Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers—No. 4

Proper Attitude Toward the Tilling of the Soil

We are not to be put about and discouraged about temporal things because of apparent failures, nor should we be disheartened by delay. We should work the soil cheerfully, hopefully, gratefully, believing that the earth holds in her bosom rich stores for the faithful worker to garner, richer than gold or silver. The niggardliness laid to her charge is false witness. With proper, intelligent cultivation, the earth will yield its treasures for the benefit of man. SpTA04 18.1

The Spiritual lessons to be learned are of no mean order. The seeds of truth sown in the soil of the heart will not all be lost, but will spring up, first the blade, then the ear, and then the corn in the ear. God said in the beginning, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit.” God created the seed as he did the earth, by the divine word. We are to exercise our reasoning powers in the cultivation of the earth, and to have faith in the word of God that has created the fruit of the earth for the service of man. SpTA04 18.2

The cultivation of our lands requires the exercise of all the brain power and tact we possess. The lands around us testify to the indolence of men. We hope to arouse to action the dormant senses. We hope to see intelligent farmers, who will be rewarded for their earnest labor. The hand and heart must cooperate, bringing new and sensible plans into operation in the cultivation of the soil. We have here seen the giant trees felled and uprooted, we have seen the plowshare pressed into the earth, turning deep furrows for the planting of young trees and the sowing of the seed. The students are learning what plowing means, and that the hoe and the shovel, the rake and the harrow, are all implements of honorable and profitable industry. Mistakes will often be made, but error lies close beside truth. Wisdom will be learned by failures, and the energy that will make a beginning, gives hope of success in the end. Hesitation will keep things back, precipitancy will alike retard, but all will serve as lessons if the human agents will have it so. SpTA04 18.3

In the school that is started here in Cooranbong, we look to see real success in agricultural lines, combined with a study of the sciences. We mean for this place to be a center, from which shall irradiate light, precious advanced knowledge that shall result in the working of unimproved lands, so that hills and valleys shall blossom like the rose. For both children and men, labor combined with mental taxation will give the right kind of all-round education. The cultivation of the mind will bring tact and fresh incentives to the cultivation of the soil. SpTA04 19.1

There will be a new presentation of men as breadwinners, possessing educated, trained ability to work the soil to advantage. Their minds will not be overtaxed and strained to the uttermost with the study of the sciences. Such men will break down the foolish sentiments that have prevailed in regard to manual labor. An influence will go forth, not in loud-voiced oratory, but in real inculcation of ideas. We shall see farmers who are not coarse and rough and slack, careless of their apparel and of the appearance of their homes; but they will bring taste into farmhouses. Rooms will be sunny and inviting. We shall not see blackened ceilings, covered with cloth full of dust and dirt. Science, genius, intelligence, will be manifest in the home. The cultivation of the soil will be regarded as elevating and ennobling. Pure, practical religion will be manifested in treating the earth as God's treasure house. The more intelligent a man becomes, the more should religious influence be radiating from him. And the Lord would have us treat the earth as a precious treasure, lent us in trust. SpTA04 19.2

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Granville, N. S. W., Australia,

September 13, 1895.

There must certainly be a change in our ministers. In heart and character there must be more of Christ, and less of self. We are to be representatives of our Lord. Those who have had great light and precious opportunities are accountable to God, who has given to every man his work. They are never to betray the sacred trust, but are to be indeed the light of the world. SpTA04 20.1

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Here is language that expresses his mind toward a corrupt and idolatrous people: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned in me, my repentings are kindled together.” Must he give up the people for whom such a provision had been made, even his only begotten Son, the express image of himself? God permits his Son to be delivered up for our offenses. He himself assumes toward the Sin-bearer the character of a judge, divesting himself of the endearing qualities of a father. SpTA04 20.2

Herein his love commends itself in the most marvelous manner to the rebellious race. What a sight for angels to behold! What a hope for man, “that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”! The just suffered for the unjust; he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” SpTA04 20.3

As witnesses chosen of God, do we value Christ's purchased possession? Are we ready to make any and every sacrifice within our power, to place ourselves under Christ's yoke, to cooperate with him, and to be laborers together with God? All who are bearing the test of God, obeying his commandments, love the perishing human race as Christ loved them. They follow the example of Christ in most earnest, self-sacrificing labor, to seek out in the highways and hedges the high and the low, the rich and the poor, and to bear to all the message that they are the objects of Christ's special love and guardian care. SpTA04 21.1

So great is the natural blindness and ignorance of men in regard to God and to the Saviour, that every one who loves Jesus may find work to do. Not one who has true love for Christ will remain indifferent and indolent. There is a marked difference between the character and life of those who are obedient to all the commandments of God, and of those who are disobedient. SpTA04 21.2

Parents have not restrained the selfishness of their children. Self-indulgence has been the object of pursuit. Through self-serving, multitudes are bound in servitude to Satan. They are the slaves of their own impulses and passions, which are under the control of the wicked one. In calling them to his service, God offers them freedom. Obedience to God is liberty from the thraldom of sin, deliverance from human passion and impulse. SpTA04 21.3

But we have to meet and contend with men who employ all their power in slandering those who are loyal to God. Their wit and their God-given reason are devoted to making it appear that obedience to the commandments of God is an irksome service. But those who advocate the claims of the law of God testify, “Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.” “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” The Lord presents truth in contrast with error, and presents also the sure result of accepting truth, the experience that always follows willing obedience. It is peace and rest. SpTA04 21.4

The work before the servants of God is to present Jesus. The work for the ministers of Christ is to hang their helpless souls upon his merit. Men who turn away from the path of obedience and make transgression of the law of God a virtue, are under the inspiration of the arch-deceiver. They are blinded by his power. They need to have before them a representation of what the truth can do in enabling men to preserve a Christlike temper when tempted to become imperious and impatient. The enemies of the truth want to provoke those who teach the binding claims of the law of God. If there is retaliation on our part, Satan's hosts triumph. He has found a weak place in the armor. By their mean course of action, the agents of Satan try to tempt the advocates of truth to say and do things that will not be commendable. SpTA04 22.1