178 Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists
while the husband may oppose it. Here a trial comes in at once, the
trial of separation in faith and feeling. Shall we say to that wife, “You
should leave your husband because he does not keep the Sabbath?”
No, indeed. If she was a faithful wife before she accepted the truth,
and if she sees in her friends those for whom Christ has died, she will
seek to discharge her duties with even greater fidelity after she accepts
the truth, that if possible she may lead them to see the light. “But,” it
is asked, “should not the believing wife yield her convictions of duty
because of her husband’s unbelief?” By no means; because Christ is
her Lord and Master. She cannot cast aside the claims of high Heaven
upon her. The same is true of the believing husband or child.
The work of overcoming is an individual work. Our only safety is
in taking our position firmly in favor of the word of God; for this is
the only foundation that will stand the test. And then as we try to walk
in the path of humble obedience, we must expect to meet trials. They
will come upon us from quarters where we least expect them. But we
must remember that all who have obeyed the word of God have had
the cross to lift; and in lifting it they helped others to lift it.
If we have correct ideas of the mission of Christ on earth, and of
what our work is, we shall not become discouraged because we are
few. Said Christ, when asked if there be few that shall be saved, “Enter
ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” Now he
gives the the reason: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The fact that you
are few in this place, brethren and sisters, is no reason that you should
become discouraged. It seems to me, as I look upon the towering
mountains that surround your valleys, that if I lived in this place, I
would mark the spot where so many suffered in ages past for the truth,
[233]
and taking courage from them, would lift the cross and obey the truth
at any cost. As I think of those who have yielded their lives rather
than the truth, it is plain to me what God has revealed concerning his
people: “They shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.
God does not give us the spirit of the martyrs today, for we have
not come to the point of martyrdom. He is now testing us by smaller
trials and crosses. And at times when it seems that the billows of
temptation will go over our heads, let us remember that the eye of God