T H É K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
$76
heavenly hosts do His bidding. The church needs to keep looking to Him, instead of looking to human force. He has power In earth and will bring to pass whatever pleases Him. He has power in hell. He has taken the place of power,'at the. right hand of God. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Universal Mission. “Go teach all nations.” The gospel is for the whole world. The whole world is lost. “God so loved the world.” Jesus came into the world and for the world God sent1His son into the world. He died for the world. “Go ye into all the world.” “The world lieth in wicked ness.” “The field is the world.” God gave no limited parish to the church. The command is to every disciple. The obligation is upon every disciples He says, “come” to the sinner, but “go” to the believer, and He means go. It is not enough for the church to have charitable feelings toward the lost; it is its duty to go to them. It- is not because the heathen are lost; not because they are wretched in their ignorance and blindness; not because civilization will follow the promulga tion of the gospel, and untold temporal blessings will flow to the nations; it is because He says “Go.” Go, because the Son of God, who has authority, says “Go.” soldier never questions the au thority of a command of the Lord. The world is the parish of every disciple. The need is urgent: Two-thirds of the field without the message. The church can never fulfill its mission by ringing bells and singing, “Come to Jesus.” It must go or be recreant to the most sacred trust ever committed to men. While a single being remains outside the fold of Christ, the demand is imperative. “Go!” "Ours not to reason why; ours not to make reply; ours but to do or die.” It is the imperial command of the all-powerful risen Son of God. The Unmistakable Message. “Make disciples of all nations.” In Mark we are told how it is to be done. “Preach
the gospel.” Paul defines the gospel in the fifteenth of first Corinthians. Christ died for our sins, (atonement). He rose again the third day, (resurrec tion). He is coming for His followers, (blessed hope). This is the gospel. Sin separates from God and needs atonement. Christ died in the sinner’s behalf and paid the penalty for sin. He arose from Ihe grave in order that the sinner might be justified, have the new life imparted. He is coming again to give him a place with Himself, where he will be forever with the Lord. The acceptance of this gospel was to be sealed by an outward profession of baptism. They were to baptize into the name of the Father,' Son and Holy Ghost. Confession of Jesus Christ puts the sinner into Christ. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” Baptism is the acknowledgment of the work already wrought. Baptism does not add anything to the finished work wf God, but in that rite man sets his seal to that which God has done. The Lord here sets His own seal to the co equality of Father, Son and Spirit. These disciples are also-to be taught all things which are commanded. They are to be instructed in all truth. How simple is the -work committed to the followers of Christ. They were never commissioned to civilize nations, to build and perpetuate institutions. Ten thousands of blessings were to flow from the work they were commanded to do, but this work was specific. The snare into which the church has fallen is that she has turned aside to reform and refine, to minister lux uries and has evaded the definite com mand of her Lord. The gospel of Christ has proven its effectiveness. Wherever it has been proclaimed it has been found adapted to all conditions of men, in all climes. Whoever has believed has been saved, and whoever has re jected it has been lost. The Unqualified Support. “Lo, I am with you.” How comforting and con-
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