"Finishing the Work": When will it Happen?

IN WHAT proved to be his last chapel talk, Melvin Eckenroth, the late chair man of the theology department of Columbia Union College, bared his heart before the students, reflecting upon the fact that the young men of his generation had left the portals of the same college absolutely convinced that in a short time, under the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, they would finish the work and see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven. On another occasion a student said to me, "You know, Elder Eckenroth sends shivers up and down your spine as he challenges you to the task of finishing the work of God." But like so many spiritual giants before him, he now sleeps, awaiting the return of Jesus.

It is so easy for God's ministers to become complacent about the momentous challenge of the work that God has given them to do and even to begin to doubt whether human effort plays any role in the return of Jesus. In fact, there are those whom the Lord has placed as shepherds of His flock who have come to the disappointing conclusion that Jesus will come when He is ready, and nothing we can do interferes with His timetable. How dangerous and how destructive of productive outreach is this philosophy. Jesus will not come when He is ready; He will come when His people are ready.

"When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." —Christ's Object Lessons, p. 69. The readiness of His people is primarily the responsibility of the gospel minister. Never before has there been a more urgent need for this work to be accomplished. To make Christ and Him crucified the message of our preaching is pointless without the focus of the Second Coming. Homilies and argumentative theology should be relegated to the unimportant, compared with the preparation of a people to meet their King.

The Second Advent is the pivot of our faith. The name Seventh-day Adventist distinguishes us from the other Adventist- centered groups, and is a broadened elaboration of the central theme of our hope—the second coming of Jesus. The view that we have nothing or little to do with the return of Jesus is one of the most dangerous heresies facing the church. Inevitably it leads to indifference, to worldliness, and to the taking of our ease. In Matthew 24:48 it is pointed out that it is the evil servant who declares, "My Lord delayeth his coming." Here God is blamed for the delay. No faithful servant of God will be found making such an accusation today. It is just as impossible that God is to blame for the delay in His return as it is that He was to blame for the delay of the children of Israel in entering the earthly Canaan.

"We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ's sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action." —Evangelism, p. 696. (Italics supplied.)

Peter made it so clear when he said, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Here, in the clearest of terms, is portrayed the loving, merciful reason why Jesus has not returned. Each one of us must share his portion of the responsibility for the delay.

"The long night of gloom is trying; but the morning is deferred in mercy, be cause if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God's unwillingness to have His people perish has been the reason for so long delay." Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 194.

The Minister's Responsibility

The Word of God leaves absolutely no doubt that we have, as ministers of the gospel, every responsibility to advance the day of the return of Jesus. "Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God, as you wait for the Day of God, and do your best to make it come soon" (2 Peter 3:11, last part, and 12, first part, T.E.V.*).

Perhaps we should be careful how we employ such statements as, "Should the Lord delay further. . . ." Much more appropriate would be, "If we fail to fulfill our mission before. . . ."

The servant of the Lord confirms our opportunity to hasten the coming of the Lord. "By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord's return." —The Desire of Ages, p. 633.

However, we need to be warned that the failure to do our task can result in the most diabolical consequences for the world and for God's people. "Our Saviour did not appear as soon as we hoped. But has the Word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional." —Evangelism, p. 695. (Italics supplied.)

The conditions that God has set must weigh very heavily upon the heart and mind of the minister. Primarily, the life of the minister must be without reproach. "It is the privilege of the watch men on the walls of Zion to live so near to God, and to be so susceptible to the impressions of His Spirit, that He can work through them to tell sinners of their peril, and point them to the place of safety. Chosen of God, sealed with the blood of consecration, they are to rescue men and women from impending destruction. Faithfully are they to warn their fellow-men of the sure result of transgression, and faithfully are they to safeguard the interests of the church. At no time may they relax their vigilance. Theirs is a work requiring the exercise of every faculty of the being. In trumpet tones their voices are to be lifted, and never should they sound one wavering, uncertain note. Not for wages are they to labor, but because they cannot do otherwise, because they realize that there is a woe upon them if they fail to preach the gospel." —Gospel Workers, p. 15.

Perhaps the greatest responsibility of the minister is to place before his congregation the solemn responsibility of complete victory over sin, that the coming of Jesus might be hastened. "The people of God must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand without fault before Him at His coming." —Evangelism, p. 695.

Rather than wavering from the responsibility that God has placed upon His watchman, the minister has a daily, growing, God-ordained responsibility to do all in his power to point God's people to the conditions upon which His return will be hastened. The woe and weal of the world is to a large extent in the hands of God's chosen people. May we, as the ministers of the gospel, do every thing to cooperate with heavenly agencies, to effect the end of the reign of sin.