“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” I would like to read with that text the great commission given to the disciples: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.5

No people in the world believes in that injunction of the Master more than we who are here to-day. When Christ was about to close his earthly mission, he gave a great final charge to his servants. Just before he was crucified, he said. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.6

One of the strongest signs of the soon coming of our blessed Lord is the fulfillment of this prophecy. The signs in the moon, and in the sun, and in the stars have been fulfilled. The prophecies concerning the second advent of Christ have either been fulfilled or are rapidly fulfilling, but here is a specific declaration that the gospel of the kingdom shall go to all the world, and then the end shall come. And I like to quote, with this text, the great charge, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.7

In this charge Christ does not make any distinction between the nations of the world. He does not say, Go to the English-speaking people, or to Europe, or to the people of the United States; but he does say, Go to all the world—everywhere. He does not say we should centralize our forces among some of the great civilized nations of the world, nor that there are to be preferences on the part of those who go; but the charge is, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” I believe that God designed that his people should scatter out among the nations of the earth and teach them the gospel.GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.8

God did not make very much distinction in regard to those who should go. He said to the church, “Go ye.” I might ask, Did the Lord mean Peter and Philip and Thomas, and not the other disciples? The charge is “Go ye into all the world.” That charge ought to reach the heart of every disciple of Jesus Christ. Every man and every woman who receives the gospel is under obligation to hear and heed that call, and to give all to God in obedience to that charge.GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.9

I like to quote with these thoughts from the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. Let us read this prophecy, beginning with verse 9: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” We call that the third angel’s message. It belongs to us as a people; it is the great charge and commission that God has given the remnant church.GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.10

Who is going to give that warning message to the world? Who is to give the warning concerning the beast and his image, and calling out a people that keep the commandments of God? Can the Methodists give that message? [Voices: [Voices: “No!”] I might say to a Methodist, “Did you ever preach the message of Revelation 14:9-12?” and he would answer. “I do not know what it is.” There is not a man preaching for the Methodist Church who really understands what that message is. Can any man explain what the beast and the image are, and tell what the mark of the beast is, and not be what you profess to be here to-day? [Voices: “No!”] No; for the moment a man goes out and preaches this message, he becomes a Seventh-day Adventist. Could a Roman Catholic preach this message?—No; because it strikes at the very fundamental principles of the Catholic Church. Can the other various churches preach that message to the world?—No; because they are combining together to bring about the very thing that God says shall not be. Who can give that message?—No one but those who believe it; and the very moment a man believes it, he has to be a Seventh-day Adventist. Why?—Because it says, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” The fourth commandment is in that law, and are not the popular churches teaching that that commandment is no longer binding?GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.11

I think you believe the third angel’s message. But I want to ask you to think seriously. This message says, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” and the very next thing is the coming of Christ to gather the harvest of the earth.GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.12

Do you believe that we are living in the very days when Christ is to come to this world? Some say, “No, we do not believe that.” But you profess to believe it; I profess to believe it. How do you believe a man would act, if he actually believed that Christ was about to come? Do you think he would be indifferent about his soul’s salvation? Do you think he would be over-anxious in regard to the acquiring of property? [Voices: “No.”] Surely if a man actually believed that the Lord was going to come very soon, and time was not going on very many more years, it would affect his life very seriously. He would not be anxious to acquire wealth, because he would say, “I can not take the riches that I gather here from this earth to heaven.” He would be anxious so to arrange his affairs, so to improve his time and secure his means, that they might multiply in the salvation of souls. Is not that logical? [Voices: “Yes.”]GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.13

Brethren, I think we ought to look at ourselves to-day, and ask, not whether our literature teaches truly the advent doctrine, not whether what we write in our papers, in our periodicals, and in our books, teaches true doctrine, so much as whether, by the example of our lives, by the arrangement of our forces in this work, we are living before the world the teachings that we profess to believe. What do you say is the testimony of the Seventh-day Adventist people in this day to the world? Is it that Jesus Christ is coming to this world in this generation? Now, brethren, I want to know if we are giving in our lives a message contrary to the literature that we are spreading everywhere in the world? What do the people who read the literature and see our lives think of us as a people?GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.14

We are glad that last year we scattered in the world $1,250,000 worth of literature; that is good, is it not? There are in this world to-day 100,000 Seventh-day Adventist who profess to believe that Christ is coming in this generation. I ask, Do the 100,000 lives bear testimony to the truthfulness of the $1,250,000 worth of literature that we circulate? Do you think these are saying two different things about Seventh-day Adventists? Do you not think that it is time for us to heed the exhortation, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith”?GCB June 3, 1909, page 300.15

We have erected sanitariums, and have millions of dollars invested in them. Do these institutions, which represent the toil and sacrifice of our people, bear testimony that Christ is coming in this generation? Do all the doings and the plannings and the work of this people bear testimony that Jesus Christ is about to come? If not, what ought we as a people to do? What do you think? There are in this cause men who have tens of thousands of dollars. They have not simply a house in which to live, but they have a multiplicity of houses. They have not simply a farm on which they can get a living, but they have a great multiplicity of acres, and they are anxious to buy more. Now I want to know if, every time a man adds farm to farm, and house to house, that is a living testimony that Christ is coming in this generation? [Voices, “No.”] What is it a testimony of? It seems to me that the truth is plain. It is evident that we have lost our reckonings; we have become entrapped with the cares of this life; we are preaching one thing and living another.GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.1

My dear friends, do you think it is going to be possible for Seventh-day Adventists to close up this work in this generation? Do you believe that Christ will come in this generation? [Cries of, “Yes.”] How can it be, with a church that is anxious to acquire wealth, with a ministry that is buying, and acquiring, and laying up treasures on earth? How can it be, with church elders that are setting an example to their flocks of laying up treasures on earth instead of laying them up in heaven? Now, brethren, what ought we to do? Did you ever sit down, and think what you would do if you actually thought the Lord was coming in your day? Let us be honest this afternoon. What would this brother do if he believed that the Lord was coming in this day? I tell you, my friends, that his soul would be fired with holy zeal, and his life and actions and everything that he did would testify to his belief that the Lord was coming. What would I do? I would do exactly as he would do. We would lay everything upon the altar, and our lives would speak that Christ was soon coming. “But,” you say, “our brethren here are all of good courage. We are all happy in the Lord. We are satisfied with ourselves.” Brethren, that is the great danger; that is a sure sign of spiritual paralysis; that is exactly why we are so far behind in our work; that is why our people are not alive,—because we flatter ourselves that we have good institutions, because we are increased in material wealth, because we think we are extending our work out into the great needy mission fields.GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.2

“But,” you say, “I think you ought to preach a good, practical sermon, and not touch upon this question upon the Sabbath.” [Voices: “Go on; that is what we want; that is what we need,” etc.] What do you think about it? Do you think that this denomination ought to go on and spend its resources on men who, year after year, do not bring a church into the truth? I do not believe we should. It does seem to me that unless there shall be a complete revolution in a very few years we shall find ourselves paralyzed. “But.” you say, “what would you do with the men that do not raise up churches?” It seems to me that if a man demonstrates that he can not raise up a church, we must draw this conclusion: Either the man has missed his calling, and is not living up to his high privilege in Christ Jesus, or else these people to whom he is preaching must have received the warning at his mouth, and rejected the mercy of God.GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.3

Now in 1908 we received in this country $796,190.25 in tithe. This is nearly all expended on the ministry. I want to know if, during the coming year, the policy of our conferences, and our union conferences, shall be to produce only in the same ratio of converts as in 1908? I actually believe that if we were of a mind to turn about, and put ourselves on the altar, giving ourselves to the preaching of this message as men that believe the Lord is coming, we could warn this whole country in a very short time. If men went out and preached this message, not for their salaries, nor as a profession, but because the burden of the Spirit of God was upon their hearts to give this message to the world, there would be scores who would give themselves to God in a very short time. We have sown this country with our denominational literature. For forty years the printed page has been scattered like the leaves of autumn. Don’t you think the time has come for men to go out, in the power of the Holy Ghost, and gather out the honest-hearted who have been reading this message for years in our publication.GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.4

I believe the time has come when union and local conference presidents should call their men together, and discuss exactly what their future policy shall be. Shall it be to go on and draw salaries, and follow the same course that we have been pursuing the last four years? or shall we now decide that this message shall go to the world in this generation, and that we will give our lives, our property, and all there is of us to the giving of this message? If you do not do it, if you as ministers and conference officers do not do it, how in the world is it to be done? You are elected to these offices; the brethren that give their money and tithes believe in you. You are the best, the strongest men for leaders, there are in sight. Don’t you think, as men who stand before the church as leaders, as God’s ambassadors, that you owe it to God, to the church, and to the world, to bring forth fruit?GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.5

My friends, think of the fact that there are in Asia 800,000,000 people not yet warned, and there are conferences in the United States with less than 2,000,000 people that this last year used up more tithe on their small population than this denomination invested for 800,000,000 people in Asia. Do you think that is right? [Chorus of, “No.”] Here are great countries like China, like India, like Japan, that we have scarcely touched with the tips of our fingers, while there are conferences in the United States where it is difficult to find a city or town where the message has not been preached. Don’t you think that if we actually believe this message with all our hearts, there will be a division of men and means, and a great army of workers sent into these very needy fields?GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.6

Don’t you think there would be a oneness of purpose, and a going into all the world with our resources and men, that the world may be warned? I believe it. My dear friends, with an equitable distribution of our forces according to the needs, with the Spirit of God resting upon his servants, both at home and abroad, with the prayers of the church, with united co-operation everywhere, it does seem to me that this message could speedily reach all nations of the world, and our blessed Lord would speedily come.GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.7

I ask you, honestly and sincerely, What should we do, as a General Conference in session, with our resources and our men, to give this message to the world in this generation? Shall we go on in the United States as we have been going on? or shall we give more men and means to foreign fields? I would like to know what the laity think. The laity—the men who are not paid salaries, the men that furnish the means—have a clear vision on these matters, and I would like to know what you think. Do you believe it would paralyze the work in America if twenty of the strongest conferences should lay on the altar one third of all their tithe for the prosecution of this work among the people of heathen lands? I would like to see the hands of those who think it would. [No hand was raised.] But how many think it would be a real blessing? [At this question nearly every hand was raised.]GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.8

Now, brethren, if you believe that this thing ought to be done, what do you propose to do at this Conference? If you believe it would be a great inspiration to send this money to the mission fields, I would like to know what you propose to do. Will you close your eyes to your best judgment, to your honest convictions? You may say, “We are not in charge, and we have nothing to say.” Then, why don’t you go to your presidents and ministers and talk the matter over? My dear friends, it seems to me that a mighty revolution ought to take place during the coming week of this Conference. The millions in China, Africa, India, South America, and other lands that are in the bonds of darkness and heathenism, ought to receive a wonderful help from you who believe you ought to share with them your means and money to give them the truth in this generation. Do you believe we have the courage to do what we honestly believe is the best thing for these countries and for God’s cause?GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.9

We have been going on for a score of years, and our Mission Board has been continually compelled to plead for money. Let me tell you to-day, while I stand before you, that up there on the hill in our little treasury of the General Conference there is only $5,000 that we can send to foreign fields, and this is borrowed money, while the foreign fields need, for the support of the workers in those fields, over $15,000 every month. To-day the General Conference has not a dollar of its own. If we were to pay the money that the Conference has on deposits, and specific funds, we are short about $10,000 of having a cent to send to our foreign missionaries in foreign fields. We failed to send the full quota last month to the foreign fields because there was not money enough that could be sent from our treasury. To-day we have nothing in our treasury to send to China, to Africa, to South America. Do you think that is right? But there are union conferences and State conferences that have thousands of dollars that they could use if only they thought it was proper to give it to the support of these workers in foreign lands. Yesterday I went to the office, and said to our cashier, “I want to make up a budget for foreign fields. Here we are at the end of May, and we ought to send our June remittance by the end of next week.” He replied, “I do not see how you are going to send any money to the foreign fields this month, because there is no money that we can send.” I asked, “How do you suppose these men in China, India, and Africa are going to live if we do not send the money?” He replied, “How do you suppose the men who have deposited money here will feel if we use their money, and can not place it back when they want it?”GCB June 3, 1909, page 301.10

My brethren, I tell you it does seem to me that as a Conference here assembled, we ought to study the situation, and decide whether the treasury of the General Conference is to be barren, without a dollar to send to foreign fields, when in this country and Europe our ministry are sure of their wages each month. When there is an equitable distribution of both men and money, this condition will be changed.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.1

But you say to me, “Are you not discouraged?” No, indeed! I believe in God’s people. I think the present condition is a lack of knowledge and appreciation of the situation. Just as soon as the people understand, they will rally to the support of God’s work. Every one of you has already said that you thought it would strengthen your home work to share your means and men with the foreign fields. If that policy can be pursued, there will be sufficient funds to carry on the work everywhere.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.2

“But,” you say, “don’t you believe in building up the home work?” Indeed I do. I believe there ought to be in every conference a determination that the membership of that conference shall be doubled. You say, “That is an impossibility.” But if every man among us would labor every day in the great work of soul-saving, with a determination to thoroughly consecrate his life to God’s work, we would see a great harvest of souls. A man can not bring forth much fruit if he does not believe there is much fruit to gather. But the man who is truly God’s messenger will speak with power, and lead souls to Christ; he will raise up churches, because God works through him, and heaven co-operates with his efforts.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.3

You remember that on one occasion Jesus said to his disciples, “Have faith in God.” That should be our battle-cry. With a ministry that believes that God is working with them, with truth without much wrestling with God men burdened with a message to the world, whose hearts are breaking with a desire to lead souls to Christ, there will be a harvest. Men can not sit under such preaching without conviction. They will cry out. “Lord, what shall I do to be saved?” Let us remember there are very few souls brought to the truth without much wrestling with God on the part of the laborer, without prayer and fasting, and without the example of men who live close to God. If we had such a ministry, whose souls were filled with a message from heaven, and whose hearts were burdened with a desire to save sinners, there would be a mighty ingathering of souls.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.4

While I appeal for foreign fields, brethren. I believe there is a great duty in the home land to strengthen our churches, and to raise up new churches. I do not think the message has yet reached the limits in this country. Here are great territories where this message has never been preached. There are many thousands of square miles, many important centers where there is not a church of believers in present truth. It seems to me that as Conference men, as committee men, as union conference men, it is our duty during this Conference to resolve that the year to come shall be the year of greatest effort, of prayer, of consecration, and of service for God, in the history of this people. With such a consecration, brethren, there will be a harvest of souls. Your churches will be rejuvenated, the young people will desire to have a part in giving this message to the world.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.5

I look forward to the future with great interest. I believe the men and women who are in this tent to-day are responsible for the progress and growth of this work the next few years. What are you here for if you are not the leaders in your home field? Why are you here if you are not the men to set the pace, and lead in the prosecution of the work in your own territory? Ought we not, in the fear of God, to study what we can do? But you say, “Are we not making progress?” Brethren, I tell you we are making progress tremendously slow in the home land. What we want in the ministry in the home land is to have faith in God. When the men in China, India, Africa, and other dark places see that the brethren in the home field are bearing fruit, it will help them to work in these foreign countries. What a mighty inspiration you can give the work in heathen lands if you will send new recruits to these foreign fields! With the promised blessing of God, it does seem that by the next General Conference we shall see mighty progress in giving the message to the world.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.6

You say, “I am rather discouraged at such a talk. It makes me feel discouraged to think we are not doing everything we ought to do.” No, my dear friends, I like to look the thing square in the face. I like to take off my coat, roll up my sleeves, and resolve, by the help of God, to make this work go. But you say, “Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God.” Yes, my friends, but God will never baptize a worldly, selfish minister with the Holy Ghost. When a man’s time and energy are set to the acquirement of the riches of this world, that man is never going to be a power in this ministry. You and I must give ourselves to this work without any reserve, and give all we have to it, if we set the pace for other men to follow. I believe with all my heart that the time has come for us to give ourselves to God anew. I believe that we ought to lay ourselves upon the altar of God for service, to give all we have and are to this cause. O brethren. I tell you I would like to see all of us soon in the kingdom of God! It is a pity for God’s people to have spent forty years in the wilderness from lack of faith, when the promised land is so near.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.7

My friends, God has given you this work; he has laid upon your hearts the burden; he has given you the possibilities of closing it up. I ask, Do you intend to see that the thing is done? I believe we can quicken our steps. I believe we can accomplish tenfold more the next four years than we have in the past four years, that we can see a mighty awakening among all the nations of the world. All over the field our faithful brethren and sisters are crying out to God that his Spirit shall call to renewed consecration at this meeting. In the home, on the farm, in the factory and shop, our faithful people are praying that God will pour out his Spirit upon this delegation, and that this work may be accomplished quickly. I believe that God wants us to help to answer these prayers. I believe that God wants these ministers, these committee men, these strong, practical men, to go from this Conference with renewed consecration of your lives, your means, and all that there is of you, to be used wherever he shall direct in the advancement of his work.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.8

I am going to ask how many believe the things I am trying to say. Those who desire to make this consecration as individuals, as conference men, as committee men, as General Conference men, each in the place in which he serves; those who will lay all upon the altar for God, to use according to the wisdom that he gives you for the purpose of sending this gospel to the world in this generation; those who are willing to die for God, to die for his cause, to die to this world, to die to sin, and to live for service in every place to which God may direct,—I am going to ask all in this great audience who will do that thing, and mean it, and, by the grace of God, live up to it, and set a new pace to this work, to share with the great needy fields in the world, with your means, with yourselves, and your families, and your property, and all there is to you, to rise to your feet, and give yourselves in this way to God and to the finishing of this work in this generation. [Practically every one in the audience rose.] Elder Evans then closed with a short, earnest prayer of consecration.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.9

An appeal was then made by Elder Corliss and others on the stand for an immediate manifestation of our faith and consecration, in the way of donations of our means, especially to relieve the present needs in our mission fields.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.10

At the conclusion of the effort, during which many touching, stirring, and earnest testimonies were borne by ministers, conference presidents, delegates, and others, something over $11,000 was collected in cash and pledges.GCB June 3, 1909, page 302.11

The Sermon - CHRIST OUR REPRESENTATIVE

Missionary Talks - A TALK ON FIJI