There seems to be no need for supposing that now God must be doing a different kind of work. Certainly the general witness work is still appropriate—“This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14) The end has not yet fully come, so why shouldn’t we continue to preach? What the result of this witness may be is in the Lord’s hands. Our responsibility is to keep the message pure, and to send it forth far and wide as opportunity and ability permit.

As long as some are still embracing the truth and making a consecration to the Lord, it means that the harvest work is not yet complete. We may call it a gleaning if we wish, but it is harvest work, nonetheless. It is to be expected that the number actually and actively embracing the truth and entering the narrow way will decrease with the passing years. At the same time, it is logical to suppose that some new consecrations will be made and that these will be accepted by the Lord during the closing years of the age. Why?

As all know, the Lord’s people had been going through an era of severe trial occasioned by the death of Brother Russell. Trials and testings imply the failure of some. This means that some have fallen by the wayside and are to be replaced by others. After so many years  of such testing, is it surprising that some are coming into the truth to take the places of the unfaithful? We think it would be surprising if such were not the case. If no one were coming into the truth today, it would be a very good reason to question whether our understanding of events at the close of the age might not be wrong. What we    see actually occurring in this respect is, therefore, corroborative testimony of the truth concerning the harvest.

What, then, is the present mission of the church? It is to proclaim the truth, to let our light shine. The church is still the light of the world—the only light the world has! It is not for us to hide our light under a bushel simply because we may not exactly know what will result from our letting it shine. It is God who gives “the increase,” and we may also say in keeping with this thought, that it is God who decides what the nature of that increase shall be. (I Cor. 3:6) It is for us to be faithful to the commission which he has given us, to yield to that sacred impulse of the Spirit which bids us to go and “teach all nations.” (Matt. 28:19) Let us not “grieve” the Spirit by quenching the desire to let our light shine.

One of the discouraging thoughts sometimes injected into the minds of the brethren is that any witness work which the Lord now approves is done by the “great company;” hence, if we are participating in such work   it proves that we are of the great company class. How utterly false! In the great economy of God one purpose of committing the work of witnessing to the church was to give its members an opportunity of proving their loyalty to him in the face of trial and opposition. To take the work away from these while they still need it and before they have proved their faithfulness unto death would be out of harmony with the whole plan of God as it pertains to his people.

It is an honor to bear witness to the truth, to be ambassadors for Christ in a wicked world, and God has not taken this honor away from the “little flock” and given   it to the great company. God does not favor the less faithful in any such manner. Of this we may be sure. If and when the time ever comes that the great company as a class is used to give a witness for the truth, it will be after the church class is beyond the veil.