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 MISSIONS 
 
 IN TTHK 
 
 LIFE OF CHRIST: 
 
 AN ADDRESS. 
 
 BY A. MCLEAN. 
 
 CINCINNATI; 
 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society. 
 
MISSIONS IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.* 
 
 Text :— Wherefore^ holy brethren^ fartakers 
 of a heavenly callings consider the Apostle and 
 High Priest of our confession^ even Jesus^ who 
 was faithful to him that appointed him, as also 
 was Moses in all his house. — Heb. Hi: i, 2. 
 
 The word “apostle” means precisely the 
 same as the word “missionary.” Apostle is 
 from the Greek; missionary is from the Latin; 
 but both mean one who is “sent.” Our Lord 
 tells us that he did not come of himself; the 
 Father sent him. “For God sent not the Son 
 into the world to judge the world; but that the 
 world should be saved through him.” “As 
 the living Father sent me, and 1 live because of 
 the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall 
 live because of me.” “And this is life eternal, 
 that they should know thee, the only true God, 
 and him whom thou didst send., even Jesus 
 Christ.” John says, “Herein was the love of 
 God manifested in us, that God hath sent his 
 only betjotten Son into the world, that we 
 might live through him. Herein is love, not 
 that we loved God, but that he loved us, and 
 sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 
 Livingstone said, “God had only one Son and 
 he made of him a missionary and sent him 
 into the world to seek and to save that which 
 
 ‘^'Delivered before the New York Missionary Convention, and 
 published by request. 
 
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was lost!” The text calls upon us to consider 
 this Apostle or Missionary even Jesus. I in¬ 
 vite your attention to this subject —Missions in 
 the Life of Christ. 
 
 I. Let us consider the efforts he put 
 FORTH TO SAVE THE woRED. Peter speaks of 
 him as anointed with the Holy Spirit and 
 power, and adds that he went about doing 
 good, and healing all who were oppressed of 
 the devil. A large part of the gospels is taken 
 up with the record of his evangelistic tours. 
 He had no settled home ; he needed none. In 
 order to accomplish the purpose for which he 
 was sent, he must visit the towns and villages 
 of Palestine. A few followed him from place 
 to place, but in the nature of the case most 
 could not leave their homes. If reached at all, 
 the gospel must be carried to them. The con¬ 
 stant aim and endeavor of our Lord was to 
 evangelize the whole people before his earthly 
 career closed forever. His missionary zeal 
 and activity were boundless. His baptism 
 took place at Bethany beyond Jordan. While 
 there he called Andrew and Simon, Philip and 
 Nathaniel. After a little he returned to Gali¬ 
 lee. We read of his being at the marriage at 
 Cana where he performed his first miracle, and 
 manifested his glory. At the close of the feast 
 he went to Capernaum for a few days. We 
 find him next in Jerusalem at the Passover. It 
 was at this time that he found in the temple 
 those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and 
 the changers of mone}^ and made a scourge of 
 cords and drove them all out, and said : “Make 
 not my Father’s house a house of merchan¬ 
 dise.” He spent some time in and near Jeru- 
 
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Salem. We are told that many believed on 
 him beholding the signs which he did. Among 
 these was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews^. But 
 the ruling class held aloof. When he knew 
 that the Pharisees heard that he made and bap¬ 
 tized more disciples than John, he left Judea 
 and went back to Galilee. On the way, as he 
 passed through Samaria he came to Jacob’s 
 well where he had that memorable talk with 
 the woman of Sychar. In answer to the re¬ 
 quest of the people of the village he remained 
 with them two days. The historian says that 
 many believed on him because of the word of 
 the woman, and many more believed on him 
 because of his own word. These said to the 
 woman, “Now we believe, not because of thy 
 speaking ; for we have heard for ourselves, 
 and know that this is indeed the Savior of the 
 world.” 
 
 On reaching Galilee he preached in their 
 synagogues that the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand. He visited Cana a second time, and 
 healed the dying son of a nobleman. There¬ 
 upon he went to Nazareth where he had been 
 brought up. Here it was that he read and ex¬ 
 pounded the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of 
 the Lord God is upon me, because he anointed 
 me to preach good tidings to the poor; he hath 
 sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and 
 recovering of sight to the blind, to proclaim 
 the acceptable year of the Lord.” The people 
 were pleased at first, but before he was done 
 they were filled with wrath, and cast him forth 
 out of the city, and led him to the brow of the 
 hill on which their city was built, that they 
 might throw him down headlong. Rejected in 
 
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 Nazareth, he went to Capernaum, thus fulfill¬ 
 ing the prophecy, “The people who sat in 
 darkness saw a great light, and to them who 
 sat in the region and shadow of death, to them 
 did light spring up.” While he was preaching 
 there he healed a man who had an unclean 
 demon. The narrative says that there went 
 forth a rumor of him into every place of the 
 region round about. It was about this time 
 that he began to visit and to preach in every 
 part of Galilee. We read, “And Jesus went 
 about in all Galilee, teaching in their syna¬ 
 gogues, and preaching the gospel of the king¬ 
 dom, and healing all manner of sickness and 
 all manner of disease among the people.”— 
 Matt, iv: 23. Matthew adds that there fol¬ 
 lowed him great multitudes from Galilee and 
 Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from 
 beyond Jordan. His fame reached Syria, and 
 they brought to him their sick, their demoniacs, 
 the epileptic, and the palsied, and he healed 
 them. Speaking of this time Mark tells us 
 that Simon and others said to him, “All men 
 are seeking thee.” He said, “Let us go else¬ 
 where, into the next towns, that I may preach 
 there also; for to this end came I forth.” He 
 could not stop to be admired; his work was to 
 reach the whole people. He could not do that 
 by staying in one place. About this time Luke 
 tells us that the multitudes sought after him, 
 and would have staved him, that he should not 
 go from thence. But he said, “I must preach 
 the good tidings of the kingdom of God to the 
 other cities also, for therefore was I sent.” 
 Popularity was not his aim. His mission was 
 to reach the people with the message respect- 
 
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ing the kingdom. To do that he must brush 
 aside all opposition and go to them. 
 
 Having finished his first circuit of Galilee, he 
 attended a feast in Jerusalem. Here he healed 
 the man who had been in Bethesda for thirty- 
 eight years. On account of the hostility of the 
 rulers he is soon on his way back to Galilee. 
 Because he healed a man with a withered hand 
 on the Sabbath day it was proposed to put him 
 to death. Learning of this he withdrew from 
 the public gaze and charged his friends not to 
 make him known. The Prophet had said of 
 him, “He shall not strive nor cry aloud, neither 
 shall any one hear his voice in the streets.” 
 Next he appears in Capernaum where he 
 healed the centurion’s servant. After this he 
 is in the city of Nain; here he raises to life the 
 widow’s son. At this point he made a second 
 missionary tour through Galilee. Luke says, 
 “And it came to pass soon afterwards, that he 
 went about through cities and villages, preach¬ 
 ing and bringing the good tidings of the king¬ 
 dom of God.”—Luke viii: 1. While on this 
 tour his mother and brothers came to have an 
 interview with him. While on this tour great 
 multitudes followed him and he spoke many 
 parables to them. Because of the crowds and 
 the excitement he crossed the Sea of Galilee 
 and entered the country of the Gadarenes. 
 Here he healed the fierce demoniac. Because 
 of the loss of their swine, the people begged 
 him to depart out of their coasts. He left at 
 their request and went back to Capernaum. 
 At this place Matthew made him a feast. 
 Here he raised the daughter of Jairus. After 
 this two blind men besought him to have 
 
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mercy on tliem. He touched and opened their 
 eyes. After this he returned to Nazareth and 
 was rejected a second time. His townsmen 
 were scandalized because they could not ac¬ 
 count for his mighty deeds. He next made a 
 third circuit of Galilee. The historian says: 
 “And Jesus went about all the cities and vil¬ 
 lages, teaching in their synagogues, and preach- 
 ^ ing the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all 
 manner of disease and all manner of sickness.” 
 —Matt, ix: 3.5. When he saw the multitudes 
 he was moved with compassion for them, be¬ 
 cause they were distressed and scattered as 
 sheep not having a shej)herd. Then said he 
 to his disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous, 
 but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore 
 the Lord of the harvest that he send forth 
 laborers into his harvest.” 
 
 We next find him crossing the Sea of Gali¬ 
 lee. Great numbers followed him. They were 
 in such eager haste that they forgot to take any 
 food with them. Here it was that he took the 
 five loaves and the two fishes and fed five 
 thousand. The people wanted to take him by 
 force and make him a king. Seeing this he 
 withdrew into a mountain, and that night he 
 crossed the sea again and came to Capernaum. 
 Fora season he walked in Galilee, for he would 
 not walk in Judea, for the Jews sought to kill 
 him. After this he went far north into the 
 parts of Tyre and Sidon, where he healed the 
 daughter of the Syro-Phenician woman. Then 
 he returned near to the Sea of Galilee, and the 
 people brought to him the lame, blind, dumb, 
 maimed, and he healed them. They were 
 astonished, and said, “He hath done all things 
 
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well; he maketh even the deaf to hear and the 
 dumb to speak.” Here in DecapoHs he fed 
 four thousand. Here it was that the Pharisees 
 came to him, asking him a sign from heaven. 
 He refused to give them a sign, and recrossed 
 the lake. We next hear of liim in Bethsaida, 
 where he healed a blind man. Afterwards he 
 is with his disciples at Cesarea Philippi, where 
 Peter confessed his divinity. The Transfigura- v 
 tion on Mount Hermon followed. Then he 
 returned to Galilee and Capernaum. Soon 
 after he started to Jerusalem. The Samaritan 
 villages 'refused to receive him because they 
 saw that he was bound for Jerusalem. On his 
 arrival he taught in the temple and the people 
 came to him. Then he left Judea for Perea; 
 there he healed the woman who had been 
 afflicted for eighteen years. There he heard 
 of the death of Lazarus, and there he spoke 
 three parables. The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, 
 and The Prodigal Son. 
 
 In due time he went back to Bethany and 
 restored Lazarus. Afterwards he retired to 
 Ephraim, then we find him in the border of 
 Samaria, then in Perea, then in Jericho, and 
 then in Jerusalem. He is constantly in motion. 
 He made eight circuits of Galilee. He is 
 repeatedly in Judea, Samaria, and Perea. He 
 was sent to the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel; and he earnestly sought to reach every 
 one. 
 
 Because the field was large, he called unto 
 him his twelve disciples, and gave them author¬ 
 ity over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and 
 to heal all manner of disease and all manner of 
 sickness. As they went forth he charged them, 
 
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saying, “Go not into any way of the Gentiles, 
 and enter not into any city of the Samaritans, 
 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying: The 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, 
 raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out de¬ 
 mons; freely ye received, freely give.” They 
 were to take no gold, nor silver, nor brass; no 
 wallet, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff. 
 If they were persecuted in this city, they were 
 to flee into the next. The time was short. 
 They would not be able to go through the 
 cities of Israel till the Son of man would come. 
 Later in his ministry he sent out seventy others, 
 and sent them two and two before his face into 
 every city and place, whither he himself was 
 about to come. Theii instructions were similar 
 to those given to the twelve. The Master said 
 to them, “He that heareth you heareth me; and 
 he that rejecteth you rejecteth me; and he that 
 rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me.” The 
 people must hear the gospel. In order to this 
 these men are sent out into every city and place 
 to say to them “The kingdom of God is come 
 nigh unto you.” 
 
 II. Let us consider his teaching re¬ 
 specting THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. 
 We hear him say, “And other sheep I have 
 which are not of this fold: them also I must 
 bring, and they shall hear my voice; and they 
 shall become one flock, one Shepherd.” Our 
 Lord was sent to the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel. The twelve were told to confine their 
 labors to the chosen people. But all along 
 there are intimations that the gospel is for all 
 races and for all classes and conditions of men. 
 
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The wise men who came from the East were 
 guided by a star to the place where the young 
 child was. They came to worship him. They 
 opened their treasures and offered unto him 
 gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. It is 
 plain that the Divine favor rested upon them. 
 Afterwards some Greeks came to Jerusalem 
 saying, “We would see Jesus” The Lord 
 heard of their request and was not displeased. 
 Speaking of the faith of the centurion he said, 
 “ Verily I say unto you, I have not found so 
 great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto 
 you that many shall come from the East and 
 the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
 and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
 heaven.” He excited the wrath of his towns¬ 
 men by telling them that though there were 
 many widows in Israel during the famine, Eli¬ 
 jah was sent to none of them, but to a Gentile 
 woman in Sarepta, in Sidon; and that though 
 there were many lepers in Israel in the time of 
 Elisha none of them was cleansed, save Naa- 
 man the Syrian. Our Lord was telling them 
 all through his ministry that the gospel was 
 for all mankind. He had sheep other than 
 those of the house of Israel, and these he must 
 bring. Again he said, “For God so loved the 
 world that he gave his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth on him should not 
 perish but have everlasting life. For God 
 sent not his Son into the world to judge the 
 world; but that the world should be saved 
 through him.” “This gospel of the kingdom 
 shall be preached in the whole world for a 
 testimony to all nations ” Our Lord taught 
 that the whole world should be evangelized. 
 
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The gospel is not for any one race, or for any 
 one section of the globe, but for all races and 
 for all sections. Speaking of his death he 
 said, “ And I, if I be lifted up from the earth 
 will draw all men unto me.” After his death 
 and resurrection he said, “ All authority hath 
 been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go 
 ye therefore and make disciples of all the 
 nations, baptizing them into the name of the 
 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; 
 teaching them to observe all things whatso¬ 
 ever I commanded you.” The men whom he 
 called and trained he named apostles or mis¬ 
 sionaries. He said to them, As the Father 
 hath sent me, even so send I you.” He knew 
 what was in man, he knew how to reach his 
 heart and conscience. He said to his apostles, 
 “ Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
 gospel to every creature.” There are some 
 now who say, “ Send the Bible to people.” 
 That was nof Christ’s method. It is by the 
 living voice of living men that souls are won 
 to the belief and the obedience of the truth. 
 Our Lord did not remain in one place and 
 allow the people to come to him. He did not 
 send them a written or oral message. He 
 sought out the people and spoke to them. He 
 would have his disciples do the same. Every 
 man who succeeds in reaching the people does 
 as Christ did He goes after them and finds 
 them. The Salvation Army reaches and res¬ 
 cues people whom the churches can not save. 
 The soldieis go into the slums, into the streets 
 and lanes, where the people are, and lay hold 
 of theip and lift them up. If they would build 
 costly houses of worship in some aristocratic 
 
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part of the city, and invite the people to come 
 and hear, they would be disappointed. The 
 bells may ring and announce the services; pa¬ 
 pers may say that all seats are free; but the 
 unsaved are not won by such agencies. Our 
 Lord knew how to reach the masses. He said, 
 “ Go.” Sending a new Testament by mail or 
 by express does not obey this command. Just 
 before his ascension he said to the Eleven, 
 “ But you shall receive power, when the Holy 
 Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be my 
 witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea 
 and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
 earth.” His last thought on earth had to do 
 with the evangelization of the whole world. 
 They were thinking about the restoration of 
 the kingdom of Israel; he was thinking about 
 the redemption of a lost world. After his 
 coronation he appeared to Saul of Tarsus on 
 his way to Damascus in the interest of this 
 work. He said: “ I have appeared unto thee, 
 to appoint thee a minister and a witness both 
 of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and 
 of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; 
 delivering thee from the people, and from the 
 Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, to open their 
 eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of Satan unto God, that they 
 may receive remission of sins and an inheri¬ 
 tance among them that are sanctified by faith 
 in me.” The glorified Redeemer was so deep¬ 
 ly interested in the evangelization of the 
 world that he appeared to Saul to qualify him 
 to take part in this work. On Patmos he ap¬ 
 peared to John and showed him a vision of re¬ 
 deemed humanity. He heard every created 
 
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thing that is in the heaven and on the earth, 
 and under the earth, and in the sea, and all 
 things that are in them, saying, “Unto him 
 that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, 
 be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, 
 and the dominion, forever and ever.” 
 
 Our Lord was a missionary, and as such he 
 was faithful to him that appointed him. The 
 Christian religion is essentially missionary. It 
 is not tribal and local, but world-embracing. 
 Those who claim to be followers of Christ 
 must be missionary. It is well to contend 
 earnestly for sound doctrine and for the ordi¬ 
 nances as delivered to us; but let us not think 
 that we can hold fast to Christ and stand aloof 
 from the great cause of missions. Milman 
 calls attention to that famous book, “The Imi¬ 
 tation of Christ,” and states that never was a 
 misnomer so glaring, if rightly considered, as 
 its title. “It is absolutely and entirely selfish 
 in its aims as in its acts. Its sole single and 
 exclusive object is the purification, the ele¬ 
 vation of the individual soul, of the man abso¬ 
 lutely isolated from his kind; with no hopes or 
 fears, with no sympathies of our common na¬ 
 ture; he has absolutely withdrawn and seclud¬ 
 ed himself not only from the cares, the sins, 
 the trials, but from the duties, the connections, 
 the moral and religious fate of the world.” 
 “That which distinguishes Christ, that which 
 distinguishes Christ’s apostles, that which dis¬ 
 tinguishes Christ’s religion—the love of man— 
 is entirely and absolutely left out.” Had this 
 been the whole of Christianity, our Lord and 
 his apostles would never have done the great 
 works the New Testament records. They 
 
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might have dwelt in rapture upon the emotions 
 of their own souls, but they would not have 
 turned the world upside down and reconstruct¬ 
 ed society. “The Imitation of Christ” begins 
 in self and terminates in self. Its axiom is, 
 “Let the world perish, so the single soul can 
 escape on its solitary plank from the general 
 wreck.” The saying concerning Christ, “He 
 went about doing good,” is not in the monas¬ 
 tic gospel of this pious zealot. Of feeding the 
 hungry, of clothing the naked, of visiting the 
 prisoner, there is profound, total silence. The 
 view of Thomas a Kempis is the view of some 
 now. But it is a mistaken view. The Christ 
 Spirit does not drive us into the wilderness 
 and away from humanity. It does not lead us 
 to think solely of making our own calling and 
 election sure. Whittier says, “He findeth not 
 who seeks his own, that soul is lost that’s 
 saved alone.” It is in helping to seek and save 
 the lost that we save ourselves. If we would 
 have the Spirit of Christ in us we must be mis¬ 
 sionary. We must do what we can to carry 
 the gospel to those who sit in darkness, and 
 to guide their feet into the way of peace. 
 
 “Pilgrim’s Progress” is one of the most pop¬ 
 ular religious works ever written. It is one 
 of the few books Dr. Johnson wished were 
 longer. Bunyan had the same conception of 
 the Christian life that the author of “The Imi¬ 
 tation” had. His hero had one end in view, 
 and that was to save his own soul. He did 
 not take his wife and children with him to the 
 celestial city. He put forth no effort and mani¬ 
 fested no desire for the salvation of another 
 soul. ‘ Bunyan’s hero is named “Christian.” 
 
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It is implied that he is a typical Christian. He 
 was a typical Christian of the seventeenth 
 century. In this respect he is unlike Christ. 
 The New Testament portrays Him as a 
 Saviour. His dominant desire was to seek 
 and save the lost. His enemies said of him, 
 and they said the truth, “He saved others, 
 himself he could not save.” Bunyan’s concep¬ 
 tion is as vs ide of the mark as is the conception 
 of Thomas a Kempis. 
 
 To this end Christ died and lived again, that 
 he might be Lord of both the dead and the liv¬ 
 ing. All authority in heaven and on earth has 
 been given to him. On his brow are many 
 crowns; on his vesture and on his thigh are the 
 words, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” 
 Do we recognize him as Lord of all? Are his 
 example and commands authoritive? If we 
 have any doubt on this score, let us go back to 
 our baptism. In that ordinance we vowed 
 eternal fealty to him. We pledged him that 
 we would love him, and trust him, and serve 
 him for evermore. He says to us, “If you 
 love me keep my commandments.” “You 
 are my friends if you do whatsoever I com¬ 
 mand you.” His last command, his supreme 
 command, was that we should evangelize the 
 world. We must do this or be recreant. ' We 
 repeat the great words: “For the love of 
 Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, 
 that one died for all, therefore all died; and he 
 died for all, that they who live should no 
 longer live unto themselves, but unto him who 
 for their sakes died and rose again.” If the 
 love of Christ does constrain us we can not 
 live to please ourselves. Our great question 
 
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\^ill not be; What shall I eat? or what shall"! 
 drink? or wherewithal shall I be clothed? It 
 will rather be, How can I send the truth to 
 those who have never heard it? If his love 
 constrains us, our deepest desire will be that 
 his kingdom may come, and that his will may 
 be done on earth as it is done in heaven. If 
 his love constrains us, we shall be willing to 
 fill up that which is behind of his sufferings, 
 and make it our chief concern to bear the gos¬ 
 pel into all the world and to every creature. 
 If, on the contrary, the love of ease and 
 pleasure constrains us, and we disregard his 
 command, we shall have to answer the ques¬ 
 tion, “Why call ye me Lord! Lord! and do not 
 the things which I say?” 
 
 One cent a copy, or fifty cents a hundred. 
 
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