At the very beginning of this council on evangelism I wish to read certain extracts from the Spirit of prophecy:
"I deeply feel the necessity of our making more thorough and earnest efforts to bring the truth before the world. In the last vision given me, I was shown that we were not doing one-twentieth part of the work we should for the salvation of souls."—"Life Sketches," p. 211.
"God calls for thousands to work for Him." —"Counsels on Health," p. 499.
"If our ministers realized how soon the inhabitants of the world are to be arraigned before the judgment seat of God, to answer for the deeds done in the body, how earnestly they would work together with God to present the truth! How untiringly they would labor to advance God's cause in the world, proclaiming in word and deed, 'The end of all things is at hand!' 1 Peter 4:7."—"Testimonies," Vol. IX, p. 149.
"We have no time for dwelling on matters that are of no importance. Our time should be given to proclaiming the last message of mercy to a guilty world."—Id., Vol. VIII, p. 36.
"God has called this people to give to the world the message of Christ's soon coming. We are to give to men the last call to the gospel feast, the last invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thousands of places that have not heard the call are yet to hear it. Many who have not given the message are yet to proclaim it. Again I appeal to our young men: Has not God called upon you to sound this message?"
The Unworked Sections
I believe these words are as true in 1934 as when first written. There are still thousands of places that have not yet heard this message right here in North America. It is astonishing, when the brethren hang up their maps showing the counties in various States where we have churches established. These are usually in white, while the black counties show where we have 'no churches. And there are states where more than half the counties are still in black; in other words, they have no churches.
"There are many who are reading the Scriptures who cannot understand their true import. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in."—"The Acts of the Apostles," p. 109.
What a picture! What an opportunity and challenge are here presented to our evangelists! All over the world men and women are weeping and praying for light. They are on the verge of the kingdom, only waiting to be gathered in. Brethren, we find such people every time we go out in a new effort, My son was telling me that in his recent effort here in St. Louis a young man and his wife who had been keeping the Sabbath for two years came to the meetings, not knowing there were other Sabbathkeepers in the city. Now they are connecting with us. The honesthearted are all over the world, the servant of the Lord says, weeping and praying for the light we have to give. Surely, brethren, we should hurry to them with it.
"Time is passing, the perils of the last days are upon us; and how many will say to us in the last great day, when every man shall receive according to his works: Why have you not warned us? You have not told us those things that we should have known."—"Testimonies to Ministers," p. 230.
The Lord's messenger says our labor is not to be bestowed merely upon the churches we have already developed. We are to think continually of the regions beyond, of the millions still waiting. We must so establish our churches that they will be able to stand alone, at times. We of course need to have some pastors. That is always recognized. Our churches must be looked after. Some must have shepherds over them. But the shepherds of the flocks must be continually looking over into the regions beyond.
"The parable of the lost sheep should be a lesson to every soul who has been rescued from the snare of Satan. We are not to hover over the ninety and nine, but to go forth to save the lost, hunting them up in the wilderness of the large cities and towns."—Id., p. 232.
When I grew up in the ministry of this denomination, I was never pastor of a church—never a pastor in my life. I did not understand that young men were expected to be pastors of churches. The conferences kept us out in our tents, going from town to town and raising up churches. We supposed that was the program. Now we-have settled-down—tcr-some degree-at least—to the enjoyment of the fruits of early victories. We are in grave danger of drifting into the position of other churches—of settling into comfortable pastorates and parsonages, and becoming so engrossed in the care of the established church that we find little time for carrying the conquest into unentered territory.
Challenge of the Cities
Here is a statement taken from a manuscript entitled, "The Call to the Watchmen," No. 13, written in 1910. It says:
"Our cities are to be worked. To devote our efforts to other worthy enterprises, and leave unworked our cities, in which are large numbers of all nationalities, is not wise. A beginning is now to be made, and means must be raised that the work may go forward. With mighty power the cry is again to be sounded in our large centers of population, 'Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.—
Brethren, I consider this a clarion call to this ministry. Here is a repetition of the great midnight cry. "With mighty power the cry is again to be sounded in our large centers of population, 'Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.' Money is needed for the prosecution of the work in New York, Boston, Portland, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, and many other cities."
It seems wonderful to me that the great God saw fit to name some of the largest cities of North America, to point them out, and say that these are the "wilderness" where we ought to be working. And after some of the great cities named, the expression is added, "and many other cities." In all these great cities there are men and women who are bowing the knee to Baal, but whose hearts are longing for the light of present truth.
I have noticed that, up to within a few years, many of these cities were left out when we made our plans for evangelistic work. We were going on to the small places because we hesitated to attack these metropolitan centers. But the Lord says we must undertake work in these large cities. The Lord will provide the funds by bringing in men of wealth in the very cities in which we are to labor, and these will turn their wealth into the channels of evangelism, and will bring back into the treasury of God all that is taken out—if we will only work in a wise way.
There are places where we have preached the message year after year and decade after decade, while in these same States there are cities and towns where churches have never been raised up. We ought to give those untouched sections a chance to hear. In "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 544, we are told:
"God had placed His people in Canaan as a mighty breastwork to stay the tide of moral evil, that it might not flood the world. If faithful to Him, God intended that Israel should go on conquering and to conquer."
That was His plan when He led them in. They were utterly to drive out the inhabitants until they were conquered.
I believe, brethren, that the Israel of this day is in great danger of making exactly the same mistake as Israel of old. The wells, vineyards, and houses were already built, and everything was so convenient that they just settled down on the border of the land, and became satisfied with that. They allowed the heathen nations to continue to exist. Their own overthrow was the final result. The Lord's servant brings this to our attention as an object lesson of what we ought not to repeat in undertaking the conquest of the world with this great threefold message. But we have been repeating it. Our pioneers were all evangelists, and raised up church after church. They would go back, as Paul did, to visit the churches, but there were no established pastors.
I bring these items to you this morning, brethren, believing they should stir our souls mightily, and cause us to feel that here is the work God has commissioned us to do. It is of the greatest magnitude. It is the work to which we should address ourselves in a very special way in this council. I ask this council to go on record this morning, answering the question before us. Shall we face this task of warning the unworked sections of our fields, and finish the task God has given us to do by pushing into the dark places where men and women are praying and agonizing with God that they may find the truth? Shall we undertake it, or shall we go on for years hovering around a few places where we have established memorials, and let the other places go on in darkness? We should respond with all our hearts. Every conference president and every conference committee should join with their laboring forces in just such a plan. With the help of God we can accomplish our task if we will only set ourselves to it.