The cause of present truth can be greatly extended by personal effort.
As children of God none of us are excused from taking a part in the great work of Christ, in the salvation of our fellow-men.
All men and women who are Christians in every sense of the word, should be workers in the vineyard of the Lord.
God works with our efforts. We may close the way for sinners by our negligence and selfishness.
We should not hold ourselves aloof from our fellow-men, but come close to them; for their souls are as precious as our own.
Missionaries for God are wanted; faithful men and women who will not shirk responsibility. Judicious labor will accomplish good results.
Those whom Christ has connected with himself will, as far as in them lies, labor diligently and perseveringly as He labored, to save souls who are perishing around them.
A working church will ever be a growing church. They will ever find a stimulus and a tonic in trying to help others, and in doing it they will be strengthened and encouraged.
Satan is now seeking to hold God’s people in a state of inactivity, to keep them from acting their part in spreading the truth, that they may at last be weighed in the balance and found wanting.
We are answerable to God for the souls of those with whom we are brought in contact, and the closer our connections with our fellow-men, the greater our responsibility.
Every opportunity should be improved to extend the truth to other nations. This will be attended by considerable expenses, but expense should in no case hinder the performance of this work. The Lord has lent men means for this very purpose, to use in sending the truth to their fellow-men.
Instead of our ministering brethren labouring among the churches, God designs that we should spread abroad, and our missionary labor be extended over as much ground as we can possibly occupy to advantage, going in every direction to raise up new companies. As long as churches rely upon labourers from abroad to strengthen and encourage their faith, they will not become strong in themselves. They should be instructed that their strength will increase in proportion to their personal efforts. The more closely the New Testament plans are followed in missionary labour, the more successful will be the efforts put forth.
Mrs. E. G. White
Advance June 1, 1899 – advance null.null.1899
I saw greater distress in the land than we have yet witnessed. I heard groans and cries of distress, and saw large companies in active battle. I heard the booming of the cannon, the clash of arms, the hand-to-hand fight, and the groans and prayers of the dying. The ground was covered with the wounded and the dead. I saw desolate, despairing families, and pinching want in many dwellings. Even now many families are suffering want, but this will increase. The faces of many looked haggard, pale, and pinched with hunger.
I was shown that the people of God should be closely united in the bonds of Christian fellowship and love. God alone can be our shield and strength in this time of our national calamities. The people of God should awake. Their opportunities to spread the truth should be improved, for they will not last long. I was shown distress and perplexity and famine in the land. Satan is now seeking to hold God’s people in a state of inactivity, to keep them from acting their part in spreading the truth, that they may at last be weighed in the balance and found wanting.
God’s people must take warning and discern the signs of the times. The signs of Christ’s coming are too plain to be doubted, and in view of these things everyone who professes the truth should be a living preacher. God calls upon all, both preachers and people, to awake. All heaven is astir. The scenes of earth’s history are fast closing. We are amid the perils of the last days. Greater perils are before us, and yet we are not awake. This lack of activity and earnestness in the cause of God is dreadful. This death stupor is from Satan. He controls the minds of unconsecrated Sabbathkeepers, and leads them to be jealous of one another, faultfinding, and censorious. It is his special work to divide hearts that the influence, strength, and labor of God’s servants may be kept among unconsecrated Sabbathkeepers and their precious time be occupied in settling little differences when it should be spent in proclaiming the truth to unbelievers.
I was shown God’s people waiting for some change to take place—a compelling power to take hold of them. But they will be disappointed, for they are wrong. They must act, they must take hold of the work themselves and earnestly cry to God for a true knowledge of themselves. The scenes which are passing before us are of sufficient magnitude to cause us to arouse and urge the truth home to the hearts of all who will listen. The harvest of the earth is nearly ripe. 1T 260.1 – 1T 261.1
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