3Lmerican 2J>oar& of <ffonimtO 0 io»crsf for foreign a^iOsioite. 
 
 The Universal and Perpetual Ground of 
 
 Missionary Appeal. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. JAMES L. BARTON, D.D., FOREIGN SECRETARY. 
 
 A Paper from the Prudential Committee, presented at the Annual Meeting- of the American 
 
 Board at Providence, R. October 4, iSgg. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE 
 1899 
 
i 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL AND PERPETUAL GROUND OF MISSIONARY 
 
 APPEAL* 
 
 BY REV. JAMES L. BARTON, D.D., FOREIGN SECRETARY. 
 
 [A paper from the Prudential Committee presented at the Annual Meeting of the Atnerican 
 
 Board at Providence, October 4, i8g<p.\ 
 
 The century of modern Foreign Protestant Missionary effort, which is just clos¬ 
 ing, is characterized by changes in the basis of appeal which the friends of 
 the cause are accustomed to make to the supporting constituency. The reasons 
 given why foreign missions should be vigorously maintained are so numerous and 
 varied and not infrequently exclusive of each other, that not a few intelligent Chris¬ 
 tians are inquiring if there is one true, fundamental, perpetual basis for this work. 
 During this century the pagan world, for whose Christianization foreign missions 
 were inaugurated, has been stripped of much of the mystery that enveloped it. 
 Pagan nations are no longer classed together as wild and uncouth savages, but 
 we designate them separately as Chinese, Hindus, Japanese, Buddhists, Confucian- 
 ists, Mohammedans, and a multitude of other names, each one of which conveys 
 to our mind a distinct impression of a people or belief characterized by many 
 things that are commendable. We no longer class all non-Christians together and 
 call them “ heathen,” nor do we, in a single breath and unqualifiedly, condemn 
 everything among all peoples who are not followers of our Christ. 
 
 This has led to a change in missionary appeals. Some have thought it neces¬ 
 sary to give a different reason for carrying the gospel to the artistic, polite Jap¬ 
 anese, with their systems of ethics and their intellectual ability, than they give for 
 carrying the same gospel to the savage tribes of the South Sea Islands. Not only 
 have the officers of mission boards been thus affected, but the change is marked 
 throughout the constituency. 
 
 Those who give for the support of this work, and in some cases those who 
 offer themselves for service, do so under what might be called the impulse of mixed 
 and inadequate motives. A modern educational system and an enlightened Christian 
 civilization ; a desire to relieve the great physical suffering which multitudes endure ; 
 the moral elevation of the people and the development of high moral standards and 
 noble Christian characters ; the establishment of Christian institutions of all classes 
 which shall be self-perpetuating and stable; the creation of a better and safer 
 society which shall prepare those nations for statehood and develop among them a 
 permanent and profitable commerce with the Christian nations of the world ; a 
 desire to displace the non-Christian religions by setting up in their stead the church 
 of Christ. — these are some, if not the chief, reasons given at this time for supporting 
 foreign missions. These reasons have been pressed so far that we find our con¬ 
 stituency dividing into different companies, some professing supreme confidence in 
 medical missions, others preferring to help industrial mission work, others in educa¬ 
 tional enterprises, others still emphasizing social reform, while many maintain that 
 evangelistic work should have the supreme place. 
 
 There can be little question that all of these objects are commendable, and to 
 the student of missions it must be equally clear, that one in no way excludes the 
 others. All are worthy, all are Christian, all are essential. But the question does 
 arise, do we find here the permanent and universal basis of appeal for this world¬ 
 wide and all-inclusive work ? All these are results which we hope to accomplish and 
 they are worthy the best Christian effort of the world ; but no one of them, nor all 
 combined, have the power to set in motion the united followers of Christ in a per- 
 
 J 
 
The Universal and Perpetual Ground of Missionary Appeal. 3 
 
 manent, persistent, aggressive effort to evangelize the world. The results of mis¬ 
 sionary effort do not constitute the fundamental impelling motive force that vitalizes 
 the movement and makes it glow with life and throb with power. 
 
 Where then shall we find the universal and perpetual ground and basis for the 
 work of missions? We must find them, if such exist at all, in the fundamental 
 principles of our Christian faith which we profess to accept. If we cannot find 
 them there, they do not exist, and we are free from the obligation to conduct 
 missionary work; but if we do find them there, we must accept them or deny our 
 faith. 
 
 Let us glance briefly at the missionary principles which underlie our Christian 
 faith : — 
 
 I. Old Testametit Principles. The fundamental principles of our faith, which 
 are essentially missionary, are taught throughout the Old Testament, and, in fact, 
 constitute an integral part of the Old Testament religion. These are: — 
 
 1. The Universality of the God of Israel. It was a fundamental part of the 
 religion of the Hebrews that their God was one and that he was supreme. He was 
 not only the God of the Jews but also of the Gentiles, although they did not recog¬ 
 nize him. Only Jehovah was almighty, benevolent, and holy, able to reward and 
 punish all the children of men. The plain teaching was that the God of Israel was 
 the God of the whole earth and of all peoples, and not simply the God of those who 
 recognized and worshiped him. This point is so clear that it needs only to be stated. 
 
 2. The second missionary principle in the Old Testament religion is that sacri- 
 fice is essential in every true worshiper. Any adequate discussion of this subject is 
 impossible here. The fact must be noted that from the beginning an offering, some¬ 
 thing given up to God, seemed to be demanded with every act of worship. Cain 
 and Abel brought their gifts when they would draw near to God. This matter of 
 offerings was not left to the feelings or sentiment of the worshipers, but the regula¬ 
 tions that should govern the different offerings, as to their amount and frequency, 
 were definitely laid down by Jehovah. Every faithful and devout Israelite must 
 pay liberally of time and treasure in order to maintain his position before the Lord. 
 The amounts of the different sacrifices and offerings were gradually increased until 
 much more than one-tenth of the income of the worshiper had to be given as an 
 offering to the Lord. We cannot conceive of the Hebrews as in any way maintain¬ 
 ing their position in their relations to God or to their principles, while refusing to 
 offer the prescribed sacrifices. The worst afflictions which ever came to the race 
 were brought upon them, according to the burning words of the prophets, by their 
 withholding from the Lord their tithes and offerings. Sacrifice was a part of their 
 religion, an essential part of their creed and worship; it was to them a sacrament. 
 Apart from the special extra gifts in the interests of a forward movement, as, for 
 instance, for the setting up of the tabernacle and the building or rebuilding of the 
 temple, nearly everything thus given to God by the faithful worshipers was, to human 
 appearances, thrown away — wasted. A great army of men was maintained to 
 slaughter the choicest of the flocks and herds and to restore order after the work 
 had been done. No human being was directly benefited by the act, and we cannot 
 conceive that Jehovah himself took pleasure in the blood of sheep and goats that 
 flowed in such an overwhelming current or in the clouds of smoke that rose from her 
 reeking altars during the golden days of Israel’s history. We cannot believe that 
 God demanded these costly gifts for himself, but as a source, and perhaps the only 
 source, certainly the only one revealed, of a divine blessing upon the one presenting 
 the offering. Only the giver was benefited. Only he who was ready and willing to 
 
4 
 
 The Universal a?id Perpetual Ground of Missionary Appeal. 
 
 obey the divine command found acceptance or forgiveness with the Lord. He 
 who worshiped, offering gifts commensurate with his condition in life, went away 
 justified, for God met him. 
 
 3. The third essential missionary point in the religion of Israel was that 
 through that race blessing was to come to the entire world. It must be acknowledged 
 that, as a race, the children of Israel did not grasp this thought. The prophets 
 often caught glimpses of the truth, and yet they were not able to arouse the race to 
 its full comprehension. However, the principle was repeatedly taught, from the 
 early dawn of that peculiar people until the close of the prophetic period, that out 
 from the seed of Abraham there should go forth a blessing to all nations; for did 
 not Jehovah say to Abraham, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” 
 Again the Lord repeated, “ All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him 
 (Abraham);” and so again and again is that promise and pledge repeated, that 
 through the seed of Abraham a movement filled with blessing is destined to reach 
 forth to all nations. It was the foundation pledge and everlasting covenant of the 
 race. After leaving Egypt, Jehovah says, “ If ye will obey my voice indeed and 
 keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure with me from among all 
 peoples; for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests 
 and an holy nation.” 
 
 Then as we follow the records, we read that “ A star shall come forth out of 
 Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,” showing that a world victory is in 
 preparation. The Psalmist catches glimpses of the future conquests through the 
 chosen race, when he says, “ I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and 
 the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession; ” “ I will make thy name to be 
 remembered in all generations; ” “ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and 
 from the river unto the ends of the earth ; they that dwell in the wilderness shall 
 bow before him ; yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him.” 
 
 The Prophet Isaiah in his inspired vision saw that time when “ the mountain of 
 the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be 
 exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it; ” “ Of the increase of his 
 government and of peace there shall be no end.” “ The earth shall be full of the 
 knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” “ All the ends of the earth 
 shall see the salvation of our God.” 
 
 Daniel in his vision of the Son of Man saw and wrote, “ And there was given 
 him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and languages 
 shall serve him.” 
 
 In line with all this is the announcement made to Mary by the angel Gabriel, 
 “ He shall be great and shall be called the son of the Most High ; . . . and he shall 
 reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” 
 This is the covenant with Abraham, sung by the Psalmists, proclaimed by the 
 Prophets, carried over and connected with Christ himself, as the one who is to exe¬ 
 cute the Divine will in carrying this blessing to the world. 
 
 Let us now trace these fundamentals of our faith as they reach over into the New 
 Testament. 
 
 II. The Corresponding New Testament Principles. Christ neither in his 
 teaching nor by his example changed these three basal principles of the faith and 
 practice of Israel, but he gathered them up and put them into operation for uplifting 
 and saving the world. 
 
 1. Under his teachings the universal, almighty and holy Jehovah of the He¬ 
 brews was transformed into the loving and common father of all men, assembling 
 the nations into one great and common brotherhood. The Jews did not carry out 
 
The Universal and Perpetual Ground of Missionary Appeal. 
 
 5 
 
 their idea of a universal God to this practical conclusion. Christ must come and 
 show by his life and teachings that Jehovah was not the God of the Jews only, but of 
 all men and all nations, and that he is not only supreme and holy but that he is the 
 compassionate one who loves all his children and who desires that every branch of the 
 human race be numbered as members of his family. This is the first and necessary 
 step in the developing of the underlying theology of the Old Testament so that there 
 shall stand out in clearest light the practical living principles of our Christian faith, 
 the common fatherhood of God and the consequent possible brotherhood of man. 
 To prove this point we need make no citations from the teachings of our Lord. It 
 must be equally clear that this is only the flower and fruit of the other doctrine that 
 Jehovah is the God of the whole earth. 
 
 • 2. Our Lord took also the doctrine of sacrifice and, in no less striking manner, 
 
 made it a living and practical doctrine for the extension of the Kingdom. While 
 the Old Testament idea of burnt-offering and sacrifice was not perpetuated by Christ 
 in its old form, it was transformed, ennobled and perfected by him. He himself 
 came as the supreme offering for sin, made once for all. The new system which he 
 developed out of the old does not call for the expenditure of one's precious posses¬ 
 sions without some tangible, external result aimed at in the gift; but he in no way 
 releases his followers from the idea of sacrifice. He gave everything that he pos¬ 
 sessed, even his life, not to appease a God angry with him, but in order to bring 
 blessing and salvation to a world lost in sin. The sacrifice of his time and strength 
 and personal pleasures, and life itself, was that others might be blessed. He was 
 seeking nothing for himself. He came to do the will of his Father and to be about 
 his Father’s business, and that will and that business was and had always been, that 
 “ through the seed of Abraham all nations should be blessed.” A fundamental idea 
 of sacrifice in our Lord, and of the sacrifice which he demanded of his disciples, 
 was not primarily that the one who offered it should receive a blessing, but that in 
 the offering somebody else, — others, might be blessed. Offerings were not wasted 
 but transformed; latent energy was transmuted into living potency for lifting up and 
 saving the world. 
 
 Sacrifice was as much a part of the religion and worship of Christ as it was 
 of the religion and worship of the chosen race. But it is not burnt-offering that is 
 demanded, but a living, active sacrifice that reaches out to the world. This is not 
 taught so much by any particular recorded words of Christ as by his whole life and 
 the Spirit of all his teachings. He began by giving everything he possessed, and 
 by demanding of his disciples that they dedicate everything to him. His call to 
 discipleship was, “ Follow me labor, sacrifice, do as I am doing that the world 
 may be saved. There is no part of the life of our Lord that does not glow with this 
 idea of sacrifice and service for others as the most perfect indication of devotion to 
 the Father’s will, and at the same time exhibiting the most perfect method for carry¬ 
 ing infinite blessing to him who believes, as well as to the world. 
 
 3. Our Lord was the complete fulfillment of the idea so fully set forth in the 
 Old Testament, that through the chosen race all the nations of the earth shall be 
 blessed; for in him the principle became an article of living faith which was 
 wrought into the lives and practices of his followers. The Jews, as a nation, had 
 no thought of making special effort to bless the Gentiles through their religion or their 
 lives. They treasured up the promises of Jehovah, the sweet words of the Psalmist, 
 and the burning declarations of the prophets, and then went on living as if Jehovah 
 were their God alone and the world existed only for themselves. Christ came to 
 change all this—To inaugurate a movement whose charter is the final command, 
 “ Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, teaching them to 
 
6 The Universal and Perpetual Ground of Missionary Appeal. 
 
 observe all things whatsoever I commanded you.” The idea and plan here outlined 
 was not a new one in the conception of the Kingdom ; it was as old as Abraham. 
 Christ was only carrying out the will of his Father in this enunciation and develop¬ 
 ment of a fundamental principal of the Kingdom. He had no choice but to take 
 this position and to put the obligation upon his disciples, for did he not come to do 
 “not his own will but the will of him that sent him?” The life and the teachings 
 of our Lord dwell more upon this principle of the expansion of the Kingdom and 
 the duty of every follower to preach Christ to all who do not know him than upon 
 any other principle of our Christian faith. The four gospels abound with and are 
 crowned with the conception of a gospel for the world and the duty of all who ac¬ 
 cept it to carry it to those who have it not. The book of the Acts is the record of 
 the endeavors of the Apostles to live the Christian missionary life as they had 
 learned it from their Lord. The Epistles are replete with the same fundamental 
 idea, they themselves the product of the missionary efforts of the disciples. Even 
 the Apocalypse breaks forth into the command, “ Let him that heareth say come.” 
 Remove from our New Testament and from our Christian doctrine the conception 
 that it is the will of God that all nations shall hear of him and receive salvation 
 through Christ, and we should have emasculated Gospels, no Acts of the Apostles, 
 and few if any of the Epistles. The missionary idea gave us our New Testament 
 if not our entire Bible. 
 
 There is little recorded that was uttered directly by Christ upon such subjects 
 as original sin, retribution, escatology, the sacraments, the trinity, atonement, inspira¬ 
 tion. These doctrines have lent themselves to controversial discussions to such an 
 extent that schools of theology have divided and sub-divided upon each of them, and 
 we shall probably go on discussing and dividing to the end of time. But upon the 
 subject of the obligatioii of Christians to carry the gospel to the ends of the 
 earth there is no ambiguity; there seems no room for divergence of opinion. Over 
 and over again is this matter dwelt upon by Christ himself and by the Apostles. It 
 is reiterated more than any other Christian doctrine, and manifestly made a deeper 
 impression upon the disciples than any other command which Christ laid upon them. 
 The strongest imperatives used by our Lord were employed when he was trying to 
 impress upon his followers their duties in this matter. “Follow me,” “Feed my 
 sheep,” “ Go,” “ Disciple,” “ Teach,” “ Preach the Word ; ” these imperatives cannot 
 be misunderstood or misinterpreted. There may be disagreement as to the nature 
 of the gospel to be preached and the manner of preaching it, but it is clear beyond 
 dispute that whoever has received any gospel is commanded to preach it to those 
 who have none. We cannot escape the conclusion that Christianity is primarily a 
 missionary religion, inaugurated as such by Jehovah, intensified and glorified by 
 Christ, transmitted and exemplified by the Apostles, and that as such this religion in 
 these last days is our inheritance, privilege, and glory. 
 
 III. Practical considerations. What bearing have these considerations upon our 
 missionary work and the universal and perpetual ground of appeals which we make ? 
 We who profess to be Christian, if honest in our profession, must live and act 
 in accordance with the fundamental and authoritative principles of our faith as 
 revealed in our sacred records. These principles are as enumerated : — 
 
 1. Fatherhood of God and consequent brotherhood of man. 
 
 2. The necessity of personal sacrifice for others. 
 
 3. The duty of preaching Christ’s gospel to the world. 
 
 In the consideration of these questions there is but little opportunity for the 
 exercise of personal judgment or opinions. Each one is based, not upon what we 
 
The Universal and Perpetual Ground of Missionary Appeal . 7 
 
 may think, but upon eternal facts and upon the will of the Father. It is not a plan 
 devised by man or by a council of men, nor has it even been submitted to men for 
 their approval or ratification. The children of Israel were not told to offer sacrifice 
 when they wished to do so, or if they felt so inclined ; nor did Christ tell his disciples 
 to preach his gospel to the ends of the earth if they should decide that it is wise, 
 prudent, and necessary so to do. We have no authority to debate the wisdom or 
 the unwisdom of sacrifice in behalf of others any more than we have the right to 
 discuss whether our Lord did not make a mistake when he commanded his disciples 
 to devote themselves to a world-wide missionary undertaking. 
 
 Enthusiasm for a good cause, whose usefulness has been demonstrated, and 
 whose success seems assured, will stir many a life and lead to impulsive acts of won¬ 
 derful and heroic sacrifice; but enthusiasm is not enduring, and when it dies, the arm 
 which it energized no longer serves. 
 
 Sympathy for a pagan race which seems to have within it special possibilities of 
 growth and progress, may warm the heart and inspire the efforts of a multitude who 
 feel the throb of Christian brotherhood as they think of one common Father. Under 
 this impulse consecrated men and women give their lives and others give support that 
 a race may be civilized. But a little disappointment, a few acts of ingratitude upon 
 the part of that race, may turn sympathy into indifference, and indifference into con¬ 
 demnation, and the race is left to its paganism. 
 
 A belief in the eternal loss of all who die unrepentant, is a power sufficient to 
 gather a mighty army of devout, able men and women who have gone to the ends of 
 the earth to preach repentance and salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. In face 
 of such a conviction no obstacles seemed too great, no task too heavy to be under¬ 
 taken. None have labored more devoutly than those who have gone forth under this 
 impulse, and none have given more freely than those who have sent them. But if 
 this be the main, underlying motive for missionary activity in any person, then that 
 activity will vary in intensity with his sense of the sinner’s peril, and should he come 
 to doubt whether there is such peril, his missionary interest will slacken if not 
 altogether cease. 
 
 Love has led, in all the history of the world, to deepest sacrifice and inspired to 
 acts of exalted nobleness. Who can measure the power of human love? No sac¬ 
 rifice is too great for it to make for the object of its affection; no task too heavy for 
 it to undertake. Nothing can successfully resist him who moves by its impulse. 
 Under the inspiration of its presence, the human can rise almost into the atmosphere 
 of the Divine. Yet human love is not enduring. Its throne is the human heart 
 which is of the earth, earthy. Passion may rend, ambition blind, and human sinful¬ 
 ness corrupt, until its noble impulse dies entombed within a heart grown cold. A 
 work for the world based upon this alone, whether it be a love for Christ or love for 
 fellowmen, cannot be enduring until our human love becomes as unchanging as the 
 Divine. 
 
 Our perpetual, permanent and universal impulse for this work comes not from 
 our hearts, not from our heads, not from the world,—-for the heart grows faint, the 
 head weary, and the world passeth away. We must look to the Divine will which is 
 interpreted to us by the Divine imperatives in the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Generations may come and go, human passions, prejudices, selfish ambitions put 
 their stamp upon society, theological opinions and expressions may change with the 
 changing centuries, but the will of our God abides forever. It is not ambiguous in 
 its utterance, nor can it be misunderstood in its commands. Nothing can reach it 
 to destroy its force and power. It is the voice which has rung in command through 
 
8 The Universal and Perpetual Ground of Missionary Appeal. 
 
 all the history of our religion, and that found its fullest utterance on the mount, as 
 the earth shrunk away from His sanctified presence. It is addressed to every pro¬ 
 fessed follower of the Nazarene, saying, “ Preach this, my Gospel, to every one who 
 does not acknowledge me as Lord and King.” Though we hide ourselves in our 
 scholarship, the voice is there; though we take the wings of our personal pleasures 
 and go to the uttermost parts of the earth, behold it is there. Nothing but implicit 
 obedience can put God’s seal upon our discipleship. 
 
 We cannot conceive of Christianity apart from the idea of expansion, — not en¬ 
 largement according to the will and judgment of the believer, but expansion by the 
 will and under the order of Almighty God. In this lies the secret of the external 
 growth of our faith during the last eighteen centuries, while without it, the Spirit of 
 Christ, the love of Christ, the presence of Christ with his people would speedily 
 cease. The Divine imperative which commands all Christians to evangelize all men, 
 is the eternal, life-giving imperative for all lands and for all time. 
 
 What then shall be, must be, the ground of our appeal? Not education, not 
 civilization, not humanity to man, not sociological reform, not merely a desire to 
 ennoble and exalt our fellow-men, but obedience to the eternal principles of our faith 
 as uttered by our blessed Lord himself, and taught by his apostles. Our appeal is 
 not an appeal for money, but for loyalty to Jesus Christ. The first step in conver¬ 
 sion is obedience to Christ, which is also the last step in the completed, sanctified 
 Christian life. By this the power and inspiration of the Christ life will flow in upon 
 the believer and through him will carry beauty, blessing and life to the world. The 
 gospel thus sent out will become the gospel of education, of civilization, of social 
 reform, of salvation, of everything that is exalting to the individual and to nations. 
 This is the only force that in the name of a living Christ can send to the ends of the 
 earth and maintain it there, the army of the living God. 
 
 Why should we, corporate members, missionaries, honorary members, pastors, 
 and Christians, come together here and spend an hour of the sessions of this meet¬ 
 ing, or of any other meeting, in discussing how to appeal to our constituency; how 
 to raise money to carry on the Lord’s work ? Why, the rather, do we not seek first 
 for our own reconsecration to the service of that Master whom we love and whom 
 we profess before men to serve ? Why should there not go forth annually from the 
 meetings of this Board, as well as from the meetings of all similar boards, to the 
 remotest mission church in the most isolated island on this earth, an irresistible in¬ 
 spiration for a more devoted and obedient service to him who gave his all that the 
 world might be redeemed. Balance sheets are necessary accompaniments of that 
 work, but they are not the source of our inspiration and they contain not one atom 
 of power. If we could only get so near to the side of our Commander that we could 
 catch the gleam of his eye as he looks forth upon a world not yet in receipt of the 
 salvation which he came to bring to it nineteen hundred years ago; if we could feel 
 the throb of that heart which beats in human and divine sympathy for the multitudes 
 who are wandering in the deserts as sheep that have no shepherd, and if we could 
 catch the tender tones of that voice which speaks with loving yet irresistible authority, 
 “ Go, preach my gospel to every creature,” would we count as anything our posses¬ 
 sions, our comfort, or even our lives ? 
 
 It is of little importance to the great world whether or not the Board closes this 
 year without a deficit; it is of transcendent importance whether or not we, the con¬ 
 stituency of this Board, the membership in our Congregational churches, are ready to 
 hear and accept in loving obedience the perpetual and universal imperative of our 
 Lord and Master, “ Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,’ and 
 then, “ Go into all the world and preach my gospel to every creature.”