Seventy-Five Years Of Publishing Herald Of His Coming! To God Be The Glory!
By Rich Carmicheal
Please join us in giving praise to the Lord as this September issue marks the 75th anniversary of the ministry of Herald of His Coming! Little did W.C. Moore and his wife Sarah Foulkes Moore realize, when they published 10,000 copies of an 8-page paper called Herald of His Advent in September 1941, that they were launching a publication that would preach for seventy-five years or more. How thankful we are in the Herald office for the Lord’s blessing and provision all of these years, and for the opportunity and privilege in this crucial hour to continue to be a herald of Christ’s Coming!
Faithful to the Lord’s Calling
In honor of the Lord’s calling upon the lives of Brother and Sister Moore, and their faithfulness to that call, we include a brief overview of their work with the Herald ministry (on page 9). We also include three of their messages which convey the burden and vision the Lord entrusted to them – a burden and vision the ministry continues to embrace. As Lois Stucky, a co-worker with the Moores and long-time editor of the Herald, once noted, the Moores “felt not only the weight of a world of perishing sinners, but also of a church that was far from the Spirit-filled standard of the Bible, a church which had not made herself ready for the Heavenly Bridegroom soon to come.” Therefore, the Lord “led them to repeatedly call those both within and outside of the church to repentance and to return to Himself. They also proclaimed in confident faith that God had spoken in His Word His desire and intent to ‘burst’ on the scene in this hour of great need with mighty revival outpourings of His Holy Spirit as His people met His conditions of repentance and prayer, to prepare the church for the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and to bring in a harvest of souls from every people.”
All of this was in keeping with the original “objects” of the Herald ministry which were, and are:
1) to specifically encourage Christians, to encourage revivals of Christianity everywhere – in accordance with the pattern and standards of the Bible, the inspired Word of God;
2) to call God’s people to a holy life, and to urgently exhort them all to live constantly in readiness for the Coming of the Lord;
3) to encourage charity among and toward all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity;
4) to hold up the standard of God’s Word for Christian living; and
5) to specifically encourage Christians, regardless of what experiences they may have had, to yet, as Paul so strongly admonishes in Philippians 3:8-17, PRESS ON – for the salvation of the lost, for the preparation of God’s people for the Coming of the Lord, and for the fulfilling of God’s will in the lives of all, “occupying” (keeping busy in God’s will and in God’s service), till Jesus comes (Luke 19:13)!
Pressing On in the Lord’s Calling
Even as we honor these past seventy-five years, we also set our hearts to press on in the Lord’s calling for the Herald ministry and to make the most of the days ahead, “redeeming the time” (Eph. 5:16), and doing all that we can to promote prayer, repentance and revival in anticipation of the soon Return of Christ. Again, words that Lois Stucky once shared describe perfectly the challenge and the hope before us:
“Many, many supporters and workers of the Herald have finished their course in victory and in faithfulness and have gone on to their reward during these [many] years. The mantle and the labors and the stewardship have fallen on others of us.
“Friends, we serve the same faithful God as they did. His promises urge us to believe for great things as they did, and even greater things perhaps. It is up to us to keep ourselves separated unto the Lord, to keep our eyes on the goal, to attempt great things for God and to expect great things from Him, to keep the faith and to faithfully occupy till our Lord comes – all in utter dependence upon Him!
“Conditions in the world have become worse and worse in many respects in the years since the Herald’s first call was sounded for prayer and revival and preparation for the Return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The worsening conditions are too much for man, but they are not too much for God. When He moves in great power, when He pours out His Holy Spirit, marvelous things happen! That which was counted impossible comes to pass. Seemingly hopeless cases are totally changed. What a mighty God we serve! What a privilege to serve Him! Our assignment may seem small and perhaps insignificant in the light of the great need and in the light of what others are able to do, but if we put our heart into doing what God bids us to do, our efforts will count and there will be reward. So let us press on together for revival in our day!”
Of course, our dear sister Lois is now among those who “have finished their course in victory and in faithfulness and have gone on to their reward.” We miss her, and other workers, very much, but continue to look to the same faithful God they did and to depend upon Him. How thankful we are that our God does not change, and that He is ever-present and able to do all things! How great is His love and His patience as He continues to be at work in the world, saving the lost and working in the lives of His people! And how gracious He is to allow the Herald ministry to take a small part in the work He is doing.
We also thank Him for the many dear friends He has brought into fellowship with this ministry to provide encouragement, prayer support and financial support. To bless you, we borrow from these words of Brother Moore: “May the blessing of the Lord, which maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow to it – be upon the lives, upon the homes, upon the efforts of all our many friends throughout the States and abroad, far and near, and may the blood of Jesus Christ, our adorable Lord and Savior, the blessed and only begotten Son of God, protect us one and all in these trying days.”
Prayer for Fruitful Ministry
Please join us in thanking the Lord for His grace upon the Herald ministry these seventy-five years and for all of the lives He has enabled this ministry to impact. Ask Him for His continued blessing so that the ministry will fulfill all that He has purposed for it to do. Please pray also…
…for the fullness, power and guidance of Holy Spirit in the ministry and in the lives of the staff;
…for the Lord’s fresh anointing so that Herald papers, even in their simple format, will carry His power and life to strengthen and stir readers in their relationship with Him and their readiness for His Return;
…for His abundant provision of resources and for the scope and impact of all the Herald language editions and the salvation literature to increase;
…for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully in the lives of everyone who receives Herald literature, drawing them closer to Christ;
…and, keeping in mind that with God all things are possible, pray that the Herald ministry will help stir personal and corporate revival and produce its most abundant fruit in the days yet to come – all unto the glory of God!