The publications sent forth from our printing houses are to prepare a people to meet God. Throughout the world they are to do the same work that was done by John the Baptist for the Jewish nation. By startling messages of warning, God’s prophet awakened men from worldly dreaming. Through him God called backsliding Israel to repentance. By his presentation of truth he exposed popular delusions. In contrast with the false theories of his time, truth in his teaching stood forth as an eternal certainty. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” was John’s message. Matthew 3:2. This same message, through the publications from our printing houses, is to be given to the world today.
The prophecy that John’s mission fulfilled outlines our work: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” Verse 3. As John prepared the way for the first, so we are to prepare the way for the second, advent of the Saviour. Our publishing institutions are to exalt the claims of God’s downtrodden law. Standing before the world as reformers, they are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform. In clear, distinct lines they are to present the necessity of obedience to all His commandments. Constrained by the love of Christ, they are to co-operate with Him in building up the old waste places, raising up the foundations of many generations. They are to stand as repairers of the breach, restorers of paths to dwell in. Through their testimony the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to stand as a witness, a constant reminder of God, to attract notice and arouse investigation that shall direct the minds of men to their Creator.
Let it never be forgotten that these institutions are to co-operate with the ministry of the delegates of heaven. They are among the agencies represented by the angel flying “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” Revelation 14:6, 7.
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From them is to go forth the terrible denunciation: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Verse 8.
They are represented by the third angel that followed, “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.” Verses 9, 10.
And in a large degree through our publishing houses is to be accomplished the work of that other angel who comes down from heaven with great power and who lightens the earth with his glory.
Solemn is the responsibility that rests upon our houses of publication. Those who conduct these institutions, those who edit the periodicals and prepare the books, standing as they do in the light of God’s purpose, and called to give warning to the world, are held by God accountable for the souls of their fellow men. To them, as well as to the ministers of the word, applies the message given by God to His prophet of old: “Son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” Ezekiel 33:7, 8.
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Never did this message apply with greater force than it applies today. More and more the world is setting at nought the claims of God. Men have become bold in transgression. The wickedness of the inhabitants of the world has almost filled up the measure of their iniquity. This earth has almost reached the place where God will permit the destroyer to work his will upon it. The substitution of the laws of men for the law of God, the exaltation, by merely human authority, of Sunday in place of the Bible Sabbath, is the last act in the drama. When this substitution becomes universal, God will reveal Himself. He will arise in His majesty to shake terribly the earth. He will come out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity, and the earth shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain.
The great conflict that Satan created in the heavenly courts is soon, very soon, to be forever decided. Soon all the inhabitants of the earth will have taken sides, either for or against the government of heaven. Now, as never before, Satan is exercising his deceiving power to mislead and to destroy every unguarded soul. We are called upon to arouse the people to prepare for the great issues before them. We must give warning to those who are standing on the very brink of ruin. God’s people are to put forth every power in combating Satan’s falsehoods and pulling down his strongholds. To every human being in the wide world who will give heed, we are to make plain the principles at stake in the great controversy—principles upon which hangs the eternal destiny of the soul. To the people far and near we are to bring home the question: “Are you following the great apostate in disobedience to God’s law, or are you following the Son of God, who declared, ‘I have kept My Father’s commandments’?”
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This is the work before us; for this our publishing institutions were established; it is this work that God expects at their hands.
A Demonstration of Christian Principles
We are not only to publish the theory of the truth, but to present a practical illustration of it in character and life. Our publishing institutions are to stand before the world as an embodiment of Christian principles. In these institutions, if God’s purpose for them is fulfilled, Christ Himself stands at the head of the working forces. Holy angels supervise the work in every department. And all that is done in every line is to bear the impress of heaven, to show forth the excellence of the character of God.
God has ordained that His work shall be presented to the world in distinct, holy lines. He desires His people to show by their lives the advantage of Christianity over worldliness. By His grace every provision has been made for us in all our transaction of business to demonstrate the superiority of heaven’s principles over the principles of the world. We are to show that we are working upon a higher plane than that of worldlings. In all things we are to manifest purity of character, to show that the truth received and obeyed makes the receivers sons and daughters of God, children of the heavenly King, and that as such they are honest in their dealings, faithful, true, and upright in the small as well as the great things of life.
In all our work, even in mechanical lines, God desires that the perfection of His character shall appear. The exactness, skill, tact, wisdom, and perfection which He required in the building of the earthly tabernacle, He desires to have brought into everything that shall be done in His service. Every transaction entered into by His servants is to be as pure and as precious in His sight as were the gold and frankincense and myrrh which in sincere, uncorrupted faith the Wise Men from the East brought to the infant Saviour.
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Thus in their business life Christ’s followers are to be light bearers to the world. God does not ask them to make an effort to shine. He approves of no self-satisfied attempt to display superior goodness. He desires that their souls shall be imbued with the principles of heaven, and then, as they come in contact with the world, they will reveal the light that is in them. Their honesty, uprightness, and steadfast fidelity in every act of life will be a means of illumination.
The kingdom of God comes not with outward show. It comes through the gentleness of the inspiration of His word, through the inward working of His Spirit, the fellowship of the soul with Him who is its life. The greatest manifestation of its power is seen in human nature brought to the perfection of the character of Christ.
An appearance of wealth or position, expensive architecture or furnishings, are not essential to the advancement of the work of God; neither are achievements that win applause from men and administer to vanity. Worldly display, however imposing, is of no value with God.
While it is our duty to seek for perfection in outward things, it should ever be kept in mind that this aim is not to be made supreme. It must be held subordinate to higher interests. Above the seen and transitory, God values the unseen and eternal. The former is of worth only as it expresses the latter. The choicest productions of art possess no beauty that can compare with the beauty of character which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s working in the soul.
When God gave His Son to the world, He endowed human beings with imperishable riches, riches compared with which the treasured wealth of men since the world began is nothingness. Christ came to the earth and stood before the children of men with the hoarded love of eternity, and this is the treasure that, through our connection with Him, we are to receive, to reveal, and to impart.
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Our institutions will give character to the work of God just according to the consecrated devotion of the workers—by revealing the power of the grace of Christ to transform the life. We are to be distinguished from the world because God has placed His seal upon us, because He manifests in us His own character of love. Our Redeemer covers us with His righteousness.
In choosing men and women for His service, God does not ask whether they possess learning or eloquence or worldly wealth. He asks: “Do they walk in such humility that I can teach them My way? Can I put My words into their lips? Will they represent Me?”
God can use every person just in proportion as He can put His Spirit into the soul-temple. The work that He will accept is the work that reflects His image. His followers are to bear, as their credentials to the world, the ineffaceable characteristics of His immortal principles.
Missionary Agencies
Our publishing houses are God’s appointed centers, and through them is to be accomplished a work the magnitude of which is yet unrealized. There are lines of effort and influence as yet by them almost untouched in which God is calling for their co-operation.
As the message of truth advances into new fields, it is God’s purpose that the work of establishing new centers shall be constantly going forward. Throughout the world His people are to raise memorials of His Sabbath, the sign between Him and them that He is the One who sanctifies them. At various points in missionary lands publishing houses must be established. To give character to the work, to be centers of effort and influence, to attract the attention of the people, to develop the talents and capabilities of the believers, to unify the new churches, and to second the efforts of the workers, giving them facilities for more ready communication with the churches and more rapid dissemination of the message—all these and many other considerations plead for the establishment of publishing centers in missionary fields.
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In this work it is the privilege, yea, the duty, of our established institutions to participate. These institutions were founded in self-sacrifice. They have been built up by the self-denying gifts of God’s people and the unselfish labor of His servants. God designs that they shall manifest the same spirit of self-sacrifice and do the same work in aiding the establishment of new centers in other fields.
For institutions as for individuals the same law holds true: They are not to become self-centered. As an institution becomes established and gains strength and influence, it is not to be constantly reaching out to secure greater facilities for itself. Of every institution, as of every individual, it is true that we receive to impart. God gives that we may give. Just as soon as an institution has gained a standing place for itself, it should reach out to aid other instrumentalities of God that are in greater need.
This is in accordance with the principles of both the law and the gospel—the principles exemplified in the life of Christ. The greatest evidence of the sincerity of our professed adherence to God’s law and our profession of allegiance to our Redeemer is unselfish, self-sacrificing love for our fellow men.
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It is the glory of the gospel that it is founded upon the principle of restoring in the fallen race the divine image by a constant manifestation of beneficence. God will honor that principle wherever manifest.
Those who follow Christ’s example of self-denial for the truth’s sake make a great impression on the world. Their example is convincing and contagious. Men see that there is among God’s professed people that faith which works by love and purifies the soul from selfishness. In the lives of those who obey God’s commandments, worldlings see convincing evidence that the law of God is a law of love to God and man.
God’s work is ever to be a sign of His benevolence, and just as that sign is manifest in the working of our institutions, it will win the confidence of the people and bring in resources for the advancement of His kingdom. The Lord will withdraw His blessing where selfish interests are indulged in any phase of the work; but He will put His people in possession of good throughout the whole world, if they will use it for the uplifting of humanity. The experience of apostolic days will come to us when we wholeheartedly accept God’s principle of benevolence—consent in all things to obey the leadings of His Holy Spirit.
Training Schools for Workers
Our institutions should be missionary agencies in the highest sense, and true missionary work always begins with those nearest. In every institution there is missionary work to be done. From the manager to the humblest worker, all should feel a responsibility for the unconverted among their own number. They should put forth earnest effort to bring them to Christ. As the result of such effort many will be won and will become faithful and true in service to God.
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As our publishing houses take upon themselves a burden for missionary fields, they will see the necessity of providing for a broader and more thorough education of workers. They will realize the value of their facilities for this work and will see the need of qualifying the workers, not merely to build up the work within their own borders, but to give efficient help to institutions in new fields.
God designs that our publishing houses shall be successful educating schools, both in business and in spiritual lines. Managers and workers are ever to keep in mind that God requires perfection in all things connected with His service. Let all who enter our institutions to receive instruction understand this. Let opportunity be given for all to acquire the greatest possible efficiency. Let them become acquainted with different lines of work so that, if called to other fields, they will have an all-round training and thus be qualified to bear varied responsibilities.
Apprentices should be so trained that, after the necessary time spent in the institution, they can go forth prepared to take up intelligently the different lines of printing work, giving momentum to the cause of God by the best use of their energies and capable of imparting to others the knowledge they have received.
All the workers should be impressed with the fact that they are not only to be educated in business lines, but to become qualified to bear spiritual responsibilities. Let every worker be impressed with the importance of a personal connection with Christ, a personal experience of His power to save. Let the workers be educated as were the youth in the schools of the prophets. Let their minds be molded by God through His appointed agencies. All should receive a training in Bible lines, should be rooted and grounded in the principles of truth, that they may keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment. Let every effort be made to arouse and encourage the missionary spirit. Let the workers be impressed with a sense of the high privilege proffered them in this last work of salvation, to be used by God as His helping hand. Let each be taught to work for others, by practical labor for souls just where he is. Let all learn to look to the word of God for instruction in every line of missionary effort. Then, as the word of the Lord is communicated to them, it will supply their minds with suggestions for working the fields in such a way as to bring to God the best returns from all parts of His vineyard.
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God’s Purpose Fulfilled
Christ desires by the fullness of His power so to strengthen His people that through them the whole world shall be encircled with an atmosphere of grace. When His people shall make a wholehearted surrender of themselves to God, this purpose will be accomplished. The word of the Lord to those connected with His institutions is: “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Isaiah 52:11. In all our institutions let self-seeking give place to unselfish love and labor for souls nigh and afar off. Then the holy oil will be emptied from the two olive branches into the golden pipes, which will empty themselves into the vessels prepared to receive it. Then the lives of Christ’s workers will indeed be an exposition of the truths of His word.
The love and fear of God, the sense of His goodness, His holiness, will circulate through every institution. An atmosphere of love and peace will pervade every department. Every word spoken, every work performed, will have an influence that corresponds to the influence of heaven. Christ will abide in humanity, and humanity will abide in Christ. In all the work will appear, not the character of finite man, but the character of the infinite God. The divine influence imparted by holy angels will impress the minds brought in contact with the workers; from these workers a fragrant influence will go forth.
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7 pp. 139-148
