In the Face of Great Obstacles

A spiritual leaders of this denomina­tion we are confronted with three ines­capable facts. I wish to state them briefly:

"If those who claimed to have a living experience in the things of God had done their appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would have been warned ere this, and the Lord Jesus would have come in power and great glory."—Review and Herald, Oct. 6, 1896.

"I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His word, they would to-day be in the heavenly Canaan." —General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903.

"If every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. While men have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us."—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 29. (Simi­lar familiar statements may be found in The Desire of Ages, pp. 633, 634; Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 45o; vol. 9, p. 29.)

"The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity, she will have to do in a terrible crisis, under the most dis­couraging, forbidding circumstances, . . . under the fiercest opposition."—Volume 5, p. 463.

There is no escaping these three facts. The task given us by God must be done. It might have been done ere this, but we have failed. If we are personally going through with this movement, we must now do in a terrible crisis and under most forbidding circumstances what we have failed to do in times of peace and pros­perity.

Familiarity Takes Off the Keen Edge

All three of these observations sound trite. They have a distinctly familiar sound. We have heard them uttered again and again in workers' councils. I have heard them for thirty years. All of us have undoubtedly woven them into our sermons as we have sought to impress our people with what they ought to be and what they ought to do. Any thoughtful observer, however, cannot but conclude that these three startling facts seem to have lost some of their former effectiveness. They fail to move us as they once did. We toy with them now with some measure of comfort and disinclination. We handle them almost carelessly in our reso­lutions—surely not with the deep concern that characterizes men of the world who must make some immediate disposition of the atomic bomb. And yet, these three facts possess a moral and spiritual explosiveness that measures well with the physical destructiveness of that deadly in­vention.

This much is a dead certainty—the secret of success for us as workers for God lies in RE­MEMBERING our divine assignment and the circumstances under which that task must be completed. Failure to do so will be most unfor­tunate; the results will be tragic. We regret to say it, but at times there are evidences of for­getting. This is clearly discernible in certain trends we find in our work. These trends, un­less the root-cause is destroyed, will eventually form a pattern for our work. We cannot here deal with these disturbing trends in detail. That is not the intent of this devotional study. How­ever, a listing of a number of the more evident ones should alert us to the dangers that con­front the movement.

1. The disposition to hold what we already have and to be satisfied with it. Brooding over churches and conferences that are static. Think of the scores of churches that have had no in­crease in membership in years!

2. The absence of venturesomeness, waiting for the return of normal times, when we know that a state of normalcy, as we have known it in the past, can never return.

3. The tendency to be "choosy" about our places of labor ; seeking the best places and avoiding those spots that call for thg endurance of hardship and sacrifice. This is particularly true of younger workers who have known noth­ing of the toil that has gone into the molding of this movement, but unfortunately the ten­dency is the temptation of us all.

4. The declining foreign mission spirit in our youth. I am heartened by the report of its recapture at the recent National Youth Con­gress.

5. The Peter attitude: Well, we have left our all and followed you. Now what are we to get?" Matt. 19:27, Moffatt.

6. Divided interest and loyalty, forgetting Paul's determination: "This one thing I do." This manifests itself in workers in the cause who buy and sell and operate side lines for gain.

7. The questionings and the waning confi­dence in leadership on the part of some of our people.

All these trends are the results of forgetting. And we have been told that we have nothing to fear except as we shall forget. All these can be avoided only by constantly remembering our divine mission and assignment.

In thinking about the task God has given us to do, two passages of Scripture merit our at­tention. The one sets forth God's eternal plan and purpose; the other summarizes Jehovah's message to leadership in every time of crisis. "For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness : because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." Rom. 9:28. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children of Is­rael, that they go forward." Ex. 14:15.

The Nature of Our Movement

The great Advent Movement is strikingly unlike any other divinely inspired movement the world has ever seen. The difference is to be found not only in the field of doctrinal teach­ing but also in its objectives. I am inclined to believe that the greatest dissimilarities are not to found in the articles of faith, although I would not want to be too dogmatic about that. As touching the great body of Christian fundamentals, even now we are in substantial agree­ment with other fundamentalist Christian bodies. We hold in common an implicit faith in the existence of Deity, in revelation and in­spiration. We hold in common a belief in the reality of sin and the need of a Saviour, the incarnation of the divine Son, the blood atone­ment through the substitutionary death of our Lord, Christ's resurrection and subsequent priestly ministry, the indwelling Saviour through the Holy Spirit, the possibility of com­munion through prayer, the return of Christ, eternal rewards and punishments, obedience to law (with a difference in regard to the day of the Sabbath). All these undergird the faith of all Christian believers who have barricaded their souls against the destructive influences of modernism.

The inherent nature of man is one major doctrine where we find ourselves in serious conflict with other fundamentalist Christians, but most other differences are in the realm of spiritual obligation and practice. Many well-in­formed Christians are willing to admit that the seventh day is the Sabbath, but in practice they do not take it seriously. To be sure, there are many peculiar teachings that characterize the Advent Movement, but other Christian bodies do not cling to well-defined teachings that are antagonistic to these. For instance, with us the investigative judgment is a bulwark of faith. Our Christian friends in other churches simply do not know anything about it. Take the prac­tice of tithing. How many other churches wish their people could be induced to the practice ! We make much of our understanding of the prophecies, while most other fundamentalist Christians lay no claim to an understanding of the prophetic books.

Recognizing the common ground between us and other Christians, the messenger of the Lord has made crystal clear our duty when first en­tering new territory. We summarize the in­struction thus : (a) Seek out and become ac­quainted with the pastors of other churches. (Much has been lost by neglecting to do this.) (b) Put the emphasis, in our preaching, on the truths of the Bible that are dear to the hearts of all Christians. (c) Avoid the "sheep steal­ing" impressions. It might he helpful if we re­viewed the instruction found - in Evangelism, page 143:

"It should ever be manifest that we are reformers, but not bigots. When our laborers enter a new field, they should seek to become acquainted with the pas­tors of the several churches in the place. Much has been lost by neglecting to do this. If our ministers show themselves friendly and sociable, and do not act as if they were ashamed of the message they bear, it will have an excellent effect, and may give these pas­tors and their congregations favorable impressions of the truth. At any rate, it is right to give them a chance to be kind and favorable if they will.

"Our laborers should be very careful not to give the impression that they are wolves stealing in to get the sheep, but should let the ministers understand their true position and the object of their mission—to call the attention of the people to the truths of God's Word. There are many of these which are dear to all Chris­tians. Here is common ground, upon which we can meet people of other denominations ; and in becoming acquainted with them we should dwell mostly upon topics in which all feel an interest, and which will not lead directly and pointedly to the subjects of disagree­ment."