Preach in Regions Beyond

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The love that was manifested in the life and character of Christ is no narrow, selfish affection. You are to be constrained by His love to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to your hand. «But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.» The work ever before the minister of Christ is to preach the gospel, both to those that are nigh, and «in regions beyond.» It involves self-denial, and necessitates cross-bearing. This kind of work, that will lead us continually to be faithful home missionaries and to press forward into new fields, must be carried on more and more as we near the close of earth’s history. The gospel is not to be restricted to any time, or confined to any place. The world is the field for the gospel minister, and the whole human family is his congregation. When he has finished giving a discourse, his work is only just entered upon; for the word of life is to be presented from house to house. The truth must be carried from city to city, from street to street, from family to family. Every method by which access may be gained to the homes of the people must be tried; for the messenger must become acquainted with the people. The truth must be carried from province to province, from kingdom to kingdom. The highways and byways must be thoroughly gleaned, and the message must spread from continent to continent, until the whole earth is belted with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Ministers and missionaries must ever keep in view the «regions beyond.» The Saviour has said of His people, «Ye are the light of the world.» The truth is to be proclaimed; the light is to shine forth in clear, steady rays. Self-denial, self-sacrifice, whole-heartedness, must be put into the work; the light must shine forth until precious souls are brought to take their stand on the Lord’s side. Then the worker is to press on into the «regions beyond,» where souls are to be gathered, and precious light shine amid the moral darkness that enshrouds the people. Thus must the truth be preached until the minds of those who sit in darkness as under the pall of death, are enlightened, and elevated, and broadened. Every worker must stand at his post of duty, not only to preach, but to come close to souls, to become acquainted with them at their homes, as did Jesus, working unselfishly, devotedly, until the work is well bound off. When one company is raised up to carry light to the community, openings will be seen that invite the labourers into the «regions beyond.» The workers for God will ever be pressing onward, ever depending upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

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The Lord will not approve of ministers spending much of their time with churches that already believe the truth. When they preach to those who understand the truth for this time, and labour with them, devoting their time to the flock, they teach the people to depend upon them in their various perplexities. It is needful that our churches should be visited by ministers, but the churches must not expect that the minister is to hold them up and make them believe. By such a course the church is weakened rather than strengthened. Ministers have a work to do that will call them away from believing companies; for they are to bear the warning message to those who have never heard the truth for this time.

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The minister who presents to the people the third angel’s message must not think that he is called upon to bring in various ideas to charm the senses of the people, but from the very introduction of his work he is to present the truth in its sacred, solemn character. He is to let his hearers understand that he bears a message of warning that is to test the world, and prepare a people for the great day of the Lord. Pleasing tales and anecdotes may attract the people, and churches may be raised up, and attracted and bound to the messenger; but the practical truth in the heart, the possession of the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, may be wanting. It will be more difficult to mould and reshape a church that has been so fashioned, than to go forth and preach in regions beyond; for those who have accepted a theory of the truth have not been transformed by the Holy Spirit. God’s workmen must not follow after the world’s practices and customs in the least. Any course that the minister shall pursue that will lead the people to look to him and depend upon him, is not after the working of the Holy Spirit. The pure word of God alone must be preached to the people in clear lines, and its convincing, controlling power on heart and life will alone transform the character and save the soul. «The word of the Lord endureth forever.» «The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.» The «simple» here mentioned are not those who are devoid of reasoning powers, but those who are not puffed up with self-conceit. The simple are those who are emptied of self, and in whom the vacuum has been supplied by the Holy Spirit, which brings every power of body and soul into subjection, and moulds and fashions the character after the divine pattern. —

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Christ to be Presented. — Mrs. E. G. White. The word of God alone endures forever. Its influence alone leads upward to God, and the professed heralds of the cross of Christ must present the lessons of Christ. They must learn from the word of God how to present these lessons to the people in the very way in which Christ presented them, bringing to bear upon human hearts eternal realities, and warning them to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold of eternal life. In their ignorance souls are perishing out of Christ; they do not realize how offensive sin is in the sight of God, and nothing can arouse them but the clean-cut truth of God’s word. Then let not the messengers of truth turn from the word of God to present the feeble, insipid matters that are largely presented from popular pulpits as food for the flock of God. The truth has been perverted, and smooth things have been spoken; pleasing performances have been substituted for the truth of God. These things have diverted the mind from truth and righteousness, and have caused men to drop eternal realities out of their reckoning. The truth of God is not changeable, uncertain, and powerless. It is truth presented in its purity that alone can convict and convert the sinner, and turn him from the error of his ways. The word of God is the only fixed, changeless thing that the world knows. Like its Author in character, it is «the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.» It not only causes men to discern what is truth, but it unmasks the soul, and presents men to themselves as perishing sinners, and calls upon them to repent and to be converted, that their sins may be blotted out, and stand no longer against them.

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Let every minister consider the peril of souls out of Christ, and let his labours be untiring to plant the truth in the hearts of his hearers; then the Holy Spirit will do that which man cannot do,-water the seed sown, and give the increase. Unless the truth is presented in its purity and enthroned in the heart, the hearer of the truth will not experience a thorough transition from darkness to light, from sin, which is the transgression of the law, to obedience and conformity to the character of God, which is expressed in His law of righteousness. Let the messengers of God go weighted with the burden of truth, with the words of the living God, bearing a message of warning, and giving the trumpet a certain sound. Let them set forth the message for this time with such solemnity that men will feel that it is essential to have the truth enthroned in the heart. Christ prayed for His disciples, «Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth.»

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The end of all things is at hand, and the world is to be warned. Eternity must be urged upon the people. Their attention must be called away from the things of this world, and attracted to everlasting realities. It is a time when the most poisonous errors are prevailing among men, working the destruction of souls, and O, may God bless His messengers who do feel the burden and the importance of the message which He has given them to bear to the world. In all their labours, let them educate their hearers from the very first. Let them present to them the precious pearls of truth; let them not confine their work to that of mere sermonizing, but let them minister to the people. Let them visit their hearers at their homes, not waiting for invitations, but going as sent of God. Invite yourself to the people’s homes; in meekness and humbleness of mind seek admission, and then present to the people a sin-pardoning Saviour. The minister, when visiting at the homes of the people, should not spend the precious time in mere talk upon common themes of conversation; but he should watch for an opportunity to introduce them to his best Friend. Too often men and women are indifferent and careless in regard to that which concerns their spiritual interests, but even to this class, a word in season may be as seed dropped into good soil.

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Every one has his work. Paul said to Timothy, «Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt save thyself, and them that hear thee.» The ministers of Jesus Christ will have more than a mere casual interest for the people. They will seek to know the state of their spiritual being, even as a physician seeks to understand the physical difficulties of his patients. They will engage in personal conversation, and adapt their counsel to every individual case according to the needs of the soul. This personal work cannot be looked upon as of secondary importance. The minister is the appointed under-shepherd of the flock of God, and it is his business to minister to the sin-sick, the tempted, and the erring.

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This very work is needed among all classes and in all places. It is the character of the work to be done in «regions beyond.» In different places are families and individual members of families who have left their native land, and are sojourners and strangers in a strange land. In leaving their own country and coming to a new place, they have failed to form new church relations, and have grown cold to their best Friend, and have drawn away from Him at the very time when they most needed His presence. They have given up calling upon their strong and mighty Helper, because many perplexities have engaged their minds, and cares have come in between their souls and Jesus, who has assured them that He is a present help in every time of need. They do not pray; they do not lay hold upon Him who is mighty to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him, believing that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. This class need Jesus, and the ministers should educate them, pointing them, as did John, to the «Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.» If they will only come to Jesus, He will hear them. Present to such souls not doctrinal points, but a living Saviour, and open to them the Scriptures, showing them the way to find Jesus, He who has promised to heal all their backslidings. Thus great good may be accomplished.

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If ministers who are called upon to preach the most solemn message ever given to mortals, evade the truth, they are unfaithful in their work, and are false shepherds to the sheep and the lambs. The assertions of man are of no value. Let the word of God speak to the people. Let those who have heard only traditions and maxims of men hear the voice of God, whose promises are Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus. If the character and deportment of the shepherd is a living epistle to the people of the truth which he advocates, the Lord will set His seal to the work. True friendships will be formed with the people, and the shepherd and the flock will become one, united by a common hope in Christ Jesus.

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The love of Christ is not a fitful feeling, but a living principle, and it is not only to be expressed in words, but to be lived out in the life, and to be made manifest as an abiding power in the heart. Where this love exists, there will be unity; and in unity there is strength. The love of Christ warms the heart of both teacher and learners, and they are quickened together by the Holy Spirit. They all drink from the same fountain, and are all moved by the motive power that comes from love to Christ, which is revealed in good works for Jesus, and for those who have been purchased by the infinite price of His own precious blood. —