Missionary alliance 1888.pdf - DSpace

88 INTER-SEMINARY MIB~IONARY ALLIANCE·,'rnE MOTIVES TO FOREIGN MJ8~IONARYWORK.redemptive victory, came out of heaven, and on the Mount of Transfiguration talked with Him of the decease which II~ should accomplishat Jerusalem. So that even our blessed Lord felt the stir of this mightymotive as He faced Ills foes and entered into IIis bitter baptism. Andthe same thing was given again and again to P aul for his inspirationand joy. Even his splendidly heroic soul needed the stimulus of assuredsuccess. It was at Corinth he had that vision of the night, when theLord said, .. Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; for Iam with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee; ror I Itavemuch p eople in tltis cil!l." Ah, it is God's blessed way to meet and helpour human weakness with this blessed hope. So that when it is said,.. This carrying the Gospel to the heathen is .not a question:of successor failure j we have no concern wIth results; ours is 'to do and die,'and let God take care of consequences"-the answer is, II God has beengraciously pleased to take care of consequences by pledging to IIisbattling host the mightiest successes that ever, by their sure prospect,thrilled human hearts."From Genesis to Revelation is the breath of victory. The notes ofan Imperial triumph are struck all through the Scriptures. In Abrahamand in his seed" all the nations of the earth" are to be blessed. "Allthe ends of the world " Br e to U remember and turn unto the Lord."The Gospel waters that j ust "trickle down" at the first from under the"door of.the 8~ n c tu ary/' are to widen sod deepen as they flow, unfedby any trIbutarIes,but developed from their Own inherent and exhaustlessfountain fUlln ess, until they become "waters to the ankles" "waters tot~e knees," "waters to the loins," and at last" waters ;0 swim in, ariver that cannot be passed over." And" deserts" are to Ii blossom"at.the touch .of these waters. And U dead seas" Bre to be "heal~d " byth,s all-heahng fl ood. And" everything is to live wbither the rivercometh." "The earth is to be fi lled with the knowledge of the gloryof th ~ Lord , as the waters cover the sea." The kingdom of God is likea grain of mustard seed, little at the first, but becoming greater thanall h e ~b s . The kingdom of God is like leaven, which a woman takethan~ hldeth In three mellsures of meal I ill th_ ,.1101_ i8 leavened AndbeIng asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of G d . hLord answ dilL h 0 comet, ourere ,0, t e Kingdom of God is in the midst of you" ItWIl8 th~rc, al~ eady , put in the world; and not RS a symbol of ~vil acorrupting thlllgj meal is. not leavened by corrupting it Th K"dom of God i ~ f~ r blessing not cursing, and it is to spread until ~t )~~!:trates and a ss 'mll at ~s the whole worldly mass into which it has I beenput. ~nd then, fiB If to close this long chorus of triumphant and exultan~fa~thWIth One last, clear, signal note of victory our Lord drops theme. p ?r ot prophecy and parable, and ere ITe leaves the world inplaID, dupct, and Simple, yet profound and ins' t' I . 'majesty of an intlnite command and in the cou~'argae'Oofna s.pefiec.h, In thean In Dlte conti.••dence, He bids his disciples go and disciple ail the nations, saying, "Lo,I am with you ail the days, even unto the end of the world." It Is &8 ifail the notes of foreseen victory and all the strains of coming triumphthat had burst out in song and story and prophecy and parable fromMoses to J esus had gathered their jubilant tides and poured themthrough this trumpet of the Great Commission. And there wa. roomfor them, room for them all, in these wide deep words. See how theyopen their spaces and let in all the incidents for the large t hope.F irst, they make the thing commanded unmistakable : "Go anddisciple the nations." Disciplir.g is the thing commanded. And thisthing is qot some other thing. To disciple anyone, in the Gospel sense,is to make him a Christian disciple- a follower of J esus, a believer inhis name, a hoper in his mercy, a learner at his feet. It is inclusive of"witness," but goes round about it and beyond it, and is far more. Itis witness, and the results of witness i preaching, and the effects ofpreaching - conviction, conversion, rescue, transformation-slaves ofSatan changed to sons of God.But how far is the discipling to go? Not simply to one nation.Not to a few out of every nation. That is not the way this bold conqueringorder reads. But go and disciple all the nations. Make allthe nations Christinn nations, in fact as well 8S in name, so that thegreat bulk of their peoples shall be Christian. The encompassingcommand takes in the ends of the earth, not only as a field to be entered,but a field to be won. It means nothing less than a whole worldfull of believing sons ano daughters of the Most IIigh. It justifiesevery glowing prophetic figu re. In it we see the wide sprMd seed ofAbraham. In it we see the uttermost parts of the earth that are to bein Chri~t's posse~sion. In it we see the ever deepening and wideningwaters of }~z.ekiel's vision. In it we see the wholly leavened meal ofthe parable. rrhe discipling is to be as wide as the measureless sea,Ilnd as pen'.sive as the omnipresent light. What Christ commands to1>e done n. gets done.By 10/tIl1Jl? "Ye," my disciples. The discipling is to be done byuisciplE"s. God bas put the treasure "in earthen vessels." I t haspleased him, "by the foolishness of preaching II to save men. Howshu.ll thp nations Hhe-ar without a preacher?" "Go YEl" It is a livingmillistry that is to do this world-wide disci piing. nlark that. Theagency i. appointed and provided and in use; and the Lord has notnrrangpd for any substitution.With !ol", I ill.trll1l11ntlllily is this discipling to be done? 'WithGospel truth. The truth that has made us free is to make the worldfree. Concerning this point, as concerning every other, the Great Com·mission does not Ie-ave 1:1. hing~ or loop to hang a doubt on. Go ye,disciple all the DlltiODS, teaching tltem ll'lwlsoever 1 commnnded you.Just that, all that, only that. "Go ye into all the world and preach