As a people we must come into a sacred
nearness to God. We need the light of heaven to shine into
our hearts and into the chambers of our mind; we need the wisdom
that God alone can give, if we carry the message to these cities
with success. Let our churches everywhere come into line. Let
none who have pledged themselves by baptism to live for the service
and glory of God take back their pledge. There is a world to
be saved; let this thought urge us on to greater sacrifices and
more earnest labor for those who are out of the way.
When you follow out the principles of the
word of God, your influence will be of value to any church, any
organization. You are to come up to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty. All frivolous words,
all lightness and trifling, are enticements of the enemy to deprive
you of spiritual strength. Brace yourselves against this evil,
in the name of the God of Israel. If you will humble yourselves
before God, He will give you a message for those in the highways
and the hedges, and for those in foreign countries who need your
help. Trim your lamps, and keep them burning, that wherever you
may go you may reveal in speech and action precious rays of light.
If we will give ourselves for service to
the Lord, He will instruct us what to do. If we will come into
close relation with God, He will work with us. Let us not
become so absorbed in self and self-interests that we shall forget
those who are climbing the ladder of Christian experience and
who need our help. We must stand ready to use our God-given capabilities
in the work of the Lord, ready to speak words in season and out
of season--words that will help and bless.
My brethren and sisters, do we take into
consideration the needs of the large cities of the East?
Do we not know that they must be warned of Christ's near approach?
The work we have to do is a wonderfully great work. There is
a world to be saved; there are souls to be labored for in the
cities of the East, in the states where the message of the coming
of our Lord was first preached. Who will give themselves to do
this line of missionary work? There are hundreds of our people
who ought to be out in the field who are doing little or nothing
for the advancement of the message. Those who have had every
advantage of knowing the truth, who have received instruction
line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there
a little, have a great responsibility resting upon them in these
souls who have never heard the last gospel message.
If in this opportune time the members of
the churches will come humbly before God, putting out of their
hearts all that is wrong and consulting Him at every step, He
will manifest Himself to them and will give them courage in Him.
And as the church members do their part faithfully, the Lord
will lead and guide His chosen ministers, and strengthen them
for their important work. In much prayer let us all unite in
holding up their hands and in drawing
bright beams from the heavenly sanctuary.
The end is near, stealing upon us stealthily,
Imperceptibly, like the noiseless approach of a thief in the
night. May the Lord grant that we shall no longer sleep as do
others, but that we shall watch and be sober. The truth is soon
to triumph gloriously, and all who now choose to be laborers
together with God will triumph with it. The time is short; the
night soon cometh when no man can work. Let those who are rejoicing
in the light of present truth now make haste to impart the truth
to others. The Lord is inquiring: "Whom shall I send?"
Those who wish to sacrifice for the truth's sake are now to respond:
"Here am I; send me." Isaiah 6:8.
Let those who bear responsibilities remember
that it is the Holy Spirit who is to do the fashioning. It is
the Lord who controls. We are not to try to mold, according to
our own ideas, those for whom we work, but to let Christ do the
molding. He follows no human pattern. He works according to His
own mind and Spirit. It is man's work to reveal to the world
that which Christ has placed in his heart; through His grace
man becomes a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust. The higher powers
of the one who receives Christ are strengthened and ennobled,
and he receives a fitness for God's service.
Many of the world's learned men have received
so high an education that they cannot touch the common people.
Their knowledge is intricate. It soars high, but rests nowhere.
The most intelligent businessmen desire simple truth such as
Christ gave to the people when He was
on this earth--the truth that He declares to be spirit and life.
His words are as the leaves of the tree of life. What the world
needs today is the light of Christ's example reflected from the
lives of Christlike men and women. The intellect most powerful
in behalf of truth is the intellect that Christ controls, ennobling
and purifying it by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
Christ has given His commission: "Go
ye into all the world." Mark 16:15. All must hear the message
of warning. A prize of richest value is held up before those
who are running the Christian race. Those who run with patience
will receive a crown of life that fadeth not away.
Cultivate restfulness, and commit the keeping
of your souls unto God as unto a faithful Creator. He will keep
that which is committed to His trust. He is not pleased to have
us cover His altar with our tears and complaints. You have enough
to praise God for already, if you do not see another soul converted.
But the good work will go on if you will only go forward and
not be trying to adjust everything to your own ideas. Let the
peace of God rule in your hearts, and be ye thankful. Let the
Lord have room to work. Do not block His way. He can and will
work if we will let Him.
While extensive plans should be laid, great
care must be taken that the work in each branch of the cause
be harmoniously united with that in every other branch, thus
making a perfect whole.