There should be a decided change in the
spirit and character of the work in the places where men and
women have received increased light. What are they doing to warn
those who do not understand that the Lord is soon coming? "Behold,
the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of
the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her
blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26:21.
Who, I ask, is carrying a burden for the souls that are perishing
out of Christ? Who will go forth without the camp, bearing the reproach? Who will leave pleasant
homes and dear ties of relationship, and carry the precious light
of truth to far-off lands? Every day, every moment, comes to
those to whom have been entrusted the light of truth, weighted
with the terrible significance that men and women in every land
are preparing themselves for weal or for woe, fixing their destiny
for eternity.
God has made amazing sacrifices for human
beings. He has expended mighty energy to reclaim man from transgression
and sin to loyalty and obedience, but I have been shown that
He does nothing without the co-operation of human agencies. Every
endowment of grace and power and efficiency has been liberally
provided. The strongest motives have been presented to arouse
and keep alive in the human heart the missionary spirit, that
efforts of divine and human agencies may be combined. But what
have our people done in regard to moving out of Battle Creek,
to carry the light to regions where the standard has never yet
been planted? Did not the Lord at the recent Conference open
the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing? What use have
you made of the gift of God? He has supplied you with the motive
force of action, that with patience and hope and untiring vigilance
you might set forth Christ and Him crucified, calling men to
repent of their sins, sounding the note of warning that Christ
is soon to come with power and great glory.
If the members of the Battle Creek church
do not arouse now and go to work in missionary fields, they will
fall back into deathlike slumber. How did the Holy Spirit work
upon your hearts? . . . Were you not inspired to exercise the
talents God has given you, that every man and woman and youth
should employ them to set forth the truth for this time, making
personal efforts, going into the cities where the truth has never
been proclaimed, and lifting up the standard?
Have not your energies been quickened by
the blessing that God has bestowed upon you? Has not the truth
been more deeply impressed upon your soul? Can you not see more
clearly its relative importance to those who are perishing out
of Christ? Since the manifest revealing of God's blessing, are
you witnessing for Christ more distinctly and decidedly than
ever before?
The Holy Spirit has brought decidedly to
your minds the important, vital truths for this time. Is this
knowledge to be bound up in a napkin and hidden in the earth?
No, no. It is to be put out to the exchangers. As man uses his
talents, however small, with faithfulness, the Holy Spirit takes
the things of God, and presents them anew to the mind. Through
His Spirit God makes His word a vivifying power. It is quick
and powerful, exerting a strong influence upon minds, not because
of the learning or intelligence of the human agent, but because
divine power is working with the human power. And it is to the
divine power that all praise is to be given.
Shall the selfishness and the ease of those who have earthly comforts and attractive homes allure us? Shall we cease as moral agencies to use our powers to the saving of souls? Shall our voices be indistinct? Then God will put His curse upon us who have had so great light, and inscribe upon the walls of our homes: "Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." 2 Timothy 3:4. He will put a tongue in the stones, and they will speak; but God commands of you in Battle Creek to go forth.