General Conference Bulletin, vol. 3

“YE ARE MY WITNESSES.”

L. A. HOOPES

Reading for Tuesday, December 25.

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; ... ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.” Isaiah 43:10, 12. Thus God says of each of his servants, “Ye are my witnesses.” From age to age, God has thus ever had witnesses in the earth, of the truth and principles he wished each age to receive. GCB July 1, 1900, page 165.8

Enoch was a witness for God to the antediluvian world. Of him says the Lord, “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Noah was God’s witness in the earth when man’s iniquities had become so great that God says of him, “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” God was about to destroy the earth. He called Noah, a righteous man, to preach to his generation, and warn it of its impending doom. For one hundred and twenty years Noah obeyed the call of God by building the ark, and demonstrated his faith by the obedience he rendered. GCB July 1, 1900, page 165.9

Abraham was a witness for God amid idolatry and heathenism. Hearing the voice of God calling him to flee from his father’s house into a country he knew not of, he obeyed; receiving the promise of God that he was to have an heir in his old age, and his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude, while yet childless, he accepted the name of Abraham, or father of a great multitude, thus becoming a witness to the truthfulness of the promise of God before its fulfillment. GCB July 1, 1900, page 165.10

From generation to generation, down through the ages, God raised up for himself, those who witnessed to his truth. We ask Pharaoh, of Egypt, if he ever heard of Israel’s God. “Israel’s God?” says he. “Yes, yes; Moses, my son, whom GCB July 1, 1900, page 165.11

I hoped to see seated on my throne, but who ran away with that horde of slaves, was ever telling of Israel’s God. In the council chambers, in the army reviews, wherever he was, he seemed to believe Israel’s God to be present.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.1

Nebuchadnezzar, thou proud monarch of Babylon, knowest thou the God of heaven?—“O,” says he, “that is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Ah, well do I remember when, in my pride and anger, I cast these worthy men into the fiery furnace, their God came down and wrapped about them his mantle of glory, and the flames were to them but zephyr breezes.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.2

Darius, thou whose laws changeth not, knowest thou the Lord, the living God?—“O,” cries the king, “he is Daniel’s God. As long as memory lives, that godlike man shall be remembered. The longest night of my life was when I cast that white-haired patriarch into a den of lions. All that night I walked in my palace, wondering if there was a God who could deliver him from the lions’ hunger. Morning came. With throbbing heart, I rushed to the door of the cave, and called, ‘O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?’ And he answered me, ‘My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.’” GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.3

Who is not acquainted with that grand galaxy of names that Paul enumerates as men of faith, while he adds, “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,” etc.? GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.4

Says God, “Ye are my witnesses.” Christ gave utterance to the same truth when he said, “Ye are the light of the world.... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Not alone are the great immortal names of Holy Writ witnesses, but we ourselves as well. “Ye are my witnesses,” saith the Lord. Thus God has made each of his followers his witness to the world that he is God, and that he is abundantly able to fulfill all that he has promised in his written Word. GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.5

A witness, to give evidence in an earthly court, must know whereof he speaks. No court will permit a man to stand before a judicial tribunal, and give as evidence that which he does not know. He can not testify what he has heard, but only what he knows to be truth. GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.6

Now, if God should take his Word, the promises he has made to men, and bring us individually before his enemies as a testimony that what he says is true, how many of us could be witnesses of his truth? In being a witness, it is not sufficient for one to be able to talk about, or to quote the promises; for the promise may be properly quoted, and one may assent to it, and declare that he believes it with all his heart, and still he may not be a witness of its truthfulness. To be a witness of what God says, one must know from experience that what is said is an applied truth in his individual life. Any truth or promise not applied in the life is a truth to which he can not witness. GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.7

When, therefore, God says to his people, “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” to be a witness of this fact, the servant of God must have the experience in his life, the crucifixion of self, and know in himself that he has passed from the dominion of sin into the freedom of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough for us to say, “This is what God says,” to constitute a witness. We must say, “This is the promise of God, and I have experienced it in my life. I call my friends and associates who once knew my vain life and my wicked career, to testify that I am a changed being. The things that I once loved, I now hate, and those things which I once hated and could not endure, I now bear evidence that I love.” GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.8

It is not enough for one to say he loves the house of worship, because the witness that we bear is not simply by word of mouth, but the demonstration of God’s Word in the acts of our lives. Then, he who loves God and his worship, will frequent the house of God, and, like the psalmist of old, he will cry out from the fullness of his heart, “My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” “When shall I come and appear before God?” Now, for one to be a witness that he loves the worship of God, will not be shown alone by lip service, but it will also be made manifest by his frequent visits to the church of God where he is worshiped in the assembly of his people. GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.9

Said the Saviour, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Have you found that rest? If so, then you are a witness for Christ that there is rest for the weary. You can call to every wayworn, sinsick traveler, “Come, I have found rest. It is at the feet of Jesus.” O, had we all found this rest, how different would our experience be! Are you weary of the way, brother? Does some sister say the road is rough and thorny? Has sin enticed thee, and set thy heart throbbing with carnal desires? Flee to the Saviour and there abide. Under the shadow of his wing shelter thy sintempted soul. How many here to-day can say, “I am a witness of the rest we find in Jesus”? GCB July 1, 1900, page 166.10

Here, too, is a precious promise: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” Can you witness to this peace, brother? “Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” The world can only give us peace when all things seem pleasing and favorable to ourselves. But the peace that God gives is resignation under trial, patience when assailed by our enemies, and a calm, unspeakable joy when under the deepest affliction, and amid life’s bitterest sorrows. Who, this day, can testify that they know the joy of this promise? GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.1

And, the child of joy and peace must also abound in hope; for hope is the anchor of the soul, that “reaches within the veil,” and holds us firm amid the dire conflicts that lie before us. God wants his people never to lose hope and confidence in him. Whatever may come, hope is to abound in our hearts, that we may look forward to the promises, and constantly enjoy the reward offered to those who endure to the end. GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.2

The third angel’s message can never be taught to men and women in theory alone. Every truth which it enunciates is a living truth, and the principles taught in the Word of God should be demonstrated in the life of each of his followers. We claim to be preparing for translation. We teach the world that this is the last generation of men, and this message is especially given of God to fit a people for translation. Every truth, therefore, which the Word of God teaches, is to be a living principle in the life of each of his followers. We who believe that this message is to go to the nations of the earth, should especially see to it that it is applied in our own hearts, and produces the fruits which we say it is ordained to produce in the lives of those who receive it. GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.3

Why should not the world except Christian perfection in this people? We take the awful epithets of the apocalypse, and justly apply them to the papacy. In the words of inspiration we cry: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, ... come out of her, my people.” To the seeker after truth we cry: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” If ever there were a people of whom God could say, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy,” it should be this people. Can it be truly said of each one of us? GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.4

For more than fifty years this message has been changing the lives of men. May not the world demand that it show forth a spirit, a perfection of all the Christian graces in its followers, such as no other church can demonstrate? This day, the cause of God is at stake. The nations of earth are gathered. On one side are all the followers of the religions of Babylon. On the other are those who believe in the third angel’s message. Not alone are to be considered the theories of one against the other, but the “fruits of the Spirit” in the life of the receiver. It is the trial of Elijah and Baal’s prophets. GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.5

All that heaven has outside of the written Word to demonstrate the reality of the last message of mercy to a perishing world, after fifty years of anxious waiting, is the lives of its believers. Says God, “My message of warning against the world, is to develop patience in my people. What has Babylon left since the saints obeyed my call, ‘Come out of her, my people’?” Says Jehovah, “Israel of God, my people whom I am to seal, come, make manifest the patience of the saints before a perishing world. Show what my truth can do for those who receive it.” Brethren, where would we be in this trial? GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.6

God must have these witnesses, and he will have them in every nation. Every missionary sent to foreign fields is not only a teacher in precept, but by example as well. Every church member, at home or abroad, is a witness for God, each in his own sphere, each where God has called him. We are either witnesses to the truthfulness of the message and the power of God, or we are false witnesses, pretending to be on God’s side, while giving evidence against him. GCB July 1, 1900, page 167.7

Yonder is Elijah. He, too, is ripening for translation. Behold him, that hoary-haired seer with lofty brow and firm step, as he meets the proud monarch, Ahab. Baal’s prophets are there. Before all Israel, is Elijah’s God on trial. And how gloriously does Elijah’s God triumph! That holy man, as he consecrated himself to God by prayer and purity of living, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and became a power, the like of which, perhaps, has never been seen in God’s church. Lost to all stains of earthliness, he became fitted to live in glory with the heavenly intelligences. The chariot of Jehovah was sent to bring him to glory. And, would not God have his servants in these last days, by purity of life, by freedom from contamination with the evils of this world, so walk with him that the power of the Holy One may be seen upon them? GCB July 1, 1900, page 168.1

We must be witnesses to the truth, not simply in one of its phases, but in its completeness-in each of its several branches. The message must be so fully represented in our lives, that they become a complete whole; and as the standard of Christ is lived among us, higher and holier than by any other people upon the earth, so God will give his power in greater abundance to us who are his witnesses. GCB July 1, 1900, page 168.2

Why is it not opportune in the providence of God, that the third angel’s message shall, from this time henceforth, go in power and demonstration of the Spirit? Has not the Lord prepared the world for the reception of this truth?-He has sent the light of his Word in advance to prepare hearts to receive additional light. He has opened up common schools, colleges, and universities throughout all Christendom, giving the people of the present generation a knowledge of literature such as no other generation of earth has ever seen since man’s rebellion. He has caused to be invented, by his wisdom and power, the mighty printing press, with all its advantages of the present day, and by which it is possible to duplicate the sacred truth. He has lined our great continents with railroads, running from every large center to every town and hamlet in the country. He has led men to invent machinery with which to cross the mighty deep, so that today “space is almost annihilated” in the transit from one country to another. He has ruled in the council of the nations that they shall effect special laws of postage, so that our reading matter and letters, bearing the truths of the message, and breathing forth the Spirit of God, may be sent from one country to another, and from one continent to another in a short space of time. He has made it possible, by the laws of these different corporations, to carry freight at a small cost, from one part to another, so that we may send the truth to all nations of earth. Thus, has not God, in every conceivable way, made ready the world for the reception of the Word? GCB July 1, 1900, page 168.3

Besides all these preparations, God has put into the minds of men of the present age, a desire to know how this intensity of life is to continue. Men are inquiring of their fellow men: “What do all these things mean, and what will be the final wind-up of this trying labyrinth of circumstances that is environing society?” All men are especially looking at the international entanglements to which events of the present day are leading, wondering what it all means; and never in the history of the world was there a more opportune time for spreading the gospel of the third angel’s message than to-day. GCB July 1, 1900, page 168.4

Besides that, during all these years of the past, God has been leading this people on, step by step, until, from a little band of chosen followers, it has reached its present proportions, scattered to the four winds, to nearly every nation under heaven, till, at the present time, the message of God encircles the globe. He has planted facilities for the education of our children, that they may receive a preparation to go out, and in a public manner declare the truths that we represent. Our schools and colleges are dotted all over this land, and in Africa, Australia, and different parts of Europe. Printing-presses that can turn out the printed page by the thousands of tons annually, and whose capacity is almost unlimited in the production of literature, have been established in different centers. Sanitariums, medical missions, and missionaries are doing their work of benevolence and mercy, and preaching the gospel of health, and scattering temperance literature among the rich and poor. And thus God has prepared agencies by which this truth shall go everywhere. He has caused every church to organize itself into a working force for the distribution of the printed page,-for co-operation in any wise plan that those who are carrying the work may suggest-and thus almost in a day can the whole machinery of this sixty-five thousand people be set in operation to carry the special truths that we profess. GCB July 1, 1900, page 168.5

Besides that, the witness for God must ever be ready to cut loose from the world, forsaking all that a man hath, in order that he may save some honest soul. This people, then, are ready for hard service for the Master, no longer looking for the continuation of time in its present state; they are seeking a preparation for the great change that awaits the faithful, and while in this waiting attitude, they are ever ready to take hold and carry the message of truth to earth’s remotest bounds. Their hearts throbbing with love for those who are perishing in both the home and foreign fields, their strength and life and means all consecrated to God on the altar, what hinders the Advent people from taking an advance step, and proclaiming this message in power, that God may close up human history? The great questions with each of us should be: “Am I a true witness for God, just where God would have me? Am I in the field where God wants me? Am I doing the service of my Master? Is my heart weaned from this earth, and, like my father Abraham, do I seek a city whose builder and maker is God?” GCB July 1, 1900, page 169.1

Thus the people of God should be ready for advance work, ready for sacrifice, ready for service at the Master’s call and bidding; for “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” I. H. EVANS. GCB July 1, 1900, page 169.2

The reader will please to read in this connection, the letters from Japan, Sumatra, Iceland, and Africa, found on pages 189, 190. After reading these letters, we shall certainly be glad that God has witnesses in all these countries. Are we content with this limited number? Should there not be twenty where now there is one? But who of us who listen to these readings, have dedicated all to Christ? Who have their lips touched with a live coal from off the altar? Who are ready to say to the Lord, “Here am I; send me”? GCB July 1, 1900, page 169.3

These are solemn questions, and are worthy of our most serious consideration. We may not be able to go ourselves, but can we not make some sacrifice that will indicate on which side of the question we stand? GCB July 1, 1900, page 169.4