Laborers in the Office
177
Marcus Lichtenstein was a God-fearing youth; but he saw so little
true religious principle in those in the church and those working in the
office that he was perplexed, distressed, disgusted. He stumbled over
the lack of conscientiousness in keeping the Sabbath manifested by
some who yet professed to be commandment keepers. Marcus had an
exalted regard for the work in the office; but the vanity, the trifling,
and the lack of principle stumbled him. God had raised him up and in
His providence connected him with His work in the office. But there
is so little known of the mind and will of God by some who work in
the office that they looked upon this great work of the conversion of
Marcus from Judaism as of no great importance. His worth was not
appreciated. He was frequently pained with the deportment of F and
of others in the office; and when he attempted to reprove them, his
words were received with contempt that he should venture to instruct
them. His defective language was an occasion of jest and amusement
with some.
Marcus felt deeply over the case of F, but he could not see how he
could help him. Marcus never would have left the office if the young
men had been true to their profession. If he makes shipwreck of faith,
his blood will surely be found on the skirts of the young who profess
Christ, but who, by their works, their words, and their deportment, state
plainly that they are not of Christ, but of the world. This deplorable
state of neglect, of indifference and unfaithfulness, must cease; a
thorough and permanent change must take place in the office, or those
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who have had so much light and so great privileges should be dismissed
and others take their places, even if they be unbelievers. It is a fearful
thing to be self-deceived. Said the angel, pointing to those in the
office: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven.” A profession is not enough. There must be a work inwrought
in the soul and carried out in the life.
The love of Christ reaches to the very depths of earthly misery
and woe, or it would not meet the case of the veriest sinner. It also
reaches to the throne of the Eternal, or man could not be lifted from his
degraded condition, and our necessities would not be met, our desires
would not be satisfied. Christ has led the way from earth to heaven.
He forms the connecting link between the two worlds. He brings the
love and condescension of God to man, and brings man up through