mil;!! tihravy of t:he t:heolo0ical ^tminavy PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY FROM THE LIBRARY OF ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER •d^D* BV 2060 .M28 1907 McLean, Archibald, 1850 1920. Where the Book speaks /WtJox^v A-JLU^M J2^>^MV ^ Where the Book Speaks ' Or Mission Studies in the 6 By ^ > ARCHIBALD McLEAN President of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society And author of'' Missionary Addresses " " Hand- Book of Missions;' and " A Circuit of the Globe " New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1907, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue Toronto: 2 "5 Richmond Street, W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street Foreword OF making missionary books there is no end. Mis- sionary biographies and autobiographies ; missionary histories ; works on the non-Christian religions, on the different fields, on missionary problems, theories and methods; reports of missionary conferences ; missionary sermons and ad- dresses, come from the press in a perpetual stream. These works are of the greatest value, and cannot be read too widely. This book is somewhat different. Its aim is to show the con- nection between missions and the Bible. The missionary idea runs like golden cord through all revelation. In Genesis we have the promise of a Saviour; in Revelation we have the beatific vision of a world evangelized and redeemed. The New Testament was written by missionaries who were in the thick of the fight. They had a missionary purpose in mind. They wished to enlist all mankind under the banner of Christ, and to teach the enlisted to observe all things whatsoever Christ had commanded. The "Studies" that constitute this volume were prepared with no thought of publication. They are published because some who heard them felt that they would help many busy people and many who do not have ac- cess to the literature of the subject. I make no claim to pro- fundity or to originality. In writing I have had the plain peo- ple and young people in mind, and not missionary experts. I have availed myself of the results of the labours of commenta- tors and other students in the same field, giving credit where I knew credit was due. My one aim has been to give the thought of God as it is related to missions, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but in words which the Holy Spirit teaches. 5 6 Foreword On this account I have not hesitated to repeat the same Scrip- tural passages over and over again. If I can lodge the truth of God in the minds and hearts of the readers, I shall be more than satisfied. Archibald McLean. Cincinnati. Contents I. The New Testament a Missionary Vol- ume II. The Missionary Idea in the Old Testa MENT III. The Church a Missionary Institution IV. A Missionary Chapter in the Life of Christ V. The Missionary Significance of the Lord's Prayer .... VI. Five Loaves and Two Fishes VII. The Good Samaritan VIII. The Great Commission According to Luke IX. The Divine Order in Missions X. Missions in the Early Years of Chris TIANITY XL Paul's Attitude Towards Missions XII. The New Testament Model Church XIII. Two New Testament Churches . XIV. The Call from Macedonia for Help XV. The Grace of Giving . XVI. " In the Matter of Giving and Re ceiving" XVII. " Fellowship in Furtherance of the Gospel" XVIII. " Make Me a Little Cake First " XIX. " A God that Loves Us " XX. Christianity Triumphant XXI. Christian Unity and World - Wide Evangelism .... 7 22 31 42 53 67 77 99 108 121 136 144 157 167 183 188 194 200 213 227 Where the Book Speaks THE NEW TESTAMENT A MISSIONARY VOLUME Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken. — Is A. 1:2. THIS book that we call the New Testament is a mis- sionary volume. It is the greatest missionary volume that has ever been written or that ever will be written. Every part of it has missionary significance. The man who would understand it must read it with this thought in mind. The Gospels furnish the missionary with his message. They state the great truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the liv- ing God, and they furnish the evidence of that proposition. By virtue of His death on the cross He became the author of eternal redemption to as many as should obey Him. By His res- urrection from among the dead He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness. Paul told the Corinthians that the gospel he preached to them was this, '* That Christ died for our sins according to the Scrip- tures ; and that He was buried ; and that He hath been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." All four evangel- ists record these facts. They give large space to them, be- cause these facts are fundamental in the Christian system ; be- cause without the death and burial and resurrection of Christ there could be no gospel for men to preach. The personal ministry of Jesus was confined to Palestine. He said He was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of 9 lo Where the Book Speaks Israel. Nevertheless His teaching showed that the whole world and all the people that dwell therein were included in His pro- gram. His aims and purposes were not parochial or provincial or even national ; they were universal. He was the original imperiahst. So we hear Him say, " And other sheep have I which are not of this fold : them also must I bring, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd." We hear Him say, " For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world ; but that the world should be saved through Him." We hear Him say, '* I am the light of the world ; he that foUoweth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." Again, *' And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Once more, " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations ; and then shall the end come." It was to a sinful woman of Samaria that He addressed some of the greatest words that ever fell on human ears ; it was to that sinful woman that He announced that He was the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. It was while listening to a Roman centurion that He marvelled and said, <* I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." At the time of His birth wise men from the east came to Bethlehem and fell down and worshipped Him ; and opening their treasures they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Towards the end of His earthly career some Greeks went up to the feast and said to one of His disciples, " Sir, we would see Jesus." When He heard of this request He said, " The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified." The wise men from the east and these Greeks were the first-fruits of that great multitude that John saw before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white The New Testament a Missionary Volume 1 1 robes, and palms in their hands, a multitude that no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues. Our Lord reminded His own people that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land, but to none of them was the prophet sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. All through His minis- try He was trying to show that God was the Father of the spirits of all flesh ; and that His sympathies were as wide as the race. In His parables and miracles there are clear intimations of the world-wide scope of the religion which He founded. The Roman, the Samaritan, the Canaanite, the publican and the sinful were among His beneficiaries. No soul that came to Him was sent away empty. The name given to the twelve men that He appointed that they might be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons, indicates that Christianity is essentially a missionary religion. These men were to carry on all that He began to do and to teach. Luke tells us that He named them apostles or missionaries. They were not theologians or ecclesiastics or prelates or philosophers, but messengers. They were to go out as witnesses. They were to declare what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they beheld, what their hands had handled, con- cerning the Word of life. These men incarnated the missionary passion; they were what their names signified. " And every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ." The authorities complained that they had filled Jerusalem with their teaching. A little later it was said of them that they had turned the world upside down. Before they went to their reward they testified that the 12 Where the Book Speaks gospel had been preached and was bearing fruit in all creation under heaven. The Gospels culminate in the great commission. All that goes before leads up to this and prepares for it. All that fol- lows in the New Testament is a result of the carrying out of the commission by the apostles and their associates. When our Lord sent these men out on their first preaching tour, He told them that they were not to go into any way of the Gentiles, nor to enter any city of the Samaritans ; they were to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now their field is the world. They were to go in all directions, into *' regions Caesar never knew, where his eagles never flew," and to give the inhabitants a knowledge of salvation through Jesus the Crucified. The word of command was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation." They were to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ; they were to teach those who accepted their message to observe all things whatsoever Christ had commanded. Warneck shows that the gospel necessarily issues in a missionary commandment. "It is penetrated through and through by thoughts of universal salvation, which make it a religion for the whole world." Nothing is more deeply imbedded in Christianity than its universality. The commission is not " a counsel of perfection " ; it is a positive command enforcing on the disciples what their Lord had spent His ministerial life in doing, and directing a course of action which is so essential and inseparable a part of the plan of salvation that it is impossible to neglect it without wrecking the whole scheme. The great commission contemplates the evangelization of the whole wide world. Nothing short of this answers to the sublime conceptions and aims of its Author. The critics have had much to say about the Gospels, about their composition and authorship and date and credibility; but no one has ventured to deny their missionary significance. The New Testament a Missionary Volume 13 No one has charged that their missionary teaching and spirit are interpolations. The apostles were incapable of in- terpolating the missionary teaching of the Gospels. They were Jews and had all the limitations of their race. They lacked the cosmopolitanism of Christ. "For Him there were no race prejudices, no party lines, no sectarian limits, no favoured nation. There was nothing between His love and the world. His heart beat for the world — and on Calvary broke for the world." It was only in such a heart that the missionary enterprise could be conceived. The Gospels are missionary documents. Their name indicates their nature. They are good tidings. They are not "tidings" at all except to such as are ignorant of them. They are not ''good " except to those who hear them. The messenger who loitered with the king's pardon till the prisoner was executed did not bring good tidings. The pardon was not worth the parchment upon which it was written. Tidings that are not made known possess only potential value. It is of the very essence of good tidings that they be proclaimed. The first impulse in a healthy mind on hearing a good thing is to pass it on. Philip and Andrew heard of Jesus, and their first concern was to bring their own brothers to Him. When the apostles were strictly charged not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus, they said, " We cannot but speak the things we saw and heard." They could not keep the good news to themselves ; they could die more easily. It is evident that missions are a vital function in the Christian system. They are included in its very essence. They are of its warp and woof; they are not a fringe or tassel on the garment. The apostles understood this. As soon as they received the gift of the Holy Spirit they went out and preached every- where ; the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word with the signs that followed. These signs demonstrated the fact that they had correctly interpreted the meaning of His parting charge. 14 Where the Book Speaks The booked called " The Acts," what is it ? It is sometimes spoken of as the book of conversions. And it is that, in part. Quite a number of conversions are recorded on its pages. The apostles spoke as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Many of those who heard were convicted of sin and asked with much concern what they should do. They were told what to do by men who were not giving their own thoughts, but the thoughts of God. This book is sometimes called the gospel of the Holy Spirit. And it is that, in part. The Holy Spirit descended upon that little company assembled in the upper room in Jerusalem, and the early church was guided in its thought and speech and conduct and in all its ministries by the Holy Spirit. But The Acts is first of all and last of all and most of all an inspired record of the missionary activity of the church in the first decades of its existence. Here is the core of the book, *' But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you ; and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." That is its main thesis, and all the rest is commentary and illustration. I have sometimes thought that a stranger coming into one of our assemblies might conclude that we regarded the thirty-eighth verse of the second chapter as the heart of the book. But to do that would be to miss its meaning, great and important as that verse is, and rightly as we have emphasized it. For the first few years Peter was the leader ; because to him the keys of the kingdom were given. While Peter was the leader the gospel was preached throughout Judea and Samaria and Galilee and at some few points beyond the limits of Palestine. In course of time Paul appears on the scene. He was peculiarly qualified by natural gifts and by training for leadership. After some years Peter and Paul divided the field between them. Peter went to the Jews; Paul went to the outside nations. We know what followed. At once Peter retired into the background. Paul came to the front and The New Testament a Missionary Volume 15 filled the whole stage, and almost two-thirds of The Acts are occupied with the records of Paul's missionary travels and sermons and trials and experiences while serving Christ as a foreign missionary. The last glimpse we have of him he is in the capital of the empire preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him. There the curtain falls, and we see him no more. The Epistles, what are they ? For the most part they are letters written by missionaries to mission churches which they had founded. The field was large. The apostles were few in number. Facilities for getting about were not as complete then as they are now. Many problems were pressing for solution in these churches gathered out of Judaism and out of Paganism. The same questions that confront missionaries to-day, questions relating to idolatry, polygamy, caste, slavery, drunkenness, extortion, reviling, the right relation between the sexes, the nurture of children, and kindred questions, confronted the church in the first century. Sometimes the apostles could go in person and settle these questions. Sometimes they could not go ; then they wrote letters and discussed them. In the providence of God these letters have come down to us, and they constitute the Epistles of the New Testament. It must be remembered that the Epistles are missionary documents ; they must be read as such by those who wish to have a clew to their meaning. The Christian communities addressed were all far from Jerusalem, the birthplace of the church. These com- munities were located in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica, Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. These peoples had been won to Christ by missionary endeavour. In these Epistles we read, " Is God fhe God of the Jews only ? Is He not the God of Gentiles also ? Yea, of Gentiles also : if so be that God is one, and He shall justify the cir- cumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." i6 Where the Book Speaks God is represented as saying, '* I will call that My people which was not My people; and her beloved, that was not beloved." "For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek ; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon Him ; for, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." " The Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." John speaks of those who went forth for the sake of the Name, taking nothing of the Gentiles, and adds, " We ought therefore to welcome such, that we may be fellow-workers for the truth." The Pastoral Epistles are full of missionary significance. Timothy was exhorted to tarry in Ephesus, that he might charge certain men not to teach a different doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questionings, rather than a dispensation of God, which is of faith. Titus was left at Crete, that he might set in order the things that are wanting, and appoint elders in every city. These men were missionary agents. They were Paul's most trusted lieutenants. In these Epistles we read, ^' There is one God, one Mediator also between God and man. Himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, the testimony to be borne in its own times." We read also that '^ the grace of God hath appeared bringing salvation to all men." The book of Revelation, what is it ? There are some things in this book that I do not understand. I do not think that any one understands them. I never met but two men who claimed to understand all about this book, and I think they understood less about it than any other two intelligent men with whom I have ever talked on the subject. We read of a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon was at her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. I do not know what that woman represented. The Christian Scientists hold that this woman represented Mrs. Eddy. So in the mother church in Boston there is a stained glass window showing the woman of the The New Testament a Missionary Volume 17 Apocalypse clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars. Above it is a representation of the book, " Science and Health." Columbus thought he was the angel flying in mid- heaven having the eternal gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth. I think Mrs. Eddy's admirers and Columbus were mistaken. We are told of a beast that came up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his head names of blasphemy. This beast was like a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. Another beast came up out of the earth ; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon, and his number is six hundred and sixty and six. I do not know what these beasts repre- sented. I do not know what much of the imagery and many of the symbols of that book mean. But I know what the book means, and that is the main thing. If it had been important that we should understand all the imagery and all the symbols of this strange book I feel sure that the Holy Spirit would have given us some key to their understanding. He has not given us any such key; therefore I conclude that it is not very important whether we understand them or not. The book of Revelation is a forecast of the final victory, when all rule, and all authority, and all power opposed to Christ shall be abol- ished, and when He shall reign from pole to pole with undivided and undisputed sway. Here is the heart of the book, ^' The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. ' ' John saw the nations of the saved walking in the light of the holy city. He saw the kings of the earth bringing their honour and their glory into it. He heard as it were the voice of a great multi- tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, " Hallelujah : for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth." Every idol has been abolished. Every false faith has perished. The earth is full of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. The eternal purpose i8 Where the Book Speaks of God has been consummated. The promise made in Genesis has been fulfilled. The New Testament, I repeat, is a missionary volume throughout. The gospels were written by missionaries. Mark and Luke had been associates of Paul. These men wrote that those who had been won and those who might be won to the faith might have a permanent and reliable record of the great facts upon which their faith was founded. The Epistles were written that the believers might have a body of teaching to guide them in all that relates to life and godliness. Guided by the Holy Spirit the apostles wrote these documents for the church of that age and of all ages. What the vertebral column is to the human body that the missionary idea is to the New Testament. One might as well think that he could cut the vertebral column out of the body without destroying the body as to cut all that has missionary significance out of this Book without destroying the Book. One of our most gifted men has said that if you were to cut missions out of the New Testament it would bleed to death. What would be left ? The covers and the margins and perhaps the very short Epistles of Philemon, Second John and Jude. The Book as a book would be no more. If there were time to discuss the Old Testament it would appear that that is a missionary volume also. The finest things in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms relate to the coming of Christ and to the redemption of the world through Christ. " In Him shall all the families of the earth be blessed." ''Unto Him shall the obedience of the peoples be." "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end." The missionary enterprise is no novelty. It is not an inven- tion of William Carey or Samuel J. Mills or Count Zinzin- dorf; it is as old as Christianity. The missionary idea is coeval with the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The missionary cause did not originate in any human heart or brain ; it originated in the love of the eternal God, and Jesus The New Testament a Missionary Volume 19 Christ the first missionary was the greatest expression of that love. The missionary enterprise is of God, and He is back of it giving it momentum and direction and efficiency. He goes before to open doors ; He goes with His servants to protect and prosper them and to bless them with His wondrous grace. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till He shall have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for His law. His word shall not return unto Him void ; it shall accomplish that which He pleases, and prosper in the thing whereunto He has sent it. Christ shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. Nor is this a work of small consequence. As a matter of fact every church in the world to-day is the fruit of missions. The church would never have gained a foot-hold in the world if it had not been for missions. Not only so, but the church would cease to exist in a generation if it were not for missions. Every Christian nation on the globe is the fruit of missions. Every Christian home, every hospital, every asylum, every hall of legislation, every court of justice, every institution and every movement that has the welfare of humanity as its object is the fruit of this divine enterprise. We ourselves, whether we ad- mit it and thank God for it or deny it, are the fruit of missions. We have only to look into the mirror to see one of the greatest miracles of missions. Our forefathers were naked savages ; the gospel has made us what we are, and the gospel was brought to our forefathers by missionaries. The book that underlies all our missionary operations as a root underlies a plant, is itself a product of missions. This book that has more regenerating and refining power than all the other books in the world com- bined could not have come into existence without the mission- ary propaganda. What do we owe to missions ? What do we not owe to missions ? One of the maxims most surely believed among us is this, *' Where the Scriptures speak we speak ; where the Scriptures are silent we are silent." We say that we accept the New 20 Where the Book Speaks Testament as our alone-sufficient and all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and reject every confession and dogma that claims authority over the conscience. If we live up to that high claim we will be unalterably and everlastingly and enthusiastically committed to the cause of world-wide evangelization. To be consistent and to be loyal to the Captain of our salvation we must give this work the same place in our lives, and in our worship, and in our expenditures, that it has in the Book. While this should be our attitude it is a well-known fact that many in our fellowship are opposed to missions. There are others who say this cause makes no appeal to them. They make it a point to be absent when its claims are presented. They contribute nothing to its support. These men are members of the churches and some of them fill offices in the churches. They are interested in the local work, but in noth- ing else. These may be men of good report in their own communities ; they may be upright and honourable in all their dealings ; their word may be as good as a bond ; but they are surely lacking in one particular at least. They need to mix some intelligence with their honesty and veracity. They need to read the New Testament with open eyes and with honest hearts. If they do they will see the missionary enterprise in its true proportions and its true perspective. They will see it as Christ sees it. They will see, as has been said, that missions inhere in Christianity, are of its very genius and substance, are implied in its doctrine, and that if every Christian should perish, the missionary enterprise would be reborn in the first regenerated soul. They will see that missions and Christianity, like liberty and union, are one and inseparable. Then they will say as Paul did, " Unto me who am less than the least of all saints was this grace given, that I should preach among the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ." Every redeemed soul should know that in opposing missions he is opposing Christ and hindering the accomplishment of the work for which He died on the cross. To be indifferent to The New Testament a Missionary Volume 2 1 missions is to be indifferent to the cause that lies closest to the heart of Him whom we profess to serve. To have no share in the greatest work ever given the children of men to do is to in- vite self-impoverishment and to miss the greatest blessing that God is waiting to give to those who obey Him. The prudent and profitable thing to do is to enlist under the banner of Christ and to do all in our power to help Him redeem the world. He is Lord of all. On His head are many diadems. In His hand is the sceptre of universal empire. On His vesture and on His thigh is the inscription, <'King of kings and Lord of lords." He must reign until every enemy is put under His feet. It is for every believer to put himself in line with Christ's gracious purpose and assist Him to the fullest in giv- ing the gospel of salvation to all creation under heaven. II THE MISSIONARY IDEA IN THE OLD TESTAMENT And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying. In thee shall all the nations be blessed. — Gal. 3:8. THE evangelization of the world was in the purpose of God from the beginning ; it was not an after- thought. He made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. He dealt bountifully with all that they might feel after Him and find Him. The gospel was intended for and adapted to every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. The accomplishment of this gracious in- tention is the one far-off, divine event to which the whole creation moves. It is the consummation and crown of all God's dealings with the race. When the foundations of the earth were laid, the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. When the work of redemption shall be finished, all created intelligences shall ascribe blessing and honour and glory and dominion forever and ever to Him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb. God's thought respecting the evangelization of the world has a very large and prominent place in the Scriptures. It is the spinal column, so to speak, and every other part of the entire system of revela- tion is connected with, and depends upon, it. Let us trace this thought in the Old Testament. Abram was called to leave his country and kindred and home. He had the promise that he should be the father of a great nation ; his name should be great ; he should be blessed and be a blessing ; and in him all the families of the earth should be 22 The Missionary Idea in the Old Testament 23 blessed (Gen. 12: 1-3). That promise marked an epoch in human history, as the signing of the Great Charter at Run- nymede marked an epoch in English history, as the signing of the Declaration of Independence marked an epoch in American history. After the trial of his faith the promise was repeated. God said, *' By Myself have I sworn, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son ; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his en- emies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed " (Gen. 22 : 17-18). The same promise was made to Isaac. The Lord said to him, "Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land I shall tell thee of; sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and bless thee, and unto thy seed I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father ; and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven ; and I will give unto thy seed all these lands ; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed " (Gen. 26 : 2-4). On the way to Haran Jacob lay down to sleep, and saw a ladder whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended upon it. Above it the Lord stood and said, '* I am the Lord, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac ; the land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed ; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread forth to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south ; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed " (Gen. 28 : 12-14). The blessing promised to Abraham, the friend of God, descended through Isaac and not through Ishmael who was a wild-ass among men ; and through Jacob, and not through Esau, who was a profane man and who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. To each of these patriarchs it is said, ** In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. ' ' Each of the three was a channel through which divinest blessings flowed to the 24 Where the Book Speaks whole creation. In blessing his sons Jacob said, " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until Shiloh come ; and unto Him shall the obedience of the peoples be " (Gen. 49 : 10). To Moses God said, *' As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord" (Num. 14: 21). The promise is confirmed with an oath, that we might have assurance made doubly sure. Be- cause He could swear by no greater. He sware by Himself. The Most High entered into covenant relations with Abraham and his seed. He constituted them the depositaries of His revealed will ; He selected them as His agents to communicate the blessings of redemption to the whole world. *' Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." We find this thought in the Psalms. Thus we read, "Ask of Me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession " (Ps. 2 : 8). Kings and rulers may oppose ; their opposition shall not prevail. Again, *'A11 the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord ; and all the kindred of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's and He is the ruler among the nations" (Ps. 22: 27, 28). Again, " God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us ; that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations " (Ps. 67 : 1-2). The cove- nant people shall be blessed and through them all the end of the earth shall be led to fear Him. Again, " He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents ; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him" (Ps. 72: 8-11). His reign shall be world-wide, and it shall endure forever and forevermore. All nations shall be blessed in Him ; all nations shall call Him happy. Once more, "All nations whom Thou The Missionary Idea in the Old Testament 25 hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord, and they shall glorify Thy name. For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things; Thou art God alone" (Ps. 86 : 9,10). Among the gods of the nations there was none like to Jehovah, neither were there any works like unto His works. Blessed be His glorious name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with His glory. In his dedicatory prayer Solomon used similar language. '' Moreover concerning the stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, when he shall come from Thy far country for Thy great name's sake, and Thy mighty hand, and Thy stretched out arm; when they shall come and pray towards this house ; then hear Thou from heaven, even from Thy dwell- ing place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for ; that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, and fear Thee, as doth Thy people Israel" (2 Chron. 6 : 32, 33). The prophets spoke of God's world-wide purpose. Thus Isaiah said : " And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow into it. And many nations shall go and say. Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusa- lem " (Is. 2 : 2, 3). The way of a man is not in himself; it is not in a man that walks to direct his steps. Realizing this, all nations shall seek divine guidance. God shall teach them of His ways, and they shall walk in His paths. This same prophet said, '' And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto Him shall the nations seek, and His resting place shall be glo- rious " (Is. 11:10). Christ was to be as a banner under which the nations should rally. The spirit of the Lord should be upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit 26 Where the Book Speaks of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. Again, '* In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth ; for that the Lord of hosts has blessed them saying, * Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance ' " (Is. 19 : 25). The blessing of Abraham was not to be confined to one people. For good reasons, Israel dwelt alone for a time, but no Chinese wall shut that nation from all other nations. God is the Father of all, and He desires the salvation of all. He says, '' Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. By Myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (Is. 45 : 22, 23). There were gods many and lords many. There were gods of wood and stone and silver. But Jehovah said to the makers and to the worshippers, "I am a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me." Again, <' It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the pre- served of Israel ; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth" (Is. 49 : 6). That was to be the work of His chosen people. Their first concern was to give the light to them that sit in darkness and to guide their feet into the way of peace. When they sinned themselves, they were carried away into captivity ; but God did not forget them. For their sakes He made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; He caused all the earth to see His salvation of them. Because of His discipline and deliverance, kings shall see and arise; princes and they shall worship. We read again, *' Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory The Missionary Idea in the Old Testament 27 shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall con:ie to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising " (Is. 60 : 1-3). The nations should gather about that people whom the Lord had blessed as doves fly to their windows. The whole earth should be enlightened with the glory of the Lord. Again, " For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations" (Is. 61 : 11). Contemporaneous systems were tribal and local. They had no thought of being anything else. But from the first and all along the idea that the gospel is for all nations is made prominent. As the spirit of God moved the prophet he said, ** For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. And the nations shall see Thy righteousness, and all kings Thy glory" (Is. 62: I, 2). It was God's purpose to gather all nations and tongues ; and they shall come and shall see His glory. Another prophet said, " At that time they shall call Jerusa- lem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered into it, to the name of the Lord " (Jer. 3 : 17). When Israel's backslidings should be healed, God would be merciful to His people and prosper them. Then other nations would come to share in their prosperity and joy. *' If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, unto Me shalt thou return ; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of My sight, then shalt thou not be removed; and thou shalt swear. As the Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory" (Jer. 4 : i, 2). Everywhere the thought that Israel is to impart blessings to the nations is emphasized. O Lord, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, unto Thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say. Our fathers have inherited naught but 28 Where the Book Speaks lies, even vanity and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make unto himself gods, which yet are no gods ? There- fore, behold, I will cause thee to know, this once will I cause thee to know Mine hand and My might ; and they shall know that My name is Jehovah (Jer. i6 : 19-21). By their sins they cut off blessings from the nations ; by their fidelity and noble- ness they caused good to come to the ends of the earth. Daniel tells us that the King of Babylon saw a great image. Part of it was of gold, part of silver, part of brass, part of iron, and part of clay. He saw a stone cut out without hands, and it smote the image and ground it to powder, and the stone became a great mountain, and it filled the whole earth. The King of Babylon was the head of gold. Other kings that should come after him were represented by the inferior ingredi- ents. In the days of these kings the God of heaven would set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan. 2 : 31-35, 44). Micah, speaking of the glorious work of Christ, said, ''And He shall stand, and shall feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God ; and they shall abide ; for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth" (Mic. 5 : 4). Speaking through another prophet, the Spirit said, ''For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14). Through another prophet still it is said, "For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations; and the desirable things of all nations shall come" (Hag. 2 : 6, 7). Another said, " Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion ; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people ; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts The Missionary Idea in the Old Testament 29 hath sent Me unto thee " (Zech. 2 : 10, 1 1). "It shall yet come to pass that there shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, * Let us go speedily to intreat the favour of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts ; I will go also, yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of the Lord.' Thus saith the Lord of hosts : In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you" (Zech. 8:20-23). Israel was blessed. This was evident to all. Because of the loving favour of God peoples from the ends of the earth came seeking to participate in His blessings. The prophet says again, '* Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem ; behold thy King cometh unto thee ; He is just and having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the nations ; and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth ' ' (Zech. 9 : 9, 10). Through Malachi God said, *' For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same My name is great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense is of- fered unto My name, and a pure offering ; for My name is great among the Gentiles " (Mai. i: 11). From the call of Abram to the close of the Old Testament canon the catholicity of the divine aim is apparent. God insists upon it, that it is His purpose to bless all the nations. He called Israel to the highest of all services, and not to selfishly enjoy the blessings bestowed. His chosen people were to be a light to the heathen world by bringing to all peoples the knowledge of His revealed will. This idea did not take possession of the Jewish mind in the Exile. The universality of the perfected Kingdom of God was 30 Where the Book Speaks not borrowed from the world -empire of Assyria. This idea was rooted in the thought of the people from the days of Abraham ; it was implanted by the Divine hand, and was not a product of the captivity. The evangelization of the world is set forth with much greater fullness and clearness in the New Testament than in the Old. Paul teaches that it was not revealed in other genera- tions as it has since been revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. Abraham and Moses and David and Isaiah and Daniel and Micah and Malachi knew much of Christ and of the fullness of blessing in Christ for all the families of the earth, but they did not know the full extent of God's grace to all mankind, and did not know that the mid- dle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile was to be wholly broken down and all inequality removed. What they saw dimly we see clearly because of the fuller revelation in Christ. While this is true, it is also true that the universality of salva- tion is presented in the Law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms. This is a fundamental idea in the Divine plan of human redemption, and was foreshadowed from the very beginning. What was written aforetime was written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. Ill THE CHURCH A MISSIONARY INSTITUTION Acts 1:1-9 IN the third verse of this chapter we are told that our Lord showed Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to the apostles by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. I think it a significant fact that, of all the things He said to them in that supremely important period, only one has been recorded. And what is yet more significant is that that one thing has been recorded by all four evangelists. Every student of the New Testament knows how few things all four do re- cord. We do not have a fourfold record of the birth of Christ, or of His baptism, or of His temptation, or of the transfigura- tion, or of His ascension to glory. We do not have a fourfold record of a single one of our Lord's discourses or parables or prayers. All give us an account of His agony in the garden, of His trial and condemnation, of His burial, and His resurrec- tion from among the dead. And all four give us the great commission in some form. As given by Matthew the commission reads, '* All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye there- fore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you : and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." As given by Mark the commission runs, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that 31 Q2 Where the Book Speaks disbelieveth shall be condemned." As given by Luke the commission reads, <*Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day ; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." As given by John it runs thus, *'As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." And when He had said this He breathed on them and said unto them, ''Receive ye the Holy Spirit; whosesoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Here is the fourfold record of our Lord's last charge to His disciples. What is doubly significant is that we have a fifth record of the commission. The apostles went to the Lord with a political question. They said, "Lord, dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, ''It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you : and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." And when He had said these things, as they were looking. He was taken up ; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. The last words these men heard from the lips of their Divine Lord were these, " The uttermost parts of the earth." His desire was that they might know and remember that the last man alive on the planet is in- cluded in His purpose of grace and of glory. Several years after His ascension our Lord appeared to Saul of Tarsus and commissioned him to bear His name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Saul was told to go into Damascus, that he might be taught all things which were appointed for him to do. Ananias was sent to him that he might receive his sight, and be baptized, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. But no one was sent to him in Damascus or elsewhere with a copy of the great commission. Neither did he go up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before him. The Church a Missionary Institution 33 He was an apostle, not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. Paul told Agrippa that Christ told him that He appeared to him, to appoint him a minister and a witness both of the things in which he had seen Him, and of the things in which He would appear to him. The Lord said to him that He would send him to the people of Israel and the Gentiles, to open their eyes, that they might turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive remission of sins, and an inher- itance among them that are sanctified by faith in Him. Paul said that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared in Damascus first, and Jerusalem, and through all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. He testified both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come, '' How that the Christ must suffer, and how that He first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles." Though given independently Paul's commis- sion was substantially the same as that given to the eleven in Galilee and on Olivet. The fact that the glorified Redeemer felt it expedient to appear in person to this man and to give him his commission from His own lips is most significant. These six records of the great commission are not an acci- dent. We cannot think of such a thing as an accident in con- nection with the Holy Spirit. What He does is done with fullest knowledge and for a great and worthy purpose. The repetition is for the sake of clearness and emphasis. Our Lord wanted the church in every age, and in every land to under- stand what a large place the missionary enterprise had in His thought and in His life. Every church in existence is organized under the great com- mission as its charter. It goes with the saying that an institu- tion must comply with the conditions of its charter or forfeit its right to exist. The one work of the church as set forth in 34 Where the Book Speaks its charter is that of evangelizing the world. It is while the church is engaged in this work that she has a right to claim the glorious promise of the continual presence of her Founder. Alexander Campbell had something like this in mind when he said, "The church of right is, and ought to be, a great mis- sionary society. Her field is the whole earth, from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the last domicile of man. A Chris- tian community without missions and missionaries would be a solecism in creation, and a gross deviation from the order, the economy, and the government of the universe." It is through the church that the manifold wisdom of God is to be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This is according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. The church is to continue steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. She is to provide for the instruction and edification of the entire membership. The church is to work out her own salvation with fear and trembling. But that is not the mission of the church. The church is to do what her Lord did while He was here ; she is to seek and to save the lost. She is to go after those who have gone astray and lead them back to the Bishop and Shepherd of their souls. The church is set for a light to the nations, and for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth. That is her mission, and her ordinances and ministries are to serve as auxiliaries to this chief end. The church is to pray, '< God be merciful unto us and bless us " ; but the reason assigned for this prayer is *