! Solomon, who at the dedication of the temple had solemnly charged the people, “Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God” (1 Kings 8:61), chose his own way, and in his heart separated from God. The mind that was once given to God, and inspired of Him to write the most precious words of wisdom (the book of Proverbs)—truths which are immortalized—that noble mind, through evil associations219and yielding to temptation, became inefficient, weak in moral power, and Solomon dishonored himself, dishonored Israel, and dishonored God. Looking upon this picture, we see what human beings become when they venture to separate from God. One false step prepares the way for another, and every step is taken more easily than the last. Thus souls are found following another leader than Christ. All who occupy positions in our institutions will be tested. If they will make Christ their pattern, He will give them wisdom and knowledge and understanding; they will grow in grace and aptitude in Christ’s way; their characters will be molded after His similitude. If they fail of keeping the way of the Lord, another spirit will control the mind and judgment, and they will plan without the Lord, and will take their own course, and leave the positions they have occupied. The light has been given them; if they depart from it, let no man present a bribe to induce them to remain. They will be a hindrance and a snare. The time has come when everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Every case is coming in review before God; He is measuring the temple and the worshipers therein. “As a shepherd seeketh out his flock, so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered.” Eze. 34:12.
NEEDS OF THE SOUTHERN FIELD.
The Lord expects far more of us than we have given Him in unselfish service for people of all classes in the Southern states of America. This field lies at our very doors, and in it there is a great work to be done for the Master. This work must be done now, while the angels continue to hold the four winds. There is no time to lose. The Lord has long been waiting for human instrumentalities through whom to work. How much longer will He be obliged to wait for men and women to respond to the call, “Go work to-day in My vineyard”? Messengers of mercy are needed, not merely in a few places in the South, but throughout the whole field. Rich and poor are calling for light. Men and women should now be offering themselves to carry the truth into the highways and byways of this field. There are thousands who might give themselves to God for service. He would accept them and work through them, making them messengers of peace and hope. The workers will meet with many who will harden their hearts against the conviction of God’s Spirit; but they will meet also with many who are hungering221for the bread of life, and who, receiving the message, will go forth to sow the seeds of truth. When the Lord laid upon Moses the work of leading the children of Israel from Egypt, He gave him the assurance, “Certainly I will be with thee.” “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Ex. 3:12; 33:14. The same assurance is given to those who go forth to work for the Lord in the Southern field. My brethren and sisters, commune with God, that you may be imbued with His Spirit, and then go forth to bestow on others the grace you have received. The example of the Saviour should inspire us to put forth earnest, self-sacrificing effort for the good of others. He came to this world as the unwearied servant of man’s necessity. Love for the lost race was manifested in all that He said and did. He clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might stand among human beings as one of them,—a sharer of their poverty and their griefs. What a busy life He led! Day by day He might be seen entering the humble abodes of want and sorrow, speaking hope to the downcast and peace to the distressed. This is the work that He asks His people to do to-day. Humble, gracious, tender-hearted, pitiful, He went about doing good, lifting up the bowed-down and comforting the sorrowful. None who came to Him went away unhelped. To all He brought hope and gladness. Wherever He went, He carried blessing. We need to humble ourselves before God, because so few of the members of His church are putting forth efforts that in anywise compare with the efforts that the Lord desires them to put forth. The opportunities that He has given us, the promises that He has made, the privileges that He has bestowed, should inspire us222with far greater zeal and devotion. Every addition to the church should be one more agency for the carrying out of the plan of redemption. Every power of God’s people should be devoted to bringing many sons and daughters to Him. In our service there is to be no indifference, no selfishness. Any departure from self-denial, any relaxation of earnest effort, means so much power given to the enemy. AN APPEAL FOR THE COLORED RACE.
The proclamation that freed the slaves in the Southern states opened doors through which Christian workers should have entered to tell the story of the love of God. In this field there were precious jewels that the Lord’s workers should have searched for as for hidden treasure. But though the colored people have been freed from political slavery, many of them are still in the slavery of ignorance and sin. Many of them are terribly degraded. Is no message of warning to reach them? Had those to whom God has given great light and many opportunities done the work that He desires them to do, there would today be memorials all through the Southern field,—churches, sanitariums, and schools. Men and women of all classes would have been called to the gospel feast. The Lord is grieved by the woe in the Southern field. Christ has wept at the sight of this woe. Angels have hushed the music of their harps as they have looked upon a people unable, because of their past slavery, to help themselves. And yet those in whose hands God has placed the torch of truth, kindled from the divine altar, have not realized that to them is given the work of carrying the light to this sin-darkened field. There are those who have turned away from the work of res- cuing the downtrodden and degraded, refusing to help the helpless. Let the servants of Christ begin at once to redeem their neglect, that the dark stain on their record may be wiped out. The present condition of the Southern field is dishonoring to the Redeemer. But shall it lead us to believe that the commission which Christ gave to His disciples when He told them to preach the gospel to all nations, cannot be fulfilled?—No, no! Christ has power for the fulfilment of His commission. He is fully able to do the work laid upon Him. In the wilderness, armed with the weapon, “It is written,” He met and overcame the strongest temptations that the enemy could bring against Him. He proved the power of the word. It is God’s people who have failed. That His word has not the power on hearts that it ought to have is shown by the present condition of the world. But it is because men have chosen to disobey, not because the word has less power. A CALL FROM THE COLORED RACE.
The Lord has looked with sadness upon that most pitiful of all sights,—the colored race in slavery. He desires us, in our work for them, to remember their providential deliverance from slavery, their common relationship to us by creation and by redemption, and their right to the blessings of freedom. Some time ago I seemed to be, during the night season, in a meeting in which the work in the Southern field was being discussed. The questions were asked by a company of intelligent colored people: “Has God no message for the colored people of the South? Have they no souls to save? Does not the new covenant include them? If the Lord is soon to come, is it not time that something was done for the Southern field?” “We do not,” it was said, “question the need of missions in foreign lands. But we do question the right of those who claim to have present truth to pass by millions of human beings in their own country, many of whom are as ignorant as the heathen. Why is it that so little is done for the colored people of the South, many of whom are ignorant and destitute, and need to be taught that Christ is their Creator and Redeemer? How can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How can they hear without a preacher? And how can one preach except he be sent? “We lay this matter before those who profess to believe the truth for this time. What are you doing for the unenlightened colored race? Why have you not a deeper sense of the necessities of the Southern field? Does there not rest upon ministers of the gospel the responsibility of setting in operation plans whereby this people can be educated? Does not the commission of the Saviour teach this? Is it right for professing Christians to hold themselves aloof from this work, allowing a few to carry the burden? In all your plans for medical missionary work and foreign missionary work, has God given you no message for us?” Then He who has authority arose, and called upon all to give heed to the instruction that the Lord has given in regard to the work in the South. He said: “Much more evangelistic work should be done in the South. There should be a hundred workers where now there is but one.” “Let the people of God awake. Think you that the Lord will bless those who have felt no burden for this work, and who permit the way of its advancement to be hedged up?” As these words were spoken, deep feeling was manifested.225Some offered themselves as missionaries, while others sat in silence, apparently taking no interest in the subject. Then the words were spoken, “The South is a most unpromising field; but how changed would it be from what it is now if, after the colored people had been released from slavery, men and women had worked for them as Christians ought to work, teaching them how to care for themselves!” The condition of the colored people in the South is no more disheartening than was the condition of the world when Christ left heaven to come to its aid. He saw humanity sunken in wretchedness and sinfulness. He knew that men and women were depraved and degraded, and that they cherished the most loathsome vices. Angels marveled that Christ should undertake what seemed to them a hopeless task. They marveled that God could tolerate a race so sinful. They could see no room for love. But “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Christ came to this earth with a message of mercy and forgiveness. He laid the foundation for a religion by which Jew and Gentile, black and white, free and bond, are linked together in one common brotherhood, recognized as equal in the sight of God. The Saviour has a boundless love for every human being. In each one He sees capacity for improvement. With divine energy and hope He greets those for whom He has given His life. In His strength they can live a life rich in good works, filled with the power of the Spirit. The poverty of the people to whom we are sent is not to prevent us from working for them. Christ came to this earth to walk and work among the poor and suffering. They received the greatest share of His attention. And to-day, in the person of His children, He visits the poor and needy, relieving woe and alleviating suffering. Take away suffering and need, and we should have no way of understanding the mercy and love of God, no way of knowing the compassionate, sympathetic heavenly Father. Never does the gospel put on an aspect of greater loveliness than when it is brought to the most needy and destitute regions. Then it is that its light shines forth with the clearest radiance and the greatest power. Truth from the word of God enters the hovel of the peasant; rays from the Sun of Righteousness light up the rude cottage of the poor, bringing gladness to the sick and suffering. Angels of God are there, and the simple faith shown makes the crust of bread and the cup of water a banquet. The sin-pardoning Saviour welcomes the poor and ignorant, and gives them to eat of the bread that comes down from heaven. They drink of the water of life. Those who have been loathed and abandoned are through faith and pardon raised to the dignity of sons and daughters of God. Lifted above the world, they sit in heavenly places in Christ. They may have no earthly treasure, but they have found the pearl of great price. How best to accomplish the work in this difficult field is the problem before us. Long years of neglect227have made it far more difficult than it would otherwise have been. Obstructions have been accumulating. Great progress might have been made in medical missionary work. Sanitariums might have been established. The principles of health reform might have been proclaimed. This work is now to be taken up. And into it not a vestige of selfishness is to be brought. It is to be done with an earnestness, perseverance, and devotion that will open doors through which the truth can enter, and that to stay. In the South there is much that could be done by lay members of the church, persons of limited education. There are men, women, and children who need to be taught to read. These poor souls are starving for a knowledge of God. Our people in the South are not to wait for eloquent preachers, talented men; they are to take up the work which the Lord places before them, and do their best. He will accept and work through humble, earnest men and women, even though they may not be eloquent or highly educated. My brethren and sisters, devise wise plans for labor, and go forward, trusting in the Lord. Do not indulge the feeling that you are capable and keen-sighted. Begin and continue in humility. Be a living exposition of the truth. Make the word of God the man of your counsel. Then the truth will go with power, and souls will be converted. Let Sabbath-keeping families move to the South, and live out the truth before those who know it not. These families can be a help to one another, but let them be careful to do nothing that will hedge up their way. Let them do Christian-help work, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. This will have a far stronger influence for good than the preaching of sermons.228Deeds, as well as words, of sympathy are needed. Christ prefaced the giving of His message by deeds of love and benevolence. Let these workers go from house to house, helping where help is needed, and, as opportunity offers, telling the story of the cross. Christ is to be their text. They need not dwell upon doctrinal subjects; let them speak of the work and sacrifice of Christ. Let them hold up His righteousness, in their lives revealing His purity. The true missionary must be armed with the mind of Christ. His heart must be filled with Christlike love; and he must be true and steadfast to principle. In many places schools should be established, and those who are tender and sympathetic, who, like the Saviour, are touched by the sight of woe and suffering, should teach old and young. Let the word of God be taught in a way that will enable all to understand it. Let the pupils be encouraged to study the lessons of Christ. This will do more to enlarge the mind and strengthen the intellect than any other study. Nothing gives such vigor to the faculties as contact with the word of God. The cotton field is not to be the only means whereby the colored people can gain a livelihood. They are to be taught how to till the soil, how to cultivate various crops, and how to plant and care for orchards. Painstaking effort is to be put forth to develop their capabilities. Thus will be awakened in them the thought that they are of value with God, because they are His property. Among the colored people some will be found whose intellect has been too long darkened for them to be speedily fitted for usefulness. But they may be taught to know God. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness229may shine into the darkened chambers of their minds. It is their privilege to have the life that measures with the life of God. Plant in their minds uplifting, ennobling thoughts. Live before them lives that will make plain the difference between vice and purity, darkness and light. Let them read in your lives what it means to be a Christian. The chain that has been let down from the throne of God is long enough to reach to the lowest depths. Christ is able to lift the most sinful out of the pit of degradation, and to place them where they will be acknowledged as children of God, heirs with Christ to an immortal inheritance. Many are utterly discouraged. Because they have been despised and forsaken, they have become stoical. They are looked upon as unable to comprehend or to receive the gospel of Christ. Yet by the miracle of divine grace they may be changed. Under the ministration of the Holy Spirit, the stupidity that makes their uplifting appear so hopeless will pass away. The dull, clouded mind will awake. The slave of sin will be set free. Spiritual life will revive and strengthen. Vice will disappear, and ignorance will be overcome. Through the faith that works by love, the heart will be purified and the mind enlightened. There are others among the colored people who have quick perceptions and bright minds. Many of the colored race are rich in faith and trust. God sees among them precious jewels, that will one day shine out brightly. The colored people deserve more from the hands of the white people than they have received. There are thousands who have minds capable of cultivation and uplifting. With proper labor, many who have been230looked upon as hopeless will become educators of their race. Through the grace of God, the race that the enemy has for generations oppressed may rise to the dignity of God-given manhood and womanhood. The Lord desires the desert places of the South, where the outlook appears so forbidding, to become as the garden of God. Let our people arouse, and redeem the past. The obligation to work for the colored people rests heavily upon us. Shall we not try to repair, as far as lies in our power, the injury that in the past has been done to these people? Shall not the number of missionaries to the South be multiplied? Shall we not hear of many volunteers who are ready to enter this field to bring souls out of darkness and ignorance into the marvelous light in which we rejoice? God will pour out His Spirit upon those who respond to His call. In the strength of Christ they may do a work that will fill heaven with rejoicing. “Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out. . . . and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. . . . I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick. . . . And I will make with them a covenant of peace. . . . And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. . . . Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them. . . . And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.”
A good beginning has been made in the Southern field. In the forward march of events, the Lord has wrought most wonderfully for the advancement of His work. Battles have been fought, victories won. Favorable impressions have been made; much prejudice has been removed. In the night season I was taken by my Guide from place to place, from city to city, in the South. I saw the great work to be done,—that which ought to have been done years ago. We seemed to be looking at many places. Our first interest was for the places where the work has already been established, and for those where the way has opened for a beginning to be made. I saw where there are institutions for the advancement of the Lord’s work. One of these places was Graysville, and another, Huntsville, where we have industrial schools. These schools are to receive encouragement and help; for the Lord led in their establishment. Each has advantages of its own. From the light given me, I know that the work at Hildebran, if properly managed, will be a great blessing to the surrounding country. I have been instructed that we must establish schools in just such districts, away from the cities and their temptations. Eternity alone will reveal the work accomplished for the colored people by the small schools at Vicksburg, Yazoo City, and other points in the South. In this field we need many more such schools. We must provide greater facilities for the education and training of the youth, both white and colored,232in the South. Schools are to be established away from the cities, where the youth can learn to cultivate the soil, and thus help to make themselves and the school self-supporting. In connection with these schools all the different lines of work, whether agricultural or mechanical, that the situation of the place will warrant, are to be developed. Let means be gathered for the establishment of such schools. In them students may gain an education that, with God’s blessing, will prepare them to win souls to Christ. If they unite with the Saviour, they will grow in spirituality, and will become valuable workers in His vineyard. With our larger schools should be connected small sanitariums, that the students may have opportunity to gain a knowledge of medical missionary work. This line of work is to be brought into our schools as part of the regular instruction. Small sanitariums should be established in connection with the schools at Graysville and Huntsville.