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THE KING’S BUSINESS
are not there each man for his own selfish interest, not to make money, not to have a good time, but they are there with great national responsibility rest ing upon them. And I notice that the ambassador in China rarely, if ever, pur chases property, and does nothing which would indicate that he is going to set tle down. Some go out to make that country theirs. Not so with an ambassa dor; he is sent on specific business for his king. It may be in a time of un rest, and he may go to deliver the king’s ultimatum. He stays detached from any local interests or attractions, ready at a moment’s notice to pick up and leave for home. Home alone is the anchor for the ambassador, and as soon as his official business is over, he nat urally gravitates to his own country. We are called ambassadors for Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus Christ we are all foreign missionaries, for heaven is our home, our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are here on business for the King. Are we putting first things first? Are we making it the supreme busines of our lives to see that the last commission of Jesus Christ as carried out speedily and effectually, and are all our personal in terests constantly submitted to that great overmastering motive? I believe God is waiting to do His very best for the men and women who cut loose from their selfish ambitions and abandon themselves to the great mission and commission of making Christ known to men. And I believe that when we swing out and get in touch with things that are consistent with our citizenship being in heaven, and the im minence of Christ’s return, God will do greater things for us than we have ever given Him a chance to do. Watcher. The last of these terms that I will mention is in Hebrews 13:7, “Watcher.” These men, and ministers, and leaders, and pastors over the flock of God are represented as being those who are watching for souls. Their great, con stant concern is to think about and plan for the spiritual welfare of men. They are not merely doing a prefunctory duty, they are on the aggressive. They are watching, they are seeking, they are going out for others. Look at the throng that is passing along the street as we observe them from an upper window. Do we think of these men and women as being merely lawyers, or clerks, or
know that a witness is one who has seen and heard, and that his duty is to tell faithfully and fully what he has seen and heard, and what he knows by actual experience. Here is a court of justice, there sits the judge and in the prisoner’s box stands the prisoner. He rests under a charge for which he is condemned, and there seems no hope for him. He is condemned justly, according to his own deeds, but I sit in the audi ence in possession of facts which, if I were to rise and state, would be the means of reversing the judgment, and liberating the man that otherwise is condemned to death. I ajm silent, and I do not make an effort to clear that man, and to save that soul. What kind of a man am i? Am I not guilty of his blood? Beloved, there are millions of souls resting under condemnation, who judged 'by their own standards are condemned, who honestly acknowledge that they are not living up to the light they have, who are outbreaking and wil ful sinners in their own sight as well as God’s, who are therefore resting un der condemnation, and you and X have this precious message of emancipation and pardon committed to us. Have we, as much as in us lies, sought to ex tend to them the good news. In Pro verbs 14:25 we read, “A true witness delivereth souls.” Ah, dear friends, if there were more true Gospel witnesses, more heathen souls would be delivered. Ambassador. The apostle says in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are ambassadors. ‘‘Therefore on behalf of Christ as though God were entreating by us, we beseech you be ye reconciled to God.” What does ambassa dor mean? An ambassador is one who is on official business. We are familiar at every national capital with this idea of ambassador. These ambassadors are men of outstanding prominence to whom peculiar honor is given by their fellows, not because of any intrinsic prominence, not because they are men of the most superlative gifts, or abilities, or of high family, but purely because of the fact that they are in official standing, that they are there representing some great monarch and his kingdom. It is that which gives honor to their office, and imposes great responsibility upon them, greater than any of their fellows in his private capacity. The ambassador is first in honor, and he is first in responsi bility. And I notice that they always regard their official relation and work as the thing of prime importance. They
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