STUDIES ?^^M m tihvaxy of t:he theological ^tminary PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY FROM THE LIBRARY OF ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER BV 2060 .P5 1908 Pfeiffer, Edward, b. 1857. Mission studies tCcA ^ OF FHi^cer^ APR 1 1959 MISSION STUDlttHLJ^''"^ Outlines of Missionary Principles and Practice By EDWARD PFEIFFER Professor of Theology in the Ev. Lutheran Seminary, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio For Study in School, Church and Home COLUMBUS, OHIO LUTHERAN BOOK CONCERN 19 0 8 COPYRIGHT, 1908 By EDWARD PFEIFFER Who throughout her life has been a warm friend and liberal supporter of missions, and who now in her 89th year still follows with ardent interest the victories of the Church Militant, while she is looking longingly toward the glories of the Church Triumphant. PREFACE. THIS little book has grown out of the necessity placed upon the author and the opportunities that have come to him in his work in the Church. It is the product of some experience in the pastorate and in the class room, the out- come of convictions growing and gradually maturing. The immediate occasion for the publication was fur- nished by my outlines and notes, which I have been using for several years in my seminary classes as a basis for a series of lectures and studies in Evangehstics. The irksome- ness of dictation and the time consumed in the operation suggested the desirability of being able to place the outlines in complete and printed form in the hands of the students. The purpose, therefore, with which I set out upon the preparation of the work for the press was its use as a text book in my own classes. Out of this main purpose there grew, in the process of recasting and developing the material in hand, the secondary thought, that by further elaboration of certain parts I might make the work helpful to pastors both in the missionary studies which they ought to continue through life and in the missionary work which they are called upon to perform and direct in their congregations. The pastor as leader and pleader of the Lord's cause and work must, by study and extended reading, deepen the roots and broaden the view of his missionary life. Possibly this little book may prove to some a stimulating and suggestive help in this regard. The author even indulges the hope that at least some parts of the work may adapt themselves for use in mission study classes and young people's societies. If under the leadership of our pastors the young people of their congregations are thoroughly indoctrinated in the leading principles of mis- sions, we may confidently expect a growth of health and breadth of missionary practice. 5) 6 PREFACE. With these somewhat diverse and yet closely united aims in view, I have endeavored to make the elaboration of my original outlines as largely and broadly useful as pos- sible, at the risk of sacrificing scientific form and appear- ance. Keeping the condition and needs of our churches be- fore me, I have at once aimed at simplicity and comprehen- siveness. Elementary principles and general truths, with copious references and suggestions, are presented in com- pact form as a basis for further study. If this book fails to supply incentives to further investigation and to continued reading of missionary literature, it fails in its chief purpose. We ought to realize that this is a life-work for the Christian, both the pastor and the layman. The work of missions is before us and upon us as a pressing call to per- petual labor. The history of missions is an unfinished book, — a growing library, in fact. Beginning with the Acts of the Apostles, an inspired record of apostolic missions, the chronicles of Christian missions extend down to the present day, when current events in mission fields throughout the world are published in innumerable periodicals and books. It is a record of heroic endeavor, of fulfilment of divine promises, of triumphs of the cross of Christ, of realization of the highest ideals of life. Is the Church in need of defending her faith today? In this day of skepticism and growing infidelity the study of missions aflfords glimpses of Christian evidences whose argu- ments are ovc "whelming and unanswerable. In the pursuit of the study, whether theoretical, along the line of funda- mental principles, or historical, in biography and other forms, personal faith is revived, invigorated and enlarged. As to the merits of this little manual, while I am pre- pared for criticisms and shall endeavor to profit by them, I only plead that the character and plan of the work be not overlooked. It is not a narrative to be read or to be hastily perused for an hour's entertainment. It is no thrilling story which might hope to sustain interest by recounting events fp.scinatingly presented. Such stories and monographs exist in large numbers. But here I aim simply at the presentation of missionary principles, more or less elementary, and these in outlint- only briefly developed, as a basis for the intelli- PREFACE. 7 gent grasp of the whole subject, as an incentive for pro- gressive study and energetic prosecution of the work. xA.mong the many works which have been consulted and used and are referred to in the following pages, special acknov/ledgment is due and is herewith gratefully given to Dr. Warneck's classical work entitled, "Evangelische Mis- sionslehre," from v^^hich I have freely gathered valuable material, particularly that pertaining to the ground or basis of mission work. To those who desire to pursue further the scientific and theoretical study of the missionary enterprise this work, which, in point of thoroughness and completeness, surpasses any work that has as yet appeared either in Ger- man or in English, is especially recommended. That this unpretentious manual may be of some service to students, pastors and people in understanding, appreciat- ing, presenting and practicing the great work of missions, — the greatest work which the Lord has given us to do, — this is my hope and my prayer. E. P. Columbus. O., August. 1908. CONTENTS- Preface o FIRST PART. Missionary Principles in General, with Particular Reference to the Foreign Missionary Enterprise. 1. INTRODUCTORY. Chapter I. The Science of Christian Missions 19 1. Is there such a science ? 19 2. Two classes of literature: a. The history of missions; b. The theory or principles of mis- sions. List of typical works in each department. . 20 3. Missionary principles and problems. De- velopment of the science of missions 24 Chapter II. The Scope of the Missionary Principles. . 26 1. What is embraced under the head of mis- sionary principles ? — Three general heads : a. The purpose and aim of missions; b The ground or basis of missions ; c. The means and methods of the work 26 2. Explanation of terms. Various titles sug- gested for the science. Evangelistics seems to be preferred 28 Chapter III. The Place of Missions in Theology and in Christianity •^2 1. How determined ? 32 2. The place of the science of missions in the- ology. Two questions discussed : a. The place of missionary thoughts in the older branches of theol- ogy; b. The feasibility and desirability of the in- dependent development of the science of missions. 32 3. The place of missions in educational insti- tutions 35 (9) 10 CONTENTS. 4. The place of missions in the Christian life and in the work of the Church, a. Only prelimi- nary consideration of this topic here; b. The same place in both spheres ; c. Missions claim a pri- mary, dominating place in Christianity 30 Recapitulation of section 1 37 11. THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. Chapter IV. Unity and Diversity of the Missionary Enterprise -^'9 1. The unity of the missionary enterprise... 39 2. Three distinguishable spheres or depart- ments : a. Home missions ; b. Inner missions ; c. Foreign missions 40 3. Diversity of operations, but the same Lord, the same faith, the same end : a. The unity of the work is apparent from the definitions given; b. There are decided advantages to be gained from this view; c. Answer to objections made; d. This view is supported by Scripture and confirmed by apostolic missions 41 4. The scope of the present discussion of the 'missionary enterprise. Three general heads: I. The Missionary' ; II. The Ground of Miss'ion Work; III. Missionary Means and Methods 45 I. The Missionary. Chapter V. His Charaeter and QuaMcations 47 1. General Importance of the subject for all Christians and Christian workers 47 2. Fundamental character and characteris- tics: a. Spiritual gifts of faith and love; b. Intel- ligent and whole-souled interest in the missionary enterprise 48 3. Special qualifications of the missionary : a. Physical health and strength ; b. Intellectual gifts and acquirements: (1) The gift of teaching; (2) The gift of leadership. — Willingness to go where- ever the Lord calls or sends 50 Chapter VI. His Commission 54 CONTENTS. 11 1. Necessity of competent authority and or- der^ 54 2. Divine authority and commission : a. The mission of the apostles ; b. The sending forth of later missionaries 5t} 3. Churchly authorit}^ and commission : a. Independent societies; b. Church administration.. 58 4. Corresponding duty of the Church : a. The supply of men and training of missionaries ; b. Mo- ral and financial support of the missionaries 03 Chapter VII. His Mission. The Purpose and Aim of Missions 07 1. The real aim of missions is not civiliza- tion and culture : a. Christian missions show large results along this line; b. Value to be attached to these results 07 2. The real aim of missions is salvation from sin and death: a. The aim — how determined? b. The aim more carefully defined and explained. Prevailing confusion in use of the terms evangeli- zation and Christianization ; c. The end of the work of foreign missions 72 Recapitulation of chapters IV to VII 77 JI. The Grouxd of Mission Work. Chapter VIII. The Nature and Scope of this Section. 79 1. The foundation on which the enterprise rests 79 2. The scope of the missionary basis : a. The Scripture Ground ; b. The Dogmatical and Ethical Ground ; c. The Churchly Ground ; d. The Historical Ground 79 3. The ground in which the work is rooted supplies the proper motives. The supreme motive, "the love of Christ." 80 Chapter IX. The Scripture Ground 82 Missionary Thoughts and Roots in the Old Testa- ment 82 1. General reflections on the subject 82 12 CONTENTS. 2. Character of the missionary thoughts in the Old Testament 83 3. Some leading and typical Old Testament missionary thoughts: (1) The universal covenant of God with mankind ; (2) The brotherhood of man- kind; (3) The first evangel message; (4) The call of Abraham and the covenant-promise given him ; (5) The period of prophecy, culminating in the "Servant of Jehovah"; (6) Jonah, an Old Testa- ment missionary; (7) Providential leadings and events : a. The dispersions ; b. the Septuagint ; c. The synagogues 83 Chapter X. The Scripture Ground. (Continued.) ••■ • 97 Missionary Thoughts and Fruits in the New Testa- ment 97 Scope of the present treatise. Confined to the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles 97 Missionary Thoughts in the Words of Christ 97 1. General principles, preliminary and fun- damental : a. The Kingdom of God ; b. The Son of Man 99 2. Missionary references and declarations, in- troducing and preparing the way for the Great Command: a. The name "Apostles"; b. Citations from the Old Testament : c. Direct declarations of missionary thoughts 105 3. The Great Commission Ill Chapter XL The Scripture Ground. (Concluded.)... 115 Missionary Thoughts in the Acts of the Apostles. 115 1. Introductory remarks and reflections : a. Christ, as Lord, in and among His peonle ; b. The activity of the Holy Spirit; c. The narrative covers a brief space of time, but a large territory ; d. It is an uncompleted book 115 2. General plan and outline of the book.... 117 3. More detailed study of salient passages. 118 Introductory. Chapter I 118 First part. Ch. 2-12 : Spreading of the Gos- pel among the Jews 119 CONTENTS. IS Stcond part. Ch. lS-28 : Spreading of the Gospel among the Gentiles 129 First misisonary tour, ch. 13, 2-14, 28 129 Second missionary tour, ch. 15, 36-18, 22 132 Third missionary tour, ch. 18, 28-21, 14 134 Chapter XII. The Dogmatical and Ethical Ground. 139 1. Meaning and significance of this ground. A view of God's missionary thoughts from the standpoint of Christian doctrine and duty 139 2. Some of the leading doctrines examined, by way of illustration : a. The doctrine of God ; b. The doctrine of sin; c. The doctrine of Christ; d. The doctrine of justification by faith; e. Christ's second advent and the final judgment 141 Chapter XIII. The Churchly Ground 148 1. The Christian Church a missionary Church. Missionary ^3; birth; by appointment; by inner necessity 148 2. The reflex influence of missions on the home church 149 Chapter XIV. The Historical Ground 152 1. The Lord is King: in the world, as well as in Zion 152 2. The providence of God in missions. Manifest in the conjunction of two epochal events: an opened world, and a prepared church 152 8. This truth illustrated in the three great missionary periods : a. The period of apostolic and post-apostolic missions ; b. The period of medieval missions; c. The period of modern missions 154 Recapitulation of chapters VITI to XIV.... 160 III. Missionary Means and Methods. Chapter XV. Character of the Means 163 1. Not carnal, but spiritual. Required by the very nature of the Gospel and of Christianity. 163 2. The Word of God, the fundamental and final reliance : a. The spoken Word ; b. The Word in the form of "living epistles" : c. The printed Word 165 14 CONTENTS. Chapter XVI. Main Methodical Lines of the Work.. 167 1. Direct evangelism : a. It assumes vari- ous forms: (1) Private conversation and inter- view; (2) Formal preaching to a larger or smaller gathering; (3) A regular course of instruction; b. It leads to organized centers of operation; c. The question of self-support and self-govern- ment 167 2. Indirect evangelistic effort : a. Educa- tion: (1) Primary schools; (2) Secondary or academic schools; (3) Professional schools; b. Literary work ; c. Medical missions 170 Recapitulation of the First Part 174 SECOND PART. Home and Inner Missions. The Missionary Life. Chapter XVII. Character and Scope of this Part 179 1. Home and inner missions 179 2. The development of the missionary spirit 179 3. Elementary, but still needful 180 I. HOME MISSION WORK. Chapter XVI IT. The Field and Aim of Home Mis- sions 181 1. The relation of home missions to other activities of the Church : a. Home misison work comes first in the Biblical and the natural order of work ; b. Home mission work supplies the basis of other churchly operations; c. Home mis- sions and general benevolence 181 2. A survey of the home mission field : a. As to extent; b. The material: (1) Professed Christians in need of the Church; (2) The un- churched masses, both native and alien: c. Char- acter of the material 185 3. The home missionary aim: a. Not re- form merely, but regeneration ; b. Not societies for ethical culture, but self-supporting Christian churches 188 CONTENTS. 15 Chapter XIX. The Forces mid Methods of Home Missions 191 1. The home missionary forces : a. The Christian churches of our land; b. Are the Christian churches equal to the task? (1) In point of numbers; (2) Conditions of success: aa. Possession of the one thing needful. — the Gospel ; bb. Power in plying and applying that one thing; cc. Wisdom and courage in applying the one thing in the right way 1 f^l 2. Home missionary means and methods : a. Evangelism; b. Education: (1) Primary and secondary schools ; the Sunday school, the congre- gational school; (2) Schools of higher education; c. Literary work ; d. Charities 196 11. INNER MISSION WORK. Chapter XX. Distinctive Character of the Work 203 1. Works of mercy joined with ministrations of the Gospel : a. How distinguished from home mission work; b. Identified, in part, with home mission work '-'03 2. Occasion for inner mission work : a. A summary view of the history of the work ; b. Conditions today, and in our country 207 3. Justification of mission work in this form : a. The spirit of the Gospel ; b. The example of Christ ; c. The missionary command 211 4. The aim as distinguished from the meth- ods : a. The aim is salvation from sin and death ; b. The methods vary according to the needs 212 Chapter XXI. Principal Methods of the Work 214 1. Congregational : a. This form of inner mission activity is of prime importance ; b. How the work may be begun ; c. Large city churches ; d. City missions and inner mission societies 2J4 2. Institutional : a. Training schools for workers ; b. Charitable institutions ; c. The dis- semination of Christian literature 224 16 CONTENTS. III. THE NURTURE OF MISSIONARY LIFE IN THE HOME CHURCH. Chapter XXII. The Missionary Life 227 1. A vital issue 227 2. A work of divine grace 230 Chapter XXIII. The Nurture of Missionary Life in the Church at Large 233 1. By joint effort of the affiliated congrega- tions : a. The importance of the individual ; b. The pastor as missionary leader 233 2. By faithful supervision of the general work 236 3. By ample provision for co-operation 236 Chapter XXIV. The Nurture of Missionary Life in the Congregation 239 1. Faithful administration and application of the means of grace 239 2. Two spheres of spiritual nurture: a. Among the young: (1) Missionary work in the Sunday school ; (2) Missionary instruction in the catechetical school or class ; (3) Missionary in- struction in the Christian day school ; b. Among the older members : First, the regular divine services : Secondly, special missionary services and lines of work : (1) Regularly recurring missionary services; (2) The annual mission festival ; (3) Distribution of missionary literature; (4) Societies and mission study : aa. Women's missionary society ; bb. Young people's mission study courses; cc. Interest among the men; (5) System in the gathering of offerings; (6) A missionary library for pastor and people; (7) Prayer for missions 240 APPENDIX. I. Supplementary Notes 263 II. Bibliography 271 III. Index -77 FIRST PART, MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES IN GENERAL, VITH PAR- TICULAR REFERENCE TO THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. (17) I. INTRODUCTORY, CHAPTER L THE SCIENCE OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. I. Is there such a science? A science may be briefly defined as "knowledge reduced to law and em- bodied in system." Without being too exact or exact- ing, any department of knowledge in which the re- sults of investigation have been worked out and sys- tematized may be designated by the term science. Such a procedure and process is scientific. In the sphere of missions this requirement has to a large extent been met. It is true, men of wide ex- perience in many foreign fields tell us that there is even to this day in mission fields and among mission- aries an absence of any body of accepted principles governing missionary operations/ And even such a thorough student of missions and versatile author as Dr. Warneck laments the fact that no work has as yet been produced, in which the missionary enterprise in its entire scope has received adequate, scientific treat- ment.- Yet, during the past quarter of a century espe- cially, great strides have been taken toward reducing the mass and multiplicity of facts and incidents and forces to scientific form, and neither the student nor the missionary is left to grope about helplessly, with- ^Missionary Principles and Practice, Robert E. Speer, 44. * Evangelische Missionslehre, Dr. G. Warneck, I. p. 8. (19) 20 MISSION STUDIES. out competent instruction and safe guidance, if he is willing to learn and be guided by the wisdom that has grown out of experience. 2. The literature of missions may be divided into two classes: a. The history of missions; b. The theory or principles of missions. Both lines of study are capable of scientific treatment, and in both departments excellent works have been produced. The history of missions has been traced from the earliest times down to the present. Besides works of a general character, giving a connected portrayal of events and movements during longer or shorter periods of time, there are books, almost without number, in which par- ticular phases or features of the work or separate mis- sion fields are set forth. The missionary literature of our day is particularly rich in biographies — a most interesting and at the same time instructive form of presenting the work. And while the literature embody- ing the theoretical study of missions is not nearly so large or copious as that which may be designated as historical, descriptive, or biographical, there are not wanting a few works that substantially cover the whole ground, besides many in which this phase of the sub- ject receives partial treatment. The two lines or classes are not always distinct, nor can they always be kept apart. Very many ques- tions of theory and method, principles and relations, causes and effects, and the like, come under discussion in historical works, while theoretical treatises draw in, by way of illustration and otherwise, many historical facts and events. After the student of missions has once acquainted himself with the leading movements in the extension of the kingdom of God during the Ch. I. HISTORICAL WORKS. 21 Christian era and has gotten a comprehensive view and a firm grasp of the leading principles that underlie and support and direct the whole work, he will be pre- pared to enjoy more fully and to employ more effec- tively whatever literature may come to his hand or the lines along which he desires to specialize. As a help to this end the following list of typical works in each department is offered. The list is in- tended to be merely suggestive of what the reader may select in order to get the general knowledge that is desired at the outset and is confined to books in German and English. A fuller list of missionary books for all purposes may be found in the Bibliography, given in the Appendix. The books which, according to the author's experience, are to be preferred are marked with an asterisk (*), those to which special preference might be given with a double asterisk (**). Works of a General Historical Character. ** Warneck, Gustav. Abriss einer Geschichte der protestantischen Missionen von der Reformation bis auf die Gegenwart. 8th edition, revised and enlarged. 1905. $2.00. This standard work can also be had in English, a translation from the second edition by Thomas Smith. English title: ''Outline of the History of Protestant Missions from the Reformation to the Present Time." Formerly $2.00. The price on this edition seems to have been advanced. Gundert, H. Die Evangelische Mission, ihre Lander, Volker und Arbeiten. 3. Aufl. 1894. — A concise and handy book for reference, 2Z MISSION STUDIES. * Gareis, R. Geschichte der Evangelischen Hei- denmission. — Profusely illustrated, very readable. $175- Grundemann, R. Burkhardt's Kleine Missions- Bibliothek. 1876-1881. Four volumes. Encyclopedic in character. An old work, still valuable. ** Struempfel, Emil. Was jedermann heute von der Mission wissen muss. 55 cents. — An excellent condensation and general survey of essentials in the knowledge of the foreign missionary enterprise. Plitt, G. Geschichte der evang.-lutherischen Mis- sion. 2 Bde. * Bliss, Edwin Munsell. A Concise History of Missions. 75 cents. — Very concise and condensed, but a valuable general survey. Smith, George. Short History of Christian Mis- sions from Abraham and Paul to Carey, Livingstone, and Duff. $1.00. — Covers a larger ground and gives more details than Bliss. Combines theoretical develop- ment with the historical. Thompson, Augustus C. Protestant Missions ; Their Rise and Early Progress. 50 cents. — An ex- cellent summary of early Protestant missions. Maclear, G. F. Missions and Apostles of Medieval Europe. 40 cents. * Dennis, James S. Foreign Missions After a Century. 1893. $1.50. — A fine review of world-wide missions. Comprehensive and scientific in manner of treatment. Thompson, A. E. A Century of Jewish Missions. $1.00, ch. i. theoretical works. 23 Works of a Theoretical Character. **Warneck, G. Evangelische Missionslehre. 5 vols. — Work referred to in the Preface. Voluminous and somewhat verbose, but as a fund of technical knowledge and an incentive to thought and study it cannot be too highly recommended. Grundemann, R. Missionsstudien und-Kritiken. 2 Bde. 1894 und 1898. * Speer, Robert E. Missionary Principles and Practice. A Discussion of Christian Missions and some Criticisms upon them. 1902. $1.50. — An earnest plea for the further development of the science of missions and an able contribution in this direction. The rich fruitage of wide observation and a thoroughly Christian spirit. * Mott, John R. The Pastor and Modern Mis- sions. A Plea for Leadership in World Evangeliza- tion. 1904. $1.00. — Full of suggestion and stimula- tion. An eloquent plea, well supported by substantial facts. An excellent tonic for pastors. Martin. Chalmers. Apostolic and Modern Mis- sions. 1898. $1.00. — A comparative study of prin- ciples, problem, methods and results. Conservative and helpful. Lawrence, Edward A. Introduction to the Study of Eoreign Missions. Being five chapters from the author's ''Modern Missions in the East." 40 cents. Embodies a discussion of the aim, scope, motives and problems of the missionary enterprise. ** Brown, Arthur Judson. The Foreign Mission- ary. An Incarnation of a World Movement. 1907. $1.50. — A lucid and informing discussion of the many 24 MISSION STUDIES. questions and problems entering into the life and work of the missionary in all his relations at home and abroad. 3. Missionary principles and problems. These constitute the science of missions in the strict sense. And to this sphere our present Studies are limited. An elementary knowledge of the history of missions is presupposed. The careful perusal of one or more of the histories mentioned in the foregoing list of books is recommended. The student will then be prepared to note intelligently just how a science of missions, in the true sense, has begun to be developed. It is an interesting process to note and follow. A certain work has been done, from various motives, with a variety of aims, and by different methods, and this work has extended through many centuries and unto the ends of the earth, among all nations. The in- vestigator is in possession of a vast abundance and a great variety of facts. These it is the task of the scientist to analyze, compare, verify, classify and sys- tematize. By an inductive study of the missionary ex- perience of the Christian Church throughout the ages, in the light of God's Word, the underlying principles and the most efficient means and methods of accom- plishing the aim are brought to light, arranged and recorded. In this way there ensues a science of mis- sions that embodies assured and approved results, by which workers in similar spheres may be guided, thus profiting by the experience of those who have gone before and avoiding ruinous experimentation and needless waste of lives and" treasure. The order of development is the same in this sphere as in all other spheres of human thought and Ch. I. PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS. 25 activity. Every true and substantial science has been preceded by and grown out of corresponding practice, experience and observation. Thoughtful men observed the stars in their courses, noted the constellations, etc., long before there was a system of astronomy. So in theology, every practical branch was preceded by long practice in the corresponding sphere ; for example, in- struction, catechising — leading to Catechetics ; preach- ing to Homiletics, etc. So mission work, carried on with varying interest and varied success since the day of Pentecost, is finally resulting in the development of a mission science, for which, however, an accept- able and generally accepted name has not yet been found. This will be taken up in the next chapter. A writer has said: "The science of missions is one of the most fascinating and sublime of sciences, demanding the exclusive devotion of a lifetime of study and experience ; and this because the foreign jmission work is one of the most glorious of enterprises." ^ There are many other branches of study and employ- ments that engage our attention. But it ought to go without saying that a work which occupies such a large and commanding place in the New Testament, in the mind of our Lord and Savior, in the life of the Church and the development of the kingdom of God, deserves and demands the earnest attention, the unre- mitting interest and the lifelong activity of every Christian, whatever and wherever his place in the Church may be. 'Lawrence, Introduction, etc. Modern Missions in the East. CHAPTER IL THE SCOPE OF THE MISSIONARY PRINCIPLES. I. What is embraced under the head of mis- sionary principles? The most important material and the vital factors of the enterprise, in its origin and inception, its management and conduct, its completion and goal, may be summed up under Three general heads: a. The purpose and aim of missions; b. Their ground or basis ; c. The means and methods of the work. A very brief and summary statement of these factors is all that is desired here, as they are to be amply set forth, each in its proper place, in the succeeding discussion. a. The purpose and aim of missions is to make disciples of Christ and gather them into Christian churches that shall be self-supporting and self-extend- ing. It is the extension of the kingdom of God on earth, throughout the v^orld. b. The ground or basis of missions is the grace of God revealed in the Holy Scriptures and manifested in the redemption of mankind, and the love of God shed abroad in the hearts of His redeemed people. Here we have to do mainly with the source and origin of the work, the foundation which supports it, and the power that directs, sustains and propels it. c. The vicans and methods employed in Christian missions are the means of grace, God's holy Word and sacraments, administered by the Church, to whose stewardship the Lord has entrusted them. The ad- ministration of the sacred mysteries involves, in a very (26) Ch. 2. AIM, GROUND, AND MEANS. 27 large measure, human agency. Hence there result dif- ferences and difficulties which have obstructed the progress of the work in the past and are hindering its efficiency to this day. Now, all this is very simple, and yet it is pro- found, involving the deep things of God and the powers of the world to come. A little child can apprehend the simple truths, and scholars and mighty men of God, men of gigantic spiritual and intellectual stature, are called upon to wrestle with the problems and en- deavor to solve the difficulties presented. Look at this plain and simple summary : The aim of missions, Christian discipleship and fellowship ; the ground of missions, the love of God in Christ Jesus ; the effective means to be employed in the work of missions, the in- spired Word of the living God. Could anything be simpler in statement? It is the A B C of missions. But if that is true, it gives a suggestion of the distance to be traveled in pursuing the enterprise through mul- titudinous ramifications to its ultimate goal. There is a considerable distance between the learning of an alphabet and the mastering of a language, with its literature. But the task is inviting, and the work de- lightful, ever progressing, unfolding, widening. The labor pays. It is amply rewarded. There are great compensations for all the efforts put forth. Even so it is in the study and prosecution of missions. And it is not merely or mainly an intellectual operation. God's grace and God's glory beam all along the way, sustaining and quickening interest and inviting to larger effort. Let the student be docile, (Matt, ii, 29; Jesus says, ''Learn of me,'') patient and persevering, and great will be his reward. 28 MISSION STUDIES. 2. Explanation of terms. The mission studies that we are pursuing have not as yet reached the stage of development and completion that is desirable and required in a science. It is not strange, therefore, that there is as yet no agreement as to its scientific name. Many names have been suggested and used, but objection has been raised against every one of them. This is not a matter of great importance, and yet it deserves the attention of the student, who is in- terested in the scientific phase of the subject. Under the leadership and advocacy of such men as Dr. Anderson, of the American Board, Dr. Somer- ville, of Scotland, Henry V^enn, secretary of the Church Missionary Society, Dr. Christlieb, of the Uni- versity of Bonn, and Dr. Warneck, the most versatile author and one of the ablest advocates of missions in Germany during the last thirty years, and more re- cently the encumbent of a professorship of missions at Halle, considerable progress has been made in the development of the science of missions since the American Board published its "Outline of Missionary Policy" in 1856. And this half century of progress and development was preceded by a line of pioneers and pathfinders whose memory will always be dear and their example inspiring to students of missions, — men, for example, like Justinian von Welz, whose ring- ing missionary appeal in 1664 failed to rouse the slum- bering churches to a sense of duty, and Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, the Lutheran missionary pioneer, who had caught the missionary fire at Plalle and entered upon his labors in South India nearly a century before Carey began operations in North India, and a full century before Alexander Duff was born. These and others of Ch. 2. SCIENTIFIC TERMS AND TITLES. 29 like mould and mind were the forerunners, the John the Baptists, the voices crying in the wilderness, the fearless pathfinders and forceful pioneers of the mod- ern missionary enterprise and its development in the promulgation of a body of scientific principles. And the name of the science? The titles are in- teresting and suggestive to students ; others may pass them by. Look at this formidable array of titles : Halieutics, Keryctics, Apostolics, Missionics, Propa- gandics, Evangelistics. All have been suggested, but none generally adopted. Note briefly their significance : Halieutics — (from the Greek dlttoeiv, to fish, Matt. 4, 19 fif. ; "I will make you fishers of men.") Used by Van Oosterzee in his Practical Theology as a designation for the science of missions. He says: ''Some prefer the name 'Apostolics.' The name 'Evan- gelistics' appears less suitable on account of its great vagueness." Keryctics — (from x-qpuijaeiv to serve as herald, to proclaim as a herald, Mark 16, 15; Matt. 24, 14; Luke 24, 47.) Used by Zezschwitz, and later by Christlieb.^ Apostolics — (from dnanTikXeiv, to send forth, John 20, 21. The sending forth of apostles, mes- sengers, missionaries.) Missionics — (from the Latin mitto, I send, the equivalent of the Greek d.T:o(TrikXio.) Used by Law- rence.^ Propagandics — (from the Latin propagare, to propagate, extend — from which comes the English 'Der gcgenwartige Stand dcr evangelischen Heidenmis- sion, 1880, p. 135. 'Modern Missions in the East. 30 MISSION STUDIES. word propaganda.) The last three terms are simply mentioned, but not adopted by Dr. Warneck. Evangelistics — (from euayyeXiCsff^at^ to tell good news, to preach the Gospel, Luke 9, 6; 20, i.) Used by Duff in his inaugural address in 1867 and adopted by the Free Church of Scotland, establishing a professorship of Evangelistics ; by Plath in Zockler's Handbuch der theol. Wissenschaften ; by Harnack in his Practical Theology; and by many others in more recent times. Dr. Warneck discards all these terms, including the last, as in his opinion too partial and in- adequate, and prefers the plain vernacular "Missions- lehre," theory or science of missions. Of all these terms of foreign origin, I would give decided preference to the last. It is the only one that has attained any considerable prevalence and popular- ity. I believe it has come to stay, and it is worthy of the distinction. No sweeter name can fall on the ear of Christian or heathen than the sweet Evangel of Bethlehem and Calvary, the Word of the cross which is the power of God unto salvation. And is not this the very gist of mission study and mission work? What is mission work but the work of saving the unsaved ? And how else can it be done than by bring- ing them the Gospel of Christ and through this means, under the operation of the Holy Spirit, leading them into the kingdom of God? The whole enterprise has for its center Christ and the power of His resurrection. And He is the heart of the Gospel, as He is the head of the Church. It seems to me to be in the nature of quibbling to no profit to raise objection to the term "Evangelis- tics" on the ground that many other activities are in- Ch. 2. EVANGELISTICS. 31 volved in the missionary enterprise besides the preach- ing of the Gospel. Of course there are. But if they do not center about the Gospel, if they are not more or less directly connected with it and permeated by it, they do not properly belong within the sphere of Christian missions. The Gospel is the proper source and the unifying force of all the various questions and activities, whether they pertain to the management of the work at home or to its conduct and prosecu- tion abroad. But, after all, the important thing is not the choice of name, but the proper conception and pre- sentation of the work itself. Let us give ourselves to this task with singleness of purpose to know and re- ceive the mind of Christ. in CHAPTER m. THE PLACE OF MISSIONS IN THEOLOGY AND IN CHRISTIANITY. 1. How determined? By the intrinsic nature of the missionary enterprise, by its place in the Holy Scriptures and the divine economy of salvation. It is not, therefore, a matter of arbitrary choice. It doesn't depend on the character and spirit of the teacher in the seminary or the pastor in the church. The actual or accidental place of missions in school and church may be so determined, but not their real and proper place. This has been settled by the Lord God, who is the unerring director of missions, as He is the in- fallible author of the Scriptures. It is for us, by reverent study of His Word and observation of His providential leading, to find the place He has assigned and to conform our ways thereto. 2. The place of the science of missions in theology. Two questions claim our attention here: a. The place of missionary thoughts in the older branches of theology; b. The feasibility and desir- ability of the independent development of the science of missions. a. The study of the principles of missions is closely related to many of the older, established theo- logical sciences. Consider only the most obvious points of contact. (i) Church History. Christian missions con- stitute one of the large and important movements in (32) Ch. 3. MISSIONS IN THEOLUGV. 33 the life and work of the Church in every period of her history. Accordingly, the history of the extension of the Church occupies a large and conspicuous place in Church History. While the historical phase of the missionary enterprise claims a place in this branch of theology, the theoretical phase has various points of contact in the following branches : (2) Exegesis. As the books of the Bible are subjected to critical and exegetical study, the mis- sionary thoughts both of the Old Testament and of the New will come in for proportionate consideration, according to their setting and significance in the sacred text. (3) Systematic Theology. In Dogmatics the leading doctrines, as, for example, of God, of the sin- fulness of mankind, of the redemption of the human race through Christ Jesus, etc., involves fundamental missionary thoughts that need only to be pointed out and applied. In Ethics the consideration of the rela- tions of the Christian to mankind at large, in State and Church, in the family and society, and in these rela- tions the question of Christian duty, will naturally lead to incidental presentation and application of mission- ary thoughts. For Apologetics the history of mis- sions afifords manifold striking evidences of the su- periority of Christianity over all the non-Christiati religions of the world, of the power of the Gospel to renew and transform the character and life of indi- viduals and of nations, of the truthfulness of the di- vine Word and the matchless value of the Christian faith. (4) Practical Theology. Here there are m.any points of contact and opportunities for the occasional 34 MISSION STUDIES. and incidental treatment of missionary ideas. In Catechetics, in Homiletics, in Liturgies, and in Pas- toral Theology, many principles come under consider- ation which apply equally to the established pasforate and to work in the mission field. The missionary as well as the pastor in the home church is called upon to catechize or instruct both young and old, to preacli, to conduct public worship, and to care for individual souls in the capacity of a shepherd or pastor. Mis- sionary applications will occur naturally, without any forcing or straining, in the adequate treatment of these branches. b. The importance of the missionary enterprise justifies the separate development of the science of missions. When we consider the immensity of the task and the dimensions to which this enterprise has grown; when we study the Bible with an open eye and heart to note and receive missionary thoughts and impressions ; when we make a survey of the copious and rapidly expanding field of missionary literature ; when we thoughtfully review present day conditions both in Christian and in heathen lands and consider the opportunities and the urgent need of more vigor- ous and effective prosecution of the work which the Lord of the harvest has given His Church to do ; — in view of these and other considerations that force themselves upon the student of missions and the earn- est worker in the cause, can there be any doubt as to the desirability of the ampler, scientific development of mission study and enterprise? Incidental references and casual and partial and haphazard treatment do not sufifice, do not meet the demands of the case, do not Ch. 3. IN SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES. 35 do justice to the largeness, the importance and the expanding future of the missionary enterprise. The feasibiHty of the undertaking is shown by the not inconsiderable advances that have been made toward the development of a science of missions. Under the leadership of missionary educators and ad- vocates in Europe and America, of able directors and secretaries of the great and growing missionary so- cieties and mission boards, the work is gradually as- suming definite shape and ampler form. All this leads naturally and inevitably to another point of great practical importance. 3. The place of missions in educational in- stitutions. If the above argument has any cogency and force, it follows that the scientific and systematic study of missions, Evangelistics, if you please, de- serves a place in the curriculum of the theological sem- inary. Moreover, it is a question deserving the at- tention of the authorities, whether the missionary en- terprise may not profitably be given a place in the col- lege, in the form of volunteer and optional mission study classes, and possibly by the maintenance of a missionary society. The fact is that, during the last two decades, there has been a marked forward movement in this regard in all the higher institutions of learning, from the great universities down to academies and preparatory schools. In Germany and Great Britain, as also here in America, missionary professorships and lectureships have been introduced in not a few seminaries and uni- versities, and under the leadership of the Student Vol- unteer Movement, in the United States and Canada, probably from fifteen to twenty thousand students are 36 MISSION STUDIES. enrolled in mission study classes in several hundred institutions. 4. The place of missions in the Christian life and in the work of the Church. a. Only preliminary consideration of this topic here. It is a large topic and of such vital importance that it will receive fuller and more adequate treatment in later chapters. The purpose of taking it up at all at this stage of our discussion is to secure our proper bearings and get established for future operations. A broad and comprehensive view of the study and the enterprise at the outset is a great advantage. It arouses interest and sets before us what is to be the aim of our endeavors. h. The same place in both spheres. There is no vital difference between the place of missions in the Christian life and their place in the work of the Church. Under normal conditions there is no vital, permanent Christian life apart from the Church. No duties in the sphere of missions devolve upon in- dividual Christians which are not encumbent upon the Church. And, contrariwise, whatever missionary obligations rest upon the Church the individual Chris- tians are in duty bound to share. Emphasize duly, but also distinguish properly between individual re- sponsibility and corporate enterprise. Study the sub- ject in the light of i Cor. 12; Eph. 2, 19-22; and sim- ilar passages. c. Missions claim a primary, dominating place in Christianity. The Church which Jesus Christ es- tablished on the earth has a twofold task : edifica- tion and extension. They are co-ordinate activities and act and react upon one another. Upbuilding and Ch. 3. IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 37 propagation, activity within and outward, — these two processes embrace all the forces and activities of the Christian life and the work of the Church. And these are fundamental and vital, the one as well as the other. Persistent neglect of the missionary life has the same effect as persistent neglect of the devotional life. The life shrivels, decays, dies. As a missionary secretary of large experience has recently said: ''Propagation is a law of the spiritual life. A living organism must grow or die. The Church that is not missionary will become atrophied." ^ Too many, both individuals and churches, treat the missionary enterprise as though it were a neat, but needless grace, a beautiful, but expensive and hence negligible ornament, a grace and ornament superadded to Christianity, rather than an impulse, a force, a factor, inwoven in the very fabric of Christianity. As we study the subject in the light of the Scriptures and the history of the Christian Church we see, ever more clearly, how mistaken this notion is, and how short- sighted and suicidal the policy that persistently ig- nores the claims and belittles the significance of mis- sions. Let us be open to conviction, glad to receive the instruction of the Holy Spirit through the Word, and willing to abide by and act upon the results of His tuition. Recapitulation. In this introductory section, comprising the first three chapters, some preparation *The Foreign Missionary. By Arthur Judson Brown. 38 MISSION STUDIES. has been made for the systematic study of the leading principles underlying and pervading the missionary en- terprise. This preparation includes preliminary con- sideration of the question as to the actual and possible development of a science of missions, the scope of missionary principles, and the place of missions in theology and in practical Christianity. We have seen that, while the study of missions has not as yet been developed into a complete and generally recognized science set forth in scientific treatises, considerable progress has been made in this direction. Both in the historical and the theoretical parts some standard works have been produced. Wc have seen that the scope of missionary principles in- cludes the aim, the ground, and the means and methods of missions. We may regard this as the What, the Why, and the How of mission work. It is, summar- ily, the work of Christianizing all the people of the earth by the grace of God through His Word. Next to the planting of the Church itself, it is the greatest work in the world and hence occupies a prominent place in theology and a primary and dominant place in the Christian life and the work of the Church. With these introductory reflections, it is hoped, the reader is prepared to study with growing interest the fundamental principles of missions, touching the missionary and his work, in its character, its founda- tion, and its prosecution. n. THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. CHAPTER IV, UNITY AND DIVERSITY OF THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. I. The unity of the missionary enterprise. 1 realize that we have undertaken a difficult task — and it will doubtless appear of questionable utility, if not propriety, to many — in endeavoring to comprehend in one small treatise a discussion of the fundamental features of the various lines and departments of mis- sion work. But there are two considerations that, as it seems to me, support and justify the attempt. First, the fact that this is intended to be an elementary, not an exhaustive treatise; and secondly, the vital and es- sential unity of the work. It is the latter that I am most concerned about. It is a principle for which I contend. With all the diversity and multiplicity of times, places, people, conditions and methods, there is in the different spheres and avenues of missionary endeavor substantial unity of idea and fundamental aim. There is no essential difference between home and foreign missions. There are manifest and important differ- ences of distance, of conditions, of details in methods of management and prosecution, but there is, withal, — and this is a matter of primal consideration for the in- struction of our home churches, for the intelligent grasp of the vital features of the whole missionary (39) 40 MISSION STUDIES. task which the Lord of glory has laid upon His Church, for reflection on the part of the volunteer who desires to become a missionary, as well as of the pastor and the average layman, (this little treatise makes no pre- tensions to a hand-book for specialists) — there is in all the lines of true and legitimate missionary endeavor substantially the same source, the same ground and motive, the same purpose and ultimate end. The distinction between home and foreign mis- sions is made and maintained for convenience, in order to facilitate the systematic administration and prose- cution of the work. 2. There are three distinguishable spheres or departments of the enterprise : a. Home missions ; b. Inner missions ; c. Foreign missions. These may be briefly defined as follows: a. Home mission zvork is mission work that is carried on in our own, a nominally Christian land, and consists in gathering into self-supporting congrega- tions the scattered brethren in the faith, together with the unchurched masses of our mixed population. h. Inner mission zvork is mission work that is carried on in our own country, and consists in com- bining, by systematic endeavor, works of mercy (var- ious Christian philanthropies) with evangelistic effort in behalf of the salvation of the physically and spirit- ually needy classes of our population. c. Foreign mission zvork is mission work that is carried on, for the most part, in foreign lands, and consists in the Christianization of non-Christians (heathens, Alohammedans and Jews), and gathering them into self-supporting, self-governing, and self-ex- tending Christian churches. Ch. 4. UNITY OF THE WORK. 41 These distinctions and limitations are not always clearly distinguishable nor consistently maintained. Home missions and inner missions naturally overlap and are often intertwined and combined. And as for work in behalf of foreigners within our gates, Chinese, Japanese, etc., some churches classify it under home missions, w^hile others consider it, as it really is, for- eign mission work carried on within our own borders. As regards mission w-ork among our American In- dians, Negroes, and the Jews in our immediate com- munities, it would, in my opinion, be more in harmony with actual conditions and practices to treat it as more properly belonging to the sphere of home missions. Let it be noted, for the sake of clearness, that the missionary principles discussed in this First Part of our treatise are applied, in large part, though not ex- clusively, to foreign missions, while home and inner mission work are reserved for special treatment in the Second Part. 3. Diversity of operations, but the same Lord, the same faith, the same end. i Cor. 12, 4-6 may profitably be studied in this connection. Diversities of gifts, diversities of ministrations, diversities of work- ings, — but the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God who worketh all things in all. This is the language of inspiration, the thought of God, the Author, the Administrator, and the Operator of the missionary enterprise. a. The unity of the work is apparent from the definitions given above. The three forms of endeavor are summed up under the term "mission w^ork." The latter goes out in different directions, is carried on in different places, and consists in going out after the 42 MISSION STUDIES. unsaved, reaching down to the wayward, the lost, the imperiled, in order to hring all men under the fostering care and shelter of the Church and extending the kingdom of God in all the earth. b. There are decided advantages to he gained from this viezv. It ministers not to confusion, but to clearness of thought. It shows the groundlessness, the unscriptural and unchristian character, of the po- sition of those who claim to be in favor of home mis- sions, while they are opposed to foreign missions. The true missionary spirit is not fettered by local, inci- dental consideration and advantages. It looks out, with the sympathetic heart and yearning love of Christ, the Savior of the lost and the Lord of the vineyard, upon the fields that are white unto the harvest, whether they be near at hand or far away. The near are not to be overlooked in our haste to reach those far away; nor are the latter to be neglected on the score of the ofttimes empty excuse and pretense: "There is work enough to do at home." To those who, to cover their neglect of duty and lack of interest, make use of the old adage, "Charity begins at home," an advocate of foreign missions makes the pointed and pungent reply : "One might urge with equal truth that education begins with the alphabet, but it ends there only with the feeble-minded."^ In the treatment of the subject from a theoretical point of view, just as in the carrying on of the work, proper allowance must be made and account taken oi the diversities of factors and features, while emphasis ^Arthur J. Brown. The Foreign Missionary, p. 334. Cll. 4. THE UNITY MAINTAINED. 43 is laid on the vital and fundamental truths which are common to all. c. Anszver to objections made. No cogent ob- jection can be raised against this view on the ground of the derivation of the word "mission." There is a sending and going forth of workers in each depart- ment, in home and inner as well as in foreign mis- sion work. To seek and to save that which is lost or even in danger of perishing, if no effort at rescue is put forth, this is the essential idea of mission work. Our blessed Lord and Savior used two words of far- reaching import: "Come'' and *'go." "Come" leads to discipleship ; "go" directs the disciple out into the missionary enterprise. We cannot agree with the view expressed by Dr. Warneck when he says : "The distinction between home and foreign missions rests upon unclearness with respect to the missionary idea." He insists that the ob- jects of missionary endeavor are non-Christians and concludes that the term "mission" is used incorrectly not only in the designation home missions, but also when applied to inner missions. For the latter work he would prefer the term "diaconics." We agree with this scholarly teacher and sys- tematizer of missionary principles when he affirms that "mission work is the work of Christianizing" the nations.^ But that does not imply that the nation as a whole must be steeped in heathenism before it be- comes an object of mission work, nor that in nom- inally Christian nations there are no persons who are, in a true and proper sense, objects for missionary en- 'Compare Note 1 in the Appendix. 44 MISSION STUDIES. deavor. Those who are in need of Christianization are not only the heathen who have never heard of Christ, but those, too, who, even under the shadow of Christian churches, are virtually and vitally heathen. If in the work of home and inner missions many are dealt with who are Christians, they are Christians in need, imperiled, in danger of losing their faith and lapsing into virtual heathenism. To rescue such, and save them for the kingdom of God, is a form of Christianization, too. And besides, in both spheres many are sought out and won for the Church who are no Christians at all, but really heathens, unbelievers, worldlings, strangers from the covenants of promise. '*Far ofif" from the kingdom of God, they are "made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2, 13) and brought into His kingdom through the missionary efforts of the Church. d. This view is supported by Scripture and con- firmed by apostolic missions. (i). Look, for example, at the expressions used by Christ in His missionary command, in the various forms in which it is found in the Gospels and the Acts. Go into all the world ; make disciples of all the na- tions ; the uttermost part of the earth ; every creature. Surely these terms include the near as well as the remote. The heathen at our doors are not to be over- looked, nor are the heathen abroad to be left to their fate. Repentance and remission of sins is to be preached in Christ's name among all nations, begin- ning at Jerusalem. Luke 24, 47. The work of evan- gelization and Christianization is to begin at home and extend unto the ends of the earth. (2). And this is the very course taken by Ch. 4. THREE MAIN TOPICS. 45 apostolic missions. Mission work began in Jerusalem when, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples and apostles whom Christ had chosen, when they were endued with power from on high, according to the Savior's promise, and when three thousand souls were added to the Church. From here the work continued, first in the immediate vicinity, in Samaria, then in C^esarea and at Anti- och ; and from these and other centers the Gospel was carried on and outward North and South and East and West. This is in reality a combination of home and foreign mission work. It gives to the Church for all time a principle and an example to be followed both in the work at home and in the work abroad : we are to influence and win those near at hand and make every station won a center from which, in ever widening circles, the light of the Gospel is carried outward until it penetrates the darkest corners and the uttermost parts of the earth. 4. The scope of the present discussion of the missionary enterprise. This is necessarily and properly limited in an elementary and general treatise. It is confined to fundamentals and essentials, to points of general importance and interest to those engaged in the work, leaving out of view many topics that be- long to the technical phases of the enterprise and enter into the special equipment of the missionary and the administration and prosecution of the work. With this limitation in view we confine our dis- cussion here to three general heads', i. The Mis- sionary ; 2. The Ground of Mission Work ; 3. Mis- sionary Means and Methods. And even these sub- jects are not to be treated exhaustively, but rather 46 MISSION STUDIES. electively and by way of suggestion of the main points involved. It may suffice the purpose of a general grasp of the missionary enterprise to contemplate the chief worker, his personality and relations, the aim and end of his work, its motives and supports and, in a very general way, the means and manner of its prosecution. L The Missionary. CHAPTER V. HIS CHARACTER AND QUALIFICATIONS. I. General importance of the subject. Apart from the missionary himself, this topic is of great im- portance to the Church at large, to the pastor and to every Christian. The Church must supply and select, send forth and maintain the missionaries. The latter go forth and labor in a representative capacity, — to do in person and in the service of the Lord and of the Church the work which the Lord of the harvest has assigned to His Church. It is, therefore, im- portant to understand what sort of workers are needed and what quahfications are required. Moreover, such consideration should put Christians in mind of the life which they ought earnestly to cultivate in their churches, seeing that the missionaries, as Christian workers generally, reflect the life of the home church.^ To pastors and students of theology this topic is of particular importance because of the need of mis- sionary spirited pastors in every parish. Dr. A. C. Thompson, in one of his lectures to students, under the heading, ''Every minister a missionary," says : ''Whoever in the sacred office remains at home is on this account none the less held to service in the general cause."- This phase of the subject will be more fully discussed in a later chapter. *See a fine paragraph in Speer's Missionary Principles a.t}(J Prapti.ee, p. 290 f. ^Foreign Missions, p. 4. (47) 48 MISSION STUDIES. 2. Fundamental character and characteristics. Certain qualifications are common to all workers in the Lord's vineyard — and that includes all disciples and professing Christians — at home and abroad, in mission fields and established parishes, in all ranks and stations. It is to be hoped and desired that they appear in keen and intensified form in leaders, pastors and missionaries, but the latter are not different in kind from the rank and file of Christians. Among such general Christian qualifications may be mentioned : a. The spiritual gifts of faith and love. These make and pervade the Christian life and make it a force in spreading the light and life that Christ brought into the world. And this is a fundamental qualification in the missionary. He is a messenger, sent of God to bear the message of salvation to men. He is to "preach the Gospel of peace," Rom. lo, 14-15, and bring to the poverty-stricken and perishing of mankind the unsearchable riches of Christ. In the preparatory stages of mission work preaching, oral teaching and testimony, precedes the spreading of the truth in written form. And it remains one of the chief functions of the missionary throughout his career. The Lord in His wisdom and mercy has pro- vided that His message to mankind be conveyed and delivered by living agents, men sinful and faulty in themselves, but saved and sanctified by grace and able and eager to tell to others what the Lord has done for them. It would not suffice to send Bibles to the heathen, even though they were able to read the Word in their own tongue. Study such passages as Mark 16, 15 — "preach the Gospel"; Acts i, 8 — "ye shall Ch. 5. FUNDAMENTAL QUALIFICATIONS. 49 be witnesses unto me" ; Matt. 24, 14 — the Gospel is to be preached "for a zvitness unto all nations." This is the qualification that makes every true Christian a missionary. Living faith is followed by confession, impels to utterance, as it is written, 2 Cor. 4, 13: ''I beHeved, and therefore have I spoken ; we also believe and therefore speak." What we have received is not only to be kept, but to be com- municated. If Christ has become all in all to us, we will want to make Him known to others, that He may become their possession, too. h. Intelligent and whole-souled interest in the missionary enterprise. There must be ability and wil- lingness to get a broad and deep grasp of the work in the light of God's Word. What is needed in the efficient and successful worker is personal devotion that is not fitful and transitory, but abiding and grow- ing. If we have embraced Christ as our Savior and Lord, it is for life, and that implies service for life. That should be the motto and watchword both for the Christian at home and for the missionary abroad — life service. Nothing less than that purpose is worthy of a disciple of Him who said, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work," John 4, 34 ; and again : "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, the night Cometh when no man can work," John 9, 4. If it is a piece of intolerable hypocrisy for a person to be only a nominal Christian, to make a Christian profession with the mouth while the heart is consciously far from God, much more intolerable and abominable is it in the pastor and missionary to presume to occupy the holy office from motives of 50 MISSION STUDIES. carnal convenience or advantage, with no heart and Hfe interest in the work. Matthew Henry has well said : ''The Gospel ministry is a noble calling, but a wretched trade." 3. Special qualifications of the missionary. There was a time when many thought that anybody, men with the most meager talents and equipment, would do for the ministry and the mission field. Very few persons hold that mistaken notion today. It is known now and generally recognized that both spheres of service require superior men, — the best that the churches can furnish, and men equipped with the best training attainable. The standard of requirement for foreign missionary appointment has in recent years been raised in all the leading missionary societies and boards. In addition to the general qualifications that have been mentioned and that dare not be lacking, there are many other characteristics and traits that go to con- stitute the successful missionary. We can only briefly and in a summary way outline the subject here, re- ferring the reader to the Notes at the end of the book for further elucidation. a. Physical health and strength is an important factor to consider with reference to service in the Church in any official capacity. As it is a mistake to select physically weak and infirm boys as prospective candidates for the ministry, so it would be a serious blunder to overlook this requirement in missionary ap- pointment. On account of climate, unsanitary con- ditions, exposure, and the like, the demands upon health and strength are usually much greater in foreign mission fields. Ch. 5. TEACHER AND LEADER. 51 b. Intellectual gifts and acquirements. It is suf- ficient for our present purpose to consider these under two heads: There must be ability in two directions, (i) as a teacher and (2) as a leader. (i) The gift of teaching. Among the apostoHc requirements made upon one who desires to be a minister is this, that he be "apt to teach." i Tim. 5, 2. That impHes that he possesses the necessary knowledge and is able to impart it. How essential this is for the successful missionary is apparent. His natural talents need careful training. The Twelve were called to be disciples before they were made apostles, — first learners, then messengers. The missionary, like the minister at home, must have a true student spirit. Though he may never become what the world calls ''learned," he must be and continue eager to learn. And, as a missionary writer has said, "the study of all studies for the missionary is the study of God's Word."^ Said a missionary to a class of students: "Steep your minds in Scripture." And this to the end that they may, by God's grace, become more efficient in imparting out of their treasure things new and old and winning souls for Christ. (2) The gift of leadership. No man can be a successful minister or missionary without this gift in some measure. And a great many qualities are com- prised in it. The missionary is called upon to deal with all sorts of men and to meet a variety of con- ditions. To do this successfully he must have a well balanced judgment, tact, perseverance and patience. ^Principal Drury, of London, in The Call, Qualifications and Preparation of Candidates for Foreign Missionary Serrice. 52 MISSION STUDIES. Backed by many years' experience in the mission field. Dr. J. Chamberlain, of India, gave a terse sum- mary of missionary qualifications in these words : "What further is needed" (besides good health) "may all be summed up in the old minister's 'three royal G's' — Grace, Grit, and Gumption." By this he means consecration to Christ, perseverance in the perform- ance of duty, and ability to adapt oneself to circum- stances, to make the best of his surroundings, etc. In conclusion, let us note a qualification that shows the true temper and spirit of men who aspire to the noblest service, whether in the pastorate or in the mission field. It is unllingness to go wherever the Lord calls or sends, and readiness to endure hard- ness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. What if you who have assayed to serve the Captain of our salva- tion in this capacity find conditions in the field far dififerent from what you had expected? What if you encounter unforseen difficulties and obstacles? Are you going to despair on that account or give up and turn back ? What have you gone out for at all if it is not to overcome difficulties? Surely, you have not entered upon this office and service seeking an easy place, making personal comfort and ease the chief requisite. Be a man. Be a man of God. Be loyal to the Lord whose you are and whom you serve. And He will sustain you. His grace will be sufficient for you. At the close of a fine presentation of the qualifi- cations of the missionary Dr. Warneck recommends the study of missionary biographies as the best means of learning, by concrete example, what goes to con- Ch. 5. MISSIONARY QUALIFICATIONS. 53 stitute an efficient missionary. "Good models," he says, "are at once good mirrors and good schools."^ ^Compare Note 2 in the Appendix for further remarks and references on the subject of this chapter. M CHAPTER VL HIS COMMISSION. In this chapter we speak of the missionary as he is sent forth from the home church and goes to the field of labor assigned him. Who is to send him and by what authority? Who is back of him to oversee and direct the administration and support of the work ? This necessarily involves also the question of rein- forcements. For it is presumed that the work has been taken up with a view not only to its beginning but to its continuance and completion. I. Necessity of competent authority and order. Redemption is finished, salvation is free. It has been prepared by Christ for all mankind. The good tidings are to be published abroad. Only those who hear the glad Evangel can be profited by it. How shall the communication be made? By the individuals who have received the unspeakable good as they may be impelled and may have opportunity to impart it? In the very nature of the case there is such an impulse. And the fact, that the early Christians were true to it and bore witness of Christ wherever they were and whithersoever they went, accounts to a large extent for the rapid and wide spread of Christianity in the apostolic age. But it is apparent, and history shows, how unsafe it would have been to have depended on such voluntary and unsystematized witnessing and preaching alone, without some provision for the orderly conduct and continuance of the work, (54) Ch. 6. AUTHORITY AND ORDER NEEDED. 55 Our Lord in His wisdom made such provision. Not, indeed, by organizing a missionary society in the modern sense, but by laying down fundamental principles to govern the work, just as He did with reference to the Church which He founded, leaving it to His faithful people under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to work out, under varying conditions, the problems of organization and methods of work. Christ made the needful provision by giving what we know as His missionary command to His chosen apostles and to the Church at large, further confirm- ing and illumining these instructions by His extraor- dinary appointment of St. Paul to be the special "Apostle to the Gentiles." The "Great Commission" (Matt. 28, 18-20; etc.) is the fundamental statute of the missionary enter- prise. It does not repress the sanctified impulse of the disciple to tell out the good news of salvation, but neither does it leave the needful work to chance or caprice, to arbitrary choice between performance or neglect, to fitful, uncertain and unregulated efifort. Christ's command comes with divine authority to the Church and is all-sufficient for the purpose. He did not utter needless words or hamper the progress of His work by superfluous and bewildering details. The brevity of His utterance of great principles and the simplicity and ordinariness of their surroundings is marvelous to behold.^ So with the missionary com- mand. Short and to the point ! Full and final ! It ^ Note, for example, John 4, 24 : a new principle of Christian worship; or John 11, 25.26: the immortal power of His resurrection. How comprehensive and potent and far- reaching these truths ! 56 MISSION STUDIES. involves authority, obligation, aim, means, and the promise of success. The apostles were slow, even after Pentecost, in comprehending the world-wide character and intent of the commission. They were hampered by national and local prejudices. They did not understand just how the heathen were to be gathered into the kingdom of Christ. The appointment of St. Paul, in addition to the original apostles, with emphasis upon the extra-Judaic, ethnic sphere of his labors, (Acts 22, 21 ; 26, 17; Rom. I, 5; Gal. 2, 7 and 8; etc.), threw light upon Christ's universal missionary command and left no doubt as to its world-encircling scope. 2. Divine authority and commission. How shortsighted it is for any one to treat the missionary enterprise as though it were a man-chosen and man- made work ! It is God's work. The missionary idea is God's thought. Mission work is God's plan. It is as old as the eternal counsels of God with reference to the salvation of mankind. In the fulness of time those gracious counsels were realized in the mission of God's Only-begotten Son. He is the One sent from God, the pioneer Missionary from heaven, the chief Commander, as He is the type and model, of all mis- sionaries. Christ sent forth His disciples just as the Father had sent Him. John 20, 21. That is the plain answer to the question as to who really and originally sends out Christian missionaries. They are messengers of Christ, even as Christian ministers are ambassadors of Christ. 2 Cor. 4. 20. Of course, there is a dis- tinction to be made. a. The mission of the apostles. Their commis- sion, their appointment as apostles or missionaries. Ch. 6. DIVINE AUTHORITY. 57 like their call to discipleship, was immediate, that is, it took place by Christ in person, without the inter- vention of human agency. And for their work, the work of planting and extending the Church, they en- joyed the special illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And yet, even in their case, and during their lifetime, preparation and call or commission through human agency are not excluded. Note the action of the church at Jerusalem in recognizing and endorsing the work of Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and in sending representatives to assist and co-operate with the brethren there. Acts 15, 22. Note further the sending forth of Paul and Barnabas as missionaries by the congregation at Antioch, Acts 13, 1-3; the ap- pointment by St. Paul of Aquila and Priscilla, Acts 18, 3. 19 ; Rom. 16, 3 ; Timothy, ordained and com- missioned, Acts 16, 3; I Tim. 4, 14. b. The sending forth of later missionaries. It would betray a fundamental misapprehension of all Scripture, to think of limiting Christ's missionary com- mand to the apostles and of denying to later mis- sionaries the honor and joy of being likewise com- missioned by Christ. Such commission is on a par with the call to the Christian ministry and pastorate. The call takes place mediately, that is, through the intervention of human agency, through the Church ; but that does not exclude or supplant the authority and the sovereignty of Christ, the Head of the Church. Hiose who are rightly called and sent are ministers and missionaries of Christ. The inner conviction, wil- lingness and desire to serve the Lord in the holy office (wrought by the Holy Spirit in the heart: faith im- pelling to utterance, 2 Cor. 4, 13; love constraining 58 MISSION STUDIES. to service, John 21, 15-17, 2 Cor. 5, 14; the urgency of the desire to impart, Acts 4, 20; etc.) is tried, ap- proved and confirmed by the Church that extends the formal call and gives the commission in Christ's name. Rom. 10, 15: ''How shall they preach except they be sent?" The minister and missionary of the Church, w^ho is a servant of God and an ambassador for Christ, has every reason to realize and magnify this relation to the King of kings. He is a pitiable hireling if he doesn't. Such an one has degraded the holy calling to a wretched trade. The true Christian minister and messenger serves the Church in the joyful conviction of being in the service, under the direction and care, of the Lord of glory. To realize that he is, in a most true and real sense, a servant, a messenger, an am- bassador of the Most High, even of the court of heaven, this imparts dignity to his office and value to his work, mitigates and glorifies hardships, makes him courageous, hopeful and preserving, lifts him above the incidental features of time, place and con- dition, and rivets his view upon the abiding possessions of heaven and heavenly glory. Let the candidate duly meditate upon the high honor, the great responsibility, the immortal glory of the holy service. 3. Churchly authority and commission. Christ gave the Great Commission to the whole Church, to all disciples and Christians, both in their individual and corporate capacity, to be carried out, according to opportunities and conditions, in ways that are in harmony with the principles of His Word. He laid the commission as a sacred privilege and obligation upon the Church without specifying the mode and Ch. 6. CHURCHLY AUTHORITY. 59 manner of its execution. This was left for His people to determine and develop in accordance with the spirit and principles of the Holy Scriptures. During the centuries that have elapsed since Christ's ascension three modes of administration, in the main, have been tried and put in operation : in- dividual endeavor, independent societies, and church administration. We will confine our attention to the second and third modes, dismissing the first one with only a few words. Individual missions, carried on apart from the Church and its institutions, by free lances that wish to follow their individual bent or whims, as may be, cannot stand approved or justified in the light of God's Word. Except under extraor- dinary conditions, when the way of churchly order is entirely out of the question, they are irregular and disorderly efiforts and have generally ended in con- fusion and failure.^ We proceed to a brief discussion of the other two modes of administration. a. Independent societies. While here in America the work of foreign missions is almost universally carried on by denominations and churches and synods as such, administered through their duly appointed boards, in Europe, v/ith only few^ exceptions, the work is carried on and administered by societies that were organized and are maintained independently of the ^ Compare Warneck, Missionslehre II, p. \2fi. Also in The Foreign Missionary by Brown, the testimony of Wm. T. Ellis, who made a special investigation of mission work in 1907. He wrote from Asia : "My own observation leads me to conclude that they (independent missionaries) make more stir in the home land, where their money is being raised, than they do here. They are usually temporary," etc, 60 MISSION STUDIES. established churches. How does this come, and is this form of administration justifiable? Before the present societies were called into ex- istence, at the close of the eighteenth and early dec- ades of the nineteenth centuries, there were a few older missions of small compass that were carried on under the official direction of the churches. Among these may be mentioned the Danish-Halle Mission, the Greenland Mission (Egede), and the Moravian Mis- sion. The latter has continued to this day to be carried on under the auspices of the Moravian Church. When, under the Lord's providence, open doors invited the Church to renewed missionary eflPort, the apathy of the churches both in Germany and England was such as to defeat any attempt to rouse the churches as such to undertake the work. The au- thorities, councils and leading men strenuously op- posed every suggestion and continued in this position of hostility for many years. So it came about that missionary interest and effort were confined to Pietistic circles, and these gatherings of friends and supporters of missions within the churches gradually led to the organization of the existing independent societies. And the churchly conditions in Europe as regards the state churches are still such as to make the continu- ance of the work in this form advisable rather than to risk the stability and soundness of the enterprise by turning over its management to the state churches. This arrangement is doubtless the best attainable under the circumstances. It was begotten out of the exigencies of the times, has proved to be a very suc- cessful and efficient mode of administration, and may be regarded as substantially meeting, under the give^ Ch. 6. ADMINISTRATION BY THE CHURCH. 61 conditions, the fundamental demands of Scriptural principles. b. Church administration. As stated above, here in the United States, where churches are independent of the state, the work is carried on, as under normal conditions it should be, by whole churches and synods. Even Dr. Warneck, while he justifies the existence and maintenance of the independent societies of Europe, concedes that our mode comes nearer to "the ideal solution of the problem."^ There can be no question about the correctness of the principle or the practical advantages of this mode of administration. The mis- sionary enterprise has been laid as a task upon the whole Church. To the Church as it appears on earth and is organized for church work, the congre- gation of believers who make united confession of their faith, to which the Lord has entrusted the ad- ministration of the means of grace, which is competent and obligated to call ministers and maintain the ministry, — to this body the missionary command is given. Accordingly the Church is properly the body which should send out missionaries and supervise and support their work. The Church has a duty and a responsibility which it cannot shirk or shift with im- punity. If it neglects its duty and by neglect forces the responsibility upon others, it must suffer the con- sequences of its unfaithfulness. The Christian congregation, as such, whether large or small, is in possession of the means of grace and, from the standpoint of principle, competent to ^Cf. his elaborate discussions in the second volume of his Miissionslehre. 62 MISSION STUDIES. perform all the functions of the Church. But as many enterprises exceed the ability of a single congregation, it is the part of wisdom and in accord with Christian principles for congregations of the same faith to join together for the more efficient and successful prose- cution of such undertakings. So it comes about that general bodies have been formed, whether they be called synods or bear other names, according to the church polity in vogue. Such general bodies, then, have authority to carry on the general work of the congregations so uniting. They manage the work through boards or otherwise, committees that get in- structions from and are responsible to the general body. Missionary societies in the congregations of such a body are only auxiliaries organized for the systematic gathering of resources for the work. We are glad to find in one of the books pub- lished by the Student Volunteer Movement such a sound plea as Dr. Lawrence makes for * 'direct par- ticipation by the churches in the administration of the mission work. Volunteer societies and close corpora- tions are often a necessary makeshift when the church is not as yet awake to its privileges. But the true mission society is the church itself, and everything else should only prepare for the time when the church shall administer its great enterprise."^ ^Introduction to the Study of Foreign Missions, p. 140. Note also the instructive chapter (III.) on missionary ad- ministration in Brown's The Foreign Missionary. He tells us, for example, that ''in general, it may be said that the per- centage of administration proper ranges from five to eight per cent. That is, it takes but little more than the value of a Ch. 6. PREPARATION OF MISSIONARIES. 63 4. Corresponding duty of the Church. La- borers are to be furnished and additional supplies and reinforcements, as the work expands. The Church's duty, aside from technical administration, may be summed up under two heads : a. To supply and equip suitable workmen, and b. to support them in their work. a. The supply of men and training of mis- sionaries. Men ! How are we to secure them ? Just now there is in many denominations a growing dearth of ministers for the home fields and pastorates. In most of the theological seminaries the classes are rela- tively small, and new recruits are few and hard to find. The attractiveness and secular inducements of other pursuits draw away from the churchly service many of the brightest minds and stoutest hearts. With all the earnest efforts of the Student Volunteer Move- ment for Foreign Missions, the number of suitable missionary candidates, while it has been growing in an encouraging manner, is none too great. This is not the first time in the history of the Church that the harvest is plenteous and pressing, while the laborers are few. It was so in Christ's day. What did He do and say and recommend ? If we have His word in the matter, we may be assured of an efficient remedy and relief. Now, we have His word. He has spoken. And surely it is one of the words of Jesus that is familiar to every Christian. 'Tray ye foreign postage stamp to send a dollar to Asia or Africa." This in answer to the plea of some objectors, that the ad- ministration of missions is very expensive and wasteful. 64 MISSION STUDIES. therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest." Matt. 9, 38. Our Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the harvest. It is His harvest. The missionary enterprise is His. He only can raise up the right men, endow them with His gifts and make them willing and efficient workers, chosen vessels unto Him. Why does He not do it? Wonderful, indeed, it is that He has made such a vital matter contingent upon the faith and faithfulness of His people. This fact ought to lead to very serious reflection. Are we, then, we, the people of His pasture and sheep of His hand, we who are His "pecuhar people" whose peculiar calling it is to be "zealous of good works," are we closing the windows of heaven? Are we clogging the wheels of the Lord's chariot? Are we hindering the progress of His work ? — By our prayerlessness ? our coldness and formality in prayer? our neglect of prayer ? — No amount of money con- tributions can make good or atone for neglect at this point. Our Lord said a good deal about money and stewardship with reference to His kingdom. But as regards the supply of workmen — ministers and mis- sionaries. He gave this one plain and specific sug- gestion and direction: ''Pray ye!" If, as a Church, we were really fulfilling our Lord's behest, other favoring conditions and conduct would ensue: a more spiritual atmosphere and life in our churches and homes and schools ; greater bold- ness and persuasive power with boys and girls, young men and women, whose talents and energies are so greatly needed in the ministry and missionary service, the deaconess calling, and the like. Ch. 6. SUPPORT OF MISSIONARIES. 65 The Church must provide for the proper educa- tion and training of its workmen. We cannot depend on secular schools for this purpose. And this con- sideration makes adequate equipment of our church institutions an urgent necessity. This is a very im- portant item in mission work, both home and foreign, and demands the most earnest attention of Christian people. The larger foreign missionary societies of Europe have special training schools for their missionaries, — seminaries that give a four to six years' course of training with special reference to the missionary service. In this country churches depend upon their regular colleges and seminaries for this purpose. b. Moral and financial support of the mission- aries. We put the moral first, because it is foremost in its bearing upon interest at home and encourage- ment out in the field. It is the assurance that comes to the missionaries in many w^ays that the church at home cares for them, remembers them, is praying for them, — ''holding the ropes." The experience of Jud- son at a critical period of his work in Burma may have been extreme, but in some measure it has come to the lot of many a missionary. In the agony of dis- appointment and discouragement Judson cried: "I thought they loved me, and they would scarce have known it, if I had died ! I thought they were praying for us, and they have never once thought of us!" The isolation and loneliness of the missionaries is often excruciating. And then to think that they are practically forgotten at home! At most their small salaries supplied ! No, let them have, first and fore- 66 MISSION STUDIES. most, indubitable evidences of the church's personal interest and moral support/ As for salaries, they are relatively small, all out of proportion, from a business, secular standpoint, to the character and amount of the services rendered. There are no princely salaries anywhere in mission fields, in any stations and positions, from the lowest to the highest.- The boards, as a rule, are faithful in the punctual payment of the salaries of their mis- sionaries, even though debts must be temporarily in- curred. The Laymen's Missionary Movement that has arisen and is extending in many churches is significant and full of promise. In addition to the women and children and young people, to whose interest and activity the work of missions had been practically con- fined in many quarters, there is now, on a growing scale, the enlistment of men, grown men, busy men, business men, men of affairs, of large financial in- terests, broad commercial or professional experience, and the like. Such talent, enlisted, sanctified, conse- crated, made fit and meet for the Master's use, will surely lead under the divine blessing to large results. ^On the heroism of isolation read some typical illustra- tions given in Speer's Missionary Principles and Practice, p. 402 ff. ^Cf. the telling information given by Secretary Brown on the missionary's financial support, chapter VIT in The Foreign Missionary. CHAPTER VIL HIS MISSION. THE PURPOSE AND AIM OF MISSIONS. Much confusion prevails on this topic in mis- sionary literature, owing to misapprehension of the true purpose of Christian missions as well as to di- vergent meanings attached to terms and phrases that are used. Hence we present the subject first nega- tively, and then positively,, thus endeavoring to rule out some of the grossest misconceptions at the outset and to clear the ground for a profitable discussion of the true aim of mission work in the light of Holy Scripture. I. The real aim of missions is not civilization and culture. As Secretary Speer has so well and forcibly urged this important truth on many occa- sions/ the purpose and aim of the Church in sending out missionaries is not to alter the style of dress of the heathen, not to improve the industrial conditions of Asia and Africa, not to reform politics, not, primarily, to reform morals or check social abuses. The assertion of one who claimed that the foreign mis- sion must aim at the total reorganization of the whole social fabric of the heathen world he very properly declares to be "a mischievous doctrine." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the heart and soul, the radiating center and inspiring force of the Christian missionary 'Cf. section IV and V of his Missionary Principles and Practice, on the topics : "What are Christian missionaries trying to do?" and 'The aim of Christian missions." (67) 68 MISSION STUDIES. enterprise. And the Gospel does not aim primarily and directly at the improvement of the temporal, the social, civil, political and industrial conditions of man- kind. The distinguishing characteristic of Christ as the founder of a new religion is that He came not to he a Reformer in temporal matters, but to be a Savior in matters pertaining to immortality and eternity. The spread of the Gospel — the power of God unto salva- tion, Rom. I, i6, and of vital godliness which "is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come," i Tim. 4, 8 — is accompanied and followed by vast changes and improvements in temporal conditions, moral and social transformations in the lives of individuals and of na- tions, but the aim of the Gospel is far higher and has to do with matters of far more serious import. a. Christian missions sJwzv large results along the line of civilisation and culture and moral improve- ments. These are so vast and important and striking that it is worth our while to stop at this point long enough to take a brief survey of the ground. But it is of vital moment to note that the changes wrought are results, not the aim, — effects, not causes of the missionary enterprise, that they are incidental, not es- sential to Christian mission work as such, as divinely planned and Scripturally executed. In order to clear- ness of view, purity of purpose and permanent success, it is of great importance to distinguish properly both between the aim and the results and also between the aim and the methods which may be pursued in order to accomplish the purpose. If anyone has any doubt or question about the results of foreign missions in the sphere of temporal Ch. 7. MISSIONS AND CIVILIZATION. 69 improvements and gains he should consult and read the classic work of Dr. James S. Dennis, entitled, ''Christian Missions and Social Progress." In the perusal of these three royal octavo volumes comprising some 1,600 pages, with their wealth of accredited facts gathered from all mission fields and showing something of the fruitage of Christian missions in the sphere of civilization and culture, touching temperance, social purity, the elevation of woman, the suppression of polygamy, adultery, infanticide, cannibalism, the slave traffic, and many other cruelties and crimes, with refer- ence to the promotion of commerce, industry and trade, agriculture, sanitation and cleanliness, besides the large and varied blessings in the way of healing the sick, caring for the infirm and helpless, abolishing ignorance and superstition, and promoting the interests of general knowledge and universal peace, — in the contemplation of such an array of authenticated facts the questioner will be likely to get a comprehensive and cumulative impression of the significance of the missionary enterprise from this point of view. As Secretary Brown says : "Volumes might be filled with the testimonies of statesmen, travelers, military and naval officers, to the value of missionary work from this viewpoint."^ b. Value to be attached to these results. It should be just and fair. These results, incidental bene- fits and indirect fruits, must occupy their proper place in the study of missions and must be estimated at their true worth, neither too high nor too low. It is ^Consult Note 3 in the Appendix for further material and references. 70 MISSION STUDIES. only a sign of our times, that there is apparently a growing disposition unduly to exalt this whole class of missionary facts and to marshal them as missionary motives. "Our humanitarian, commercial and prac- tical age," writes Secretary Brown, ^ *'is more im- pressed by the physical and temporal, the actual and th.e utilitarian. The idea of saving men for the present world appeals more strongly than the idea of saving them for the next world, and missionary sermons and addresses give large emphasis to these motives." But this is due largely to the fact that many professedly Christian ministers and churches even have lost their grip upon the vital and fundamental truths of the Gospel and is done, when pursued from this motive, at the cost of shifting the missionary enterprise from its Scriptural foundation and "cutting the nerve of missions." It is a sad and ominous fact that in some of the large and influential foreign missionary so- cieties there are leaders who are leading the churches astray along this line.- When the vital truth and power of Christianity as the only saving religion of the world is denied, while the glaring spiritual insuf- ficiency of the non-Christian religions is minimized and their supf>osed or real partial truths and virtues are magnified out of all proportion to their worth, it ^ The Foreign Missionary, p. 25. ^ A notable example is a secretary of the London Mis- sionary Societv. who, in an address in June of the present year before a irissionary gathering in London, is reported to have ''closed that audience's eyes to the supposed lost and ruined condition of the heathen and their hopelessness in the life to come without a saving knowledge of Christ, and opened the door to a more optimistic outlook." Ch. 7. INCIDENTAL BENEFITS. ?1 becomes necessary, in order to the continuance of the missionary propaganda, to appeal to humanitarian motives instead of depending, as of yore, upon the true BibHcal motives. Dr. A. C. Thompson correctly says that "a. dis- proportionate value may be placed on the incidental benefits of Christian missions."^ This is done when these are so presented and emphasized as to become, in appearance or in fact, the object and purpose of the missionary enterprise and to displace or even supplant its true aim. We agree with Lawrence when he writes : "Such results are incidental arguments for missions, evidences of their efficiency. . . . But while they reinforce, they do not constitute, the mis- sion motive, being of a distinctively philanthropic, not missionary character."^ While in no true sense the aim of missions from the standpoint of the revealed Scriptures, they may appeal as motives, to benevolently inclined people of the world, correcting misapprehen- sions, creating sympathy and fostering a sort of philan- thropic interest in the work. It is just and proper, too, that in such circles these temporal benefits should be pointed out, — in answer to objections rather than as a basis for direct appeal. It may be shown that the work would be worth while from a philanthropic point of view, if these temporal results were all the benefits that have been gained. Missions pay even from this viewpoint of commercialism and material interest. Much more are ^ Prostestant Missions. Their Rise and Early Progress, p. 215. ■ Introduction to the Study of Foreign Missions, p. 72 MISSION" STUDIES. they worth while and much more do they pay from the higher ground of the everlasting Gospel of Christ. 2. The real aim of missions is salvation from sin and death. This is old-fashioned doctrine that seems out of date when compared with the preten- tious aims and claims of some treatises on modern "Christian socialism." But we prefer to live and die hy ''the preaching of the cross, "^ as we are firmly con- vinced that the missionary enterprise will live and thrive upon it, while it will perish without it. The salvation which Christ came to accomplish for man- kind has reference to the whole man, in body and soul, in time and in eternity. It does not ignore the ills and aches, the needs and infirmities, to which man is subject in this world "that lieth in wickedness." But neither does it obscure or belittle the more tremendous and enduring issues that hinge upon the reality of death and a judgment to come. These stern realities of the soul and of eternity are, in fact, the main issues. If these are rightly attended to, the other matters will not fail to be provided for. a. The aim — hoiv determined? In such an all important matter as this we are not left at the mercy of the faulty judgment of man and the varying fash- ions and foibles of passing generations. If Chris- tianity means anything, the aim of the missionary en- terprise must be determined once for all by the mis- sion and redemptive work of Christ Himself. True to the name Jesus, given Him by angelic messenger. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. The Scriptures must be twisted all out of their true mean- ^Read and meditate upon 1 Cor. 1. Ch. 7. THE AIM DETERMINED. 73 ing and intent to make this and countless other pas- sages of like import refer merely or mainly to the losses and the burdens and the oppressions that men are suffering in temporal things. Sin, and the ravages of sin, and the consequences of sin, are realities which no sophistry or philosophy will ever dispose of. The mission of Christ was to plant and extend the kingdom of God on the earth — that kingdom which is not of this world (John i8, 36), which "is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14, 17. In accordance with this the mission of the Church is the extension of the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth. The missionary command of Christ makes it plain what God's will is in this respect, namely, to make Christ as the only Savior and Lord (Acts 4, 12), known to all the people of the world, to win them, if possible, as His disciples, and make them heirs to- gether of the grace of life, the spiritual and eternal life that is in Christ Jesus. This is the general aim of missions, as presented in Christ's instructions to His Church. And the Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament show how the apostles understood the command and how they carried it out. Any candid student of these books will be led to the conclusion which Rev. Chalmers Martin at the close of a some- what extended examination of the sacred text states in these words : "The aim of the apostles was the establishment, in as many and as important centers as possible, of self-governing, self-supporting, and self- extending churches." ^ ^Apostolic and Modern Missions, p. 37, ?4 MISSION" STUDIES. b. The aim more carefully deiiiied and ex- plained. Much energy has been vainly spent, much unprofitable controversy has been carried on, much unwholesome and unfruitful enthusiasm has been aroused by arguments and in articles and addresses in which terms and phrases were vaguely used, with- out any clear apprehension of their meaning, or in which, at different times, the same terms were used with entirely different meanings. It becomes neces- sary, therefore, to be explicit and precise in the use of expressions and to define the aim of missions so carefully that it cannot be misunderstood. We will confine our attention here to a single word of the missionary command as it is found in Matt. 28, 19. It is a word that is far-reaching and full of meaning, viz, /xai^reuetv, to make disciples. ''Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the na- tions, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things," etc. Am. Rev. Version. According to this passage the missionary task is to make disciples of Christ, and to do so by administer- ing Christian baptism under proper conditions and continuing the instruction according to needs and opportunities. Plainly the work of discipling is a continued procedure which, under ordinary conditions, will require considerable time. It is not a work that can be quickly performed by a single act, but it is a progressive occupation that implies patient and long continued instruction. A careful study of this text and a comparison with parallel passages will, I am sure, lead us to agree with Dr. Warneck when, as the result of a thorough, ex- Ch. 7. THE AIM DEFINED. 75 egetical study of the word, he states that ''disclpling" means "to persuade men to put themselves under the influence of Jesus as their Teacher and Savior and to yield more and more to this influence upon their faith and upon their life, until they grow into full disciple- ship." Again, he says : "As defining the missionary task fxar^Ttueiv virtually means to make Christians of non-Christians. To Christianize is the most char- acteristic designation of the missionary task of mak- ing disciples." ^ There is much confusion and unclearness among many authors of missionary articles and treatises in tJie use of the zt^ords evangelization and Christianiza- tion. At times they are used with. a distinction, as though evangelization meant less than Christianiza- tion, and as though a hasty and superficial announce- ment of the Gospel would suffice its requirements ; and again they are used interchangeably. In order to avoid confusion and unfair judgments and criticisms it is of prime importance in any discussion that the terms used be clearly defined and understood. Now, with reference to the terms under consid- eration, it seems to me that Biblical usage justifies us in regarding and employing the words evangelize and Christianize as practical equivalents, that the work of missions and the lessons taught by the history of mis- sions support this view, and that misconceptions and confusion will be avoided by so employing the words. The word evangelize means, according to its deriva- tion, to tell good news, to preach the Gospel. It is so used in many passages of the New Testament. And Mission.slehre III, 1, p. 201 fif. 76 MISSION" STUDIES. when it is employed as a missionary aim, it has no other meaning or intent than our Savior had when, in His great command, Matt. 28, 19, He used the word disciphng, or to make disciples of, to designate in general the main task, the aim and end of the preach- ing of the Gospel to every creature and unto the ends of the earth. Disciples of Christ are Christians, now as of old, when *'the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.'' Acts 11, 26. The purpose and aim is always the same, whether we speak of preaching the Gospel, evangelizing, making disciples, or making Christians, Christianizing. The aim is to win souls for Christ, to gather men out of the kingdom of nature into the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of Christ. There is just as little justification for the use of the term evangelization in a superficial sense, as though it meant a hurried announcement of the good tidings of salvation without regard to permanent results, as there is for the use of the word Christianization,^ as though it implied a finished product, a Christianity complete and fully matured. True Christianity is a growth, a continued struggle, a progressive triumph over sin and evil. (Phil. 3, 12 fif ; Gal. 5, 17; 2 Tim. 4, 7, 8.) Mission work, as the work of evangelization or Christianization, must be a thorough, not a slip- shod, haphazard work. It must lay strong founda- tions for the future and, from the outset, have an eye to permanence. The time comes when, in particular fields, the mission work as such, as it had hitherto been carried on, ceases, while the work of Christianization goes on. 'Compare Note 4 in the Appendix. Ch. 7. END OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 77 c. The end of the zvork of foreign missions. We use the word "end" here in the sense both of the ul- timate goal and of the close of operations. The end is reached when the mission congregations have be- come self-supporting, self-governing, self-extending churches. When the native Christians in any field, larger or smaller, have become strong enough in their corporate capacity, as native churches — (for myself, I do not believe that the development of great "na- tional churches" is material in the case) — to carry on the work of the Gospel independently of the sup- port and direct interference of the home churches, and lo do this safely, maintaining their own ministry and themselves sending out missionaries to fields not yet evangelized, the work of foreign missions in their behalf is ended. If things are as they should be, these native churches will, of course, continue in fraternal fellowship with the "home churches," but will no longer be dependent upon them as they were before. When all the mission fields of the world have been thus evangelized and developed into self-sup- porting Christian churches, the foreign missionary en- terprise as such will have come to an end, but there will still remain, particularly in the larger countries, such work as still devolves upon us in our Christian land, and which we call home and inner missions. Recapitulation. In the four preceding chap- ters, IV to VII, we have considered the character and aim of the missionary enterprise. Though we may properly distinguish between home missions, inner m.issions, and foreign missions, and for practical pur- poses and efficient work we could not get along with- 78 MISSION STUDIES. out some distinction, the enterprise is one in essential features and in fundamental principles. The personal element is a vital factor in mission work. Next in im- portance to the message itself is the personality, the character, conduct and career of the messenger. We have, therefore, devoted some time to the considera- tion of the missionary, his character and qualifications, his commission, or his being sent forth by the Church, and his mission, or the purpose and aim of the work. While he is a minister and servant of the Church, sent out and supported by the Church, he is at the same time a minister of Christ and an ambassador for Christ, beseeching men to be reconciled to God and saved with an everlasting salvation through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The missionary enterprise aims at and ends with the establishment of self-sup- porting and self-extending Christian churches. Jk<^ IL The Ground of Mission Work* CHAPTER VIIL THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF THIS SECTION. 1. The foundation on which the enterprise rests. The importance of a foundation is generally recognized in all occupations and undertakings. The missionary enterprise is no exception. The material comprehended in this section constitutes the very heart and soul of the whole enterprise. Hence we ac- cord it more ample treatment. An attempt is made to group together and condense in these chapters food for a lifetime study of missions and suggestions for continued investigation. 2. The scope of the missionary basis. We shall consider the ground of missions in four general groups of material : a. The Scripture Ground — chapters IX to XI : b. The Dogmatical and Ethical Ground — chapter XII; c. The Churchly Ground — chapter XIIl : d. The Historical Ground — chapter XIV. This fourfold ground, it will be noticed, em- braces divine and human factors. The missionary en- terprise is God's work — His work among men, in men, and through men, and in behalf of men. The original and final and eternal support is God — His grace and His salvation. Hence the Scripture ground, as embraced in God's own revelation of His purposes and will, is of prime importance and consideration. From this original ground is derived the dogmatical (79) 80 MISSION STUDIES. and ethical ground, having reference to the doctrines and duties drawn from the Scriptures and arranged in systematic form, as also the churchly and the his- torical ground, having particular reference to God's reign in the Church and in the affairs of this world. 3. The ground in which the work is rooted supplies the proper motives. What is a motive? With reference to the missionary enterprise it is a reason for prosecuting the work. The motive is the moving consideration, the power that impels to action and produces motion. The missionary motives, as will appear in the suc- ceeding discussions, are manifold and may be variously expressed. One^ may express what he regards as the primary motives thus : The soul's experience in Christ ; the world's evident need of Christ ; the com- mand of Christ. Or another- puts it thus : The enter- prise rests on the world's needs, the last command of Christ, the expansive nature of Christianity. Still an- other^ speaks of Godward motives, such as ''gratitude for His saving grace, obedience to His command, loy- alty to His purpose, love for His person, sympathy with His plan, zeal for His glory,'' and manward mo- tives, such as gratitude for the conversion of our an- cestors by missions, compassion in view of the condi- tion of the heathen, etc. The motives of apostolic mis- sions are set forth by a writer* as consisting in obe- dience to the command of Christ, love to Christ, zeal for His honor, for the extension of His Church, the ^Brown: The Foreign Missionary. ^Speer: Missionary Principles and Practice. ^Lawrence : Introduction to the Study of Foreign Missions, *Martin : Apostolic and Modern Missions. Ch. 8. MISSIONARY MOTIVES. 81 triumph of His kingdom, zeal for God, and compas- sion for a world perishing in sin. Yet, after all, these motives, variously expressed, all center about and are connected with one motive, the supreme motive expressed by St. Paul in 2 Cor. 5, 14 : "The love of Christ constraineth us." This is the love of Christ which we are "to know," and which still "passeth knowledge," that we "might be filled with all the fulness of God." Eph. 3, 19. It is the infinite love of God in Christ Jesus, shed abroad in the hearts of true believers, and impelling us to love Him who first loved us and died for us and to love those for whom, together with ourselves, He shed His blood, and who are just as needy of Him as we are. Out of the ground in which the whole enterprise is rooted these missionary motives grow. It is ap- parent, therefore, how vitally important the study of this ground and, we may say, the working of it is not only for the understanding of the work, but also for our appreciation of it, our interest in it, and our active co-operation with our fellow Christians in carrying it forward to the praise of our great Redeemer's Name. CHAPTER IX* THE SCRIPTURE GROUND. MISSIONARY THOUGHTS AND ROOTS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. I. General reflections on the subject. M.ay it not be that the fact, that the missionary efforts of many are fitful and haphazard, is traceable in part to the other fact that their knowledge of the connection between the Bible and missions is fragmentary and im- perfect? There is an erroneous notion, widely preva- lent, that must be overcome, viz. : that live missionary interest is a beautiful, but unessential ornament of Christianity, that mission work is not something es- sential and obligatory, but accidental and optional to the Christian, an enterprise of superior and superfluous piety. Nothing will help to overcome this erroneous and pernicious notion like a thorough and comprehen- sive acquaintance with the central, vital, integral place which missionary thought, enterprise and principle hold in the Bible, — the all-pervasive, dominant influ- ence of the divine thought and idea of missions in the economy of divine grace and in the revealed Word of God. Not only that the Bible is full of missionary thoughts expressly stated in different forms, — pro- phecy, symbol and type, historical narrative, command and promise, but that the missionary thought and pur- pose is a vital element of Christianity, a constituent part of God's revelation and gracious plans and pur- poses, permeating all Scripture, filling and forming the entire economy of grace and salvation, from the eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in Christ (82) Ch. 9. THE OLD TESTAMENT. 83 Jesus before the world began, to the culmination and completion of His counsels in His second advent, the final judgment, and the kingdom of glory. 2. Character of the missionary thoughts in the Old Testament. Christian chronology and the Christian dispensation began historically with the birth of Christ and the founding of the Christian Church on the day of Pentecost. But as the New Testament is founded upon and is the fulfilment of the Old Testa- ment, so Christianity, with its universal adaptation, provision and aim, its missionary character as the world religion and the only saving religion of the world, has its roots in the Old Testament, and that not only in its prophecies, but in the religious con- sciousness, life and leading of Israel. Judaism, as his- torically developed, was not a missionary religion. But this development was not in full accord with the reve- lation of the Old Testament, nor was it a true expres- sion and interpretation of what we may call the mis- sionary spirit which continued to throb in the hearts of the true believers, the saints of the Old Testament dispensation, the remnant of Israel. V' The missionary thoughts and words of the Old Testament are of a general, preparatory character. They contain germs, seeds, roots and promises of the missionary enterprise rather than clearly expressed plans and purposes and developed fruits. The seeds and roots sprout and bear fruit in "the fulness of time." 3. Some leading and t5^ical Old Testament missionary thoughts. We make no pretension to full and exhaustive treatment of the subject. The limitations of this little treatise bid us to confine our 84 MISSION STUDIES. attention to leading lines and the more obvious refer- ences.^ (i). The universal covenant of God with man- kind. Gen. I, I. Tracing the thought of Christian missions back to its origin in the heart of God, we may ask, where, in His revelation to man, do we find the first distinct expression of the thought? While it is true, as Smith says,^ that "the historical development of Christian missions begins with Abraham as a preparation," we must go much further back, beyond Abraham, back to the first verse of Genesis. The missionary idea, the fundamental missionary thought, has its origin in God, and is ascribed to God, not merely nor first as Redeemer of the fallen race, but as the Creator of heaven and earth. The mis- sionary idea is an integral part of the divine thought of creation, which includes not merely existence, be- ing, but the blessedness of the world — as Dr. Duff has said truly: God's "purpose from all eternity was to create the universe, visible and invisible, for the manifestation of the divine glory." — Read Eph. 3, 1-9, cf, 2, 19. The salvation of the Gentiles a mystery — hidden in God from the beginning of the world ("from all ages," R. V.) — who created all things by Jesus Christ, but revealed in time ; verses 3-5. The God of Israel who reveals Himself and has His work first of all among His chosen people and for the time being confines His revelation and work to 'For purposes of further research the student will do well to consult, in the study of this entire section, the ex- haustive work of Dr. Warneck, Missionslehre, vol. 1. 'Short History of Christian Missions, George Smith. Ch. 9. BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND. 85 Israel and the Holy Land, is not a mere national God df Israel. He is the almighty Maker of heaven and earth before He makes a particular covenant with Israel. In the act of creation God reveals Himself in His relation to all creation, not merely a part of it; to all minkind, not to one nation only, nor to one be- fore another. The Lord Jehovah here virtually makes in fact and by act, a covenant zvith mankind, and one that is not annulled by the particular covenant with Israel, made later. As Creator of all He is Lord of all. (Acts 17, 24. — Paul at Athens : "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.") — In the history of Israel He reveals Himself as the King and Judge of the nations, the supreme Sov- ereign, using kings and nations as His agents or scourges, according to His will. He is Lord, mighty, to he feared; majestic and glorious, to be honored and zi'orshiped. As this idea is unfolded and its implica- tions become clearer, it naturally leads to the further thought : The whole earth is to become His domain ; all nations and all men are to become His subjects. (2) The brotherhood of mankind. Gen. i, 26- 28. Of one blood. Man and woman: Adam (of the ground), and Eve (mother of all the living), the pro- genitors of the human race. Man's superiority over other creatures and equality of the members of the race. — Made in the image of God, having dominion over the earth and all the lower creatures. But not one race over another. Of one blood. Cf. Acts 17, 26. The heathen lost this knozdedge and consciousness of the oneness, the 86 MISSION STUDIES. common origin of the human race.^ In the view of the heathen the diversity of peoples and castes is orig- inal and normal, and universal brotherhood is to them a chimera and to a degree an abomination, while autoch- thony (nativism, origin from the soil of a country) is the highest pride of a people. Not so Israel, however exclusive it became, and however proudly it looked down upon non-Israelites. Mosaisni, in its list of na- tions (Gen. to), preserves the consciousness of the blood relationship of all nations, which are again to be united in time to come by one blessing of God. «The register of nations was intended to keep in memory the original brotherhood of all the nations of the earth.- Here again we have a pregnant thought, germs of missionary thought and activity, a bridge to span the chasm that in the course of time arose between Israel and the Gentiles. Blood relationship among races and nations implies a common relationship with God, hence community of interests, even to religious fellowship and communion. (3) The iirst evangel message, the -rpwrov sday- yiXiov^ as it has been called. Gen. 3, 15. Here we have a general promise of redemption for mankind. It presupposes the universality of sin. All men are in need of salvation, and salvation is to be provided for all. Then ensued, in the history of the human race, increasing wickedness, the divine judgment of the ^When St. Paul thus preached on the Areopagus, "he attacked the very heart of heathenism and Athenian pride." Ochler, Old Testament Theology. Compare also Speer, Mis- sionary Principles and Practice, p. 278 ff. ^Old Testament Theology, Oehler, p. 57, Ch. 9. COVENANT OF GRACE. 87 flood, separation from God, dispersion of the human family, the rise and spread of heathenism. (4) The call of Abraham and the covenant- promise given him. Gen. 12, 1-3; 18, 18; 22, 18, etc., cf. Acts 3, 25 (Peter in Solomon's porch) ; Gal. 3, 8-29 (The Gospel for the heathen). Abraham is the first specific missionary, the first man whom God sent forth as a missionary, upon a distinct mission of salvation for Jews and for Gentiles. The blessing bestowed upon Abraham and through him may be referred to as an example for the encour- agement of missionaries. Is. 51, 2: "Look unto Abra- ham your father and unto Sarah that bore you ; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many." R. V. It was with this refer- ence to Abraham that Carey used to comfort and en- courage himself before he had won a convert. 'Tn thy seed" — "all nations blessed" — This ''germinal promise/' at the very taproot of the He- brew nation, involves the missionary idea, for it in- dicates (i) the divine aim and purpose of the special covenant, and (2) implies the mission of Israel, to be the bearer and herald of salvation to the nations. 'The fulfilling of that covenant, apparently now slow, now by leaps, but always according to what has been called God's leisure and God's haste, is the history of mis- sions." ^ This covenant with Abraham, reaffirmed and re- peated to Isaac and Jacob, was a covenant of grace, requiring faith, and not annulled by the law which was afterwards revealed. Compare the forceful ar- gument of St. Paul in Romans and Galatians. ^Smith, Short History of Christian Missions. 88 MISSION STUDIES. After Israel had been chosen to be God's peculiar people, a people for His own possession, there ensued a period of pronounced and accentuated particularism — • the universal idea and intent of salvation receding, and necessarily so. This period, like the law, served as a Tcacdayujyo^, a school master, (Gal. 3, 24), to teach and train the people, so that God's plans might not be frustrated, but His will accomplished. The people of God had to be separated from the heathen, and kept separate, in order to be trained and kept as God's peo- ple, in order to preserve His statutes, in order to the accomplishment of His gracious purposes with refer- ence to mankind. Yet even during this period, the theocratic exclusiveness zvas not absolutely exclusive. Consider the humane and liberal regulations with ref- erence to the treatment and rights and privileges of slaves and strangers (circumcised, honoring Jehovah, etc.), in contrast with the practice of the heathen. (5) The period of prophecy. The vision clarified, and the view broadening again, brought about in connection with religious re- vival and moral reforms in Israel, together with events (visitations, defeats, judgments) of national scope and world-wide importance. Here, as ever in the history of missions, we find missionary activity and enterprise growing out of a revival of spiritual life, and contingent upon movements and events of critical and epochal importance in the world's history. a. Israel spiritually degenerate and in need of reform. The prophets (i) preach repentance and return to Jehovah ; to be circumcised in heart, to serve the Lord truly, etc. ; i Sam. 15, 22 (to obey better than sacrifice) ; Hosea 6, 6 (I desired mercy and not sac- Ch. 9. MISSIONARY PROPHECIES. 89 rifice) ; Is. I, II ff (Bring no more vain oblations — incense is an abomination unto me, etc.) ; Jer. 4, 4 (circumcise yourselves to the Lord, etc.) ; and (2) point out the necessity of a new order of salvation over and above the law, of divine provision and re- sources to supply the need and come to the rescue of the prostrate and helpless people, of God's grace unto forgiveness of sin and spiritual renewal. Consider, e. g. the following passages: Jer. 31, 31-34. At the very time when the old form of the theocracy was overthrown (fall of Jeru- salem in 586 B. C.) is predicted the new eternal cov- enant which God would make with His people. Cf. Jer. 23, 5-6. The Lord our Righteousness will estab- lish the new covenant of inward life. Ezek. 36, 25 ff (I will put my spirit within you, etc.). Zech. 13, i ff (In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David). Cf. John i, 29; i Cor. 6, 11, etc. In this chapter occur the words : "Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." Thus is formed and gathered a regenerated con- gregation, a holy seed, ''the remnant of Israel," which recognizes its mission to be "a light unto the Gentiles." (Is. 42, 6. 7; 49, 6.) These reforms in Israel are aided by divine judg- ments, which (i) show the God of Israel to be the Lord of the whole earth, who has authority and power over all nations, even using them as His executioners and scourges, and (2) bring Israel into touch with the heathen nations, and under the tuition and instruc- tions of the prophets the devout and believing among the covenant people learn in some degree to under- 90 MISSION STUDIES. Stand that they as "the servant of Jehovah" have a mission to these nations. b. Two lines of thought are brought out in many passages. (i) The powder and majesty of Jehovah in His relation to the nations. Innumerable passages in the psalms and in the prophets. The psalms are hymns of praise connected with the worship of the adorable majesty of the great God. The praises of Israel alone are not sufficient. The Lord Jehovah deserves to be the object of universal reverence and homage. Hence all nations, all creatures, earth and heaven are called upon and invited to join in the universal acclaim of praise to the Lord of hosts. Ps. 47; 66; 96; 97; 100; 117; Is. 42, 8. 12. Note the invitations and exhortations to tell among the heathen what the Lord has done for Israel. Ps. 9, 11; 96, 3. 10 — (Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth.) ; 105, i. These are distinct missionary thoughts and bear evidence of a missionary spirit. For the underlying idea is : What God does for Israel is of concern to the heathen, etc. The psalms express the confident expectation that all mankind will at length acknowledge Jehovah to be the true God. Ps. 22, 27. 28. (2) The kingdom of Israel is the beginning and center of a future kingdom of Jehovah into which the nations shall be gathered. Is. 2, 2-4 and Micah 4, 1-4. In the description of the latter days here given we are placed upon the heights of prophetic vision. All nations are going to Zion, which is spiritually elevated above all the moun- Ch. 9. MISSIONARY PROMISES. 91 tains of the world, to receive there the divine law as the rule of their lives, while universal peace prevails under the rule of Jehovah. Is. 25, 6-7; Jer. 3, 17; Hab. 2, 14. ("For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea") ; Haggai 2, 7-9 ("The desire of all nations shall come." A V.^ "The desirable things of all nations shall come." R V. — Margin : The things desired — Hebrew : desire — of all nations shall come.); Zech. 2, 1 1 ; Mai. i, 11 ("For from the rising of the sun even unto the going do\vn of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering," etc.). Compare Psalms 22, 2J. 28; 47, 7-9; 68, 31. 32; ']2, 10. 11 ; 86, 9 ; 96 ; etc. These Dr. Warneck calls vital roots of mission- ary thoughts. They are missionary prophecies and promises ; they afford the assured prospect of mission- ary enterprise and world-wide extension at some time and in some way. The realization of these hopes with reference to Jehovah's kingdom is indicated in many passages. (i) Heathen coming of their ow'n accord to Israel; Is. 2, 3 ; 11, 10; Jer. 16, 19; etc. (2) References to preaching among the heathen; Psalms 9, II ; 18, 49; 57, 9; 96, 3. 10; Is. 12, 4. c. The servant of Jehovah. Is. 40-66. This has been called "the Gospel before the Gospel." Isaiah is the "evangelist" among the prophets. ^Compare Luther's translation: 'Then shall come the consolation of all the heathen." (Aller Heiden Trost) 92 MISSION STUDIES. In the historical sense of the prophecy the servant of Jehovah who is to be His witness among the na- tions is the Old Testament covenant people of God. Is. 41, 8, (thou Israel art my servant, the seed of Ab- raham). Is. 43, I ; 44, 1-2; cf. Jer. 30, 10; in particular the true Israel, the remnant, the Church invisible of the Old Testament dispensation; Is. 65, 8-9; cf. Jer. 23, 3 ; Micah. 2, 12. This revmant, trained and preserved, is to trans- mit the revelation of the true God to mankind, to be "the light of the Gentiles;" Is. 49, 6; cf. Acts 13, 46. 47. Paul and Barnabas find in these words of proph- ecy their justification for turning to the Gentiles. They even regard the prediction as equivalent in meaning to a divine command to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles : "For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying," etc. But this remnant culminates at last in the per- son of the Messiah, and in Him and through Him this prophecy finds its ultimate and complete fulfillment. Is. 49, 6, compared with Luke 2, 32. "A light to lighten the Gentiles." Is. 42, 1-4. 6. 7, compared with Matt. 12, 17-21. Is. 42, I : ''He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." — Mischpot — x/> cV t v — judicium.^ See also Is. 45, 22. 23 (Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth) ; 52, 15 (So shall He sprinkle many nations) ; 53, 12 ; 54, 2 ; 55, 4. 5 (I have given Him for a witness to the people) ; 56, 7 (mine ^Luther translates: Er "soil das Recht unter die Heiden bringen," to this he makes the comment : "Wie man vor Gott muss gerecht und selig werden." The Weimar Bible com- ments: unter die Heiden ''durch die Predigt des Evangelii." Ch. 9. PROVIDENTIAL GUIDANCE. 93 house shall be called an house of prayer for all peo- ple) ; 60, I. 3. II (the Gentiles shall come to thy light) ; 66, 19 (they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles). (6) Jonah, an Old Testament missionary. The missionary thought came to full blossom in the old dispensation and once, at least, to actual fruit- age in the reluctant and hesitating missionary to Nin- eveh. While Jonah was, personally, an instance of the proud particularism of the Jews, which reached its height in the Pharisaic sect of Christ's time, Je- hovah reveals His mercy and longsuffering with ref- erence to the heathen, too ; and the evident purpose of the book is "to announce against Jewish prejudice that God's grace is over all nations." "God's mercy is over all His works. He has chosen Israel for a time, but to be the messenger of peace to all men." ^ (7) Providential leadings and events as pre- paratory steps for the spread of the Gospel. The missionary idea in the Old Testament re- mained, on the whole, theoretical and limited, and was after all comparatively vague and indefinite. Judaism in the time of Christ had degenerated into a form of narrow, national particularism. The Messianic pro- phecies, intended to serve as a bridge for Israel to the Gentile world, were distorted and deflected into new barriers between Israel and the Gentiles. The process of nationalizing the Messianic hope and ceremonial- izing the law fed the Jewish pride as being the elect people of the earth and made them recreant to their divine mission. And yet, in spite of this blindness and 'Bible Literature. John A. W. Haas, D. D. 94 MISSION STUDIES. unfaithfulness of Israel as a nation, God's purpose of grace was accomplished, and in the old dispensation the foundation was laid for world-wide missionary en- terprise in the new dispensation. All the missionary thouo^hts and words we have considered were pre- paratory steps and stages in the development of the divine plan and the execution of the divine work of missions. To these preparatory steps belong also the provi- dential leadings of Israel, the calamities which came upon the unfaithful nation, occurrences amid which the Jews were led to perform, in part, their mission to the nations. Consider e. g., the following: a. The dispersions. The growth of the expecta- tion that all nations should some day know the one true God advanced most rapidly just when those who were able to make Him known were being scattered most widely among the nations. It is estimated that 350,000 Hebrews, first and last, had been carried captive to the Euphrates and be- yond. Fewer than 50,000 returned. By the beginning of our era these had increased to millions. In the time of Philo about a million Jews dwelt in Egypt — about one-eighth of the whole population — and the influence of Alexandrian Judaism upon the cultured Greeks and Romans was particularly great. Jews were carried by captivity and by commerce throughout the Roman world and even into India and China. The missionary trend and tendency of all this is evident. The people, under castigation, became peni- tent and bethought themselves of the blessings which they had possessed, but had neglected. In exile they Ch. 9. PROVIDENTIAL EVENTS. 95 were more thoughtful and more faithful than they had been in time of prosperity. They bore witness of Je- hovah, the true and living God, and continued to wor- ship Him in the strange lands whither they had been carried. This witness and worship were not without eflfect upon the surrounding heathen. Thus real and telling missionary work was performed. h. The Septuagint. This Greek translation of the Old Testament, prepared during the period be- tween 280 and 150 B. C., served an important mis- sionary purpose in providing the Word of God not only for the Jews of the dispersion who were more and more forgetting their mother tongue and the lan- guage of the Old Testament (a service akin to home mission work), but also for heathen who came in con- tact with them in their places of worship and there heard the Word of life in their own language. This version of the Sacred Scriptures was the most important missionary work of the Hebrew race before the advent of Christ. Such work of Bible trans- lation is a large and important factor in the pioneer work of Christian missions. It was the chief service and achievement of Carey and Judson, of Morrison and Henry Martyn. c. The synagogues. Besides the synagogues, where the Old Testament was read and expounded, there were regular places of meeting for worship under the open sky, just as the Greek theaters were built without roofs. There was such a place of prayer at Philippi. These synagogues throughout the empire made monotheism visible, as it were, to every passerby. They set before the heathen the possibility of a religion 96 MISSION STUDIES. without idolatry. They were as lights amid the dark- ness of heathenism. Later many of them served as places where Christ was preached. All this may be regarded as indirect and prepara- tory missionary work on the part of the people of the old covenant. CHAPTER X. THE SCRIPTURE GROUND. (Continued.) MISSIONARY THOUGHTS AND FRUITS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Scope of the present treatise. We cannot under- take, within the scope of this short treatise, to in- clude all the books of the New Testament. The epistles are full of missionary thoughts and will amply repay careful study with these in view. Most of the epistles are letters written by missionaries to congregations that were planted and nurtured by missionary effort. We would, therefore, expect to find in them many points of interest and value with reference to the prin- ciples and practice, the character and conduct, of mis- sions. And such is the case. But our present studies are only representative and suggestive. They are con- fined to the Acts of the Apostles and to the Gospels, and in these, in particular, to words spoken by Christ Himself. Missionary Thoughts in the Words of Christ. As Christ is the foundation and head of the Church, so He is the central figure and the centraliz- ing force of Christian missions. As He is the fulfill- ment of Old Testament types and prophecies, so the missionary thoughts of the Old Testament are de- veloped in and through Him and find clearer and fuller expression in His words. Contrasting the missionary thoughts of the new dispensation with those of the old, we may affirm in a general way that, while in the Old Testament we find missionary roots, evangelical (97) 98 MISSION STUDIES. principles and evangelistic forces wrapped up, as it were, in the seed, — in the New Testament we find the missionary plant developed, bearing foliage and fruit. In the Old Testament the foundation is laid for world-wide missions ; in the New the superstructure is erected, and the work is actually begun. In the Old the universality of salvation is expressed in prophecy, held out as a glorious hope to be realized in due time ; in the New this universality begins to be fulfilled and carried into effect, fully realized in the apostolic mis- sion and directed for all future ages to the end of time by the Great Commission of our Lord to His Church. In the fulness of time Christ appears, the Great Missionary, sent from the realms of glory, working out the world's redemption and training a band of efficient missionaries to go forth and inaugurate the era of world-wide missions. His words and teach- ings from the beginning and throughout His ministry, are permeated with missionary thoughts. Without be- ing able or attempting to arrange and classify His mis- sionary sayings and declarations in strictly chronolog- ical order, we can observe a gradual development in clearness and fulness, culminating in the direct and explicit missionary command after His resurrection. In this appears the wisdom and tact of the Great Teacher, in view of the national exclusiveness and particularism of the Jewish people,^ and the deep- ^ Cf., e. g., Acts 22, 21. 22. Paul addressing the people in Jerusalem, telling the story of his life and experiences, his conversion and call to the apostleship. "And He said unto me, Depart; for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And tlicy gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted Ch. lO. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 99 seated prejudices of His own disciples, who had grown up in this atmosphere of Jewish narrow-mindedness. Moreover, the missionary command follows at the end of His earthly career as the natural and necessary se- quence of His atonement and work of redemption — the ripened fruitage of the revelation concerning His person and His work. We may distinguish three stages in the dcMclop- ment and progress of our Savior's missionary instruc- tion, and so study His missionary words in three groups. I. General principles, preliminary and funda- mental. This part of Christ's teaching may be regarded as the New Testament foundation of all missionary instruction and work. The universality of salvation, proclaimed in symbol, and type, and prophecy, in the Old Testament, is clearly and fully set forth in the appearance of the world's Redeemer and the kingdom which He established. These fundamental missionary principles are wrapped up in two significant and com- prehensive terms : a. the kingdom of God ; b. the Son of Man. a. The kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven-. We find the term used in Scripture in dif- ferent senses, viewed from different points of view ; now as present, existing in the hearts of believers, es- tablished at Christ's first advent; and again as future, to be established at His second advent. These declara- tions may be understood and readily harmonized with- out resorting to millenarianism. The kingdom of up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live." 100 MISSION STUDIES. Christ has been founded, but is not yet completed. It is sown now as seed ; the complete fruit and final har- vest lie in the future. Hence we note a development, a growth, in the use and application of the term. There is in a very real and true sense a ''coming" of the king- dom. "Thy kingdom come!" (To us and to all men; through the Word and sacraments ; edification and ex- tension ; faith wrought, strengthened, sustained ; be- lievers won, gathered, kept, etc.) In its final com- pletion and culmination it is the absolute sovereignty and dominion of God over all creatures in majesty and glory. — Note several facts zvith reference to the king- dom. (i) Its essential character. Not earthly and temporal, but spiritual and eternal. John i8, 56 (not of this world) ; Luke 17, 20-21 (the kingdom of God Cometh not with observation ; the kingdom of God is within you.) Cf. Is. 9, 6. 7 (the Messiah is called the Prince of peace, of the increase of His govern- ment and peace there shall be no end.) The king- dom of God or the kingdom of Christ is not the king- dom of Daznd as the Jews understood it. Mark 11, 10 (Blessed be the kingdom of our Father David) ; Acts I, 6 (wilt Thou restore again the kingdom to Israel?) ; John 6, 15 (the Jews attempting to take Him by force to make Him a King.) (2) Its scope. It embraces and includes not the Jews only, but all mankind. The Jews, indeed, are termed ''children of the kingdom." They were called first, but not exclusively, nor unconditionally. Matt. 8, 12. (The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.) Matt. 21, 43. (The king- dom of God shall be taken from you.) — ''Salvation Ch. lO. TO ALL MANKIND. 101 is of (ix) the Jews," John 4, 22, begins with them, issues forth from them, inasmuch as Christ was born of the seed of Abraham, but not limited to them. Com- pare the parable of the Marriage of the King's Son, Matt. 22, 3 ff., and the parable of the Great Supper, Luke 14, 16 ff. Now, what does Christ say of Himself as the Founder of the kingdom, of His calling and sphere, His mission f He speaks of His having come "into the zvorld:' While this may mean, and in most of the passages where it is used does mean, simply that He was born on earth, that He became man, it implies also that He came into the world to be the world's Redeemer, it suggests the sphere of His activity and the object of His redemption. (Cf. particularly John 3, 16. 17: God so loved the world, etc. *'God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.") — More- over, Christ calls Himself ''the Light of the world," John 8, 12; not the light of Judea, or the light of Asia, etc. Even His disciples He calls the ''light of the world" and the "salt of the earth," (Matt. 5, 13. 14) — characteristics and sphere of influence and work which they derive from Him. — Again, Christ declares that ''the Held is the zuorld" — the field, namely, into which the Son of Man sows the good seed and wliich is to be harvested at His second coming; the "net" wdiich "gathered of every kind" was cast "into the sea." (Matt. 13, 38. 47.)— Further, He says: "The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost,"^ ^(ToJffai TO anoXwXoq^ that which has been lost. This verse is omitted in the best Mss., also in the R. V., but it occurs again in Luke 19, 10. 102 MISSION STUDIES. Matt. 1 8, II, — that which in the common fall and wandering away of mankind has been lost, in general, without distinction, wherever it may be. (Compare the parables of the lost sheep, the coin, and the prodigal — lost in the wilderness, the house, the regions be- yond— Jews, diaspora, the heathen.) (3) Service in the kingdom. The heart and crown of the service to be rendered is pure and spiritual Zi/orship of God. John 4, 20-24. Worship in spirit and in truth, corresponding to the character of the kingdom. This word of Christ, let it be noted, was spoken to a Samaritan zvoman. A suggestive and prophetic circumstance. The disciples marvelled, but were silent. They did not understand it, but wisely and reverently deferred to the superior wisdom of the Master. Such worship is not hound to a particular place, nor to a particular form. Hence no local, na- tional, civil, social or ceremonial limitations are placed upon service in the kingdom of Christ. In this pas- sage Christ declares a nezi} principle of zvorship, op- posed to a dead, hypocritical, legalistic, formal wor- ship, confined to a certain place and depending on a particular priesthood. (4) Conditions of admission into the kingdom. These are repentance and faith. Matt. 4, 17; Mark I, 15, etc. Same condition for Jezi^s and Gentiles. Matt. 8, 10, (the centurion's great faith contrasted with that found in Israel) ; Matt. 11, 21, (Tyre and Sidon would have repented.) Same condition for all men. Luke 24, 47, (repentance and remission of sins preached among all nations.) Cf. Acts 17, 30. The kingdom belongs to the spiritually poor, to them that hunger and thirst after righteousness, to babes, to CIl. 10. THE SON OF MAN. 103 children; Matt. 5, 3 ff; n, 25; 18, 2; 19, 14. — All who are weary and heavy laden Jesus invites to come unto Him. I\Iatt. 11, 28. All this shows the universality of the kingdom of God, its spiritual character and universal scope; provision made for the salvation of all mankind with- out respect of persons; the adaptation of the Gospel to all classes and conditions of men, and entrance into the kingdom in no wise dependent upon external and accidental circumstances and conditions, as sex, age, color, language, nationality, social standing, wealth, etc. And it is easily seen how fundamental these uni- versal ideas of salvation are to the development of missionary thoughts and the prosecution of missionary work. b. The Son of Man. Christ calls Himself by this name repeatedly (no less than twenty-nine times in St. Matthew) and with evident purpose. He cannot intend merely to emphasize the fact that He was true man, — none of His contemporaries doubted that. But by this title Jesus characterizes Himself as the Mes- sianic King not only of Israel, but of mankind. Cf. Matt. 8, 20; 9, 6 (the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins); 11, 19; 12, 8 (is Lord even of the Sabbath); 12, 32; 12, 40; 13, 37 (He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world) ; 13, 41 (shall send forth His angels) ; 16, 13; 16, 27 (shall come in the glory of His Father) ; 16, 28; 17, 9; 17, 12; 17, 22; 18, II (is come to save the lost) ; 19, 28 (when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory) ; 20, 18; 20, 28 (came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many); 24, 27; 24, 30; 24, 104 MISSION STUDIES. IJ. 39; 24, 44; 25, 13; 25, 31; 26, 2; 26, 24; 26, 45 ; 26, 64. John 3, 14 (even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that ivhosocver beUeveth, etc) ; John 5, 53 (except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man). The kingdom of heaven and the Son of Man are correlative terms. As man, even the God-man, Jesus founds and completes the kingdom of heaven on earth, and that a universal kingdom, embracing people of all times, of all nations and tongues. Matt. 24, 27. 30 and 26, 64, Christ refers to the prophet Daniel who in ch. 7, 13. 14 applies this name to the promised Messiah, ascribing to Him a universal kingdom (all people, na- tions and languages) and an everlasting dominion. By appropriating this title the Lord implies that He is the Messiah, whose kingdom is that described by the prophet. This name was not the one usually employed by the contemporaries of Christ. The popular name with them was "David's Son," which Christ never uses to apply to Himself. In Matt. 22, 41-45, and Mark 12, 35-37, He refers to this name in order to show the Pharisees that they have an inadequate and erroneous conception of the Messiah. Christ was a Jew after the flesh, — a loyal Jewish patriot. He wept over His impenitent and perverse nation. Yet He was not nativistic, narrow, national and circumscribed in His sympathies and aspirations. His mission and aim, but broad, world-wide, co-ex- tensive with the human race. He is the Son of Man, — not of Abraham merely, but of Adam. He is the representative of mankind. He belongs to mankind and mankind should of right belong to Him. The missionary trend and force of all this is evident. Ch. 10. TiEIE NAME APOSTLES. 105 2. Missionary references and declarations. These introduce and prepare the way for the Great Command. a. The name "Apostles" appUed to the Twelve. Luke 6, 13; Matt. lo, 2; John 13, 16; Mark 3, 14. Apostolos (from apostello) one sent, a herald, an envoy. Surely not an empty, meaningless title. It designates and characterizes their office and the work to which they w^re called. They have a mission; they are missionaries. The calling, office and mission of the disciples as witnesses and heralds, even ambassadors of the Most High, was clear to Jesus and thoroughly understood by Him at the outset, when He called them. The name, given at the opening of His public ministry, is a prophecy and promise of the Great Commission spoken at its close. This alone is sufficient to show the falsity and emptiness of the claims of certain modern destructive critics who in their assaults upon the New Testament would rob even the great mis- sionary command of its divine origin and authority and make it an interpolation of later times. ^ h. Citations from the Old Testament and re- ferences to events which occurred under the old dis- pensation. (i) Luke 4, 25-27. (A word spoken in the first ^Compare, e. g., Harnack's "Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten." He makes such bold and unsupported assertions as these: "Mis- sions to the heathen can not have come within the scope of Christ's view and purpose." "The missionary command was simply constructed out of the historical development of later times." 106 MISSION" STUDIES. year of Christ's ministry.) Elijah sent to the widow of Sarepta, of Sidon, and EHsha's service to Naaman the Syrian. — Jesus at Nazareth. The Jews filled with wrath ; thrust Him out of the city, etc. (2) Matt. 12, 41. 42. (Second year of Christ's ministry.) The Ninevites and their missionary Jonah. They repented. They shall condemn this impenitent generation — the queen of the south came from afar to hear the wisdom of Solomon. A greater than Solomon is here, come right to you and among you, and ye refuse to receive Him. The queen of the south shall rise up and shall condemn this unbelieving generation. Notice the context, v. 58-40, Christ fore- telling His death under "the sign of the prophet Jonas." The evident meaning and intent of these re- ferences is this: If, through the ministry of Efijah and Elisha, of Jonah and Solomon, divine favor was bestowed upon the Gentiles, how much more, under the kingdom of Him who is greater than these, shall the Gentiles be made partakers of His saving grace. (3) Mark 11, 17. (Cf. Isa. 56, 7; 60, 7; Zech. 2, II.) (Third year of Christ's ministry.) 'Ts it not written. My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?" R. V. A missionary thought inci- dentally spoken. The house which they were dese- crating was intended to be a house of prayer, and that not only for Jews, but for Gentiles also. Yet these are still regarded as coming to Jerusalem for instruction, to the temple for worship, a missionary thought of much less force and directness than that expressed in the missionary command. CIl. 10. FIELDS WHITE TO HARVEST. 107 c. Direct declarations of missioticry thoughts. (i) John 4, 34-38. (Christ's first year.) His visit to Samaria. The whole narrative full of sig- nificance, rich in missionary thought. Verse 34 : The Savior an example of whole-souled, self-sacrificing de- votion to God in mission work ; eagerness to do God's will; joyfulness in service (as it is written of Him: 'T delight to do Thy will, O my God.") ; constancy and patient endurance unto the end ; spiritual life sus- tained by spending and being spent in God's service. — V. 35 : The fields white to harvest, calling for many laborers, and for consecrated workers. Condition at present. Open doors, inter-communication, etc. ; much preparatory work done. The Church's responsibility, V. ^y : "One soweth, and another reapeth." Unselfish labor. T)isinterestedness. Patient endurance. Ex- amples of pioneer missionaries, Allen Gardiner, Henry Martyn, etc. For an introductory lesson this is a large and comprehensive one, giving an extensive outline and broad outlook, reaching ahead of the disciples' attain- ments, setting them to thinking and wondering and comparing. (2) Matt. 8, II. (Second year.) Many shall come from the East and West, etc. In connection with the healing of the Centurion's servant at Caper- naum. His great faith in contrast with the unbelief in Israel. Still, the heathen are regarded here as "coming," rather than missionaries being sent to them. Cf. Matt. 2, I f¥. The coming of the Magi from 108 MISSION STUDIES. the East to Jerusalem — humiliatin.G: to the leaders of the Jewish Church.^ (3) Luke 13, 29. (Third year.) Scene, Jeru- salem. They shall come from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. (4) Matt. 21, 43. Spoken to the chief priests and elders in the temple, where Christ was teaching. ''The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Cf. Acts 13, 46. Paul at Antioch in Pisidia : "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Acts 18, 6. Paul at Corinth : ''From henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." Acts 28, 28. Paul at Rome : "The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it." Cf. also Romans ch. 9 to ch. 11. (5) Luke 15, 11-32. (Third year.) The return of the prodigal son. The two sons doubtless repre- sent, in the first place,- the two classes among the Jews : the murmuring Scribes and Pharisees, to whom the parable was spoken, and the publicans and sinners, the common people. But the parable also includes and may typically represent Jews and Gentiles. (6) Luke 14, 23. (Parable of the Great Sup- per. Gospel Lesson for the second Sunday after Trinity.)^ "Go out into the highways and hedges and ^Compare Warneck, Missionsstimden, vol. I., pp. 29 and 30. *So Trench and others. ^A helpful and suggestive treatise on the missionary thoughts in the regular Gospel Lessons of the Church Year is "Missionsgedanken aus den altkirchlichen evangelischcn Perikopen," by F. Begrich, a little work of 115 pages. Ch. lO. OCCUPY TILL I COME. 109 compel them to come in.'' Spoken at a meal with one of the chief Pharisees, — at an earlier period than the Marriage of the King's Son. Godet says : "As verse 21 is the text of the first part of the Acts (ch. I -12, conversion of the Jev^s), so are verses 22 and 23 of the second part (ch. 13 to end, conversion of the Gentiles), and even of the present economy." The whole parable is full of missionary thoughts. (7) Matt. 2.2, 9. (Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son. Spoken in the temple; at a later period, when the enmity of the Pharisees had reached the highest pitch.) "Go ye, therefore, into the high- ways, and as may as ye shall find bid to the marriage.'' Compare Matt. 8. 11. 12 (quoted above), which Trench says, "contains, so to speak, this parable in the germ." In the passage before us a direct mission is implied : "Go ye." The King sends forth servants, heralds. (8) Matt. 24, 14: "This Gospel of the king- dom shall be preached in all the world (inhabited earth) for a zvitncss unto all nations, and then shall the end come." A.nd Matt. 26, 13: "Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the za^holc zvorld, there shall also this" (the anointing in Bethany) "be told," etc. — These passages reveal with unmistakable clear- ness : I. Salvation to be offered to all; 2. Through the preaching of the Gospel ; 3. Then the end. Compare with this the parable of the Talents, Luke 19, II ff. V. 13: ''Occupy till I conic:' xA.nd Acts I, 6 and 8. Not for you to know the times, etc., but "ye shall be witnesses," etc. The important thing is not to know the length of the interval of time until 110 MISSION STUDIES. Christ's second advent and the end of the world, but to fulfil our mission and to work while it is day. (9) John 10, 16. (Third Year). ''Other sheep I have which are not of this fold .... them also I must bring.... one fold and one Shepherd." (Gospel second Sunday after Easter.) The Gentiles shall be brought into the kingdom. They belong to Christ as well as the Jews. He is under equal obligation (constraint of love) to save them as He is to save the Jews. They will be admitted on equal terms, etc. (10) John 12, 20-25 and 32. Certain Greeks, proselytes, probably, came up to worship at the feast and desired to see Jesus. — V. 24 : "Except a com of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." — V. 32: ''I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." — In these passages we have the key to the question why Christ confined His personal labor to Israel and postponed giving the direct commission until after His resurrection. Compare Is. 53, 10-12. Christ, having given His life as a ransom, having poured out His soul unto death, shall see of the travail of His soul, shall be satisfied, shall divide the spoil with the strong. The completion of the sacrifice for the propitiation of the sins of the whole world was necessary in order to the inauguration of the era of world-wide missions, the era of universal proclama- tion of salvation and universal ingathering of fruit. With this "drawing" of Christ crucified begins the realization of the universality of salvation, of which the prophets and saints of the Old Testament spake and sang. All things are now ready. And now fol- Ch. 10. THE MISSIONARY COMMAND. Ill lows the direct command to proclaim the good tid- ings unto the uttermost parts of the earth. 3. The Great Conimission. The way has been paved. The divine thought of missions has been presented and developed. Apostles, missionaries, have been prepared. And then, after Christ has fully completed the work of redemption and filled the Gospel with the saving power of His love and vicarious sacrifice, and He is about to ascend to the seat of divine power and majesty and universal dominion. He sends His ministers and heralds forth into the harvest field of the world, and lays upon the Church of all succeeding generations and ages the obligation to carry on the work of evangelization until His second advent in glory. How much time has elapsed, what a long way has been traveled, what in- finite care and patience, forbearance and long suffer- ing, have been exercised by the Lord of all before the world was ready for this golden age of peace and good will and salvation. The Great Commission appears as the mature fruit that has passed through all the natural stages of growth. The point of advance upon the previous words of Christ is not this, that salvation is to be offered to all men through the preaching of the Gospel. This had been clearly stated and taught, first by the prophets and the providential movements and events of the old dispensation, and then more clearly by Christ Himself before His death. But the point of advance, the new departure, is this, that now, all things having been prepared, and God's set time hav- ing come, messengers are specially sent out, expressly commissior^ed, to carry this divine purpose into effect. 112 MISSION STUDIES. The Great Commission appears in the sacred records five times, in different forms of statement and in somewhat different connections and relations. It was spoken to the disciples in Jerusalem on the even- ing of the resurrection day, and repeated and re- affirmed on the mountain in Galilee, and on the Mount of Olives just previous to the ascension. It is both interesting and profitable to make a careful study of each one of these records, to compare and combine them. (i) Matt. 28, 18-20. (Spoken on a mountain in Galilee. Present were ''the Eleven,'' probably also those disciples who are referred to in i Cor. 15, 6: ''Above five hundred brethren at once.") "All au- thority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations," etc. R. V. The Lord here bases His command upon the fulness of His own authority and power as Lord and King in heaven and earth. He who has prepared salvation has authority to send out heralds to proclaim it. He to whom is given all au- thority in heaven and on earth shall have dominion from sea to sea, even unto the uttermost part of the earth. His ambassadors go forth, backed and sup- ported by His divine authority and power. They are men, frail and faulty ; but theirs is a divine mission, as they have received a divine commission. (2) Mark 16, 15. (Spoken to the Eleven as they sat at meat — in Jerusalem — on the resurrection day.) "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation." — R. V. (3) Luke 24, 46-48. (To the Eleven and "them that were with them" — in Jerusalem — the same day Ch. 10. YE ARE WITNESSES. 113 — the two disciples having returned from Emmaus.) "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer. . . .and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'' — The ground of the com- mand here is : "The Scriptures must be fulfilled." — The provision and offer of salvation traced back to the eternal counsels of God's grace, a fulfilment of His promises made of old. Verse 48: "Ye are witnesses of these things." Witnesses of the things pertaining to Christ's person and work, and witnesses to Him and His work of re- demption. Missionaries are not nierely teachers and preachers, but witnesses, giving utterance to their own personal knowledge, conviction, experience. "Every one in whose heart the Spirit has glorified and sealed the life and the word of Jesus is a witness to these things." (4) John 20, 21. (Evening of resurrection day.) "As- my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." (Cf. John 17, 18 — the High-priestly prayer.) — The command here based on the authority implied and embraced in His own mission. The authority of Christ to send forth apostles is the same as the au- thority of the Father in sending Him. And the character of their commission is the same as that of Christ — to bear witness unto the truth. (5) Acts I, 8. (Mt. Olivet— -just before His ascension.) "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be wit- nesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 114 MISSION STUDIES. earth," — The command is here based upon the im- pelHng power of the Holy Spirit promised unto them. The normal order of development and extension will always follow this order of promise : Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. So in the apostolic age: First five or six years, city mission period. Acts 2, 43-8, i. Then ten or twelve years, home mission period of Syrian missions, Acts 8 to 12. The culmination of this period of home mission work was the establishment of Christianity in Antioch, the capital of the country. It was about sixteen years be- fore foreign mission work was definitely undertaken. The Great Commission, so grounded upon the fulness of Christ's power, upon the Scriptures, which cannot fail, upon the authority inherent in His own mission, and upon the impelling power of the Holy Ghost, closes with a great promise, which, in view of the greatness of the task assigned, the difficulty of the work, the weakness of the instruments and agents, etc., is most needful and a source of never-failing en- couragement to Christian workers. "Lo, I am with you alway." Dr. A. J. Gordon says in the language of the day : 'The Great Commission is a check on the bank of heaven as truly as it is a command for the Church on earth. "^ If the task assigned is stupendous, the resources available and the promised encourage- ment are inexhaustible. Lord, increase our faith and make us more faithful. ^The Holy spirit in Missions. CHAPTER XI. THE SCRIPTURE GROUND. (Concluded.) MISSIONARY THOUGHTS IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 1 I. Introductory remarks and reflections. Here we have a book of such primal importance in mission study that it may profitably engage the attention of all Christians, alongside of their devotional reading of other portions of the Bible, year in and year out. We have before us the first and original history of Christian missions during the apostolic age. And it is a portion of the inspired Word of God, showing how the apostles understood and carried out Christ's missionary command. Dr. Warneck has repeatedly made the suggestion in his writings that the Acts would form the subject of most profitable study and exposition in *'Bibelstunden" — midweek services — every two years. Similarly Ahlfeld, and Gerok.^ The name of this history is "Acts of the Apos- tles," a name or title in use at the close of the second century. It has been more recently called "The Acts of the Holy Ghost," and "The Acts of Jesus by the Holy Spirit." Apart from the Immediate occasion ^Compare Warneck, Mission in der Schule, chap. IV: "Studies in the Acts." Also New Testament Studies in Mis- sions by Harlan P. Beach, Part II. "St. Paul and the Gentile World," being a presentation in outline of St. Paul's life and labors from a missionary and Biblical point of view. And Smith, Short History of Christian Missions, chap. IV. 'Von Jerusalem nach Rom. A fine, practical and popular ex- position of the Acts in 83 sermons. (115) 116 MISSION STUDIES. and object of the writing (ch. i, i), the general or universal aim of the book may be stated as that of furnishing a divine record of the planting and the propagation of Christianity, the founding and exten- sion of the Church in the apostoHc age ; to show what the exalted Savior had done througli His apostles, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to continue the work which He had begun in His humiliation. The theme of the book is stated in the first chap- ter and eighth verse, being a re-statement of the Great Commission. In the carrying out of this theme and the general aim of the book there are several striking points to be noted: a. We see Christ, as Lord, in and among His people. A few examples: i, 24 (He fills the va- cant apostleship) ; 2, 33 (sends His Spirit) ; 2, 47 (increases the newly founded congregation); 3, 16; 7> 565 9> 5^- (Saul is conquered by Him) ; 9, 10; 10, 14; 16, 10 (He calls Paul to Europe) ; 16, 14 (opens Lydia's heart) ; 18, 9; 23, 11. b. The activity of the Holy Spirit. The Lord acts not only through His angel (5, 19), but through His Spirit. Examples: 2, 4 (imparts the gift of tongues) ; 4, 8. 31 ; 6, 10; 8, 18; 11, 12; 15, 28 (works in and through believers) ; 5, 3, 9; 13, 2; 15, 28 (lives in the congregation) ; 16, 6. 7 (directs the apostles) ; thus is shown the fulfilment of the promise of power, Luke 24, 49. c. The narrative covers a brief space of time, but a large territory. About thirty years (30 to 60 A. D.) Field: The Roman Empire. Three startegic radiating centers: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome; (Jew- ish, Greek, and Roman centers respectively; three Ch. II. GENERAL OUTLINE. 117 typical world races.) Three conditions favored the marvelous extension in so brief a time: (i) The universal rule of the Roman Empire; (2) the general use of the Greek language; (3) the wide dissemina- tion of the Old Testament in the Jewish synagogues, where the new faith was preached. d. It is an uncompleted book. It is the earliest and oldest missionary history of the Christian Church, a history begun during the earthly lives of Christ and His apostles, and continued under His sovereign au- thority and the operation of the Holy Spirit until the present day, — to be continued until the end of time. The narrative is continued in the many histories, nar- ratives and biographies with which church literature has been enriched.^ But the book of Acts affords a norm and guide for all future ages. It exemplifies the providence of God, the leadership of Christ, and the administration of the Holy Spirit. 2. General plan and outline of the book. Introduction. (Ch. i.) Time of preparation. Waiting for the promise of the Father. The fate of Judas. The choice of Matthias. First Part. (Ch. 2 — 12. A. D. 44). Spread- ing of the Gospel among the Jezvs, through St. Peter especially. The history of the Church from its found- ing at Pentecost till, leaving the mother church at Je- rusalem, it is ready to begin its career of conquest among the Gentiles. Scene of action : Palestine. Leading personage : Peter, with John, and James, and Philip, as helpers. I. At Jerusalem. (Ch. 2-y.) From Pentecost ^Cf., e. g., The New Acts of the Apostles, by Dr. A. T. Piersorj. 118 MISSION STUDIES. to the martyrdom of Stephen (A. D. 37.) Jewish- Christian church in Jerusalem : Pentecost. First mir- acle. First persecution. First apostacy. First offi- cers. First martyr. II. In Palestine in general. (Ch. 8-12.) Di- vine preparation for mission work among the Gentiles. Mission in Samaria. African convert. Saul con- verted. Church of Joppa. Cornelius converted. Gentiles admitted. Second martyr. Second Part. (Ch. 13-28, A. D. 63.) Spread- ing of the Gospel among the Gentiles, through St. Paul especially. Christianity throws off its Jewish fetters and becomes cosmopolitan. Fields : Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome. Leading personage: Paul, with Barnabas, Silas, Luke, Timothy, and Titus, as helpers. I. Paul's active ministry. (Ch. 13-21, 16.) Church of Antioch. Paul's first tour (A. D. 48-50.) Council at Jerusalem. Paul's second tour (52-55.) Paul's third tour (56-59.) II. Paul's captivity. (Ch. 21, 17-28, 31.) His reception at Jerusalem. Mobbed in the temple. Paul at Csesarea. Paul at Rome. 3. More detailed study of salient passages. Introductory. Chapter i. Verse 3. Theme of conversation during the forty days between Christ's resurrection and ascension. The establishment and extension of the Messiah's kingdom. Closing mis- sionary instruction of the Savior in person. — V. 4. Waiting for the promise of the Father. Cf. Acts 2, ^^2i (the promise of the Holy Ghost) ; Luke 24, 49 (''until ye be clothed with power from on high.") Condition of success in the spiritual work of God's Ch. II. FIRST PART OF ACTS. 119 kingdom. Application to the minister and mission- ary in all his work, at every stage of his career. — V. 8. The Great Commission', (i) Points out the way of the Gospel, the course and order of procedure, from the home center ever further out (ch. 2, 43-8, i, city mission work; ch. 8 to 12, home, Syrian, missions; ch. 13 to 28, foreign missions). (2) The heralds of the Gospel, the commissioned, witnesses, cf. verse 23, martyrs (in German: Blutzeugen — blood-witnesses). Paul plants, Apollos waters ; God gives the increase. (3) Promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Power, efficiency in the work. — Vv. 21 and 22. Qualifica- tions for entrance into the apostolate, — and by way of further application into the ministry and mission service. Among others, two : ( i ) Christian knowl- edge — to know Christ and the power of His resur- rection; (2) Loyalty and faithfulness — "with us all the time." — Vv. 23-25. The congregation proposes candidates; the Lord decides between them. It is He, then, who fills the vacant apostleship, — calls ministers, sends forth missionaries, through the ser- vice, the agency, of the Church. First Part. Ch. 2-12. Spreading of the Gospel among the Jezvs. Chapter 2. The pentecostal miracle, 1-13; the Pentecostal sermon, 14-36 ; the pentecostal blessing, 37-47. — Verse i. Pentecost, the Harvest Thanks- giving Day in Israel. Suggestive time for "ingath- ering."— V. 4. Filled with the Holy Spirit, who gave them utterance. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matt. 12, 34. "Other tongues." Different tongues. Vv. 6 and 8. Our own language, 5tdkexro(;, — "in our own native lan^ 120 MISSION STUDIES. guage."^ The expression must mean ''foreign lan- guages." Cf. Mark 16, 17; Acts 10, 46; 19, 6; i Cor. 12 and 14. A pentecostal prophecy: The Gospel to be preached in all languages, among all nations. What strides during the past century.^ The Bible translated, in whole or in part, into nearly 400 lan- guages and dialects at present. — V. 17. **Upon all flesh." Mankind, without distinction of age, sex, or outward condition." The missionary thought: Gen- tiles as well as Jews. Wide dissemination of the Gospel. — V. 39. *'A11 that are afar off," — offouq, as many as, cf. 3, 24; John 3, 16, 7:5? 0, whosoever; Acts 2, 21. The word ''as many as" emphasizes the truth, that without divine grace and the divine call none could be saved. Vv. 44-47. Illustration of the benevolent, charitable spirit of Christianity. Exhib- ited in all Christian mission work: medical missions and other charities in the foreign field; inner mis- sions in all spheres and departments. Chapter 3. Healing of a lame man by Peter and John, Vv. i-io; second sermon of Peter, 11-16. Verse I. Peter and John. Often together, before and af- ter Pentecost. So diverse in gift and disposition, and yet so harmonious. Completing one another. So Luther and Melanchthon ; Zwingli and Oecolampa- dius. An example for disciples in church work and mission service. — V. 4. A lesson on having open eyes for providential openings and events, and em- 'Twentieth Century New Testament. In quoting the text in this study we follow, for the most part, the American Revised Version. "Cf., Dennis, Foreign Missions After a Century. ' Stage translates : ''Auf alle Menschen"— upon all people, all mankind. So, also, the Twentieth Century N. T. Ch. II. IN THE PATH OF DUTY. 121 bracing opportunities. — V. 12. The apostle a model of humility and loyalty — an example for all Chris- tian workers. No self-seeking, no self-praise. Like John the Baptist, only a voice. ''He must increase, I must decrease." Luther, resenting the use of his name as designation of a church. Christ, not the preacher, into the foreground. V. 26. Missionary thought: unto the Jews first, but not exclusively; cf. Acts 13, 46; Rom. I, 16; Matt. 15, 24; John 4, 22. The exalted privileges and blessings of the people of God. A good text for the study of privilege and re- sponsibility. Chapter 4. First trial of the apostles, Vv. 1-22; fruits and blessings of the first trial, 23-37. Verse I. And as they spake. Trial comes upon them in the path of duty; they are fulfilling their mission. So let it be with us when trials come. Compare the lives and deaths of John Williams, Bishop Patteson, Mackay, the Gordons, John G. Paton, and hosts of others. — V. 9. A good deed. Gentle reproof. Sim- ilarly the Master. He went about doing good, con- tinually bestowing benedictions and benefactions ; yet His actions were misconstrued. Comfort for the Christian worker in the face of carping, unjust criti- cism. — The impotent man "made whole," ffiffcurat — (TwZui — ffwT7)pia — preserve, heal, deliver, save. The man was made whole, saved, in body and soul, — salvation physical and spiritual. This is a concrete example of the work of inner missions. Christian and churchly rescue mission work. — V. 12. Jesus Christ, the only Savior and the only salvation for all ttven. The central, fundamental missionary thought of the New Testament and of the Gospel. — V. 20. Faith 122 MISSION STUDIES. and utterance. Moral and spiritual compulsion to mission work. The true, abiding motive. No legal- istic measures from without, but motive power, life, living impulse from within. — V. 24. The reply of the congregation to the report of the menaced apos- tles, directed not to man, but to God, — words of fer- vent prayer. . A great and needful lesson for our time. Amid our deliberations, and discussions, may we not be hypercritical, fault-finding, and the like, and be forgetting fervent prayer, turning toward the source of all wisdom and might? — V. 28. Divine omnipotence and wisdom, decreeing, directing, con- trolling, overruling. Cf. Acts 2, 23. God's provi- dence in missions and in all the work of the Church. — Vv. 32-37. The early Christian community as a model for mission work, particularly inner missions; not in form and method, but in spirit and principle, — the spirit of brotherhood in Christ, and of Christ-like service. Chapter 5. Vv. i-ii. Lessons from the first sad and dark chapter in the history of the apostolic Church : ( I ) We must not look for a state of perfec- tion on earth, even in the Church. Tares among the wheat. The Gospel net encloses fishes good and bad. Denial of Novatianism. The young pastor and mis- sionary forewarned. (2) Example of the candor of the Scriptures in revealing and condemning the sins of those numbered among the Lord's people. (3) The Lord ''searcheth the heart." Applied with ref- erence to our gifts and offerings. Look well to the purity of the motive. (4) Severity of judgment gauged by the measure of grace and blessing received. To whom much is given, etc. (5) Even such trials Ch. II. ON MINISTERING. 123 in the Church redound to the glory of God. A whole- some fear ; warning to many ; incitement to greater watchfulness and more fervent godliness. — Vv. 12- 16. Growth and extension of the Church after whole- some discipline. — V. 29. Must obey God rather than men. A principle for the pastor and missionary of today. Resist, kindly, but firmly, demands of men (however influential in the congregation, — leaders, perhaps) when they run counter to the Word and will of God. — V. 32. We are witnesses, — and so is the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit, the greater witness, different from the human consciousness, but ruling and working in believers, witnesses imth them."^ Cf. Acts 15, 28; John 15, 26. 2^ ; Rom. 8, 16 — (ro'jrj.apro- ps~t. — Vv. 38 and 39. Lesson from history : God's hand, directing, furthering, blessing ; or hindering, overthrowing, condemning. Chapter 6, Vv. 1-6. Appointment of the first apos- tolic helpers. — V. 3. Qualifications: (i) Good reputation; (2) Spirit-filled; (3) Men of wisdom, of practical tact. Today there are some 96,000 native helpers in Protestant foreign mission fields. The service, whether in higher or lower station, whether apostolic or diaconal, clerical or lay, is a ministering, a serving. Compare verse 4, "ministry of the Word," diaxovia with verse 2, "serve tables," 8taxi>vtlv. — V. 8. Wonderful gifts and powers of Stephen, though he was not an apostle, but only a deacon. Lesson : (i) God's distribution of gifts; (2) those who are faithful in lower stations may be advanced to higher; (3) spiritual preparation the main requisite. ^Meyer, Commentary on the Acts, in loco. 124 MISSION STUDIES. Chapter 7. The first martyr. Vv. 1-53. Ste- phen's defense. — Vv. 54-60: The fearless witness. Victorious faith. Calm and joyful hope in death. Intercession for his enemies. — The first martyr has many followers in the history of the Church and of missions. Examples, the martyr Church of Mada- gascar and of Uganda. Chapter 8. The first great persecution, (i) Oc- casion for it : Jewish bigotry against Stephen. As a forerunner of St. Paul, Stephen had doubtless taught that man is not saved by the works of the Law (ch. 6, 11), and that God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth everywhere, not only in the temple (ch. 6, 13; 7, 48-50). All this was a preparation for mis- sion work among the Gentiles, and this was distasteful to the Jews. (2) Results: Scattering of believers through Judea and Samaria, and as far as Greece (ch. 8, I. 40; 9, 30; etc.). Cf. 2 Thess. 3, i (the Word of the Lord may run and be glorified). Rise of Christian congregations, without the direct inter- vention of the apostles, in Rome, North Africa, Spain and France. A crisis is thus reached in the history of the Church. God overruling the wrath of man, the per- secution becomes a divine preparation for mission work among the Gentiles. General outline of the chap- ter: The great (general) persecution, Vv. 1-3; the activity of Philip, the evangelist, resulting in the Sa- maria mission, Vv. 4-25 ; the Ethiopia mission, 26-40. Verse 4. Scat<:ered believers, preaching. Their flight no denial of the faith, but a means of witness- ing. Laymen as preachers, — private testimony by word and deed. — Vv. 5-8. Siicccss of Philip. Hq Ch. II. MISSIONARY FAITHFULNESS. 125 preached the Christ, the Messiah, who had Himself laid the foundation of the work in Samaria. John 4 (the field white mito harvest). — Vv. 9-13. Simon the sorcerer. A typical illustration of one of the fearful evils among the heathen: superstition, igno- rance, imposition and fraud, sorcery and magic. — V. 25. Sowing the seed by the way. "As we have op- portunity." Cf. verse 40. Itineration, evangelistic tours in mission fields. — V. 26. Philip sent into a "desert," — barren field. Contrast the hopeful outlook in Samaria. Go whither the Lord calls you or sends you. A sacred and solemn lesson for candidates of theology and missionary candidates. — V. 27. Ethio- pia, northern Abyssinia, or the present Nubia. The Eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was doubtless a proselyte of the gate,^ a heathen who had been partially won over to the worship of Jehovah. Chapter 9. The two great apostles: St. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, in the school of prepara- tion; the early stage of his career, w. 1-31 ; St. Peter, the apostle to the Jews, in the midst of his life's mis- sion, vv. 32-43. — Saul's miraculous conversion, vv. 1-9. Parallel accounts, ch. 22 and ch. 26. — V. 6. What thou must do,