The time is now. Not tomorrow, but now. The prophetic timetable indicates that the tempo of world evangelism will increase. We have been ushered into the dread events that characterize the end. The magnitude of the task now exceeds the time alloted for its accomplishment. The urgency of the moment must filter through each sermon, song, and prayer. The imminence of impending catastrophe must spur us on. Time is not on our side. "The work that centuries might have done must crowd the hour of setting sun."
These are indeed feverish days. A mere casual observer can sense that the tide of human affairs will soon dash itself against the rockbound shore. Before long our world will be caught in the teeth of the tempest.
A terrible conflict is before us. We are nearing the battle of the great day of God Almighty. That which has been held in control is to be let loose. The angel of mercy is folding her wings, preparing to step down from the throne, and leave the world to the control of Satan.—ELLEN G. WHITE, My Life Today, p. 308.
Angels are belting the world, refusing Satan his claim to supremacy, made because of the vast multitude of his adherents. We hear not the voices, we see not with the natural sight the work of these angels, but their hands are linked about the world, and with sleepless vigilance they are keeping the armies of Satan at bay till the sealing of God's people shall be accomplished.—Ellen G. White letter 79, 1900.
We need plead no longer the urgency of events. Rather is the need for greater effort in the proclamation of the gospel. The dreadful stupor that now beclouds the minds of many must yield its hold on the messengers of Jehovah. Souls are longing to be won. Wistfully they cast their eyes heavenward for guidance. They must not look in vain. The time for the finishing of the Lord's work is now.
THE TASK. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16: 15). God's program for His church can be accurately labeled "Every Creature Evangelism." The acceptance of this commission entails a house-by-house, person-to-person approach. Saturation bombing, as practiced during the war, approximates the scope of the text here considered. A program of evangelism that will carry Christ into the highways (homes of the intellectually independent), and the hedges (factories, hovels, and even the "skid row" sections of any city), is now in order.
Motorized units (ministers who spend most of their day in transit) can contribute little to the struggle. The artillery officer (the man who is content with lobbing shells from the pulpit) can offer only token assistance under this plan. The pilot (the minister whose messages go over the heads of the congregation) is indeed a misfit whether or not he knows it. As for submarine warfare (practiced by scholars who often find their own profundity self-baffling), there is in this context "no room in the inn."
The ordnance officer (the minister with all the equipment available to man, but without knowledge of its practical value), knows only the frustration of defeat.
The phrase "all the world" would indicate that no race or clime is to be neglected. "Every creature" binds the church to its task until "the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate" (Isa. 6:11).
Man can with justice argue his unfitness for the task to which he is assigned. However, to shrink from the responsibility because of inadequacy is high treason against heaven. It is indeed a denial of faith as the following quotations will show:
To everyme who offers himself to the Lord for service, withholding nothing, is given power for the attainment of measureless results.—Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 30. (Italics supplied.)
As the will of man co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings.— Christ's Object Lessons, p. 333.
All that the apostles did, every church member today is to do.—Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 33.
By the grace of Christ the apostles were made what they were.—Ibid., p. 32.
THE TEST. All who apply themselves at this time to the task will be tested. This test will be twofold—in faith and faithfulness. Personal doubt of the truthfulness of the message subtracts from the fervency of the delivery. One's confidence in the doctrine will determine to a great extent his fruitfulness. There can be no duplicity—not a shadow of suspicion—or one's ministry will not stand the test of fire. Absolute confidence, total belief, has within itself the seeds of irresistibility. Confidence inspires confidence. Conversely, long-cherished doubts eat like termites through the timber of the soul. The trumpet cannot give a certain sound.
By prayer and Bible study, faith in God is strengthened. Few of our doubts are intellectual. More than one defection can be traced to emotional disturbances that could have been curbed by prayer. Once doubt is entertained the intellect is warped, with the end result that right appears wrong and wrong appears right. It is necessary that the terms of salvation be understood and fully believed. In the time of testing just ahead, every facet of one's belief in spiritual matters will be painstakingly examined. A readiness at all times to give a reason for the hope within, is the margin of safety.
The messenger of God will also be tested on the point of faithfulness. The early Christians were willing to face death rather than yield the peculiar tenets of their faith. "Be thou faithful unto death" became their watchword. Indeed, many of them yielded their lives, sealing their testimony with blood. This spirit accounts in part for the survival of Christianity in a world bent on its destruction. Few of us are called to martyrdom for our faith. In other ways, more subtle than the threat of death, our faithfulness is being measured. The winning of souls, home visitation, fund raising, are but a few tests of the minister's application of his duty.
THE TRIUMPH. Few men are privileged to begin a job with the advance knowledge that it will succeed. The minister, however, can do his work with this knowledge. Bible prophecy has provided this heartening assurance.
The truth is soon to triumph gloriously, and all who now choose to be laborers together with God will triumph with it.—Testimonies, vol. 9, p.135.
This assurance of triumph is backed by an immediate pledge of assistance to the believing worker.
Thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels are waiting to co-operate with members of our churches in communicating the light that God has generously given, that a people may be prepared for the coming of Christ. —Ibid., p. 129.
To everyone engaged in this work Christ says, I am at your right hand to help you.—Christ's Object Lessons, p. 332.
Could Christians realize how many times the Lord has ordered their way, that the purposes of the enemy concerning them might not be accomplished, they would not stumble along complainingly. Their faith would be stayed on God, and no trial would have power to move them.—Prophets and Kings, p. 576.
A work is to be accomplished in the earth similar to that which took place at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the days of the early disciples, when they preached Jesus and Him crucified. Many will be converted in a day; for the message will go with power.—ELLEN G. WHITE in The Review and Herald, Nov. 29, 1892.
Fellow ministers, it is at the peril of our souls that we hold back now. The ripened harvest beckons us.
Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God's people than he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth.—ELLEN G. WHITE in The Review and Herald, March 22, 1887.
There is, I believe, an overestimation of the power of television and other modern inventions to hinder attendance at religious services, with a corresponding underestimation of the power of God. The leading show-business personalities are no competition for the King of kings.
This is the time to accomplish the task. And though tested we shall triumph.
E. E. C.
