General Conference Bulletin, vol. 2

THE CAUSE; TO WHOM DOES IT BELONG?

L. A. HOOPES

WHAT constitutes the cause? What is the third angel’s message? Who are most interested in this message? GCB July 1, 1897, page 85.1

We hardly think that these questions need answering, for they are so well known that they are almost household terms. Notwithstanding all this, we find a large share of our people acting as though the cause belonged to a few special ones; that the third angel’s message is to be given only by the ministers or those laboring in a public capacity. This is not as it should be. Each individual should sustain that relation to the cause in which he feels that he is to give the third angel’s message, even if there were not another soul who joined with him in it. GCB July 1, 1897, page 85.2

It has been said of Elder Joseph Bates that when he began preaching on the Sabbath question, after the disappointment in 1844, he stated to his congregation, who were advocates for Sunday, “that on the next Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week, I am going to preach on the third angel’s message,—I am giving the third angel’s message.” It will be seen at once that Elder Bates had faith that he was a part of the message. So should we all feel. GCB July 1, 1897, page 85.3

If we are Christians, we are actual workers in the cause. At the present time there are so many channels in which one can labor, that it does seem that one is without excuse if he is not connected somewhere in the work. It is true that different ones are appointed to lead out in various lines. We place this responsibility upon them. They thus become our servants in a certain sense. They are there to represent the people; that is, to carry out the wishes, first, of God, and second, of the people. They are colaborers. Their work is our work, their interest is our interest, their cause is our cause. The cause is one. They are there as Christians. They represent us in that capacity. We represent them as Christians in the capacity we occupy. Then why should we not be equally interested in each other? The cause is one; Christ and the Father are one; we are one in Him; and, as another has expressed it, “He [Christ] is the One.” GCB July 1, 1897, page 85.4

This being so, what part of the cause must be kept secret or hid from anybody connected therewith? It all should be free and open as the day. When you meet with your brethren, feel free to ask them questions relative to the progress of the cause, especially that part with which they are immediately connected. There are no secrets in God’s cause, save the mystery of God, the gospel, or, as the German rendering has it, the “home secrets,” and with these God wants every member of his family to be fully acquainted. GCB July 1, 1897, page 85.5