Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Ms 242, 1902

A Call to Service

December 18, 1902 [typed]

See Review and Herald, December 30, 1902. Previously unpublished.

We are standing on the verge of the eternal world. Before us there lies a great work—the work of giving the last warning message to the world. The present is a time of overwhelming iniquity. The world needs to see in Christians an evidence of the power of Christianity. There should be many, many more at work in the Lord’s service, clothed with holy zeal, filled with a power proportionate to the importance of the message they are proclaiming. Not merely in a few places, but throughout the world, messengers of mercy are needed. From every country is heard the cry, “Come over and help us.” [Acts 16:9.] Rich and poor are calling for light. Money and workers are needed. Thousands of men and women are standing on the brink of perdition. Do you see them, many of them lost, eternally lost, while professing Christians sleep the sleep of indifference? 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 1

Wake up, my brethren and sisters! There is a great work to be done. Unceasing activity is called for. Darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Many are far from Christ, wandering in the wilderness of sin. God calls upon His people to shake off their careless indifference, and take up the work waiting for them. Let them commune with Him, that they may be imbued with His Spirit. Then let them go forth to bestow on those in need the grace they have received. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 2

The coming of Christ is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. Already God’s judgments have begun to call. How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property. Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganized, unregulated forces, but in them God’s purpose may be read. They are one of the means by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 3

The work that Christ did in this work is the work outlined before those who have in trust the greatest wealth of truth ever committed to mortals. How earnestly He labored to save sinners! How untiring were His efforts to prepare His disciples for service! But how little we have done in comparison with what He did! Are our energies spent in the Master’s service? Are our voices often raised in earnest supplication for power from on high? Is our faith pure and strong? Are our eyes open to see the needs of those around us? Have we put away all prejudice, all evil-thinking and evil-speaking? Are our affections set on things above, or are they twining about the things of earth? Can God call us faithful stewards? 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 4

Why are we so cold and indifferent? Why are our hearts so unimpressible? Christ placed Himself on the altar of service, a living sacrifice. Why are we so unwilling to give ourselves to the work for which He gave His life? Something must be done to rid God’s people of the terrible indifference that has taken hold upon them. Think of how the Saviour laid aside His glory, and came to this world to live in our behalf the life of the poorest, suffering oft from hunger. “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests,” He says, “but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” [Matthew 8:20.] 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 5

Behold His love, His sacrifice, and ask God to fill your heart with desire to spend and be spent in the service of the Redeemer. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 6

Christ brought His wishes into strict abeyance to His mission. He made everything subordinate to the work that He came to do. When in His youth, His mother, finding Him in the school of the rabbis, said, “Son, why hast Thou dealt thus with us? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing,” He answered—and His answer is the keynote of His life—“How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business.” [Luke 2:48, 49.] 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 7

So today we are to make every earthly interest subordinate to the work which God has given us. In the lives of Christ’s followers must be seen the same devotion, the same subjection to God’s work of every social claim, every earthly affection, that was seen in His life. 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. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 8

God forbid that His people should be content to leave untouched the fields that are still unworked! The Saviour is saying to us, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.] 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 9

In every age this has been the work of the church, but never so much as now. Let the members consecrate themselves unreservedly to God’s service. Every addition to the church should be one more agency for the carrying out of the plan of redemption. The church is to be a living, active missionary power, moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit. The members are to act as one, blending in perfect union. This miracle the cross of Christ is fully able to accomplish for the good of an unbelieving world. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 10

We need the vitalizing power of the Holy Spirit. We need to wrestle with God for the impartation of this Spirit. Earnest, importunate prayer is needed. There is efficiency in fervent prayer. In answer to it, God can turn the thoughts and hearts of man as He turns the waters of the sea. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 11

With every age God’s plan deepens and broadens. His people are to adjust their movements to His progressive plan. They are to move forward with the force of Omnipotence, because they are in harmony with the divine purpose. The power of God has been placed at the disposal of the church. The infinite treasures of heaven are at the command of His struggling people. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 12

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Brethren and sisters, “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16.] Prayerfully study the work to be done, and then enter upon it with full assurance of faith, but with no boasting, no self-sufficiency, for this is destructive to all effort. Labor in quietness and humility, realizing that trial and difficulty are before you, and that you will always need much of the grace of Christ. Watch unto prayer. No longer be children, tossed to and fro by human impulse, but men and women strong in His strength. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 13

In the great closing work we shall meet with many perplexities, but let us not forget that the great powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring His purposes to pass. He will gather out from the world a people who will serve Him in righteousness. 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 14

“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night; ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” “Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the word, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord; and thou shalt be called, Sought out; a city not forsaken.” [Isaiah 62:6, 7, 10-12.] 17LtMs, Ms 242, 1902, par. 15