Chapter 56—Zeal for Christ
Chapter 56—Zeal for Christ
[Special Testimonies, Series A 10:33-39 (1897).]
All who name the name of Christ should work for Him with heart and mind and soul and strength; and they will work if they believe the great gospel of truth. The heartiness of their zeal for Christ’s sake will testify to the measure of their faith. Self will be swallowed in Christ if they are truly united with Him. “I live,” said the great apostle; “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
The light given over and over again by the Spirit of God is, Do not colonize. [See Appendix.] Enter the large cities, and create an interest among the high and the low. Make it your work to preach the gospel to the poor, but do not stop there. Seek to reach the higher classes also. Study your location with a view to letting your light shine forth to others. This work should have been done long since. Do not make the Sabbath question your first specialty. You must reach the people with practical subjects, upon which all can agree....
God’s people have a work to do which is not being done. The last message of mercy must be given to a world perishing in their sins. Those who are connected with our institutions have every facility and opportunity to work for the poor sinners that are out of Christ; but they are dumb. If our churches would only practice [401] the truth, and show that they believe that Christ came to our world to save sinners, the power of God would attend their labors. But they must keep in touch with the Source of all light and efficiency, and in touch with the world, not to imbibe the spirit of the world, but that they may do the work God has appointed them to do....
Ministerial Institutes
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” is Christ’s command to His workers.
But this plain declaration has been disregarded. Even though the light has been given again and again, men are called from the fields, where they should have continued working in the love and fear of God, seeking to save the lost, to spend weeks in attending a ministerial institute. There was a time when this work was made necessary, because our own people opposed the work of God by refusing the light of truth on the righteousness of Christ by faith. This they should have received and reechoed with heart and voice and pen, for it is their only efficiency. They should have labored under the Holy Spirit’s dictation to give the light to others.
By devoting year after year to ministerial institutes, [See Appendix.] fields have been neglected that are white already to harvest. Even the workers have been weakened instead of being strengthened. This has been a mistake. God calls upon His servants to communicate, not to be ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
The great object of the advent of the Holy Spirit is distinctly specified by Christ. “When He is come,” He [402] said, “He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” This light has been kept before our people for years. The power of the Holy Spirit has been largely manifested at Battle Creek, the great heart of the work, to be communicated to those in the highways and hedges, that the mass of human beings under Satan’s sway of sin and death might be reformed and renovated by the Spirit’s power. But when light has come to those at the center of the work, they have not known how to treat it. The testimonies God has given His people are in harmony with His word.
When Christ spoke these words, He was standing in the shadow of the shameful cross, the symbol of the guilt which made the sacrifice of Christ necessary in order to save the world from complete ruin. Christ looked forward to the time when the Holy Spirit, as His representative, should come to do a wonderful work in and through His merits; and He felt privileged to communicate His relief to His disciples....
Those who have not a living connection with God have not an appreciation of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation, and do not distinguish between the sacred and the common. They do not obey God’s voice, because, as the Jewish nation, they know not the time of their visitation. There is no help for man, woman, or child who will not hear and obey the voice of duty, for the voice of duty is the voice of God. The eyes, the ears, and the heart will become unimpressible if men and women refuse to give heed to the divine counsel, and choose the way that is best pleasing to themselves.
Oh, how much better it would be if all who do this were connected with some other work than the sacred institutions appointed by God as His great centers! They are supposed to be under the guidance of the [403] Holy Spirit; but this is a mistake. They do not do the work of God faithfully; they do not give evidence that they realize its sacred character. Their influence misleads others, causing them to regard lightly God’s instrumentalities ordained for the saving of souls, and leading them to think that they may bring in their own ideas and common thoughts and plans. Thus a low, cheap level is reached, and God is greatly dishonored.
God would have all who have such an experience ingrained in their religious life choose occupation elsewhere, in laborious, narrow spheres, where eternal interests will not be cheapened by their unconsecrated lives, where there is less room to encounter temptation. Strenuous, flesh-wearing toil may counteract and subdue their evil propensities, and others will not be leavened by their harmful tendencies and traits of character.
No Neutral Ground
Those who have any connection with God’s work in any of our institutions must have a connection with God, and must be committed to do right under all circumstances, that they may know where they will be found in the day of trial. No one connected with the sacred work of God can remain on neutral ground. If a man is divided, undecided, unsettled, until he is sure that he will lose nothing, he shows that he is a man God cannot use. But many are working in this line. They have not been appointed by God, or else they have decidedly failed to be worked by the mighty agency of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord will use educated men if their supposed knowledge does not lead them to desire to work the Holy Spirit, and to seek to teach the Lord that human policy is better than divine plans, because it accords [404] better with popular opinion. Everyone in God’s service is under bonds to stand forth boldly and meet prejudice, opposition, and human passion. They must ever remember that they are God’s servants, and in His service.
[For further study: Testimonies for the Church 6:89, 90, 137, 138, 442; 8:28, 29, 36; The Desire of Ages, 409.]
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