The Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts

Special Prophetic Guidance

Many have wondered how it has come that the Adventist Church, which holds to an unpopular truth, works in every part of this country and indeed in all countries of the entire earth. It is true that the very genius of our message causes us to go everywhere to proclaim the same message that belongs to all alike. But there is also another reason—the special calls that came through the Spirit of prophecy to open work in sections or lands in which we had not labored. In our early work in the Central States our ministers labored mostly in rural districts, and nearly all our churches were among the farmers. Then a decided call came from the messenger of God to enter the large cities of the East. Many dreaded to do that. New York, Philadelphia, and other cities seemed like impregnable Gibraltars. But our leaders responded to the urge from the Lord, and God has signally blessed our large city mission work. FSG 413.1

For many years after the Civil War we did but very little in the Southern States and nothing among the colored people. Then the messages began to come pleading that a strong endeavor be made for the South, both white and colored. Today we see the good results in large conferences, churches, schools, and other institutions. In like manner the call came to begin a strong work among the millions of foreign language peoples. The call to begin missions in Europe, South Africa, Australia, as well as among the multitudes of India and China, were a surprise to some. They feared that the task of starting mission work, building sanitariums, schools, and publishing houses in these lands, was too large an undertaking. We were told many times that we had neither the men nor the means for such a gigantic project. Our worldwide activity shows the marvelous fruitage of these messages from above. It is inspiring to study these calls for work in special fields. Our members, and especially our ministers and youth, should take time to become familiar with them and thus learn firsthand the fruitage of the prophetic gift. We who observed these special calls as they came from decade to decade were deeply impressed to see how timely they were, and how true they were to facts and needs. The servant of the Lord often expressed her deep interest in and burden for revival work in England, Italy, Germany, and many other lands. Some of these messages indicate that a much larger work is yet to be done in lands like the British Isles. FSG 413.2